Surprise Island

by Gertrude Warner

  “No! No!” said Joe, “but don’t you want me to show you how to play it?”

  “Not now,” said Violet. “You play some more.” She gave the violin back as if she had played one all her life. Joe did play some more, first a slow little piece, and then a faster one.

  But Jessie and Henry were not watching Joe. They were watching Violet. She stood without moving all the time Joe was playing.

  Joe was watching Violet, too. He was sure she could learn to play well, because she seemed to like the violin so much.

  When the family went back to the barn at last, they were all thinking of Joe’s wonderful playing. That night, when Jessie went to sleep, it seemed to her that Joe played such a sad piece that Violet cried. But when Jessie woke up, she knew that it was real crying that she heard, for Violet was crying softly. Jessie got up at once.

  “What is the matter?” she asked, falling on her knees beside Violet’s bed. “Why are you crying?”

  “I-I w-want to learn to play the violin!” said Violet, starting to cry again.

  “Of course you shall!” said Jessie. “I know Grandfather will buy you a violin, and Joe can teach you how to play it.”

  “It’s not that,” said Violet. “You see, I want to practice, and it’s so selfish to go off and practice all by myself when I ought to be helping—”

  Henry came in with the flashlight.

  “Oh, my goodness!” cried Jessie. “What can I say? You talk to her, Henry!”

  “I heard most of it,” said Henry. “She thinks she’s selfish to practice, when we came down here to have a good time together. Is that it?”

  “That’s just it,” said Jessie.

  “Now Violet, look here,” said Henry. “You couldn’t be selfish if you tried. We all want you to learn to play the violin. Most people don’t even like to practice, you know.”

  Henry’s little talk with Violet made her feel better. Soon they were all talking again, and even laughing a little.

  “Sh!” said Jessie. “We’d better be quiet, we don’t want to wake Benny. He would certainly howl.”

  The children left Violet feeling happy again, and thinking about the little violin her grandfather would surely buy for her.

  The next morning, Joe got Captain Daniel to telephone Mr. Alden. He listened to the story, and thought about his own beautiful violin carefully packed away.

  But he said to Captain Daniel, “Certainly, Violet must have a violin. The only trouble is that I am too busy this morning to buy one for her.”

  “Joe thinks he could pick one out,” said Captain Daniel. “His playing is just wonderful.”

  “That Joe is a very interesting man,” replied Mr. Alden. “I’ll have a talk with him when I come over. Give him the money for the violin, Captain, and let him buy one if he thinks he can.”

  When Joe came back to the Alden Island with the little violin, Violet was waiting for him on the dock. Joe was sure that Violet could some day be a wonderful player, so he had bought her a fine violin.

  The rest of the family came flying down to see if Joe had had any luck. After they all had seen the violin, Violet shut the box.

  “I don’t think it likes to be outdoors,” she said.

  “I don’t think so, either,” agreed Joe. “Let’s take it to the hut, and I will give you your first lesson.”

  “I’ll go with you,” said Benny.

  “No, you had better stay on the dock with us and fish,” said Henry quickly.

  “Are you going to fish?” asked Benny.

  “Yes!” said Henry, who had not thought of fishing until that very minute. “Just think, Benny, we’ve been here by the ocean four weeks and we haven’t had a single fishing trip yet.”

  Suddenly Henry found that he wanted to go fishing himself.

  “You will find fishlines and bait in an old box under the dock,” called Joe.

  Luck was surely with Henry. He baited a hook with a clam. Then he let down a long line and gave the end to Benny. Almost at once Benny began to yell and pull away on his line, hand over hand.

  “Good!” cried Henry when Benny finally landed the fish on the dock. “What a wonderful fisherman you are, Benny! Wait, I’ll take it off the hook for you, and put it on a string.”

  “What a big one!” said Jessie. “Don’t catch many more of those, Benny, or we’ll be eating fish for a week.”

  The children sat on the dock for a long time, but nothing happened.

  “I wish I could catch one,” said Jessie. “Another fish like the one Benny caught and we would have enough for dinner. And I know just how to bake them with dressing.”

