The Boxcar Children (6 page)

VIII—A Swimming Pool at Last

T
HE BOXCAR CHILDREN
were so tired that they slept until ten o’clock Sunday morning.

When they woke up at last, they hurried through breakfast and went to work on the swimming pool.

“Well make a dam across the brook,” said Henry.

“Here is my cart,” said Benny. ’I’ll cart stones and logs in it.”

“Good for you,” laughed Henry.

First the four children went down the brook to look at the pool Jessie had seen. The water was quiet here, and there was clean sand all around the little pool.

“It’s big enough for a swimming pool,” Henry remarked, “but I don’t think it’s deep enough.”

He put a long stick in it to see how deep it was. When he looked at the wet stick, he found that the water was about a foot deep.

“The swimming pool should be three times as deep,” he said. “Then it will be deep enough to swim in and won’t be too deep for Benny. We’ll build the dam here with logs and stones.”

While the other children started the dam, Jessie washed all their stockings.

“We won’t want our stockings on while we are working in the brook,” she remarked, as she rinsed them and hung them on the clothesline to dry. “So this is a good time to wash them.”

It was hard work building the dam, but the children liked hard work. Henry and Jessie pulled the logs to the brook, and Violet and Benny carried the stones, with the help of the cart. Now and then Henry was called on to help with a heavy stone. But the two younger children carried most of them.

“Splash the stones right into the water,” Henry told them. “But be careful to keep them in a line between these two trees.”

The children watched with delighted eyes as the wall of stones under the water began to grow higher and higher.

“The rock wall will help to hold the logs in place,” said Henry.

At last it was time to lay the logs across the brook.

“Let’s lay the first ones between these two trees,” said Jessie. “Then the trees will hold both ends of the logs.”

“Good work!” cried Henry, much pleased. “That’s just what we’ll do.”

But when the first big log was splashed into place on top of the stone wall, the water began to run over the top of the log and around both ends.

“Oh, dear!” cried Jessie. “The water runs around the ends every time! What shall we do?”

“We’ll have to put lots of logs on, with brush between them,” said Henry. “We’ll put on so many that the water
can’t
get through.”

They laid three logs across, with three more on top of them, and three more on top of those. Violet filled her arms with brush and held it in place until each log was laid. Benny filled the holes at the ends of the logs with flat stones. Such wet children never were seen before, but the hot sun would dry them off, and no one cared.

When the three top logs were laid in place at last, the four tired children sat down to watch the pool fill. But Henry could not sit still as the water came higher and higher up the dam.

“See how deep the pool is getting!” he cried. “See how still it is!”

At last the pool was full, and the water came over the top of the dam and made another waterfall.

“Just like a mill dam!” said Henry. “Now the pool is deep enough for all of us to swim in.”

“You boys can have the first swim,” said Jessie. “We girls must go and get dinner. We’ll ring the bell when we are ready.”

The boys splashed around in the pool, while the girls made a fire and hung the kettle of brown stew over it, stirring it now and then. Violet cut the bread and then got the butter, hard and cold, out of the refrigerator.

When everything was ready, Jessie rang the dinner bell. This bell was only a tin can from the dump. Jessie had hung it on a tree with a string, and she rang it with a spoon. Then she got the ladle and began ladling out the stew.

“That’s the dinner bell,” said Benny. “I know it is. Come, Watch. Don’t you want some dinner?”

Watch had had a swim, too. He came out of the water and shook himself. The two boys put on their dry clothes and went to Sunday dinner.

“Let me ring the bell again,” said Benny.

“I like stew even better today,” said Henry, eating hungrily.

“That’s because we worked so hard,” remarked Jessie. “Let’s go for a walk in the woods this afternoon.”

“Oh, let’s!” cried Violet. “Let’s go exploring again.”

The children washed the dishes and then started on their walk.

As they went along, Watch began to bark. At first the explorers were frightened.

“Oh, what is it?” cried Violet.

“Maybe it’s a rabbit,” said Henry.

Then they saw a hen running away through the woods. Watch ran after her, but Henry called him back.

“Don’t run after the poor hen,” he said.

“The hen had a nest,” remarked Benny.

“What?” asked Jessie.

“She had some eggs in it,” said Benny. “Come here and see.”

Jessie looked on the ground where Benny was pointing and saw a nest with five eggs in it.

“A runaway hen!” said Jessie. “She wanted to hide her nest so she would have some chickens. We’ll have the eggs for supper. I know how to cook eggs.”

