The Yellow House Mystery (4 page)

“So they won’t float away,” said Benny, watching.

“Take everything out,” cried Joe. “Put it in this open place. Here’s one of the best camping places in Maine.”

“A long wooden table all made!” cried Henry. “And places to sit. That’s good.”

“What a nice smell here,” said Violet to Alice. “I just love the smell of evergreen trees. It makes me think of the dear old boxcar days.”

“I don’t see any company, though,” said Benny, looking around.

“Well, you will,” said Joe. He seemed to be very sure. “The first thing will be a campfire because we are so hungry. The next thing will be the tents, because we will soon be sleepy.”

He took out an axe. “Here is a path. We’ll follow it and cut down two small trees,
not
evergreens though. These trees must be just right. Look at this picture. See, the top must have a fork. But the fork must be one-sided, so we can drive the tree into the ground.”

All four children looked at the picture, and started to walk down the path.

“Wait a minute,” said Joe. “There is something else we must find. Do you see the pail hanging over the fire on a long branch? We must have a long branch like that, with a fork at the top, and another to hang our water pail on.”

“But trees don’t grow like that,” said Jessie. “All branches grow one way, don’t they, Joe?”

“You just look around,” said Joe, smiling. “You might find one.”

First the children began to look for a tree that was not an evergreen. It was Violet who saw the first one. Joe said the fork was just right. Henry began to cut it down. Jessie and Benny soon found another just like it.

“Joe! Wait! I hear something,” called Jessie suddenly.

They all stood still and listened. Far in the woods they heard someone whistling. Joe laughed. “Company!” he said.

The whistling came nearer. “Hi!” shouted Joe.

“Hi!” answered a deep voice. Just then, the children saw a white-haired man in a brown coat, carrying a very large pack. His face was brown from the sun, his blue eyes were kind.

“This is Mr. Hill, children,” said Joe, smiling at the stranger. “Mr. Long tells me he is one of the best guides in Maine.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” laughed the man. “I suppose you are Joe Alden. Want me to build your shelter-half and cook you some cornbread?”

“Cornbread!” cried Alice. “I just love cornbread.”

“Me too!” shouted Benny. “But what’s a shelter-half?”

“You
would
ask that, Benny,” said Henry laughing. “But we don’t know, either.”

“No,” cried Benny, “don’t tell us after all, Mr. Hill. We’ll watch you build it, and then we’ll know what it is.”

“Not a bad idea,” said Henry. “Don’t forget we still have to find that branch with two forks in it.”

Mr. Hill could see two or three branches like that, but he said nothing. He just smiled and let the children find a
tree
for themselves.

“Well, well!” said Henry at last, looking up at a tree. “There
is
a branch growing both ways. I never knew they grew like that.”

“Cut it just below that fork, Henry,” said Joe.

Soon the branch was cut. Joe and Henry cut branches of evergreens and carried them back to camp for beds.

Then Mr. Hill and Joe put everyone to work. “We must get everything done before the sun sets,” said Mr. Hill. “It gets very cold up here at night. You’ll be glad of your warm blanket rolls. Benny—is that your name? You come and hold these two trees for me.”

In no time the two little forked trees were standing in the ground with a long pole between them. The branch was soon hooked over the pole. Mr. Hill put the water pail on the hook. “You can push this branch to one side, you see,” he said. “Sometimes I get two or three to cook with.”

“I can see how that works,” said Benny. “The water gets hot while you cook supper.”

“Is the hot water to wash dishes in?” asked Violet.

“That’s right, and for anything else you want to wash.”

“Maybe hands,” said Henry, laughing and looking at his hands.

“It’s good clean dirt, though,” said Benny, looking at his own hands. “Smells good. Just like evergreens.” Then he forgot all about his hands, for Mr. Hill began to make the shelter-half to keep the wind from the fire.

“This would keep rain out, too, if we had any rain,” he said to Benny. “And this is the baker where we cook the cornbread.”

“Oh, that’s a funny dish,” said Benny. “How does it work?”

Mr. Hill laughed. “You set it up with this open side toward the fire, see? The inside gets very hot, and cooks the cornbread a fine even brown on top. Then after supper, we can set it up on this other end, and wash dishes in it.”

“Well, isn’t that clever?” cried Henry. “Benny won’t mind washing dishes in that.”

“Now somebody had better go and find some wood,” said Mr. Hill. “We must get a fire going right away.”

Benny jumped up and worked hard getting wood for the fire. He was getting hungry.

Meanwhile Joe and Henry put up the two small tents. Alice and Jessie laid the evergreen branches in the tents for beds.

“Where will Mr. Hill sleep?” asked Jessie.

“Oh, he has his own tent,” Joe answered. “It will take him about one minute to put his tent up and make his bed and go sound asleep.”

“I hope he won’t go to sleep before he makes that cornbread,” said Alice.

“We’re going to have ham and eggs, too,” said Mr. Hill.

“But we haven’t any eggs,” said Benny.

“No, but I have,” said Mr. Hill with a laugh. “I brought along a few things. Just for your first day. Then tomorrow morning I have to leave you.”

