The Secret of the Mansion (22 page)

it was not jonesy’s voice.

Hastily they scrambled out under the arbor and almost bumped into a tall, well-dressed man with thick gray hair and a gray mustache.

“Hello,” he said again. “I’m George Rainsford, the late Mr. Frayne’s attorney.” He smiled pleasantly. “Are you two real or are you wood sprites?”

It was Honey who regained her poise first. “Why, I know you,” she said. “I’m Honey Wheeler. Matthew Wheeler’s daughter. Didn’t you come to our apartment

in New York for dinner one evening last winter?”

Mr. Rainsford nodded and shook hands. “Yes, I did. But I certainly would never have recognized you. You must have gained about ten pounds since then, and

you’ve acquired quite a tan.”

Honey introduced Trixie. “We’re neighbors,” she said. “The Beldens live down in the hollow, and Dad bought the place on the other hill.”

256 231 Mr. Rainsford sobered suddenly. “Then you two may be able to help me. I’m trying to track down young James Winthrop Frayne 11. 1 stopped at a little

store on the way up here, and the man there told me he’d seen a redheaded boy riding through the woods the other day.” The girls gave each other quick,

secret looks as Mr. Rainsford went on. “The morning papers in the city said that the Frayne heir was burned to death in the fire here last night.” He smiled.

“Somehow, I don’t quite believe that. The Frayne’s are too tough and too smart to be caught in a burning building.”

Trixie decided to take the bull by the horns, then. Even if Jim didn’t want anyone to know he was still alive, she knew she could trust this man, and that

he would be a real friend to Jim.

“Jim wasn’t caught in the fire,” she blurted out. “He hid in the summerhouse, but then he ran away again.” “And you girls know where he is?” Mr. Rainsford

said, with an encouraging smile.

Trixie shook her head regretfully. “No, we don’t. He left a note, but he didn’t say where he was going.” “How did you happen to meet Jim in the first place?”

Mr. Rainsford asked.

“We came up here to explore the morning Dad took old Mr. Frayne to the hospital,” Trixie told him. “And we

257 232 found Jim asleep on the floor of the living-room.”

Mr. Rainsford stared at her in surprise. “Do you mean to tell me you girls broke into the house? Didn’t you know you were breaking the law?”

Trixie flushed. “We only went inside to lock up the place,” she said quickly. “Honey saw a face at the window earlier, and I thought we ought to make sure

it wasn’t a tramp or someone from the village who knew Mr. Frayne was in the hospital. You see, there was supposed to be half a million dollars hidden

in the house, and I-“

“And what if it had been a tramp or a thief?” Mr. Rainsford interrupted sternly. “An ugly fellow who might have done something unpleasant to prevent you

from reporting him to the police?” He frowned. “It was very wrong of you and an extremely dangerous thing for you to have done. Why, even 1, Mr. Frayne’s

attorney, wouldn’t have entered the house without first obtaining a search warrant.”

Trixie stared shamefacedly down at her shoes. “We didn’t mean to do anything wrong,” Honey broke in. “We just didn’t think.”

Trixie grinned ruefully. “It’s a bad habit I have acting before I think.”

Mr. Rainsford relented and smiled then. “I’m sure you meant well and that you’ll never do anything like

258 233 that again. Now, please, go on with your story. Your tramp turned out to be Jim?”

Trixie nodded and quickly told him everything that had happened, beginning with why Jim had run away from his stepfather.

When she had finished, Mr. Rainsford said slowly, “I suspected something like that. Actually, Jim has nothing to worry about from Jones. I’ve gathered enough

evidence from neighbors on the farms outside Albany to prove to a judge that Jim’s stepfather is not a competent guardian. As soon as we locate him, I’ll

take the matter to court and have another guardian appointed.”

Trixie let out a sigh of relief, and Honey looked as thought she were going to dance up and down with happiness. Mr. Rainsford smiled at them. “Jim sounds

like a great lad. I’d like to adopt him myself. Will you two help me find him?”

“Of course, we will,” Trixie and Honey cried together, and Trixie added, “We’ve got some clues, Mr. Rainsford. He told us he was going to apply for a job

at one of those three big boys’ camps upstate.”

“Well, that makes it easy, then,” the lawyer told them. “And when we do find him, there’s half a million dollars in trust waiting for him.”

“Golly,” Honey gasped. “Then Jim really is a missing

259 234 heir after all, and old Mr. Frayne wasn’t a crazy miser.” “Not exactly,” Mr. Rainsford explained. “Mr. Frayne got a bit queer after his wife’s sudden

death. He took all of his money out of banks and turned over the rest of his estate to me. He formed a trust for his great-nephew, but I was not to inform

Jim of this trust until after his uncle’s death.” He frowned. “I wish that boy had got in touch with me before he ran off again. I’d better get right on

the phone and start calling those boys’ camps.”

“Oh, don’t do that,” Trixie begged. “You don’t know Jim. He’s as stubborn as a mule. If he got the least bit suspicious that somebody was looking for him,

he’d think it was Jonesy; and then he’d disappear for good. If he got a job on a cattle boat that was sailing right away, it might be years before we could

locate him.”

Mr. Rainsford looked at her sharply. “Well, what do you suggest then? He’s not going to have an easy time getting a job at one of those camps without written

permission from his parents or guardian. If we don’t act quickly, he may ship aboard a cattle boat, anyway.”

“We’ll go and look for him, ourselves,” Trixie cried. “Honey and 1. He wouldn’t worry at all if he heard two girls were trying to trace him. He’d know it

was us and he trusts us, you see.”

“But,” Mr. Rainsford objected, “you two can’t go

260 235 wandering around the state all by yourselves.”

“It’s a perfectly wonderful idea,” Honey broke in, enthusiastically. “We’ll go in our trailer. Daddy’s got an enormous one which we almost never use, because

Mother won’t travel any way except by plane. It’s really a darling little house on wheels. Oh, we’ll have a wonderful time, won’t we, Trixie?”

Mr. Rainsford’s heavy gray eyebrows shot up, questioningly. “All by yourselves?” he repeated, and shook his head at them.

Honey’s flushed face grew even redder. “Oh, no! Miss Trask, my governess, will go with us. She’s a perfectly marvelous driver. Daddy is always saying that

he feels safer with Miss Trask behind the wheel than he does when Regan’s driving. Regan doesn’t care about anything but horses,” she explained with a

laugh. She grabbed Trixie’s arm. “Let’s all go over to my place now,” she cried. “If Mr. Rainsford helps us tell Miss Trask how important it is to find

Jim right away, I’m sure she’ll agree to the plan. Come on!”

Trixie chuckled inwardly as Honey impatiently led the way through the thicket to the trail that ran between the two estates. Honey’s worse than I am, now,

she thought. Barging off in a great hurry, without even thinking about what might happen. I wonder what will

262 236 happen on that trailer trip. Something exciting, I bet, if it has anything to do with Jim and Honey. Which it has!

As though in answer to her thoughts, there was a sudden loud crash of thunder and a jagged fork of lightning streaked across the sky.

The long-awaited rain was coming down ‘*’A torrents as the three of them hurried up the steps b0 the wide veranda of the Manor House where Miss Trask was

anxiously watching for them.