Research Holp

Notes for #27 The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon © 1979
Page #	Quote
14	Trixie: "My feet were flying so fast that dust now covers the entire town of Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson." Honey was taller and slimmer than Trixie, though both girls were fourteen. Besides Trixie's two older brothers, seventeen-year-old Brian and fifteen-year-old Mart, there was Di Lynch, who was in the same grade as Trixie and Honey, and Dan Mangan. Honey's parents lad also adopted seventeen-year-old Jim Frayne.
16	It was October, a perfect time for flying to the Finger Lakes in northern New York State. The Wheelers owned a cottage on beautiful Owasco Lake, not far from the city of Auburn — but now the Bob-Whites wouldn't get to see it. Honey: "Daddy suggested that we could go to the Catskills instead."
17	Honey: "I'm not sure we should go. Because the person who's going there didn't invite us herself." Jim: "What does Trixie think? Should we foist ourselves on Miss Trask this weekend or not?"
18	Honey: "She's (Miss Trask) going home."
19	Trixie knew that Miss Trask had taught in a girls' school before she worked for the Wheelers. She also knew that Miss Trask had an invalid sister whom she helped to support. Honey: "She was raised in a place called Pirate's Point, and her childhood home is an inn." Jim: "It's called Pirate Inn. It got its name from the original owner, who really was a pirate. he was one of Miss Trask's long-ago relatives, who used the inn as a storage place for ill-gotten gains."
22	Miss Trask: "I was hoping you'd all help me solve a mystery this weekend. But then, I guess you wouldn't be interested." Trixie: "A mystery?" Miss Trask: (smiling) "Oh, it happened so long ago that it probably would be a waste of time trying to solve it. The mystery involved a rascally ancestor of mine who was a pirate. Did you know that Captain Trask once disappeared completely in front of a roomful of people? You see, he knew that the soldiers were coming to arrest him."
23	Honey: "Did the family ever hear from Captain Trask again?" Miss Trask: "Oh yes. That same day, the captain's ship was sighted sailing down the Hudson River. And soon after that, the captain himself arrived in Jamaica."
24	Honey: "And were you really hoping we could solve the mystery for you?" Miss Trask: "I really was."
28	Mart: "Trixie's been reading one of her dumb spy novels again. What's the woman's name who writes those silly things? Lucy Knotgrass?" Trixie: "Her name is Lucy Radcliffe. And she does not write dumb novels. She's only eighteen-years-old, but she's had so many wonderful adventures. She's been all over the world in the service of her country, and …" Mart: "Only eighteen? I'd guess she's seventy years old if she's a day. What's more, I'll bet she has a bit of a mustache." Trixie: "Lucy is a tall, willowy redhead with a peaches-and-cream complexion."
29	Trixie blinked back hot tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. In the past few days, she had found Mart's teasing to be almost unbearable. Mart: "Trixie Teenybopper is simply yearning for adventure, just like her fictional heroine — she of the bee-yoo-tiful complexion …" Trixie: "My Lucy books are no dumber than those Cosmo McNaught science-fiction things you're always reading."
30	Mart: "Cosmo is a superlative writer, and he's not covered with zits." Brian suddenly rose to his feet and shoved his chair. Brian: "Sometimes Mart you go too far. I don't think Lucy Radcliffe's Adventure in Paris is one bit sillier than Cosmo McNaught's Journey to the Crab Nebula."
32	Dan: "How long will it take us to get to Pirate's Point?" Honey: "Miss Trask says it'll take us less than two hours."
34	Mart: "You're standing in a house. There are windows on all four sides of it. Every window faces south. Suddenly a bear walks by. What color is the bear?"
37	Honey: "Apparently, the legend is well known in the area of Pirate's Point. Miss Trask says it's been a real tourist attraction over the years. I have an idea she hasn't visited there in a long time. What's more, she didn't seem to want to talk about it."
42	Pirate's Inn. Set back from a cliff overlooking the wide Hudson River, an old two-story building. It's dark timbers looked warm and inviting. Tall trees reached toward its three-gabled roof. Honey: "How could you ever bear to leave a place like this?" Miss Trask: "It's not always possible to live where one wants to. And sometimes there are other things — and other people — who are more important."
43	Miss Trask: "Sometimes there's not enough money in a family to take care of certain responsibilities. And when that happens someone in that family has to go out and earn a living." Honey: "Do you ever wish you didn't have to work for my family?" Miss Trask: "Oh no, Honey! What on earth would I do without you and Jim to keep me on my toes?"
