The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (29 page)

“I don’t know myself,” said Mr. Alden. “But I know that Bill built the yellow house on Surprise Island. He did all the work himself with the help of his brother.”

“Brother? Does this brother have anything to do with this mystery?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” said Mr. Alden. “I never liked his brother. He was always in trouble.”

“You think Bill’s brother wrote the letter?” asked Jessie.

“I certainly do,” said Mr. Alden. “I think S. M. means Sam McGregor.”

“Ho-hum,” said Benny.

“Now what does that mean—Ho-hum?” asked Joe, laughing.

“It means we’d better stop talking and get started on this trip,” said Benny.

“What a family!” said Joe. “Always doing something exciting.”

Mr. Alden said, “You might as well get some of your things ready right away.”

“Oh, let’s,” said Benny, jumping up.

Joe stood up too, and began to think aloud. “We can get two canoes up there,” he said slowly. “Do you think you could carry one, Henry, with one of the others to help you?”

“I’m sure I could,” said Henry. “We can’t take too many things. We’ll have to carry food, and packs on our backs, won’t we?”

“That’s right,” said Joe. “We can get tents up there too. There is a store on that first lake where we can buy what food we need for the trip. We don’t have to carry the canoes very far.”

“We can go to Maine in the station wagon, Joe,” said Violet softly.

“Right,” said Joe, smiling at his little cousin. “I knew that was a good thing to buy. Now you children get to work and write down the things you want to take. We can get blankets up there, too.”

“No, sir! You take blankets from here, Joe,” said Mr. Alden suddenly. “Get your clothes and blankets made into packs right here where I can see them. I’m not going to have Violet get cold sleeping in the Maine woods.”

Soon there was a great noise around the house. The children ran up and down stairs. Watch went up and down every time. Then Joe showed them how to make sleeping bags. First the blankets were put on the floor and folded once. Then they were sewed on one side to make a bag. Their clothes were put in piles on the blankets.

“Now fold them over and over this way,” said Joe, “and put these straps around them. I have a lot more straps in my camping things.”

“I see,” said Benny. “The strap goes around your back. Mine isn’t heavy at all. I could carry some bacon and eggs too.”

“Bacon,” said Henry, “but no eggs. We can’t take eggs, can we, Joe?”

“Not whole eggs,” said Joe. “Dried eggs. We can have scrambled eggs. Dried milk and canned milk, both.”

“Dried everything,” said Benny. “I don’t care.”

Before night came, the family was ready for the trip.

Then Joe turned to his uncle. “Don’t be worried, Uncle James,” he said. “I promise you we will stop and eat on the way up. We’ll eat well before we go on the canoe trip. Then we will be all right for a few days, if we don’t have so much to eat.”

“Good,” said Mr. Alden. “Everything is ready then.”

“No,” said Jessie. “Nobody has said anything about Watch.”

“Oh, we can’t take the dog!” began Joe. “He might tip the canoe over.”

Then he looked at the faces of the four children. They were thinking fast. He went on, “Really, I don’t think we had better take Watch.”

“You’re right, Joe,” said Henry at last. “We can’t take Watch. But he will have a good time at home.”

“Yes,” said Mr. Alden. “Watch will keep me from being lonesome, and I will keep him from being lonesome.”

Benny made them all feel better by saying, “Let’s have him stay home. But don’t let’s tell him he can’t go until tomorrow.”

I
t was a pleasant ride to Maine. They ate lunch on the way. Soon after lunch, Joe turned into a bumpy side road and drove carefully through the woods. Suddenly he pointed ahead to a pretty blue lake on the side of the road. “There is the end of our station wagon ride.”

The children looked out as he steered the station wagon up to the door of a little store, and stopped. “All out!” he said.

“Now for the fun!” cried Alice. “What a lot of things we’ll buy here!”

The storekeeper came to the door to see who was stopping.

“You don’t remember me, Mr. Long,” said Joe. “But I was a guide up here once.”

“Sure I remember you. You’re Joe Alden. Glad to see you. Going on a canoe trip? These all your children?”

“No,” laughed Joe. “This is my new wife, and these are my four young cousins.”

“How do you do?” said Benny politely. “Oh, Mr. Long, you have canoes over there.”

“I have everything for a canoe trip,” said Mr. Long with a smile. “Going three in a canoe? I can fix you up all right. You’ll need two. You’ll need some tents, too.”

They all went into the store. “Oh, look!” cried Benny, happily. “All kinds of tin dishes and tin cans. And let’s have some pancakes for breakfast!” He took down a box of pancake flour.

“Benny,” said Jessie, kindly, “I think you’d better let Joe tell us what to buy. He knows what we can carry.”

