The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (72 page)

“Open it right away!” said Aunt Jane. “It looks like a candle box. The kind they used to pack candles in.”

“Somebody sat there in the dark with a candle,” said Henry. “Why would they do that, Aunt Jane?”

“I have an idea, Henry! I got it from this old book. You just open that box and we’ll see.”

“I’ll have to break the top off, I’m afraid,” said Henry. “See how rusty it is.”

“All right. Break it!” cried Aunt Jane.

“I’ll get a hammer and chisel,” shouted Benny. “I’ll be right back.”

Off he went to the house. He soon came back and Henry started to work. Little by little the cover opened. At last it fell off.

“Well, what is it?” cried Benny. “Just a lot of old black powder.”

“Gunpowder!” said Aunt Jane with shining eyes. “I read about gunpowder in Violet’s book. Somebody dug that hole to keep ammunition in!”

“You’re right,” said Henry quietly. “I think we have found one of the places where they hid ammunition!”

“Then they took it to Concord,” said Jessie.

“In a load of hay!” said Violet.

They all looked at each other.

Henry said, “Aunt Jane, we decided not to go into the tunnel. We may find a lot more things later.”

“We thought somebody might shut the cover down,” said Benny. “And there we’d all be. Next time we’ll leave somebody outside to keep watch. Where’s Sam?”

But Sam had gone back to work.

Aunt Jane said, “Sam must go with you every time. Remember that.”

“I think so, too,” said Jessie. “That dirt looked as if it had been moved only yesterday. Some stranger is around here.”

“He’s stealing
eggs
from the Beans,” said Benny. Everyone laughed.

Benny went on slowly. Talking about the Beans had made him think of something. He said, “Aunt Jane, why didn’t you marry this Andy Bean?”

“All right, I’ll tell you, Benny. Nobody ever asked me before.”

“I wasn’t very polite to ask you, was I?” said Benny.

“No,” said Aunt Jane. “But I don’t mind. I was quite silly. Andy Bean did ask me to marry him and I said no. My reasons were very silly. I know that now. The first reason was that he was two years younger than I was, but he was big and he looked older. What do you guess the second reason was?”

“What?” asked four voices.

“I didn’t want to be called Mrs. Bean!”

Violet patted Aunt Jane’s hand. “I don’t think that was too silly.”

“Well, I do,” said Aunt Jane. “I have been sorry a thousand times. Andy was a fine looking, clever boy. He had a nice crooked smile. His younger brother owns the Bean farm now. His wife is the Mrs. Bean who told you about the eggs, Benny.”

“Don’t we have the most exciting adventures!” cried Benny. “Something new is always happening.”

“Yes, Benny,” said Aunt Jane laughing. “Ever since I met you something nice has happened every day. Before that nothing happened.”

“Well, tomorrow we’ll explore that cellar again,” said Henry. “I’ll read that old book myself. I’d like to know what to look for.”

“We might find an old gun,” said Benny. “Maybe an old flintlock.”

“Benny Alden!” cried Violet. Her eyes were like stars. “Do you know what you just said? Maybe that cellar is where Andy Bean found his old flintlock!”

Everyone was excited until Jessie said, “No, I don’t think so. Don’t you remember that somebody gave it to Andy?”

“That’s right, Jessie,” said Benny. “They said it was somebody hiding in this house! And that’s why the stories have been told and nobody will live here.”

“Well!” said Henry. “We’ll find out if it takes all summer.”

“Don’t forget,” said Aunt Jane softly, “it
may
.”

Henry smiled at his aunt. Maybe it would take all summer, but the mystery would be solved. And it would be solved quickly if some of his and Benny’s ideas proved to be right.

T
he next day Maggie saw an old man in overalls coming to the back door. He had a basket of eggs.

“Are you selling eggs?” Maggie asked.

“Yep,” said the old man.

“Where did you come from?” she asked again.

“Beans’,” said the man.

Benny heard him from the next room. He laughed. He said to Violet, “He doesn’t talk much, does he?”

“I wonder who he is?” said Violet.

“I know who he is,” said Benny. “He is the Beans’ hired man. I saw him working there when I went over.”

Maggie told the man, “We will have plenty of eggs later. Sam is going to raise chickens.”

“Yep,” said the man.

“We do want two dozen eggs now,” Maggie went on. “Put them in this pan.”

Benny and Violet listened.

“Have you lost any more eggs?” asked Maggie.

“Yep,” said the man.

“Can’t you say anything but ‘yep’?” Maggie laughed.

“No,” said the man. He did not laugh.

“Well, come every week,” said Maggie. “What’s your name?”

“Willie,” said the man.

“My, my! A grown man called Willie! You ought to be William.”

The man did not answer. Then he left.

Benny went into the kitchen at once. “What’s the matter with him?” he asked. “Can’t he talk?”

“Well,” said Maggie, “he doesn’t act very smart to me. Maybe he doesn’t know very much. Not very bright. He can’t help that. Maybe he’s a good worker. He sells very nice eggs.”

“Hi! Come on!” called Henry from outside. “I’ve got a bigger flashlight this time. It will last longer.”

