The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (101 page)

“I bet someone came through this window last night,” he thought. “But why? I like to do things by myself, but this time I wish I could tell John Carter who works for Grandfather. After all, he used to be an F.B.I. man.”

Benny looked around again. Only the big chimney was left, and the broom closet next to it. He opened the small door. Just a broom closet. There was a broom in it.

At recess Benny got word to his family to wait after the children had gone home at noon. When they were alone in the school yard, Jessie said, “Well, Benny, what’s all this?”

“The back hall,” said Benny. “Come and see.”

The four Aldens all went into the tiny back hall.

“See that old dry paint on the floor?” said Benny.

“Yes, old man,” said Henry. He bent over to look. “You are clever! This hasn’t been here long. Somebody must have come in through the window. Maybe this is where Freddy slept last night.”

“This broom closet is just a broom closet,” said Benny. He opened the door beside the huge chimney. “See, there’s a broom in it.”

“Wait!” said Henry. “See those wood planks this closet is made of? If we could only pry them off—”

Henry opened his knife and pried away at one board. It was loose and came off easily. And there was a little brick room in the chimney!

“I thought this chimney was awfully big,” said Henry. “And it has a queer shape. This is the reason, of course. Somebody wanted to make a place to hide in.”

“Who?” asked Benny.

“Well, I don’t know. It was made that way when the schoolhouse was built, and that was a long time ago. I do know that a lot of New England people built their houses with a hiding place in the chimney. I’m sure this is one of them. A perfect place!”

“It is a perfect place for us, too,” said Benny, “if we want to watch what is going on in the schoolroom.”

“What’s the idea, Benny?” asked Violet. “Why would we ever want to watch the children?”

“Not the children, Violet!” said Benny. “Not in the daytime, either. At night! We can watch Freddy Willet if he ever comes in here, and I think he does.”

“I think so, too, Ben,” said Henry. “He must have some place to hide his things.”

They put the planks back, locked the front door, and went home to lunch. They told Mr. Alden all about the room in the chimney. After lunch, Grandfather said, “I know something you don’t know!”

The children laughed. “What is it?” asked Violet.

Then Mr. Alden told them about the Gray Library and the old books. When Benny heard it, he pushed back his bench. “That’s where I’m going,” he said. “Maybe I can find some pictures for my class.”

“I don’t think you will, Benny,” said Mr. Alden. “Mr. Fenton said the books were all old.”

“Well, maybe there’s an old picture of George Washington,” said Benny. “Anyway I want to see the library.”

Benny took a notebook, and off he went. Sure enough, the door of the library was not locked. Benny gave it a push and went right in. He found himself in a room just the size of the building. There were bookcases all around the room and one tall one down the middle.

“Well, here goes!” said Benny out loud. He began to whistle. He went to the first bookcase. He looked at the dusty books on the top shelves. Then he dropped to his knees to look at the books near the floor. All at once he had a queer feeling that someone was in the room. He listened, but he didn’t hear a sound.

“This is nonsense,” he thought. “Mr. Fenton says nobody ever comes here.”

Then he heard a very, very soft noise. “What is that?” he thought. “Somebody is certainly in here!” But he did not get up or turn around. He listened. Then he heard the noise again. It was behind the middle bookcase. Benny knew that he couldn’t see over it if he did turn around. Then there was a soft thud and then another. Benny rushed around the bookcase just in time to see the fingers of a hand disappear from the sill of the open window.

“Well, well, Mr. Willet!” said Benny out loud. He rushed to the window and looked out. Nobody was in sight.

“Freddy is hiding, that’s sure,” said Benny to himself. “He hasn’t had time to get anywhere. But I know what I’m going to do.” He ran up the cliff walk to the mansion!

Benny smiled as he rang the bell because he saw Eva peeking at him. In a minute Miss Gray herself opened the door.

“Sorry, Miss Gray,” said Benny, very fast, “I think someone just stole some books out of the library. I thought I ought to tell you first. Maybe those books are valuable.”

Eva’s eyes grew big and round as Miss Gray said, “Thank you, Benny. I’ll look myself. Nobody else knows the books. You come, too, Eva.”

The three people went quickly down the cliff. Miss Gray went into the library and straight over to the last rows of books. There was the empty space exactly where she thought it would be. She knew which were the most valuable books, and so did Mr. Willet.

