Chapter 12: Setting the Trap

The next two weeks were busy ones for everyone connected with the Lodge. From morning to night there was a terrific amount of hustling and bustling around the house, inside and out. Everyone was loaning something or borrowing something to wear at the last big party of the season.

Brook, Alf and Jimmy, all amateur but experienced electricians, extended wires from the house to the trees so that the lawn would be bright with lanterns.

“Just in case there’s no moon,” Phil said.

“If it rains, I’ll die,” Marjorie said nervously.

She and Judy were helping the boys, and Judy insisted upon knowing what each one planned to wear.

“We’re all going as cowboys,” Jimmy called down from the fork of a tall tree.

“How original of you,” Marjorie said sarcastically. “And it shows how lazy you are too. All you have to do is stuff the legs of your jeans in boots, tie bandannas around your necks, and borrow toy guns and holsters from kids in the village.”

“So what?” Alf demanded. “With masks on nobody will recognize us, not even you two.”

“We wouldn’t even try,” Judy informed him airily. “There’ll probably be so many cowboys here that night it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

“I hope Mr. X wears something more original,” Marjorie said without thinking.

“Who?” Judy demanded.

“Er--nobody,” Marjorie said hastily. The Allens, at Peter’s suggestion, had decided not to share their secret with any of the other guests.

“If too many people know that we’re planning to set a trap,” he had said, “it won’t be long before Mr. X knows too.”

To change the subject Marjorie said to Brook: “Phil and Penny wrote to New York and they heard today that I can get into that small boarding school I told you about. It’s up on the Hudson. Golly, I hate to think of going away from here.”

“I know how you feel,” Brook said sympathetically. “But just the same I’m glad you’re going to a school that isn’t very far from mine. When we have dances, you’ll come as my guest, won’t you?”

Marjorie blushed. She _did_ like Brook, and it would be fun to go to school dances with him, but she wished he hadn’t asked her when Jimmy was around. Jimmy thought it was fun to tease Judy Powell, but Marjorie knew that he thought girls were a nuisance. He also thought that boys who asked girls to parties were dopes. She waited tensely for the caustic remark she knew was coming.

To her surprise, Jimmy said nothing. He climbed down from the fork of the tree and gave her a look which said plainer than words:

“Watch your step, stupid. You almost let the cat out of the bag.”

And then Marjorie realized to her dismay that all of the others were staring at her curiously. Every one of them had heard her blurt out: “I hope Mr. X wears something more original.” They were overcome with curiosity but they were all too polite to ask any more questions.

Hastily Marjorie said, “Aren’t you all starving? I’ll go ask Ann Mary if I can’t fix some lemonade and raid the cooky jar.”

She was off without waiting for their replies, but Judy raced after her. Marjorie’s heart sank. As soon as they were out of earshot of the boys, Judy’s curiosity would get the better of her good manners. She would demand an explanation of Marjorie’s unfortunate remark.

Then Marjorie had an idea. “You know,” she said casually, “I’ll bet a lot of people come to the party disguised as the ghost who’s supposed to haunt the Lodge. I think of him as Mr. X and he wears a long gray beard. It would be hard to see through that disguise. I mean, a long flowing white robe, a wig and a mask with a long gray beard.”

Judy looked disappointed but Marjorie knew that her curiosity was satisfied. “It would be a perfect disguise,” Judy said. “And much more original than a cowboy outfit.”

Back in the Lodge they found all the other guests busy making final decisions about their costumes. The ladies had all enjoyed going through the trunks, spending one entire day rummaging, to the great delight of the younger fry. Some of the people had gone into town to get extra things for their costumes from the local stores. They reported that the townspeople, too, were all excited about the party and that a great many of them were planning to come.

At last it was the day of the big event, and to Marjorie’s delight the sun shone brightly in an almost cloudless sky.

Penny had decided to wear the old wedding dress from the trunk. It was beautiful even though it had yellowed with age. Adra was wearing a green silk dress with matching slippers from the same old trunk. Penny and Marjorie helped each other fix their costumes, and Marjorie suggested to Penny that she should wear the veil that went with the dress and thus really look like a bride.

“Because, Sis,” Marjorie said unashamedly, “you _are_ going to be a bride pretty soon. You might as well start getting used to the idea.”

Penny’s cheeks flamed. Then she suddenly threw her arms around Marjorie. “Oh, honey, if only I could be _sure_. There’s no sense in my trying to hide from you that I love Peter. But how can I be sure that he loves me?”

Marjorie sniffed. “Penny, you idiot! It’s written all over his face whenever he looks at you. And when you’re not around he mopes, except when he’s shooting daggers with his eyes at Charles Curtis.”

Penny couldn’t help smiling. Then she frowned. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll be a bride very soon. Peter may love me, but neither of us has enough money to start in housekeeping. Maybe,” she added wistfully, “that’s why Peter doesn’t tell me now that he loves me.”

“Pooh.” Marjorie snorted. “You can live on love. Besides, we must have made a lot of money on the Lodge this summer.”

“Not really,” Penny told her. “We had to hire an awful lot of help, you know. And this whole month the laundry has been so huge we had to pay Mr. Taggart twice as much as he estimated in the beginning. It had to be taken into the village four times a week.” She sighed. “And the girls we originally hired to come out only to wait on the tables and help with the ironing had to work full time.”

“Never mind,” Marjorie said consolingly. “It’s been fun.”

Penny brightened. “Oh, I don’t mean that we didn’t make any money. There’s enough to see you and Jimmy through school. But Phil and I want you to go to college. Both of you.”

