The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder

meet in the cozy, book-lined library. From there, all three Bob-Whites would keep watch on the house and plan to jump on any intruder if he appeared.
    Honey was not at all sure about the jumping part, and she said so as she watched her brother check all the doors and windows in the house before following the girls upstairs.
    He paused outside Honey’s room. “Don’t worry about it,” he told his sister. “I’ll do the jumping, and you can do the yelling. We’ll make such a noise that we may scare him away, or else we’ll get the servants to help us tie him up. Just don’t forget and fall asleep. Remember, it’s eleven o’clock now. We’ll meet downstairs in about an hour and then take our places.”
    “I won’t fall asleep,” Trixie whispered back indignantly. “This is the chance I’ve been waiting for. I just hope the Midnight Marauder’s going to make it tonight, that’s all.”
    The two girls watched as Jim quietly closed his bedroom door behind him.
    “You know, Trix,” Honey said, her voice low, “there’s something about all this that really puzzles me.”
    “Only one thing?” Trixie asked, leading the way into her friend’s neat room.
    Honey sat on the edge of her bed and took off her shoes. “Why would anyone send a warning letter before committing a crime?”
    Trixie frowned. “You know,” she replied slowly, “I’ve been wondering the same thing myself.” Afterward, Trixie was never quite certain exactly what had happened next.
    She knew that one minute she, too, had removed her shoes and was stretched out beside Honey. She even remembered staring up at the ceiling and wondering if Miss Trask and Regan were even now on their way home. But she remembered nothing more until she felt someone shaking her shoulder.
    “Trixie!” Honey was whispering urgently. “Oh, Trix, please wake up and listen.”
    “Huh? Wh-What?” Trixie sat bolt upright and stared into her friend’s worried face.
    “You were asleep, Trix,” Honey said, glancing over her shoulder at the windows behind her.
    Trixie gasped when she looked at the clock on the bedside table. Its hands pointed to two o’clock!
    “Gleeps!” she exclaimed. “I must have dozed off! How could it have happened? And where’s Jim?”
    “I think Jim’s fallen asleep, too,” Honey said quietly. “I’m afraid we all did.”
    Quickly, Trixie swung her bare feet to the floor and stood up. “I don’t understand how we could have been so dumb!” she said. “And what is it I’m supposed to listen to? I don’t hear anything.”
    “But that’s just the point.” Honey gripped her friend’s arm. “I don’t hear anything, either! There’s no wind. There’s no rain. The storm is over, Trix. And if the Midnight Marauder is going to visit this house, now would be the best time to do it!”
    Trixie gasped. “You’re right! And I’ve just thought of something else. Suppose he’s already been here!”
    She hurried to the window and pulled aside the crisp, white, ruffled organdy curtains and gazed out at the soaked landscape.
    As she did so, the moon suddenly sailed out from behind a dark cloud bank. It turned the dripping trees and wet grass to silver. It shone on Glen Road, which wound like a wet ribbon across the land.
    It shone on a dark figure at the bottom of the hill. Whoever it was was moving noiselessly toward the stable and the helpless horses inside it.
    At the figure’s heels, there frisked a golden Irish setter whose long plumed tail streamed like a banner behind him.
    Reddy!

The Marauder Strikes Again ● 11

    IN ANOTHER INSTANT, Trixie had grabbed her jacket and thrust her feet into her shoes and was running across the room. As she wrenched open the door, she almost ran headlong into Jim, who, still fully dressed, had been about to knock.
    “A fine watchdog I turned out to be!” he exclaimed bitterly, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. “I only meant to rest on my bed for a second—”
    “But we’re not too late yet, Jim,” Trixie whispered urgently. “The Midnight Marauder’s at the stable right now!” She clutched his arm. “I don’t know how it happened, but he’s got Reddy with him! Who knows what he’ll do!”
    “ What?” Jim shot her one startled look and bolted for the head of the stairs.
    A second later, Trixie and Honey were right at his heels.
    Soon they were racing across the verandah and down the hill. They were still some distance away when they saw the dark figure wrestle