The eggs made a delicious supper. Jessie put them in a bowl, with a little salt, and Violet took a spoon and stirred them as hard as she could.

“Put in some milk, Violet,” said Jessie, “and stir them some more.”

Henry started up the fire. The big kettle was hung over the fire, and Jessie put in some butter. She watched the butter until it was nice and brown, and then she put in the eggs.

“Sit down,” she said. “Be all ready to eat when the eggs are done.”

Violet put the blue tablecloth on the ground. She got the bread and butter and the plates and spoons, and the children all sat ready for supper.

“Here I come!” cried Jessie. “Hold out your plates.”

“Oh, Jessie!” cried Benny. “This is the best meal I ever ate. I found the eggs, and you cooked them.”

“Yes, you did, Benny,” said Henry. “Thank you for a fine meal.”

“Tomorrow we’ll have to eat bread and milk,” said Jessie.

But when tomorrow came, the children had more than bread and milk, as you will soon see.

IX—Fun in the Cherry Orchard

T
HE NEXT MORNING
Henry thought and thought about taking the other children to pick cherries with him. At last he told his sisters about it as they ate bread and milk for breakfast.

“Dr. Moore said he wanted more children to help. Do you think all of us ought to go, Jessie?”

“Well,” said Jessie, “I don’t know. You see, there are four of us. If Grandfather is looking for us, it would be easier to see four than one.”

“Yes, that’s so,” answered Henry. “But we can go down the hill and through the streets two by two. I’ll take Benny and go ahead. Then in a little while you and Violet can come with the dog.”

“Good!” said Jessie. “Watch can tell where you go.”

The children took down the clothesline and shut the door of the car. Everything was in order. Then they started out.

When they arrived at the orchard, they soon saw that they were not the only workers. The doctor was there, and the cook, and two men carrying ladders and baskets.

“Good morning, Henry,” said Mrs. Moore. “Can you work today?”

“Oh, yes,” said Henry. “These are my sisters, Jessie and Violet. They can pick cherries, too. Benny is too young to climb trees, but we had to bring him.”

“Maybe he can carry baskets,” said Dr. Moore, smiling at Benny. “You see, this is a big cherry year, and we have to work fast, once we begin. Maybe he can help fill the little baskets from the big ones.”

“Eat all you want,” said Mrs. Moore. “The cherries are beautiful this year.”

The children didn’t eat all they wanted, but every now and then a big red cherry went into someone’s mouth.

Henry and the girls went up the ladders and began to pick cherries. Watch barked for awhile. He did not like to have Jessie climbing the ladder. Then he sat down and looked at her up in the tree.

Benny hurried here and there, carrying baskets to the pickers and eating all the cherries he wanted. Everyone in the orchard liked Benny. The doctor laughed delightedly at him, and sweet Mrs. Moore fell in love with him at once. By and by he sat down beside her and carefully filled small baskets with cherries from the big baskets.

The men laughed at the funny things Benny said, and Watch barked happily. By and by the doctor left the orchard to make some calls.

At last Mrs. Moore said, “I never had such happy cherry pickers before. You are having such a good time out here that I don’t want to go in the house.” She smiled.

Mary, the cook, seemed to think the same thing, for she came again and again into the orchard.

After awhile the cook went in to get dinner, but the children still picked cherries. At noon Dr. Moore came home.

“You must stay to dinner,” he said to the children. “We can eat here in the orchard under the trees. Will your mother be watching for you?” When he asked this, he looked at Henry in a queer way.

Henry did not know what to say. But at last Jessie said, “No. Our mother and father are dead.”

“Then you must stay,” said Mrs. Moore. “Here comes Mary.”

The cook put a table under the trees, and they all sat around it and ate a delicious dinner. Then Mary went into the house and came out again with big bowls of cherry dumplings.

“I can smell something good!” cried Benny. “Is it cherries?”

“Yes, my little dear,” said Mary. “Cherry dumplings. The cherries are cooked in the dumplings.”

Benny ate his cherry dumpling and then went to sleep with the dog for a pillow. But Henry and Jessie and Violet began to work again. Mrs. Moore looked out of the window at them.

“Just see how those children work,” she said to Dr. Moore. “And they are so polite, too. I wonder who they are.”

Dr. Moore said nothing. After awhile he went out to the orchard. “You have worked long enough,” he said.

He gave them four dollars and all the cherries they could carry.

“That is too much,” said Henry.

“No,” said Dr. Moore, “it is just right. You see, you are better than most workers, because you are so happy. Come again.”