儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Haunted Boxcar CHAPTER 6 A Treasure Hunt

The children stared at the corner of the boxcar.



“A place to hide something?” Jessie repeated. “To hide what?”



“That’s what I want to find out,” Henry said. He peered closely at the nails holding the boards in place. Then he ran out of the boxcar.



“Where — ” Jessie called after him. But he was already gone.



Henry ran straight to Grandfather’s workshop. He grabbed a hammer and returned to the boxcar.



“What’s that for?” Violet asked when she saw what Henry was holding.



“I’m going to pry 1 out the nails holding the boards. Then we can see what’s behind there,” Henry said excitedly.



“Wait a minute,” said Jessie. “Remember Professor Murray said our boxcar is a valuable antique. First we should ask Mrs. McGregor if it’s okay.”



Henry sighed. He was eager to see what was hidden in that compartment 2 and didn’t want to wait. But he knew Jessie was right. “All right.”



Jessie ran into the house. The others waited impatiently for her return. At last she came running back across the grass.



“She said it’s okay, as long as we’re very careful,” Jessie said. “She said it could always be nailed back into place.”



“Great!” said Henry. One by one, Henry pried 3 off all the nails holding the board in place. He took off the board and looked down into the narrow space behind.



“What do you see?” Benny asked eagerly.



“It’s too dark,” Henry said after a moment. “I can’t see anything.” He began removing the nails from the next board. As he pulled out the last nail, the board began to tilt 4 forward. Henry caught the board and set it on the floor.



The children were quite surprised to see what was hidden inside.



On the floor in the corner sat an old-fashioned rag doll. She was made completely of cloth, with thick brown yarn 5 for hair. Her face had been stitched on with colored threads. She wore a faded dress with an apron 6 on top. Henry carefully picked up the doll. After looking at it for a moment, he handed it to Jessie, who held it delicately and examined its hair and face.



“A doll?” said Benny. “Why would a doll be in a secret compartment?”



“I wonder who this belonged to,” Jessie said in a hushed voice. She handed the doll to Violet, who cradled it gently in her arms.



“How long do you think she’s been hidden there?” asked Violet. “She looks very old.”



“And worn out,” added Benny.



“It looks like someone loved this doll very much,” said Violet.



“It must have been hidden here a long time ago,” said Henry. “See how much darker the walls of the boxcar are behind where I removed the boards? That’s because the sunlight faded the rest of the walls. Seems to me this compartment must have been closed up for a long time.”



“I wonder if the person who came here last night was looking for this doll,” said Jessie.



“How would anybody know about her?” Violet asked.



“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “But Professor Murray and Amelia both seemed so interested in looking at our boxcar. I’m wondering if maybe the boxcar wasn’t the only thing that interested them.”



“Do you think the doll is valuable?” asked Violet.



“That old thing?” said Benny, looking surprised.



“Some old things are worth a lot of money,” Jessie explained.



Henry had another idea. “Maybe whoever broke into the boxcar has some connection to the doll.”



Benny’s eyes widened. “You think whoever hid it here came back to get it? And stole a cookie?”



Henry smiled and shook his head. “No, whoever hid the doll here must have done it long ago, before we even found the boxcar. And I don’t think it’s related to the cookie.”



Violet stroked the doll’s soft hair and fluffed her little dress. As she was smoothing the doll’s apron she felt something inside the tiny pocket. “What’s this?” she asked, pulling out a scrap 7 of paper. Violet set the doll in her lap and carefully unfolded the paper. “It says, Dig next to the doorstep.” She held the note out for the others to see.



“Dig next to the doorstep?” repeated Henry. “But what — ”



“It’s a treasure hunt!” Benny said excitedly. “We’re supposed to dig next to the doorstep to find the treasure!” He quickly got to his feet. “Let’s go!”



Benny jumped out the door and followed the others. They stood looking at the stump 8 they used as a doorstep.



But suddenly Henry said, “Wait a minute. If this doll was hidden a long time ago, then this is the wrong doorstep.”



“What do you mean?” asked Violet.



“Remember, the boxcar didn’t used to be here,” Henry reminded them. “Grandfather moved it for us.”



“You’re right!” said Jessie. “If we want to dig next to the doorstep, we have to go back to Silver City where the boxcar used to be!”



“Can we?” Benny asked.



“Sure,” said Jessie. “Silver City isn’t too far from here. We could get there on our bicycles.” She looked at her watch. “But I think it will have to wait until tomorrow. It’s nearly dinnertime.”



