Authors: Gertrude Warner
Mike's Mystery (2 page)
“Doesn’t,” said Pat.
“Well, doesn’t, then,” said Mike. “You say
Don’t
to me often enough.”
“That’s very different, Mike,” said Pat.
“Well, it don’t sound any different to me,” said Mike.
Jessie laughed. “Mike makes me think of Benny, sometimes,” she said. “They both love to argue.”
“I’m not arguing,” said Mike. “I’m thinking. That short man in the picture don’t—doesn’t—live around here. He’s a stranger. But I know I’ve seen him before.”
Pat looked at the picture. “I don’t remember him at all,” he said to his younger brother. “I didn’t even know when they took the picture.”
Mike was very quiet for a while. He kept looking at the picture.
“We must go,” said Jessie. “We want to go into every store on the street and see all the sights.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Mike. “I can show you everything. I’ve been here two months.”
It was true. Mike did know everything. He showed them the door of the super-market which opened all by itself. He showed them a garage where new cars were for sale. Jessie bought five big straw hats in one store. The sun was very hot, so they all put on the hats. Everyone in the stores seemed to know who the children were. Aunt Jane had put their pictures in the paper many times since they owned the ranch where uranium had been found.
At last Jessie said, “Come on, let’s go home. Maggie said she had a fine supper.”
“Thank you, Mike, for showing us,” said Violet.
“See you tomorrow, Mike,” said Benny.
“Yep,” said Mike. He went off whistling. He didn’t know then that tomorrow would be so exciting.
T
he children slept soundly. They all woke up once to hear a loud, strange bell ringing. But they thought it was midnight, so they all went to sleep again. When they came down in the morning, Sam and Maggie were talking about a fire.
“What fire?” asked Henry.
“Didn’t you hear the firebells ringing and ringing in the night?” asked Sam. “Here comes the paper boy. The news will be in the paper.”
Sam took the paper. It was full of pictures. Benny looked over his shoulder. “It’s Mike’s house!” yelled Benny at the top of his voice.
“The paper says that it was the Wood’s house that had burned to the ground.”
“Let me see the paper, Benny,” Jessie cried. “I can read faster.”
“I can read fast enough,” said Benny excitedly. “See that picture? It’s Mike all right.”
“I’m afraid it is,” said Jessie, trying to read. “That lovely new, pink house, and the washing machine and electric stove!”
“No lives were lost,” read Benny. “Not even the dog. Their big dog, Spotty, who slept in the cellar barked and gave the alarm. The fire had started in the cellar, and by the time the fire engine came, the whole house was burning. The fire seemed to start on all four sides of the house.
“Nothing was saved except clothing and bedding. When Mrs. Wood saw that the house could not be saved, she put some sheets on the floor, threw all the clothes from bureau drawers and closets on the sheets, tied them up, and threw them out of the window.”
“Well, wasn’t that smart?” said Jessie. “That costs the most of anything, doesn’t it, Aunt Jane? The family clothes and bedding?”
“Yes, my dear,” replied her aunt. “I wonder what the Wood family will do now.”
“I have to go right down there,” said Benny. “I have to see Mike.”
“Wait a minute, Benny,” said Aunt Jane. “You must eat your breakfast, first. When you get down there, you won’t come back for a long time. I know you!”
Benny knew that this was true, so he sat down and tried to eat. They all tried to eat, but everyone was thinking about the fire.
“Mike could come here for a few days,” said Aunt Jane, “if he has no other place to go.”
“Oh, Aunt Jane, thank you!” said Jessie. “You are very kind. But I don’t think you want Mike. He would upset everything.”
“I don’t mind being upset,” said Aunt Jane. “Benny and Mike would be something amusing to watch.”
“You can say that again!” said Henry, laughing.
“I ate an egg,” said Benny. “Can I go now?”
“Yes, go along. I know you can hardly wait to get down to the fire,” said Aunt Jane.
The children ran all the way. They soon saw a big crowd of people who had come to see the fire. The little pink house was gone. Smoke was still rising from the burned wood, and it was still very hot.
“Hi, Ben!” called a voice. It was Mike. He came running over to Benny. He cried, “That was our house that burned, Ben. We all got out, and it was Spotty saved us.”
“What are you going to do, Mike?” asked Henry. “Where is your mother?”
“She’s right over there,” said Mike pointing. “She and my brother Pat can sleep next door in the blue house, but I am going to stay with Mr. Carter.”
“Mr.
Carter!”
cried Jessie. “What Mr. Carter? Do you mean Mr. John Carter?”
“I guess so,” said Mike. “That’s his name anyway. Do you know him? He’s nice and very friendly.”
“He works for Grandfather,” said Jessie. “We met him last summer, but we didn’t know he was still here. Where does he live?”
“In the green house right near the mine. He has lots of rooms he don’t use.”
“Doesn’t,”
said Benny.
“Now don’t you go teaching me, Ben!” said Mike.
“Where is Mr. Carter, now?” asked Violet just in time to stop a fight.
“Right over beside my mother,” said Mike. “Come on, they are looking at us.”
“Well, well, Mr. Carter!” cried Henry. “We are so glad to see you again. You always seem to pop up when there is trouble.”
