The Mystery off Glen Road

village without wings. There are huge trees blocking every one of the roads.”
    “But,” Mrs. Belden put in, “the repair crews have been working since midnight, so everything will be back to normal soon. Run along, dear,” she added to Trixie, “and have fun. As soon as we have electricity, we’re both going to have to work like beavers.”
    Trixie gratefully scampered off up the path to the Manor House. The other Bob-Whites were on the veranda, munching large turkey sandwiches. They all looked so dismal that Trixie couldn’t help greeting them with “Yesterday there was a wedding; today there’s a wake.”
    “If you’re referring to the wake of the storm,” Jim said sourly, “you’re right.” He moved closer to Honey to make room for Trixie on the glider. “Here I am, loaded with money, but I can’t get hold of a cent until Dad comes back from Florida.”
    “Oh, for pete’s sake, Jim,” Brian exploded, “don’t start all that again. Sure, we all know that you’re rich, but you inherited that money. Why do you keep on forgetting that the rule of our club is that we can’t use any money that one of us didn’t earn ?” Jim grinned. “I’m not forgetting, Brian, old boy.
    But the money you want to donate, you earned for the purpose of buying a car. Not for the purpose of repairing one slightly wrecked clubhouse.”
    “That’s right,” Honey said. “Brian’s just got to have that car. When Daddy realizes that it was our clubhouse that kept the blue spruce from being blown to the ground and uprooted, he’ll give us all the money we want for fixing it up. The clubhouse, I mean. Not the spruce.” She jumped up. “I’m going to borrow the money from Miss Trask right now and stop all this silly arguing.”
    Gently Jim pulled her back down beside him. “You’ll do nothing of the kind, little stepsister,” he said.
    “I’m not your stepsister!”
    Trixie could tell that kind-hearted Honey was very close to tears. Trixie herself felt like crying. They couldn’t accept the money that Brian had saved for his jalopy, and yet what else could they do?
    “I’m your very own full-blooded, adopted sister,” Honey was storming. As usual, when she was on the verge of tears, she wasn’t making much sense. “What I mean is,” she told Jim, “when we formed our club, we decided that we’d all be brothers and sisters. One big family was what we said, so—”
    “Exactly,” Brian interrupted quietly. “So, Honey, my fifty bucks belongs to all of us. A jalopy wouldn’t do all of us any good, because I’m the only one who can legally do any driving.” He started for the French doors to the study where the phone was. “I’m going to call up and order the wood and shingles we’ll need, right now. A lot of homes were damaged by that storm. If we don’t get our little order in right away, it may be months before we get any supplies. What with snow and sleet....” He shrugged, went inside, and closed the doors behind him.
    “Well, that’s that,” Mart said. “Mr. Lytell said he’d only hold the car until next Saturday. Even if all of us could get fabulously high-paying jobs for working after school between now and then, we couldn’t earn fifty smackers.”
    “We could rob a bank,” Honey suggested tearfully. “In fact, I think I will. All by myself. I’ll use Bobby’s water pistol. It’s been done before, according to what I’ve read in the newspapers.”
    “Oh, fine,” Jim said sarcastically. “Then we’ll have to raise bail in order to get you out of jail.”
    “This is no time for rhymes,” Trixie interrupted. “I have a plan that makes sense.”
    Mart covered his face with both hands. “Oh, no, sis, not one of those. We’ll all end up in jail.”
    “That’s right,” Jim agreed. “Every time Trixie even thinks, we all get involved in a mystery—”
    “Which,” Honey put in emphatically, “Trixie always seems to solve, along with our problems. I think we ought to listen to her plan. Since you won’t let me borrow the money from Miss Trask or rob a bank—”
    Brian came back then, and Trixie said quickly, “Borrowing from Miss Trask is what gave me the idea. Mr. Fleagle is quitting, isn’t he?”
    “That’s right,” Jim said. “He left, bag and baggage, last evening during the lull in the storm.”
    “Well,” Trixie continued, “what’s to prevent us from taking over his job? For a week, anyway, until Miss Trask and Regan can manage to hire