Long before the family saw the cabin, Watch began to bark. His bark sounded different to the Aldens. They all looked ahead. There stood the little log cabin. They walked up to it as fast as they could. The door was locked, but Henry had the key.
Watch was the first one inside. He ran around with his nose to the floor, smelling everything. The Aldens came in after Watch. They found themselves in one room with a bare table and six plain chairs at one end. Under the one window by the table was a long window seat with hard, brown cushions on it.
When Benny saw the window seat, he said, “That makes me think of the night we spent in the baker’s shop before we found the boxcar. I think I’ll sleep there just for fun.”
Henry said, “I think it will only be one night, Ben. Those cushions look hard.”
Jessie said, “I like the couch better.” She poked the bright green couch as she spoke. “Oh, this is old, but it’s soft! I guess it’s for company. It opens out into a double bed.”
“Well, we don’t need it,” said Henry. “We certainly won’t have company.”
“We can sit on it,” said Benny. “And look at Watch! He can lie on it.”
Jessie looked at Watch and laughed. The dog already lay stretched out on the couch.
“You think I’m going to make you get off,” Jessie said. “But you can stay this time, Watch. You can’t hurt that old couch.”
At the other end of the room was an oilstove. Beside it was a small sink with one faucet.
“Cold,” said Benny, trying it.
“Of course, Ben,” said Henry. “What did you expect? Hot water? That’s spring water.”
There were two shelves and a drawer beside the sink. On the shelf were a few dishes. A neat pile of firewood was stacked against the wall.
“Oh, we have a fireplace,” said Violet. “How nice. That’s what the wood is for.”
Just over the fireplace was a shelf with two lanterns and two candles on it. Beside the fireplace were two long-handled shovels and an ax.
There were two small bedrooms at the left side of the front door. Jessie lifted the curtain over the door to one bedroom and saw two bunk beds. The other room was the same.
Without a word, the Aldens put their sleeping bags on the four bunks. They set their knapsacks down and went back to the living room. On the table was a thick, black book.
“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Henry. “This must be the Visitors’ Book. Remember, Grandfather told us to be sure to write our names and the date in this book. Here’s an empty page.”
Henry took out a pen and wrote his name and address and the date. Then he gave the pen to Jessie. Each one wrote his name on the page.
After that, Violet turned back to read the first pages of the book. There were many rows of names.
“Here’s the storeman’s name, Thomas Nelson!” cried Benny. “Why should he come up here?”
“Maybe he comes to hunt,” answered Henry.
“But he lives in the woods now,” said Benny. “He wouldn’t have to come to the cabin to hunt.”
Henry said, “It is strange, Benny, that he should bring his family. I guess this must be his wife, Barbara Nelson. And here’s Puggsy Nelson. That must be a little boy.”
“Maybe it’s a little girl,” said Jessie.
“I don’t think it could be a girl,” said Henry. “They wouldn’t call a girl Puggsy even as a nickname. But why should he bring his family with him, anyway?”
“Oh, let’s sit on the window seat and look through this book,” said Jessie, taking off her thick jacket. “I’d like to see who else we’ll find. We’ve got lots of time.”
They took off their coats and all four sat down on the window seat. Henry turned the pages as they read off the names.
“Here’s Mr. Robert Robbins. He’s one of Grandfather’s friends,” Henry said. He turned another page.
“Oh, look! Here’s the Nelson family again!” said Benny.
“Now, why do you suppose they came twice?” asked Violet. “It couldn’t be to hunt.”
“Ah,” said Benny, trying to be funny. “A mystery! Jessie said we always have a mystery.”
“No, Ben,” Jessie laughed. “I didn’t say a mystery. I said an adventure.”
“Well, you were right, weren’t you?” asked Benny. “Isn’t this an adventure?”
Henry said, “I’d call this a mystery, myself. Look.” He pointed to an earlier page. There was the Nelson family a third time.
“Now, everyone listen,” said Jessie. “We don’t need any groceries. But let’s go down to Nelson’s Store and just look around. What do you say?”
“Good,” said Violet and Henry together.
Benny said, “I agree, but wouldn’t it be a good idea to eat lunch first?”
Henry shut the book and got up. “I told you, Ben, you’d be the first to be hungry. But I don’t blame you. I’m hungry myself after that climb. When’s lunch?”
Jessie and Violet were already in the kitchen, which was only the other end of the room.
“Let’s have sandwiches,” said Benny. “They don’t take long. For supper we can cook things and have a fire in the fireplace.”
“A good idea,” said Violet. “I’d like a tuna fish sandwich. I hope we brought a can opener.”
“We did,” said Jessie. “And if we didn’t, remember Benny has his pocketknife.”
Benny’s pocketknife had everything in it, from a screwdriver to a small pair of scissors.
Violet hunted in the kitchen drawer and found a red-and-white plastic tablecloth. She spread this on the table. Then Violet ran outside and soon came back with some red and yellow leaves. She put these in a small white bowl in the middle of the table.
“I could eat ten sandwiches, Jessie,” said Benny.
“All right. Wait till you eat two, and then I’ll make more. But I’ll have to open another can of tuna fish.”
When the sandwiches were gone, along with many cups of milk, Benny found that he didn’t want any more after all. They ate bananas for dessert.
As they sat there eating, Jessie said, “Let’s unpack everything before we go and see if we want to take anything with us on the hike.”
“Let’s take the field glasses,” said Benny. “In case we see any birds.”
Violet said, “Shh, look! Look out into the tree.”
There was a woodpecker on the trunk, and a goldfinch and a chickadee flying among the branches.
Jessie said, “It’s a good thing we saw the birds before we went. We can buy some sunflower seed and set up a bird feeder.”
“While we’re at the store,” said Benny, “maybe we can find out if Puggsy is a name for a boy or a girl.”
“Do you know the way, Benny?” asked Violet.
“No, but I guess I can find it. There is only one path.”
“Grandfather said he was sure we couldn’t miss it,” Violet said.
“And lock the door!” sang Benny. He and Watch were already chasing each other.
Down the path they went, looking on every side for something new. A rabbit scuttled away far ahead of them, showing his short white tail.
“Look!” said Violet. “He’s scared. Maybe he never saw people before.”
Just then Watch smelled the rabbit. He started to run so suddenly he almost turned head over heels.
“Watch!” called Henry. “Stop that!”
But Watch wouldn’t mind Henry or anyone else—except Jessie.
She called, “Watch, stop this minute!”
Poor Watch stopped so fast he skidded on his side. He always obeyed Jessie. He looked up at her now with sad eyes.
“I’m sorry, Watch. Yes, I know,” said Jessie, patting his head, “it’s too bad. But you can’t kill rabbits, that’s sure. Understand?”
Watch was sorry, but he seemed to understand. He trotted along with the family.
Then Violet found some trailing vines and red berries. “On the way back, I’ll pick them. Then we’ll have something pretty to look at in our cabin,” she said.
But Henry was not looking at the ground. He was looking up into the trees. In fact, he stopped for a minute to look up.
“What are you looking for?” asked Benny.
“I’m not looking for anything,” Henry answered. “But these trees are nut trees. It’s possible we could find some hickory nuts still on the ground. I see a few left in the trees.”
“Oh,” said Jessie. “Those nuts are delicious. We could get a lot and crack them at the cabin.”
“It’s a lot of fun to find them,” said Violet. “But don’t you think we had better go nutting another day? We still have to find Nelson’s Store.”
“Yes, that’s so,” replied Jessie.
“We want to get home before dark,” Henry said. “Remember, we don’t know much about this country.” |