The Mystery at Mead's Mountain

forehead wrinkled in thought. “It smelled just like the alcohol we used in biology.”
    “Alcohol! Trixie, do you suppose he’s—oh, you know... someone who makes liquor illegally—a moonshiner, that’s it! Maybe he has a still in there!
    “I’ll bet they have quite a little business going here,’ Trixie crowed. “The money in it would be good; they’d want to stay away from the police; and the woods would be the perfect center of operations!”
    “And they certainly wouldn’t appreciate us skiing around investigating the area. Nor would they want it sold as a natural resort area,” added Honey, helping to put more pieces of the puzzle together.
    “Come on, Honey, let’s go tell the others about our new friend, Mr. Moonshine!”
    By the time they got back to the lodge, the sky had clouded up again, and they were starving. Racing over to the restaurant, they found the others already finishing their lunch.
    “Hey, where have you two been for so long?” queried Mart, looking up from his soup. “We thought you’d be back before this. Miss Trask was worried.”
    “Oh, dear, I didn’t want to worry anyone on this trip, least of all Miss Trask,” said Trixie. “She’s such a good sport about everything.”
    “We assured her that you two are regular woodsmen and can take care of yourselves,” said Brian, scraping the bottom of his bowl.
    Trixie threw him a grateful look, then said, “Come on, Honey, let’s get some of that soup.”
    “Wait a minute, Trix,” Jim broke in. “There’s more. Miss Trask was jumpy after the avalanche yesterday, and she wants us all to ski together from now on.” Honey nodded. “Where is she? I guess we’d better tell her we’re back.”
    “She’s in reading to Rosie,” Di said. “Katie was telling us how Rosie always pretends to go to sleep but gets up and causes all kinds of mischief instead. Miss Trask offered to try to read her to sleep.”
    “Rosie sounds like Bobby,” remarked Trixie.
    “Go ahead and get some lunch,” Di said. “I’ll go tell Miss Trask you’re back.”
    “One more thing, Trixie,” said Brian. “Mart told us about the note you got last night.”
    “We’re not trying to scare you,” added Jim, “but do us a favor and don't go anywhere alone. Okay?”
    “You two are being silly,” Trixie began. Then she noticed their frowns and gave in. “Okay, if it’ll make you happy.”
    After Di returned, Trixie and Honey told the group about the conversation that Trixie had overheard and described their encounter with the old man.
    “Now we’re getting some answers,” said Jim. “You know, I’ve never been fully convinced that anything more than a few practical jokes was ( going on. But it sure sounds like your Mr. Moonshine and Eric are up to something more serious if they’re so worried about staying away from the police.”
    “I don’t know about the making liquor part, though,” said Brian. “It could be just for himself, for medicinal purposes. It’s not very likely he’d haul it out to sell. It would weigh far too much to carry, and there are no roads out there.”
    “He could put it on sleds and haul it to the nearest road,” Trixie insisted. “You should have smelled his cabin, Brian. The place just reeked of alcohol. Maybe Eric helps him.”
    “You know what?” Di put in. “Eric’s been gone all day. First thing this morning, he asked Pat for the day off, and instead of going to town, he took off into the mountains on skis. He isn’t back yet.”
    “He’s searching the woods,” breathed Trixie. “Just like he was talking about last night!”
    “Searching for what?” Mart objected, getting ready to attack Trixie’s reasoning. Before he could continue, Linda and Wanda came over to join them.
    “Hey, did you know it’s raining outside?” asked Wanda.
    Mart glanced up from the conversation they’d all been so intent on and commented, “So it is. Well, what a vicissitudinous day!”
    “No, Mart, it’s just rain,” argued Di.
    Amid the laughter, Brian grumbled, “That’s going to spoil skiing for the rest of the day.”
    “Probably,” Wanda agreed. “Pat and Katie told us there won’t be many people left here in another hour, so that we could have the evening off if we like. We were wondering if you might like to go into town for dinner. We could give you a small tour first, and then take you to one of our favorite restaurants.” Their invitation met with an enthusiastic acceptance from