The Red Trailer Mystery

came out abruptly on the main highway about twenty yards south of the entrance to the Smith farm.
    "That hired hand wasn’t Jim," Trixie said, ‘Taut the big brother Mrs. Smith said was so husky and knew his way around a farm is. Why, Honey, she even called the little brother ‘Joe.’ I didn’t put two and two together until Mrs. Darnell was talking about how much Joeanne is like her father. She said both of them have hair that grows like weeds, and I thought to myself, ‘Now both of them have haircuts, too.’ And right at that moment I got a mental picture of Joeanne in those patched blue jeans, without her pigtails. And I saw at once that anybody would take her for a thin little boy."
    Honey covered her face with her hands. "Oh, Trixie," she moaned, "we were dumb. Do you think it’s too late? Do you think Jim may already have left the Smiths’?"
    "Not Jim," Trixie said firmly. "He’d never leave until the bean crop is in. They couldn’t even go down in the garden yesterday after the rain for fear of spreading rust through the beans, but now that the sun has dried off everything, you can be sure that Jim is down there right now, picking away like mad." Honey began to laugh, rather hysterically, Trixie thought. "I can’t stand it," she cried, grabbing Trixie’s hand and starting to run. "To think we were sitting in Mrs. Smith’s kitchen yesterday eating chocolate layer cake and drinking spiced grape juice while Jim was only half an acre away!"
    "Jim and Joeanne," Trixie agreed breathlessly as Honey dragged her into the Smith driveway. "I was only half listening to Mrs. Smith when she went on and on about the two boys. I was thinking about the abandoned barn and how it must be down in the hollow below the old orchard. The sky was clouding over, and I wanted to get away so we could explore before it poured."
    "If we’d only waited a few more minutes," Honey gasped. "Jim and Joeanne would have come up from the garden at the first drop of rain."
    "That’s right," Trixie said, forcing Honey to slow down to a walk. "Let’s get our breath before we barge into the house. Mrs. Smith will think we’re crazy." She mopped her face with her handkerchief, and Honey followed suit.
    It was terribly hot and sultry, and the sun was shining through a haze that hung over the fields below the farmhouse.
    "It can’t be later than ten o’clock," Honey said thoughtfully. "Maybe it’s still too wet to pick beans. Maybe they’re—"
    And then they saw them—Jim and Joeanne, strolling among the gnarled apple trees in the old orchard. Perched on Jim’s shoulder, just as though he belonged there, was Jimmy Crow, looking as smug as if he had solved all the mysteries himself.
    Honey stood stock-still, too thrilled to move for a minute, and even Trixie could only get out a weak yell. "Jim," she called and then more loudly, "Jim!
    Jim! It’s Honey and Trixie."
    Joeanne, looking for all the world like a miniature copy of her father before Mrs. Smith had closely cropped his hair, grabbed Jim’s hand and edged closer to him as Trixie and Honey ran toward them.
    "It’s those girls," Trixie heard her murmur. "The ones I told you about. Sally stole their puppy, but she didn’t mean any harm; she just doesn’t understand." But Jim wasn’t listening. A broad grin spread over his freckled face. "Well, I never!" he shouted. "You two tracked me down in less than a week, you sleuths, you!"
    Honey seized one of his strong brown hands and shook it while Trixie clutched Jim’s arm excitedly. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time, and now that they had found him, she couldn’t think of a word to say.
    Jimmy Crow broke the silence with a loud, hoarse "Caw" of disgust and flew away, flapping his wings, to the top of a tall maple tree. He glared down at them jealously as Trixie and Honey and Jim all began talking at once.
    It was bedlam.
    "It sure is good to see you girls again—"
    "Oh, Jim, my father went to school with your father, and—"
    "You don’t have to worry about Jonesy anymore, Jim, because Mr. Rainsford—"
    And then Joeanne chimed in, making the confusion even worse.
    "I saw you riding down a road on horseback and hid in the woods—"
    At last Jim held up his hand for silence. "One at a time, puh-leeze," he commanded. "And is there any reason why we can’t have a second breakfast in Mrs. Smith’s nice sunny kitchen while we talk?"
    "Wonderful," Trixie cried. "She’s such a darling I know she’ll love