The Mystery on the Mississippi by Julie Campbell Read Free Book Online

But there’s something in the air, as sure’s you’re born.”

Moonlight Music • 5

    HONEY AND TRIXIE, led by Mrs. Aguilera, climbed the few steps to the pilothouse. Captain Martin, seated in front of the levers, greeted the girls cordially. Then he looked inquiringly at Mrs. Aguilera.
    “I’m showing the young ladies around, sir,” she said. “They didn’t seem to know where to go. The sandwiches are made, and dinner is under way.”
    “It’s so beautiful up here,” Trixie sighed. The pilothouse windows were open. The boat drifted slowly, its engines little more than idling. They were hugging the shore so closely that they could hear birds chattering in the willows. From beyond the trees, a bobwhite whistled, clear and loud. Without thinking, Trixie answered the call with a shrill bob-white!
    Captain Martin, startled, looked up quickly. Trixie covered her mouth and giggled. Honey laughed, too. Then Trixie explained. “You see, the name of our club at home in Sleepyside, New York, is the Bob-Whites, and the call of the bobwhite is our club whistle. We all belong to the club—Jim, Brian, Dan, Mart, Honey, and I. Oh, yes, and another girl, Diana Lynch. She couldn’t come with us. The Bob-Whites always answer the call when we hear it, and that’s what I did, without thinking.”
    “Interesting, I must say,” Captain Martin remarked, evidently still a little confused. “Now, right ahead you can get a clear view of the river.” He pointed way ahead, past the tow. “On your right you’ll see Cahokia. It used to be inhabited by Indians —mound builders. If you’ll look through these binoculars, you can see some of the mounds. Cahokia was the first settlement in Illinois; it is older than Chicago. The old paddle-wheeler Shepherdess struck a snag just about here, in 1844. Seventy people went down on her. In 1849, the Bates caught fire, then drifted toward shore and set a whole fleet of boats burning. Happened right over there.” He shook his head at the thought.
    Fascinated, the girls listened to river history and legend, while Mrs. Aguilera made notes for her husband’s book.
    The captain showed how the boat controls worked. He even let Trixie move one of the levers and watch the tow respond to her slight touch.
    “You’ll find plenty to do, girls,” he told them when they thanked him and started down the stairs. “Hunt around anywhere you want. Nothing can harm you. Just watch your step when you walk on the barges. Go way to the end if you want. The boys are halfway there now. They look like pygmies from here, don’t they? If the cook doesn’t have time to go with you, you can easily get around by yourselves.”
    “We don’t want to take your time,” Trixie told Mrs. Aguilera politely. “As Captain Martin said, we’ll just hunt around by ourselves.”
    “Oh, I have plenty of time. I like to go over the boat and tow myself. I’ll go with you, at least along the catwalks on the barges. It may be safer if I do.”
    “You don’t know the places we’ve been,” Trixie began.
    “Or the risks Trixie’s taken!” Honey added quickly. “Jim—he’s my brother—often calls her ‘Intrepid Trixie.’ ”
    “So, you see, we really can get along without—” Trixie interrupted sharply.
    She stopped suddenly as Honey nudged her. Startled, Trixie continued. “Er... that is, we’ll just stop in our cabin and get our scarfs. The wind is coming up.” Trixie hurried off, with Honey close behind her.
    “Now, why did you have to act so impolite to her?” Honey asked Trixie when Mrs. Aguilera was no longer in sight. “She’s probably lonesome and trying to be kind.”
    “That’s what you think. She’s following us. That’s what she’s doing.”
    “Trixie Belden, you have the most suspicious mind!”
    “Look who’s talking! We have to be suspicious to be good detectives. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again: Something strange is going on.”
    “If there is, I don’t think she’s