“There are four books gone here,” she said. “They were a set. I never had an idea they would be stolen. And over here! Yes, some more are missing. Mr. Willet must have been here before.”

She went around the room and found empty spaces everywhere. “Oh, dear!” said Miss Gray. “He has taken the very best books! He can sell them for a lot of money.”

“But look here, Miss Gray,” said Benny. “See this sign? It says you can borrow anything you want and sign your name. And here is Freddy Willet’s name!”

“I don’t think he will bring them back,” said Miss Gray. “How foolish I was not to lock the door!”

“I don’t think so,” said Benny. “Freddy would have climbed in the window. Windows and doors don’t stop our Freddy. That’s why I think he is a thief. Don’t worry too much, Miss Gray. My grandfather has Freddy on his mind. And my grandfather doesn’t slip up very often.”

B
enny went slowly back to the hotel. He looked on every side as he walked, but Mr. Willet had disappeared.

Benny did some hard thinking on that walk. He had been sure that Freddy Willet was going to do more trading. But as far as Benny could tell, the Aldens and Miss Gray were the only people who knew Freddy was on the island today. After all, he hadn’t come in his red sports car. He had come secretly in the middle of the night. Why?

One idea came to Benny. Freddy had planned to get the library books on this day while the Aldens were still busy with their school. It was just bad luck for Freddy that Benny had gone to the library to hunt for pictures.

When he reached home, Benny told the family about his adventures. Henry said, “Ben, you certainly have made a friend of Miss Gray. I thought you could. Why, you have even made her come out of her house.”

Jessie said, “We’ve been here in the yard, but we haven’t seen Mr. Willet or anyone new.”

Mr. Alden said, “It’s a mystery how two men can keep themselves out of sight. This is such a small place.”

Nothing else happened that day. Everything seemed peaceful—too peaceful, the Aldens thought.

The next day was Saturday. The first thing the Aldens saw in the morning was children fishing. The island children sat on the edge of the wharf with long fishlines. They did not need poles.

Grandfather said, “Let’s go fishing!”

“Fine,” said Jessie. “We can watch the whole island from the wharf.”

In a short time the whole family was sitting on the edge of the wharf with the children. Mr. Alden gave Hal a dollar for five fishlines. Eddie said, “I’ll show you how to fish, Mr. Alden. You let the line way down. Then pull it up just a little and let it down again. Keep the hook wiggling.”

The Aldens did as Eddie said. The island children were catching fish after fish. But the Aldens caught nothing. Suddenly Mr. Alden had a bite.

“Pull her in, mister!” cried Eddie. “Don’t rush it. Hand over hand! But keep it even-like.”

Mr. Alden pulled as well as he could through thirty feet of water, and landed a beautiful big fish on the wharf.

Benny said, “Aren’t you going to fish any more, Grandfather?”

“No. I’m afraid I’ll catch another.”

“Well, I’m not,” said Benny. “I wish I could catch one. I would eat that whole fish myself.”

Everyone was quiet. The island children went on pulling in the fish. But the Aldens still caught nothing.

All
at once Grandfather said slowly, “I believe I see our strange man at last!” Something in Grandfather’s voice made the Aldens look up quickly at the cliff walk. The island children paid no attention.

“Who in the world is that?” said Jessie. “He is dressed like an Englishman.”

The stranger wore a cap that shaded his eyes. He had on dark blue shorts and a soft shirt with a scarf tucked in at the neck. His socks were red and blue and came up to his knees. He carried a walking stick.

“Maybe he’s a friend of Miss Gray’s,” said Henry. “He is coming from that way.”

Then Violet said in a very low voice, “Grandfather! Do look at him! It’s Mr. Carter!”

“It is,” said Henry softly. “Look at his walk! It’s John Carter’s walk. Now why is he here?”

Mr. Alden said, “I telephoned him about Willet, but I didn’t send for him. Maybe he began to look up Willet’s business and thinks we need help.”

Henry whispered, “He’s coming this way. Act as if you don’t know him.”

The man in shorts came down to the wharf. Benny wanted to smile, but he stopped in time.

“Hello, everybody! Fishing?” said the man, as if he had never seen the Aldens before.

“Well, sir, these children are fishing,” said Mr. Alden. “But we have caught only one.”

