The Mystery of the Phantom Grashopper

a folder labeled ’Town Hall’ on the shelf of newspaper clippings. The folders are in alphabetical order.”
    “Thank you. We’ll find it,” Trixie said happily.
    Trixie and Honey went down the narrow steps to the basement and entered the reference room. It was crowded with rows of high metal shelves with narrow aisles between them. The newspaper clipping files were on the far side of the room.
    Trixie located the Town Hall file and lifted it from the shelf. She and Honey began to sort through the faded brown clippings.
    “Listen to this,” Honey urged, reading aloud from a clipping that included a picture of the weather vane:

“In 1878, the weather vane was taken down from Town Hall to be replated. At that time, a small copper cylinder, engraved with the words LUNCH FOR GRASSHOPPER, was placed inside the hollow body of the old vane. A number of artifacts were inside the cylinder. The artifacts included the front page of the evening paper, the business card of Mayor Davis, a silver dollar, a Japanese yen, an Indian head penny, and a Civil War button.”

    “Gleeps!” Trixie blurted. “Bobby found an old silver dollar on the commonl He found an old metal button in the woods, tool A silver dollar, a button, and a Japanese yen,” she said slowly. “They’re all things that were inside Hoppy. Hoppy was hidden in the woods!”
    Honey caught her breath. “Are you sure?” she asked.
    “Positive,” Trixie declared. “Remember when Bobby got thrown off Mr. Pony? He said Mr. Pony got scared by a *big critter.’ I’ll bet that was Hoppyl The cylinder must have opened when he was moved, and some of the things inside fell out. Bobby found them near his tree house, so Hoppy must have been hidden somewhere around there.”
    “But why was he hidden?” Honey queried. “Why didn’t the thief just take him out of town?”
    Trixie pushed a hand through her curls, frowning. “I’m not sure,” she said slowly. “Maybe the police alert scared him. Or maybe he expected a reward to be offered and was just waiting for that.”
    “We should tell Sergeant Molinson about the things Bobby found,” Honey said.
    “We will,” Trixie agreed, “but first let’s get Bobby to show us where he found them, and where he saw the ’big critter.’ Then we can give them to Sergeant Molinson and tell him—”
    “I’ll take that Japanese coin,” a man’s voice said from behind them. “Hand it over, please.”
    Startled, Trixie and Honey whirled around. “The man from the bell tower!” Trixie gasped.
    “Don’t be frightened,” the man said in an even tone. “Just give me the coin.”
    When Trixie didn’t move, the man said, “All right…,” and reached under his coat.
    “No—don’t—” Honey whimpered.
    In a panic, Trixie threw the newspaper file in the man’s face, releasing a flurry of old clippings. “Run, Honey!” she shouted.
    Both girls dashed down the aisle and out of the room. They bounded up the stairs two at a time.
    “In here!” Trixie said, pulling Honey into a closet at the top of the stairs.
    Almost immediately they heard running footsteps coming up the stairs, past the closet, and going out the side door of the library.
    After a moment, Trixie opened the closet door a crack and peeked out. Cautiously, she and Honey stepped from their hiding place.
    “Did—did he have a gun?” Honey asked shakily.
    Trixie managed a weak smile. “I didn’t want to wait and find out,” she said. “Don’t mention this to anybody till we ask Bobby where he found those things. As soon as we get home, I’m going to look at that old card Bobby gave us last night. I’ll bet it’s Mayor Davis’s business card.”
    Honey sighed. “All right,” she said. “But if we go searching around in the woods, I want the boys to be with us.”
    “Right,” Trixie agreed. “Let’s go!”

Down in the Woods • 17

    WHEN TRIXIE AND HONEY turned their bicycles into the driveway at Crabapple Farm, they found the boys at work on Brian’s old jalopy.
    “Ah, just in time for lunch,” Mart said, wiping his hands on a greasy rag. “How did you fare the lancinations of the periodon’tal practitioner?”
    “If you’re asking about the dentist,” Honey said, “we both did fine—no cavities.”
    “Never mind about that,” Trixie blurted. “Wait till you hear what we found out at the library.” She told about the artifacts that had been placed inside the weather vane and about her suspicion that Sammy had