The Woodshed Mystery (5 page)
“No knife,” said Benny. “I bet somebody has a knife right in his pocket.”
“There is no food, either,” said Jessie.
“Yes, there is, Jessie! Look up!” Violet was excited.
Sure enough, there was a shelf over the table. On it was a wide shingle and four cans of food. There were beef and ham and canned string beans and peas.
“What do you know!” said Henry. “We must tell Sam about this. I don’t think we’d better tell Aunt Jane.”
“Do you think it would scare her?” Benny asked.
“I’m afraid so,” said Henry. “What do you think, Jessie?”
“I don’t know. Let’s tell Sam first anyway.”
While they talked, Violet looked carefully around the one room.
“There must be a bed,” said Violet. “I don’t see one.”
But Watch did. He had found the bed easily and was lying on it.
“Sometimes I think that Watch can see in the dark,” said Violet. “It’s just a blanket on some hay. I wonder where the hay came from?”
“Maybe from some barn,” said Henry. “Plenty of hay around here.”
Then they saw the egg. It was behind the cans.
“An egg!” shouted Benny. “I told you somebody was stealing eggs. This is where the eggs go! Three every day! A mystery!”
“Two mysteries,” said Henry. “Who takes the eggs and who lives here?” Then he turned around suddenly. “Let’s go,” he said.
They all knew why Henry wanted to go. He thought the man who lived in the woodshed might come along. And he did not want Violet to feel frightened.
Violet left in such a hurry that she forgot her wild flowers on the little table.
When they reached home, they found Sam very busy indeed with his new chickens.
They lost no time in telling Sam about the woodshed and what they had found inside it. They tried to get Sam to help them guess who might be making the woodshed a home. It seemed like such an odd thing for anyone to do.
Sam looked at the Aldens and shook his head. They were always getting mixed up in something.
“I can’t come now,” he said. “That woodshed won’t run away.”
“Don’t you believe us?” asked Benny. “We all saw it.”
“Sure I believe you,” Sam said. But he laughed. “It could be a playhouse,” he said.
“Whose playhouse?” asked Benny.
“Well, any of the neighbors,” said Sam. “There must be lots of children in the town.”
They decided not to tell Aunt Jane. They could tell her later. They had to wait because Sam would not go until after lunch.
“Where are you all going?” Aunt Jane asked.
“We want Sam to see that woodshed!” Benny said. “It looks like Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin.”
Aunt Jane said nothing. But she knew something was going on. Maggie knew, too.
“It beats all, Miss Jane,” said Maggie. “Those four always find such interesting things.”
“So they do, Maggie. They’ll tell us when they get ready.”
Sam walked slowly up the hill. Benny danced on ahead with Watch.
“You’ll soon see for yourself, Sam,” he said.
They reached the woodshed. Benny pushed the door wide open. “Go right in, Sam, and look around.”
Sam went in and stood still.
“I don’t see a thing,” he said.
“Wait,” called Violet. “Your eyes have to get used to the dark.”
But still Sam could not see anything. The four went inside and looked around.
“What! What!” cried Benny.
The woodshed was empty. There was no bed, no table, no bench, no food. Nothing at all.
“No egg,” said Benny softly.
Henry looked at Sam. “But they really were here, Sam. We all saw them. You’ll have to believe me.”
“I do believe you,” said Sam. “Now what next? What’ll you do?”
Violet said, “We’ll certainly have to tell Aunt Jane now.”
“Yes,” Henry agreed. “That’s what we will do.”
B
ack at the farmhouse Henry told Aunt Jane the whole story.
“What a story that is!” she said. “But I’m not afraid with Sim and Sam here. Who do you suppose is living in my woodshed?”
“It’s a good housekeeper,” said Jessie. “Everything was as neat as a pin.”
“Why don’t you find out when Mr. Cole is coming?” said Aunt Jane. “He might know something about that woodshed. That is the next thing I’d do.”