How delicious the ham did smell when Mr. Hill put it in the big pan and it began to get brown. Then he dropped in twelve eggs. Joe said he could eat at least two, while Henry said he could eat three.

“Real butter!” cried Jessie, as Mr. Hill took it out. “Do you remember the first time we had real butter in the boxcar?”

“Cornbread isn’t much good without butter,” said Mr. Hill.

Violet began to set the table with tin plates. Soon they were all eating their first meal in camp.

At last Joe said, “The cornbread is gone and the ham is gone. Can anyone stay awake long enough to wash the dishes?”

“I can, if we can use that funny dish,” said Benny. He watched Mr. Hill put the hot water from the pail into the baker. “But I’m so sleepy I could go to sleep standing up.”

Soon the dishes were washed and put away.

Alice, Violet and Jessie had one tent, and Henry, Joe, and Benny had the other. They spread their blanket rolls on the beds of evergreen boughs. Before long the moon looked down on a sleeping camp.

But softly through the woods walked a large black animal. He smelled people. He smelled food, too. So he walked very quietly.

There was the side of bacon hanging in a tree, up high. That was easy. He could stand up. Maybe he could pull it down. He loved bacon. Up went one front paw and the bacon began to swing back and forth.

The animal was not the only one awake. Mr. Hill had heard the visitor. This was the very minute he had been waiting for. “Joe!” he called from his own tent. “We have a visitor.”

Joe woke up suddenly. “I’ll tell the children,” he answered. “Henry, wake up!” Then Henry was awake. “Jessie!” he whispered. Then everyone was awake.

“Oh, dear!” said Violet sitting up. “What is it?”

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CHAPTER
10

Potato Camp

I
t’s better to lose the food than the tents, isn’t it, Joe?” asked Jessie.

“It certainly is,” answered Joe, feeding the fire. “We will get along all right for one night. This rain will stop as suddenly as it began. I think by tomorrow morning we can get back on the lake.”

Jessie thought that out. “Does that mean we must have dinner, and supper and breakfast here, Joe?”

Joe winked at her. “Right,” he said. “But I guess we won’t have much breakfast.”

“Let’s eat half the potatoes for dinner and the rest for supper,” said Jessie, thinking. “But we have no butter, and no salt. Just potatoes.”

“Better than nothing, Jess,” said Henry, looking at his sister. “You always make the best of things. Now, let’s get lots of wood. We can’t get much wetter. Then when we do get dry, we won’t have to go out in the rain again.”

By the time the potatoes were done, there was a big pile of wood in Joe’s tent and there were six hungry people sitting by the fire.

With a long stick, Joe and Henry pulled the potatoes out of the fire.

“Two each,” said Jessie. She gave them out. That is, she rolled two potatoes to each one. “Now let’s put the canned milk in the water pail with some spring water.”

“What a dinner!” cried Benny. “I don’t like canned milk when I’m home. But it tastes all right here.”

It was certainly queer not to have any dishes except a water pail and milk cans. But even as the wind kept on blowing and the rain kept on falling, everyone was very happy to have tin cups and a water pail.

“We are pretty lucky to have anything to eat,” said Violet. “If you hadn’t found the bag, Benny, we wouldn’t be eating now.”

The children opened the hot potatoes with sticks. They ate them with small sticks.

“Awfully hot, aren’t they?” said Henry, burning his fingers. “But aren’t they delicious!”

“We have to eat slowly this time,” said Joe. “Make them last as long as you can.”

“No dishes to wash,” said Benny. “Too bad we lost that funny little baker.”

Then Joe said, “Let me tell you just what we have to do, children.”

Everyone looked up and listened.

“This is a very long lake as you see,” began Joe. “But if we start very early tomorrow morning, we ought to get to the end of our trip before noon.”

“Where do we come out, Joe?” asked Jessie.

“We come out in a very small village,” answered Joe. “When I was here, there were only a few houses and a store.”

“What is the name of this place?” asked Henry.

“I don’t think it has any real name,” said Joe, thinking. “They just call it Old Village. Most of it is very old. Only one or two houses were built when the Indians lived there.”

“After we get to Old Village, you don’t know where to go next?” asked Benny.

“No, I don’t,” said Joe. “That is the end of Bear Trail.”

“Well, never mind,” said Henry. “Something is sure to happen. We may find the tin box, or even Bill. I can hardly wait to find clues.”

Joe did not answer. He was thinking.

“I do wish we had saved some of our fish from yesterday,” said Jessie. “We had enough left to go with our potatoes for supper.”

“That’s all right, Jessie,” said Benny, taking his last drink of milk. “I’m not hungry at all.”

They all laughed. “That’s because you have just eaten your dinner,” said Violet. “You’ll be hungry again at supper time, and then again at breakfast.”

“O.K.” said Benny. “Then I suppose we’ll really starve without any breakfast at all.”

“Not quite,” said Alice, smiling at the boy.

The wind was still blowing and the rain still came down. The children put sticks on the fire, and drank the spring water in the pail. Jessie had washed out the tin cans and they drank water because the milk was all gone.