The Mystery at Bob-White Cave

room and board. Everyone who goes there does that. And she’ll have her father to help now, as well as her mother.”
    “Matthew Moore can’t make a living digging ginseng and selling it, can he, Uncle Andrew?” Trixie asked with concern.
    “Partly. There’s a good price on ginseng. It’s exported, mostly to China. The Chinese think it’s a miracle drug that will cure everything. Aside from that, I need Matthew here at the lodge. Bill Hawkins would like to be able to spend more time farming his own place, and he’ll be glad to turn his job here over to Matthew.”
    After dinner, the Bob-Whites washed the dishes and left the kitchen shining for Mrs. Moore in the morning. Then they went upstairs to pack.
     
    The next morning, Matthew Moore, looking much younger with his hair and beard trimmed, insisted on harnessing the mules for Linnie. “It’s marvelous to have my daddy here,” she said. “Mama says we’re a family once again. Are you all ready to go?”
    “We’ll never get on the plane with all the stuff we’ve collected here,” Trixie said sadly and looked at a growing accumulation of bags and boxes being brought to the wagon. “We’ll just have to leave all the spelunking equipment here.”
    “Do that!” Uncle Andrew said enthusiastically. “Then you’ll be back next summer. Only next time, we’ll explore the foothills and lakes and go easy on caves. I’ve hardly seen you except at breakfast and dinner.”
    “We’ll do more rock hunting, too,” Brian said. “There are minerals in these foothills that our government needs right now. I’d like to locate some of them. Jim and I have samples we’re going to send to the
    AmericanMuseum of Natural History when we get back to Sleepyside.”
    “Maybe you’ll find your fortune in these Ozark hills,” Uncle Andrew said seriously. “It wouldn’t be too bad a place, either, for your school for boys.”
    “They could use some doctors around here, too,” Brian said earnestly.
    “And the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency, too,” Trixie said. “Don’t forget that!”
    “I’ll never forget it,” Uncle Andrew said.
    “Some good advice about farming from Mart Belden, graduate agriculturist, would help, too,” Mart said. “Jeepers, it’ll be years before any of us finish college. By that time, we may want to locate on the moon or Venus.... Someone help me lift this tank into the wagon, and we can be going. The famous Shem and Japheth Transportation System moves slowly. We still have a lot of business to look after and a train to catch.”
    The Bob-Whites said an affectionate good-bye to Mrs. Moore and thanked her for everything she had done for them while they were at the lodge.
    “You gave Matthew back to me from the dead,” she reminded them. “The thanks are all on my side. We’ll miss you sorely, Linnie and me and my husband.” Her eyes shone, and her face was flushed with happiness as she stood proudly beside Matthew and waved as long as she could see the wagon.
    On the way to town, they stopped for a brief goodbye to the Hawkins family. “Slim’s in good hands now,” Bill Hawkins said. “I delivered him to Sam Owens. We’ll be looking for you next summer,” he told the Bob-Whites.
    “We’ve had a wonderful time, and we’ll come back if we possibly can,” Trixie said. “Thanks for everything, Mr. Hawkins.”
     
    In White Hole Springs, the first person they saw was Sam Owens. “I had to take Slim to the jail in Laurel,” he told Uncle Andrew. “Feeling was running too high around here for his safety. There’ll be a quick trial. Then it’ll probably be prison for him, and for a good long term.”
    “That takes care of that,” Uncle Andrew said. “Now for the next order of business.”
    “I’m almost afraid to go over and talk with that magazine man,” Trixie said.
    “How could you miss, with two of each kind?” Mart asked. “The five hundred dollars is as good as in your pocket.”
    The editor of the Scientific Digest was excited when the boys set the small galvanized tank on the table in front of him. Quite a lot of people were standing around the room talking. Other tanks and bait buckets stood here and there on the long table.
    “Do you actually have specimens of Amplyopsisspelaeus?” the editor asked. He brought out a big magnifying glass and held it close over the tank. “No one has turned up with true specimens so far. Come and have a look, Glendenning!” he called to the Englishman, who was