The Hudson River Mystery

means! He didn’t think much of my judgment when I told him about rescuing Ken and Carl, but he said there was no harm done.”
    ”There certainly wasn’t,” said Trixie. ”You saved those boys’ lives, that’s all!”
    ”Well, anyway, there’s even better news than that,” Brian said.
    Even by the dim light of the streetlights, Trixie could see that his eyes were sparkling. ”Tell me!” she commanded.
    ”Well, pardon me for bragging, but I received a perfect grade on this week’s chemistry test.”
    ”That’s wonderful!”
    ”And Mrs. Cowles told Loyola and me today that, based on what they’ve seen of our project so far, the Conservation Committee has definitely decided to award our school the money for the floating lab! They’re a little short of the full amount we’ll need right now, but it’s just a matter of time.”
    ”Congratulations!” Trixie cheered. ”I’ll bet that makes you feel great. Say, that reminds me— would you mind if I went with you two down to Killifish Point after school tomorrow? I want to see if Thea’s there, so I can tell her what I found out.” She filled Brian in on her shark research.
    Brian frowned. ”I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Trixie. In the first place, I’m not going to the river. The Bob-White Halloween party is tomorrow night, don’t forget. In the second place, it’s pretty obvious that Thea doesn’t exactly intend to use you as a consultant on her book. If anything, she seems to go out of her way to avoid talking to you about it.”
    ”I know, but—”
    ”She seems to value her privacy a great deal,” he went on. ”I mean, I really had to do a sales . pitch on her to let me come over and fix up her car that day. Anyway, sis, I seem to remember a little discussion we had about you hurting people when you leap to conclusions. It seems to me you could be hurting Thea by seeking her out like this.”
    Trixie was silent, thinking about how she had already hurt one person recently.
    ”Not to change the subject or anything,” Brian said, ”but I forgot to tell you that Loyola and I saw Bunker again yesterday.”
    ”You did?”
    ”We saw him in his houseboat, just off the Point. He seemed to be rescuing two divers. We looked closely, but they didn’t seem to be Ken and Carl again!”
    Trixie continued chatting with Brian on the way home, but part of her mind was churning with thought. Well , at least I’ve learned two new things today, she decided silently. First is that Pat Bunker seems to have gone into the lifesaving business. And second, it looks like what I saw before the storm the other day was a sea serpent, after all!

A Recurring Nightmare ● 13

    MAYBE THEA’S been seeing sea serpents, just like you!” giggled Honey on the bus ride home from school the following day. Trixie had just finished telling her about everything she had found out at the library.
    ”Not so loud,” Trixie muttered. ”I don’t want Brian to hear us. He thinks he talked me out of seeing Thea again, and he doesn’t know I’ve had second thoughts. And anyway, I didn’t say that Thea had actually seen the shark. She just said that someone had seen one in the Hudson over a year ago. Don’t you remember? You were there with me when she said it!”
    ”Yes, I remember.” Honey’s hazel eyes were puzzled as she turned to Trixie. ”But I’m sure there must be some explanation—”
    ”Maybe so,” said Trixie. ”But don’t you think we owe it to Thea to tell her what I found out at the library? Doesn’t it bother you to think that Thea might be putting false things into a book about our river? Well, it bothers me, and I think we ought to tell her today. Honey, think of it”— Trixie’s voice became urgent—”think of it as doing something in the name of truth, in the name of accurate research!”
    ”I have two things to say, Trixie Belden. One is that if you devoted half of your enthusiasm for ’accurate research’ to your schoolwork, you’d be a straight-A student. And secondly, we have a Halloween party to go to tonight, in case you’ve forgotten! So we can’t possibly go to talk with Thea today.”
    ”I’m going to ignore your first remark,” said Trixie, pretending to look hurt. ”As for your second, how could I manage to forget the party, when I’ve been racking my brain all week trying to decide what costume I should wear. Mart suggested that I go as Sherlock Holmes, but that sounds too complicated, and besides, I’d