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05 - The Box Car Children - Gertrude Warner · Adventure Books Library

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  Chapter five, Housekeeping. The next morning, Jess was up before the others,
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  as was fitting for a little housekeeper. That is, she was the
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  first, if we except the dog, who had opened one eye instantly every
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  time his little mistress stirred in her sleep. He sat watching gravely in the
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  door of the car. As Jess descended to get breakfast. She walked from
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  the little waterfall quite a distance down the brook, looking at it with critical
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  eyes. This will be the well, she said to herself, regarding a
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  small but deep and quiet basin just below the falls. Below that she found
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  a larger basin lined with gravel, with flat stones surrounding it. This will
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  be the wash tub, she decided, And now I must go back to
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  the refrigerator. This was the strangest spot of all, for behind the little
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  waterfall was a small, quiet pool in which Jess had set the milk bottles
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  the night before. Not a drop of water could get in, but all
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  night long the cool running water had surrounded the bottles. Now they were fairly
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  icy to the touch. Jess smiled as she drew them out. Is it
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  good, asked Benny's voice. There he sat in the door of the car,
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  swinging his legs his arm around the shaggy dog. It's delicious, declared
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  Jess, cold as ice. She climbed up beside him as she spoke,
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  bringing the breakfast with her. The other two children sat up and looked at
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  it. To day, Jess began, Henry, I will go back to
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  town and try to get a job mowing lawns or something. Then we can
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  afford to have something besides milk for breakfast. Milk suited Benny very well,
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  however, so the older children allowed him to drink rather more than his share.
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  Henry did not waste any time talking. He brushed his hair as well
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  as he could without a brush, rolled down his sleeves, and started for
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  town with a second dollar. Glad you've got a dog, Jess, he
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  called back as he waved his straw hat. The children watched him disappear around
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  the curve and then turned to Jess expectantly. They were not mistaken. Jess
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  had a plan, we'll explore, she began mysteriously. We'll begin here at
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  the car and hunt all over these woods until we find a dump. What's
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  a dump, inquired Benny. Oh, Benny answered Violet, you know what
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  a dump is. All old bottles and papers, and broken dishes and wheels,
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  asked Benny interestedly, Will there be any old wheels? Yes, maybe,
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  assented Violet. But cups, Benny, think of drinking milk out of
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  a cup again? Oh? Yes, said Benny politely, but it was
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  clear that his mind was centered on wheels rather than cups. The explorer parties
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  started slowly down the rusty track, with the dog hopping happily on three legs.
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  The fourth paw nicely bandaged with Jess's handkerchief he held up out of harm's
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  way. I think this is a spur track, said Jess. They built
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  it in here so they could load wood on the cars, and then when
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  they had cut all the wood, they didn't need the track any more.
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  This explanation seemed very likely, for here and there were stumps of trees and
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  decaying chips. Violet took note of these chips and remembered them some days later.
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  In fact, both girls kept their eyes open and pointed out things of
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  interest to each other. Remember these logs, Violet, if we should ever
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  need any, said Jess, pointing BlackBerry blossoms, returned Violet, briefly,
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  turning one over gently with her foot. Big flat stones, remarked Jess later
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  on, as they came upon a great heap of them. Here the track
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  came out into the open sunshine, and broken pieces of rail showed clearly where
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  it had joined the main track at some time in the past. And here,
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  from the top of the wooded hill, the children could plainly see the
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  city in the valley. They walked along the track, picking out a church
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  steeple here and there, forgetting for a moment the object of their search.
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  There's a wheel, Benny cried triumphantly from behind. The girls looked down,
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  and with a glad cry of surprise, Jess recognized a dump at the foot
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  of the hill. They found it not composed entirely of ashes into tin cans,
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  either, although both of these were there in great profusion. It was
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  a royal dump, containing both cups and wheels. Oh, Benny, cried
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  Jess, if it hadn't been for you. She hugged him wheel and all,
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  and began turning over the rubbish with great delight. Here's a white pit,
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  Jess, Violet called, holding up a perfect specimen with a tiny chip
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  in its nose. Here's a big white cup, said Jess, delightedly,
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  laying it aside. Want a teapot, Jesse inquired Benny, offering her an
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  enormous blue enameled affair without a handle. Yes, indeed, cried Jess,
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  we can use that for water. I've found two cups and a bowl already,
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  and Violet, we ought to be looking for spoons too, Violet pointed,
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  without speaking to her little pile of treasures, there were five iron spoons
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  covered with rust. Wonderful, pronounced Jess with rapture. Indeed, it is
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  doubtful if collectors of rare and beautiful bits of porcelain ever enjoyed a search as
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  much as did these adventurers. In the dump heap. Benny actually found four
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  wheels exactly alike, probably from the same cart, and insisted upon carrying them
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  back. To please him, Jess allowed him to add them to the growing
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  pile. Here's a big iron kettle, observed Violet. But we won't really
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  cook with a fire, will we. Jess. We'll take it back,
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  though, replied Jess with a knowing look. We can pile lots of dishes
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  in it. They could and did, but not until after Benny had discovered
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  his beloved pink cup. It was a tea party cup of bright rose color
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  with a wreath of gorgeous roses on it, and a little shepherdess giving her
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  lamb a drink from a pale blue brook. It had a perfectly good handle,
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  gold into the bargain. Its only flaw was a dangerous crack through the
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  lamb's nose and front feet. Jess made a cushion for it out of grass
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  and laid it on top of the kettle full of treasures. All the things,
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  even the wheels, were laid on a wide board, which the two
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  girls carried between them. Can you imagine the dish washing when the gay party
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  returned to the freight car. Children do not usually care for dish washing,
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  but never did a little boy hand dishes to his sister so carefully as Benny
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  did. On their hands and knees. Beside the clear, cool, little
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  washtub, the three children soaped and rinsed and dried their precious store of dishes.
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  Jess scoured the rust from the spoons with sand. There, she said,
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  drying the last polished spoon. The children sat back and looked admiringly at
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  their own handiwork, But they did not look too long. There was too
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  much to be done. Jess exclaimed, Violet, I'll tell you. Violet
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  seldom spoke so excitedly. Even Benny turned around and looked at her. Come
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  and see what I noticed inside the car last night. Both children followed her
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  and peered in at the door. See on the wall right over on the
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  other door, Jess. Now, all Jess could see there were two thick
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  chunks of wood nailed securely to the closed door opposite the open one. But
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  she whirled around and around as fast as she could, clapping her hands.
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  When she could get her breath, however, she skipped over to the board
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  they had carried, dusted it nicely, and laid it carefully across the two
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  wooden projections. It was a perfect shelf there, said Jess. The children
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  could hardly wait to arrange the shining new dishes on the shelf. Violet quietly
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  gathered some feathery white flowers, a daisy or two, and some maidenhair ferns,
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  which she arranged in a glass face filled with water from the well.
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  This she put in the middle, with the broken edge hidden there, said
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  Jess. You said there three times, Jessie, remarked. Benny contentedly,
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  So I did, replied, Jess laughing, but I'm going to say it
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  again. She pointed and said, there, Henry was coming up the path
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  end of chapter five,