The Secret of the Unseen Treasure

the ground and let a little more light out,” Trixie said. “If we can find our footprints, then we’ll know which way to go.”
    As Honey directed the fight downward, a pair of beady little eyes gleamed redly nearby. Honey gasped and covered the light again. There was a rasping sound of tiny feet scurrying away in the dry litter on the ground.
    “What was that?” Honey whispered shakily.
    “A field mouse,” Trixie said. Her toes curled in her sneakers. “Let out some light again.”
    As Honey moved the beam of light around, they found a line of footprints. “Those are mine,” said Trixie. “Where I came back to help you.”
    “Then,” said Honey, moving the light to the other side, “that’s the direction we should go.” She snapped off the light. “I’ve heard about people being lost for days in cornfields in the Midwest.”
    “This cornfield isn’t that big,” Trixie said. She frowned in the darkness. “Turn the light on again. Keep it down.” She looked at the stalks surrounding them. “Raise the light a little. Carefully.”
    She saw many small green leaves and twigs. “That’s not com!” Trixie exclaimed.
    “What is it?”
    “I don’t know. Move the light around.”
    As far as they could see, the tall green plants were all the same. They definitely weren’t corn plants.
    “I don’t know what these are,” Trixie repeated, “but I’ll bet Max does.”
    “Yes,” Honey breathed. “Max was working here with a hoe on the day of the arson attempt. I thought that the com where he was standing seemed different from that in the rest of the field. I was about to mention it when you spotted the man with the gasoline can at the shed.”
    Trixie nodded in the darkness. “Max was standing in these plants, whatever they are. I wonder if they have anything to do with what’s been happening here. Maybe Max is involved, after all.”
    “But Max couldn’t be involved,” Honey said. “He was the one who saved Mrs. Elliot’s Social Security check by having her mail it to the bank.”
    “Yes,” Trixie agreed. “But still, Mrs. Elliot didn’t have any problems until Max came back from the city. There must be some connection.”
    “I wonder what these plants have to do with everything,” Honey mused. “This keeps getting more and more confusing.”
    “It sure does,” Trixie said. “Let’s take some pieces of these plants along with us. We’ll ask Mart if he knows what they are.”
    “They’re probably just weeds,” Honey said.
    “Then why didn’t Max hoe them down?” Trixie asked. She broke off stems and leaves and thrust them into her jacket pockets. Then she led the way toward the clearing. After a moment, something scraped against Trixie’s head. She reached up and felt a large leaf of com.
    They came to the edge of the cornfield and paused to get their bearings. The well and water pump were off to the left in the darkness. The cottage was beyond, with one shaded window glowing with soft light. Somewhere ahead, in the darkness, should be the clearing for the carnations.
    Trixie wondered if the others had reached their positions. She pursed her lips and gave the Bob-White whistle, very softly. There was no response.
    The girls moved quietly ahead, stepping slowly, feeling first to make sure there were no twigs underfoot to snap.
    Trixie placed her right foot ahead and felt something soft and squirmy under it—a snake!
    She choked off a scream and jumped back in alarm, knocking into Honey.
    Honey gasped, clutching her. “What’s the matter?” She whispered in a painful tone, “You stepped on my toes.”
    “I stepped on a snake ... I think.”
    Honey shuddered. “Did it bite you?”
    “I don’t think so. I didn’t feel anything.”
    “Is it still there?” Honey asked in a shaky whisper. “We’d better make sure with the flashlight.” She handed the light to Trixie. “You look. I can’t.”
    Trixie covered the flashlight with her hand and switched it on. She stared sheepishly at the length of garden hose stretched snakelike across the path.
    Honey peeked, then giggled softly. “I would have panicked, too,” she admitted. “What are you waiting for?”
    Trixie swallowed hard. “Just trying to get my heart back down where it belongs.”
    Trembling with excitement, the girls moved ahead once more. As they passed some deeply shadowed bushes, there was a rustle, and a figure of a man appeared. Trixie gasped, and Honey swung the darkened flashlight. It