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02 - The Box Car Children - Gertrude Warner · Classic Adventure Books Library

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  Chapter two. The second night, the roosters crowed and the hens clucked.
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  The farmer's wife began to get breakfast, and the four children slept on.
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  Dinner time came and went, and still they slept, for it must be
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  remembered that they had been awake and walking during the whole night. In fact,
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  it was nearly seven o'clock in the evening when they awoke. Luckily,
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  all the others awoke before Benny. Can you hear me, Jess, said
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  Henry, speaking very low through the wall of hay. Yes, answered Jess
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  softly. Let's make one big room of our nests. No sooner said than
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  done. The boy and girl worked quickly and quietly until they could see each
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  other. They pressed the hay back firmly until they had made their way into
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  Violet's little room, and then she, in turn groped until she found Benny.
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  Hello, Little Cinnamon, whispered Violet playfully. And Benny had once made
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  up his mind to laugh instead of cry. But laughing out loud was almost
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  as bad. So Henry took his little brother on the hay beside him and
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  talked to him seriously. You're old enough now, Benny, to understand what
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  I say to you, now, listen when I tell you to keep still
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  after this, that means you're to stop crying if you're crying, or stop
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  laughing if you're laughing, and be just as still as you possibly can.
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  If you don't mind, you will be in danger. Do you understand?
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  Don't I have to mind? Jest and Violet too, asked Benny absolutely said
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  Henry, you have to mind us, all, every one of us.
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  Benny thought a minute. Can't I ask for what I want any more?
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  He said, indeed you can, cried Jess and Henry together. What is
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  it you want? I'm awful hungry, said Benny anxiously. Henry's brow cleared,
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  Good old Benny, he said, we're just going to have supper,
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  or is it breakfast? Jess drew out the fragrant loaf of bread. She
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  cut it with Henry's jackknife into four quarters, and she and Henry took the
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  two crusty ends themselves. That's because we have to be the strongest, and
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  crusts make you strong, explained Jess. Violet looked at her older sister.
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  She thought she knew why Jess took the crust, but she did not speak.
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  We will stay here till dark, and then we'll go on with our
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  journey, said Henry cheerfully. I want a drink, announced Benny. A
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  drink you'll have, Henry promised, But you'll have to wait till it's really
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  dark. If we should creep out to the brook now and any one saw
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  us, he did not finish his sentence, but Benny realized that he must
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  wait. He was much refreshed from his long sleep and felt very lively.
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  Violet had all she could do to keep him amused, even with Cinnamon Bear
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  and his five brothers. At last, Henry peeped out. It was after
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  nine o'clock. There were lights in the farmhouse still, but they were all
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  up stairs. We can at least get a drink now, he said,
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  and the children crept quietly to the noisy little brook not far from the haystack
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  cup said Benny. No, you'll have to lie down and drink with your
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  mouth, Jess explained, and so they did. Never did water taste so
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  cool and delicious as it did that night to the thirsty children. When they
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  had finished drinking, they jumped the brook, ran quickly over the fields to
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  the wall, and once more found themselves on the road. If we meet
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  any one, said Jess, we must all crouch behind bushes until he has
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  gone by. They walked along in the darkness with light hearts. They were
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  no longer tired or hungry. Their one thought was to get away from their
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  grandfather if possible. If we can find a big town, said Violet,
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  won't it be better to stay then a little town? Why, asked Henry,
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  puffing up the hill. Well, you see, there are so many
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  people in the big town nobody will notice us, and in a little village
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  everyone would be talking about us, finished Henry, admiringly, you've got brains,
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  Violet. He had hardly said this when a wagon was heard behind them
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  in the distance. It was coming from Middlesex. Without a word, the
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  four children sank down behind the bushes like frightened rabbits. They could plainly hear
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  their heart's beat. The horse trotted nearer, and then began to walk up
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  the hill. If we hear nothing in townshend They heard a man say,
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  we have plainly done our duty. It was the baker's voice. More than
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  our duty, said the baker's wife. Tiring out a horse. With going
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  a full day from morning until night, there was silence as the horse pulled
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  the creaky wagon. At least we will go on to Townsend tonight, continued
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  the baker, and tell them to watch out. We need not go to
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  Intervale, for they never could walk so far. We are well rid of
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  them, i should say, replied his wife. They may not have come
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  this way. The milkman did not see them, did he. The baker's
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  reply was lost, for the horse had reached the hill top where he broke
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  into a canter. It was some minutes before the children dared to creep out
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  of the bushes again. One thing is sure, said Henry, when he
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  got his breath. We will not go to Townsend, and we will go
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  to Intervale, said Jess, with a definite goal in mind. At last,
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  the children set out again with a better spirit. They walked until two
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  o'clock in the morning, stopping often this time to rest and to drink from
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  the horse's watering troughs. And then they came upon a fork in the road
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  with a white sign post shining in the moonlight. Townsend four miles, Intervale
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  six miles, read Henry aloud. Any one feel able to walk six more
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  miles? He grinned. No one had the least idea how far they had
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  already walked. We'll go that way at least, said Jess. Finally that
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  we will, agreed Henry, picking up his brother for a change and carrying
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  him pig back, Violet went ahead. The new road was a pleasant,
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  woody one, with grass growing in the middle. The children could not see
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  the grass, but they could feel it as they walked. Not many people
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  passed this way, I guess, remarked Violet. Just then she caught her
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  toe in something and almost fell, but Jess caught her. The two girls
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  stooped down to examine the abstruction. Hey, said Jess, Hey, repeated
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  Violet, Hey said, Henry, coming up, What did you say?
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  It must have fallen off somebody's load, said Jess. We'll take it with
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  us. Henry decided wisely, load on all you can carry, Jess for
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  benny, thought Violet to herself. So the odd little party trudged on for
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  nearly three hours, laden with hay, until they found that the road ended
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  in a cart path through the woods. Oh, dear, exclaimed Jess,
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  almost ready to cry with disappointment. What's the matter, demanded Henry in astonishment.
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  Isn't the woods a good place to sleep. We can't sleep in the
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  road. You know, it does seem nice and far away from people,
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  admitted Jess. And it's almost morning. As they stood still at the entrance
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  to the woods, they heard the rumble of a train. It roared down
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  the valley at a great rate and passed them on the other side of the
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  woods, thundering along toward the city. Never mind the train, either,
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  remarked Henry. It isn't so awfully near, and even if it were,
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  it couldn't see us. He set his brother down and peered into the woods.
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  It was very warm, Listen, said Benny. Listen, echoed Violet.
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  More water, Benny cried, catching his big brother by the hand.
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  It is only another brook, said Henry, with a thankful heart. He
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  wants a drink. The trickle of water sounded very pleasant to all the children
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  as they lay down once more to drink. Benny was too sleepy to eat.
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  Jess quickly found a dry spot thick with moss between two stones. Upon
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  this moss, the three older children spread the hay in the shape of an
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  oval bed. Benny tumbled into it with a great sigh of satisfaction, while
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  his sisters tucked the hay around him, pine needles up here, Jess called
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  Henry from the slope. Each of them quickly scraped together a fragrant pile for
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  a pillow, and once more lay down to sleep with hardly a thought of
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  fear. I only hope we won't have a thunder storm, said Jess to
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  herself, as she shut her tired eyes, and she did not open them
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  for a long time, although the dark gray clouds piled higher and more thickly
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  over the sleeping children. End of Chapter two,