The Mystery on Cobbett's Island

morning.”
    “You’re right, old girl,” he crowed. “It just may haul around, and if it does, we may have time to use the spinny again. Let’s get it ready, anyway. Try not to let Cap see you go forward so he won’t catch on to our little plan.”
    Cap apparently didn’t notice the activity on Star Fire. Peter kept his eyes on the water to watch for any ripple that would indicate a shift in the wind. Sure enough, before very long it got very puffy, and Jim and Peter had a hard time keeping the sails full and drawing. Then it settled down to a steady blow from behind them.
    “Spinnaker!” Peter yelled as he saw his hunch was right. Trixie had the sail up in a flash. Star Fire leaped again and rushed for the finish line.
    “We’ve got him!” Peter shouted exultantly. “We caught old Cap napping!”
    He was right. Cap had missed the trick. He had been so intent on overtaking Star Fire, he hadn’t noticed how variable the wind had become, so his crew wasn’t ready to take advantage of it as Peter had done. When he saw Peter’s strategy, his crew tried frantically to get the huge sail up, but it was too late. Star Fire raced across the line, and the gun, signaling the winner, roared again from the club.
    Before its echoes had died, Trixie, Peter, and Jim began yelling and laughing and slapping each other on the back.
    “Jeepers!” Trixie cried. ‘Tll never, never be the same again!”
    “What a race!” Jim yelled.
    “And what a crew!” Peter added. “Trix, I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: You’re absolutely super.”
    “You can say that again,” Jim said seriously. Trixie felt unexpected tears rising. She tried to laugh off their praise as she started to get the sails down.
    “Now I know what they mean when people talk about tears of joy,” she said to herself, “but I don’t know whether mine are because we won or because of what Peter and Jim said. Or do I?”

Another Clue ● 14

    EVERYONE CROWDED AROUND to congratulate Peter as he walked up the dock, and he was not slow in giving his crew a big share of the credit. Jim and Trixie found themselves the center of a crowd of admirers as they went up on the porch where sandwiches and soft drinks were being served. Cap, in particular, sought them out to tell them what a fine job they had done.
    “Don’t let my crew hear me,” he whispered good-naturedly to Pete, “but they aren’t as good as Jim and Trixie, and they’ve been racing with me for three years.”
    “Oh, we were just lucky,” Trixie said. “You know what they say about beginners, and, besides, Peter really made it all seem so easy.”
    The other Bob-Whites soon joined them, and after they had finished eating, they said good-bye to Cap and the others and headed for the Icebox.
    “Why don’t you stick around for a while?” Cap urged. “We might get up a game of tennis.”
    “It sounds tempting, Cap,” Trixie replied, “but we’ve just got to go and see El. We haven’t had a minute since he broke his leg. See you later, and I hope we can get together for a game before we leave.”

    Elmer lived in a neat little cottage near the center of the island. As they drove up to the curb, Brian asked, “Don’t you think maybe just one of us should go to the door and inquire how he is first? He might not want all seven of us barging in at once.”
    “Why don’t you go?” Honey suggested. “After all, you’re the one who really took care of him when he had the accident.”
    “Okay,” Brian agreed. He jumped out of the car and ran down the brick path to the front door. Soon after he rapped the little anchor knocker, the door was opened by a stout, pleasant woman in an attractive housedress and a big white apron.
    Brian had no sooner introduced himself than Mrs. Thomas said El had seen him coming and wanted all of them to come right in. She hustled Brian inside and was off down the path, taking her apron off as she went, to tell the others they should all go right in and see her husband.
    “Land sakes, El hasn’t talked about another thing since he got hurt but how you helped him. He was hoping you’d come by, but he knows how busy you young folks are, being here such a short time and ail.” Although the cottage looked quite small from the outside, the living room was spacious, and the Bob-Whites, after greeting El, were invited to “sit a spell.”
    “It’ll do El so much good to have visitors. He gets restless, not being able to get out and around