The Hudson River Mystery

looked at the black clouds scudding across the sullen sky and felt a chill in the October air. ”Oh, woe,” she said, scrambling to her feet. ”Why must I have such a sensible person for my best friend?” She attacked a dead bean plant with renewed vigor and commented, ”Now I know what a gravedigger must feel like! You’re right, the storm is going to be a dilly. I heard on the radio this morning that New York might get hit with the tail end of Hurricane Bob. So I guess we can kiss Lady and Susie good-bye for this afternoon.” Lady and Susie were the Wheelers’ two mares that the girls usually rode.
    ”Bob?” snorted Honey. ”What are you talking about? Hurricanes are named after girls, as unfair as that is. You must have Bob-Whites on the brain, Trix.”
    Trixie and Honey belonged to the Bob-Whites of the Glen, a semisecret club with five other members: Brian; Mart; Jim Frayne, Honey’s adoptive brother; Diana Lynch, who lived on a magnificent estate nearby; and Dan Mangan, nephew of Regan, the Wheelers’ groom. The seven all lived farther than most of their classmates did from the school in Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson. Instead of joining in a lot of after-school activities, they spent many hours together, having adventures and working for worthy causes. Some of the happiest of those hours had been spent in fixing up the old gatehouse on the Wheeler estate to be their clubhouse.
    ”Well, I am always thinking about the Bob-Whites,” Trixie said, ”but that’s got nothing to do with the hurricane. Haven’t you heard that they’re using both men’s and women’s names now? They’ve got David and John now, as well as Amelia and Greta. About time, too! Men can be just as blustery and tempesti—tempesto—stormy as women!”
    ”Are you sure about that?” asked a new voice.
    Trixie and Honey whirled around to see Dan Mangan loping across the garden toward them. Dan was thin and quiet, with long black hair and sideburns. There was a time when the thought of him coming up behind them would have made Trixie and Honey slightly nervous. That was before they had got to know him well enough to realize that his past associations with a New York City street gang were long over with. Dan’s present ambition was to be a policeman. Trixie and Honey were in agreement that he was going to make an excellent one.
    Dan’s dark face was lighted by a grin. ”I mean, I don’t know too many people who remind me more of a hurricane-than tempestuous Trixie Belden,” he said teasingly.
    Trixie wrinkled her freckled nose at him. ”That’s just because you have to be assertive to become a good detective,” she said. ”Right, Honey?”
    That was Trixie’s ambition, and Honey’s, too —to own and operate the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency after they graduated from college. In the meantime, there were a growing number of mysteries that the two girls had fallen into somehow—and solved somehow. Trixie was more quick-tempered and impetuous than Honey, who tended to hang back until she was really sure of her ground. Honey’s caution provided a balance to Trixie’s forcefulness, just as her tall, slim figure and long golden hair provided a contrast to Trixie’s strong, sturdy figure and short sandy curls.
    ”Right, Trix,” laughed Honey. ”And if we ever run out of mysteries to solve, we can tackle a few hurricanes on the side!”
    ”We’ll never run out of mysteries,” Trixie said confidently. ”We have one right here—I can hear the spooky background music now....
    What was Dan Mangan doing at Crabapple Farm on the afternoon of Hurricane Bob, when everyone thought he was helping Regan with the horses at Manor House...?”
    ”That’s easy,” said Dan matter-of-factly. ”The horses have disappeared into the hurricane.”
    ” What ?” the girls gasped.
    ”Just going along with Trixie’s little mystery,” Dan said innocently. ”Actually, Regan sent me over—I’m supposed to tell you that the ride you planned is off because of the weather forecast.”
    ”We know, we know,” Trixie sighed. ”But since you’re here, Dan, wouldn’t you like to help out with a little garden work? Why, Honey and I are having such a good time at it, we can hardly stand it.”
    Dan looked at his watch. ”I suppose I could help for a while. I’ll have to get back to Regan soon, though. He has a lot of things to take care of before the storm.” He glanced around at the garden. ”But then, I see you do, too. Oh, well,