The Boxcar Children (2 page)

“Good night!” said Henry, laughing.

“It is ‘Good morning’ I should think,” replied Jessie. “We sleep in the day, and we walk all night. When it is night again, we’ll wake up and walk some more.”

The children were so tired that they went right to sleep. They slept all day, and it was night again when they woke up.

Benny said at once, “Oh, Jessie, I’m hungry. I want something to eat.”

“Good old Benny,” said Henry. “We’ll have supper.”

Jessie took out a loaf of bread and cut it into four pieces. It was soon gone.

“I want some water,” begged Benny.

“Not now,” said Henry. “You may have some water when it gets dark. There is a pump near the farmhouse. But if we leave the haystack now, someone will see us.”

When it was dark, the children came out of the haystack and went quietly toward the farmhouse, which was dark and still. Near­by was a pump, and Henry pumped water as quietly as he could. He did not even wake up the hens and chickens.

“I want a cup,” said Benny.

“No, Benny,” whispered Henry. “You will have to put your mouth right in the water. You can play you are a horse.”

This pleased Benny. Henry pumped and pumped, and at last Benny had all the water he wanted. The water was cold and sweet, and all the children drank. Then they ran across the field toward the road.

“If we hear anyone,” said Jessie, “we must hide behind the bushes.”

Just as she said this, the children heard a horse and cart coming up the road.

“Keep very still, Benny!” whispered Henry. “Don’t say a word.”

The children got behind the bushes as fast as they could, for they did not have much time to hide. The horse came nearer and nearer and began to walk up the hill toward them. Then the children could hear a man talking. It was the baker!

“I wonder where those children went,” he said. “I don’t think they could walk as far as Silver City. If we don’t find them in Greenfield, we’ll go home.”

“Yes,” answered his wife. “I do not want to find them, anyway. I don’t like children, but we must try a little while longer. We will look for them in Greenfield, and that’s all.”

The children watched until the horse and cart had gone down the road. Then they came out from behind the bushes and looked at each other.

“My, I am glad those people did not see us!” said Henry. “You were a good boy, Benny, to keep still.”

“We’ll not go to Greenfield.”

“I wonder how far it is to Silver City,” said Jessie.

The children were very happy as they walked along the road. They knew that the baker would not find them. They walked until two o’clock in the morning, and then they came to some signs by the side of the road.

The moon came out from behind the clouds, and Henry could read the signs.

“One sign says that Greenfield is this way,” he said. “The other sign points to Silver City. We don’t want to go to Greenfield. Let’s take this other road to Silver City.”

They walked for a long time, but they did not see anyone.

“Not many people come this way, I guess,” said Henry. “But that is all the better.”

“Listen!” said Benny suddenly. “I hear something.”

“Listen!” said Violet.

The children stood still and listened, and they could hear water running.

“I want a drink of water, Henry!” said Benny.

“Well, let’s go on,” said Henry, “and see where the water is. I’d like a drink, too.”

Soon the children saw a drinking fountain by the side of the road.

“Oh, what a fine fountain this is!” said Henry, running toward it. “See the place for people to drink up high, and a place in the middle for horses, and one for dogs down below.”

All the children drank some cold water.

“Now I want to go to bed,” said Benny.

Jessie laughed. “You can go to bed very soon.”

Henry was looking down a little side road, which had grass growing in the middle of it.

“Come!” he cried. “This road goes into the woods. We can sleep in the woods.”

“This is a good place,” said Jessie, as they walked along. “It is far away from people. You can tell that by the grass in the road.”

“And it will be near the drinking fountain,” said Violet.

“That’s right!” cried Henry. “You think of everything, Violet.”

“It is almost morning,” remarked Jessie. “And how hot it is!”

“I’m glad it is hot,” said Henry, “for we must sleep on the ground. Let’s find some pine needles for beds.”

The children went into the woods and soon made four beds of pine needles.

“I hope it’s not going to rain,” said Jessie, as she lay down.

Then she looked up at the sky.

“It looks like rain, for the moon has gone behind the clouds.”

She shut her eyes and did not open them again for a long time.

More clouds rolled across the sky, and the wind began to blow. There was lightning, also, and thunder, but the children did not hear it. They were all fast asleep.

III—A New Home in the Woods

A
T LAST
Jessie opened her eyes. It was morning, but the sun was covered by clouds. She sat up and looked all around her, and then she looked at the sky. It seemed like night, for it was very dark. Suddenly it began to thunder, and she saw that it was really going to rain.

