The secret of the Mansion

it."
    "Golly," Trixie breathed. "Did he starve you, too, Jim?"
    "No, he didn’t do that," Jim said. "I was like an animal that had to be kept well fed so it could work hard. He always had me checked by a doctor regularly, and he saw to it that I had good shoes and warm clothing. If he hadn’t, the neighbors would have reported him to the police. But they knew about the beatings. One of them interfered once, and Jonesy was so scared he didn’t touch me for several days after that. He’s smart. If the neighbors complained, another guardian might be appointed, and Jonesy would lose control of Uncle James’s money. Not that I think there is any."
    "Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money," Trixie insisted. "It would see you through college, anyway."
    " If the place isn’t mortgaged," Jim reminded her. "And if Uncle James didn’t make another will. Anyway, Jonesy can have it. I guess I’ve cost him that much in the last five years."
    They cantered along silently for a while, and when they came to a gate Jim and Honey sailed over it.
    "Oh, please, let me try it," Trixie begged. "I know I can do it! I know I can."
    Jim reached over to unhook the rope which held the wooden bars in place. "No, sir," he said firmly. "We’re not going to do anything to get Regan mad at us. All you need is a broken collarbone to make everything just dandy."
    Trixie bit her lip as the gate swung open and Lady walked through. "It looks so easy," she complained.
    "Well, it’s not," Jim told her. "There’s a trick to jumping. If you got panicky and pulled on the reins instead of giving the horse his head, you could have a bad accident. Also, Lady would sense that you’re a beginner, and she might refuse at the last minute. You’d go sailing over her head, which wouldn’t be any fun." He smiled at Trixie’s flushed face. "Take it easy, kid. Start with a foot-high hurdle and work up. There’s no sense in getting a lot of broken ribs unless you have to."
    Trixie knew he was right, so she walked meekly around the next barrier without a word. When the sun was high in the sky, they stopped for lunch beside a shallow stream. The horses drank thirstily and grazed quietly in the shade, even Jupiter being grateful for a chance to rest and cool off.
    "It’s at moments like this," Jim said, stretching out on the soft pine needles under the branches of the huge evergreens, "that I forget all about Jonesy. It’s the nights I hate. The floors in that old house groan and creak all night long, and I keep waking up expecting to find Jonesy standing over me with a whip in his hands."
    "I hate the nights, too," Honey said sympathetically. "And I don’t see how you can stay in that eerie place all alone. I bet it’s full of rats."
    "Mice," Jim said, "but I don’t mind them. They’re kind of friendly, and one of them’s practically tame, so he must have been Uncle James’s pet. By the way, you haven’t heard anything more about my uncle, have you?"
    Trixie shook her head. "No, but Dad’s going to stop at the hospital sometime today, so I’ll have news this evening." She rolled over and sat up. "We really ought to be starting back. I haven’t the faintest idea where we are. Has anybody else?"
    "Not me," Honey admitted. "But then, I have absolutely no sense of direction."
    Jim held up his hand warningly. "Somebody’s riding along the trail." He leaped on Jupiter’s back. "I’d better hide behind those bushes on the other side of the brook."
    When Jupiter and Jim had disappeared, Honey edged Strawberry closer to Lady. "I’m scared," she said. "Maybe we’re trespassing."
    "I think this land belongs to the state," Trixie whispered back, "but I’m not sure." And then the horse and rider came around the bend in the trail. "It’s Mr. Lytell," Trixie breathed. "Golly, I forgot the store is closed on Tuesdays on account of being open Sundays."
    Mr. Lytell was riding a gray, sway-backed mare with gaunt hipbones and discouraged-looldng eyes. She stumbled to a stop beside Lady and immediately hung her head, almost as though she knew the other horses were making fun of her.
    "Hello, girls," Mr. Lytell greeted them. "Had a picnic, I see."
    "We just finished," Honey said. "It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?"
    "Too hot for my Belle," he said, patting the gray’s neck. "Pretty far from home, aren’t you?"
    "I don’t know," Trixie said. "Are we?"
    He poked at his glasses. "Lost, huh? Well, just follow me, and I’ll show you the way back."
    "Oh, no,