The Mystery off Glen Road

able to go near the paths for days, and our week is up on Saturday. We can’t accept fifty dollars from Miss Trask then if we didn’t at least try to catch the poacher.”
    “I know; I know,” Honey moaned. “But don’t you realize, Trix, that we’re riding the two new horses, Starlight and Susie? If we get lost, they—”
    “Gleeps,” Trixie interrupted in dismay. “I should have figured that out this morning, before we patrolled the other side of the preserve on Strawberry and Lady.”
    “Besides,” Honey continued, just as though Trixie hadn’t interrupted, “I really don’t think there is any poacher.”
    “Anyway,” Trixie went on, just as though Honey hadn’t said anything, “we’re not going to get lost. I’ve got a compass.” She pushed back the sleeve of her sweater and displayed a wrist compass. “See? It’s really Bobby’s, but he won’t know the diff.”
    “Bobby’s?” Honey stared in amazement. “If it belongs to him, it can’t be any good. He breaks just about everything he gets his hands on.”
    “That’s the point,” Trixie said, giggling. “And I’m not talking about a point of the compass. Aunt Alicia gave this to Bobby on his birthday, but it cost a lot of money, so Moms has been keeping it for him until he’s old enough to take care of it properly.”
    “Oh,” Honey said. “Does your mother know that you borrowed it? Suppose we break it. It would be just our luck.”
    Trixie grinned. “No, Moms doesn’t know I borrowed it. I meant to tell her, but right after I strapped it on my wrist, she came in and reminded me that I was supposed to take care of Bobby this afternoon. That made me forget everything. But she won’t mind. I mean, it’s been sitting on the mantelpiece for ages, so anybody but Bobby could borrow it. It isn’t as though it had been locked up in a safe or something. It’s not that valuable.”
    Honey laughed. “Well, just don’t fall off Susie and break it. I know Bobby. He doesn’t mind breaking his own things, but if anybody else touches them—well, revenge is sweet.”
    They had reached the clearing at the fork now and stopped their horses. “You take this path,” Trixie said, pointing, “and I’ll take the one that leads to the spot where I found the dead deer. That’s where I think we’ll find clues.”
    “Oh, fine,” Honey jeered. “I have no intention of leaving you for one minute. You’ve got the compass —remember?”
    For answer, Trixie unstrapped it and handed it to her. “Okay. Meet you back here in about ten minutes.”
    But Honey refused to accept the compass. “Not me. I’d be sure to break it. Anyway, I can’t read all those queer symbols. Besides, I think you have to know where north is first and face in that direction, don’t you?”
    “That’s easy,” Trixie replied. “You’re facing north now, because the sunset is on your left.” Honey twisted her head around in a semicircle. “The light seems to be all over the place. That’s the trouble with it. It doesn’t stay put in one neat little spot. I just don’t trust it—or compasses.”
    “Oh, Honey,” Trixie cried impatiently. “The compass is supposed to figure all those things out for you. If you just lay it on a flat rock, the arrow will point to north.”
    “What good is that going to do me if I get lost?” Honey demanded. “I’d never have the luck to be near a flat rock at that moment. And even if I did, knowing where north is wouldn’t do me any good. If I get lost, I certainly want to get back home, not end up somewhere up around the North Pole.” Trixie howled with laughter. “I guess you’re right. This compass isn’t going to do either of us a bit of good. I can’t understand the symbols, either, and I feel just the way you do about north. If we can’t travel in a straight line, knowing where the points of the compass are wouldn’t do us a bit of good.”
    “And these paths,” Honey agreed emphatically, “do anything but travel in a straight line. Even if we could understand what that compass was trying to tell us, we’d have to get off and lay it on a flat rock every five minutes. Pretty soon it would be too dark to find a rock, let alone read the compass.” Trixie strapped it back on her wrist. “When Bobby’s old enough to figure it all out, I hope he explains it to me. Brian and Jim and Mart are over my head when it comes to directions. So I guess we’d better stick together, Honey.” She nudged Susie