“What shall we do? Where shall we go?” thought Jessie.

The wind was blowing more and more clouds across the sky, and the lightning was very near.

She walked a little way into the woods, looking for a place to go out of the rain.

“Where shall we go?” she thought again.

Then she saw something ahead of her in the woods. It was an old boxcar.

“What a good house that will be in the rain!” she thought.

She ran over to the boxcar. There was no engine, and the track was old and rusty. It was covered with grass and bushes because it had not been used for a long time.

“It
is
a boxcar,” Jessie said. “We can get into it and stay until it stops raining.”

She ran back as fast as she could to the other children. The sky was black, and the wind was blowing very hard.

“Hurry! Hurry!” cried Jessie. “I have found a good place! Hurry as fast as you can!”

Henry took Benny’s hand, and they all ran through the woods after Jessie.

“It’s beginning to rain!” cried Henry.

“We’ll soon be there,” Jessie shouted back. “It is not far. When we get there, you must help me open the door. It is heavy.”

The stump of a big tree stood under the door of the boxcar and was just right for a step. Jessie and Henry jumped up on the old dead stump and rolled back the heavy door of the car. Henry looked in.

“There is nothing in here,” he said. “Come, Benny. We’ll help you up.”

Violet went in next, and, last of all, Jessie and Henry climbed in.

They were just in time. How the wind did blow! They rolled the door shut, and then it really began to rain. Oh, how it did rain! It just rained and rained. The children could hear it on the top of the boxcar, but no rain came in.

“What a good place this is!” said Violet. “It is just like a warm little house with one room.”

After awhile the rain and lightning and thunder stopped, and the wind did not blow so hard. Then Henry opened the door and looked out. All the children looked out into the woods. The sun was shining, but some water still fell from the trees. In front of the boxcar a pretty little brook ran over the rocks, with a waterfall in it.

“What a beautiful place!” said Violet.

“Henry!” cried Jessie. “Let’s live here!”

“Live here?” asked Henry.

“Yes! Why not?” said Jessie. “This boxcar is a fine little house. It is dry and warm in the rain.”

“We could wash in the brook,” said Violet.

“Please, Henry,” begged Jessie. “We could have the nicest little home here, and we could find some dishes, and make four beds and a table, and maybe chairs!”

“No,” said Benny. “I don’t want to live here, Jessie.”

“Oh, dear, why not, Benny?” asked Jessie.

“I’m afraid the engine will come and take us away,” answered Benny.

Henry and Jessie laughed. “Oh, no, Benny,” said Henry. “The engine will never take this car away. It is an old, old car, and grass and bushes are growing all over the track.”

“Then doesn’t the engine use this track any more?” asked Benny.

“No, indeed,” said Henry. He was beginning to want to live in the boxcar, too.

“We’ll stay here today, anyway,”

“Then can I have my dinner here?” asked Benny.

“Yes, you shall have dinner now,” said Henry.

So Jessie took out the last loaf of bread and cut it into four pieces, but it was very dry. Benny ate the bread, but soon he began to cry.

“I want some milk, too, Jessie,” he begged.

“He ought to have milk,” said Henry. “I’ll go to the next town and get some.”

But Henry did not want to start. He looked to see how much money he had. Then he stood thinking.

At last he said, “I don’t want to leave you girls alone.”

“Oh,” said Jessie, “we’ll be all right, Henry. We’ll have a surprise for you when you come back. You just wait and see!”

“Good-by, Henry,” said Benny.

So Henry walked off through the woods.

When he had gone, Jessie said, “Now, children, what do you think we are going to do? What do you think I saw over in the woods? I saw some blueberries!”

“Oh, oh!” cried Benny. “I know what blueberries are. Can we have blueberries and milk, Jessie?”

“Yes,” Jessie was beginning. But she suddenly stopped, for she heard a noise. Crack, crack, crack! Something was in the woods.

IV—Henry Has Two Surprises

J
ESSIE WHISPERED
, “Keep still!”

The three children did not say a word. They sat quietly in the boxcar, looking at the bushes.

“I wonder if it’s a bear,” thought Benny.

Soon something came out. But it wasn’t a bear. It was a dog, which hopped along on three legs, crying softly and holding up a front paw.

“It’s all right,” said Jessie. “It’s only a dog, but I think he is hurt.”

The dog looked up and saw the children, and then he wagged his tail.

“Poor dog,” said Jessie. “Are you lost? Come over here and let me look at your paw.”