The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (30 page)

Everyone was now looking at the three trees. As they came nearer they could see a beach where canoes could land. Near the beach there was an open place.

Soon, with a strong push of his paddle, Joe sent his canoe up on the beach. Henry’s canoe came along beside it, and Joe and Henry jumped out.

They helped everyone out. Then they pulled the two canoes up on the beach almost out of the water, and tied them to a tree.

“So they won’t float away,” said Benny, watching.

“Take everything out,” cried Joe. “Put it in this open place. Here’s one of the best camping places in Maine.”

“A long wooden table all made!” cried Henry. “And places to sit. That’s good.”

“What a nice smell here,” said Violet to Alice. “I just love the smell of evergreen trees. It makes me think of the dear old boxcar days.”

“I don’t see any company, though,” said Benny, looking around.

“Well, you will,” said Joe. He seemed to be very sure. “The first thing will be a campfire because we are so hungry. The next thing will be the tents, because we will soon be sleepy.”

He took out an axe. “Here is a path. We’ll follow it and cut down two small trees,
not
evergreens though. These trees must be just right. Look at this picture. See, the top must have a fork. But the fork must be one-sided, so we can drive the tree into the ground.”

All four children looked at the picture, and started to walk down the path.

“Wait a minute,” said Joe. “There is something else we must find. Do you see the pail hanging over the fire on a long branch? We must have a long branch like that, with a fork at the top, and another to hang our water pail on.”

“But trees don’t grow like that,” said Jessie. “All branches grow one way, don’t they, Joe?”

“You just look around,” said Joe, smiling. “You might find one.”

First the children began to look for a tree that was not an evergreen. It was Violet who saw the first one. Joe said the fork was just right. Henry began to cut it down. Jessie and Benny soon found another just like it.

“Joe! Wait! I hear something,” called Jessie suddenly.

They all stood still and listened. Far in the woods they heard someone whistling. Joe laughed. “Company!” he said.

The whistling came nearer. “Hi!” shouted Joe.

“Hi!” answered a deep voice. Just then, the children saw a white-haired man in a brown coat, carrying a very large pack. His face was brown from the sun, his blue eyes were kind.

“This is Mr. Hill, children,” said Joe, smiling at the stranger. “Mr. Long tells me he is one of the best guides in Maine.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” laughed the man. “I suppose you are Joe Alden. Want me to build your shelter-half and cook you some cornbread?”

“Cornbread!” cried Alice. “I just love cornbread.”

“Me too!” shouted Benny. “But what’s a shelter-half?”

“You
would
ask that, Benny,” said Henry laughing. “But we don’t know, either.”

“No,” cried Benny, “don’t tell us after all, Mr. Hill. We’ll watch you build it, and then we’ll know what it is.”

“Not a bad idea,” said Henry. “Don’t forget we still have to find that branch with two forks in it.”

Mr. Hill could see two or three branches like that, but he said nothing. He just smiled and let the children find a
tree
for themselves.

“Well, well!” said Henry at last, looking up at a tree. “There
is
a branch growing both ways. I never knew they grew like that.”

“Cut it just below that fork, Henry,” said Joe.

Soon the branch was cut. Joe and Henry cut branches of evergreens and carried them back to camp for beds.

Then Mr. Hill and Joe put everyone to work. “We must get everything done before the sun sets,” said Mr. Hill. “It gets very cold up here at night. You’ll be glad of your warm blanket rolls. Benny—is that your name? You come and hold these two trees for me.”

In no time the two little forked trees were standing in the ground with a long pole between them. The branch was soon hooked over the pole. Mr. Hill put the water pail on the hook. “You can push this branch to one side, you see,” he said. “Sometimes I get two or three to cook with.”

“I can see how that works,” said Benny. “The water gets hot while you cook supper.”

“Is the hot water to wash dishes in?” asked Violet.

“That’s right, and for anything else you want to wash.”

“Maybe hands,” said Henry, laughing and looking at his hands.

“It’s good clean dirt, though,” said Benny, looking at his own hands. “Smells good. Just like evergreens.” Then he forgot all about his hands, for Mr. Hill began to make the shelter-half to keep the wind from the fire.

“This would keep rain out, too, if we had any rain,” he said to Benny. “And this is the baker where we cook the cornbread.”

“Oh, that’s a funny dish,” said Benny. “How does it work?”

Mr. Hill laughed. “You set it up with this open side toward the fire, see? The inside gets very hot, and cooks the cornbread a fine even brown on top. Then after supper, we can set it up on this other end, and wash dishes in it.”

“Well, isn’t that clever?” cried Henry. “Benny won’t mind washing dishes in that.”

“Now somebody had better go and find some wood,” said Mr. Hill. “We must get a fire going right away.”

Benny jumped up and worked hard getting wood for the fire. He was getting hungry.

Meanwhile Joe and Henry put up the two small tents. Alice and Jessie laid the evergreen branches in the tents for beds.

“Where will Mr. Hill sleep?” asked Jessie.

“Oh, he has his own tent,” Joe answered. “It will take him about one minute to put his tent up and make his bed and go sound asleep.”

“I hope he won’t go to sleep before he makes that cornbread,” said Alice.

