Boxcar Children 12 - Houseboat Mystery (9 page)

The policeman looked at Benny, who began to open the mashed-potato box. He put in his hand and pulled out the vase.

“Whew!” said the policeman. “That vase! Where did you get it?”

Then Benny told the whole story. He told it very well. When he had finished, the lieutenant said quickly, “Who knows you found this vase?”

“Nobody,” said Benny.

“Good!” said the man. “I’m glad nobody knows that you have found the vase. The men who hid it will think it is still buried in the sandbox. Yes, I think there were two men just as you do. I think one of them hid the vase in the box of old clothes.”

Benny nodded. “Then they hired Tom to buy the box and give it to them.”

“Right,” said the policeman. “They had to hide the vase somewhere, and your houseboat was just the place.”

Jessie said, “That’s why the two men were watching us when we stopped at Gull Island. They were all ready to get out of town, so they wanted to get on board and get the vase if we left the houseboat alone for a few minutes.”

Benny exclaimed, “We could play a trick on them! Just let everybody know that we are going to spend the evening on land and then the men will go to the houseboat and try to get the vase back. When they get aboard, you can be in the cabin to catch them.”

“That’s quite a plan,” said the lieutenant with a little laugh. “You can come with us. You deserve to see the end.”

But Benny surprised them. He said, “No. I don’t want to see those men ever again. It’s just the way I feel about it.”

“You don’t have to,” said the policeman. “Maybe your brother will go with us? We need somebody to show us where the things are on the houseboat.”

“Okay,” said Henry. “I’d like to.”

“I know!” said Jessie. “Let’s all go out on the street and let everyone know we are having supper at the Elm Tree Inn. And then we’re going to the movies.”

“Good!” said the policeman. “News gets around here fast. Henry, right after supper, go down to the houseboat the back way. Captain John De Rosa and I will be there. Then we’ll see.”

Jessie laughed. She said, “If Benny is left behind, people will think the whole family is here.”

So the Aldens went out of the Elm Tree Inn, laughing and talking. They went into every store on the street, talking together about what they were going to do. They would have supper at the inn, then go to the movies. They asked what was going on at the movies.

People smiled and told them what the picture was. By dinnertime almost every person knew the houseboat people were in town and were going to spend the evening. Who would carry the news to the men at the Princess Hotel? Nobody knew.

The Aldens had a table right in the middle of the dining room. They had a delicious dinner. Without any talk, Henry slipped out through the kitchen. He walked quickly and quietly to the houseboat. The rest of the family went to the movies and thought about the houseboat instead of the picture.

CHAPTER
10

Trapped!

W
hen Henry stepped softly on the dock he thought that the police had not come. When he put his key in the lock he still thought that they had not come. But when he opened the door he heard a soft “Hello.”

To tell the truth, Henry was very glad to hear it. There were two policemen sitting on the floor of the galley with their backs to the wall. Nobody could see them through the windows.

“Come and sit on the floor,” whispered Captain De Rosa. “Sit on my other side. We want to sit nearest the door. We may have to wait a long time.”

“I suppose the men may not come at all,” said Henry.

“Well, maybe not,” said the other policeman. “We’ve pulled the sandbox into the cabin. We’ll let them dig a while before we jump.”

“I think they’ll come tonight,” said Captain De Rosa. “They want to get out of this place fast.”

There was no more talking. Henry could look up and see the stars out of the windows. They were bright because there were no lights and no moon. The minutes ticked away.

The water lapped gently around the boat. The night birds began to chirp and the whippoorwills sang and sang.

After a long time Henry turned his wrist over and looked at his watch. It was nine o’clock. His legs were getting stiff so he sat on one. But the policemen did not move.

Henry thought, “Maybe nobody will come tonight. Maybe they will wait until tomorrow night.”

He had all sorts of ideas. “The movies will be out at ten. Suppose the men wait until ten and they meet the family coming home? That will scare them off. Suppose somebody saw me get on the boat? Suppose the two men are too strong for the police?”

Still the policemen did not move. Once Henry thought he heard a board on the dock creak. But nothing happened. Then all at once the boat moved gently. Henry could feel the policemen getting ready to stand up, but they did not move.

The boat tipped again a very little, as if a person were stepping aboard. Henry heard a key go very softly into the lock. The door of the cabin opened. Henry could see the black shapes of two men. They stepped into the cabin and flashed a weak light toward the sandbox.

One man said crossly, “They’ve moved the sandbox.”

“What of it?” said the other. “It’s the same sandbox. Just get that vase and go!”

Both men knelt down and began to dig in the sand.

“Hold it!” cried Captain De Rosa, jumping to his feet. He turned a bright flashlight full on the two men by the sandbox.

The two men looked up with their mouths open. In an instant the two policemen had handcuffs on both of them. Then Henry was surprised to hear a car drive up.

“Our light was a signal for the car to come,” explained Captain De Rosa. “We have plenty of help now.” And he led the two men off the houseboat with the police lieutenant following.

“I’ll lock up,” said Henry. “My family can sleep here tonight without worrying about anything.”

Henry had another surprise. Commander Williams was sitting in the front seat of the car beside the police driver. “I wanted a good look at those fellows, too,” he said. “Where’s Benny?”

