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07 - The Box Car Children - Gertrude Warner · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven. At home, Jess and Henry had a short
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  Speaker 1: committee meeting the next morning before the others awoke. It
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  Speaker 1: was agreed that nobody should be allowed to stray off
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  Speaker 1: into the woods alone, not even the dog. And with
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  Speaker 1: much mystery, Henry left some orders with all of them
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  Speaker 1: as to what they should build for him during the morning.
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  Speaker 1: What for, asked Benny, shan't tell, old fellow, tease Henry,
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  Speaker 1: you just build it and you'll see later. So Henry
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  Speaker 1: walked briskly through the woods, feeling sure that the noise
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  Speaker 1: in the night had been made by a rabbit. Having
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  Speaker 1: no watch, Henry made a slight mistake by appearing at
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  Speaker 1: the young doctor's door before eight o'clock. He was just
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  Speaker 1: in time to meet the doctor coming in from a
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  Speaker 1: night call. If Henry had not been so eager to
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  Speaker 1: begin work, he would have noticed how the young man's
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  Speaker 1: dark eyes examined him from head to foot, even to
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  Speaker 1: his plastered hair wet with brookwater. It was not the
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  Speaker 1: doctor who directed his work, but the doctor's mother, the
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  Speaker 1: sweet faced Missus mc allister, whose heart was centered in
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  Speaker 1: her son and her vegetable garden. Her heart warmed to
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  Speaker 1: the boy when she saw how carefully, he thinned out
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  Speaker 1: the carrots which had been sadly neglected. I have been
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  Speaker 1: so busy, she declared, that I have actually stayed awake
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  Speaker 1: nights worrying about these carrots. There see that she pulled
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  Speaker 1: out a fairly good sized carrot as she spoke. It
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  Speaker 1: had to come out, for it was much too near
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  Speaker 1: its neighbors. In fact, when Henry had thinned out half
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  Speaker 1: a row, he had quite a little pile of eatable carrots,
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  Speaker 1: each as large as his thumb. When missus mc allister
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  Speaker 1: saw Henry deftly press the earth back again around the
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  Speaker 1: carrots which remained standing, she left him quietly with a smile.
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  Speaker 1: Here was a gardener whom she could trust. Henry worked
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  Speaker 1: steadily in the hot sun, completing row after row of carrots, parsnips,
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  Speaker 1: and onions. When the mill bells rang at noon, he
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  Speaker 1: worked on without noticing that his employer was again watching him.
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  Speaker 1: When he did at last notice her, he asked her, smiling,
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  Speaker 1: what she wanted done with the things he had pulled up. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: throw them away, she said, indifferently. Toss them over into
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  Speaker 1: the orchard, and sometime we'll burn them when they get dry.
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  Speaker 1: Do you mind if I take them myself, asked Henry hesitatingly.
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  Speaker 1: Oh no, said missus mc allister, cordially, have you chickens?
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  Speaker 1: That will be fine. Henry was thankful that she went
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  Speaker 1: right along without waiting for an answer. But in a
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  Speaker 1: way he did have chickens. He thought, you must stop
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  Speaker 1: working now, She said, any time you want to do something,
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  Speaker 1: there will be a place for you here. She gave
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  Speaker 1: him a dollar bill and left the delighted boy with
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  Speaker 1: the piles of precious little vegetables as long as Henry
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  Speaker 1: expected to return so soon, he hastily so selected an
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  Speaker 1: orderly bunch of the largest of the carrots and the
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  Speaker 1: smallest of the onions. He added a few of the
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  Speaker 1: miniature parsnips for good measure. They looked like dolls vegetables.
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  Speaker 1: When Henry walked down the drive with his bouquet, he
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  Speaker 1: would have seen a face at the window if he
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  Speaker 1: had looked up, but he did not look up. He
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  Speaker 1: was too anxious to get to the little old man's
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  Speaker 1: shop and order his meat. So it happened that Henry
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  Speaker 1: walked in upon his little family at about two o'clock
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  Speaker 1: with all the materials for a feast. The feast could
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  Speaker 1: not be made ready before night. Jess hastened to explain
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  Speaker 1: to Benny, who was perfectly satisfied anyway, with bread and
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  Speaker 1: milk in his pink cup. Your building's done, Benny informed
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  Speaker 1: his brother. I'd build the lots of it. He really did, agreed, Violet,
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  Speaker 1: leading the way to the sunny open spot a trifle
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  Speaker 1: behind the house. The building was a fireplace with an
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  Speaker 1: enormous amount of labor. The children had made quite a
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  Speaker 1: hollow at the base of a rock. This was lined
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  Speaker 1: completely with flat stones. More flat stones had been set
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  Speaker 1: on end to keep out the wind. On top of
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  Speaker 1: the stones lay the most wonderful collection of firewood that
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  Speaker 1: you can imagine, all ready to light. There were chips
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  Speaker 1: and bits of crumpled paper, pine cones, and dry twigs.
