儿童英语读物 The Haunted Cabin Mystery CHAPTER 3 Cap and Doodle

After they left the ship, the children decided 1 that they needed to call Cap Lambert the very first thing.



“Can I just sit some place and wait?” Benny asked. “My legs feel funny when I walk.”



“Mine do, too,” Jessie said. “Those are our ‘sea legs.’ We’ll get our land legs back right away.”



The girls and Benny sat on a bench while Henry went to use a public phone. They were barely settled before he was back. “Cap Lambert’s phone has been disconnected,” he said, frowning thoughtfully.



“Oh, that’s not good at all,” Violet said. “If he’s been injured, he needs a phone.”



“And it means that Grandfather wasn’t able to call him to say we were on the boat. He must not even know we’re coming,” Henry said. “It’s not very nice just to surprise him.”



“I know he’ll be glad when he sees us,” Benny said. “Grandfather said it was only three miles to his house. That’s not very far for us to walk.”



“You’re right, Benny,” Jessie said. “But remember, Cap Lambert has been hurt. If he isn’t expecting us, he may not be prepared. I think we should take some groceries.”



Benny jumped up. “That’s a great idea,” he said. “They had everything I liked on the ship except peanut butter.”



“Do you have your land legs back?” Jessie asked.



Benny nodded and raced into the store to prove it. The grocer watched them with interest as they picked out things they all liked. Along with the regular groceries, like dried milk, cocoa, spaghetti, and tomato sauce, they bought some treats — cinnamon candy, marshmallows, and, of course, peanut butter, a large jar. While the grocer added up their bill, Henry picked up a lamp and looked at it. It had a funny smell.



“That’s a kerosene 2 lamp,” the grocer told him. “They come in mighty 3 handy where there isn’t any electricity.” He looked at the bags of groceries and frowned. “Surely you’re not aiming to carry all this clear out to Lambert’s?”



“There are four of us,” Henry reminded him.



“No matter,” he said. “I might find you a ride with somebody going that way.”



The children looked at each other, then Jessie smiled at him. “That’s very nice of you,” she said. “But we like walking. But we need to know the way to find Owl’s Glen.”



A little later, as they set off with a suitcase in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other, Henry spoke 4 quietly. “Look back,” he said. “Isn’t that Mr. Jay watching us there by the post office?”



Jessie glanced back, nodding. “You’re right,” she said.



“Where?” Violet asked. But by the time she turned, he had turned away and disappeared down the side street.



“I don’t like it when people spy on us and I don’t know why,” Benny said.



“None of us do,” Jessie told him. “But we won’t have to wonder about him any more. Our boat will go back down the river to St. Louis this afternoon. He’ll be on it, and we’ll probably never see him again.”



“I do like mysteries, though,” Benny admitted.



The road to Cap Lambert’s was mostly downhill. Tall bushes and trees grew close to its side, shutting off the light. The road crossed a stream that was marked POSSUM CREEK 5. By the time they saw a log cabin up ahead, it was getting dark.



“Do you suppose that’s Cap’s place?” Jessie asked, stopping. The chimney of the low cabin sent a thin wisp of blue smoke into the sky. The giant pine trees cast such a deep shade that the cabin’s porch was in full darkness.



“I don’t hear any owls,” Benny said, setting down his suitcase and groceries. “But let’s stop and see anyway. My legs are tired of this road. It sure is dark here. Maybe the cabin is haunted.”



Jessie laughed. “Benny! What an imagination you have.”



As Henry unlocked the gate, a sudden screeching 6 came from the porch. With a flash of red and a beating of wings, a brightly colored rooster flew squawking down the walk at them. Benny yipped with delight and ran to meet the rooster.



“Doodle,” Benny cried, kneeling, forgetting his fears.



The rooster stopped with his wings still spread. As he cocked his head at Benny, a gruff voice came from the porch. “Get back here, Doodle, you crazy rooster. What’s going on out there, anyway?”



Before anyone could answer, Benny had run up to the porch. “You must be Cap Lambert,” he said in a rush. “How did you get hurt, anyway? I hope you’re feeling better.”



“What is this?” the old man asked, peering at him from the shade. “Go away, whoever you are.”



The girls looked at each other with wide eyes as Henry stepped forward to join Benny. “We’re the Alden children,” he said.



The man on the porch was sitting in a high-backed chair. His bandaged leg was propped 7 on a stool. A pair of crutches 8 leaned against the wall. He looked terribly old in the dim light. His gray hair stuck out under his cap, and his full curling beard was gray, too. “I guess my message didn’t reach you. That’s a pity.”



