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Girl Scouts Mystery Series |
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| #1 The Secret of Camp Pioneer | ||
The Girl Scouts plan to camp at an old cabin built 150 years ago. The only problem is that a few of the girls, including several of the girls of the Owl Patrol, do not have the money to pay for their share. The girls decide upon a rummage sale and earn enough money to attend camp. The campsite is at the old Wright cabin, and Patsy Anderson is simply fascinated about Mrs. Wright's stories of her predecessors' pioneer spirit. The old cabin is dubbed Camp Pioneer. Mrs. Wright confides to Patsy that she is missing a valuable letter that was given to her husband by General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. Mrs. Wright suspects that her husband may have moved the letter and the iron box that contained it to the old cabin shortly before his death. Mrs. Wright makes Patsy promise not to tell anybody about the missing box. The box likely contained a large sum of money which would mean so much to Mrs. Wright, who is in danger of losing her property. |
 Terror-stricken, they dashed pell-mell toward the cabin. |
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| Patsy decides to search for the money. Unfortunately, with 31 girls present at Camp Pioneer, Patsy can barely find a time when the cabin is empty. Each time Patsy begins her search, someone interrupts her. With a lot of luck, perhaps Patsy can reveal the secret of Camp Pioneer before the camping trip ends. | ||
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| #2 The Mysterious Camper | ||
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Captain Mac never complains, but the Scouts impose upon her far too much and have accidentally damaged some of her belongings during their meetings. Patsy suggests that the girls find a Scout house as soon as possible. Money is a problem, but the girls are given an abandoned boxcar to use for their Scout house. The girls excitedly examine their boxcar, but the next day, the boxcar vanishes! The railroad agent had to send every available boxcar to the wheat fields. The agent next offers the Scouts an old abandoned house on a property way out in the country. The only catch is—the house is haunted! Even so, the girls accept the offer, and it is decided that the girls will tear down the house and move it to the city. The next obstacle is the lack of a chaperone. Hilda's maid, Lily, is bribed into the role of chaperone by Hilda. The group of girls begin their difficult task in high spirits. |
 A white, terror-stricken face, stared from under a mop of black, curly hair. |
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| Soon after the girls begin the demolition, a ghostly figure is seen in the house. Can the house really be haunted, or is somebody trying to scare the girls away? The day comes when the mysterious camper is revealed, and the girls help bring happiness to a young person who desperately needs it. | ||
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| #3 The Trail of the Gypsy Eight | ||
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Jackie desperately hopes to find her missing grandmother, who used to live in Natchez. Patsy suggests a camping trip, to which Captain Mac agrees. It is decided that the trip be limited to the seven girls who worked on tearing down the Scout house, with Jackie as the eighth girl, since she is so eager to find a clue to her grandmother's whereabouts. Dubbed the Raggle Taggle Gypsies, the girls embark on their trip in high spirits, with Captain Mac as their chaperone and Patsy's brother, Bob, as their driver. On the very first day, Patsy and Joan spot an alligator, which is killed by Bob. Bob plans to have the alligator stuffed and sent to the girls' Scout house, much to the girls' disgust. The girls' first campsite is on Mrs. Blair's huge plantation. The girls make themselves at home, and in between various sightseeing trips, the girls ask several people about Jackie's grandmother, but no one knows anything. |
 "Your imagination played a trick on you and turned a log into a 'gator," laughed Madge. |
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| Finally, Jackie learns of a special friend of her grandmother, and Patsy and Jackie set off to interview her. Somehow the girls are lost in the woods after dark with no one to help them. They cross paths with a stranger who is lost as well, and immediately have a new friend. The three lost travelers find their way out of the woods, and Jackie unexpectedly finds the answer to her mystery. | ||
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| #4 The Secret of Halliday House | ||
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The Scout house is finally finished, and the girls work on getting the interior decorations ready. One morning, the girls arrive to find all of their hard work—destroyed! The house is a shambles, and even worse, Patsy's most prized possession, her watch, has been stolen! There is no clue as to who the culprit could be, but Madge strongly suspects Dick Boone trashed the Scout house and stole the watch. Even though Dick is an incorrigible prankster, Patsy is certain that he would never stoop so low. In time, the girls get the house fixed up again and begin their house-warming party. The next day, the girls explore Halliday House, which is on the adjoining property. The Hallidays returned to England years before after their son dishonored the family, and have never sold the property. The house has remained empty for years, still fully furnished. The girls greatly desire to see the antiques and rich furnishings that are inside the house. |
 As soon as she had managed to get a firm hold of the cold rod, she swung herself out of the window. |
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| While inside, the girls hear a strange noise that sends them running back to the Scout house as fast as they can! Later, Hilda realizes that she left her necklace inside Halliday House, but when the girls return, the necklace is gone! A prowler is spotted gazing into the Scout house, and various property is reported stolen around town. It seems that the prowler may be the thief. It becomes apparent that the solution to the burglaries is locked inside Halliday House. Somehow the girls must discover who is looting their community. | ||
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| #5 The Curious Quest | ||
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A hike to Miss Emma Lott's farm leads the girls into a strange mystery. Miss Lott hospitably promises the girls that they can do whatever they want on her property, but upon their arrival, the girls are ordered away by Mr. Griffin, Miss Lott's closest neighbor! When the girls insist that they have permission, Mr. Griffin grumbles about the girls setting the woods on fire. A short time later, the girls carefully build a small fire and leave it while they fetch water. The woods are ablaze when the girls return, and a man is sneaking away in the brush! The girls put out the spreading fire, and speculate as to whether Mr. Griffin is responsible. The girls begin building a nice outdoor living room with trellises and flowers, but when they return the next day, everything has been destroyed! Soon, the girls learn that Miss Lott is plagued with problems, including the sudden strange death of her mule. Some people claim that there is a curse on the property. Worst of all, Miss Lott will lose her farm in three weeks when it is to be sold. |
 "I wanted to warn you that—that the Griffin is spying on us," Joan panted. |
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| The plot thickens when Patsy learns that Mr. Griffin is the primary interested buyer. Just why is Miss Lott's apparently worthless property so important to Mr. Griffin? Patsy hopes to learn what exactly is so valuable about Miss Lott's property before the property is sold. | ||
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| #6 The Camp's Strange Visitors | ||
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Patsy reminds the other girls that they have become lazy and that they should continue their work on the required first- and second-class nature work of scouting. A camping trip is suggested as the perfect opportunity for the girls to get back in touch with nature, and the nearby gravel pit is the ideal spot. The gravel pit is maintained as a game preserve, and Patsy's Uncle Jim lives in it. Patsy is sure that she can get permission for the girls to stay there. Finding a chaperone proves to be a real problem, but Hilda once again bribes her Negro maid, Lily, along with her husband, into accompanying the girls. Once the girls are settled in at the gravel pit, it becomes apparent that someone wants the girls to leave. One night, the girls are awakened when an intruder leaves a warning message by their beds! Much to the amusement of the other girls, Chris insists that a bootlegger is living in the woods and is the culprit. Chris continuously searches for the bootlegger during the girls' horseback rides. |
 "Let's speed up and get out of the woods as fast's we can," Patsy called over her shoulder. |
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| Patsy wonders if Uncle Jim's office man, Mr. Hendrix, is the writer of the note, since he seems to want the girls to leave. But why would the girls' presence threaten Mr. Hendrix? After a dangerous encounter with quicksand, the girls discover the secret hidden within the gravel pit as well as the identities of the camp's strange visitors. | ||
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