Henry went with Jessie to see Grandpa Cole. It was not a long walk.
Grandpa was sitting outdoors, reading.
“Do you know when your brother is coming?” Henry asked.
“Not till July first,” said Grandpa Cole. “When New York gets hot, he comes up here. He hates to travel.”
Jessie said, “We want to see him when he comes. Where will he live?”
“Right here with me,” said the old man. “He’s good company for me. He can remember everything.”
“I hope he can,” said Henry, laughing. “We want to ask him a lot of questions.”
“I am afraid we will bother him,” said Jessie.
“No bother. He’ll like it. I like it too. It’s good to see nice young folks like you. I hope you will come often.”
“I’m sure we will,” said Henry. Then Henry and Jessie walked home.
They found Violet on the back steps reading a big book. She looked up at her brother and sister. They saw at once that she was very much excited.
“Henry!” said Violet. “This is a wonderful book for us! It’s all about the Revolutionary War. And it tells how John Hancock and Sam Adams had to hide!”
The two older Aldens sat down beside Violet. “Tell us about it,” said Jessie.
“Yes,” said Henry. “Go on.”
“I found this book in the parlor,” said Violet. “See, it has lots of pictures. Here is a picture of that old gun!”
“Just exactly like it!” said Henry, looking at it.
“Now you see,” said Violet, “if John Hancock had to hide—”
“There were lots of his men who had to hide, too!” finished Jessie.
“Right!” said Henry. “I know many men were with him, all over the place. You’ve got something, Violet!”
Benny came around the corner. “What’s Violet got?” he asked.
“News,” said Henry. “Sit down, Benny. She’s found news about our mystery from an old, old book.”
He told Benny about it and showed him the pictures.
“This is neat!” cried Benny. “Do you think any of those men hid in our woodshed?”
“Well, no,” said Henry slowly. “Not the same woodshed anyway. But a very old one fell down about a hundred years ago. This one is not old enough.”
“Goodness!” said Benny. “How old was the old one?”
“It must have been built in Colonial days,” said Henry. “What else did you read, Violet?”
“Oh, John Hancock’s men got all the guns they could. They got bullets and gunpowder. They hid them in lots of places. One time they hid guns in a load of hay. The Redcoats stood and watched the load of hay go by. They never thought of looking in the hay!”
“Violet!” said Henry. “What a girl you are! This is the best news we have heard.”
Benny said, “I wonder what the Redcoats would have done to the man with the hay cart if they had found the guns?”
“They would have shot him dead!” said Violet.
“Violet!” said Henry again.
“Yes, that’s right,” said Violet. “There were many brave men in those days. They were always in danger. But they went on getting guns and ammunition and hiding it. The Redcoats were always trying to find it.”
“Anything else?” asked Jessie.
“One more thing I read,” said Violet. “We lost the battle of Bunker Hill just because we ran out of ammunition.”
“Wait a minute,” said Henry. “Here comes Sim. Let’s ask him something.”
They all went to meet Sim. He had a big can of milk for them, and one of cream. Maggie took the cans and Sim looked at the children.
Henry said, “Sim, do you know where the old,
old
woodshed used to be? Not this one, but the one that fell down?”
“Yes, I know that. Right in the very same place.”
“Good!” cried Henry. “How do you know?”
Sim scratched his head. “Of course, I wasn’t there.” He—looked at Henry and laughed. “I’m not quite a hundred years old, but my father told me. This woodshed stands right where the old one was. That’s all I know.”
“That’s enough!” cried Jessie. “Do you think anyone hid there from the Redcoats during the war?”
“Maybe. I can’t tell you that,” said Sim, shaking his head. “Why do you want to know?”
“We just want to find out where all the stories about why nobody will live in this house came from,” said Violet softly.
“I see,” said Sim. He smiled at Violet. “I’d help you if I could.”
“You have,” said Benny suddenly. Then as Sim went away he said, “I have an idea!”
“What’s your idea?” asked Henry.
