The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (18 page)

“You try,” said Benny. “I don’t care. All I can find is this big chicken leg.”

“Chicken leg!” cried Violet. “That is too big for a chicken.”

“Well, maybe a horse then. It’s an old bone, anyway,” said Benny. “I’ll save it for Joe. He will know for sure.”

Violet dug at the shells. “Benny, you know all these shells look as if someone broke them. And a lot of the purple part is gone. That means that Joe is right, and they did make wampum here.”

“Of course Joe is right,” said Benny. “Joe is always right.”

“It seems funny to me,” said Violet, “that Joe is just a handy man. I shouldn’t think he would be working here on this island if he knows so much.”

“Maybe he does something else, too,” said Benny. “And maybe he came here to have a good time and learn things this summer, just like us.”

Then the others came back. They had clam hooks and a shovel, and Joe had a camera.

“A camera!” cried Benny. “You can take a picture of Watch digging up an Indian!”

“I wish I could,” said Joe, laughing. “I want to take a picture of the shell-pile. You and Watch sit right where you are. That will show how big the shell-pile is.”

Violet scrambled out of the way.

“No, no,” said Joe. “Don’t go. I want you in the picture, too. You stand beside Watch.”

So Violet stood where she was, and Joe took the picture. He took four pictures, one from each side.

“Why do you want all these pictures, Joe?” asked Henry.

“Maybe I’d better tell you something,” said Joe. “If the people on the mainland knew about this pile, they would be over here with cameras and shovels before we could stop them. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”

“Oh, no!” cried Benny. “We don’t want a lot of people over here.”

“You children had better not tell anyone about this shell-pile before your grandfather knows,” said Joe.

“All right, we won’t,” said Henry. “We’ll tell

Grandfather when he comes to visit us. Now, let’s dig. I’d like to do this for a living, Joe—go to far-off places and dig up old bones and things.”

“Good for you, Henry!” cried Joe. “It is very interesting work, but let me warn you, it isn’t all fun. You may work for a year and not find anything.”

“Just like fishing,” said Benny.

“Exactly,” agreed Joe. “Maybe you’d like to work with Henry.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” said Benny. “I’d rather fish, because you can eat the fish.”

“You will help us now, won’t you?” asked Henry. “We need every man we can get.”

“Sure,” said Benny. “Watch, you can help, too.”

Watch obeyed, but he soon barked and held up his paw. There was a white bone sticking in it.

“A fishhook!” cried Joe. “Right in your paw, Watch! Here, let me take it out. It’s a fishhook made from an animal bone.”

“That means Indians used to fish here, doesn’t it?” asked Henry.

“Yes, I think so,” said Joe. “Now, do you want to work just a little more? I’d like to dig under the pile before we go.”

“Sure,” said Benny. “We’re not hungry, because we ate so much stew. What do you think we’ll find, Joe?”

“I haven’t any idea,” said Joe. He took the shovel and soon dug quite a big hole. They all got down on their hands and knees to look in the hole.

“Is that anything?” asked Violet, pointing. “It looks like a piece of a dish.”

“It’s a piece of a dish!” shouted Joe.

“Here is another piece!” said Jessie, handing it to Joe.

“I think that these are all pieces of a bowl,” cried Joe. The children found some more pieces and gave them to Joe. He wiped off the sand and put the pieces together. “Yes, this is a cooking bowl,” said Joe. “I’m sure now that Indians lived here. We know now that they used to get clams here, and that they made wampum here. We may find more things. This island is a wonderful place.”

Violet could see that Joe kept his eyes on the bowl every minute.

“That dish tells us more than anything else we have found,” said Joe.

“I don’t think so,” said Benny, to everyone’s surprise. “I think my horse bone tells the most, because it tells that the Indians had horses. See!” Benny pointed to the bone sticking up out of the sand.

“Benny Alden,” Joe almost shouted. “The Indians didn’t have horses before the white man came.
Where
did you find this?”

“On the back of the pile,” answered Benny. “We’re digging on the wrong side, I guess.”

“It’s a man’s bone, Benny!” cried Joe. “It’s part of a skeleton. Do you know what a skeleton is?”

“Oh, yes,” said Benny. “All of us have a skeleton inside us. It’s made of bones.”

“That’s right,” said Henry. “Show us exactly where you found the bone.”

“Right here,” said Benny, going to the other side of the pile.

“Let’s dig!” cried Joe. “But be careful! Down, Watch! You’re a good dog, but this is no place for you to dig. Oh, children, look!”

Another bone came in sight.

“If you don’t mind, please let me do the digging, will you? Just sit and watch me.”

The children sat back and watched Joe as he slowly dug the sand away. Even Benny was excited, as he saw twelve small bones side by side in the sand.

“There ought to be another set just like these,” said Joe.

“There they are!” shouted Henry. “And look, Joe! Look at the arrowhead sticking out!”

“He was shot,” cried Joe. “Shot with an arrow. This is the skeleton of an Indian!”

Before long the whole skeleton lay before the excited children.

“Well, well!” said Joe, sitting back to rest. “We can’t move this skeleton because we haven’t the right tools. It will be safe because nobody knows it is here. Let’s cover him up again.”