“Well, yes, Jessie,” said Joe. “But Benny is right about the pancakes. Just wait until you smell them cooking in the early morning.”

Mr. Long put the things in a big bag. “Flour, salt, sugar, bacon, dried eggs, canned milk, potatoes, beans, onions, canned fruit,” said Alice. “We won’t go hungry with that.”

“Tin dishes to eat out of and tin dishes to cook in,” said Jessie.

They went outdoors to look at canoes.

“I can take care of your station wagon,” said Mr. Long. “Just leave it here.” He turned over two canoes and helped Joe push them half into the lake.

Joe thanked him. Then he said, “Just a minute, Mr. Long. We want to ask you something before we go. We are really up here to look for an old man who is lost. He would be about seventy years old now, but he has been lost for almost forty years.”

“His name is Bill McGregor,” said Benny.

“Never heard of him. I’m sorry,” said Mr. Long, shaking his head.

“We’re sorry, too,” said Violet sadly.

Mr. Long looked at the gentle little girl. “I’ll keep my ears open,” he said. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything about your man.”

“Please do,” said Joe. “We’re about ready.”

“I want to go in the canoe with Joe!” cried Benny, jumping up and down.

“Well, you can,” said Joe after thinking a minute. “You are light and I am heavy. Henry, I will take Jessie, too. You take Violet and Alice.”

“That’s nice,” said Alice. She smiled at Violet. “I’d like to go with you, and I can help Henry paddle if he needs me.”

“I’ll put the bag of food, the tent bag, and one blanket roll in the middle of our canoe, Benny,” said Joe. “Then you sit down near them and don’t move.

“Henry’s canoe can carry the other blanket roll and the bag of dishes.”

When everything was loaded, Mr. Long gave the canoes a last push into the lake.

“Oh, isn’t this lovely!” cried Jessie, as her canoe began to slide through the smooth blue water. “What a beautiful lake this is.” She looked back to see Henry taking up his paddle. Then both canoes were on their way.

“Keep near me, Henry,” Joe called back. “Then we can shout to each other.”

Benny was looking at a spot in the lake. “Is this water very deep, Joe?” he asked.

“Oh, yes, very deep.”

“Is it deeper than a tree?” asked Benny, still looking at the spot.

“Oh, yes, much deeper than a tree in the middle,” answered Joe laughing. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, there’s a tree growing in the lake over there, almost in the middle,” cried Benny. “But it’s moving!”

“Moving? A tree?” cried Joe. “Why—it’s a moose! He’s swimming across the lake. Those branches are his antlers, Benny. Hoo-hoo, Henry! Look! A moose!” He pointed at the moose as he shouted to Henry.

But the swimming animal had heard the shouts. He had seen the canoes. He turned around and began to swim as fast as he could toward the shore. When he got near the edge, he splashed through the shallow water and ran out of sight into the bushes.

“Well, well!” said Jessie. “Always something interesting on a canoe trip. Wasn’t he a big one, though.”

“Keep your eyes open,” said Joe. “You may even see a bear.”

“Really, Joe?” asked Jessie.

“Well, not right here,” answered Joe. “They don’t come down here very much. But we may see a bear before we go home.”

“And fish!” cried Jessie. “Did you see that fish jump right out of the water?”

“Yes, I did,” said Joe. “He was a big fellow.”

“Let’s go fishing!” cried Benny.

“We can’t stop now,” said Joe. “We’ll have to paddle right along to make camp for the night.”

“Are you going to build a fire, Joe?”

Joe smiled. “Yes, indeed,” he said. “I can build a fire because I was a guide once. Nobody can build a fire in the Maine woods except a guide.”

“I’m glad you’re a guide, then,” said Benny. “What are you going to cook for supper?”

“A secret,” said Joe laughing. “And we may have company. Yes, I think I can promise you company.”

“Who in the world could it be?” Jessie asked. “You don’t mean Bill, do you?”

“No, not Bill,” said Joe quickly.

Then Jessie remembered that Joe had talked quietly with Mr. Long in front of the store. No one else heard a word the two men had said.

“I bet that’s a secret, too,” said Benny.

“Right,” answered Joe.

H
enry paddled almost as fast as Joe for about two hours. Then Joe could see that Henry was behind him. “Tired, Henry?” Joe shouted, slowing down and waiting for Henry to catch up.

“A little, Joe,” Henry shouted back. “How far is it?”

“Not very far now,” said Joe. “Look over there!” He pointed at a spot down the lake. “Three trees! Camp!”

Henry saw the spot at once. “I can paddle that far,” he called back.

So they started out once more.

“It will take some time to get the camp ready for the night,” Joe told Jessie. “I want to get there long before dark.”

“We have to get supper, too,” said Benny.

“Don’t forget the company,” said Joe, winking at Jessie.