Mr. Alden was in a great hurry, but he took time to thank Charley. He said, “Thank you, Charley. I can’t talk long now because we want to catch that train at the next station.”
“You can’t do it, mister,” said Charley. “Don’t stop at the next station. Go on to Fairfield and catch it there.”
“Thank you,” called Mr. Alden.
Charley watched the car as it turned around and went out of sight. Then he went off through the woods. He had had a wonderful time.
“That boy was right,” the driver said. “I won’t try to catch the train at Springdale, but I’ll go right across to Fairfield.”
They passed through Springdale, and no Little North Freight was in sight.
The car raced along. The driver was going to Fairfield, just as Charley had told him. The driver soon took a different road. He said, “When I tell you, be ready to get out.”
“You bet we will,” said Benny.
“Now!” called the driver. He stopped. The Aldens raced to the station and looked down the track.
“Oh, dear!” said Jessie. “There goes the train. We’ve missed it!” The big caboose was just disappearing around the bend.
“Never mind,” said the driver. “Get right back in the car, and I’ll race it to Oak Hill.”
“Wait!” cried Violet. “The train is backing up! There is Al on the back platform. He sees us.”
“And the conductor, too,” said Henry. “They are both waving.”
Sure enough, the Little North freight was slowly chug-chugging back to the station.
Grandfather paid the driver, and they all waited in a row until the train came to a stop.
Never was a train crew so glad to see passengers. The engineer blew his whistle. The conductor took a deep breath and helped Mr. Alden up the steps. Al looked at Benny and said, “Don’t go off again, young man.”
“No, I never will,” Benny promised.
The Aldens sat down in the big caboose. Jessie washed off Benny’s knee and put on a bandage. Then they all looked at each other. “I’m cold,” said Grandfather.
“I’m cold, too,” said Violet, shivering.
“You all need food,” Al said, going up the ladder. “Remember you haven’t had supper, and it’s eight o’clock.”
Jessie said, “I’ve an idea. Henry, you make some hot cocoa on the stove in the small caboose. Violet and I will use the stove in Number 777. We’ll get up a fine supper in no time.”
Jessie opened a can of chicken and heated it. Violet used potato flakes to make mashed potatoes. The girls opened a big can of cherries for dessert.
What a dinner the Aldens had! It was almost nine o’clock before they were through eating.
“I can see some of us are almost asleep,” said Henry. He winked at Jessie. Benny’s eyes were almost shut. The girls went quietly into the other caboose.
Henry began to help Benny get into bed.
“What about the lower bunk, old man?” said Henry. “Just for one night?”
“OK,” said Benny. That was all he could say. He was fast asleep.
CHAPTER 8
The Rainy Day
That night, the Aldens slept and slept. Henry was the first one to wake up. He was in the upper bunk. This was really the lookout with windows on all sides.
“Raining!” said Henry to himself. “Just look at the rain! I think the rain woke me up.”
The water was running down all the windows, making a loud tapping sound on the top of the caboose. Henry climbed down and found Mr. Alden and Benny awake.
“It’s pouring,” said Benny. “I don’t like that. I never thought of rain. We can’t sit out on the back platform at all.”
“Don’t worry about that,” said Henry. “We’ll find plenty to do.” He could see the girls walking around in the other caboose.
As Benny dressed, he looked around the big caboose. He thought about Cho-Cho, and Chi-Chi’s necklace, and the talking horse.
When the family sat down to breakfast, Mr. Alden said, “Now Ben, tell us how you got lost.”
Benny told the whole story. At the end he said, “Grandfather, you can see that Charley needs a knife if he has to use a sharp stone. Do you suppose you and I could give him one?”
“Maybe we could,” said Mr. Alden with a smile.
All this time Henry was thinking. He said, “Everything would be all fixed up if we could only find that diamond necklace. Cho-Cho could sell it and buy his horse back. Then maybe the Thin Man would not be afraid to see his friends.”
