The secret of the Mansion

Mother had said his place was called Ten Acres, so I came up here." He grinned. "I tell you, I was pretty disappointed when nobody answered my knock, and I saw how rundown the place was. But I was so tired I climbed in through the window and flopped down on this old mattress. So, here I am."
    "Golly," Trixie gasped. "Haven’t you had anything to eat since Wednesday?"
    He shook his head. "A few berries I found, that’s all."
    Honey scrambled to her feet. "We’ll go right home now and get you something. You must be starving."
    "I could do with a little something," he confessed, patting his stomach. "I planned to shoot a rabbit and roast it on an outdoor spit; but, now that you mention it, I’m so hungry I doubt if I could wait long enough to skin and clean it."
    "I’ll be right back," Trixie declared, starting for the window. "My house is just down in the hollow over there."
    "Hold on," Jim called out. "How’re you going to get food out of the house without someone getting suspicious?"
    "Oh, oh," Trixie admitted. "I never thought about that."
    "I know," Honey broke in, "I’ll tell Miss Trask we want to have a picnic in the woods. The cook’ll pack enough food for a regiment, and we can bring it up here and have our lunch with Jim."
    "Wonderful!" Trixie reached into a back pocket and produced a crushed, half-melted candybar. "Will this keep you going till then, Jim?" she asked, offering the candy.
    Jim wolfed down the chocolate and unashamedly licked the paper clean. "Thanks," he began and then stopped as the neigh of a frightened horse broke the stillness of the outside air. The three of them rushed to the open window, and, over the top of the hedge, they could see Lady and Strawberry rearing and plunging in fright.
    Something was crashing wildly in the underbrush, something that was apparently caught in the tangled vines of the thicket. Jim turned back swiftly for the gun and vaulted through the window. Trixie hesitated a moment, then followed. Just as she got near the hedge, whatever it was broke free and dashed away through the woods.
    "What was it?" Trixie panted as she reached Jim’s side. "Did you see it?"
    Jim had raised the shotgun to his shoulder and was sighting along the barrel. "It was a dog," he said as he slowly lowered the gun. "Wish I could have shot it."
    "Shot it?" Trixie was aghast. "You wouldn’t shoot a poor helpless dog, Jim Frayne, just because it frightened the horses?"
    Jim shook his head. "It looked like a mad dog to me," he said soberly. "I’m almost sure I saw foam dripping from its muzzle."
    Just then a child screamed from the depths of the woods. The helpless scream came again, and Trixie heard her name called in a high-pitched, terrified voice.
    She felt her knees buckle under her. "It’s Bobby," she gasped. "Bobby, alone in the woods with a mad dog!"
     

The Brass Key • 4
     
    SOMEHOW TRIXIE’S trembling legs carried her through the thicket. She raced along the bridle path, tripping and stumbling and shouting, "Bobby, Bobby!" at the top of her lungs. And then she saw him, and as relief flooded over her, rage took its place, for Bobby was sitting calmly under a tree, grinning from ear to ear.
    Bobby Belden!" she gasped. "What do you mean by screaming like that when nothing’s wrong?"
    He tossed his silky curls. "I couldn’t find you, and I want to splore, too. So I screamed. I knew you’d come if I screamed."
    Trixie put out her arms to shake him, but then, because she really was so glad he was safe, she pulled him to her instead and hugged him tightly. "You’re a bad boy, Bobby," she scolded. "Did you run away from Miss Trask?"
    Bobby laid his cheek against hers, all innocence. "No, I got hungry, so I told her I had to go home for lunch. I did go home, too, but Mummy said it wasn’t quite ready; so I came up here, ’cause I saw the horses. But then when I got here, I couldn’t see them anymore." His blue eyes began to cloud, and Trixie realized with a tug at her heartstrings that the little boy really had been frightened. "I guess I got sort of losted," he admitted, "and I was so tired, after climbing up the hill, I just sat down and screamed." He grinned suddenly. "Hey, who was that running behind you, and why did he sneak away when he saw me?"
    Then Trixie knew that Jim must have followed her, but, seeing that Bobby was safe, he had slipped away. Bobby, she decided, must never guess Jim’s secret, because Bobby could never keep any secret at all. "It must have