The Lighthouse Mystery

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

  27

  Henry, stopping the car. He put his head out of the window.

  "How much do you want?" asked the man who was the foreman.

  "Well, we want to make some seats and a table down on the rocks by the

  lighthouse. How much would you think we'd need?"

  "Take this small bag," said the foreman. "Bring back what you don't

  want."

  Henry said, "Is it three parts of sand to one part of cement?"

  "Right," said the foreman. "You can borrow this hoe if you want."

  "That's neat!" cried Benny. "I'll hoe!"

  "Wish I could come and help you," said the man, smiling. He looked at

  the laughing family. They all laughed again. Henry lifted the bag into

  the car, and Benny took the hoe.

  "I'll put the cement on Violet's feet," said Henry. But he was joking.

  Then the Aldens noticed that one of the men

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  was staring at them with big, black eyes. It was the same man who had

  almost bumped into Jessie.

  When he saw that they knew him, the man turned his back and began to

  work again.

  After they had driven away, Jessie could not help saying, "That was odd

  seeing that man again." Everyone agreed.

  "Stop at the store, Henry, and buy a trowel," said Grandfather. "You'll

  have to smooth the cement and carry it to the rocks."

  When the Aldens got back to the lighthouse they went to the rocks at

  once. The only seat which was comfortable already was Mr. Alden's. They

  29

  walked around trying to find big rocks of the right shape. Benny sat

  down on every seat he could find to try it. Then the boys began to carry

  big stones and the girls took the little stones to fill the cracks. At

  last they had five seats around a fine table.

  Henry began to mix the cement. "Not with salt water," he said. "We must

  have fresh water."

  He found a big rock that was shaped like a tub. He mixed the cement in

  that.

  "Now let me hoe it, Henry," begged Benny. "I know just how to do it. I

  watched the men."

  "Don't mix up too much at first," said Jessie. "It will get hard before

  we finish all the seats."

  "Isn't this fun?" cried Benny, hoeing away. "Just like making mud pies.

  Let's do Violet's seat first. She has such a comfortable looking chair

  already." So they carried the cement in a newspaper and Benny plastered

  the seat and smoothed it with the trowel.

  "Isn't that wonderful!" said Violet. "I'd love to try it."

  30

  "Better not," said Henry. "Let it dry overnight."

  Then Jessie and Henry took turns with the trowel, and at last they all

  helped Benny with his own seat and the table.

  "Let's make places for cups on the table," said Violet. So when the

  cement on the table was soft and smooth she pressed a cup into it in

  five places. The mark made a wonderful saucer. The cup could not fall

  off.

  "Plates, too!" said Benny.

  With a stick he drew B for Benny, J for Jessie, V for Violet, H for

  Henry, and G for grandfather beside the plates.

  The cement was almost gone, but they took the bag back to the workmen

  and Henry paid the foreman for it. He gave back the hoe. They noticed

  that the black-eyed man was not there.

  "I'm glad," said Benny as they drove back, "I don't like him anyway."

  "I wonder who he is," said Mr. Alden.

  It was not too long before he found out.

  31

  CHAPTER 4

  A Midnight Visitor

  It was delightful to sit on the beach that evening even though they

  could not use their new seats. The family sat there long after supper

  watching the sunset.

  Gulls flew overhead and landed on the rocks near by.

  Suddenly Henry said, "It's queer how sleepy we get."

  "It's the sea air," said Mr. Alden. "Go to bed anytime you want."

  In fact, the whole family went to bed at nine o'clock and were asleep

  very soon after.

  The Conley town clock struck as it always did. Ten, eleven, twelve. And

  then Watch began to whine. His hair stood up along his back and around

  his neck. He began to howl.

  32

  "No, Watch," said Benny. "If you're going to howl every night at

  midnight, you might as well go home. You're no help to us."

  But Watch went right on howling.

  "I wonder if someone is cooking in that little house," said Henry.

  "No one's there," said Benny. "We would have heard him go crunch,

  crunch, crunch on those little stones."

  "That house is all boarded up anyway," said Jessie. "The door must be

  locked and the windows don't open. Nobody could be in there."

  "Someone might take off a board and get in a window," said Henry. "Then

  he could put the board back every night. Tomorrow we'll take a look."

  Benny wanted to go right down. But just then Watch began to quiet down.

  He gave a last growl and went to sleep.

  "You're a funny dog," said Benny. "See that you keep still the rest of

  the night."

  But it was not Watch who kept Jessie and Violet

  33

  awake a little longer. When Jessie turned out her light she looked out

  of her window. In the moonlight she saw a woman walking quietly away.

  Her feet did not go crunch, crunch. She walked softly in the tall beach

  grass.

  34

  Jessie called quietly to Violet. She came and looked out, too.

  "A woman!" she whispered. "What do you suppose she is doing here?"

  "She's going away at least," answered Jessie. "We certainly don't need

  to get Benny down again. And Watch is quiet. Look, Violet. She is hiding

  behind those bushes before she goes up the street."

