The secret of the Mansion

oars into the oarlocks. At first they made very little headway, going mostly in circles; but, in a few minutes, Trixie had the boat under control, and they rowed smoothly across the lake.
    "It’s easy as pie," she said as she guided the boat into the cove, "but I’m hot all over again, now. I’m going to dive right in and get cooled off," she added as she climbed onto a big flat rock.
    "Be careful, Trixie," Honey cried. "It may be shallow here!"
    But the warning came too late. As Trixie cut through the water, her arms scraped against the gravelly bottom. Then she felt a sharp pain in her head, and everything went black. When she opened her eyes again, she was sprawling upon the bank, half-in and half-out of the lake. The branches of the overhanging willow trees swayed dizzily above her, and she felt as though she were going to be sick. Her head ached as badly as it had when she’d had the measles, and when she drew her hand away from her cheek her fingers were sticky with blood. As the buzzing sound in her ears began to fade, she could hear Honey saying something in a voice that seemed very far away.
    Trixie closed her eyes to shut out the sight of the swaying branches and asked in a weak voice, "What happened?"
    Honey’s voice came closer. "You must have hit your head on an underwater rock. It’s only a few feet deep around here. I dragged you out by your hair. Do you feel better now?"
    Trixie tried to nod her head but it had become too large and heavy to move. Gradually, the dizzy sensation left her, and she sat up, holding her throbbing head in both hands. "That was a dumb thing to do," she said sheepishly. "Diving off before I found out how deep it was."
    Honey filled her bathing cap with water and washed the blood off Trixie’s face. "It’s not a very deep cut," she said, "but you’re going to have a big bruise on your temple. It’s already swelling." Suddenly Trixie laughed. "Here I am all covered with Wood and you're washing it off. How did it happen you didn’t faint?"
    "Gosh," Honey gasped in amazement. "That’s right, I didn’t I guess I just didn’t have time to think about it." She grinned. "I never felt less like fainting in my life. How do you feel?"
    Trixie opened her mouth to say, "Better," when she caught a glimpse of something yellow skulking through the trees on the hill. "Oh, Honey!" she gasped. "There’s that stray dog again. See him up there by that big oak?"
    Honey stifled a scream. "He’s coming down here. Oh, Trixie, what’ll we do?"
    Trixie stood up dizzily. The boat had floated away from the cove during the excitement, and she knew she was too weak to swim out after it. Honey stood frozen in her tracks, ankle deep in the water. Trixie gave her a little push. "You’ve got to get the boat," she ordered. "I can’t make it, now. You’ve got to!" She held her breath as Honey hesitated, then obediently plunged into the lake, flailing the water with her fast crawl strokes. Trixie lost sight of the dog for a moment, and then he appeared down on the path under the weeping willows. A mother duck quacked loudly to her babies and ushered them into the lake as the yellow dog slunk past Honey was pushing the rowboat back now, churning a wake behind her with her legs, and Trixie waded out to meet her. Her knees were knocking together from weakness and fright, and her head ached so she could hardly think. The dog hadn’t gone after the ducks, she reasoned, so perhaps he couldn’t swim. That was their only hope.
    The boat scraped against the big flat rock. "You get in first," Trixie ordered, holding it steady as Honey clambered over the side. "You’ve got to row." Somehow, she hoisted herself onto the rock.
    Honey was trembling so she could hardly get the oars in place. "Can you make it?" she asked over one shoulder. "Oh, Trixie, I can’t row."
    "You’ll learn," Trixie said shortly as she slid from the rock into the stem.
    The dog had caught sight of them now, and he broke into a run. With all the strength she could muster, Trixie leaned out and pushed the boat away from the rock. It shot out of the cove just as the ugly mongrel plunged off the path to the water’s edge. He began to bark threateningly and leaped from the cove to the big flat rock.
    Honey struggled desperately with the oars, too confused to follow Trixie’s directions. The boat went round and round in what seemed like never-ending circles, getting nearer and nearer to the cove instead of away from it. "Suppose he