“I try to,” said John Carter with a twinkle in his eye. “Hello, Jessie! And Violet. Benny is still his same old self.”
“What will happen to Mike’s family?” asked Henry.
“All these houses belong to the Uranium Company. So when the place cools off, the pink house will be built again,” replied the man.
“How about the things inside? The washing machine?” asked Jessie.
“I don’t know, but insurance will take care of some things later.”
“Aunt Jane said Mike could come up to our house,” said Violet.
“Oh, did she indeed!” said Mr. Carter, laughing. “You’ll have a lively time! Don’t you want me, too?”
“You would be a big help,” said Jessie, smiling.
“You can have a whole room, Mike, if you come to Aunt Jane’s,” said Benny. “You’d better ask your mother if you can come.”
“Yes, I’m willing, and thankful, too,” said Mrs. Wood. “But tell Miss Alden to send Mike back if he gets too much for her.”
Then Benny asked suddenly, “Mike! Have you had anything to eat?”
“No!” shouted Mike. “It all burned up. I didn’t have any milk, or any oatmeal, or any eggs—”
“Come on, Mike!” shouted Benny. “I could eat another egg myself. Let’s all go to the restaurant!”
Mr. Carter looked at Jessie and laughed. He said, “I wonder what’s the matter with me? I never even thought of breakfast! And Mrs. Wood, you must be starved. We’ll all go to the restaurant and have breakfast.”
“We follow Benny as usual,” said Mrs. Wood smiling. “He has the ideas.”
L
et’s all sit at the big table,” said Henry. “Then we can talk.”
“I don’t want to talk. I want to eat!” shouted Mike.
“Then you can keep still all you want,” said Benny. “We’ll do the talking.”
“But I’ll say something if I want to,” argued Mike.
“Well, make up your mind,” returned Benny. “You’re the one that said you didn’t want to talk.”
“I only said I was hungry,” said Mike.
“Oh, stop it, Mike,” said his mother. “All this talk about nothing. Don’t you know you have no home?”
“That sounds awful,” said Jessie. “Tell me, how did you know the house was on fire?”
“The dog,” said Mrs. Wood. “Spotty was down in the cellar. He sleeps down there. He barked and barked. I knew something was wrong, so I went down to see. There was fire on all four sides. I let the dog out and woke up Mike and Pat.”
“You didn’t wake me,” said Mike. “I was awake.”
“Yes, you were, son,” agreed his mother. “I will say you were going down to get the dog yourself.”
“Spotty was the most important one,” said Mike, “because he can’t open doors.”
“By the way, where is the dog?” asked Mr. Carter.
“He’s tied up at the blue house,” said Pat. “He was in the way, barking at everyone.”
“Yes, we had to leave Watch and Lady at the ranch, too,” said Jessie. “A fire is no place for dogs.”
“It is very queer that the fire started in four places at once,” said Mr. Carter.
“I wonder if anyone set the fire,” said Henry.
“Oh, no!” cried Mrs. Wood. “Why would anybody set fire to our house?”
“What do you plan to do now, Mrs. Wood?” asked Mr. Carter.
“I really don’t know,” she answered. “I’m staying in the blue house with my good neighbor, Mrs. Smith, for tonight.”
Breakfast came then. The eight hungry people went to work on the bacon and eggs, toast, and cereal and milk. For a minute the restaurant was very still. Then the children heard a man say, “I heard that the boy who lived there set the house on fire just for fun.”
In an instant Mike was out of his chair. He ran over and faced the man who had spoken. “I did not!” he shouted. “Who says I did?”
In another minute all four children were behind Mike.
“Mike never did!” shouted Benny. “He wouldn’t! Who says he did?”
The man laughed a little. He was very much surprised. “Well, don’t get so excited, sonny,” he said.
“Don’t get excited?” yelled Mike. “You told a lie about me!”
“I didn’t say it,” said the man. “I said I heard it.”
Then Henry spoke. “Can you tell us who told you? You must know this story is very bad for Mike.”
“Well, well,” said the man. “You’re not afraid to stand up for a friend, are you?”
“No, sir,” said Henry.
Jessie said, “Mike likes fun, yes. He gets into trouble. But he would never set his own house on fire.”
Then Benny went right up to the man. He said, “Mike wouldn’t set a fire in the cellar anyway. His dog was there.”
“So his dog was there,” repeated the man. “That settles it. I believe you.”
“Who told you?” asked Mike. He was not yelling now.
“I don’t know him,” said the man. “He was a stranger to me. He stood beside me in the crowd, watching the fire. I think that he wore a blue hat.”
“I’ll ask him,” said Benny, “if I ever see a man with a blue hat.”
The man looked at the four of them. “I wish I had as many good friends as you have, Mike,” he said. He looked at Benny. “This one here is a wonderful friend.”
“He don’t always stand up for me,” said Mike.
“Doesn’t,” said Benny.
“Now look here, Ben!” said Mike. “Don’t start that again!”
“You see how Mike is,” said Jessie. “He will fight over nothing. But he would never set a fire. Come on back, boys, and eat your breakfast.”
The children moved away. All this time Mr. Carter had sat still watching. “Well, Jessie!” he said. “That was just like a play! I am very proud of all of you.”
“Why didn’t you come over, too?” asked Benny.
