The Mystery on Cobbett's Island

please.”
    “Mercy, no,” Mrs. Hall answered as she packed the doughnuts in a cardboard box. “It’s never been anything but medicine for him. He’s dreamed of being a doctor from the time he was just a little tyke, and now he has one more year to go. It’s been a struggle, but he’s made it this far.”
    “That’s what I’m aiming for, too. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor,” Brian said. “I know how he feels.”
    “Well, it’s a fine ambition, but be prepared for years of hard work and some disappointments, too.” Mrs. Hall nodded slowly, and her face clouded.
    “What do you mean ‘disappointments’?” asked Trixie, sensing that Eddie’s mother had something special in mind.
    “Well, you take my boy. He has one more year, as I was saying, and a partial scholarship. I help out with what I can, but this year his schedule is so heavy he won’t be able to take odd jobs to earn his living expenses.” She paused, then finally continued, “He’s just about decided to take a year off to earn the money and then go back.”
    “Oh, that would be a shame, losing a whole year!” exclaimed Trixie. “Isn’t there any other way?”
    “He could borrow the money, but he won’t go into debt, and I can’t say I blame him. My husband always said we should keep clear of debt, and I’ve taught Eddie the same thing. Here’s his picture,” she said proudly, opening a little gold locket and removing it from a chain around her neck.
    “He’s really good-looking!” exclaimed Diana as she passed the locket around for the others to see.
    “He’s the image of his father when he was the same age,” Mrs. Hall continued. She reached behind her and, from a drawer under one of the cabinets, brought out a faded photograph and passed it over the counter for them to see. She glanced at it lovingly.
    “Yes, that’s my Ed,” she added sadly. “He was lost at sea. when Eddie was just a baby, so my boy never knew him, but they’re a lot alike.”
    The bell over the door rang again, announcing another customer, so after deciding on an assortment of cookies and some brownies to eat on the way home, they bade Mrs. Hall good-bye and started to leave.
    “Do come back again,” she said, and then, calling to Brian, she added, “By the way, if you want to know more about medical school, drop in and talk to Eddie. He’s coming home tomorrow for a few days between exams.”
    “Thanks a lot, Mrs. Hall,” Brian replied. “I’d like nothing better.”
    “And bring all your friends,” she added cordially. Trixie could hardly wait to get into the car before her excitement broke forth. “That’s Ed’s wife, all right, and she couldn’t be nicer! We’ve just got to find the money, or I'll—”
    “Or you’ll what, Trix?” Diana asked with a smile. “Oh, you know, Di,” Trixie answered. “I'll simply die!”
    “In addition to being the means of saving Trixie’s life, can you imagine what a thousand dollars would mean to Ethel and Eddie?” Mart commented.
    “It couldn’t come at a better time,” Peter added. “Let’s hope we’re lucky.”
    “We’ll need more than luck, I’m afraid,” Trixie sighed. “We’ll need the brains of every B.W.G. member, and you, too, Peter. Tomorrow’s our last chance!”
    As they were leaving Easthampton, Peter pointed out an old weathered, shingled saltbox house over-looking the village green and pond. “That’s the boy-hood home of John Payne, who wrote ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ and the house next to it was built by old Fish-hook Mulford. They say that when he went to England to protest the tax on whale oil, he heard there were a lot of pickpockets in London. So what did he do but line his pockets with fishhooks! No one seems to know how he got his own money out, but it makes a good story, anyway.”
    When they got to Sag Harbor, Trixie checked her wristwatch and found it was only four-thirty, so there was time to stop at the Whaling Museum before going back to Cobbett’s Island.
    The large, square, white building had been designed originally as a private home, and, like so many residences built in the mid-1800’s, it showed the influence of Greek architecture in the two-storied Corinthian columns and the decorative moldings. The enormous jawbone of a whale had been set up to arch the main doorway when the building was converted to a museum. Once inside, the Bob-Whites scattered through the various rooms. There were many interesting collections of antique