Notes for #15 The Mystery on the Mississippi © 1965, 2006
| Page # |
Quote |
| 5 |
Trixie Belden, fourteen, rushed in. |
| 6 |
Mart: "Five
of the seven Bob-Whites are here. That's a quorum, or whatever you
call it." |
| 7 |
Honey: "All
of us! Every one of the Bob-Whites, except Diana, 'cause she's away
… and maybe Dan can't leave his job to go." Mart:
"I've got to go tell Dan. He's coaching those Little Leaguers
today. Maybe the Park Board will let him take time off to go with
us." |
| 9 |
- A white picket fence spread its arms to enclose Mrs. Belden's
rose beds, an apple orchard, and the kitchen garden.
- Brian and Jim seniors at Sleepyside Junior-Senior High.
|
| 10 |
- Mart once said, "Trixie draws crooks to her like a magnet.
She can spot one quicker'n a bloodhound."
- Dan was able to go along on the trip, for a substitute took
over his work.
|
| 11 |
Mr. Wheeler:
"Mr. Brandio is going to let you have a car, Jim." |
| 13 |
Trixie: "I'll
just hang up my dresses. I don't think I'll need more than these two." |
| 17 |
Trixie: "These
sheets have figures all over them. There's a map of the Mississippi
River and look at these queer drawings along the river!" |
| 20 |
Brian: "I'd
say to take it back and give it to the man you saw." Jim:
"You'd better do as Brian suggested." Trixie:
"Do you think so Dan?" Dan: "You're
usually right when you think something odd is going on." |
| 21 |
Jim: "The
Jefferson Memorial in Forest Park. That's where they have all kinds
of historical stuff — model rooms from old steamboats and other
things about the river." |
| 23 |
Pierre Lontard, General Delivery, New
Orleans, Louisiana. |
| 24 |
Mart: "Give
him a run for his money!" |
| 25 |
Mart: "I'll
bet a cooky he doesn't know we're alive." |
| 30 |
Mart: "You'll
never get a future New York policeman like Dan away from Kentucky
rifles and dueling pistols." |
| 31 |
Trixie: "A
towboat? You mean a tugboat?" Man at desk:
"I mean a towboat. There's a mighty big difference. It pushes
barges." |
| 32 |
Man at desk:
"Towboats are actually run much in the same spirit as the old
steamboats." |
| 33 |
Mart: "President
(Mr. Brandio) of the Clear Meadow Aircraft Corporation." |
| 34 |
Jim: "Do
you want to join the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency, Dan?" |
| 37 |
Dan: "Sure,
Honey knows a little Spanish. Remember how she helped figure out the
message from the Mexican fortune-teller in New York?" |
| 40 |
Brian: "I
know you though Trixie. You're just like a bulldog with a hold on
a tramp's leg. You'll never let go." |
| 41 |
Mr. Wheeler:
"You remember Honey, when Mr. and Mrs. Thompson and their children
visited us at home just last summer? Their father never has stopped
saying what a wonderful baby-sitter you were." |
| 45 |
Mr. Wheeler:
"The trouble with you Honey, is that you think I'm a magician
— that all I have to do to accomplish something is to wave a
wand …" Honey: "I did so
want to take just a little ride on the river." Mr.
Wheeler: "Remember that retired riverboat, Captain Wainwarton,
who talked at Sleepyside Junior/Senior High a while back?" |
| 46 |
Mr. Wheeler:
"He said he remembers Trixie. Everybody remembers Trixie. One
way or another." |
| 55 |
Mart: "There's
a kid out there no older than me toting a ton of chain. His name is
Paul." Mart leaned over the rail to watch a curly-haired, deeply
tanned boy. |
| 56 |
Mart: "Come
to think of it, I may want to be a river pilot myself instead of a
farmer." |
| 61 |
Trixie: "Captain
Martin said you just joined the Catfish Princess this morning."
Mrs. Aguilera: "I'm Elena Aguilera
and my husband is Juan Aguilera. He is writing a book about the great
rivers of America and I try to take pictures to add to his book." |
| 65 |
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. |
| 72 |
Trixie: "Bob-Whites
always show up when one of our members is in danger." |
| 74 |
Mart: "Paul
plays the guitar. He belongs to a trio down in New Orleans. They sing
folk songs." |
| 76 |
Trixie loved it too, and her clear voice
rose as Paul led the singing. |
| 94 |
Dan: "I
wish the time would come when you wouldn't know all the answers Mart."
