Silver bells, hot cider, presents tied up with ribbons, holly tinsel-covered trees - images of almost everyone's Christmas, right?

Not! - - Doc and Tweed manage to find a whole lot of advernture in a quiet New York town that includes traitors from the Revolutionary War, ghosts, secret message, and, oh, yes, headless horsemen.

Trust those two boys to find trouble anywhere . . . . .

Tweed woke up in the street with a sharp pain in his head and a sore left arm which had been pinned beneath him during the crash. His head was spinning, and as he tried to get on his feet, he fell back and sat rubbing his temples. It didn't feel as though anything was broken but the dizziness was incredible.

"With blurry eyes he looked about and was shocked to find no sign of the grocery truck which had struck him. Hit and run, he asked himself? And Doc! Where was his best friend? In fact, where were all the buildings on that corner? Had he been moved or was someone playing a joke on him?

He glanced across the street at the Selby Hill Trolley Tunnel or where the tunnel had been before he had been struck by the truck. There was no tunnel-never had been. He touched the knob on his head to see if he was hallucinating but the tunnel did not reappear. He felt as if he had gotten absorbed into one of Doc’s science fiction books. Tunnels, buildings, trucks, your best friend-they don’t just disappear.

What he saw next nearly made him swoon. Blinking his eyes twice to see if he was dreaming, he stood aghast as the "Locomotive of the Highway" a 1906 Stanley Steamer Modes Ex Runabout with four passengers, stopped nearby.

Doc moved closer to the bushes, hoping to find a trail of coins that might provide some answers to the Jesse James mystery. He moved farther away from the cowboys in doing so as he picked up a third coin lying in the grass right in front of the foliage.

The date matched the other two he had already placed in his pocket. Stepping through an opening in the bushes, he looked for another coin on the ground. Realizing he could be stepping into a trap, he was about to call out to Tweed when he was grabbed from behind and thrown roughly to the ground. He attempted a scream but his assailant covered his mouth with a big fist and his whimper was not heard over the sound of the laughing cowboys and milling tourists.

"Look, kid," a deep voice bellowed from behind his head. "I wanted you to get out of Northfield and I meant now." He twisted one of Doc's arms behind his back to apply additional pressure. "You are a menace," continued the bellowing voice. "Frank and the boys think we should kill you right now even though Cole said we were not to hurt anyone. But Cole's not my boss and I am the leader of this gang. It is curtain's for you right now, kid. I am sending you to Boot Hill."

As the attacker placed his huge fist in front of Doc's face, the boy managed to turn toward him. For the second time, he gazed into the unflinching eyes of outlaw Jesse James. Then he closed his own eyes and awaited whatever agony was to follow.

Andy squeezed through the aperture although Wally, slightly plump, had a tougher time of it. Once inside, the two men turned on their flashlights and surveyed the arched ceiling and rough, flat walls. Old gas lamp pipes, nearly hidden by festoons of spider webs jutted from the walls as the pair progressed into the unknown.

"I don't think the boys got in this way," piped a timid Wally, as they entered the main chamber. "Outside of bats and spiders and perhaps a few curious kids, I don't think anyone has been in here in a long time."

"You just said the magic words, though, Wally," whispered Andy. "A few curious kids and we're looking for two of them."

Doc & Tweed rescue a young flour milling heiress from kidnappers in Minneapolis' milling district. Trouble looms along the historic Mississippi Mile, which covers both sides of the river and encompasses landmarks such as Mill Ruins Park, St. Anthony Falls, The Stone Arch Bridge, Boom Island, Nicollet Island, Historic Main, and Hennepin Bluffs; culminating in an exciting race against time to halt a barrel containing human cargo from tumbling over a roaring waterfalls.

The old adage, "Dead men tell no tales," is not exactly accurate, whether you choose to believe it or not. If death is but a doorway to another dimension on some glorious celestial plain, why does the spirit of a 41-year-old woman killed in a violent storm a century ago still haunt the back roads of Minnesota's Lake Superior resort country and inflict terror on the living?

Bear Cove is not a Gothic, dilapidated beach house straight out of a popular suspense novel, where wolves howl banefully when the moon is full, nor is it a refuge for witches, warlocks and sprites. "The Cove" is a beautifully restored resort with luxury as well as moderate cabins, perched on a knoll just off busy Highway 61. Its view of Lake Superior is second to none and it is a hit with honeymooners as well as families who just want to get away from it all. The brochure highlighting its features doesn't tell you, of course, that "The Cove" doesn't exist.

For two consecutive years, George "Doc" Diezel and Tweed Salter had enjoyed a long uninterrupted weekend on the North Shore of Lake Superior at a resort called Sugar Hill, almost within earshot of the plummeting Gooseberry Falls.

