The Mystery at Bob-White Cave

I think it’s all right to follow her suggestion and leave for home Friday. I’ll be sorry to have you go. I’d been planning a lot of things we could do as soon as Trixie had completed her project. Bill Hawkins was coming over today to help me with the shed for Shem and Japheth, but that can wait. If Linnie will drive me into town, I’ll arrange for your train tickets to Springfield so you can connect with the plane for White Plains. I’ll send a telegram to your parents, too, as soon as I know what flight you’ll be on.”
    “Then let’s get going!” Trixie said.
    “Get going where?” her uncle asked.
    “Across the lake to the cave, after the fish,” Trixie said. “That is, if Slim didn’t get ahead of us while he had us out of the way.”
    “Have you lost your mind, Trixie? Have you forgotten how mean that boy can be?”
    “No, I haven’t, Uncle Andrew, but what can Slim do, with Jim and Brian and Mart along?”
    “I don’t know what he can do, but I’m not going to take a chance. He’d stop at nothing to try for that reward. If I find that Sam Owens has him in custody, and if that man, ghost, or spirit at the ghost cabin is in jail, too, then I’ll feel a lot different about further exploring.”
    “But, Uncle Andrew, please...
    “No. Getting you all back home safe and sound is more important to me than any fish—”
    “But it isn’t more important to the kids!” Bill Hawkins had arrived and overheard the conversation. “If you have to go into town, Andy, I’ll go over to the cave with the Bob-Whites.”
    Andrew Belden drew a long sigh of relief. “That’s the answer, Bill,” he said. “I did hate to disappoint Trixie again. I guess they all think I’m a pretty hard-boiled uncle.”
    “We do not; we think you’re darling!” Trixie said. “And, oh, Mr. Hawkins, you’re a lifesaver! Things will look a lot different, Uncle Andrew, when you get back from White Hole Springs. We’ll have all those specimens down in Mrs. Moore’s cold cellar in the galvanized tank you bought us.”
    “I just want to find you all safe and sound. I’m almost afraid to take my eyes off you.”
    “Don’t worry, Andy,” Bill Hawkins said. “There’s only one way Slim could get to that cave, and that’s by boat. I’ll have my eye on that part of the lake every minute.”
    The Bob-Whites were all fond of Mr. Hawkins and delighted with the day’s arrangement. When they arrived at the cave, however, Trixie had her first disappointment.
    “Would you mind terribly,” Jim asked, “if Brian and I went up on the cliffs over the cave and looked for rock specimens? The time’s short, and we just might come up with some rocks that would be valuable. It isn’t as though you didn’t know exactly where to find the other ghost fish.”
    Trixie did wish Jim could hunt for the specimens with her. It would be so much more fun. She felt she mustn’t be selfish, though, so she told the boys to go ahead.
    “Say,” Bill Hawkins interrupted, “I’m here to look after you kids. How can I do that if you’re in half a dozen places? I can only be sure Slim doesn’t sneak up on you if I keep my eye on the lake. Trixie can’t go into that cave alone, even with Honey and Mart. If I go along with them, who’s going to watch the lake?”
    “Jim and I can watch it from up on the cliff,” Brian said.
    “Huh-uh; that won’t do.” Bill Hawkins shook his head. “I’ll do the watching myself.”
    “There isn’t any danger inside the cave—just two big rooms and the spring running through the second room,” Brian said.
    “Why don’t you go into the cave with Trixie and see just what the setup is?” Jim said. “We’ll watch right here while you do.”
    When Bill Hawkins emerged from the cave after his survey, he said, “I can’t see a thing in there that’d harm three lively kids. I’ll stay just outside the entrance, here, and watch the lake, too. Go ahead with your digging, boys.”
    So, one by one, Trixie, Mart, and Honey crept through the crawlway to the second room, pushing their buckets and knapsacks ahead of them.
    “There’s one thing we can be thankful for,” Trixie said. “There’s no sign that Slim was here while we were in town yesterday. That’s a miracle. Something kept him away from here. Maybe he really did get scared about what the men would do to him for setting that fire.”
    “Yeah,” Mart said. “He may be a long way from here by now.”
    “It’s a break for