“Cover him up?” shouted Benny. “But we just found him, Joe! He is for our museum!”

“I know, Benny,” answered Joe. “Will you leave him here, just to please me? We can dig some other day in the cave. Aren’t you getting hungry now?”

“Yes, I am,” said Benny. “Let’s go home and get some bread and milk.”

Jessie smiled at Joe. It was so easy to please Benny sometimes. “Shall we take the bowl, Joe?” she asked.

“Oh, yes! Take all the small things to put in your museum.”

So the explorers took their collection of clam hooks and Indian things and started home for supper.

“Let’s call this end of the island ‘Indian Point,’” said Henry.

And that is what it was always called after that.

A
fter supper, a few days later, the children sat resting in the doorway of the barn.

“Listen!” said Violet suddenly.

Since Violet never said anything suddenly, everyone looked at her in surprise and listened. Then they heard the sound of a violin.

“Who can that be?” asked Violet.

“Let’s find out,” said Henry.

Watch ran right to Captain Daniel’s hut and the four children followed. There sat Joe in the doorway, playing a real violin. He did not stop when he saw the children. They stared at him and watched his fingers fly as he played a very fast piece. When Joe finished, Benny said, “I didn’t know you had a violin.”

“Oh,
please
play it again! When did you learn to play?” cried Violet. “Could I hold it just a minute?”

Jessie and Henry were too surprised to speak. This was not at all like Violet. When Joe handed the violin to her, Violet took it and put it under her chin.

“Play something,” said Joe.

“Oh, I can’t play it,” said Violet. “I’d just like to
hold it a minute under my chin. Do you mind, Joe?”

“No! No!” said Joe, “but don’t you want me to
show you how to play it?”

“Not now,” said Violet. “You play some more.” She gave the violin back as if she had played one all her life. Joe did play some more, first a slow little piece, and then a faster one.

But Jessie and Henry were not watching Joe. They were watching Violet. She stood without moving all the time Joe was playing.

Joe was watching Violet, too. He was sure she could learn to play well, because she seemed to like the violin so much.

When the family went back to the barn at last, they were all thinking of Joe’s wonderful playing. That night, when Jessie went to sleep, it seemed to her that Joe played such a sad piece that Violet cried. But when Jessie woke up, she knew that it was real crying that she heard, for Violet was crying softly. Jessie got up at once.

“What is the matter?” she asked, falling on her knees beside Violet’s bed. “Why are you crying?”

“I-I w-want to learn to play the violin!” said Violet, starting to cry again.

“Of course you shall!” said Jessie. “I know Grandfather will buy you a violin, and Joe can teach you how to play it.”

“It’s not that,” said Violet. “You see, I want to practice, and it’s so
selfish
to go off and practice all by myself when I ought to be helping—”

Henry came in with the flashlight.

“Oh, my goodness!” cried Jessie. “What can I say? You talk to her, Henry!”

“I heard most of it,” said Henry. “She thinks she’s selfish to practice, when we came down here to have a good time together. Is that it?”

“That’s just it,” said Jessie.

“Now Violet, look here,” said Henry. “You couldn’t be selfish if you tried. We all want you to learn to play the violin. Most people don’t even like to practice, you know.”

Henry’s little talk with Violet made her feel better. Soon they were all talking again, and even laughing a little.

“Sh!” said Jessie. “We’d better be quiet, we don’t want to wake Benny. He would certainly howl.”

The children left Violet feeling happy again, and thinking about the little violin her grandfather would surely buy for her.

The next morning, Joe got Captain Daniel to telephone Mr. Alden. He listened to the story, and thought about his own beautiful violin carefully packed away.

But he said to Captain Daniel, “Certainly, Violet must have a violin. The only trouble is that I am too busy this morning to buy one for her.”

“Joe thinks he could pick one out,” said Captain Daniel. “His playing is just wonderful.”

“That Joe is a very interesting man,” replied Mr. Alden. “I’ll have a talk with him when I come over. Give him the money for the violin, Captain, and let him buy one if he thinks he can.”

When Joe came back to the Alden Island with the little violin, Violet was waiting for him on the dock. Joe was sure that Violet could some day be a wonderful player, so he had bought her a fine violin.

The rest of the family came flying down to see if Joe had had any luck. After they all had seen the violin, Violet shut the box.

“I don’t think it likes to be outdoors,” she said.

“I don’t think so, either,” agreed Joe. “Let’s take it to the hut, and I will give you your first lesson.”

“I’ll go with you,” said Benny.

“No, you had better stay on the dock with us and fish,” said Henry quickly.

“Are you going to fish?” asked Benny.

“Yes!” said Henry, who had not thought of fishing until that very minute. “Just think, Benny, we’ve been here by the ocean four weeks and we haven’t had a single fishing trip yet.”

Suddenly Henry found that he wanted to go fishing himself.

“You will find fishlines and bait in an old box under the dock,” called Joe.

Luck was surely with Henry. He baited a hook with a clam. Then he let down a long line and gave the end to Benny. Almost at once Benny began to yell and pull away on his line, hand over hand.