“We’re going to have ham and eggs, too,” said Mr. Hill.

“But we haven’t any eggs,” said Benny.

“No, but I have,” said Mr. Hill with a laugh. “I brought along a few things. Just for your first day. Then tomorrow morning I have to leave you.”

How delicious the ham did smell when Mr. Hill put it in the big pan and it began to get brown. Then he dropped in twelve eggs. Joe said he could eat at least two, while Henry said he could eat three.

“Real butter!” cried Jessie, as Mr. Hill took it out. “Do you remember the first time we had real butter in the boxcar?”

“Cornbread isn’t much good without butter,” said Mr. Hill.

Violet began to set the table with tin plates. Soon they were all eating their first meal in camp.

At last Joe said, “The cornbread is gone and the ham is gone. Can anyone stay awake long enough to wash the dishes?”

“I can, if we can use that funny dish,” said Benny. He watched Mr. Hill put the hot water from the pail into the baker. “But I’m so sleepy I could go to sleep standing up.”

Soon the dishes were washed and put away.

Alice, Violet and Jessie had one tent, and Henry, Joe, and Benny had the other. They spread their blanket rolls on the beds of evergreen boughs. Before long the moon looked down on a sleeping camp.

But softly through the woods walked a large black animal. He smelled people. He smelled food, too. So he walked very quietly.

There was the side of bacon hanging in a tree, up high. That was easy. He could stand up. Maybe he could pull it down. He loved bacon. Up went one front paw and the bacon began to swing back and forth.

The animal was not the only one awake. Mr. Hill had heard the visitor. This was the very minute he had been waiting for. “Joe!” he called from his own tent. “We have a visitor.”

Joe woke up suddenly. “I’ll tell the children,” he answered. “Henry, wake up!” Then Henry was awake. “Jessie!” he whispered. Then everyone was awake.

“Oh, dear!” said Violet sitting up. “What is it?”

T
he moon was almost as bright as day.

Mr. Hill whispered, “Look out very quietly.” Very slowly the other tent flaps opened.

The children saw the large black bear but he did not hear them or smell them. He did not smell anything but the bacon. Back and forth it swung as he hit it with his big paw.

“Don’t be afraid, Violet,” whispered Alice. “The bear won’t hurt us. He is afraid of us.”

Just then the bacon fell at the bear’s feet. Down he went on all fours again. He lay down and began to chew the bacon.

“Ho-hum!” thought Benny. “There goes our bacon.”

Just then Mr. Hill flashed a light in the bear’s face. The bear jumped up and ran off into the woods as fast as he could run.

“Didn’t he look funny!” laughed Benny. “But he left our bacon.”

“That was a wonderful sight,” said Henry. “I am certainly glad that Mr. Hill happened to wake up.”

They were soon asleep again. They did not know that Joe had asked Mr. Hill to come because he could show them a big black bear. They did not know that Mr. Hill and the bear were good friends. The bear knew that he would find food wherever Mr. Hill was.

The next morning Mr. Hill said as he and Joe made a fire, “I must leave you after breakfast. When you start off, you’ll soon come to a lumber camp.”

“I wish you would leave that baker to wash dishes in,” said Benny.

“Yes, I brought it for you,” said Mr. Hill with a smile. He washed the bacon well, and cut it in thin pieces. Soon it was cooking in the pan over the fire. Hot cereal and canned milk seemed delicious in the cold morning air. Mr. Hill made “quick bread” in the little baker. As soon as the bread was done, the children began to hear many bluejays in the trees.

“They want our breakfast,” said Mr. Hill, looking up. “Wait until we sit down and then see how near they will come. Throw some pieces on the ground.”

The air was full of bluejays. Six or seven beautiful birds flew to the ground. The children could almost touch them.

“Come on, everybody,” said Benny at last. “I want to see that lumber camp.” He began to pick up the dishes, making the birds fly back into the trees.

Jessie laughed. “What a housekeeper you are all of a sudden,” she said. “Let’s all help.”

Soon the camp was all clean again. Everything was packed in the canoes, and Mr. Hill gave them each a push.

“Thanks, Mr. Hill,” said Joe to his old friend.

“Thanks for everything,” Jessie called back as the two canoes went smoothly down the lake.

The children waved until Mr. Hill turned and went into the woods.

“He was nice, wasn’t he?” said Violet.

“All Maine guides are nice, Violet,” laughed Joe.

Fish were jumping here and there in the water beside the canoes.

“Oh, can’t we go fishing today, Joe?” asked Benny.

“We’ll have to go fishing,” said Joe, “unless we want to eat beans for three days. When we get around two or three ‘looks’ we’ll stop and fish.”

“Two or three what?” asked Benny.

“Looks,” replied Joe. “See that turn in the lake? You can’t see around it yet. They call that a look.”

“That’s a good name for it,” said Jessie. “What do we fish with?”

“Didn’t you see the fishing rods Mr. Hill brought us?” asked Benny. “He brought two, one for each canoe. We can take turns fishing.”

“We fish with flies,” Joe told them. “Not real flies. I have a box of Grey Ghosts in my pack. They look like real flies to the fish. So they go after them and get caught.”