The Mystery of the Blinking Eye

meet her now,” Barbara said.
    “If she’d been around out at Kennedy International Airport, we wouldn’t have come so near missing you,” Mart said. “She calls our intrepid sister ‘Unpredictable Trixie.’ Say, Trix, you never did tell us anything about your odd friend at the airport.”
    “She hasn’t had a chance,” Honey said quickly, then explained to the visitors about the elderly stranger Trixie had befriended. “I know she made her plane all right, but what was her trouble, Trixie? Who was she?”
    Trixie told them of the poor woman’s predicament and showed them the bright straw purse.
    “It’s perfectly perfect!” Barbara looked admiringly at her friend. “Trixie, you’re always doing nice things for people.”
    “And collecting loot.” Mart grinned. “Trix, why didn’t you tell her to fill the purse with gold?”
    Trixie didn’t answer. Her face was thoughtful.
    “Hey, come out of it,” Mart said. “I was just joking. Barbara’s right. You always are helping people. It gets you in trouble, too, sometimes. Say, what’s the matter? Has the cat got your tongue?”
    Trixie shook her head vigorously, smiling a broad smile. “I guess I did go off into outer space. I’m sorry. There was something very mysterious about that woman, though... the way she looked at me when she left. I wonder....”
    “Oh, Trixie, not again!” Mart wailed. “No detective work while we’re in the city.”
    “The things that happen to Trixie are always the most spectacular!” Barbara said, so excited her voice ended in a thin squeak. “Our sheriff said she worked on that sheep-thief mystery at Happy Valley like a real professional. Now we may get in on another mystery! Trixie, you should write your autobiography right away. I think they’d even make a movie of all your adventures!”

Good-Luck Piece • 2

    DON’T YOU THINK it would be a good idea to forget about the Mexican woman now?” Miss Trask suggested. She had brought in tall glasses of lemonade for the Bob-Whites and their guests from Iowa and had overheard part of the conversation about Trixie’s experience at the airport. “You helped someone, and she rewarded you in the only way she knew—with a gift made in her own country. That doesn’t sound like much of a mystery. Why not think about what you want to do this evening instead?”
    “It’s one thing to tell Trixie to forget about it and another thing to have her do it,” Mart said. “Miss Trask, you know very well Trixie will think more about it.”
    “Of course I will,” Trixie said vehemently. “You didn’t see the way she looked at me when she left... when she gave me the present. It was a queer, deep look. That woman was mysterious, and you all know it. Look at Brian and Jim right now, over in the corner whispering.”
    Jim’s eyes twinkled. “We were talking over what we want to do this evening. I guess we’d better start our real sight-seeing in the morning. What do you want to do most of all?” he asked the visitors.
    “Starting tomorrow morning?” Ned asked.
    “Yes. Let’s begin with Barbara.”
    “I’d rather leave it up to the Bob-Whites. After all, they practically live in New York.”
    “That suits me,” Ned agreed. “How about you, Bob?”
    “It’s okay, provided we go to the United Nations, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Museum of Natural History, Central Park, Statue of Liberty....”
    Barbara laughed. “Is that what you call leaving it up to the Bob-Whites?”
    “We’ll do our best to work most of it in,” Brian said. “Now, how about tonight? Any suggestions, Miss Trask?”
    “Perhaps you can have a nice dinner someplace, then maybe go to an early movie. I must go and get some things ready to take to my sister. Why don’t you think about it for a few minutes? I’ll be right back,” Miss Trask said, leaving the room.
    “Did you hear that?” Bob asked. “Isn’t she even going to chaperon us at the movie?”
    “Of course not!” Trixie said positively. “There are movies not too far from here. Anyway, Miss Trask is no snoop. She trusts every one of us. She always tells us—and she’ll tell you, too—to keep our eyes open and feel responsible for each other.”
    “I’d be willing to do that as far as all the others are concerned,” Bob said, laughing, “but gosh, Trixie, being responsible for you would be a big job.”
    Miss Trask came back into the room. “It’s after four o’clock. Why don’t you