The Boxcar Children Mysteries: Books One through Twelve (45 page)

“I think so. You mean we still might want to run the ranch?”

“Exactly.”

Henry noticed that his grandfather still called the ranch “hers.” He also knew that he must get right at the fence. When his grandfather said, “When you have time,” he meant right away.

Henry went back to the ranch and told his aunt what Mr. Alden had said.

“Grandfather wants us to decide where that fence shall go.”

“I know already,” said the little lady. “Here is a plan of the ranch. I have marked where I want the fence to go.”

Aunt Jane listened. “Here comes another car,” she said.

“Poor Aunt Jane!” said Jessie. “You’ll never get any rest.”

“That’s Grandfather for you,” said Benny.

The men were sent by Mr. Alden to put up the fence. Henry was glad that his aunt had the plan ready in time.

Jessie asked, “Do you want Henry to carry you to bed, Aunt Jane?”

“No. I want him to help me to the kitchen window, so I can see the cars drive up. I want to see everything.”

Henry took her to a big easy chair by the kitchen window.

“Doesn’t Grandfather work fast?” asked Jessie.

“He always did,” said her aunt. “Once he worked too fast for me. But not now. Here comes another car!”

“I just can’t believe it,” said Violet, “we’ll never get any work done.”

Benny came in to tell the news. His face was red with excitement.

“The guards are here!” he shouted. “They will stop people from knocking on our door all the time and asking us about the uranium. They say we will get tired of it. But I wouldn’t, would you, Aunt Jane?”

“I’m not tired of it yet,” said Aunt Jane.

B
oy, look at that car!” said Benny, looking out the window. It was long and low. It was painted yellow and black. A man got out of the car. A guard spoke to him and nodded, and the man came to the back door.

Henry opened the door, and the man said, “James Alden asked me to come and see his sister.” “Come in,” said Henry. “This is my aunt.” The man smiled at the little old lady. “James Alden is one of my best friends,” he said.

“Sit down,” said Aunt Jane, in a kind voice. “We seem to have all our callers in the kitchen. Some day we may use the front door.”

“The kitchen is all right with me,” said the stranger, with a quick smile. “My name is Gardner. I am a mining man. Your brother sent me to take care of your uranium field.”

Benny asked, “Are you the boss of everything?”

“That’s a good way to put it,” agreed Mr. Gardner.

“Will you let us watch you dig?” asked Benny.

“Yes. There are some men digging in your field now. Do you want to see them?”

“We certainly do!” said Henry at once.

They started across the field.

“Keep your eyes on that white place on the mountain. The hole is there,” Mr. Gardner said.

When they came to the hole, they saw two guards beside it. Two other men were standing in the hole with long sticks in their hands.

“Those are geiger counters!” shouted Benny.

“That’s right,” said Mr. Gardner.

The men heard his voice and looked up. When they saw who it was, one of them came out of the hole.

“It’s good, sir,” he said. “Want to hear it?”

The boss listened. “Good!” he said. “Noisy, isn’t it? Let the children listen. After all, they own the whole works.”

Benny was so excited that he almost fell into the hole.

“How it snaps!” he said.

“There must be a lot of uranium here,” said Henry, as he listened to the geiger counter pop.

When the children walked into the house again, Aunt Jane was sitting by the window in the front room.

“Did you have a good time?” she asked.

“Wonderful!” said Benny. “We listened to the geiger counter, and it made a terrible noise. That means uranium, Aunt Jane.”

“Does it? I am glad to hear it.” She seemed to be very pleased.

After dinner that evening the children left Violet alone with their aunt. Violet was sewing.

“Aunt Jane,” she said gently, “I really don’t understand why you didn’t let your own brother help you when you needed money.”

“I might as well tell you the whole story,” said Aunt Jane. “Father and mother went East. Your grandfather was a very young man. He wanted to sell the ranch and go into the mill business.”

“I begin to understand,” said Violet softly.

“I’m glad somebody understands,” said Aunt Jane. “I loved the ranch. So I said I’d stay here. But I couldn’t run the ranch. I didn’t know how. I had twenty men working for me. Then I had to let the men go, one by one. At last, only Sam was left. I sold the horses and cattle.”

Aunt Jane paused. “How could I ask your grandfather for money? He never wanted me to stay here and I wouldn’t give in and say that I was wrong.”

“I’m glad you told me this, Aunt Jane. I’ll help you get to bed, now.”

Things happened fast on the Alden ranch in the next few weeks. A mine was dug. Big machines worked night and day. Houses for workmen were built. New stores opened in town. The train was not taken off. Instead, there were four trains every day. Two telephone girls stayed upstairs all day to answer the telephones. And Aunt Jane made a surprising announcement.

“I want to give a party!” she said.

“A party?” asked Henry. “When?”

“My birthday is next week, and I want a birthday party.”

“People don’t give their own birthday parties,” said Henry. “Let us give the party for you.”

“No,” said Aunt Jane. “This is my party. And I am going to ask your grandfather if he will come!”

Violet said, “Oh, I’m so glad, Aunt Jane! I’m sure he will.”

The children’s wish had come true.

“Telephone to him!” shouted Benny.

Aunt Jane, her face very pink, called her brother.

“Hello, James,” she said brightly. “I want you to come to my birthday party.”

“Ahem!” said Grandfather. The children could hear his deep voice.

“Of course I will, if you want me. I’ll bring you a present, too.”

“No, just come, and forgive me for everything.”

The children knew that Grandfather did not know what to say to this.

