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01 - The Box Car Children - Gertrude Warner · Classic Adventure Books Collection

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  Chapter one, The Flight. About seven o'clock one hot summer evening, a
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  strange family moved into the little village of Middlesex. Nobody knew where they came
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  from or who they were, but the neighbors soon made up their minds what
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  they thought of the strangers. For the father was very drunk. He could
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  hardly walk up the rickety front steps of the old tumble down house, and
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  his thirteen year old son had to help him. Toward eight o'clock, a
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  pretty capable looking girl of twelve came out of the house and bought a loaf
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  of bread at the baker's, and that was all the villagers learned about the
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  newcomers that night. There are four children, said the bake shop woman to
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  her husband the next day, and their mother is dead. They must have
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  some money, for the girl paid for the bread with a dollar bill.
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  Make them pay for everything they get, growled the baker, who was a
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  hard man. The father is nearly dead with drink now, and soon they
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  will be only beggars. This happened sooner than he thought. The next day,
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  the oldest boy and girl came to ask the bake shop woman to come
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  over. Their father was dead. She went over willingly enough for some one
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  had to go, but it was clear that she did not expect to be
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  bothered with four strange children, with the bakery on her hands and two children
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  of her own. Haven't you any other folks, she asked the children.
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  We have a grandfather in Greenfield, spoke up the youngest child, before his
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  sister could clap her hand over his mouth. Hush, benny, she said
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  anxiously. This made the bake shop woman suspicious. What's the matter with your
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  grandfather, she asked. He doesn't like us, replied the oldest boy reluctantly.
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  He didn't want my father to marry my mother, and if he found
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  us, he would treat it cruelly. Did you ever see him, Jess
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  as once she saw him, well, did he treat you cruelly? Asked
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  the woman, turning upon Jess. Oh he didn't see me, replied Jess.
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  He was just passing through our where we used to live, and my
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  father pointed him out to me. Where did you used to live? Went
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  on the questioner, but none of the children could be made to tell.
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  We will get along all right alone, won't we, Henry, declared Jess.
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  Indeed we will, said Henry, I will stay in the house with
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  you tonight, said the woman. At last, and tomorrow we will see
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  what can be done. The four children went to bed in the kitchen and
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  gave the visitor the only other bed in the house. They knew that she
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  did not at once go to bed, but sat by the window in the
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  dark. Suddenly they heard her talking to her husband through the open window.
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  They must go to their grandfather, that's certain, Jess heard her say.
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  Of course, agreed her husband. Tomorrow, we will make them tell us
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  what his name is. Soon after that, Jess and Henry heard her snoring
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  heavily. They sat up in the dark. Mustn't we surely run away,
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  whispered Jess in Henry's ear. Yes, whispered Henry. Take only what we
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  need most. We must be far off before morning, or they will catch
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  us. Jess sat still for a moment, thinking, for every motion she
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  made must count. I will take both loaves of bread, she thought,
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  and Violet's little work bag. Henry has his knife, and all father's money
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  is in my pocket. She drew it out and counted it in the dark,
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  squinting her eyes in the faint light of the moon. It amounted to
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  nearly four dollars. You'll have to carry Benny until he gets waked up,
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  whispered Jess. If we wake him up here he might cry. She touched
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  Violet a shites spoke, sh Violet. Come, We're going to run away,
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  she whispered. The little girl made no sound. She sat up obediently
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  and tried to make out the dim shadow of her sister. What shall I
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  do, she asked, Light as a breath. Carry this, said Jess,
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  handing her the work bag and a box of matches. Jess tiptoed over
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  to the tin box on the table, drew out the two loaves of bread
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  and slipped them into the laundry bag. She peered around the room for the
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  last time, and then dropped two small clean towels and a cake of soap
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  into the bag. All right, pick him up, she said to Henry.
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  Henry bent over the sleeping child and lifted him carefully. Jess took the
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  laundry bag, turned the door knob ever so softly, opened the door,
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  ever so slowly, and they tiptoed out in a ghostly procession. Jess shut
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  the door with as much care as she had opened it, listened to the
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  bake shop woman's heavy snoring for a moment, and then they turned and picked
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  their way without a sound, to the country road. She may wake up
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  before morning, you know, whispered Henry. We must do our fastest walking
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  before then. If we can only get to another town before they find out
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  we're gone, they won't know which way to go. Jess agreed, and
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  they all walked briskly along in the faint moonlight. How far can you carry
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  Benny, asked Violet. Oh, at least a mile, said Henry confidently,
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  although his arms were beginning to ache. Benny was five years old,
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  and he was a fat, healthy boy as well. I think we could
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  all walk faster if we woke him up, said Jess. Decidedly. We
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  could each take his hand and almost carry him along. Henry knelt down by
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  the roadside and set the little fellow against his knee. Come, Benny,
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  you must wake up now and walk, said Jess, coaxingly. Go away.
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  Benny mumbled with his eyes shut, trying to lie down again. Let
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  me try, Violet offered softly. Say, Benny, you know, little
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  cinnamon bear ran away to find a nice warm bed for the winter. Now
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  you play your cinnamon and Henry and Jess will help you along and we'll find
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  a bed. Violet's little plan worked. Benny was never too cross to listen
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  to the wonderful stories his sister Violet could tell about Cinnamon Bear. He stood
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  up bravely and marched along, yawning, while his big brother and sister almost
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  swung him between them. Not a soul passed them on the country road.
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  All the houses they saw were dark and still, and when the first faint
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  streaks of morning light showed in the sky, all four children were almost staggering
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  with sleep. I must go to sleep, Henry, Jess. At last,
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  little Benny was asleep already, and Henry was carrying him again. The
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  first place we come to, then, panted Henry. Violet said nothing,
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  but she kept her eyes open. Finally she caught Henry's sleeve. Couldn't we
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  make that haystack, do, she asked, pointing across a newly mowned field.
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  Indeed we could, said Henry, thankfully. What a big enormous one
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  it is. I was too sleepy to see it, I guess, and
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  see how far are we from the farmhouse and barn? It is too,
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  echoed Jess. The sight gave them new courage. They climbed over two stone
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  walls, got across a brook somehow with a heavy child, and arrived at
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  the haystack. Henry laid his brother down and stretched his aching arms while Jess
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  began to burrow into the haystack. Violet, after a moment of watching her,
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  did the same. Here's his nest, said Jess, sleepily, taking
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  her head out of the deep round hole she had made. Henry lifted the
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  child into the opening and was pleased to see that he curled up instantly,
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  smiling in his sleep. Jess pulled wisps of hay over the opening so that
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  it was absolutely invisible, and then proceeded to dig out a similar burrow for
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  herself. We can stay here, Jest, as long as we like,
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  can't we, Henry, she murmured, digging with her eyes shut. We
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  sure can, replied Henry, you're an old brick, Jess, Get in
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  and I'll pull the hay over the hole. Violet was already curled up in
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  her nest, which was hidden so completely that Henry spoke to her to see
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  if she were there. Then he wriggled himself backward into the haycock, without
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  stopping to hollow it out, pulled a handful of hay over his head,
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  and laid his head on his arm. Just as he did so, he
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  heard a heavy voice say, now, then, lass, get along.
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  Then he heard the rumble of a milk wagon coming down a near by lane,
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  and he realized, thankfully that they had hidden themselves just before the first
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  farmer in the neighborhood had set off toward Middlesex with his milk cans. He
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  will say he didn't meet us coming this way, thought Henry. So they
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  will hunt for us the other way, and that will give us time to
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  cover a lot more ground. He dropped asleep just as the roosters all over
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  the valley began to answer each other. End of Chapter one