“All right,” said Henry. “Sounds like tomorrow will be an adventure.”



The children all smiled at one another. Violet looked down at the doll that she was still holding and gave it a gentle hug.



When they went inside for dinner, the Aldens showed Mrs. McGregor the doll.



“She looks like a very old doll,” said the housekeeper 9.



When they told her about the note in the doll’s apron pocket, Mrs. McGregor’s eyes widened. “Sounds like a treasure hunt,” she said.



“That’s what I thought!” said Benny.



“Tomorrow we’d like to go back to the place where the boxcar was before,” Jessie said.



“Sounds exciting,” said Mrs. McGregor. “I can’t wait to hear what you find!”



After they’d eaten, the children went out to the boxcar. They were excited to camp out. They waved to Professor Murray and Claire, who were just getting out of a car and going into the house next door.



“Did you get the brochure I left you?” Professor Murray called.



“Yes,” said Jessie. “Thank you.”



“What do you think?” he asked.



The children looked at one another.



“It was … interesting,” said Henry. “We’ll show it to our grandfather.”



“Good,” said Professor Murray. “It’s a wonderful museum. I think it would be just the right place for your boxcar.”



The Murrays went into the house.



“He just keeps on trying,” said Henry as they went into the boxcar. “Convincing us to give up the boxcar seems really important to him.”



The Aldens put on their pajamas 10. They arranged their sleeping bags and pillows in two neat lines. Henry’s and Benny’s sleeping bags were blue, Jessie’s was red, and of course Violet’s was purple, with tiny purple flowers on the soft flannel 11 lining 12. Jessie placed their flashlight in the center of the sleeping bags, and its cozy 13 light filled the boxcar.



“Now can we have the cookies?” Benny asked. He had gotten an extra one from Mrs. McGregor to replace the missing one.



“Not yet,” said Violet. “I’ll be right back.” She ran back to the house.



“What is she doing?” Benny asked. “I’ve been waiting all day for my other cookie.”



Henry and Jessie shrugged 14.



When Violet returned, she was holding a pitcher 15 of cold milk and a stack of paper cups.



“Good thinking!” Jessie said. Picking up the flashlight, she walked over to the corner where they’d left the cookie tin.



As she walked back with the tin, Benny said, “Wait a minute!”



“I thought you wanted a cookie right away,” Jessie said.



“I do, but I just realized something,” Benny explained. “See how the flashlight beam seems to kind of float as Jessie carries it? The light I saw last night moved like that, too.”



“Maybe that’s what it was,” said Henry. “Maybe someone was over here carrying a flashlight.”



“That explains why the light was bouncing along like that,” Benny said.



“But we still don’t know who it was,” Violet reminded him.



Jessie set the cookie tin next to the flashlight in the center of all the sleeping bags. Violet poured each of them a cup of milk. They all sat on their sleeping bags and enjoyed the bedtime treat. Watch lay curled up on his flannel blanket in the corner.



“I can’t wait until tomorrow when we go back to where the boxcar used to be,” said Benny, licking crumbs 16 from his fingers.



“I wonder what we’ll find there,” said Violet. She stroked the rag doll, which she had placed beside her pillow.



“Remember how happy we were to find the boxcar?” Jessie said. “It was about to rain, and we needed shelter.”



“You and Jessie looked inside first to make sure it was okay,” said Violet. “Then we all ran inside, and it made such a warm, dry little house.”



“I remember that,” said Benny, grinning. He gulped 17 down the last of his milk.



“I wonder what we’ll find when we dig,” said Henry.



“I can’t wait to see!” Benny said.



When they’d finished eating, they all went back in the house and washed their hands and faces and brushed their teeth. Then they said good night to Mrs. McGregor.



“Sleep well,” she called after them. “Wake me if you need anything.”



Once they were in the boxcar, Jessie slid the door almost all the way closed. She left it open a crack to let in fresh air.



“I wonder if anything unusual will happen here tonight,” said Benny. He climbed into his sleeping bag and snuggled down deep.



“We’ll soon find out,” said Henry. He picked up Benny’s book and read him the next chapter. “Now try to sleep.”



“I’m too excited,” said Benny.



“Just try,” Henry said, rolling over with his own book.



Benny’s thoughts were racing 18. What would they find when they dug near the old doorstep? Would anything strange happen that night? But he was so tired he soon fell asleep.



When the Aldens woke, a thin line of sunlight was streaming through the door crack.



“It’s morning,” Benny said with a yawn. “And no ghosts came last night.”



“You sound disappointed,” said Jessie, stretching.