Violet said, “I worry about that Thin Man. And I don’t know a thing we can do.” She looked out of the window. “Just listen to that rain,” she went on. “And look at the trees. They are all bent over in the wind. I never saw it rain so hard. What a storm!”
“I’m sorry,” said Jessie, looking out of the window. “I’ll tell you why I’m sorry. I didn’t plan very well for rain. Today I was going to make a big stew, but I didn’t get the meat.”
“Never mind, Jessie,” said Henry. “I have a raincoat. I’ll get off at the next stop and buy whatever you want.”
Mr. Alden said, “Mr. Carr told me that we don’t make many stops, but the next one is quite a large town. Henry would have time to get meat, because we stay there for half an hour.”
“That will be fine,” said Jessie. “It will give the stew three hours to cook.”
“Make a list of what you need, Jessie,” said Henry. “I’ll get on my rain things.”
Benny said, “Here’s an old pair of boots under the sink.”
Henry put on his raincoat and pulled a black rain hat over his ears. He pulled on the big boots.
Jessie said, “Here’s the list. I hope you can get everything.”
Henry was a funny looking sight. He had a red scarf around his neck to hold up his collar. The boots were too big for him. Soon the train went past a big station and stopped above it. Henry opened the door and ran down the steps in the rain. Just as Henry reached the platform, Al met him. The two went off together.
“Good!” said Grandfather. “Al will know where the stores are.”
Jessie and Violet began to heat water for dishes. The sink was so small that they washed a few and put them away. Then they washed some more.
“You make your bed now, Benny,” said Jessie. “That will give you something to do. And the caboose will look better.”
“I’ll make all the beds in this Number 777,” said Benny. “The top bunk in the lookout is really mine, and I’ll sleep there tonight.”
The girls peeled onions and potatoes for the stew. They went into the small caboose and made their own beds.
“Ha!” called Benny from the lookout.
“What’s the matter?” asked Grandfather.
“Nothing—just the stuffing is coming out of my mattress. It makes me sneeze.”
“Yes,” said Grandfather, “I’ve heard you sneeze. I thought you had a cold.”
“No,” said Benny. “No cold—just stuffing. Some day will you mend my mattress, Jessie?”
“Of course,” said Jessie, “but not right now.”
Soon Grandfather said, “Here’s Henry back again. See him run! He can hardly stand up.”
Henry pushed the door open and came in, dripping water all over the floor. “It’s a cloud-burst!” he said.
Henry took off his wet things and hung them around the little caboose to dry. Jessie took out the carrots, the beef, milk, and other things that Henry had bought. She filled the biggest kettle with water. In went the onions, the meat, and some salt. She put on the cover.
“Thank you for the newspaper, Henry,” said Grandfather. “Rain all day,” he went on. “That’s what the paper says.”
“I don’t care,” Benny said. “I like it.”
“I thought you didn’t like it,” said Henry laughing.
Benny said, “I’ve been thinking about Number 777. I’m sure it does have a mystery. And a rainy day is a good one to work on a mystery. You know that
necklace may be right in plain sight.”
“It couldn’t be,” Henry said. “We’d have seen it, Benny.”
“I mean it could be in something we look at everyday,” said Benny.
“Now that’s a good idea.” Henry looked at his brother. “I believe you might be right, Ben,” he said. “I don’t think the police looked in everything after the Thin Man ran away. I’m sure they thought he stole it.”
“Let’s begin again and look everything over,” Benny said.
They began by the door. Henry took the old stove apart. Jessie laughed and took the lamp apart. Violet began to take the canned vegetables off the shelves, to look under the papers.
Benny went to the bookcase beside the desk. He shook every book. A few old papers fell out. Benny-looked at every one, but he could not find a single clue. He began to put the books back. Some of them were quite tall.
As Benny started to put the books on the shelf, he saw something he had not seen before. It was an old postcard tacked up on the wall behind the books. Benny took out the thumbtack and looked at the postcard. His heart beat faster when he saw that it was addressed to Cho-Cho. He turned it over and read the three lines written there.
