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16 - The Box Car Children - Gertrude Warner · Adventure Books Collection

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  Chapter sixteen, A United Family. Mister Cordyce had been planning this day for
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  more than a week. He had sent his most trusted foreman to his own
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  beautiful home to superintend matters. There the house was being remodeled entirely after mister
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  Cordyce's own plans, and everywhere were carpenters, painters, and decorators. On
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  the very day that mister Cordyce received word that it was finished, he suggested
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  the drive. Do you live all alone? Grandfather asked Benny. All alone,
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  answered mister Cordyce, no company at all. At first, Benny did
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  not consider this the exact truth. He considered a cook company, and also
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  a butler and a housekeeper, And when he saw the array of maids,
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  he kept perfectly quiet. The house was enormous, certainly, it was at
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  least a quarter of a mile from its own front gate, and everywhere were
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  gardens. Do you live here, said Henry thunderstruck, as they rolled quietly
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  along the beautiful drive. You do too, if you like it, observed
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  his grandfather, watching his face. The inside of the house was more wonderful
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  than even the older children had ever dreamed. The velvet rugs were so thick
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  and soft that no footfall could be heard. Everywhere were flowers. The great
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  stairway with steps of marble, rose from the center of the big hallway.
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  But it was upstairs that the children felt most at home. Here the rooms
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  were not quite so large. They were sunny and homelike. This is Violet's
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  room, cried Benny. It was unmistakable. There were violets on the wall
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  paper. The bed was snow white with a thick quilt of violet silk.
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  On the little table were English violets, pouring their fragrance into the room.
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  What a beautiful room, sighed Violet, sinking down into one of the soft
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  cushioned chairs. But all the children shouted when they saw Benny's room. The
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  wall paper was blue, covered with large figures of cats and dogs, the
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  Three Bears and Peter Rabbit. There was a swinging rocking horse nearly as tall
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  as a real horse, a blackboard, a tool chest, and low tables
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  and chairs exactly the right size for Benny. There was an electric train with
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  cars nearly as large as the boy himself. Can I rend the cars all
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  day? Asked Benny. Oh no, replied Henry quickly, you're going to
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  school as soon as it begins. This was the first that his grandfather had
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  heard about school, but he agreed with Henry and chuckled to himself. The
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  finest schools in the country. He said, this came true for all the
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  children finally went to the public schools, and are they not the finest schools
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  in the country. In Jess's room, Benny discovered a bed for Watch.
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  It was, in fact a regular dog's straw hamper, but it was lined
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  with heavy quilted silk and padded with wool. Watch got in at once,
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  sniffed in every corner, turned around three times, and lay down. Just
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  then a distant door bell rang. It had such a low musical chime that
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  the children listened delightedly, never once giving a thought as to who it might
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  be. But almost at once a soft footed servant appeared, saying that a
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  man wanted to see mister Cordyce about the dog. The moment just heard that
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  word dog, she was frightened. She had never thought Watch a common runaway
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  dog, and it always made her uncomfortable to see passers by gaze curiously at
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  him as he ran by her side. They won't take Watch away, she
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  whispered to Henry, her breath almost gone. Indeed, they will not,
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  declared Henry, We'll never never give him up. However, Henry followed his
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  grandfather and Jess with great anxiety. It was indeed about watch that the man
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  wanted to talk, and Jess's heart sank again when she saw the dog jump
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  delightedly upon the man and return his caresses with short barks. He's a runaway,
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  sir, from my kennel's out in Townsend. The man explained to mister
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  Cordyce, I have two hundred airedales out there, and this one was sold
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  the day before he ran away, So you see, I have to turn
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  him over to the lady I sold him to. Oh no, you don't
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  returned, mister Cordyce, quickly, I will give you three times what the
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  dog is worth. The man glanced around uneasily. I couldn't do that,
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  sir, he explained. You see, it isn't a question of money,
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  it's a question of my promised word to the lady. Mister Cordyce failed to
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  see she can find another dog among two hundred airdales. I can guess he
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  returned. And besides, you don't know positively that this is the right dog.
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  Excuse me, replied the man, very much embarrassed. He's the dog,
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  all right. He knows me, as you see, and his name
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  is rough number three. He has a black spot inside his ear. It
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  was too true. Indeed, at the mere mention of his name, the
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  dog cocked an ear and wagged his tail. But he had seated himself as
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  close to Jess as possible, and licked her hand when she patted him.
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  But it appeared that Henry could understand the man's position, even if mister Cordyce
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  could not. He now put in a timid word of his own. If
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  the lady would agree to let the dog go, would you be willing,
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  sure, said the man, shooting a glance at Henry. I almost know
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  anyone would let us keep watch, grandfather, said Henry earnestly, if they
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  knew how much he had done for us. I'm sure of it, my
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  boy, returned mister Cordyce kindly. The fact that Henry had been the first
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  to make headway with the dog, Fancier had not escaped him. But it
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  was clear that Jess would not be able to sleep until the matter had been
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  settled, So the moment the man was gone, the children set out from
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  their beautiful new home to the address of the lady who had bought Watch.
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  The big car purred along from Greenfield to Townsend in no time, and the
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  whole family, including Watch himself, trooped up the veranda steps to interview the
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  lady who held it in her power to break their hearts or to make them
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  very happy. She was not terrible to look at. In fact, she
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  was quite young, quite lively, and very very pretty. She asked them
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  all to sit down, which they did gravely, for even Benny was worried
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  about losing Watchee, his favorite pillow. He could not wait for his grandfather
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  to begin. He struggled down from his chair and dashed over to the young
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  lady, saying in one breath, you'll let us keep Watchee, please,
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  won't you, because we want him so bad and just didn't know he was
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  your dog. By degrees. The lady understood just what dog it was.
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  We have had him so long, explained Henry eagerly. It would be almost
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  like letting Benny go away. Watch never leaves us even for a minute,
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  ever since just took the briar out of his foot, so you are the
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  children who lived in the freight car, observed the lively young lady. I've
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  heard all about that. How did you like it? All right? Replied
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  Henry with an effort. But we never could have done it without Watch.
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  He stayed and looked after the girls while I was away, and he just
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  thinks everything of Jess. Well, said the young lady, laughing, I
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  can see you're worrying terribly about that dog. Now listen, I wouldn't take
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  that dog away from you any more than i'd take Benny. In fact,
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  not so much. I think maybe I'd like to keep Benny instead. Benny
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  was a pair of quite willing that she should. He climbed into her lap
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  before anyone could stop him and gave her one of his best bear hugs,
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  and from that moment they were firm friends. But the children always spoke of
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  her as the lady who owns Watch. Although mister Cordyce paid for the dog
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  in less time than you can imagine, it made no difference to the children
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  that Watch was a very valuable dog. They had loved him when he had
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  not been worth a cent, and now they loved him more simply because they
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  had so nearly lost him. It was a happy and reunited family which gathered
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  around the courtyce dining table that evening. The maids smiled in the kitchen to
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  hear the children laugh. And the children laughed because Watch actually sat up at
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  the table in the seat of honor beside Jess and was waited upon by a
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  butler. End of Chapter sixteen.