The Mystery at Mead's Mountain

obviously an old prospector’s hideaway. It’s full of gold just waiting for Trixie to come along and rediscover it and make us all rich.”
    Trixie playfully grabbed a handful of snow and tossed it at Mart. Then she was silent for a few minutes. Finally she announced, “You know, that cabin would be a good hiding place so far back in the woods. I think we ought to go over and explore it.”
    “I’ve created a monster,” Mart groaned.
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Trixie,” Brian chided her. “Besides, it must be almost time we head back for the lodge,’ Honey said reasonably. “We want to be out of the woods before it gets dark.”
    “And Vermont is farther north than Sleepyside, so it will get dark sooner,” Jim reminded her.
    “Oh, I suppose you’re right,” said Trixie, disappointed. “But it seems like every time I want to explore something mysterious, all of you vote me down. Doesn’t being the Bob-White president count for anything?” she asked plaintively.
    “Copresident,” Jim corrected her. “And no, it doesn’t count for anything, at least in this instance. Besides, there’s nothing mysterious about an old cabin in the woods. They’re all over the countryside.”
    Feeling very frustrated, Trixie lifted her ski to lead the way back down the trail. Too late she discovered she’d been standing on that ski with her other ski. Losing her balance, she plunged headlong into a snowdrift.
    She heard some smothered chortling above her after Mart said something about a sitzmark, and she decided not to move, uncomfortable as she was. Maybe they will think I’m dead and go away, she thought, too upset to be rational.
    But they didn’t. Instead, Brian reached down and pulled her out. “You okay, Trix?” he asked, trying to hide the fact that he was weak from laughter.
    “No, Brian Belden, I am not okay,” Trixie said furiously. “I’m suffering from all of your superiority complexes, which, I might add, are totally erroneous, since you , are not the least bit superior. But I’ll tell you this, if there’s anything funny going on in that cabin, I’ll find out!” And with that, off she skied toward the lodge.
    “Oh, Trixie,” said Brian, starting to follow her.
    Honey grabbed his arm. “Let her go. She’s had her feelings hurt.”
    “It’s no fun falling, either. I should know,” added Di, rubbing her sore hip. “I thought I’d never get the hang of herringboning.”
    “Don’t worry about her, Brian. Trixie knows there’s no mystery in that cabin just as much as the rest of us do,” said Honey, not particularly convincingly.
    Trixie had skied off most of her resentment toward the others by the time they all got back to the lodge. At the base of the chair lift, they met Eric.
    “What’s the verdict?” he asked. “How do you like our little mountain?”
    “It’s just beautiful,” said Honey enthusiastically. “It’s stupendous,” agreed Jim. “And so is crosscountry skiing!”
    “Words fail me,” Mart put in. “Except the words I had for you when we were climbing that crest.”
    “I told you that wouldn’t be easy,” Eric said. “Did you take one of the trails to the right, as I suggested?”
    “We didn’t know if you meant right facing the lodge or right facing the valley,” Di answered.
    “I meant right facing the valley.”
    “In that case, we went left,” Trixie told him. “We saw something very interesting, too—an old cabin.”
    “You didn’t go there, did you?” Eric demanded.
    He seems nervous, thought Trixie.
    “Why, no,” said Honey. “Is there something special about it that we should go see?”
    “Don’t bother,” he replied. “I was there yesterday. It’s a dusty old cabin. It’s abandoned now and rotted through. I’d stay away from there if I were you. It’s dangerous.”
    That’s funny, Trixie thought to herself. I could have sworn I saw smoke coming out of the chimney. She didn’t say anything to the others, realizing that they weren’t ready yet to hear her suspicions. But she decided to explore that cabin the very next chance she could get.

    All squabbles forgotten, the Bob-Whites burst into their suite to find Miss Trask reading a book on the couch in front of the fire. “How was your afternoon?” she asked, slipping in her bookmark.
    “Oh, we had the most marvelous time, Miss Trask,” Honey began. “We’ll tell you all about it. But first, may I have my watch? I was so worried when I couldn’t find it this