“He said this wasn’t the part he wanted to see. He thinks the best ending will be feeding oats to Dolly and seeing Sam happy again.”

The two handcuffed men did not make any fuss. They knew they were caught. But they began to quarrel when the station wagon started to move.

“I told you it was a dumb thing to take that vase,” one said. “But you wouldn’t listen. We were doing all right getting money from dumb people.”

“That was my idea, too, remember! People will pay anything if you tell them their family is in trouble.”

Henry thought to himself, “Sam and Jeff and the others weren’t in trouble at all. But these two men are. They won’t trick anybody again.”

“Do you want to come to the police station with us?” asked Captain De Rosa, speaking to Henry.

“No, drop me off at the movies. I want to tell my family it’s all over.”

The movie had just ended. The Aldens were the first people to come out.

“Oh, what happened, Henry?” Benny called out.

“Everything is okay,” said Henry, looking at his grandfather. “Walk along to the boat and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Henry told the story from the beginning to the end. Then Benny said, “Oh, Grandfather, tomorrow let’s float back to April Center to see Sam and Dolly!”

“We don’t have to float, Ben,” said Henry. “We can use the motor.”

“Good, we’ll get there fast,” Benny said. The Aldens laughed because that sounded just like Benny.

Henry said, “How about the movie? What was it about?”

Violet looked up at Henry with a smile and said, “I haven’t the slightest idea!”

That night everyone slept well on the houseboat. There was nothing to worry about.

After the houseboat was in order the next morning, Henry and Benny poled the boat toward the dock.

The Aldens bought tickets for April Center at the gate. The first person they saw was not Sam but Jeff. He was sitting up straight in his wagon, waiting for river customers.

Benny called, “Hello, Jeff! We’re back sooner than we said. It didn’t take four or five days. Only two!”

“That’s right,” said Jeff. “I heard all about it last night.” He climbed down and shook hands with Grandfather.

“You heard
last night?”
asked Henry. “It must have been late.”

“Yes, it was. But I can tell you everyone around here knows it. Even before it was on the radio.”

“I wonder how,” said Henry.

“Well, this is a great place for getting news around,” said Jeff.

“Where’s Sam?” asked Benny.

“He’s down at the main gate. Do you see how much better Molly looks? That’s because of the oats you bought. But now I’ll be able to buy all she needs. She’ll look fine!”

“Good! Let’s go and find Sam,” Benny said.

“Have a ride!” said Jeff. “I’ll be glad to take you.”

The Aldens thanked him and climbed in. Down the street went Molly. She held her head up high. People smiled as the wagon went past them. At last Molly reached the main gate.

“There’s Sam!” said Benny.

Sam looked up. His face was one big smile. He pointed at Dolly. She was eating oats from a bag on her nose.

Sam said, “Dolly’s fine now. And Jeff and I didn’t do anything wrong, and everything is all right!”

Benny looked from Sam to Jeff and from Dolly to Molly. He said, “This is what I wanted to see—Dolly eating oats! And this is the way to end our adventure—with everybody happy!”

Jessie said, “Grandfather, don’t you think our trip is really over, too?”

Mr. Alden said, “Yes, I ought to get back to work.”

“I’m ready to go home,” said Henry.

“Then I’ll telephone Mr. Rivers,” Grandfather said. But it was Mrs. Rivers who answered. She said, “I will meet you myself with my oldest boy. My husband has just gone away for the day.”

The Aldens said good-bye to all their friends and chugged away up the river in the houseboat. They looked for the last time at the green trees and the quiet water. At last they saw Mrs. Rivers and her son standing on the dock, waiting.

“What an awful time you had!” said Mrs. Rivers. “Everybody is talking about your trip and how it was spoiled.”

“Oh, it wasn’t spoiled,” said Benny. “We had a neat time. We always have some excitement. And it all turned out well, even if those men did hide their treasure on our boat. Please don’t tell Mr. Rivers the name of our boat. We’d like to have him see it himself.”

Mrs. Rivers looked at the name and laughed. “No, I won’t tell him,” she said. “You did have some treasure aboard all the time and didn’t know it.”

Mrs. Rivers’ son helped the Aldens take their things from the houseboat and load them in the station wagon. The drive home was a short one, and Watch was waiting for them.

After everything was unpacked, the Aldens sat on the porch. They couldn’t stop talking about the houseboat.

Henry laughed and said, “Remember the day on
The James H. Alden
when Jessie lost the salt?”

And Jessie said, “Remember the day on
The Mrs. McGregor
when Ben found out why Dolly was so thin?”

Benny said, “Remember the day on the
Nedla Yrrieh?
And Henry found the fish pole?”

But Violet said, “Oh, I wish we could see Mr. Rivers’ face when he sees the last name for his boat!”

Really, it was too bad that nobody saw Mr. Rivers. He went down alone to look at his houseboat and get it ready for the next customer. He happened to look at the blue letters on the top and began to laugh. He laughed and laughed and slapped his knee and shook his head.

The houseboat’s name was
Captain Kidd.

“That Benny!” said Mr. Rivers. “Comical.”

About the Author

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car—the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible—something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her book. And so she continued the Aldens’ adventures, writing a total of nineteen books in the Boxcar Children series.