The Red Trailer Mystery

into the village in the station wagon and pick up another collar and have another tag made."
    And so it was almost three o’clock when they finally set off on the Albany Post Road, driving north along the Hudson River.
    At first Trixie and Honey rode in the trailer because Trixie had to examine carefully everything inside the house on wheels. Trixie was surprised that 200-odd square feet of floor space could hold so much. The back door, up one short step, opened into a combination living room and bedroom with a cozy little dining alcove. Beyond that was a tiled kitchenette, which Honey said her father referred to as the "galley." The glistening modem bathroom was equipped with a glassed-in shower, fluorescent lighting, and a compact mirrored cabinet over the washbasin.
    In the galley were an electric stove and refrigerator, and a stainless steel sink and worktable unit. The shelves and cabinets, which were covered with bright blue oilcloth, were filled with all sorts of canned goods. The floor was covered with spotless blue and silver linoleum,
    Wide-eyed, Trixie wandered back to the stem of the Swan. On one side was a convertible davenport where Miss Trask would sleep, Honey said, and on the other, trim double-deck bunks.
    "I’d like the top bunk," Trixie cried and then added ashamedly, "unless you want it, Honey."
    Honey was unpacking suitcases and stowing their contents on the shelves of compact cabinets built in behind sliding doors under the lower bunk. She looked up with a smile. "No, thanks. I’d be sure to get seasick or something." She pointed to a mirrored closet in one corner of the combination living room and bedroom. "There are plenty of hangers if you want to put anything in there."
    Trixie was still too stunned to unpack. "I never saw anything like this, Honey," she breathed. "It must have cost a mint, at the very least!"
    Honey shrugged. "I’ve seen much more luxurious ones, and Mother thinks this is so uncomfortable she won’t travel in it. One of her friends has a coach that’s thirty-eight feet long and has four rooms. It’s air-conditioned, and I wish the Swan was. This is the hottest July I ever remember trying to live through!"
    "It is hot," Trixie admitted, sinking down on the plaid-cushioned divan, "But it’s not that I mind so much. It’s the humidity—it’s going to rain again before night, I'll bet."
    After the girls had unpacked, Miss Trask stopped at a gas station, and then they joined her in the tow car, a gleaming midnight-blue sedan.
    "I hope you don’t mind this snail’s pace," said Miss Trask from the front seat "I’m a cautious driver to begin with, and now I feel as though I were dragging an elephant behind us!"
    At six o’clock she said over her shoulder, "A nice little trailer camp is shown on the map just this side of Poughkeepsie. Let’s stop there for the night. We may not find another good place to park before dark, and I don’t like the idea of driving around the countryside after dark."
    "That reminds me," Honey said. "We haven’t told Trixie about the camp where were going to have our headquarters. It’s in the farming district far upstate," she went on to Trixie, "and it’s practically a little village, with a cafeteria that’s really the clubhouse, and an outdoor movie, and not far away is a riding academy. I thought we might rent horses and ride to the three different camps Jim said he was interested in. The trailer village, which is called Autoville, is only a few miles from Pine Hollow Camp and Wilson Ranch and just a good long ride to that other boys’ camp."
    "Rushkill Farms, you mean," Trixie said. "That’s the name of the third camp Jim mentioned. It’ll be swell fun riding horseback to them. I’ll drop Dad a postcard as soon as we reach Autoville and give him the phone number in case he needs to call me."
    "You can do it now," Honey said. "Miss Trask has already called the manager, who has offices in the cafeteria, to reserve parking space. When she telephoned Mother and Daddy yesterday, she gave them the number so they could have it in case—" She stopped and gazed out of the window at a glorious view of the Hudson River reflecting an orange and gold sunset
    Then they turned into a small trailer camp. Trixie watched excitedly from the backseat while Miss Trask made arrangements with the owner for overnight space and electricity and water.
    They parked beside another trailer, a big red one with Robin printed in small black letters on the