Mystery of the Queen's Jewels
Read Mystery of the Queen's Jewels Online
Authors: Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
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Created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Illustrated by Charles Tang
ALBERT WHITMAN & Company, Chicago
Contents
CHAPTER 1
An Exciting Phone Call
“I
'll get it!” twelve-year-old Jessie Alden called, running for the telephone. She and her brother, six-year-old Benny, had been playing checkers in the living room of their grandfather's large house. Jessie reached the phone on the hall table just as it rang for the third time. “Hello?” she said, picking it up. “Yes, this is the home of James Alden. I'm his granddaughter.” She paused, listening to what the person on the other end was saying. “Really? How exciting!” Jessie said after a moment.
Benny had followed his sister into the hall. He wondered who was on the telephone, and what he or she had said that was so exciting. He liked solving mysteries, even small ones like this.
“I didn't even know he was going away,” Jessie said into the phone.
“Who's going away?” Benny said to himself.
“To London!” Jessie was saying. “I'll tell him as soon as he gets home. Thank you. Good-bye.” She hung up the phone.
“Who was that? What's so exciting? Who's going away?” Benny asked.
“Slow down,” Jessie said, smiling at her little brother. “That was Grandfather's travel agent. She said that his airplane tickets to London are ready.”
“Airplane tickets!” Benny cried with excitement. “But where's London?”
“It's across the ocean, in a country called England,” Jessie said.
“Did I hear you say Grandfather was going away?” asked their ten-year-old sister, Violet, who had just come downstairs.
“Yes, to London!” Benny said. “It's across the ocean, in another country!”
“Let's go look in the atlas, Benny, and I can show you exactly where it is,” Jessie suggested.
They all went into the den, which was lined with bookcases. Their fourteen-year-old brother, Henry, was sitting in a large comfortable chair, reading a book. Their dog, Watch, lay curled up at his feet.
The children had lived with their grandfather ever since their parents had died. At first they'd been afraid of him and had run away to hide in an old boxcar in the woods. But once they met Mr. Alden they'd realized what a warm, loving man he was and had come to live with him. And he had even moved the boxcar to the backyard so they could play in it.
Jessie told Henry about Grandfather's trip. Then she pulled out the large leather-bound atlas from the bottom shelf of one of the bookcases. She turned the pages slowly until she found a map that showed the United States and England. “See, here's where we live.” She pointed to the United States. “And here's England,” she said, pointing to a small country on the other side of the page. “London is the capital city, just like Washington, D.C., is the capital of our country.”
“What's all that blue in the middle of the page?” Benny asked, pointing.
“That's the Atlantic Ocean,” said Henry.
“England looks pretty far away,” said Benny.
“It is,” Jessie said. “Grandfather's plane ride there will probably take at least six hours.”
“Look,” Henry said, pulling another book from the shelf. “Here's a guide to London.”
The children gathered around Henry as he slowly turned the pages. The book told all about London, the sights to see and things to do. It had lots of glossy colored pictures. Henry turned to a page with a picture of a palace.
“What's that?” Benny asked.
“That's Buckingham Palace, where the queen lives,” Henry said.
“Wow! A real palace, with a queen and everything!” said Benny.
The next picture showed a line of men marching, wearing bright red coats, and tall furry black hats on their heads. “Those are the queen's guards,” Jessie said.
“Their hats sure are funny,” said Benny.
“That's Big Ben,” said Violet, pointing to another picture.
“Who?” Benny asked.
Violet giggled. “It's not a
who
,” she said. “It's a beautiful old clock tower.”
“And there's a double-decker bus,” said Henry. “It must be fun to ride on the top of one of those.”
“I bet Grandfather is going to have a good time in London,” said Benny. “I sure wish we could go with him.”