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  Speaker 1: Beside the big rock was a wood pile. The children
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  Speaker 1: had apparently been working like beavers all the morning. Jess
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  Speaker 1: had found a heavy wire in the dump and had
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  Speaker 1: fastened it between two trees. On the wire, the kettle
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  Speaker 1: swung merrily. Fine fine, shouted Henry when he saw it.
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't have done it so well myself, and he
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  Speaker 1: honestly believed it. We have dinner at night here, observed
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  Speaker 1: Jess impressively, what did you buy? When the girls saw
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  Speaker 1: the tiny vegetables, they began with cries of delight to
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  Speaker 1: cut them from their stalks. With Henry's knife and a
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  Speaker 1: broken paring knife, they scrubbed them in the wash tub,
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  Speaker 1: filled the kettle half full of water from the well,
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  Speaker 1: and proceeded in great excitement to cut the raw meat
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  Speaker 1: into cubes. When this had been dropped into the kettle,
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  Speaker 1: Henry lighted the fire. It burned frantically, as if it
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  Speaker 1: were trying to encourage the stew to do its best.
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  Speaker 1: Violet laid the tin plate over the top for a cover,
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  Speaker 1: and they all stood by to hear the first bubble. Soon,
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  Speaker 1: the savory stuff in the kettle began to boil in
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  Speaker 1: good earnest. Watch sat down gravely near it and gave
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  Speaker 1: an approving sniff at intervals. Keep it boiling, advised Henry
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  Speaker 1: as he departed again. When I come home tonight, I'll
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  Speaker 1: bring some salt, and for Mercy's sake, don't get on fire.
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  Speaker 1: Violet pointed silently at the big teapot. The little girl
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  Speaker 1: had filled it with water in case of emergency. That's
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  Speaker 1: if Benny gets on fire. She explained, or what ch
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  Speaker 1: Henry laughed and went on his way happily enough. He
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  Speaker 1: wished he might share the delightful task of keeping the
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  Speaker 1: fire going and sniffing the stew, But when he found
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  Speaker 1: out his afternoon's duties, he changed his mind abruptly. Think
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  Speaker 1: you can clean up this garage, asked doctor mc allister quizzically.
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  Speaker 1: When he appeared. Henry flashed a look around the place
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  Speaker 1: and met the young man's eyes with a smile. It
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  Speaker 1: did need cleaning rather badly. When the owner purred out
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  Speaker 1: in his high powered little car, Henry drew a long
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  Speaker 1: breath and began in earnest. He opened all the chests
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  Speaker 1: of drawers to begin with. Then he arranged all the
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  Speaker 1: tools in the largest deep drawer, and with a long
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  Speaker 1: handled brush and a can of black paint that was
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  Speaker 1: nearly dry, he labeled the drawer tools with neat lettering.
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  Speaker 1: Another drawer he lettered nails, and had sorted its contents
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  Speaker 1: into a few of the many boxes that were lying around.
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  Speaker 1: He folded up the robes he found, swept off the shelves,
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  Speaker 1: and arranged the oil cans in orderly ranks. Sorted out
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  Speaker 1: innumerable pairs of gloves and then swept the floor. He
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  Speaker 1: washed the cement floor with the hose, and while waiting
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  Speaker 1: for it to dry, he rinsed his brushes in turpentine.
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  Speaker 1: To tell the truth, Henry had found a few things
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  Speaker 1: in the rubbish which he had stored in his own pocket.
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  Speaker 1: The treasure consisted, in this case of a quantity of
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  Speaker 1: bent and rusty nails of all sizes, and a few
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  Speaker 1: screws and nuts. When doctor mc allister returned at six o'clock,
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  Speaker 1: he found Henry corking up the turpentine and arranging the
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  Speaker 1: brushes on the shelf. My word, he exclaimed, staring at
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  Speaker 1: his garage with his mouth open. Then he threw back
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  Speaker 1: his head and laughed till his mother came down the
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  Speaker 1: walk to see what the matter was. Look at my gloves, mother,
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  Speaker 1: he said, wiping his eyes. All made it up. They
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  Speaker 1: never met each other before that, I I remember, missus
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  Speaker 1: mc allister looked the garage over and observed the newly
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  Speaker 1: labeled drawers. Her son opened one of them up and
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  Speaker 1: looked at his four hammers. My tack hammer, mother, he said,
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  Speaker 1: your tack hammer, and two other hammers. That last one
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  Speaker 1: I never expected to see again. If you can use it.