  The street was empty. The stores were dark. Very soon the woman went

  quietly up the road and out of sight. The two girls went back to bed and

  fell asleep.

  About dawn Watch growled softly. But everyone was sleeping deeply. No

  one awoke.

  In the morning Jessie called everyone to breakfast out on the rocks.

  "I know my place," said Benny, "on account of the B."

  When everything was eaten, the girls told their strange story about the

  woman.

  Mr. Alden said, "I think we had better look that

  35

  ,

  little house over. Everyone can help. Try each board to see if it is

  loose."

  The Aldens began with the front windows and found everything tight. The

  door was locked. There was no loose window board. Watch trotted along

  quietly and did not bark.

  "It's funny," said Jessie, "that Watch doesn't bark."

  "Maybe there's nothing for him to bark at now," said Mr. Alden.

  "Certainly this house is shut tight."

  "Hey! Look at this!" said Henry suddenly. He caught a sheet of paper

  that was blowing down to the sand. The paper was marked into little

  squares. There were numbers and strange letters in each. Sometimes there

  were question marks.

  "That doesn't mean a thing to me," said Jessie.

  "Me either," agreed Henry. "But I think somebody is pretty clever. It

  looks like college science work, but I don't understand it. It's not in

  my studies so far."

  36

  "Just as
if someone were testing something," said Violet slowly. "Like

  an experiment."

  "Exactly!" cried Henry. He smiled at his little sister. "But how does it

  fit in with cooking smells and your seeing a woman at night?"

  "Keep that paper, Henry," said Mr. Alden as they went back to the rocks.

  Just then Violet spoke of the shells.

  "The beach is covered with them," cried Benny

  He jumped off the rocks to the sand. "I know this one. It's a clam

  shell, and this one is a scallop shell."

  "Here's a queer one," said Jessie. "It has five toes."

  "That's a cat's paw," said Mr. Alden. "See how many kinds we can find."

  Mr. Alden knew all about shells, as well as about birds and flowers.

  They found a snail shell, a slipper shell, and gold and silver colored

  shells. In all they found fourteen different kinds.

  37

  "There's plenty of seaweed here, too," Benny said. "But who would want

  to collect that? Maybe that cross boy would find it interesting."

  "This makes me think of Blue Bay," said Violet, smiling. "We ate out of

  shells there."

  "But this is safer for swimming than Blue Bay," said Henry. "No sharks

  here."

  Jessie said slowly, "It's too bad we don't have swim suits. I suppose

  four new suits would cost too much."

  "No," said her grandfather, "you need new ones anyway. And you mustn't

  be on the beach and not go swimming."

  "Maybe Mr. Hall has some suits," Jessie went on. "He has almost

  everything."

  She smiled to think of suits and groceries and everything else mixed

  together in the little store.

  They put their shells on the rock table and walked over to the store.

  "No," said Mr. Hall, "I haven't any swim suits. But there is a lady down

  the street who sells hats.

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  She has suits, too. You'll see the sign as you go out."

  Benny said, "I saw the sign when I came in. It said 'HATS'-and that's

  where we go to buy bathing suits? That's funny."

  "Well," said Mr. Hall with a laugh, "my sign says 'GROCERIES' and people

  come here to buy paint and wallpaper."

  They went out of the store and down the street.

  The dock was near by and Benny pulled Henry over to see the boats. "Look

  at that one," he said. "She's a beauty. Her name's Sea Cook II."

  Henry said, "I guess a boat like that isn't too big for one man to run.

  You're right, Benny, she is a beauty."

  Just then Jessie and Violet called to the boys. The girls were more

  interested in suits than boats. The boys saw Grandfather waiting with

  the girls. Together the Aldens looked in the window of the hat shop.

  There were beautiful summer hats in the window-and one suit. It was

  blue.

  39

  "There's your suit, Jessie, if it fits," said Henry. "Of course, Ben

  wants red."

  "Right," said Benny. "Red is my color."

  The lady in the hat shop smiled to see the whole family coming in. She

  said her name was Mrs. Ross.

  Suddenly Henry looked out of the window. The black-eyed man was going

  by.

  "Do you know who that man is?" Henry asked.

  "Oh, yes, indeed. His name is Tom Cook."

  "What does he do for a living?" asked Mr. Alden.

  "He's really a fisherman. But sometimes the fishing is poor, so he works

  on odd jobs. They say he has made a fortune selling lobsters and renting

  houses to the summer people."

  "He doesn't look it, does he?" said Henry. "He looks poor."

  "He saves his money," said Mrs. Ross. "He won't spend a cent. He has a

  fine boat and he won't let his son use it, and his son is no little boy.

  He's

  40

  seventeen years old already."

  An idea hit Benny, but he didn't say anything aloud. The man was a Mr.

  Cook. That beautiful boat was the Sea Cook II. It must be the black-eyed

  man's boat.

  Henry was thinking, too. That first day they had met Mr. Hall and rented

  the lighthouse-hadn't he said a man named Cook had bought the summer

  kitchen? Maybe here was another clue.