“I guess I am,” Benny replied.



The children hurried to dress and roll up their sleeping bags.



“Good morning,” said Mrs. McGregor when they came in for breakfast. “How was your night?”



“It was fine,” said Henry.



“No ghosts,” said Benny.



Mrs. McGregor smiled.



The children ate quickly because they were eager to be on their way.



“Let’s bring a lunch with us,” Jessie suggested. “We can have a picnic there.”



“Good idea,” the others agreed. Jessie and Benny got out bread and ham and made sandwiches. Henry filled a thermos 19 with lemonade and found some cups. Violet added fresh peaches. They put all the food into Jessie’s backpack and grabbed the picnic blanket.



When they said good-bye to Mrs. McGregor, she handed them something wrapped in foil.



“What’s this?” asked Jessie.



“You can’t let the rest of those good cookies go to waste,” said the housekeeper.



“No, we certainly can’t,” Jessie agreed, tucking the cookies into her backpack with the rest of their lunch.



Henry grabbed a shovel 20 from the garden shed, and they set off on their bicycles.



They were just heading out of the driveway when they saw Claire and her father walking across their yard.



“Hi!” called Violet.



Claire smiled shyly. “Hi.”



“We’re riding over to Silver City,” said Violet. “Want to join us?”



Claire’s smile faded. “I don’t have a bike here.”



“That’s too bad,” said Violet.



“I was just going over to say hello to your grandfather,” Professor Murray said.



“He’s away on business,” said Henry.



“Still?” said the professor. “You must miss him when he’s gone.”



The Aldens nodded. “But we like it when he comes back!” Benny said.



“Claire doesn’t like it when I travel either,” said Professor Murray. “She has bad dreams about ghosts.”



Claire blushed. “Just sometimes,” she said softly.



Professor Murray smiled. “Do you kids ever worry about ghosts?”



“Not really,” said Benny.



“Claire, we’ll come by when we get back, and maybe you can play then,” Violet suggested.



“Okay,” said Claire, her smile returning. The Aldens waved good-bye and pedaled off. When they were out of hearing distance, Jessie turned to the others. “Don’t you think it’s a little strange how Professor Murray keeps talking about ghosts?” she said.



“I noticed that, too,” said Henry. “If he is the one ‘haunting’ the boxcar, he wants us to be scared — scared enough to sell it to a museum.”



No one knew what to say to that. So they just kept riding.



The ride to Silver City was long, but it was a beautiful day. The children pedaled along happily, enjoying the sunshine, the blue sky, and the flowers and trees around them.



At last they came to the woods where the boxcar had been. Tall old trees reached up into the sky. Overgrown bushes were everywhere.



“This is the place,” said Jessie excitedly, leading the way.



The children walked their bikes into the woods, pushing branches out of the way as they went. After a little while they came to a large open area. Rusty 21 train tracks cut through the middle. Grass and bushes grew over the tracks.



“Here’s where the boxcar was,” Henry said, leading the way.



“And look, this is where the stump used to be,” said Jessie, pointing to the spot.



“Do you remember how Benny was afraid to live in the boxcar at first?” said Henry. “He was worried the engine would come take us away”



They all laughed at that.



“There’s the brook 22 where we used to wash,” Violet said, pointing. The children ran over and dipped their hands in the cold, clear water.



Suddenly Benny remembered why they were there. “Well, if this is where the stump was,” he said, “then this is where we should dig!”



“You’re right,” said Henry, unfastening the shovel, which he had strapped 23 onto the back of his bike. “Let’s get started.”



Henry began digging on one side of where the stump had been. The ground was hard, making it a tough job.



After he had dug a fairly large hole, he stopped and looked at the others. So far, they’d found nothing. “Maybe it’s the other side,” he said.



“I guess so,” said Jessie. “I’ll do some now.” She took the shovel and began digging.



Benny was beginning to worry that maybe there would be no treasure after all.



Jessie was about to give up digging when the shovel hit something hard. She stopped and looked at the others. “Either I’ve hit a big rock, or we’ve just found something.”



Digging more slowly now, she carefully uncovered a smooth square of metal.



“Look at that!” cried Benny.



Jessie dug around the four sides of the square to reveal a metal box. When she had cleared a lot of the dirt away, Henry bent 24 down and grabbed hold of the box. He pulled, but it was still too deep in the ground. It didn’t budge 25.



Jessie dug a little more dirt out and Henry tried again. This time the box came up.



“At last!” Benny cried. “We’ve found the treasure!”