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  Speaker 1: You may have it, my boy. Now. It is no
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  Speaker 1: exaggeration to say that at that moment, if Henry had
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  Speaker 1: been asked what he wanted most of anything in the world,
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  Speaker 1: he would have answered without any hesitation whatever a hammer.
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  Speaker 1: He accepted it gratefully, hardly able to stand still, so
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  Speaker 1: anxious was he to put it into use. On the
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  Speaker 1: hill he called home tomorrow's Sunday, said the doctor. Shall
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  Speaker 1: I see you on Monday? Oh? Yes, replied Henry, who
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  Speaker 1: had lost all track of the days. The cherries need picking,
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  Speaker 1: said his new friend. We could use any number of
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  Speaker 1: cherry pickers if they were as careful as you. He
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  Speaker 1: gave him an odd look, could you, asked Henry eagerly.
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  Speaker 1: I'll surely come down with that. He bade his friends
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  Speaker 1: good bye and started for home, richer by another dollar
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  Speaker 1: two doughnuts. The cook had given him a pocket full
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  Speaker 1: of crooked nails and the rest of the vegetables. When
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  Speaker 1: he reached his freight car home, a delicious savor greeted
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  Speaker 1: him onions. He shouted, running up to the kettle. The
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  Speaker 1: cook stood by and took off the cover and put
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  Speaker 1: in the salt. It was absolutely the most tantalizing odor
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  Speaker 1: that Henry had ever smelled. Years afterward, just tried to
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  Speaker 1: duplicate it with the same kettle, vegetables from the same garden,
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  Speaker 1: and all stirred with the same spoon. But it didn't
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  Speaker 1: equal this stew in flavor. A ladle as sure as
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  Speaker 1: I live, gasped Henry. Jess had found a tin cup
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  Speaker 1: in the dump and fastened on a wooden handle with
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  Speaker 1: a bit of wire. And when she ladled out four
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  Speaker 1: portions on four plates of all sizes, some of them tin,
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  Speaker 1: and laid a spoon in each. The children felt that
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  Speaker 1: the world held no greater riches. The tiny onions floated
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  Speaker 1: around like pearls, the carrots melted in your mouth, and
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  Speaker 1: the shreds of meat were as tender as possible from
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  Speaker 1: long boiling. A bit of bread in one hand helped
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  Speaker 1: the feast along wonderfully. The little wanderers ate until they
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  Speaker 1: could eat no more. I have time before dark to
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  Speaker 1: make Benny's cart. Observed Henry biting a crisp, sweet carrot
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  Speaker 1: with my wheels. Asked Benny, yes, sir, with your wheels,
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  Speaker 1: agreed Henry. Only when it's done, you'll have to cart
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  Speaker 1: stones in it. Sure, said Benny with satisfaction. Carts, stones
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  Speaker 1: are anything, we'll need it in making the dam, explained Henry,
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  Speaker 1: for the benefit of his sisters. Tomorrow's Sunday, so I
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  Speaker 1: shan't work down in the town. Do you think it's
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  Speaker 1: all right to build the pool on Sunday, Jess? I
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  Speaker 1: certainly do, replied Jess, with emphasis. We're just building the
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  Speaker 1: dam so we can keep clean. I guess if Sundays
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  Speaker 1: you're only day off, it'll be all right. Henry's conscience
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  Speaker 1: was set at rest as he began with great delight
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  Speaker 1: to hammer out his bent nails. He and Benny ran
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  Speaker 1: about finding pieces of wood to fasten the wheels. On.
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  Speaker 1: A visit to the dump was necessary at last in
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  Speaker 1: order to find just the right piece of timber for
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  Speaker 1: a tongue. But before it was too dark to see,
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  Speaker 1: Henry had pounded the last nail in place, and trundled
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  Speaker 1: the flat cart back and forth just to see it go.
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  Speaker 1: The cart seemed valuable enough to all of them to
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  Speaker 1: take it into the house for the night, and Henry
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  Speaker 1: could not afford to laugh at Benny for going to
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  Speaker 1: sleep with his hand upon one of his precious wheels,
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  Speaker 1: for he himself had tucked his new hammer under his
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  Speaker 1: pillow end of chapter seven,