The Secret of the Unseen Treasure

struck solidly.
    “Hey!” Mart exclaimed. He lowered his voice to an angry whisper. “Are you trying to break my wrist? What’s the matter with you two? Where have you been? What took you so long?”
    “Shh!” Trixie cautioned.
    But it was too late. Light flooded the garden from a spotlight under the cottage eaves. The door opened, and Max came out with a powerful flashlight in one hand and a piece of metal pipe in the other.
    “What are you doing here?” he demanded.
    Mrs. Elliot appeared behind him, wearing a long, quilted robe. “Goodness!” she exclaimed. “It’s Trixie and Honey. I was going to call the police. It’s after midnight.”
    Max directed the blinding light at the three startled faces, moving it back and forth from one to the other.
    “What are you doing here?” he demanded again.
    Trixie found her voice and directed it past him to Mrs. Elliot. “We’re sorry we frightened you, Mrs. Elliot. We didn’t mean any harm. We—we knew you had an order of flowers for tomorrow, and the last time, someone trampled them all down on the night before. We thought we’d just sort of quietly stand guard over the carnations.”
    Mrs. Elliot shook her head. “That was thoughtful of you, but—”
    “Oh, yeah,” Max interrupted. “Maybe they came to trample the carnations themselves 1” Before Trixie could reply, she heard feet hurrying through the garden from the other lane. Brian and Di came into the area of light.
    Brian looked apologetically at Mrs. Elliot. “We’re sorry. We only came to—”
    “Trixie has already explained,” Mrs. Elliot said.
    Trixie felt a nudge from Honey. Honey’s gaze lowered pointedly to Trixie’s jacket pocket. Some of the leaves of the strange plant poked out. Trixie thrust them down out of sight.
    Mrs. Elliot continued. “It was kind of you to plan on staying out all night to protect my flowers, but it wasn’t necessary. Show them, Max.”
    He pointed the powerful flashlight into the nearby clearing. The young people saw a mass of pale green plants, but no carnations on them.
    “We picked them late this afternoon,” Mrs. Elliot said, “and placed them in the cooler in wet moss. They’ll be ready for delivery first thing in the morning.”
    “Oh!” Trixie gave the others an abashed, sheepish look.
    Max spotlighted Trixie with the flashlight. “Disappointed?” he asked.
    “Max!” Mrs. Elliot scolded. “These young people certainly didn’t mean any harm. They were just trying to help.”
    Max stared at Trixie for a moment. “Yeah,” he said. “Just trying to help.” He switched off the flashlight.
    Trixie swallowed. “Did you pick the carnations today because you were afraid that... something would happen to them?”
    Mrs. Elliot shook her head. “I hadn’t really given that a thought,” she said. “We had plenty of room in the cooler, and Max suggested that-”
    “It was Max’s idea?” Trixie asked.
    “It was my idea,” Max affirmed. “And, no, I didn’t do it because I was afraid something would happen to the flowers. I just don’t like to get up so early in the morning, that’s all.”
    “You must be chilly,” Mrs. Elliot said to the Bob-Whites. “Come in, and I’ll make some hot chocolate.”
    “Thank you,” Trixie said, “but we’d better be getting home.” She turned to Mart. “Call Jim and have him come around here to pick us up.” To Mrs. Elliot, she repeated, “We’re really sorry to have frightened you. We were just trying to help.”
    “I know,” Mrs. Elliot said. “You’ve been kind. I’m certainly glad that I didn’t call the police.”
    Trixie winced. “So am I!” She couldn’t imagine trying to explain this little outing to her parents and Sergeant Molinson.
    Gravel crunched as the B.W.G. station wagon pulled into the drive. Jim got out and started to speak, but Honey interrupted him.
    “We’ve already explained,” she said. “Let’s go, so Mrs. Elliot can get in out of the cold. Good night, Mrs. Elliot, Max.”
    Trixie, Brian, and Mart said sheepish good-nights and climbed into the wagon. Di was too embarrassed to say anything. On the way down Glen Road, Trixie explained to Jim what had happened.
    “It is a good thing she didn’t call the police,” Jim said. “Being grounded is one thing, but being in jail...
    “We aren’t home free yet,” Mart reminded him. “We still have to sneak into the houses without our folks catching us. If they hear us, maybe they’ll call the