The Woodshed Mystery (6 page)
“A tunnel?” called Henry. “Can you crawl through it?”
“Yes, but I’m not going to,” said Sam. “Hello, what’s this?”
“Well, what is it?” called Henry.
“I don’t know. It’s something made of tin. I’ll bring it up.”
He passed up a very queer looking thing. Jessie took it and turned it over in her hands. “This is an old candlestick,” she said. “It looks very, very old.”
“Maybe somebody had to have a candle,” called Sam. “It’s as dark as a pocket down here. It’s not a bit wet, though.”
“That’s because it’s on a hill,” said Henry.
“Can’t I come down now, Sam?” asked Benny. “You see how quiet Watch is.”
“Well, come on,” said Sam. “There’s plenty of room.”
“Let’s
all
go down,” cried Benny. But Watch did not like this. He saw Benny go down out of sight. Then when Henry started, he got up and began to bark.
“All right. All right!” said Jessie. “You go down yourself, Mr. Watch.” She pushed him gently down the stairs. “You’re a bother, though.”
“No,” said Sam. “Watch is no bother. He’s a help.”
“Why do you think Watch is a help, Sam?” asked Benny.
“A dog knows,” said Sam. “He would bark his head off if there was any danger. A dog can smell danger.”
At last everyone had come down the stairs. They had two flashlights.
“It’s spooky down here,” Jessie said, looking around her and shivering a bit.
“There’s your tunnel,” said Sam.
Watch ran in, but he soon turned around and came back.
“Maybe it isn’t a tunnel, Sam. Maybe it’s just a cave,” said Henry.
“Maybe,” said Sam.
“Here’s a lot of junk,” said Benny. He kicked a box with his foot. “Ow!” he said. “That box is made of iron!”
“Take it,” said Henry. “We can open it later.”
“You know what I think?” said Benny. “I think we’d better get out of here. Suppose somebody put that cover on, we’d be in a fix!”
“Right!” said Henry. “We ought to leave somebody up in the cabin to watch out.”
Without another word, they all went up the stairs. They put the cover on and stamped on the soft dirt. They put the bed back.
And then they went home to Aunt Jane with a very old candlestick and a very heavy iron box.
A
unt Jane was not in the house. No dog came to meet them. Aunt Jane’s dog, Lady, always stayed with her. Benny called out, “Aunt Jane!” When nobody answered, Henry called, “Lady! Lady!”
A bark came from the yard behind the house. There sat Aunt Jane reading Violet’s big book. She looked up.
“Well, how did you get along?” she asked.
Benny could hardly wait to tell her about the hole under the woodshed. Then Jessie gave her the old candlestick.
“What an old candlestick!” cried Aunt Jane. “This is the kind they used at the time of the Revolutionary War!”
“That’s what Jessie thought, Aunt Jane,” said Violet. “And we found an old iron box, too.”
“Open it right away!” said Aunt Jane. “It looks like a candle box. The kind they used to pack candles in.”
“Somebody sat there in the dark with a candle,” said Henry. “Why would they do that, Aunt Jane?”
“I have an idea, Henry! I got it from this old book. You just open that box and we’ll see.”
“I’ll have to break the top off, I’m afraid,” said Henry. “See how rusty it is.”
“All right. Break it!” cried Aunt Jane.
“I’ll get a hammer and chisel,” shouted Benny. “I’ll be right back.”
Off he went to the house. He soon came back and Henry started to work. Little by little the cover opened. At last it fell off.
“Well, what is it?” cried Benny. “Just a lot of old black powder.”
“Gunpowder!” said Aunt Jane with shining eyes. “I read about gunpowder in Violet’s book. Somebody dug that hole to keep ammunition in!”
“You’re right,” said Henry quietly. “I think we have found one of the places where they hid ammunition!”
“Then they took it to Concord,” said Jessie.
“In a load of hay!” said Violet.
They all looked at each other.
Henry said, “Aunt Jane, we decided not to go into the tunnel. We may find a lot more things later.”
“We thought somebody might shut the cover down,” said Benny. “And there we’d all be. Next time we’ll leave somebody outside to keep watch. Where’s Sam?”
But Sam had gone back to work.
Aunt Jane said, “Sam must go with you every time. Remember that.”
“I think so, too,” said Jessie. “That dirt looked as if it had been moved only yesterday. Some stranger is around here.”
“He’s stealing
eggs
from the Beans,” said Benny. Everyone laughed.
Benny went on slowly. Talking about the Beans had made him think of something. He said, “Aunt Jane, why didn’t you marry this Andy Bean?”
“All right, I’ll tell you, Benny. Nobody ever asked me before.”
“I wasn’t very polite to ask you, was I?” said Benny.
“No,” said Aunt Jane. “But I don’t mind. I was quite silly. Andy Bean did ask me to marry him and I said no. My reasons were very silly. I know that now. The first reason was that he was two years younger than I was, but he was big and he looked older. What do you guess the second reason was?”
“What?” asked four voices.
“I didn’t want to be called Mrs. Bean!”
Violet patted Aunt Jane’s hand. “I don’t think that was too silly.”
“Well, I do,” said Aunt Jane. “I have been sorry a thousand times. Andy was a fine looking, clever boy. He had a nice crooked smile. His younger brother owns the Bean farm now. His wife is the Mrs. Bean who told you about the eggs, Benny.”
“Don’t we have the most exciting adventures!” cried Benny. “Something new is always happening.”
“Yes, Benny,” said Aunt Jane laughing. “Ever since I met you something nice has happened every day. Before that nothing happened.”