“Look!” he shouted. “Look at this, Grandfather!” He was so excited that he dropped the card. He picked it up and watched his grandfather as he read,
“If you are a Clown,
Be on the lookout
For things in a crown.”
“Well, well,” said Mr. Alden. “This is a real clue, Benny! It is signed right here by Chi-Chi.”
Jessie said, “Surely things in a crown would be diamonds!”
“I do think you’re right,” said Henry. “But it still doesn’t mean much to me.”
“It didn’t mean much to Cho-Cho,” agreed Mr. Alden, “or he would have told us about it. Or maybe he never found it.”
“He must have,” said Benny. “It went through the postoffice. It’s a clue all right. Perhaps there was something in the shape of a crown where she hid the necklace. We’ll have to think about it.”
Jessie jumped up. “I’ll have to think about the stew! Just smell it!”
She cut up the potatoes and carrots and put them into the stew. When they were done, Violet got five dishes out of the closet. Some were bowls and some were soup plates.
Jessie served the stew. She said, “We have rolls and milk and the stew, and that’s all.”
“That’s enough,” said Grandfather. “This is delicious, Jessie.”
The rain poured down all day. Mr. Alden said, “This is almost a hurricane. I hope tomorrow will be pleasant.”
Mr. Alden got his wish. When the Aldens woke up the next morning, the sun was shining.
About the middle of the morning, there was a loud knock on the door of the caboose.
CHAPTER 9
Engineer Benny
The knocking on the caboose door grew louder and louder.
“Who can that be?” Henry asked as he went to open the door. “Oh, it’s Al! Come right in!”
Al said, “I came to invite you to dinner at noon in our work-caboose.”
“What fun!” said Benny. “Are you going to do the cooking?”
“Yes,” said Al. “I’m the cook. But this is a surprise. We’ll unlock the door, and you can walk into our caboose at noon.”
“Could I ever see the engine?” asked Benny.
“I’ll ask Mr. Davis,” said Al. “He’s the engineer. I think he may let you run the engine. He’ll show you the dead-man’s pedal, anyway.”
“What’s the dead-man’s pedal?” asked Benny.
“A secret,” said Al. “See you at noon.”
At noon the family walked into the work-caboose. Mr. Carr was there, waiting. He said, “Mr. Davis is stopping the train. He says Benny can walk down to the engine.”
Benny said, “I suppose I couldn’t walk down on top of the train?”
“No,” said Mr. Carr laughing, “you could not.”
When the train stopped, Al and Mr. Carr and Benny walked down to the engine. When they were safely aboard, the train started again.
“Now you sit down in the engineer’s seat, Benny,” said Mr. Davis. “Here is the dead-man’s pedal. I keep my foot on that pedal all the time. If anything happened to me, my foot would slip off, and the train would stop. The air brakes would stop the train.”
“What could happen to you?” Benny asked.
“Well, I might have a heart attack.”
“Oh, I hope you won’t,” said Benny.
Mr. Davis laughed. “No, I don’t expect to, but that pedal is a nice thing to have. Now, Benny, pull this lever and the train will start.”
Benny pulled the lever. The big engine began to move. Benny said, “Oh, this is fun! I’m really running the train.”
“You can go faster,” said Mr. Davis. “Just pull the lever a little more.”
Soon Benny could make the train go faster or slower.
“Good, Benny,” said the engineer. “Now ring the bell. Now blow the whistle—right here. You see we are on a double track. A faster train will pass us later. Sometimes we set off dynamite on the track. See this little torpedo? That tells another train that danger is ahead. But now you had better stop the train.”
Al said, “Dinner is ready anyway.”
Benny stopped the train, and he walked back with Al and Mr. Carr to the trainmen’s caboose. He took one look at the table. “Oh, that’s keen!” he shouted. “Everyone has a talking horse!”