“I say, that’s a big one!” It was exactly as if an Englishman were speaking. Not one of the island children turned around. But they heard every word.

“You’re a stranger here, sir,” said Grandfather. “Are you staying long?”

“A week or so, don’t you know? My name is Wilder-Smith. Guest of Miss Gray’s. My mother went to college with Miss Gray. Great old friends.”

“We are the Aldens,” said Grandfather. “Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny.”

Mr. Wilder-Smith bowed. He knew that the island children were listening. He went on, “There’s another stranger here, Mr. Willet. Today he is going to visit the good people and look over some dusty old things. He likes old things. Bit odd, don’t you know?”

Isabelle spoke up loudly. “He isn’t odd. He’s wonderful!”

“There, now,” said Mr. Wilder-Smith, “you see! He’s wonderful. I may go with Mr. Willet on his calls.”

“Go with him?” asked Benny, surprised.

“The man invited me. Of course I don’t know anything about old things. By the way, did you know there
is
no post office on this island?”

“Yes, the mail has to come from Northport,” said Henry.

Mr. Wilder-Smith shook his head. “I’ll have to find some other way. I have to get my letters by fast post.”

“Maybe we can think of a way to help you,” said Benny. “We’ve got a car.”

“Right,” said Mr. Wilder-Smith. “I have important letters. Maybe you can help. But I must toddle along. Cheerio! Top-hole to meet you.”

Mr. Wilder-Smith walked back along the wharf. Not a child spoke. They went right on fishing.

“Let’s go!” said Henry. “Thanks, Eddie, for the fishing lessons.”

“OK,” said Eddie.

When the Aldens reached the sand, Jessie said, “Why do you suppose Freddy ever asked Mr. Carter to come with him?”

“Because he’s a smart man,” said Grandfather. “Freddy wants us to think he is honest. But he’ll find that John Carter is smarter than he is.”

Nobody on the wharf could hear what the Aldens said now. Benny said in a low voice, “Mr. Carter wanted to find some way to send us messages, didn’t he—talking about the post office?”

“That’s what I thought,” said Jessie.

“I know a way,” said Benny. “You know that old log on the beach that Grandfather sits on? There’s a deep hole in one end. We can put a small piece of paper in the hole any time. And so can he.”

“Good!” said Jessie. “Let’s send him our message right away. The people know that we often sit on that log. They won’t notice.”

Henry wrote it. He made it as short as he could. “Light in schoolhouse at night. Back window has no lock. Broom closet goes into secret room in chimney. Look out of Washington’s coat button.”

“Now how shall we put it in the log?” asked Violet.

“I know!” said Jessie. “We’ll make some sandwiches and have a picnic on the beach. While we are eating we can hide the paper.”

The girls quickly made some cheese sandwiches. They packed the basket with many other things. Mr. Alden sat on the log. “Why don’t you hide the paper yourself, Gramps?” said Benny. “You know where the hole is.”

“Don’t watch me,” said Mr. Alden. Then in a minute he said, “It’s all done.” Not a sign of paper showed.

“I wonder how Mr. Carter will get it out?” said Benny.

“Well, that’s his lookout,” said Mr. Alden. “I wouldn’t worry about him.”

T
he picnic was over. The Aldens sat looking out over the blue water when the factory whistle blew.

“Oh, dear,” said Benny. “Now everyone will go to work and nobody will be at home when Freddy comes.”

“They don’t all go to work,” said Jessie. “By the way, I need some stuffing for the fish tonight. I’ll go to the store while you take the picnic things home.”

“I’ll go for you, Jessie,” said Benny. “I’d like to.”

“Good boy,” said Henry.

Benny walked up to the store, whistling. Mr. Fenton had the fish stuffing, and the two began to talk. The door opened, and who should come in but Freddy Willet!

“Hello, kid,” said Freddy. “I saw you come in. You one of the youngsters that teaches the funny school?”

“It isn’t a funny school,” said Benny with good nature. “And I do teach the smallest ones. They’re pretty keen kids, too.”

“Your name?” asked Mr. Willet.

“Benny.”

“Well, Benny, how would you like to learn something yourself? Come with me to the Easton family and watch me buy their old money. I bet you don’t know money when you see it. You’d never think a common penny was worth a dollar, would you?”