The secret of the Mansion

short ride in the corral on Lady and Strawberry."
    "I’ll be careful," Trixie promised.
    Honey helped her finish all the breakfast dishes, and then they went down to the garden. Trixie showed her how to hill up the potato plants, and, after an hour’s work, they climbed the path to the Miser’s Mansion.
    "Were going to have one last look around," Trixie told Jim. "Why don’t you take this flashlight and see what you can find in the cellar?"
    Honey took the other flashlight and carefully inspected the shelves, cupboards, and closets while Trixie went through the stacks of books. "Mr. Frayne might have cut out the pages of one of them," she said, "and hid the money in there. Other people have done that."
    They kept at it till lunchtime, and they were all completely discouraged. Jim washed up at the well and hungrily munched the cold turkey leg Trixie had brought him.
    "There’s just one other place," he said between mouthfuls. "The summerhouse. Now that I’ve got a flashlight, I can look in there for a trapdoor or something."
    "That’s right," Trixie encouraged him. "But I still have a feeling the money or whatever it is, is in the living room."
    "Well, you’re welcome to keep on searching through all that junk as long as you want to. I’ve given up. Either there isn’t any money, or it’s hidden too well for me to find it." He grinned. "I even went through that barrel of bottle tops this morning. What a mess that was!"
    The girls went home for lunch then, and, after Trixie had read Bobby to sleep, she hurried up to the Wheelers’ stable.
    Regan said nothing about his suspicions during the lesson, but afterward, when the girls were helping him groom the horses, he said casually, "Thought that big old rambling house on the other hill was empty."
    "It is," Trixie said quickly. "It belongs to old Mr. Frayne, and he’s dying in the hospital."
    "Huh." Regan pretended to be very busy with his currycomb. "I’ve got a pretty good view of that place from my room over the garage," he said as though he were talking to himself. "Could have sworn I saw somebody roaming around there this morning. Matter of fact, was pretty sure that two of the three kids I saw were you girls."
    Trixie and Honey stared at each other behind his back but said nothing. After a long, nerve-wracking silence, Regan began again. "Ran away from an orphanage myself when I was about that redheaded boy’s age. Never regretted it, either. Was crazy over horses and finally got a job at a riding school Learned a lot there," he went on reminiscently. "Learned enough, anyway, so I can tell right off whether a horse has been ridden or not." He straightened up to face them, his eyes twinkling. "Now, Jupe here, he had a good gallop yesterday afternoon. Know neither one of you girls could have given him such a workout. Figure that redheaded kid knows how to handle a horse."
    Trixie held her breath, not daring to look at Honey.
    Regan gave Jupiter an affectionate slap. "I don’t have much time to give you the proper amount of exercise with the boss away, do I, old boy? I’m not likely to say anything if Miss Honey, every now and then, takes you along when she goes off on Strawberry." He laughed. "Some people might think it peculiar that she bothers to saddle and bridle you when nobody’s going to ride you, but me, I don’t aim to ask any questions. There’s just one thing, though. Trixie’s got to promise to stick to Lady till I say the word. We’d all get into a lot of trouble if anything happened to Jupe." He placed his hands on his hips, grinning. "Is it a deal, girls?"
    "Oh, yes," they both cried together.
    "We’d like to tell you about it, Regan," Honey added, "but we promised not to. I think you’re simply swell to trust us."
    "Well, that’s that, then." Regan led Jupiter into his stall. "If the kid should get into any trouble, you might let me know. It wasn’t so very long ago that I was hiding out in barns myself, wondering where in the world the next meal was coming from."
    He strolled nonchalantly out of the stable, and Trixie gasped, "Gee, he’s great, isn’t he, Honey? It was sure lucky nobody else in your house saw us. What a break!"
    "Miss Trask’s a good sport, too," Honey said loyally. "But I’m not sure what she’d do if she knew Jim had run away from home."
    "She’s swell," Trixie agreed. "But I bet she’d feel she ought to tell the police or try to talk Jim into going back."
    "Let’s surprise Jim by leading Jupe up to