On each plate was an animal made of a big frankfurter. The legs were four smaller sausages. The heads were pickles. The tails were carrot curls.
Al said, “We have plenty of extra frankfurters, so eat all you want.”
They all sat down at the table. Mr. Davis started up the engine again.
“This is the first party we ever had on this caboose,” Mr. Carr said.
“I never thought I’d ever be eating dinner in a caboose with a train crew. Can I run the Diesel again after dinner?” asked Benny.
“Sure,” said Mr. Carr. “Mr. Davis says he likes to have help. It gives him a rest.”
Grandfather laughed.
After dinner, Mr. Davis stopped the train again, and Benny walked back to the engine. Mr. Davis gave him the engineer’s seat, and he pulled the lever. Benny was quite used to it now. He kept his eyes on the two tracks ahead, but there was not much to see.
Mr. Davis said, “Very soon that fast train will pass right by us on that other track. Just slow down while it goes by.”
“My, this is a lonesome place,” said Benny. “No houses.”
“No,” said Mr. Davis, “there isn’t a house for miles.”
“A few trees,” said Benny, “two railroad tracks, and us. And that’s all.”
Suddenly Benny saw something on the track ahead.
“Oh, look, Mr. Davis!” he shouted. “What’s that?”
Mr. Davis had seen the same thing. He grabbed the lever. “Let me do it, boy!”
He stopped the train as quickly as he could. It was not a minute too soon.
“Well, that was good luck,” he said. A narrow escape!”
Al was on top of the train. He took one look at the tracks ahead. Then he climbed quickly down the ladder and ran back toward the end of the train.
“Why is Al running?” Benny asked. “I can’t see anything back there.”
“The fast train on the other track is due any minute,” Mr. Davis said. “They won’t see the trouble in time to stop. We have to warn them.”
“How?” asked Benny. “What can we do in time to stop them?”
“Al is going to put a torpedo on that other track behind us. When that fast freight runs over the torpedo, the engineer will stop his train.”
“What is that thing on the tracks ahead of us?” Benny asked.
“A tree. Let’s get out and see it. You see it has fallen right across both tracks.”
By now the rest of the Aldens knew that somet
hing was wrong. They had seen Al running past them, and they knew that the train had stopped very suddenly. Violet asked, “Oh, do you suppose anything has happened to Benny?”
“Let’s go and see,” said Grandfather. When the family reached the front of the engine, they could see Benny standing beside the men. Mr. Davis and Mr. Carr each had a shovel and an axe.
It was a sight to see. An enormous tree had fallen across both tracks. Wet earth was piled high on one side. It had come from a high bank above the track.
“The storm did this,” said Mr. Davis.
The two men began to chop off branches. The Aldens pulled the branches away without a word. They threw them down the bank out of the way. Everyone worked fast. Al shoveled the earth off the track.
Mr. Davis and Mr. Carr were listening for something. The engineer took out his watch and looked at it. “That train ought to be along any minute,” he said.
Suddenly there was a great BANG! Everyone jumped. Violet covered her ears. “What an awful noise!” she said.
“That’s the torpedo!” said Benny. He looked down the track and saw the other train. It had stopped. Men were running toward them.
One man shouted, “The storm did this, I suppose?”
“Right!” said Mr. Carr. “The wind blew the tree down, and the rain washed down all this earth. It’s a wonder it didn’t wash out the track under us.”
The new train crew had shovels and axes, too. They went right to work. Soon both tracks were clear, and the fast train could go along. The Aldens waved and watched it out of sight.
Benny said, “I guess you’d better run the engine, Mr. Davis. It’s too exciting for me.”
The Aldens thanked the men for the fine dinner. Then they started back to their own caboose. As they walked along, Jessie said, “I’ve had enough excitement for one day. Let’s do something quiet.”
“You might mend my mattress, Jessie. That will be quiet enough,” said Benny.
The Boxcar Children Mysteries Box Set Page 68