“Well, well!” he said, “Nothing to forgive!”

“Thank you, James,” said Aunt Jane.

Mr. Gardner took the children to meet their grandfather’s train, the day before Aunt Jane’s birthday.

When the children saw Mr. Alden, what a noise they made! They all shouted at once. They rushed up and took his bags. Tom Young stood in the door of the station and laughed.

“They think a lot of
him,”
he said.

They all piled into Mr. Gardner’s car and drove to the ranch.

Aunt Jane was sitting up very straight in the front room. She shook hands with her brother.

“It was good of you to come, James,” she said.

“I’m glad to see you,” said Grandfather. “I had forgotten you were so pretty.”

It was true. When the children looked at their aunt, they saw that she was really pretty. Her blue eyes were very bright.

Mr. Alden said, “I want to see Henry alone.”

Henry and his grandfather went to the back room to talk. Grandfather came back alone. The children heard Henry drive out of the yard in Mr. Gardner’s car. They were very surprised.

“Where is Henry going?” asked Aunt Jane.

“A secret,” said Mr. Alden, laughing.

Henry came back in a little while. He nodded at his grandfather and said, “All right.”

“What can it be?” wondered Jessie. “How can we wait until tomorrow?”

After supper, Grandfather said, “Jane, I have a plan. Do you want to hear it?”

“I do,” said Aunt Jane. “It seems funny, doesn’t it? I never would listen to you before.”

“I was too bossy,” said Mr. Alden. “I know that now.” He smiled.

“My grandchildren love your ranch, Jane,” he said, “but they can’t stay here all winter.”

“Yes, I know that, James,” she said sadly.

“They want to fix up the other end of this house for Sam and his wife. We can cut a door between your room and the next one. Maggie can have that room. Then you will be safe all winter.”

“You are kind to plan this for me,” said Aunt Jane. She smiled kindly at her brother.

“The children planned it,” said Mr. Alden. “They want to fix the rooms upstairs for themselves.”

“Well, they certainly can,” said Aunt Jane.

“Now, one last idea,” said Mr. Alden. He looked at Jessie, with a twinkle in his eye.

“I heard all about your Mystery Man,” he said.

“He’s not
my
Mystery Man,” said Jessie, laughing. “But he was nice, wasn’t he?”

“He doesn’t seem like a Mystery Man any more,” said Violet. “I’d like to see him again sometime.”

Mr. Alden said, “He
could
come to the party tomorrow, if anyone asked him.”

“Very well,” said Aunt Jane. “I don’t mind having a Mystery Man at my birthday party.”

“Will he fly?” asked Jessie.

“No. He is already here,” said Grandfather. “He got off the train when I did!”

“And we didn’t even see him,” said Benny.

“Well, he is still a Mystery Man in some ways, isn’t he?” said Violet.

I
t’s the Mystery Man!” shouted Benny, looking out the window the next day. “I hope the guard will let him in.”

It was John Carter, the tall young man with the brown hair and brown eyes. He went first to Aunt Jane and thanked her for asking him to come. Then he spoke to all the children as if he were delighted to see them.

“I want to show you something, Carter,” said Mr. Alden. “You children come, too. We’re going to look at the fireplace in the other kitchen.”

“I won’t go,” said Aunt Jane, smiling. “I know all about that chimney.”

When they stood before the fireplace, Mr. Alden said, “See that yellow and black in the stone, Carter?”

“Why, this is funny!” Mr. Carter said, “That fireplace is made of uranium ore! There is gold and silver in it, too.”

“The gold and silver are not good,” said Mr. Alden. “Of course, we had never heard of uranium when we built the chimney. I think that is the only chimney in the world that is made of uranium ore.”

“Is the chimney the same all the way up?” asked Benny.

Grandfather laughed. “Yes, all the way up. We left it rough outside, and smoothed it inside. My father and mother and I went East, and we had a chimney right here with uranium in it!”

They went back to the living room.

Jessie said, “Aunt Jane, you remember you said there were no mysteries in this house? And in a way, that chimney was a fine mystery.”

“I didn’t know it then,” said her aunt.

“We didn’t know about the fields either,” said Benny, “or who the Mystery Man was. Let’s call this Mystery Ranch!”

“That’s a fine name!” said Mr. Carter. “You could paint the name on a sign and hang it over the driveway.”

At six o’clock, the birthday party began. Everyone was excited. Watch barked and barked, and nobody stopped him.

They set the big table with a white linen cloth. They set eight places with Aunt Jane’s best dishes. The birthday cake had seventy tiny candles on it.

When supper was over, Aunt Jane said, “Take the dishes into the kitchen and leave them there. You can wash them later. I want to open my presents!”

The children had made their presents for Aunt Jane with loving hands. They sat, watching the pretty little lady.

Jessie thought, “How very different she is from the little old lady in bed! I’m glad we came here.”

“I love every one of my presents!” cried Aunt Jane.

“Now let me get yours, Grandfather!” cried Henry.

“Very well, my boy,” said Mr. Alden, smiling.

Henry rushed out to the barn. Soon he came back with a tiny black and white puppy in his arms. He put it on the floor. It was very soft. Watch stood up quickly and looked at it.

“Come here, Watch,” said Jessie. “Be a good dog.”

“Her name is Lady, Aunt Jane,” said Henry.

“Oh, what a beautiful little dog!” said Aunt Jane. “Is she for me?”

“Yes,” said Mr. Alden. “To take the place of Watch when the children go home.”