The Mysterious Visitor

can for a happy reunion." "Why didn’t he ever try to get in touch with your mother?" Honey asked.
    "He did," Di explained. "But by the time he found out who she was, Dad was rich. Trixie was right about that. My real uncle felt that suddenly showing up then would, well—"
    "—make him look like a heel," Mart finished. "Money certainly does complicate things, doesn’t it? I’m glad I haven’t got any. Except for that dollar Trixie owes me, which amounts to the same thing."
    "That’s right; rub it in," Trixie said exasperatedly. "Is it my fault I can’t pay you back today? Is it my fault I’m not going to get my allowance?"
    "Oh, Trixie," Honey cried sympathetically, "why aren’t you going to get your allowance?" "Because," Trixie said ruefully, "Moms and Dad didn’t exactly like the idea of my searching Monty’s room and the pockets of his coat, even if he did turn out to be an impostor."
    Brian chuckled. "It’s more than that, Sis. The idea is for you to look before you leap into situations which seem perfectly safe but, in your case, almost always turn out to be highly dangerous. In case you’ve forgotten, you had a narrow escape last night."
    Jim sandwiched one of Trixie’s hands in both of his and said fondly, "Depriving her of her allowance for one week, I’m afraid, isn’t going to change this nitwit. Unless we do something drastic about it, I’m afraid she’ll end up a pickpocket."
    "True, true," Mart said cheerfully. "I think I’ll reserve a room for her in Olyfant’s hotel right now."
    Jim winked at Brian. "She’ll never learn unless we punish her. I vote we suspend her from membership in the club for six months."
    "Oh, you can’t do that," Di cried. "It would ruin everything."
    "Why?" Mart demanded. "If we spent less time tracking down crooks, we’d have this clubhouse a showplace before Christmas. Curtains, shelves, cupboards, benches, and tables." He waved his hands. "But, instead, because of Trixie, we get a trailer handed to us on a silver platter. Who wants a clubhouse we didn’t fix up ourselves? And if we don’t suspend Trix, we’ll never get time to fix this one up."
    "Oh, please listen to me," Di begged. "The real Uncle Monty has invited us all to spend the Christmas holidays at his ranch."
    "What?" they all shouted at once. Mart added, "Why didn’t you say so before?"
    "I’ve been trying to," Di told him, "but you keep interrupting to tease Trixie. If it’s all right with your parents, maybe Dad will charter a plane. Then we could all fly out to Arizona and back, too."
    Christmas in Arizona! Brian grabbed Mart’s arm excitedly. "Cowboys and Indians and horses galore—why, it’ll be like living in a Western movie!"
    "And Trixie will probably find us another mystery, even in Arizona," Jim added, smiling at Trixie.
    Trixie smiled, too. But, deep down inside, she felt that, somehow, another exciting mystery was waiting just around the comer. After all, it would be a long time till Christmas!