“Well, tomorrow we’ll explore that cellar again,” said Henry. “I’ll read that old book myself. I’d like to know what to look for.”
“We might find an old gun,” said Benny. “Maybe an old flintlock.”
“Benny Alden!” cried Violet. Her eyes were like stars. “Do you know what you just said? Maybe that cellar is where Andy Bean found his old flintlock!”
Everyone was excited until Jessie said, “No, I don’t think so. Don’t you remember that somebody gave it to Andy?”
“That’s right, Jessie,” said Benny. “They said it was somebody hiding in this house! And that’s why the stories have been told and nobody will live here.”
“Well!” said Henry. “We’ll find out if it takes all summer.”
“Don’t forget,” said Aunt Jane softly, “it
may
.”
Henry smiled at his aunt. Maybe it would take all summer, but the mystery would be solved. And it would be solved quickly if some of his and Benny’s ideas proved to be right.
T
he next day Maggie saw an old man in overalls coming to the back door. He had a basket of eggs.
“Are you selling eggs?” Maggie asked.
“Yep,” said the old man.
“Where did you come from?” she asked again.
“Beans’,” said the man.
Benny heard him from the next room. He laughed. He said to Violet, “He doesn’t talk much, does he?”
“I wonder who he is?” said Violet.
“I know who he is,” said Benny. “He is the Beans’ hired man. I saw him working there when I went over.”
Maggie told the man, “We will have plenty of eggs later. Sam is going to raise chickens.”
“Yep,” said the man.
“We do want two dozen eggs now,” Maggie went on. “Put them in this pan.”
Benny and Violet listened.
“Have you lost any more eggs?” asked Maggie.
“Yep,” said the man.
“Can’t you say anything but ‘yep’?” Maggie laughed.
“No,” said the man. He did not laugh.
“Well, come every week,” said Maggie. “What’s your name?”
“Willie,” said the man.
“My, my! A grown man called Willie! You ought to be William.”
The man did not answer. Then he left.
Benny went into the kitchen at once. “What’s the matter with him?” he asked. “Can’t he talk?”
“Well,” said Maggie, “he doesn’t act very smart to me. Maybe he doesn’t know very much. Not very bright. He can’t help that. Maybe he’s a good worker. He sells very nice eggs.”
“Hi! Come on!” called Henry from outside. “I’ve got a bigger flashlight this time. It will last longer.”
Very soon Henry, Benny, and the two girls were on their way to the woodshed. Sam had to stop his work and go with them.
“I’ll never get anything done,” said Sam. But he smiled.
“I don’t think it will be much longer now,” said Henry mysteriously. “Do any of you know why all those things were taken out of the woodshed?”
“I think I do,” said Violet. “Somebody found my flowers on the table.”
“Right!” said Henry. “And then why were the things put back?”
“I bet someone saw us,” said Benny, “and said, ‘Oh, it’s only children!’”
“Good, Benny. That’s what I think too,” replied Henry. “We’ll be careful this time to leave everything just as it is now.”
“Do you want me to stay outside and watch?” asked Sam.
“Yes, I think that would be best, wouldn’t it?” said Jessie. “We’ll take Watch down in the hole with us. If you see anyone, just call.”
Soon the four children and the dog were down in the hole. The flashlight was very bright.
“Almost as bright as day,” said Benny, looking around. Watch was already in the tunnel, smelling around, wagging his tail. Henry followed him. He had to bend over.
Soon Henry called back, “This isn’t a tunnel! It’s just a big room. I can almost stand up.”
Jessie followed him. She said, “This was certainly a storehouse. All kinds of things are on the floor. Don’t fall over them.”
Benny came in. He said, “Let’s put the light in the middle, Henry. Then we can look at every single thing. What are the little red balls all over the floor?”
“I think they are bullets,” said Henry. “They are all rusty. That makes them look red. Pick them all up.”
“Oh, Violet, I wish we had a bag!” cried Jessie.
“We have,” said Violet. She held up what looked like a small, folded piece of cloth. But when she shook it out, it was a large bag folded up many times. When it was open, it was enormous.
“How do you think of everything, Violet?” said Jessie. “That will hold all we find.”
“All but this,” shouted Benny. He dug out a flintlock. It was almost buried in the dirt.
“Just exactly like the other!” cried Violet.
“That settles it,” said Henry. “This was a hiding place for ammunition.”
Jessie added, “Only somebody has been here lately. It must be the one who lives in this woodshed.”
“I just wonder who it could be!” said Violet. “Who would want to hide here these days?”
“Look here!” cried Jessie. “I almost fell over this!” She held up an old milking stool with three legs.
Henry looked at it. “I can just see one of those soldiers sitting on that stool with a candle!”
“What do you see him doing, Henry?” asked Benny.
“Well, packing bullets and cartridges and gunpowder in candle boxes.”
At last they could not find anything more. They went up the steps and put the cover over the hole. Then they went home with their treasures. Sam had not seen anyone.
When Aunt Jane had seen everything, she looked at the four children. She said, “I think we are soon going to find a very exciting story. Mr. Cole has come to spend the summer with his brother, and he wants to see you right away!”
H
enry said, “We certainly want to see Mr. Cole right away. I hope he has something to tell us.”
“I hope he will talk more than Willie,” said Benny.
They all laughed as they started out for Grandpa Cole’s.
The two old men were sitting side by side in two chairs in the yard.
“They look a lot alike, don’t they?” said Jessie. “But we know they are not twins. How exciting this
is!
We may get news and we may not.”
“Be prepared,” said Benny. “Just like the Boy Scouts.”