The Mystery on the Mississippi

What’s an educated woman like her doing in a job where she has to work so hard?”
    “She wanted to get on the river. You heard her say that. Just the same as we did. It’s the only way she can get to see the country from the river. That’s what she wants for her husband’s book.”
    “I wonder what he’s like,” Trixie said thoughtfully. “He must look like a normal man, of course, but who is he, really?”
    “An author, I suppose, just as Mrs. Aguilera said.” Trixie didn’t seem to hear Honey. “She said she was so tired, and now she’s going all over the boat with us. It’s just odd, that’s all. I can’t figure her out.”
    “Oh, Trixie! She wants to be kind to us. Maybe she has daughters of her own. Sometimes I think Mart may be right—that we’re always imagining things.”
    “All right. You just wait and see. Something very
    strange is going on around here.”
    “It’s funny, but I have the same feeling, Trixie. Oh, not about Mrs. Aguilera. I like her. But there’s something in the air, as sure’s you’re born.”

Moonlight Music • 5

    HONEY AND TRIXIE, led by Mrs. Aguilera, climbed the few steps to the pilothouse. Captain Martin, seated in front of the levers, greeted the girls cordially. Then he looked inquiringly at Mrs. Aguilera.
    “I’m showing the young ladies around, sir,” she said. “They didn’t seem to know where to go. The sandwiches are made, and dinner is under way.”
    “It’s so beautiful up here,” Trixie sighed. The pilothouse windows were open. The boat drifted slowly, its engines little more than idling. They were hugging the shore so closely that they could hear birds chattering in the willows. From beyond the trees, a bobwhite whistled, clear and loud. Without thinking, Trixie answered the call with a shrill bob-white!
    Captain Martin, startled, looked up quickly. Trixie covered her mouth and giggled. Honey laughed, too. Then Trixie explained. “You see, the name of our club at home in Sleepyside, New York, is the Bob-Whites, and the call of the bobwhite is our club whistle. We all belong to the club—Jim, Brian, Dan, Mart, Honey, and I. Oh, yes, and another girl, Diana Lynch. She couldn’t come with us. The Bob-Whites always answer the call when we hear it, and that’s what I did, without thinking.”
    “Interesting, I must say,” Captain Martin remarked, evidently still a little confused. “Now, right ahead you can get a clear view of the river.” He pointed way ahead, past the tow. “On your right you’ll see Cahokia. It used to be inhabited by Indians —mound builders. If you’ll look through these binoculars, you can see some of the mounds. Cahokia was the first settlement in Illinois; it is older than Chicago. The old paddle-wheeler Shepherdess struck a snag just about here, in 1844. Seventy people went down on her. In 1849, the Bates caught fire, then drifted toward shore and set a whole fleet of boats burning. Happened right over there.” He shook his head at the thought.
    Fascinated, the girls listened to river history and legend, while Mrs. Aguilera made notes for her husband’s book.
    The captain showed how the boat controls worked. He even let Trixie move one of the levers and watch the tow respond to her slight touch.
    “You’ll find plenty to do, girls,” he told them when they thanked him and started down the stairs. “Hunt around anywhere you want. Nothing can harm you. Just watch your step when you walk on the barges. Go way to the end if you want. The boys are halfway there now. They look like pygmies from here, don’t they? If the cook doesn’t have time to go with you, you can easily get around by yourselves.”
    “We don’t want to take your time,” Trixie told Mrs. Aguilera politely. “As Captain Martin said, we’ll just hunt around by ourselves.”
    “Oh, I have plenty of time. I like to go over the boat and tow myself. I’ll go with you, at least along the catwalks on the barges. It may be safer if I do.”
    “You don’t know the places we’ve been,” Trixie began.
    “Or the risks Trixie’s taken!” Honey added quickly. “Jim—he’s my brother—often calls her ‘Intrepid Trixie.’ ”
    “So, you see, we really can get along without—” Trixie interrupted sharply.
    She stopped suddenly as Honey nudged her. Startled, Trixie continued. “Er... that is, we’ll just stop in our cabin and get our scarfs. The wind is coming up.” Trixie hurried off, with Honey close behind her.
    “Now,