The Mystery of the Millionaire

agreed. “Mr. Lytell is strange enough to do something like that. It would be foolish, though. That old store, miles from anywhere, is a bad place to keep a lot of money.”
    “Well, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Honey said. “You know he wouldn’t listen to us if we told him to put his money in a bank. So I think it’s even more important that we leave the part about the loan out of our depositions for now. We can do that much to protect Mr. Lytell’s money.”
    “Right,” Trixie agreed. She lowered her eyes to her paper and once again began to write. Before she knew it, she had filled four sheets of paper.
    “Done!” she exclaimed, crossing a final t with a flourish.
    “I am, too,” Honey said. “Let’s compare.”
    The girls traded papers and read one another’s statements. Trixie began to giggle. “They’re almost the same, word for word, Honey. Brian and Mart are right. We do spend too much time together.”
    “Not too much,” Honey said, smiling. “Just enough.”
    Trixie looked at her best friend gratefully. This, she knew, was Honey’s way of telling her that nothing, including a beautiful, wealthy houseguest, could come between the two best friends.
    “I have an idea,” Trixie said impulsively. “I got it from reading Snow White last night.”
    “Don’t you think you’re a little old for that kind of thing?” Honey teased.
    Trixie giggled. “Sometimes I wonder. Most of the time, I seem to get more out of those stories than Bobby does. Anyway, when I was reading the story of Snow White to Bobby last night, he said the seven dwarfs and the seven Bob-Whites were kind of alike, you know, because there are the same number and because we both—I mean, we all —like helping people.”
    “That’s pretty smart!” Honey exclaimed. Because she had no younger brothers or sisters of her own, Honey doted on Bobby Belden, showing more patience and, sometimes, more affection than his real siblings.
    “Isn’t it?” Trixie replied. “Well, I was thinking about how the Bob-Whites are helping Laura Ramsey, just as the seven dwarfs helped Snow White. Then I realized that most of the other Bob-Whites haven’t met her. I think we ought to arrange an introduction.”
    “A party, you mean!” Honey exclaimed. “Oh, Trixie, that’s a perfectly perfect idea. Laura will feel better, I’m sure, if she knows how many of us there are to care about her and help her. And a party is just the thing to cheer her up. What kind of party shall we have?”
    “When it’s August and we’ve been in the midst of a heat wave for over a week, there’s only one answer that I can think of to that question,” Trixie said.
    “Of course!” Honey exclaimed, reading her friend’s mind. “A swimming party at the boathouse. And a picnic lunch afterward. Sunday afternoon?”
    Trixie nodded. “That sounds fine. Now, let’s get that map.”

A Spy! ● 6

    ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, Trixie, Brian, and Mart piled into Brian’s jalopy for the ride to the boathouse. It was within easy biking distance, but, in addition to their swimsuits and towels, the three Bob-Whites were burdened with a large picnic basket supplied and filled by Mrs. Belden.
    “Miss Trask told Honey she’d have Cook pack us a lunch,” Trixie had told her mother that morning.
    “Miss Trask is very generous,” Mrs. Belden had said. “But I think she supplies the lunch for the Bob-White picnics far too often. It’s high time I took my turn. Besides,” she had added with a smile, “the more, of these tomatoes and cucumbers I give away, the fewer I’ll have to can and pickle.”
    “In that case,” Trixie had said, “put in a lot more of each.” Canning was never her favorite activity, and the current soaring temperatures made the thought of standing over the steaming jars even less attractive than usual.
    When the Beldens arrived at the boathouse, the other Bob-Whites and Laura were already there. Jim, Honey, and Laura, in fact, were already in the water. Trixie ran ahead, calling hellos to Dan Mangan and Di Lynch, whom she hadn’t seen for several days, while Brian, with an exaggerated groan, hoisted the heavy picnic basket out of the car.
    “How have you two been?” Trixie asked, plopping down on the ground between Dan and Di.
    “Hot,” Di Lynch said, gathering her shoulder-length black hair in one hand and pulling it up off her neck to emphasize her statement. With her violet eyes, fringed by thick, curly lashes, and her