The Mysterious Visitor by Campbell Julie

Author:Campbell, Julie [Campbell, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Bad Sews • 10

IT DOESN’T MEAN a thing," Honey said firmly. "And you know perfectly well the boys agree with me. Tom was mistaken, that’s all."

It was a warm, sunny morning, and right after a late breakfast, the girls had met at the clubhouse so that Honey could measure the windows for the curtains she planned to make.

"I don’t care what the boys think," Trixie said. "They’re not always right. I’m as sure as sure can be that Tom was not mistaken." She placed the stepladder beside one of the windows and, with one hand on each side of the ladder, steadied it as Honey climbed up.

"But Tom admitted himself," Honey said, "that the man he saw at the station two weeks ago wore his hat pulled down so that his face was halfhidden. Tom also reported that he spoke with an English accent, which Uncle Monty definitely doesn’t."

"He doesn’t really speak with a western accent, either," Trixie said. "Did you notice how he pronounced rodeo? Well, out west, Honey, it’s always pronounced ro-day-o, never rodeo."

"Both ways are right," Honey argued.

Trixie ignored her. "And all that podner stuff. It’s phony. Everything he knows about ranches he got out of books."

"That’s where you get your own information," Honey pointed out. "So how can you consider yourself a good judge?"

"I don’t pretend to be," Trixie replied. "But when Regan says a man has never been on a horse, you can be sure that said man never was." Honey perched on top of the stepladder and frowned down at Trixie. "All right," she said. "Maybe Uncle Monty wasn’t a broncobuster. I’ll admit he exaggerates, and some of those stories he told last night were fantastic. But that still doesn’t make him an impostor."

"No," Trixie admitted. "But the fact that he came to town ahead of time does."

Honey gasped. "If you say one word to Di about that awful hotel on Hawthorne Street, Trixie Belden, I—I’ll just never forgive you." Trixie grinned. "What can I say about it? I’ve never been there myself." She added in a lower voice, "The first chance I get I am going there." Honey looked horrified. "Oh, no, Trixie, you wouldn’t dare!"

"I’ve got to," Trixie answered calmly. "Right now we can’t prove that Uncle Monty ever went near Skid Row. But I’m positive that he did stay there until he suddenly arrived at the Lynches’ the following Monday evening."

"That doesn’t make sense," Honey objected. "Why didn’t he go straight from the train station to his sister’s home?"

Trixie shrugged. "Do you know what ‘casing the joint’ means, Honey?"

"No, I don’t," Honey said rather crossly.

"You should read more detective stories," Trixie said. "When crooks plan to rob a home, they first case it. In other words, they find out what the family’s habits are, the best time to commit, the robbery, how to get in and out most easily, and so forth. I’m just as sure as sure can be that Uncle Monty came to town ahead of time so he

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.