儿童英语读物 Bus Station Mystery CHAPTER 10 Benny Guesses

As the Aldens drove up to the town hall in Oakdale Benny exclaimed 1, “Look at the crowd! I never thought so many people would come to a town meeting.”



Grandfather smiled. He had been at town meetings before.



“Do you see Frank 2 anywhere?” Jessie asked. “I hope he comes early and meets Grandfather.”



Henry parked the car behind the truck from the paint factory. Someone had crossed out the last letter T on the sign. Now it read “Pickett’s Perfect Pain.”



Henry started to laugh, then he stopped. “There are some people around here who really want to get rid of Mr. Pickett and his factory,” he said.



“I hope there won’t be any trouble at the town meeting,” Jessie said. “People are excited.”



“There’s Frank,” Benny called, waving to him. “I don’t think he brought the dead fish. He has no bundle 3 under his arm.”



After Frank and Mr. Alden had met, the two men stood and talked in quiet voices. People walking into the town hall looked curiously 4 at them.



Benny heard a woman say, “We’ll get the state inspectors 5 to close Mr. Pickett’s factory. He can’t get away with spoiling 7 our river.”



“Wait a minute,” a man said. “I work for Mr. Pickett. I need a job. Don’t try to take work away from me! I don’t want the factory closed.”



“There’s Mr. Pickett,” Violet 8 whispered.



Mr. Pickett walked along quickly. Several men were with him. They did not look at Frank or Mr. Alden.



“I thought we’d see Jud and Troy,” Benny said, looking around. “They’re late.”



“They won’t be coming,” Frank said. “They are against the paint factory. It wouldn’t surprise me if their father has them locked up at home.”



“Locked up!” Benny exclaimed. “They didn’t do anything that bad.”



“You can try telling their father that,” Frank said.



Benny and Violet went over toward 9 the town hall. The others stood, still talking. Benny thought Grandfather looked like an old general planning for a battle. And maybe it would be a battle—there was a lot of excitement as people gathered.



Suddenly Benny stopped Violet and said, “Look over there! Frank’s wrong. Here they come.”



“Who? Where?” Violet asked.



“Jud and Troy! They’re locking their bikes up at the rack 10 over there.”



“Do you think they rode into Oakdale from Plainville Junction 11?” Violet asked. “That’s a long ride.”



“It is,” Benny agreed. “I guess they really wanted to get here. I hope they aren’t going to start any trouble. It would be easy to get this crowd angry.”



Then Benny heard a voice he knew. It was Troy’s. He was with Jud.



Troy was saying, “We couldn’t leave until Dad was gone. And if we walk into the meeting after it has started, everyone will stare at us.”



“You don’t see Dad outside, do you?” Jud asked. “How about his friends?” He sounded worried. Then he saw the Aldens.



“Look who’s here!” he exclaimed. “Did you forget something again?”



“Yeah, you’re outsiders. What are you doing here?” Troy asked.



“We’re with Frank,” Benny said. He didn’t see why he had to explain anything to these boys.



“With Frank?” Jud asked. He looked around then and saw Frank and the other Aldens coming into the building, too.



“Who’s that with you?” Troy asked.



“That’s my grandfather,” Benny answered. “He has some ideas that can help save the river.”



“He does?” Troy asked, surprised. “Do you think my dad will listen?”



“Boy, I wish he would,” Jud said. “I really wish he would.”



“We’ve tried everything we can think of,” Troy said. “Dad says there isn’t anything he can do. He doesn’t want the river spoiled. But he thinks he can’t do anything about it.”



The town meeting was about to begin. The last people who had been standing 12 outside were beginning to come in.



“Come on,” Jud said to his brother, “I don’t want Frank to see us. Let’s slip in and get some seats where Dad won’t see us.”



The boys disappeared, leaving Benny standing there. He saw his family and Frank starting toward the hall entrance.



Still Benny stood in the one spot. He was putting a lot of ideas together. Who was Jud and Troy’s father? Benny thought he knew—should he tell the others? Maybe not. They’d find out soon enough, he felt.



Inside the hall, chairs were set up in rows. There was an aisle 13 down the middle. A long table at the front was for the township officers.



All Mr. Pickett’s friends and workers sat together on one side. The persons who wanted to save the river filled the seats on the other side of the aisle. Up in front, the township officers took their places.



The big clock showed exactly eight o’clock. The crowd grew quiet as the moderator called the meeting to order. He explained why everyone had been asked to come. He said he hoped some way could be found to save the river. He asked everyone to take turns in speaking.



First, Mr. Pickett stood up to tell how his new factory helped Plainview Township. He pointed 14 out that people needed jobs. He believed workers needed something useful, like good paint, to make. When he said Pickett’s Perfect Paint was the best, some of the people behind him clapped.



The moderator said, “Let’s hear from that lady from Oakdale.”



The woman rose and said, “We need new factories. We need work so that people can buy things at our stores. But we don’t want our river spoiled. People are important. So is nature. Isn’t there some way we can have jobs and save the river too?”



