The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire

and tell him our plan. You all wait right here.”
    Before anyone had a chance to object, Trixie was racing out of the clubhouse. Her friends stared at one another in shocked silence as they listened to her feet pounding up the path.
    It was Honey who broke the silence by starting to giggle. As soon as she began to laugh, the three boys did too.
    “Ben Franklin said, ‘A stitch in time saves nine,’” Jim observed. “At the rate she’s going, Trixie will have this deal sewn up in no time.”
    “And if it’s true that only ‘she who hesitates is lost,’ Trixie will never need a compass,” Brian added.
    “There is another saying that seems apropos,” Mart said. “‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.’”
    When the sandy-haired teenager burst in through the door a few moments later, she was astonished to find her two brothers and her two friends doubled over with laughter. “Well, I’ll be,” she said. “Here I am, off deciding the future of the Bob-Whites and the Roberts family, and you’re in here having a joke-telling contest.”
    “No, we weren’t, Trixie,” Honey gasped. “Really, we weren’t. We were just — um —” Suddenly realizing that the explanation of what they had been doing wasn’t going to make Trixie feel any better, Honey tactfully changed the subject. “Were you able to reach Nick?”
    Immediately, Trixie’s look of indignation faded and one of excitement took its place. Everyone in the room knew what she was going to say. Still, they waited breathlessly to hear her say it.
    “I talked to Nick. He says it’s a great idea — especially since I explained to him that we really need the commission money for the clubhouse. I mean, it was clear to him that we aren’t offering charity,” Trixie said.
    “What about Mr. Roberts?” Jim asked.
    “Nick said not to worry about his father. Nick will talk him into it, one way or the other. He says if we’ll come over tomorrow, he’ll show us the colors and styles that are available and explain the pricing system.”
    “So it’s really settled?” Honey asked.
    “All we need is the vote,” Trixie answered. “Call the question,” Mart said, using the phrase that meant discussion was ended and a vote must be taken.
    “I don’t recall that an official motion was made,” Jim said with mock-gravity, “let alone seconded. Still, I think that we can dispense with those formalities. Madame Co-Chairperson, would you like to do the honors?”
    “I certainly would,” Trixie said. “All those in favor of the Bob-Whites becoming Mr. Roberts’s summer sales force, so signify by saying ‘aye.’” Five voices chorused, “Aye!”
    “Opposed?” Trixie asked.
    The question was greeted with resounding silence.
    “The motion is carried,” Trixie said.
    “Yippee!” Honey shouted.
    “I had one more idea,” Trixie told her friends. “What do you say we have a little contest? The person who sells the most doesn’t have to lift a finger when we start painting and puttying the clubhouse.”
    “Terrific idea!” Jim exclaimed.
    “All in favor?” Trixie asked.
    Another chorus of “ayes” told her that the Bob-Whites were, indeed, all in favor of the idea.
    “Okay,” Brian said, “let’s get started.”



8 * One Clue Lost... One Clue Found

    AT ONE O’CLOCK the next afternoon, all seven of the Bob-Whites were packed into the station wagon heading for Nick’s house. When they pulled into his driveway, Nick was waiting for them at the side door. He held the door open while his friends trooped down the stairs.
    Nick had done a good job of setting up a temporary shop in the basement. The boxes that held the inventory of caps and shirts were stacked neatly along the walls. A card table was set up at one end of the room with pencils, paper, and order forms waiting and ready.
    “I’m going to order a new lettering machine,” Nick said. “I’ll put it over there, in the one remaining open space.”
    Trixie noticed that Nick had said “I,” not “we.” Apparently Mr. Roberts was not yet enthusiastic about the plan. She wondered suddenly if Nick had met them at the door and led them straight to the basement in order to keep them out of his father’s way. It takes a lot of courage to do what Nick is doing, she thought admiringly.
    “Well, let’s get started,” Nick said. “Here is a set of instructions for each of you, along with some order forms. We have four basic colors — red, blue, green, and