Very soon Henry, Benny, and the two girls were on their way to the woodshed. Sam had to stop his work and go with them.

“I’ll never get anything done,” said Sam. But he smiled.

“I don’t think it will be much longer now,” said Henry mysteriously. “Do any of you know why all those things were taken out of the woodshed?”

“I think I do,” said Violet. “Somebody found my flowers on the table.”

“Right!” said Henry. “And then why were the things put back?”

“I bet someone saw us,” said Benny, “and said, ‘Oh, it’s only children!’”

“Good, Benny. That’s what I think too,” replied Henry. “We’ll be careful this time to leave everything just as it is now.”

“Do you want me to stay outside and watch?” asked Sam.

“Yes, I think that would be best, wouldn’t it?” said Jessie. “We’ll take Watch down in the hole with us. If you see anyone, just call.”

Soon the four children and the dog were down in the hole. The flashlight was very bright.

“Almost as bright as day,” said Benny, looking around. Watch was already in the tunnel, smelling around, wagging his tail. Henry followed him. He had to bend over.

Soon Henry called back, “This isn’t a tunnel! It’s just a big room. I can almost stand up.”

Jessie followed him. She said, “This was certainly a storehouse. All kinds of things are on the floor. Don’t fall over them.”

Benny came in. He said, “Let’s put the light in the middle, Henry. Then we can look at every single thing. What are the little red balls all over the floor?”

“I think they are bullets,” said Henry. “They are all rusty. That makes them look red. Pick them all up.”

“Oh, Violet, I wish we had a bag!” cried Jessie.

“We have,” said Violet. She held up what looked like a small, folded piece of cloth. But when she shook it out, it was a large bag folded up many times. When it was open, it was enormous.

“How do you think of everything, Violet?” said Jessie. “That will hold all we find.”

“All but this,” shouted Benny. He dug out a flintlock. It was almost buried in the dirt.

“Just exactly like the other!” cried Violet.

“That settles it,” said Henry. “This was a hiding place for ammunition.”

Jessie added, “Only somebody has been here lately. It must be the one who lives in this woodshed.”

“I just wonder who it could be!” said Violet. “Who would want to hide here these days?”

“Look here!” cried Jessie. “I almost fell over this!” She held up an old milking stool with three legs.

Henry looked at it. “I can just see one of those soldiers sitting on that stool with a candle!”

“What do you see him doing, Henry?” asked Benny.

“Well, packing bullets and cartridges and gunpowder in candle boxes.”

At last they could not find anything more. They went up the steps and put the cover over the hole. Then they went home with their treasures. Sam had not seen anyone.

When Aunt Jane had seen everything, she looked at the four children. She said, “I think we are soon going to find a very exciting story. Mr. Cole has come to spend the summer with his brother, and he wants to see you right away!”

H
enry said, “We certainly want to see Mr. Cole right away. I hope he has something to tell us.”

“I hope he will talk more than Willie,” said Benny.

They all laughed as they started out for Grandpa Cole’s.

The two old men were sitting side by side in two chairs in the yard.

“They look a lot alike, don’t they?” said Jessie. “But we know they are not twins. How exciting this
is!
We may get news and we may not.”

“Be prepared,” said Benny. “Just like the Boy Scouts.”

The two Mr. Coles were delighted to see the visitors. “Go and get four chairs,” said Grandpa.

“Oh, no, we can sit on the grass,” said Jessie. “We like it.” They all sat down, so it was too late to get chairs.

“We are very glad you came at last, sir,” said Henry to Mr. Cole. “We have been waiting for you. Maybe you can tell us something new.”

“Well, my boy, I think I can,” said Mr. Cole. “I knew Andy Bean very well. I was a young man and Andy was just a big boy. Always up to something. He was good looking with a one-sided kind of smile. He always wanted to do exciting things. And we were quiet people.”

“We always come right back to Andy Bean, don’t we?” said Benny.

“Yes, your mystery is about Andy Bean, that’s why. I’m sure of that. You see I knew he had that flintlock.”

“You did!” they all said.

“Yes. He came and showed it to me as a secret. But I didn’t think much about it because I didn’t know how to shoot it.”

“Didn’t Andy know?” asked Violet.

“No. That’s why he took it up into the woods to fool with it. He had gunpowder and matches. But I suppose the gun was too rusty. So before he knew it, he had started a big fire. The leaves and grass were very dry and caught fire easily. The farmhouse was saved, but many trees were burned. I suppose Andy was afraid somebody would put him in jail. He never could stand being shut in, so he ran away.”

“He left the gun,” said Henry.

“Yes, he left the gun. But this isn’t what I wanted to tell you. You knew this already, didn’t you?”

“Most of it,” said Henry. “But we hope you know things we don’t. People keep saying someone at our house hid there and gave Andy the flintlock.”

“Not a bit of truth to it,” Mr. Cole said loudly. “People like to tell tales just to scare themselves. Andy told me he found the gun somewhere in your house. He didn’t say where. But he did say, ‘I found the whole story, too, all written out.’ Those were his own words. Then he said, ‘The other end is in the woodshed.’”