“Oh, but it did!” Benny said. “We came anyway.”



The rooster had come back up the walk. He flapped up to sit on Cap’s shoulder and stare at the children.



“You must be Benny,” Cap Lambert said. “Your grandfather told me you were a talker.”



Benny nodded and turned to introduce Henry and the girls.



“You got my telegram and came on anyway?” Cap asked when he had nodded at each of the children. He was frowning a little. “What was that Alden thinking of?”



“It was our idea,” Jessie admitted. “We had to talk Grandfather into letting us come.”



“You should have saved your breath,” Cap Lambert grumbled 9. “I’ll have to turn you around and send you right back. There’s no one here to care for you, and it’s not safe around here anyway.”



“Oh, but we came to take care of you,” Violet said, telling him how they had convinced their grandfather. He listened, still frowning.



“You make a fair case,” he finally admitted. “I’ve been afraid to go out on the rough ground with this bad ankle. I called the mailman in to send that telegram for me and haven’t left the cabin. There was enough feed in the bins 10 to take care of the chickens for a while, and the eggs can wait in the nests. My horse Pilot gets his water from a spring-fed trough and has plenty of hay. The garden and orchard 11 just have to tend themselves.”



“We’re good with chickens,” Benny told him. “And horses, too. We learned out on Aunt Jane’s ranch 12.”



Cap looked at them and sighed. “There’s nothing to do tonight, I guess. You might as well take your things inside. We’ll worry about getting you back to town tomorrow. I suppose you’re hungry, too.”



“I’m always hungry,” Benny told him, grinning.



“But you don’t have to worry about food,” Jessie said quickly. “All of us like to cook, and we brought things for dinner. Henry and I will fix it while Benny and Violet help you inside.”



Jessie’s plan worked perfectly 13. By the time Cap was installed in his rocking chair by the hearth 14, the water was boiling for spaghetti, and tomato sauce was simmering on the back of the old wood stove. Violet found a red-and-white-checkered cloth for the round oak table and went outside to look for some flowers for a centerpiece. As she picked a bunch of wild daisies at the edge of the woods, she heard a kitten mew. She stood very still, looking for it, but she never did find it.



Cap Lambert sniffed 15 the air and winked 16 at Benny. “I believe I’m as hungry as you are, Benny,” he said. “I’ve been getting along on cold things I could rustle 17 for myself.”



Even though the cabin needed a good cleaning, it looked cozy 18 and friendly with the five of them gathered around the table.



“We were all sorry to hear you were hurt,” Henry said. “Tell us about your accident.”



Cap Lambert’s voice had lost its gruffness as they made friends. His color was better, too, after eating two heaping plates of hot spaghetti. But his voice sounded worried as he tried to explain. “That was the strangest thing ever. I know every inch of this place with my eyes shut. There never had been any deep hole out there by the garden before. But there I was with my foot down in it and my ankle twisted under me. It hurt too much to do anything but hobble back inside. By morning that ankle was as big around as my head, and I’ve been laid up ever since.”



“Are you sure it’s not broken?” Violet asked, looking at him with concern.



He nodded. “I can move my foot around. It’s just too sprained 19 and swollen 20 to walk on. That’s why I asked the mailman to send that telegram to your grandfather.”



“That’s not enough reason to keep us away,” Henry said. “We’ll have fun taking care of you and your place.”



“But I had other reasons besides that to keep you from coming,” Cap said, his voice getting lower and angry again. “Things just aren’t the same around here anymore. I feel too far from everybody, and strange things happen that I don’t understand, like a hole coming in the ground overnight.”



“You must have neighbors,” Jessie said.



“I used to,” he said. “But just this spring my neighbor Roger Hodges got killed in a car accident. There’re only his wife and children left over the hill, and I haven’t seen Susie or Ned since summer came.” He looked up at Jessie. “I miss those kids. Susie’s about your size, I’d guess, and Ned has just turned ten.”



“Like me,” Violet said, rising to clear the table. Then she paused and glanced over at Doodle, perched on the back of Cap’s chair. “Do you have a cat?” she asked Cap.



He looked up and shook his head. “Never in this life,” he said. “Why do you ask?”



She smiled. “I was sure I heard a kitten out in your yard. I couldn’t find it. But a bird flew out of that same bush. It couldn’t have been a bird, could it?”



He laughed. “I’m not much on birds, but I’d say it was a strange bird that would make the noise of a cat.”