three who were hanging on his every word. “Sure,” he said carelessly, toying with his food and waving his fork to emphasize his words, “I helped start our club. Nobody tells us what to do around our neighborhood. We take care of that!” There was a pause, and then he went on. “Switchblades? Not us! The cops get tough when they find ’em on you. We don’t need stuff like that.” He struck a fist into the palm of his other hand forcefully. “Pow!”
His audience had forgotten to eat. All three pairs of eyes were fixed on Dan.
Trixie turned to her brother. “How did you get stuck taking him around?” she asked with a nod in Dan’s direction.
“Aw, he’s okay. Just feeling his way. He’ll calm down.” Mart laughed. “Mr. Maypenny asked Miss Taylor if I could introduce him around.”
“Hmph!” Trixie snorted. “He seems to be doing pretty well by himself.” She eyed Dan speculatively. “Did she say he was related to Mr. Maypenny?”
“Yeah,” Mart said, suddenly aware that the other two girls were listening. “I’ll tell you the whole terrible story, gals. Well, it seems that Dan was kidnapped by gypsies when he was a baby, and now he’s the real king of the gypsies, but there’s another band of gypsies who are out to s-s-slit his gullet—” He was whispering, and he made a funny gurgling noise and ran his finger suggestively across his throat as he spoke.
Di gave a horrified exclamation, and Honey’s hazel eyes looked like saucers, but Trixie knew her brother better than they did.
“So he’s hiding out in Sleepyside,” she chimed in with a twinkle in her china-blue eyes, “till he can rally an army and march against his enemies. And in the meantime he’s working for Mr. Maypenny to raise the money to pay for his army!”
Mart put up his hands in token of surrender. “You win!” He laughed. "I surrender!”
And while both Honey and Di Lynch still looked a little bewildered, the bell rang to warn them all that it was time to get back to their classes.
After school, Trixie and Honey went to the Wheeler stable to get their horses.
“I hate to see Regan,” Trixie sighed as they sighted his broad-shouldered, red-haired form at work near the stalls. “I’ve got to tell him about spilling his letter file, and I know he’ll snap my head off.” But, to her amazement, Regan was friendly, and he even laughed when she reluctantly admitted her accident.
“It was pretty well mixed up, as it was,” he said good-naturedly. “Forget it.”
He helped them saddle up, and while he did, he asked Honey, “Did you know that Maypenny finally hired somebody to help him take care of the game preserve? He’s a teen-ager, too.”
“We saw a boy with him, a dark boy named Dan Mangan,” Honey told him. “He seems very nice, but he doesn’t look very strong.”
Regan hesitated. Then he laughed. “He’s probably one of those stringy ones that are a lot stronger than they look.”
Trixie couldn’t keep out of it. “He was telling some of the boys at school about belonging to a tough gang in the city. I bet he was just putting it on.
Regan’s face flushed, and he hesitated even longer this time before he answered. “Well, Trixie, a lot of people talk big because they think other people will like them better. Maybe Danny Mangan s like that.”
Honey nodded quickly. “I know how it is, Trix. I used to be scared of the water, till a girl at the boarding school where I used to go laughed at me and told everyone I was afraid. So the next day at the pool I jumped right in, though I was sure I’d drown. And the first thing I knew, I was swimming.”
“And now you’re the prize swimmer of the Bob-Whites,” Trixie added admiringly.
Regan nodded sagely. “That’s how it goes. This boy Danny, now, he’s taking a job he doesn’t know anything about and going into a school where he doesn’t know a living soul. He’s got to put up a good front, hasn’t he?”
“That’s right,”
His audience had forgotten to eat. All three pairs of eyes were fixed on Dan.
Trixie turned to her brother. “How did you get stuck taking him around?” she asked with a nod in Dan’s direction.
“Aw, he’s okay. Just feeling his way. He’ll calm down.” Mart laughed. “Mr. Maypenny asked Miss Taylor if I could introduce him around.”
“Hmph!” Trixie snorted. “He seems to be doing pretty well by himself.” She eyed Dan speculatively. “Did she say he was related to Mr. Maypenny?”
“Yeah,” Mart said, suddenly aware that the other two girls were listening. “I’ll tell you the whole terrible story, gals. Well, it seems that Dan was kidnapped by gypsies when he was a baby, and now he’s the real king of the gypsies, but there’s another band of gypsies who are out to s-s-slit his gullet—” He was whispering, and he made a funny gurgling noise and ran his finger suggestively across his throat as he spoke.
Di gave a horrified exclamation, and Honey’s hazel eyes looked like saucers, but Trixie knew her brother better than they did.
“So he’s hiding out in Sleepyside,” she chimed in with a twinkle in her china-blue eyes, “till he can rally an army and march against his enemies. And in the meantime he’s working for Mr. Maypenny to raise the money to pay for his army!”
Mart put up his hands in token of surrender. “You win!” He laughed. "I surrender!”
And while both Honey and Di Lynch still looked a little bewildered, the bell rang to warn them all that it was time to get back to their classes.
After school, Trixie and Honey went to the Wheeler stable to get their horses.
“I hate to see Regan,” Trixie sighed as they sighted his broad-shouldered, red-haired form at work near the stalls. “I’ve got to tell him about spilling his letter file, and I know he’ll snap my head off.” But, to her amazement, Regan was friendly, and he even laughed when she reluctantly admitted her accident.
“It was pretty well mixed up, as it was,” he said good-naturedly. “Forget it.”
He helped them saddle up, and while he did, he asked Honey, “Did you know that Maypenny finally hired somebody to help him take care of the game preserve? He’s a teen-ager, too.”
“We saw a boy with him, a dark boy named Dan Mangan,” Honey told him. “He seems very nice, but he doesn’t look very strong.”
Regan hesitated. Then he laughed. “He’s probably one of those stringy ones that are a lot stronger than they look.”
Trixie couldn’t keep out of it. “He was telling some of the boys at school about belonging to a tough gang in the city. I bet he was just putting it on.
Regan’s face flushed, and he hesitated even longer this time before he answered. “Well, Trixie, a lot of people talk big because they think other people will like them better. Maybe Danny Mangan s like that.”
Honey nodded quickly. “I know how it is, Trix. I used to be scared of the water, till a girl at the boarding school where I used to go laughed at me and told everyone I was afraid. So the next day at the pool I jumped right in, though I was sure I’d drown. And the first thing I knew, I was swimming.”
“And now you’re the prize swimmer of the Bob-Whites,” Trixie added admiringly.
Regan nodded sagely. “That’s how it goes. This boy Danny, now, he’s taking a job he doesn’t know anything about and going into a school where he doesn’t know a living soul. He’s got to put up a good front, hasn’t he?”
“That’s right,”