The secret of the Mansion

for yelling ‘Yoo-hoo’—" She went off into more gales of uncontrollable laughter.
    Trixie couldn’t help laughing, too. Finally she sobered. "What you mean is that if we’d been neighbors in a big city we might never have met?"
    Honey shook her head up and down. "And wouldn’t that have been awful? Maybe not for you, but for me."
    "For me, too," Trixie said emphatically. "I have lots of friends who live in Sleepyside, but I hardly ever see them during the summer. They seem to forget that I’m alive when school closes. And the funny thing is, Honey," she added frankly, "although I’ve known those girls since we started in kindergarten together, I don’t like any of them half as much as I like you."
    Honey gulped and looked as though she were going to go from laughter to tears. "I—I—you—you," she stammered, then quickly recovered her poise. "I just love you, and Jim, too. I wish you could have been with us yesterday on our ride. He’s simply marvelous."
    "I’ll bet he is," Trixie said. "Tell me all about it while I wash these dishes."
    "Let me help." Honey grabbed a dish towel off the rack and pulled a tall stool to the sink. "Oh, I forgot. Regan sent Bobby a present." She reached into the pocket of her jeans and brought out a small box. When she lifted the cover Trixie couldn’t help letting out a little yell of surprise. The box was filled to the brim with tiny plastic horses—black ones and red ones and yellow ones. Some of them were trotting, some of them were galloping, and some of them were rearing with manes and tails flowing.
    "I never saw anything so cute in my life," Trixie cried. "They must have cost a fortune! Bobby will adore them. It was darling of Regan to remember him."
    "That’s Regan for you," Honey said, carefully slipping the box back into her pocket. "He loves kids of all ages. One reason is that he didn’t have a very happy childhood himself, I guess. He doesn’t say much about it, but I couldn’t help getting the impression that he had a pretty hard time while he was growing up."
    "Maybe that’s why he’s so good to us, too," Trixie said as she handed Honey another plate.
    Mrs. Belden appeared then with a trayful of dishes which she had just carried down from Bobby’s room.
    "Good morning, Honey," she said. "I’m glad you dropped in. Wouldn’t you like to run up and say hello to Bobby? It would cheer him up a lot. I’ve just given him a bath and dressed him in clean pajamas. He’s ready for visitors."
    "I’d love to," Honey said enthusiastically. "I have a present for him from Regan." She darted off.
    Trixie took the tray from her mother and said, "I’ll do these. Honey will help. She’ll help with the gardening, too, I know. We won’t leave until all the chores are done, Moms."
    "Well, thank you, Trixie," Mrs. Belden said, sinking tiredly into the nearest chair. "Keeping Bobby quietly in bed is a full-time job, but I want you to have fun, too. Do whatever you think is most important in the garden. Then you and Honey run along and forget about chores until lunchtime." She gathered up her knitting bag and some magazines and went back upstairs.
    In another minute Honey joined Trixie in the kitchen. "Bobby is so cute," she said enviously. "I’d give anything in the world for a little brother like that. And an older brother like Jim would be marvelous, too. He’s really an expert horseman. He rides like a centaur. I mean, when he swings into the saddle it looks as though he and the horse were one. Jupiter behaved like a lamb yesterday—and you know Jupe."
    "I certainly do," Trixie admitted ruefully. "I suppose Jim rode him with a snaffle bit and had him eating out of his hand."
    "Well, not exactly," Honey said. "But Jim never had to use the curb. He talked to Jupe for a while before he mounted him, and they seemed to understand each other perfectly. Then we left the woods and rode across country through the fields, jumping fences and little brooks. It was the best ride I ever had. I wish you could have been with us."
    "I don’t know how to jump yet," Trixie reminded her. "So I couldn’t have kept up with you. Am I going to have another lesson today?"
    "This afternoon," Honey said. "And be careful when you talk to Regan. Even though I gave both horses a rubdown yesterday when I brought them back, I think Regan suspects something. Both saddle blankets were soaked with sweat, you know, and I couldn’t do anything about that but let Regan think you and I had a