Mystery in the Cave (8 page)

“You never would have found us,” Benny said. “Never, ever. Somebody stole our tape markers so nobody could find us. Then the entrance was all stuffed with rocks and things. And a big rock, too! Even Henry couldn’t push it out of the way.”

“Whoa! Slow down, Benny,” Grandfather said. “I see a thing or two happened while I was away.”

“Can we call the police first?” Jessie asked Mrs. Stoner. “We found the people who took your raft. They’re still in the caves. I think they were on your tour the other day.”

After a quick call to meet the police near the cave, everyone piled into Mr. Alden’s station wagon. Mrs. Stoner gave directions while Benny brought Grandfather up to date on all the excitement. When Mr. Alden pulled up to the cave, a police car was already there, parked next to Mr. Pitt’s old green car.

“You folks seem to know these caves better than we do,” one of the two officers said. “Can you lead the way down?”

“Just follow us,” Henry said.

One by one the children slipped into the cave entrance. The two officers followed right behind.

“If we just go in a little, the cave branches off in three directions,” Jessie explained. “If we wait there, the men have to come out one of those tunnels if they plan to go back to their car again.”

The police and the Aldens didn’t have to wait long. They soon heard the sound of heavy steps squishing through the muddy cave.

“Stop!” one of the officers said when Mr. Pitt and Mr. Lyme came into the tunnel.

“What is this all about?” Mr. Pitt demanded.

“It’s about a stolen raft,” the police officer began.

“And Henry’s missing headlamp, too,” Benny added.

Mr. Pitt tried to run in the other direction, but one of the police officers grabbed him first. “Stay where you are. You have some explaining to do, Randall Pitt.”

“You know him?” Henry asked.

“Both of them,” the officer answered. “They’re a couple of petty criminals who can’t stay out of trouble. They just finished six months’ time in the county jail. I see they’re up to their old tricks again.”

Mr. Pitt’s partner kicked at the ground. “I told you not to take that headlamp. A lot of good it did us. We never found the money, anyway.”

“What money is he talking about?” the police officer asked Mr. Pitt.

“The money from the Rockville Union Bank robbery ten years ago,” Mr. Pitt answered. “We overheard one of the robbers at the jail say he hid it down in these caves.”

The two police officers started laughing and couldn’t stop.

“What’s so funny?” Benny asked.

One of the officers finally stopped laughing. “What’s so funny is that the money they’re talking about was fake—worthless. The bank gave the thieves counterfeit money. It was worth less than a pile of old newspapers! Now I’m going to put you two back where you came from—only this time for stealing a raft and a headlamp. That’s pretty funny, too! But most of all, you should be ashamed of yourselves for trying to scare these kids.”

Mr. Pitt and his partner weren’t laughing a bit. Instead they argued with each other all the way out of the cave. When the police car pulled away, the Aldens could still hear the two men bickering in the back seat.

“That’s a pretty good mystery you solved,” Grandfather Alden said after his grandchildren explained about Mr. Pitt and Mr. Lyme.

“Finally,” Benny said, giving Grandfather and Nelly Stoner a big smile. “But we can’t leave Rockville until we solve another one. What was Miss Hollowell doing down in the caves?”

“And why didn’t she want anyone else around?” Jessie asked.

Nelly Stoner smiled back. “I think that mystery is solved, too,” she said. She handed Jessie a newspaper and pointed to a picture of Crystal Hollowell.

Jessie read what it said under the photo:

Rock expert Dr. Crystal Hollowell, a scientist from the Western College of Mines, has just reported a major discovery of silver inside local limestone caves. This is the first time this type of rock has been uncovered in this area.

“When I saw the picture, I figured out why her name seemed familiar,” Nelly Stoner said. “She’s a geologist who helped develop a new way to locate silver. I read about this in some of my journals, but I didn’t make the connection to this young woman.”

“I bet she was the one who blocked off the tunnel with the rock that said ‘Keep Out,’ ” Violet said.

“And look, she’s wearing heeled boots in the picture,” Benny added, using his sharp eyes. “I bet the footprints near that rock belonged to her and her helper.”

Nelly Stoner opened the newspaper and turned to one of the inside pages with a longer story. “This article says that she was afraid a rival would find the special rock. After she and her assistant blocked the tunnel inside the caves, they pushed one big rock outside another cave entrance so no one could get in.”

“Or out,” Henry said. “I guess she wasn’t really trying to trap anybody on purpose—just keep them away.”

“My, my,” Mr. Alden said. “You must have had quite a fright being walled in. I’d like to take a look at the place.”

A short ride later, the children led their grandfather to the sinkhole cave by the side of the road. Mr. Howe was already there, helping a work crew fence in the entrance.

“Hello, Aldens,” Mr. Howe said. “I suppose you heard that Crystal Hollowell discovered some valuable rocks on my property. With her new methods, she and some other rock experts—and I hope Nelly here—are going to go through and see if there’s enough silver in these caves to go after. Meanwhile, it’s off-limits to everyone but my guests.”

“Does that mean us?” Benny wanted to know. “We want to show Grandfather how we got trapped inside this great big dark cave, but we weren’t even scared.”

Mr. Howe patted Benny’s head. “Go right in, young fella. You just have to get some of those smaller rocks out of the way. Dr. Hollowell blocked up the entrance until she could get some other rock experts here.”

Benny dug out some rocks from the opening and dropped them to the ground. “Ouch!” he said, when one of the rocks landed on his toe. He started to toss the heavy rock to the side when the sunlight hit it just right. At that moment, the rock sent out a rainbow of lights.

“Well, Benny,” Jessie said, taking a closer look at the rock. “You discovered something, too.”

“Miss Hollowell found a little bit of silver. But look what I found,” Benny said, jumping up and down. “A real Rockville diamond!”

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 books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND
THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON