The Mystery off Old Telegraph Road

discourage vandals. But he will supply the refreshments to be served at the first rest stop in the clearing. He’s also volunteered to let us have Tom Delanoy s help, and the big car, to pick up any cyclists who get tired or have bike trouble along the route.”
    “Oh, this whole thing is going to be just perfectly perfect!” Honey said. “Isn’t it wonderful how it’s all working out?”
    “Except that I didn’t get hold of Nick,” Trixie said gloomily. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to try again tomorrow.”
    “There’s still plenty of time, Trix,” Jim reassured her. “And speaking of time, I’d say it’s time to start our picnic!”
    “Second the motion!” exclaimed the always-hungry Mart.
    “Wait till you see all the food Miss Trask had the cook pack for us,” Honey said. “I told her anybody would think there were going to be eighty people at this picnic, instead of eight.”
    “Your math is as bad as ever, Honey,” Trixie told her friend. “There are only seven Bob-Whites, remember?”
    Honey hesitated a moment before she explained. “I invited Ben to join us, Trix. I told him to come down about half an hour after we did so we’d have time to finish our meeting.”
    Trixie tried not to let her dislike for Ben Riker show in her face. After all, it was Honey and Jim’s picnic.
    “The more the merrier, I always say,” Brian said cheerfully. “Let’s see all that food, Honey.” Trixie was happy to be able to busy herself with unpacking the huge picnic hamper, so that she didn’t have to worry about whether Ben Riker would manage to spoil the fun of the picnic.
    Miss Trask had in fact provided a huge picnic supper. There was a gallon of freshly squeezed lemonade, a huge bowl of raw vegetables and a carton of dip for munching, two packages of fresh buns, three large hamburger patties ready to be cooked for each of the picnickers, and a chocolate cake for dessert.
    While Jim started the fire in the fire bowl that the Bob-Whites had made for their cookouts,
    Trixie, Honey, and Di set the paper plates and plastic “silverware” out on the table. Then Dan and Mart tended the hamburgers while the others waited, crunching their way through the raw vegetables.
    “This raw cauliflower is delicious,” Trixie said. “Moms always cooks it with a cheese sauce, and that’s good, too, but I’ve never eaten it this way.”
    “Isn’t it yummy?” Honey picked out a carrot stick and took a bite. “Miss Trask says raw vegetables like these are a much better ’crunchy’ food than all those snacks that are fried in oil.”
    “They don’t have as many calories, either,” Di Lynch said. Di was the prettiest of the three girls. She had dark, almost blue-black hair that fell to her shoulders and large violet eyes. She was aware of her good looks, and she was far more concerned with watching her figure than Honey and Trixie were with watching theirs.
    Dan Mangan deposited a plateful of hamburger patties on the table. “Now that you’ve saved all those calories on your raw vegetables, you can spend them on these tasty morsels,” he said in a teasing way.
    Di’s talk of low-calorie food was forgotten as she grabbed a hamburger bun, put one of the delicious-looking hamburgers on it, and loaded it down with catsup, mustard, and relish. Trixie,
    Honey, and Dan followed suit, and Brian took his turn tending the remaining hamburgers while they finished cooking.
    For a few minutes, the only conversation among the young people consisted of mumbled requests for more lemonade or another hamburger and bun.
    Just as Brian put the last of the cooked patties on the table and started to construct a hamburger for himself, Ben Riker sauntered up to the table.
    “Hi, guys,” he drawled. “These eats look good.” He helped himself to Brian’s hamburger. “Thanks for fixing my burger for me, buddy.”
    Typical, Trixie thought, for Ben Riker to show up after all the work is done, when there’s nothing left to do except for the easy part—eating. She looked around at the others in the group. Honey’s eyes were lowered to avoid looking at any of her friends. Mart was looking at Ben with thinly concealed outrage. The other Bob-Whites were suddenly concentrating very hard on their food.
    Jim broke the silence by telling Ben that the bikeathon looked like a sure thing, thanks to all the cooperation they were getting. Jim said he felt that it was bound to be a big success. “Would you like to ride in the