  “I’m getting tired of this,” said Henry. “I’m going to stop.”

  “I’m not,” said Benny. “My grandfather told me fishing takes lots of time.”

  “He did take you fishing once, didn’t he?” said Henry. “I remember I wanted to go, but I had to do school work.”

  “He told me that if I think I won’t catch a fish, then I will catch one for sure. And so when I do catch one, I am surprised,” said Benny.

  “I see,” said Henry, sitting down again. He tied his own line to the dock. And because he really did not think he would get any fish, he looked out at the boats. Henry had just sat down when Benny shouted, “Hurry! You’ve got a fish! Don’t you see your line pull?”

  Benny jumped for Henry’s line and before anyone could help him, he pulled in another fish just like the first one.

  “Oh, Jessie! Isn’t that something? They are two twins, I guess!”

  “I guess you are the fisherman of this family, all right,” said Henry. “You and Grandfather. I don’t even know when there is a fish on my own line.”

  Henry put a string through the mouth of the other fish, and Benny carried them proudly home.

  “Joe can clean them for me,” said Benny.

  “Oh, I can do that!” said Henry. “I can clean fish, even if I can’t catch them.”

  “Cut them in half, Henry, will you?” called Jessie. “I will go in and start the dressing.”

  Benny would not leave his twin fishes even for a minute. After Henry had washed them, Benny brought them to Jessie, and stayed by her side while she put them in a pan. Jessie piled the dressing made of bread, onions, melted butter, and salt on four pieces of fish.

  “I guess they will be good,” said Benny, as the oven door shut. He sat by the oven with the dog, until Jessie said that it was dinner time.

  Violet came in. She put her violin carefully away, but she did not talk about her lesson.

  “What do I smell?” she cried.

  “It’s the twins,” said Benny. “They are in the oven baking.”

  “Twins!” cried Violet. “What does he mean?”

  Jessie opened the oven door and took out the pan to show her.

  “They are done. We can each have half a fish,” she said. “And Benny shall have his first, because he caught them.” She put the fish carefully on four plates.

  “I wish Grandfather could see us eating your fish, Benny,” said Henry. “You are a very good fisherman.”

  “He’s coming to visit us tomorrow,” said Violet. “He telephoned to Captain Daniel and said he would be over tomorrow, if it was all right.”

  “It’s all right with me,” cried Henry.

  “And me,” said Jessie. “But what shall we have to eat? I suppose we ought to have some meat for dinner.”

  “I think Grandfather would like to eat just what we do,” said Violet.

  “Maybe Grandfather and I could go fishing,” said Benny, “but we might not catch anything.”

  “Grandfather won’t have time to go fishing, Benny,” said Henry. “Let’s have dinner from our own garden. Remember those little vegetables we had in the boxcar days, Benny?”

  “Oh, yes, little vegetables with melted butter!” cried Benny. “Let’s have vegetables.”

  “That’s a better idea. Then we’ll be sure to have some dinner,” said Jessie, laughing.

 
CHAPTER 10

  Grandfather’s Visit

  We must be ready at ten o’clock,” said Jessie the next morning. “Grandfather told Captain Daniel to meet him with the boat at ten o’clock and he is always on time.”

  “We must certainly show him the museum,” said Henry. “I know he will be interested in the Indian things, but I’m not so sure about the birds and flowers.”

  “I think he will like our museum,” said Violet. “It has his name on the door.” She looked up and read the sign again, “THE JAMES H. ALDEN MUSEUM.”

  “Everything is ready,” said Jessie. She took one last look. “Let’s go down on the dock to wait for him.”

  Mr. Alden was delighted to see his grandchildren all waving from the dock.

  “Fine children,” he said to Captain Daniel.

  “Best that ever I saw,” agreed Captain Daniel, waving, too. He tied the boat and watched the old man and his happy grandchildren as they went out of sight into the barn.

  “I want to see every single thing you have,” said Mr. Alden. He sat down in the company chair and looked around him. “Say, what’s this I see? A museum?”

