The Red Trailer Mystery

three big camps upstate. He could be a junior counselor, like Brian and Mart, or junior athletic instructor, because he’s very good at everything, and although he’s only fifteen, he did two years of high school in one year and won a scholarship to college—" Trixie stopped, completely out of breath.
    "He sounds like a great lad," her father said, laughing. "But he’s not going to have an easy time getting a job without written permission from his parents or guardian. I wrote several letters and had personal interviews with the operators of the camp where your brothers now have junior counselor jobs."
    "I know," Trixie admitted. "And that’s why we have to start right away to find him. He told Honey and me that if he didn’t get a job at one of those three big camps, he’d ship aboard a cattle boat and go to Europe. And then we’d never find him."
    "Well, then," Mr. Belden said mildly, "it seems to me that Mr. Rainsford should put detectives on the case immediately."
    "Oh, don’t you see, Dad?" Trixie moaned. "If Jim suspects detectives are trying to find him, he’ll think for sure Jonesy hired them, and he’ll leave the country right away. But if he hears that two girls are looking for him, he won’t be worried at all, because he trusts Honey and me. Please, Dad," she begged. "We want to start tomorrow, early. Please say I may gol"
    Mr. Belden stood up. "You have my permission, Trixie. How long do you plan to be gone?"
    "Less than a week, Dad." Trixie followed her father into the house. "Shall I telphone Moms and see if she thinks it’s all right?"
    "I’ll call her myself," Mr. Belden said. "As a matter of fact, this will work out very welL Your mother and Bobby planned to stay at the seashore until next weekend, anyway, so it would be lonely here for you. I can get Mrs. Green, from the village, to keep house for me."
    As he picked up the phone with one hand he handed Trixie a crisp five-dollar bill with the other. "Here’s your first week’s salary." He grinned and, imitating Trixie, added, "Boy, oh, boy, will you have a lot of weeding to do when you get back!"
    "Thanks, Dad." Trixie laughed. "I’ll go over every inch of the garden with eyebrow tweezers!"
    "Well, a hoe, anyway," her father returned. "Run along now and start packing if you want to leave early in the morning."
    Trixie was yanking clothes out of her bureau drawers when her father called up the stairwell that he had received her mother’s approval of the plan. Leaving everything helter-skelter, she raced out of the house and up the hill to the Wheeler estate.
    Trixie and her three brothers and their parents lived in a little white frame house down in the hollow. The name of their place was Crabapple Farm. Recently the luxurious Manor House with its stables and lake and acres of rolling green lawn up on the western hill had been purchased by the Wheeler family from New York. Honey Wheeler and Trixie, who were both thirteen, had soon become fast friends.
    "Honey!Honey!" Trixie shouted as she took the steps to the Manor House veranda two at a time. "Dad says I can. Oh, I can hardly wait!"
    Honey and her governess were upstairs packing when Trixie burst into the dainty room with its white ruffled organdy curtains and matching bedspread. Miss Trask, an athletic-looking, middle-aged woman, pushed back a strand of her short gray hair and smiled at Trixie. "I’m so glad it’s all settled," she said. "I was so sure your parents would approve that I sent Regan to the village for supplies. I want you girls to do most of the cooking on this trip. There’s quite an efficient
    little kitchenette on the Silver Swan, and some of the trailer camps we may want to stop at along the way have water and electrical connections. I think it would be good for you and lots of fun to keep house while we’re searching for Jim."
    "Wonderful»" Trixie cried enthusiastically. Actually, Trixie hated housework, but cooking in a trailer sounded like camping out,
    "I’ve always wanted to fool around in a kitchen," Honey said wistfully, "but none of our cooks would ever let me touch anything."
    "Well," Miss Trask said briskly, "I think every girl, no matter what her position, should learn how to cook and keep house. And I also think that girls as well as boys should learn how to take care of themselves in the woods. I’ve packed a book with simple menus for both indoor and outdoor cooking. Some of the recipes sound delicious."
    "I can cook," Trixie said proudly.