“We won’t go,” Marjorie said stanchly. “Not if it means you can’t marry Peter when he asks you to. After the experience we’ve had this summer we can both get jobs.” She pirouetted around the room. “Don’t you think I’d make somebody a wonderful secretary?”

“Wonderful.” Penny giggled. “But not a very dignified one. No, honey,” she went on seriously, “don’t you worry your pretty head about getting a job just yet. Things will work out somehow. I know they will.”

To herself she added, “If Peter asks me to marry him, I’ll say yes. _Together_ we can work things out.”

“I tell you what let’s do,” Marjorie cried. “Let’s have dress rehearsal right now. Here, in your room. Just us and Judy ’cause she’s going to be my twin. And Ann Mary so she can give our costumes a final inspection.” She danced away.

In a short while they were all crowding into Penny’s room, laughing and making fun of each other.

Marjorie and Judy were dressed alike in little Swiss peasant girl costumes. Jimmy made a very handsome cowboy and Philip was a swashbuckling pirate. A banquet was to be served at midnight after the unmasking, and since this was the event of the summer, Ann Mary had included all her specialties in the menu. She stayed at the dress rehearsal only long enough to assure them that they all looked wonderful, then hurried away.

In spite of last-minute preparations, the Allens and Peter made time for a final conference in the office.

“Let’s try to have as much fun as possible,” Peter said, “but we mustn’t forget for one minute that we’re all detectives.”

“That’s right,” Phil agreed. “If any one of us notices a guest acting suspiciously, he or she must report at once to the others. There’ll be over a hundred people here tonight, so we’ve all got to be on our toes. Every minute,” he added soberly.

Jimmy nodded. “Every minute until the unmasking anyway. Which means between the hours of ten and midnight. Not many people will arrive before ten even though we invited them to come at nine-thirty.”

Penny was sketching a floor plan of the Lodge on a large sheet of paper. “Whatever Mr. X is after,” she said, “it obviously isn’t buried on the grounds. If it were, he wouldn’t have planted those red herrings. Therefore, it’s probably in the house. If it’s upstairs, all we have to do is make sure that nobody but our house guests and help goes up without our knowing it. We all know what costumes they’ll be wearing so that’s easy. But it will be Peter and Marjorie’s job to keep an eye on the back stairs; Jimmy and I, the front.”

Everyone nodded, and Penny went on. “If it’s downstairs, Mr. X will know that he hasn’t got a prayer of searching for it, unless it’s in the office or the storage room, and I’ve locked those doors securely, so he can’t slip in and out unnoticed. The other downstairs rooms will be filled with people all the time, including the kitchen. The logical time for him to try to find whatever he plans to steal will be when everyone is gathered in one room.”

She smiled up at Peter. “In order to be sure we catch Mr. X in our trap, I have carefully dropped hints throughout the village that at eleven-thirty on the dot we’re going to show our guests the secret room. Don’t you think he’ll choose that time, when everyone’s attention will be concentrated on one spot, to do something which will attract our attention?”

“I certainly do,” Peter said. “He’ll be the one guest at that moment who won’t crowd into the alcove to see how the secret door works. Unless,” he added thoughtfully, “whatever he happens to be after is in the secret room itself.”

“I thought of that,” Penny said. “And since he can’t possibly know how the secret doors works, he’ll wait until after that part of the evening’s entertainment is over. Then he’ll try to sneak back and go down into the room while we’re unmasking.” She chuckled. “In that case, he’ll walk right into our trap. After the last guest has left, Phil can stay behind and hide in the alcove. If Mr. X sneaks back and goes down into the room, all Phil has to do is fasten the door from the outside, once Mr. X is safely down the stairs. Then we can call the police, for obviously no honest person would go into the secret room without our permission.”

“I object,” Jimmy said. “According to that scheme, we’ll catch Mr. X, but we still won’t know what he was trying to steal.”

“I agree with Jimmy,” Phil said. “So instead of hiding in the alcove after the guests have all seen the secret room, I’ll hide down in the room itself. Behind the black draperies you’ve hung on the walls. If he sneaks back, I’ll stay there until _after_ he’s got whatever he’s trying to get. Then at the point of my gun I’ll make him turn it over to me and--”

Penny interrupted with a frown: “I still don’t like the idea of your being down in the room alone with someone who may be a dangerous criminal, Phil.”

“Oh, Penny,” Marjorie cried impulsively, “Phil can take care of himself. Besides, Mr. X won’t have any idea that he’s hiding behind the black curtains. Also,” she added, “what Mr. X wants may not be in the secret room after all.”

“That’s true,” Penny admitted reluctantly.

“Then the scheme is this,” Peter said, summing it up. “If you and Marjorie see a stranger sneak upstairs before the unmasking, you’re to report at once to Phil, Jimmy and me. We’ll follow him and catch him in the act. If no one does anything suspicious, Phil will remain in the secret room after the guests have seen it. Pat, who will open the door, will close it when everyone has left the alcove. Then we’ll all go into the big room for the unmasking and wait until Phil signals that he has caught a rat in his trap. You can do that, Phil,” he finished, “as we already agreed, by banging on the door.”

And so the final arrangements were made. But Penny, as she hurried upstairs with Marjorie to dress for the occasion, knew that Peter was worried. He didn’t like the idea of Phil being locked in the secret room with Mr. X any more than she did.

“But,” she realized suddenly, “Phil won’t be _locked_ in after all. Even though we may deliberately play into Mr. X’s hands by showing him how to get into the secret room, he won’t know where the spring is that closes the door on the other side.”

And, as Marjorie pointed out while they helped each other with their costumes: “The whole thing may be a flop. We don’t know for sure that there is anything valuable hidden in the Lodge, or that Mr. X will be among those present tonight.”