“Let’s go back to the woodshed and take a flashlight. We might find a clue.”
“Not after two hundred years, Benny!” said Jessie.
“I bet nobody ever looked,” said Benny. “Of course they didn’t find anything if they didn’t even look.”
After lunch Henry found his big flashlight. Benny found his, too.
“Do come with us, Sam!” begged Violet.
“Go ahead, Sam,” said Aunt Jane. “You leave your work whatever it is. This is more important. I don’t want to be afraid all my life.”
So Sam nodded his head and agreed to go along. He knew that Violet and Benny were safe with Henry and Jessie, but Miss Jane had asked him to go.
Sam had been quietly watching to see if anything unusual were going on around the farm. But not a thing seemed out of place and he had seen no one.
As they came up the hill, Watch walked along with Jessie. But as they came near the woodshed, he put his nose to the ground and ran on ahead. When he reached the door, he ran around the woodshed barking.
Henry kicked the door open. He went in with his flashlight.
“What in the world!” he cried. They all went in. There was the little table back in the corner. There was the bench, the bed, the dishes, the cans, the egg.
The children just stood still and looked at each other.
B
enny was the first to speak. He said, “Well, this shows two things. Somebody’s living here. And his hiding place can’t be very far away.”
“That’s right, Benny,” said Henry. “Nobody could move all these things very far and then move them right back again.”
“I say we’d better look for a hole in this cabin,” said Benny. “Maybe there’s a cellar.” He began to flash his light on the floor. Henry did the same. They found nothing.
“This is a funny floor, anyway,” said Violet. “Just dirt.”
Sam said, “I’d take up that bed and look under it.”
“Yes,” said Henry. “Sorry, Watch. You’ll have to get off the bed.”
Benny pushed him off gently. Watch shook himself and sat down.
The children moved the blanket carefully. They moved the thick bed of hay under it.
“Now, look!” said Jessie. “Do you see what I see? That dirt has been moved!”
“That’s right, Miss Jessie,” said Sam. “And not very long ago either. I wish we had a shovel.”
“We don’t need a shovel,” said Henry. “We need a shingle. And I know exactly where I can find a shingle!”
Henry went over to the shelf and came back with a shingle. “I saw it under the cans the first day,” he said. He knelt down and pushed the shingle into the soft dirt. He worked and worked to find a hole or a crack.
“Let me try,” said Benny. “I love to dig.” He knelt down and began to dig away the dirt.
“Certainly that dirt has been moved,” said Violet. “See how soft it is.”
Then Benny found the crack.
“I’ve got it!” he shouted. “It’s heavy! I hope I don’t break the shingle!”
“Oh, I hope not!” cried Jessie. “Let Henry help you, Benny.”
Henry took the shingle and lifted. And up came a cover.
“A wood cover!” shouted Benny. “I bet there’s a cellar under this woodshed!”
Perhaps it was not a cellar, but there was surely a big hole under the cover. Some of the dirt fell in. Benny flashed his light down the hole.
“Stairs!” he cried. “I’m going right down!”
His foot was on the top step.
“Oh, no, you’re not,” said Sam. He shook his head. “I couldn’t let you. What would your Aunt Jane say if you got into trouble?”
“What trouble could I get into, Sam? There are only a few stairs.”
“Who knows?” said Sam. “Might be somebody down there.”
“Oh, no, Sam!” said Benny. “Watch would be right down there by now. And he would bark. And look at him!”
Watch was lying down chewing some hay. He was not interested in the hole.
“I’ll go down myself,” said Sam. “I’d like to see what’s down there.”
“You’re too tall,” said Benny.
“Well, I can bend over,” said Sam. “I am going first, that’s sure.”
“Take the biggest light, Sam,” said Henry.
Sam took the big light and put his foot on the first stair. The stair did not break. Sam moved slowly. He sat down on a stair and flashed the light ahead.
The Aldens held their breath.
“Well, what do you know!” he called. “It looks like a tunnel!”