Mart: "Can I help it if I'm just naturally bright?" |
| 96 |
Mart: "When
I wonder about anything I try and find the answer." |
| 103 |
Jim: "We
don't carry more money because we never need it in Sleepyside. Everybody
knows us there. When we need anything we can charge it." Honey:
"Jim, why don't you call Mr. Brandio's office and have them wire
us some more money?" Jim: "I think
Dad would be embarrassed. We're a fine outfit if we can't figure some
way out of this." |
| 105 |
Bob pulled up and parked near a maze
of masts and bobbing motorboats. He helped the girls into a shining
varnished motorboat, the Comet. |
| 107 |
Jim had a speedboat of his own on the
Hudson. |
| 108 |
Trixie, When
we're out in Jim's boat at home he's not a bit like Bob. |
| 116 |
Coast Guard Officer:
"A ticket on almost all the counts you could have against you,
beginning with no registration number on your boat, and ending with
reckless steering and endangering lives." |
| 117 |
Trixie: "I
think it depends on who is asking the questions." Dan:
"Secret Service, Trixie." |
| 118 |
Only after a long and detailed questioning
by federal agents had they been allowed to telephone. |
| 122 |
Agent: "We
can use all the talent we can get in this business. I didn't get into
it myself till I finished college and law school. I guess I was about
twenty-four years old when I got my first job in intelligence work." |
| 137 |
Manager: "I
might just as a warning, call your attention to one thing, Miss Trixie.
The hours for swimming are clearly posted above the pool." |
| 140 |
Mr. Wheeler:
"How you survive the dangers you get into I'll never know." |
| 145 |
Honey: "I
wish Diana could be here too. We could use her. She can almost read
people's minds at times, can't she?" |
| 147 |
Trixie: "I
don't want to let the police handle it all by themselves." |
| 148 |
Trixie: "That's
now way for our agency to act, is it, Honey?" |
| 151 |
Lem: "I'm
Lem Watkins. As I told you, I live right here on the river."
"You have to pay to get in (to the cave). If you did get me a
ticket, I could sneak you around to some places they don't let tourists
into." |
| 154 |
Lem: "How'd
you like to go over to Jackson's Island an' build a bonfire an' cook
our lunch?" |
| 156 |
Without even a thought of the promise
they had made to the police or to Mr. Wheeler, they piled onto the
big old raft. |
| 157 |
For an hour the Bob-Whites lived in
a world of pioneers. The island was deserted. |
| 158 |
Dan: "Doesn't
anyone live on this island?" Lem: "Nope.
This is federal property." Dan: "It
looks like a good place for a hideout for criminals." |
| 159 |
Lem: "Me
an' Soapy — he's my best friend — we was campin' back
yonder. I watched three men get out of the boat an' drag a big bundle
after 'em." |
| 162 |
Dan: "What
we want to know is pretty important to the whole United States. How
about letting us have a look back there?" Lem:
"No, sirree! Remember, you promised before I told you?"
