The Mysterious Visitor

awfully glad Dad’s going to give him all that money."
    "We’ve got to prove that he’s an impostor before that happens," Trixie said. "Can’t you ask your mother what color her parents’ eyes were, Di?"
    "I did ask her," Di said. "The first chance I got last night when Monty wasn’t hovering around. She doesn’t know. They both died when she was a baby."
    "But the portraits," Trixie said. "She must have seen them hundreds of times."
    "Mother was so upset," Di said, "I didn’t dare mention the portraits."
    "Well, you must have seen them dozens of times," Trixie said.
    Diana shrugged. "I know, but it’s a funny thing about eyes. People don’t notice the color too much. As many times as I’ve seen Honey, I thought her eyes were brown until yesterday. And she thought, just because I have black hair, that my eyes were black, too. But they’re not. They’re violet."
    "I guess I notice things like that more than most people," Trixie said rather smugly.
    "Is that so?" Di demanded. "What color eyes does our bus driver have? I asked Honey the same question yesterday, and she had no idea."
    Trixie grinned ruefully. "Neither have I." Then, struck by an idea, she asked, "Di, hasn’t your mother some old family records which would tell what color her parents’ eyes were? Passports, driver’s licenses, and things like that?"
    "I guess so," Di said vaguely. "There’s a funny little old trunk in the attic, filled with keepsakes. But we won’t find any passports or driver’s licenses. My grandparents were very poor, you know."
    "Maybe we’ll find birth certificates, then," said Trixie. "Let’s go."
    The girls spent the rest of the afternoon searching the contents of the battered little trunk. They pored over photographs, diaries, letters, birth certificates, and receipted bills, but nothing gave them the information they wanted. While they were repacking the trunk, Trixie asked, "What about Uncle Monty? Won’t he think it’s funny when he sees me at dinner this evening?"
    "No," Di explained. "I told him that we’d made up because you’d apologized. It was a He, of course, but I guess it takes a liar to catch a liar." Trixie laughed. "Just to keep you from being a liar, I will apologize."
    "I’m the one who ought to apologize to you," Di said. "I wouldn’t have believed the things Uncle Monty said you said if I hadn’t thought that he was my mother’s own brother."
    Trixie suddenly reached out and clamped her hand over Di’s mouth. "Sh-h," she whispered, "I think someone’s sneaking up the stairs." In a loud voice she said, "I’ve never had a nicer time. I love to explore attics. Don’t you, Di? I mean, why wait for a rainy day to explore attics when you can do it any day?"
    "That’s just the way I feel," Di said in an equally loud voice. "Attics should be explored any time you feel like it. Don’t you agree, Trixie?" Both girls carefully avoided looking toward the stairs, which were now creaking. "I certainly do," Trixie said. "I’ve heard of people finding valuable things like stamps and antiques in attics. I could use something valuable right now. I owe Mart a dollar. Seventy-five cents for the cab and a quarter for taking care of Bobby, you know, when I was supposed to."
    Di had no idea what Trixie was talking about, but she said vehemently, "You’re so right, Trixie. What do you think about that old chair over there? Of course, it’s broken, but it just might be an antique." The creaking sounds began to die away.
    But to be on the safe side, Trixie kept the conversation going until she was sure that the eavesdropper was out of earshot. Then she said in a low voice, "I’ll bet it was Uncle Monty."
    "Who else?" Di asked. "And I’m awfully afraid he heard what I said about him. Oh, Trixie, I’m scared. What will he do to me now that he knows I think he’s an impostor and not my real uncle?" "Nothing," Trixie said, closing the little trunk and starting for the stairs. When they were back in Di’s room, she added, "He didn’t do anything to me, and he’s known what I think of him since I tried to look at the portraits at the Halloween party.
    "He tried right away to break up our friendship," Di pointed out. "That’s about all he could do to you. But I live right here in the house with him." She shivered, just thinking about it.
    "I’m living in the house with him at the moment, too," Trixie said, smiling.
    Di brightened. "That’s an idea. Why don’t you keep right on staying with us