Men and women on both sides of the hall clapped.



Benny twisted around to see if he could find Jud and Troy in the audience. He finally saw them sitting toward the back. They had slid down in their seats as if they didn’t want anyone to recognize them. Benny didn’t blame them. Not if his guess was right.



A man who introduced himself as a teacher spoke 15 next. He told how the river had changed since the factory had been built.



“Mr. Pickett may make good paint, but he is ruining our river,” he declared. “We can’t swim in it. We can’t fish in it. And all because one man pours dirty water from his factory into it. I say Mr. Pickett’s factory should be closed. We can do it!”



“Agree! Agree!” many people called out.



Mr. Pickett jumped to his feet. “You can’t do that!” he cried. “You can’t close my factory. I have put a lot of money in my business. Who needs fish from the river? You can buy fish at the market the way I do.” Then he sat down.



Suddenly a lot of angry voices began to fill the hall. It was impossible to tell what was being said.



The man in charge of the meeting called out, “Order! Order! Let one person speak at a time.”



Frank raised his hand to show that he had something to say.



Benny was sorry not to see the bundle of fish in his hand. “Too bad,” he said to Henry. “That fish would have been a good piece of evidence.”



To everyone’s surprise, Frank went to a table and opened a drawer. He took out a newspaper bundle.



“You don’t have to touch this,” Frank said to the people. “But I assure 16 you it is a fresh dead fish.”



“Fresh dead fish,” everyone murmured, half laughing.



“It’s fresh,” Frank went on, “because it hasn’t been dead long. Just this afternoon this fish was swimming in our river. Then I saw him stop swimming and float to the top. I picked him up. You can find a fish like this almost any time, poisoned by waste from the paint factory.”



“That’s a fine new piece of evidence,” called a teen-ager from the front row.



“Just exactly what I said!” Benny whispered.



But Frank had not quite finished what he wanted to say. “I have called the factory a bad neighbor,” he said. “And now Mr. Pickett wants to buy my house and land and make it into a parking lot.”



“And you’re going to sell him your land?” someone asked, sounding shocked.



“No!” Frank shouted. “I’m not selling. But I am hoping Mr. Pickett can become a good neighbor. If he makes some changes in his factory, I believe he can make paint and not spoil 6 the river. Just spend some money, that’s how!”



Mr. Pickett stood up. He looked at the men and women in the hall before speaking. Then he said, “I do want to be a good neighbor to Frank and to everyone. But who can show me how to run my factory and keep the river clean?”



“This gentleman over here can, I think,” Frank answered and asked Grandfather to rise. “Mr. James Alden.”



Everyone turned around to stare. Mr. Alden stood up and smiled. Then he walked over to Mr. Pickett and shook his hand.



“I have had some of the same troubles in my plastics factories that you have had,” he explained. “Bad odors 17. Polluted water. In my plants we have found a way to burn the bad-smelling gases before they go up the chimney 18. We need a great deal of water. But we use the same water over and over. Not a bit of dirty water empties into any river or sewer 19.”



“None?” asked Mr. Pickett.



“None. The dirty water goes into big tanks. The dirt and pollution settle to the bottom of the tanks. Clean water rises to the top. It can be used again, and the tanks are cleaned out to hold more water.”



Mr. Pickett was listening carefully.



Mr. Alden continued, “You probably have a dust problem in your factory, too. That’s not bad for the river, but it is bad for your workers. We use a huge suction machine to pull the dust out of the air so that the air is safe to breathe.”



The moderator asked, “Do I understand you, Mr. Alden? You say that Mr. Pickett’s factory can make paint and be a better place to work, too?”



“Exactly,” said Mr. Alden. “If Mr. Pickett agrees, I’ll be glad to take him to my factories and show him what we do. My men will explain how the air and water are kept clean. I will be happy to talk with him about the business details.”



Now everyone looked at Mr. Pickett. He spoke slowly. “Of course I know Mr. Alden’s name. With his help I think I can make some changes.” He smiled. “Then we’ll have Pickett’s Perfect Paint forever and a clean river, too!”



Everyone clapped. Benny turned around to see what Jud and Troy were doing. They were on their feet, clapping and edging toward the aisle. Were they going to slip out before the meeting was over?



The moderator called for order. He thanked everyone, then smiled and said, “If we work together, we can solve our problems. Meeting adjourned 20!”



Now Benny saw that Jud and Troy weren’t going out. They were hurrying over to the other side of the hall. Suddenly they were running toward Mr. Pickett. People cleared the way for them, and some of the crowd smiled.



“Dad!” Jud said. “You were wonderful! You were great!”



Mr. Pickett had started to frown 21 when he saw the boys. Now his frown turned to a wide smile. He saw all the Aldens and Frank coming over, too.



“Meet my sons, Jud and Troy,” Mr. Pickett said to Mr. Alden. “And Frank, let me shake your hand. You and my boys and everyone else are going to have a clean river.”