  Grandfather was on his feet in a minute. “Are you going to let me see it?” he asked excitedly, with his foot on the stairs.

  “Of course!” cried Jessie. “If you don’t mind the heat. It’s awfully hot up there.”

  “No, I don’t mind,” said Mr. Alden at the top of the stairs. He saw what the museum was like, with one look. “Which one of you thought of this? Tell me about it.”

  They told him all about their museum. They showed him the flowers, the seaweed, the boxes of shells and butterflies, and the paper birds in real branches.

  Mr. Alden looked for a long time at the bluebird sitting near its nest. There were four blue eggs cut from paper in the nest.

  “The birds left that nest,” said Henry, “so we took it.”

  “Good!” said Mr. Alden, smiling. “And what did you find, Benny?”

  “I found a big bone in the shell-pile.”

  “We ought to tell you about that bone, Grandfather,” said Henry, laughing. “Let’s go downstairs and you can sit in the company chair. You see we found the skeleton of a whole Indian, and Benny found his leg bone. Joe says it is very important and not to tell anyone but you.”

  “Where is this skeleton?” cried Mr. Alden.

  “It’s near a very big pile of shells on the end of the island.”

  “Yes, I remember seeing that pile of shells when I was a boy,” said Mr. Alden.

  “Joe told us not to pick up the Indian bones,” said Benny. “He said you could get men to do it right after we go home.”

  “That Joe seems to know a lot,” said Mr. Alden. “I’ll see him before I go.”

  “Look in this box, Grandfather,” said Benny. “That’s an arrowhead, and that’s an ax-head, and that’s a cooking bowl, all Indian. And that’s a tool made out of bone. Watch found the ax-head and the tool.”

  “Well, well!” cried Mr. Alden. “Who told you? Did anyone tell you to make a museum to put these things in?”

  “No,” said Henry. “Don’t you like it?”

  “Yes, Henry, I like it very much indeed. It just seems strange, because it’s the very thing I used to do myself. I used to go out in the woods all alone and sit for hours listening to the birds.”

  “Yes,” said Henry, smiling. “We do the very same thing; we must be just like you.”

  Then Violet brought her violin for him to see. To their surprise, Mr. Alden put it under his chin and began to play. He played very well.

  “You didn’t know I played, did you?” said Mr. Alden to the surprised children. “That’s a fine little violin, Violet.”

  “You’re a wonderful grandfather!” cried Henry. “Always doing something new! We didn’t know you could play.”

  “I am out of practice,” said Mr. Alden, handing the violin back to Violet. “Haven’t even held a violin for years. Now what else have you to show me?”

  “You must come to the little hut to see Joe,” said Benny.

  “I think Joe went over to the mainland this morning,” said Violet.

  “That’s funny,” said Henry, “because he certainly knew you were coming today.”

  “It makes me cross,” shouted Benny. “I want you to see Joe. He’s my best friend in all the world.”

  “Then I’m cross, too,” said Mr. Alden. “What time do you have dinner around here?”

  “Almost right away!” cried Jessie. “Are you hungry?”

  “I am hungry as a bear,” answered Mr. Alden.

  At once, Jessie put some water in the big kettle. “You children set the table and get the milk out, so that Grandfather won’t have to wait a minute after dinner is ready.”

  “Oh, you needn’t hurry as much as that,” said Mr. Alden. “I can wait half an hour, maybe.”

  Before that time, the little vegetables were done. Jessie put them in a big dish and poured melted butter over them. There was plenty of bread and butter to go along with the vegetables. And because they had company, Jessie had put two eggs and some sugar into the milk.

  “This is a delicious drink!” said Mr. Alden. “I shall come again.”

  “Please do!” cried Violet. “But you’re not going home for a long time yet, I hope?”

  “I think I am,” said Mr. Alden, “and I should like to take you all with me. Just on a little trip for an hour or so,” he added quickly.

  “All right,” said Jessie. “I thought for a minute that you wanted us to leave the island for good.”