  "Too bad," said Jessie.

  "Yes, it's too bad. The boy does use it, though. People say that he is

  always taking that boat out after dark. They say he has some fancy idea

  in his head. Nobody knows what it is. He always comes back carrying

  something. Sometimes it is a small thing like a jar, and sometimes a

  great big thing like a barrel. At least that's what I'm told."

  "I wonder what it is?" said Benny.

  "I haven't the least idea," said Mrs. Ross. "He goes way out. Out of

  sight. His father doesn't know he takes the boat, though how the boy has

  41

  kept him from finding out, I don't know."

  "I bet some day he's going to find out," said Benny. "Then there will be

  trouble."

  "Trouble?" cried Mrs. Ross. "There's enough trouble already in that

  house between Mr. Cook and his son. The mother stands up for the boy.

  The father will hardly speak to his own son."

  "Why?" asked Mr. Alden.

  "Well, you see this boy is very smart. He finished high school at

  sixteen. He's been just hanging around ever since. His father won't let

  him work. Too proud. And the boy wants to go away to college. His father

  won't let him."

  "Oh, my!" said Benny. "That's the cross boy we saw in the store, and the

  cross man with the black eyes is his father. That explains a lot,

  doesn't it, Grandfather?"

  "Yes, Benny. Those two will always be in trouble unless we do something

  about it."

  "Did you say 'we'?" asked Henry in surprise.

  "Yes,

  we"

  answered Mr. Alden with a smile.

  42

  CHAPTER 5

  Little House with a Secret

  The Aldens went right back to their lighthouse with the new suits. They

  put them on at once and went out to their own little white beach.

  "Be careful now," said Mr. Alden. "You don't know this beach, and you

  must find out how deep the water is."

  "Mr. Hall says it is very deep on the other side of the lighthouse,"

  said Henry. "But it is not over your head on this side. I asked him."

  "I like it deep," said Benny, swimming away.

  Every one of the Aldens could swim very well. Henry and Jessie could

  dive. But this was no place to dive. It was too rocky.

  The water was cool, but the day was hot. Mr. Alden sat in his own rock

  chair and watched the

  43

  swimmers. They threw water and swam under water. Even Watch swam around,

  barking for fun.

  "You bark all you want to now, Watch," said Violet, laughing. "Just keep

  still at midnight tonight." She really had no idea that Watch would bark

  every single night.

  That night the family sat up late. It was dark when Benny went climbing

  up to his top floor. He put on light blue pajamas and went out on his

  little lookout. He sat down in a beach chair.

  Benny did not know that he showed up plainly in the moonlight in his

  light pajamas.

  He was looking at the stars. They looked very bright here because there

  were no street lights. Then one star moved. Soon Benny knew that it was
<
br />   not a star but a light on a boat. The boat was coming in. Suddenly the

  boat stopped and turned around and went out to sea again.

  "Well, well," thought Benny. "Whoever he is, he changed his mind."

  Ideas began to spin around in Benny's head. He

  44

  remembered what Mrs. Ross in the hat shop had said. He thought about

  seeing the Sea Cook at the dock.

  Then next he thought, "I wonder if he saw me from his boat. I bet he

  did. I bet it's our Cook boy with his father's boat. That boat is

  certainly a beauty."

  Benny jumped up to turn out his light. He put on a dark coat and watched

  at the window. Very soon the boat turned around again and came in to the

  dock not far from the lighthouse. It looked like a man who jumped out.

  But Benny knew that the Cook boy was as big as a man. Benny watched him

  as he bent over his boat. He took out a pail.

  "A pail this time," thought Benny. "I do wonder what is in it."

  But he didn't find out. The boy looked all around. The whole town had

  gone to bed. The boy took the pail and disappeared up the street. Benny

  went to bed. If he had watched a little longer he would have seen more.

  But he was soon asleep.

  45

  At midnight Watch began to bark.

  "Oh, my, Watch!" cried Jessie. "I guess you are going to bark every

  night. But you'll stop in about ten minutes. So bark away."

  That is just what the dog did. He barked and howled for ten minutes and

  then he went back to sleep.

  Violet said, "You're just like a baby, Watch! You wake us up every night

  crying."

  Several hours later Watch growled softly but nobody heard.

  For the next few days no one was surprised to hear Watch bark during the

  night. No one got up. They knew Watch would bark for about ten minutes

  and then he would stop.

  But one morning Henry said, "I don't like it, just the same." He

  frowned. "The dog must hear something."

  The girls said they had seen the woman again going away very quietly.

  She had a bag in her hand.

  46

  Henry said, "I am going to find out why that woman comes here. I'm going

  to hunt all over this point of land."

  "We'll help you," said Jessie.

  On the other side of the lighthouse, behind the little summer kitchen,

  there were enormous rocks. The land went downhill to the water. The

  young Aldens hunted over every inch of land to find some way to get into

  the house. They found nothing.

  Then Henry said, "Let's look at those boards nailed over the windows.