46	Trixie could see the family resemblance. Frank was only slightly taller than his sister. But as he doffed his three-cornered hat to all, Trixie could see that his head was the same shape as Miss Trask's and that he had the same crisp iron-gray hair. His twinkling blue eyes even had the same laugh lines at their corners.
48	Trixie and Honey stood in the doorway of their bedroom on the second floor. It was as if they were about to step into a ship's cabin. Paneled walls, lined with prints of long-ago sailing ships, neat bunk beds and blue sailcloth curtains at the windows. Di: "Brian and Mart seem to have been given the captain's cabin. It has brass lamps and everything!"
49	Di: "Jim and Dan have a room like ours." Trixie: "I wonder where Miss Trask's room is." Honey: "Her room's at the end of the passage. It's just a regular old room — some big, dark furniture and a small single bed."
50	Di: "The dining room is really neat. It has brass lamps on the tables, anchors on the wall, and thick red carpeting on the floor."
51	An enormous oil painting of a tall, fierce pirate chief standing guard over his treasure chest. Mr. Trask: "In real life, the old captain didn't look nearly fierce enough. I know Marge won't like it."
53	"I'm supposed to tell you that I'm Weasel Willis, and I'm your waiter for the afternoon."
55	Brian: "Reverse psychology. Sometimes when you tell someone to do something, they immediately do the opposite."
58	A young man with sandy-colored hair was already seated at the captain's table. Mr. Trask: "That's Marvin Appleton."
62	Honey: "This is a dumbwaiter. It's one of those things that work on a pulley. Servants used to put hot food inside it. Then they hauled on the rope to lift the whole thing upstairs." Trixie: "Or to send it downstairs to the cellar." Honey: "Where there's probably another secret way out that leads to a beach."
63	Trixie was positively stuck at the bottom of the shaft. There was no panel to slide open, just a brick wall.
65	Miss Trask: "The last time I was here, we quarreled because you had some wild idea of turning the inn into a fast-food outlet with jukeboxes and neon signs.
66	Miss Trask: "You borrowed money?" Mr. Trask: "Which I'm about to pay back. I had to put the inn as collateral. I wanted to prove I could do it. I hand over the cash to our old friend Nicholas Morgan."
69	Weasel: "Before you know it, the Sea Fox will come sailing up the Hudson River. People around here say that the old captain swore he would protect his family forever. And so, whenever something awful is about to hit one of the Trasks, his phantom galleon shows up again."
78	Mr. Trask: "A manikin? Where on earth did that come from?" Mr. Appleton: "It's mine. I use him in my work. His name is Clarence."
82	Everyone knew that since Trixie had rescued Jim from his cruel stepfather, she could do no wrong as far as he was concerned.
84	Trixie smoothed it (crumpled paper) and read: BEWARE! YOUR EVERY MOVE IS BEING WATCHED!
87	Bathed in an eerie glow, its masts reaching high through the mist, was a ship. It floated silently at anchor, its sails furled. Honey: "The ship is a galleon and it's flying the skull and crossbones. Where did it come from and why is it gleaming all over with that funny light?" It was the Sea Fox!
89	Trixie saw the shapely figurehead that adorned the ship's bow. The woman's graceful form appeared to be standing almost upright against the bow.
92	"My name's Smiley Jackson, and when you're ready I'll take your order."
97	Mr. Trask: "When I was just a sprout my sisters and I used to squabble among ourselves. We often said more than we meant to. And tempers often got hot. So to cool 'em down, we used to quote old proverbs at each other until someone laughed and then the quarrel was forgotten. It was our way of counting to ten."
99	Mr. Trask: "I can honestly say the inn is a success. By this time tomorrow, I will have paid off the loan."
100	Mr. Trask: "I know how the old captain disappeared!" From behind them came the sound of a large heavy tray crashing to the ground.
101	Their host had disappeared!
102	The door to the kitchen swung open, and a short, dark-haired man rushed in. His waxed mustached was bristling with rage.
103	Weasel: "Calm down, Gaston. It was an accident. it could have happened to anyone."
104	Trixie: "He (Mr. Trask) said he knew the solution to the mystery of the captain's disappearance. I think maybe he's showing us."
110	Weasel: "Your brother never locks the safe these days." They saw that it opened at once to her touch. They also saw that its shelves were bare.
112	Weasel: "There had been a paler. When Mr. Trask looked in here, he found that someone had tried to jimmy open the safe."