  “You like it, don’t you? No, it won’t take very long. I want to show you something.”

  It did not take long for Captain Daniel to get the family to the mainland. They got into Mr. Alden’s waiting car and were taken to a big building they had never seen before.

  “It’s a museum!” cried Henry. “Look, Jessie look!”

  Henry pointed at the name over the door, which said in large letters cut in stone, THE ALDEN MUSEUM.

  “My goodness!” cried Jessie. “Is that named for you, Grandfather?”

  “I suppose it is,” said Mr. Alden. “It has been here a long time.”

  “You gave the money to build it!” cried Henry.

  The surprised children followed their grandfather inside, where a young girl came and showed them everything he wanted them to see. At last they came to a small room, and the girl told them to go in. Jessie was the first to see a sign which read, THE FIRST COLLECTION MADE BY JAMES HENRY ALDEN WHEN HE WAS A BOY OF FIFTEEN.

  “What do you know!” cried Henry, looking at the birds. “Our birds are just like yours!”

  Mr. Alden’s birds were painted ones, too, and they were sitting in real trees.

  “The birds left these nests,” said Mr. Alden with a twinkle in his eyes, “so I took them.”

  Henry laughed and said, “You didn’t want to kill any birds either, did you?”

  Mr. Alden went on, “No, the real birds out in the museum were found dead and brought to us. Not a bird in this museum was killed for me. And now, I’ll let you go back to your island and wash your dishes.”

  When they got into the boat, he gave them each a box. And it was not until later that he remembered that he had not seen Joe, the handy man.

  CHAPTER 11

  Apple Pie

  The next morning was very cold. Benny did not want to get up at all.

  “No,” he said, “it is so cold that I’m not going to get out of bed.”

  Henry looked out at the ocean. “I have an idea,” he said. “It’s too cold outside today. Let’s all stay inside and paint our birds.”

  “Fine!” agreed Jessie. “I’ll light the stove and we’ll shut the barn door. It will soon be warm.”

  In spite of what he had said earlier about staying in bed, Benny opened the swinging door of his room, and came out wearing his red sweater. He was carrying the little toy boat which was in the package his grandfather had given him.
<
br />   “I like my new boat,” said Benny, proudly. “Let’s make it go, Henry.”

  “Put it in that pail of water, Benny,” said Henry. “You play with your boat while we get ready to work.”

  The girls helped Henry put the table in the corner under the window. Then Jessie brought the bird books and some heavy paper.

  “I’m going to use my new pen,” said Violet. “Grandfather knew I needed a new one.”

  “He knew I wanted a set of things like this, to fix cuts,” said Henry. “It will be handy to have when we go on picnics or exploring.”

  Grandfather had given Jessie a set of six cooking spoons.

  “Are you going to use your new spoons today, Jessie?” asked Violet.

  “I might,” said Jessie. “I have a good idea for dinner this noon. I think you’ll like it, but I won’t tell you what it is until we have finished painting the birds.”

  “Let’s get to work, then!” cried Henry. “I’ll cut out paper birds and you girls color them.”

  “Cut out a picture of every bird we have seen,” said Jessie. “The bird book tells all the names.”

  The children worked all morning. Suddenly Benny said, “Henry, I think Joe ought to have stayed here to see Grandfather.”

  “I think so, too,” said Henry.

  “It seems very strange,” said Violet, “for him to go off without telling us.”

  “We’ll ask him when he comes back,” said Jessie. “And now, I’ll tell you my surprise for dinner. I am going to make an apple pie.”

  “But you never made a pie,” said Henry, looking up.

  “No,” said Jessie, “but I’m going to now.”

  She took a pan of very small green apples out of the cupboard.

  “Where did you get them?” asked Benny.

  “Near the yellow house,” said Jessie. “There are two apple trees there.”

  “I’ll get them ready,” said Violet.

  “Good! And Henry, won’t you smooth off one of those boards for a pie-board?”

  Jessie washed the new board. Then she picked up a big empty green bottle. “This is my rolling pin,” she said. “I am going to try to make some good pie crust.”