Mystery of the Melting Snowman by Florence Parry Heide Page A

make himself as small as possible behind the big snowman. He took a penknife from his jacket pocket. Carefully he dug at the snow, starting with the head.
    He pushed his hand through the snow around the hole he had made. Nothing. Nothing but snow.
    His fingers were so cold he could hardly move them. He blew on them for a minute. Then he started to dig out a hole in the middle part of the snowman.
    A tree branch creaked above him and he jumped. He kept digging. Suddenly his fingers hit something. Something hard, harder than snow.
    Jay drew his hand back quickly. He motioned to Dexter and Cindy. They ran over. “There’s something in here,” whispered Jay. “And it’s mighty cold and hard.” He blew on his fingers again.
    Dexter reached in. “Wow,” he said. “Cold is right. Let’s dig it out.”
    “But we don’t want him to come back and see us,” said Cindy. “Let’s take turns watching for his car.”
    It took a long time. They had to take most of the snowman apart. And then they were able to pull the object out.
    “What is it?” asked Jay. Dexter brushed the snow off. They all stared.
    It was a heavy iron dog, sitting on its haunches, with its paws against its chest. The iron jaws held an iron ball.
    They stood looking at it. “I don’t understand,” whispered Cindy finally. “Who put it in the snowman? And why?”
    “Let’s put it back,” said Dexter. “We don’t know who it belongs to, but it doesn’t belong to us. The man will come back and find us and—”
    “No,” insisted Jay. “Whoever came for it came sneaking. That means he was doing something wrong.”
    “Well, we’re sneaking,” said Cindy.
    “We’re detectives,” said Jay.
    “I know what to do,” Dexter said quickly. “Let’s take the iron dog in the house and stay up and watch. We can see who comes for it. Whoever it was might be stealing it. If he’s on the level, he’ll come back in the morning and ask about it. We should keep it safe until we know what it’s all about.”

    “Right,” agreed Jay. “Let’s put the snowman back together just the way it was. Then there’s nothing to suspect. Maybe the man will come back and try to find the dog. That way we can see him and find out what he’s up to.”
    In a few minutes the snowman was as good as new.
    Dexter took the iron dog. “I’ll carry it into the house,” he said. “I’ve got gloves.”
    Jay and Cindy were right behind him. Cindy turned to look at the snowman as they shut the door. It looked just as it had before.
    Dexter set the iron dog down in the front hall. “Why was the dog in the snowman?” he muttered.
    “He’ll come back to get it,” Jay said. “We’ll have to stay here all night and take turns watching.”
    “What will he do when he finds it’s gone?” wondered Cindy out loud. The boys shrugged.
    “If we’re going to stay here for the night,” said Jay, “we’ll have to let Mom know where we are.”
    “I’ll go over and leave a note,” Cindy offered. “I have to get my notebook anyway. I can’t think without it.”
    “Your notebook!” exploded Jay. “It’s the middle of the night, and we have a mystery and a dog and some stranger who’s breaking up snowmen out there somewhere, and you think about your notebook.”
    “You’ll be glad I’ve got it,” said Cindy. “I can keep track of every clue and write down questions as we think of them.” She stood for a moment looking out at the snow. Was the stranger waiting and watching out there?
    “I’ll walk over with you,” said Jay.
    “I’m not afraid,” lied Cindy.
    “I know. But I’m going with you anyway,” answered Jay.
    In a few minutes they were back. They had left a note for Mrs. Temple, and Cindy had her notebook. They had seen no one.
    Dexter had waited and watched. When they came in, he pulled three sleeping bags from the closet under the stairs. “We can take turns staying awake and watching,” he said. “The watcher can sit on the radiator and