The Gatehouse Mystery

jewels when we dig."
    Honey sighed. "I'll be too tired to dig by the time we get there."
    It was so hot and muggy that neither of them spoke again until they emerged from the woods that ended near a thicket not far from the cottage. It was hard work sawing away the coarse vines that crisscrossed the pane-less window facing a thicket. In a short while Honey threw down her saw in disgust.
    "I can't stand it," she moaned. "I've got two blisters already."
    "Me, too," Trixie admitted. "Our left hands are tough from riding, but our right hands are a couple of sissies." She giggled. "We should have kept the diamond and used it for cutting away the vines." She suddenly got the uncanny feeling that someone was watching her and wheeled to peer into the thicket behind her.
    "Jim," she said sharply, "did you sneak down from the porch to spy on us?"
    "Why, Trixie," Honey cried in amazement. "Are you crazy with the heat? Jim and Regan are both working on the sedan. Regan's been complaining that, what with his having to drive servants back and forth and having such trouble with car repairs, we need a chauffeur. I really think I'm going to have to speak to Daddy about it. Look, you can see Regan and Jim working on the car from here."
    Trixie laughed with relief. "I don't know exactly why," she told Honey, "but I got the feeling that someone was spying on us. If it weren't for the poison ivy, I'd go into that thicket to make sure."
    "Instead," Honey said, smiling, 'let's go into the cottage and see how much light filters through. Maybe we've hacked away enough vines."
    "Okay," Trixie agreed. Sure enough, they found, when they stood at the entrance, that the inside was no longer dark. "You're right," Trixie said, after a quick look around. "This floor hasn't been dug up recently, but it has been scuffed."
    "Squirrels and chipmunks, maybe?" Honey asked. "I don't think so," Trixie said, pointing. "That gouge looks as though it were made by a man's heel."
    "It certainly does," Honey agreed. "And since the roof leaks, it must have been made quite recently. It rained all Monday night. Remember?"
    Trixie nodded. "How do you know the roof leaks?"
    "Why, Trixie," Honey said. "It must. Look up and see for yourself. The wisteria is growing through it in spots, and the weight of the vine has pulled the rafters away from the ridgepole. You can see the sunlight shining through the cracks."
    "So you can," Trixie said thoughtfully. "The floor must have been pretty wet after Monday night's rain. So the heel mark, if that's what it is, was made after that."
    "Uh-huh," Honey said thoughtfully. "And whoever dropped the diamond must have dropped it yesterday or last night when the floor was still muddy. We wouldn't have seen it if the floor hadn't dried out since the rain. That's why he didn't see it when he left." She shivered. "I wish we hadn't found it, Trixie. He'll be back; don't worry."
    "Did you hide it in a good, safe place?" Trixie asked. Honey nodded. "In my jewel box on my dressing table. It's got a little secret compartment in the bottom. Nobody knows about it but me. I found it accidentally. The box is an antique; it belonged to my great-great-grandmother." She frowned unhappily. "I hate having something that doesn't belong to me, Trixie. Let's put the diamond back into that little hole where we found it. Then, when whoever lost it comes back, he'll find it and go away from here."
    Trixie stared at her. "Now you're crazy with the heat, Honey Wheeler. That would be aiding and abetting a criminal."
    "How do you know a criminal dropped it?" Honey demanded defensively.
    "Because," Trixie told her, "honest people don't sneak into abandoned cottages."
    Honey giggled. "You admitted yourself, Trixie, that you and your brothers wandered all over our place before we bought it."
    Trixie blushed. "That's different. I'll admit that a kid might have come in here out of curiosity, but kids don't go exploring with big diamonds in their pockets." She added thoughtfully, "I think I know what happened. Fruit pickers are traveling north all along the river now, getting jobs helping farmers harvest tomatoes. One of them may have spent last night here."
    Honey sniffed. "A fruit picker carrying a big diamond in the pocket of his overalls?"
    Trixie's cheeks flamed under her tan. "What I meant was that the fruit tramp might have stolen the diamond from the last farmer he worked for. He might have been harvesting peaches in Georgia and hitchhiked his way up here,