Trixie: "Yes. I remember." |
| 165 |
Brian: "That
looks like a house. Boy is it a big one! Almost as big as your house
at home Jim." |
| 166 |
Mart: "Imagine
the characters that would live here — witches and goblins and
… gangsters. If you're looking for a hideout for Lontard's outfit
you couldn't find a likelier place, Trix." |
| 168 |
Brian: "I'm
beginning to think there really is something to that crazy map." |
| 174 |
Trixie: "We
want to see the exhibit, too. If you'd only think, you'd realize that
there'll be lots of girls among the future astronauts." Mart:
"I can imagine you orbiting the sun all right. It's a little
harder to imagine Honey doing it." Honey:
"The Belden-Wheeler Agency will probably have lots of cases in
outer space." |
| 177 |
Trixie: "I
wish my father could be here. He'd let me go." Honey: "I
don't think he would. My dad lets us do just as much as yours does." |
| 181 |
Mrs. Aguilera:
"The letter at Memphis was from our publisher. He said we must
bring the work up-to-date immediately, then return East for another
assignment." |
| 186 |
Trixie: "I'm
not even sure she (Mrs. Aguilera) didn't push me overboard and then
make it look as though she had saved my life." Honey:
"Why would she do that?" Trixie:
"I feel it in my bones. When I feel anything in my bones I can't
help the way I act." Honey: "I'll
say this much, then. I'm pretty good at guessing what people are like,
too, and I'd trust Mrs. Aguilera anyplace." |
| 187 |
Trixie: "Let's quit talking about
the Aguileras. When we don't agree on something we usually agree to
disagree." |
| 189 |
Trixie (reading letter), Since
I talked with you earlier this evening things have happened pretty
fast. Our agents, Mr. and Mrs. Aguilera, will explain to you what
I mean. Please obey without hesitation what they ask you to do. Your
life may depend upon it. Trust Mr. and Mrs. Aguilera. They are protecting
you. The note was signed Leighton N. Ogilvie,
Chief of Secret Service, St. Louis District. |
| 193 |
Mrs. Aguilera:
"You aren't old enough to drive, are you Trixie?" |
| 194 |
Trixie: "No,
I'm not, but my father lets me drive up and down our driveway. I can
handle a car. I know how to start and stop and back up and …" |
| 195 |
Mrs. Aguilera:
"Why, Trixie, I do believe you may still be distrustful. Surely
that note from Chief Otway …" |
| 202 |
Mr. Aguilera:
"Open up, Frenchy!" There stood Pierre Lontard. |
| 204 |
"Greetings!" Lontard said
in a voice as oily as that of Red Riding Hood's wolf. |
| 205 |
Suddenly Honey rushed at him (Lontard)
and scratched him furiously across the face. |
| 217 |
On the floor lay the key to their room
at Vacation Inn. Trixie, Where can the
boys be? Jim, where are you? Brian, Mart, Dan? |
| 221 |
Mike: "Say,
look at this! Someone lost a key." |
| 222 |
Dave: "Yeah!
It's from a motel in St. Louis. Gosh somebody left this since the
last time we were here." |
| 224 |
Man: "If
you want to spend the price of a stamp you can mail it back to the
motel. I wouldn't bother." |
| 226 |
Trixie, It
may be the last time I'll ever see her. It may be the last time I'll
ever see anyone I love. |
| 228 |
Mrs. Aguilera:
"I've watched you (Lontard) with grown people and I've never
said a word. I can't watch you torturing these young people any longer." |
| 231 |
Lontard: "The
map of the river. With it in the hands of the police, our jig is up." |
| 238 |
Jim: "Killings
far too good for them!" Brian: "Even
the electric chair!" |
| 239 |
Mr. Wheeler:
"I shall have a difficult time explaining my negligence to your
parents, Trixie, and to your mother, Honey." |
| 240 |
The seaman lifted a plank. There packed
as close together as possible, were guns. Mr. Brandio:
"These guns were intended to stir up trouble in South America!" |
| 242 |
Officer: "It
(map) was the most important piece of paper the police have picked
up in many years." |
| 243 |
Jim: "The
Bob-Whites aren't leaving this hospital." Mr.
Wheeler: "I'm staying here too." They spent the night
in the waiting room. |
| 245 |
Chief Ogilvie:
"We thought we had halted the operation of the Belden-Wheeler
Agency, but we underestimated Trixie's doggedness. By the way, his
name isn't Lontard. His real name is Diego Martinez." |
| 246 |
Chief Ogilvie:
"I can't say I'd ever approve of international intrigue and politics
as a game for young girls to play, but I'll have to give your agency
credit that is due." |
| 247 |
Chief Ogilvie:
"Martinez really was trying to buy an old steamboat. It was an
excellent cover for his scheme." |
| 249 |
Honey: "Do
you know what I'd like most of all in the world? I remember pictures
of little Korean orphans I saw in a magazine. They were in an advertisement
asking for people to adopt one of them … not really bring them
to this country, but send money every month to take care of them.
Do you possibly think the Bob-Whites could do that?" Dan's hand
flew up. Then Brian's. Then Jim. Mart: "It's
okay with me, just so the orphan's a boy." |
