The Indian Burial Ground Mystery

course!” Trixie said, patting the dog’s head. “You poor thing. You
haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
    “See, Trixie,” Honey said with a laugh. “With your usual presence of
mind, you held onto the picnic lunch while you were falling into the cave. At
least we won’t starve to death now.”
    “I feel just like Alice in Wonderland,” Trixie said as she fed Reddy a bologna sandwich. “Remember the
part where she fell down the hole?”
    Honey giggled. “Maybe the White Rabbit will come and get us out.”
    “Better the White Rabbit than that awful Charles Miller,” Trixie said.
But she didn’t feel like laughing.
    “Charles Miller is the only person who ever comes to this part of the
woods,” Honey said thoughtfully. “He might be our only hope.”
    “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Trixie answered gloomily. “What if he finds
us, but refuses to help us get out?”
    Trixie knew that Charles Miller was looking for a cave. And it was
beginning to look as if Trixie and Honey had found the very cave Charles was
looking for. If he had resorted to knocking Professor Conroy over the head to
get him out of the way, what would he do to keep Trixie and Honey from getting
his treasure? Trixie shuddered. Absolutely no one knew where they were. She
hoped Charles Miller wouldn’t figure that out. They might never get out of this
cave alive!



11 * Trapped!
     
    Trixie had no idea how long they’d
been sitting in the cave, but she could see from the angle of the sun glancing
in through the opening that it was probably late afternoon.
    “This is ridiculous,” Trixie said finally. “I’m going to explore this
cave. There has to be another way out.”
    “Oh, Trixie,” Honey said, sounding frightened, “please be careful. All I
can think of is those stories I’ve heard about people who get lost exploring in
underground caves. Wouldn’t you rather sit here and wait for someone to come
and rescue us?”
    “No, I wouldn’t,” Trixie replied firmly. “And I promise I’ll be careful,
so please don’t worry.”
    “Do you think I should go with you?”
    “No. You stay right there. Besides, I might not be going anywhere,”
Trixie said with a laugh. She stood up and switched on her flashlight. Shining
it along the edges of the cave walls, she began to examine the grim place with
great care. Trixie judged that the cave was about nine feet deep, and not
large. It was like a small subterranean room. Unfortunately, the walls were
fairly straight and smooth, with no rock outcroppings to get a foothold on.
Tree roots had broken through in places and they hung down eerily, like long,
grasping fingers reaching out.
    Upon closer examination, Trixie noticed that the walls were made of
dirt, not rock. She had always thought that caves had rocky walls, but this one
seemed to have slimy, mud walls. Ugh, she thought. No
wonder they had been so impossible to climb.
    There didn’t seem to be any openings other than the one in the roof. But
all the hanging roots made Trixie think there might be an opening hidden behind
the tangled growth. I hope there are no bats, or rats, or anything else
in here, she thought with a shudder.
    She moved closer to one side of the cave where a gnarled, wet-looking
spray of roots stuck through the wall. Reaching up to pull aside some of the
finer branches, Trixie jumped in alarm as a small bug skittered across her
hand. She held back a scream, not wanting to upset Honey. But there was no
opening hidden by the roots; just a slimy, blank wall of mud and dirt. She
checked each root clump, but found the same thing each time.
    As Trixie explored the small cave, she began to notice something unusual
about it. Carefully, she retraced her steps just to make sure that she wasn’t
jumping to any incorrect conclusions. Finally she couldn’t keep quiet any
longer.
    “This place has a funny shape for a cave,” she said to Honey. “It looks
almost square. I doubt that Mother Nature would make a square cave.”
    “I don’t understand what you mean,” Honey said.
    “Let me see .. Trixie muttered to herself. “I wonder if...”
    Picking up a loose rock, Trixie began to scrape away at the dirt on one
of the walls.
    After a few good long pulls, she began to scrape harder and faster. It
was just as she’d suspected.
    “Hey! This isn’t a cave at all,” Trixie exclaimed. “It’s an old cellar!”
    “A cellar?” Honey said with a gasp.
    “Look at this,” Trixie said, shining the flashlight