The secret of the Mansion

"The brass key, Jim. I’ll bet it fits." But Jim was already crawling back through the arbor, and in a minute or two he reappeared, making the passageway larger so that Honey could follow him. Honey winced away from the vines and was sure every time she put her hand down on a stick it would turn into a snake, so Jim had the door open by the time she joined the others.
    "I’m going in first," Jim told Trixie firmly as she started across the threshold. "I brought some matches. It’ll be safer if I investigate before you girls come in."
    Trixie opened her mouth to argue, but even in that half-light she could see the stern, stubborn set to Jim’s jaw, and waited impatiently until he called out, "Okay. Nothing but spiders and a few old squirrels’ nests."
    By the light of matches, they could see that the summerhouse was one long room with two large windows on each of the four sides.
    "It’s more like a detached sun porch than a house," Trixie said. "But I imagine it was cool out here in the evening when they had the windows open."
    Jim nodded. "And it’s on a higher spot of the grounds than the main floor of the big house, so they must have had a good view of the river from here." Honey, who was too afraid of spiders to venture far inside, said from the entrance, "I suppose your uncle let it get overgrown like this because he didn’t want to have anything around to remind him of the tragedy."
    "I suppose so," Jim agreed. "One thing is certain: Nobody would ever have discovered it if Trixie hadn’t barged right into it. Say, that gives me an idea. This’ll be a swell place to hide if anyone comes snooping around here. The old latticework is so rotten and covered with vines nobody would ever guess there was once an arbor leading to the door."
    "Do you think your stepfather may be looking for you now, Jim?" Honey asked.
    Jim shook his head. "Not yet. I know that guy. He’s telling everyone right now that I won’t have the courage to stay away very long, and he’s describing the licking I’m going to get when I do come cringing back." There was a note of such grim determination in Jim’s voice that both girls knew that, no matter what happened, Jim would never return to Jonesy.
    We’ve just got to find that money, Trixie thought desperately. Aloud she said, "Well, there’s obviously no hidden treasure in here, and I’d better go home now and see if Moms needs me."
    "I’ll go with you," Honey said. "But what about that dog, Jim?" she asked timidly. "Won’t he come back sometime?"
    "I don’t know," Jim said as he crawled after them to the clearing. "I got a good look at him just now, and I don’t think he’s got rabies. A mad dog wouldn’t have slunk away like that. Anyway, Queenie proved that he really is a coward, so I don’t think any of us would have any trouble scaring him away with a stick or a stone."
    Honey shivered. "But there was such a mean look in his yellow eyes!"
    "That look," Jim explained, "is really fear. The poor brute probably ran away from someone who treated him cruelly. It’s a funny thing," he went on.
    A wolf, unless it’s starving and is pretty sure you’re helpless, won’t attack you. But a wild dog that has been ill-treated will, simply because it’s afraid of being attacked first. I feel sorry for that mongrel," he added, more to himself than the the girls. "I know what it’s like to run away from someone who beats you for no reason at all."    ,
    "Oh, gosh, Jim," Trixie cried impulsively, "I hope your uncle gets well and takes you away from that old Jonesy."
    Jim shrugged. "It doesn’t look as though he will now, but don’t you worry about me. I’ll get along." He grinned. "And don’t bother to bring me any more food for a couple of days. I’ve enough to last me for quite a while." He waved good-bye to them from the window as they started down the path.
    "Jim is really wonderful," Honey said enthusiastically. "I’m not nearly as scared of that dog as I was. I almost feel sorry for the poor thing, myself."
    "Me, too," Trixie said. "Say, would you like a bike lesson, now, if Moms doesn’t need me?"
    "Oh, yes," Honey cried. "I’m dying to start."
    Trixie found a big cheerful-looking woman in a stiff white uniform bustling around in the kitchen. "Your little brothers doing fine," she told Trixie, "and your mother is taking a nap. I’m fixing sandwiches and soup for lunch."
    "I’ll help," Trixie offered.
    The nurse laid her hand on Trixie’s shoulder. "No,