"Somehow I just have a feeling this is not going to be an ordinary vacation," confessed Doc to Tweed as they searched for cold drinks in Andy's station wagon near Pine City. "I haven't told anybody this, because it sounds so crazy, but all week I have been haunted by a recurring dream of this beautiful but pale young woman holding a glowing lantern and waving it at us in the wilds of Lake Superior.

"You've been watching too many horror movies, Doc," explained Tweed with a smile. "Man, but you watched that movie you rented 'Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter,' about three times the other night. You have to expect dreams like that when you go through what you go through."

Doc & Tweed are confronted with six different mysteries and must have them solved within the week!!

"The Ghost of Yaeger Schoolhouse:" Doc & Tweed attempt to solve a century-old mystery involving a spirit haunting a schoolhouse in Rapidan Township.

"The Betsy-Tacy Affair:" While touring the Mankato homes and haunts of Maud Hart Lovelace's beloved 'Deep Valley' characters, who charmed young readers with their early 20th Century adventures, Doc & Tweed must locate a stolen Betsy-Tacy painting before the unveiling ceremonies.

"The Spectral Train of Red Jacket Bridge:"

While enjoying a bike trip along Mankato's foremost biking trail, which once served as a railroad line, Doc & Tweed are taken in by the historic beauty of an old trestle.

Camping below the bridge, the boys are awakened by eerie sounds on the trestle,
even though the tracks had been torn out decades ago.

"The Haunted Antiquary:" Who is playing the organ in a Mankato antique shop at night after the owner, Sharon Sand, locks up and goes home? Doc & Tweed and their friend, Arch, spend a night in the store in an attempt to nab the organist who may or may not be of flesh and blood.

"Lonesome Ron's Guitar:" Mankato Cowboy singer/guitarist "Lonesome Ron," is the father of Doc & Tweed's friend, Arch Affolter. When Ron's valuable guitar, hand-crafted by 19th century carpenter, Antonio de Torres Jurado, the man responsible for its modern design, is stolen from his Broad Street home, the young detectives find more than they bargained for.

"George Sontag Slept Here:" Rex MacBeth, owner of a North Mankato Western Museum & Bookshop, is approached by a man claiming to be related to train robbers John & George Sontag. He wants Rex to cancel an upcoming talk about the outlaws so that the Sontag name will not be tarnished. However, Rex suspects the man's motives may ride a little deeper than that and ask Doc & Tweed to help discover the reason.

While researching John Dillinger, the Barker Gang, Machine Kelley and their activities in the St Paul area Doc & Tweed uncover interesting facts about Julie Howe who first appeared in "Doc & Tweed History Mystery #3: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Caper."

They also learn the history of the sinking of the Titanic, the Red Cross and minor league baseball in St. Paul.

About 1820. high above the point where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers meet, Fort Snelling was built. Originally named Fort St. Anthony it was given its present name in honor of Col. Josiah Snelling who was responsible for much of its construction. He had selected the site because of the commanding view of the river junction. The fort constructed with limestone that was quarried nearby and with pine logs from trees grown on the Rum River. Col. Snelling also designed the frontier post in such a way that it could repel attacks from any direction.

Fort Snelling held Minnesota's first hospital as well at its first school. Both future president Zachary Taylor and artist Seth Eastman had been commanders at the fort. In the late 1850's Dred Scott was a temporary resident and used that residency as a bid for freedom which brought on the famous Dred Scott Decision.

Across the river from Fort Snelling is the town of Mendota which is the Dakotah word for "meeting of the waters." Here is where the American Fur Company had established a trading post and in 1834 Henry Hastings Sibley was sent to run the business. The following year Sibley built his home there. It was in this building that he later conducted his affairs as the first Governor of Minnesota.

In "The Ghost of Fort Snelling" Doc and Tweed learn more about the history of the fort, the fur trade business of Minnesota and St Paul's illustrious past. They also find another mystery that requires them to call on their problem-solving skills.

Dan Patch was perhaps the best known race horse in the world. Born on April 29, 1896 his first race was on August 20, 1900. He was purchased by M. W. Savage in 1902 and lived and trained in the town of Hamilton, Minnesota near the Minnesota River. (Hamilton was renamed Savage in 1904 in honor of Dan Patch.)

Having travelled all over the contry exchibiting his racing skills Dan Patch retired from racing in 1909 but he continued his celebrity status until his death on July 11, 1916. His owner, Marion W. Savage was sick in bed at the time and when he learned of Dan's passing, died the next day.

In their tenth adventure Doc and Tweed learn more about the life of Dan Patch, M W Savage and the history of Savage(Hamilton), Minnesota as they become entwined in another exciting History Mystery.