116	Trixie saw a tall, gray-haired man watching them.
117	"My name's Nicholas Morgan."
124	Trixie: "My dad knows everything there is to know about lending and borrowing money." Di: "Maybe I can help. What do you want to know?" Trixie: "I was wondering what would happen if Mr. Trask really didn't have the money he borrowed."
125	Di: "If you want to borrow money, you usually have to give something to the lender to let him know you're going to pay him back."
127	Trixie reached for her new Lucy Radcliffe novel, Mission in Munich.
133	The cashbox dropped from his (Weasel) fingers.
134	A shower of golden coins cascaded to the floor. Weasel: "It's chocolate wrapped in embossed gold foil."
138	Gaston: "The Weasel should not have spoiled the big surprise, but he showed it to you — the galleon. He stands by the front door. He flips the switch. The Sea Fox, she sails again." Honey: "We saw the ship vanish." Gaston: "The ship is being painted with fluorescent paint. The lights. They are black."
140	Gaston: "The ship, she is towed around a head-land yesterday. At dusk today, she is towed back."
142	Trixie: "The lady's crying!"
148	Thirteen paces down the stair, Then through the door - Soon you'll be there, Where fortune waits upon the shore, Inside a cave, upon the floor. Beware of ghosts who guard the place With knife and cutlass, gun and mace. Faint heart ne'er did a rich man make, But gold is there for you to take. If you can find the pirate's lair, Then you have won a treasure rare.
153	Mr. Appleton: "I suppose I'd better tell you the truth. The fact is, my hobby is wrestling, and I use Clarence in my workouts."
154	They discovered a flight of wooden steps. A long wooden jetty extended into the water.
158	The cave was dark and cold. It had a dank, musty smell.
159	Trixie's groping fingers reached for the wall, but she snatched her hand away as it encountered something horribly slippery.
164	Trixie found the boys staring speechless at a small grotto in front of them. It seemed to be lit by invisible flickering torches.
165	The boys were gazing at a small grass-covered island in the middle of the sandy floor. The tall palm tree decorated its center. Trixie: "It's even got tropical flowers and plants at its base." She saw an old, brass-studded wooden chest half hidden in the foliage. From its half-opened lid there sprawled a rope of gleaming pearls. Propped against the chest was a grinning skeleton dressed in the clothes of a pirate chief. In one bony hand he held a cutlass. In the other, he held a pistol. A dagger was stuck into the belt of his black trousers; the mace lay across his skinny lap.
168	Mart stared down at the paper containing the clues. Mart: "And I suppose there's one of these hidden somewhere in every room at the inn."
180	Mr. Appleton: "Suppose Captain Trask already knew of his impending arrest. And suppose he made arrangements of his own. Like bribing the soldiers ahead of time. If it had been me, I'd have arranged to have a soldier's uniform handy. Then, when I was about to be arrested, I'd have merely slipped it on over what I was wearing." Trixie: "Then the captain merely joined the soldiers as they backed away from the table, and he just walked out of the inn with them."
191	Trixie: "I've just realized those tears are really fluorescent paint."
194	"You nosy kids! You found out we kidnapped Frank Trask. I'll get rid of you too!"
195	With his arms and legs flailing the air, he walked the plank! Then he dropped straight over the side. He surfaced and swam away. Honey: "The villain all along was Smiley Jackson!"
199	Mr. Trask tripped over a toolbox. He fell heavily to the deck and lay quite still.
203	The pirate chief (Clarence) didn't turn around. "Come in Nick. We've been waiting for you. It's too bad your plan didn't work." Mr. Morgan: "Frank? But that's impossible! You're supposed to be —" Miss Trask: "Kidnapped? You are the one who wanted Frank to lose this place so that you could sell it to the hotel chain."
205	Weasel's feet shot out from under him. The cake soared high into the air. It landed on Nicholas Morgan's head.
208	Honey: "What do you use Clarence for?" Mr. Appleton: "I'm a writer, and Clarence helps me figure out some of my action scenes. Lucy was supposed to be struggling for her life with a foreign spy —" Trixie: "Lucy! Are you Lucy Radcliffe?"
209	Mr. Appleton: "I'm also Cosmo McNaught. Perhaps you've heard of me." Brian: "You're sitting next to two of your biggest fans."
210	Trixie: "The only place in the world where all windows can face south is the North Pole. I finally figured out that the original portrait of Captain Trask must be behind the fake one. And that's where I found the missing money — in between the two thicknesses of canvas."