Mystery of the Secret Message (8 page)

“She probably never thought that far ahead,” said Grandfather. “People behave strangely when they need money.”

“I guess she was desperate to keep her shop,” Rick added, helping himself to another biscuit. “The florist shop will close now, for sure.”

Jessie passed Rick the butter. “Do you think Franklin Bond really put a secret compartment in his statue?”

“It sure seemed that way on the drawing,” Rick allowed. “I guess Franklin changed his mind. Maybe he lost Josiah’s gift or sold it.”

Benny admired the young man’s appetite. Rick had eaten five biscuits, breaking Benny’s record of four!

After dinner, they gathered in the living room to count the ballots. Grandfather built a cozy fire. Mrs. McGregor brought in a tray of hot chocolate.

“I’ll help, too,” the housekeeper offered. “Many hands make light work, as my mother used to say.”

Benny emptied the ballot box on the floor. They all grabbed handfuls of ballots.

“We’ll make two piles,” said Grandfather. “One pile of votes to keep the statue in the square. And the other for votes to move it.”

With eight of them sorting ballots, the work went quickly.

When Grandfather tallied the last vote, he smiled. “The town voted by a wide margin to keep the statue in the square!”

“Yay!” Benny tossed ballots into the air like confetti.

Jessie giggled at her brother, then began picking up the slips of paper.

Violet remembered that Rick wanted the statue in his museum. “I hope you don’t feel bad,” she said to him.

“I’m glad,” Rick said. “Dawn’s right. Greenfield wouldn’t be Greenfield without Josiah in the square.”

“All of our problems are solved,” said Grandfather. “Except one.”

Jessie knew what he meant. “We still need a clown.”

Dawn grinned at Rick. “I bet that suit will fit you!”

“I’ve always wanted to wear a rubber nose,” Rick said. “We’d better go. Clowns need lots of beauty sleep.”

Grandfather showed them to the door. “See you at the festival!”

When their guests had left, the Alden children went upstairs to get ready for bed.

Benny dragged his fingers slowly along the handrail. He was glad the statue would stay in the square where it belonged. But he wondered about Franklin Bond’s secret compartment.

Did the sculptor have the last laugh on Greenfield after all?

“Smile!” Violet adjusted the focus on her camera, then snapped the picture.

The young father and his two children stepped away from the statue.

“Next!” called Benny. A couple of teenagers posed by Josiah Wade. Benny made sure they stood in the right spot, then signaled to Violet.

Crowds jammed the square. People had driven in from neighboring towns to buy cookies and pies from the bakery booth, play games, and listen to the high school marching band.

The Aldens’ souvenir photo booth was very busy. Henry collected the fee. Jessie filled out the order forms, so they would know where to send each photo after it was developed. Benny positioned people next to the statue, and Violet took the pictures.

Benny was glad they were busy. But he wished he had time to play one of the games. He wanted to win a prize.

Grandfather had already given his speech and announced the results of the vote. Everyone seemed happy that the statue would remain in the square.

Dawn ran up. “Mr. Kirby is watching my booth for a second. I just wanted to tell you that I’ve sold over seventy souvenir booklets!”

“That’s great!” Jessie said. “Violet’s sold a lot of pictures, too.”

Grandfather strolled over to the children’s booth. “Thanks to your help, the festival is a great success. We should have plenty of money to fix Josiah’s base.”

“So he can rule Greenfield Square for many more years,” Henry added.

Just then Rick Bass bounded over. All morning, he had danced around the square in the purple and green clown suit, entertaining little children.

“My feet are killing me,” he said, tugging off one of his huge, floppy clown shoes and handing it to Jessie.

Jessie laughed. With his big round nose and orange hair, Rick made a terrific clown.

“Will you take my picture?” Rick teased Violet. “How do I look?” He performed a wobbly handstand in front of Josiah Wade’s statue.

Violet was giggling so hard, she could barely push the shutter. “This will be a terrific picture!”

“Watch out!” Benny cried, just as Rick’s legs toppled over.

Rick had landed upside down against the granite base of the statue. Henry and Jessie ran over and helped him up.

“Ow.” Rick winced. “Uh-oh. Looks like I knocked off a few more stones.”

“It’s okay,” James Alden reassured him. “Just as long as you aren’t hurt.”

Benny was staring at a hole just beneath the brass plaque. Rick’s fall had caused the stones to cave in, revealing a dark space.

“Hey!” he cried. “The statue has a secret after all!”

Rick gave a long, low whistle. “What do you know? We never thought of looking in the
base
!Benny, since you found it, you should do the honors.”

With everyone watching intently, Benny reached into the compartment. His fingers closed around a small metal box.

“Should I open it?” he asked.

Grandfather nodded.

Holding his breath, Benny unlatched the box and lifted the lid. Inside was a ball of wrinkled yellow paper.

“That’s parchment,” Rick said. “It’s very old.”

Benny unfolded the paper. A small object rolled into his palm.

“A button,” he said, puzzled. “Franklin Bond put a
button
in his secret compartment?”

“Let me see that.” Rick rubbed the button on the sleeve of his clown costume. Black streaks marked the purple satin. “It’s genuine silver.”

“There’s something engraved on it,” Jessie said. “ ‘G. W.’ ”

“I wonder what that could stand for,” Violet said.

But Henry knew. He had read about the Revolutionary War. “George Washington!” he exclaimed.

“Good guess!” Rick said. “General George Washington was head of the Colonial army.”

Dawn frowned. “But why would the sculptor hide one of George Washington’s buttons inside the base of his statue?”

“We know that Josiah Wade carried secret messages in his jacket buttons during the war,” Rick said. “Maybe General Washington gave Josiah one of his own buttons. Maybe as a reward.”

“And Josiah gave the button to Franklin Bond,” Jessie concluded. “Who hid it in the base of his statue of Josiah Wade. It all makes sense!”

Grandfather inspected the button. “This will be a nice addition to the Greenfield museum.”

“A new artifact!” Benny declared.

He was thrilled he had discovered the statue’s secret. That was better than a prize any day.

Violet was happy, too. The Winter Festival was a success and the Aldens had solved another mystery.

“Smile!” she said, snapping a photo of the Alden family. She knew the picture would turn out just great.

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE’S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND
THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS
A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE