Tree House Mystery

by Gertrude Warner

  Then Henry climbed down and Jessie climbed up. She saw the window at once.

  Benny said, “One thing is sure. You can see that window from the tree, but you can’t see it from the ground.”

  Jeffrey nodded. He said, “You can’t see it from inside the house, either. Sammy and I explored that rainy day. We went all over the attic. We use that top floor to put things in. Mom hung some clothes there on hooks.”

  “Come on,” said Sammy. “Let’s all go into the house and hunt for that window.”

  Jessie shook her head. “No, Sammy, I don’t think we Aldens had better go. You’d better wait and ask your parents first. You two boys could go alone, though.”

  “No!” said both boys at once. Sammy shook his head firmly. “It wouldn’t be any fun without you Aldens. But if we ask, will you go with us?”

  “Of course,” said Benny. “I don’t think we ought to hunt around in anyone’s house without their knowing.”

  “I suppose not,” said Jeffrey. “I suppose we ought to finish the roof.”

  They finished the roof, but they could hardly wait for their family to come home.

  Jeffrey said, “We seem to spend all our time asking Mom if we can do this and that! I do wish we could go up in that attic right now.”

  Benny said smiling, “You’re not the only one, Jeffrey! I’m dying to go!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Behind the Round Window

  Mr. and Mrs. Beach were hardly in the house when Jeffrey and Sam told them about the round window.

  “That is a mystery,” said Mr. Beach. “I can’t remember any round window. And Max and I never saw it from the tree house we built.”

  The boys took their father out and showed him how they could see the window from the tree house. Mr. Beach looked at the tree and then he said, “I know why Max and I never saw that window. There was a big branch in the way. See? There is a scar where the branch was cut off.”

  “May we ask Benny and the others and go up in the attic now?” Sammy asked. “The Aldens didn’t want to come in without asking you.”

  “Yes, it will be all right,” Mr. Beach answered. “I haven’t time to help you.”

  Jeffrey telephoned the Aldens, and Benny said he would come right over. Jessie and Henry were away, but he and Violet could come.

  It was late afternoon when the two Aldens and the Beaches climbed the attic stairs.

  Violet said, “I just can’t understand where that window can be when no one knows anything about it.”

  Jeffrey explained, “The attic is so big it has been made into rooms. It is really more like a third floor than an attic. The walls are plastered and papered. You’ll see.”

  Benny looked all around at the top of the stairs. That side of the attic had been made into two rooms. The first room was large, but it was empty.

  “I think someone lived up on this floor,” Benny said. “You can see the nail holes at the windows where there were rods for curtains.”

  Violet said, “There’s some wallpaper, too.”

  Jeffrey said, “But there aren’t any electric lights up here.”

  Sammy said, “We think the house was built before there were electric lights. People must have used lamps or maybe candles.”

  Violet looked at the dark corners of the empty room. It was certainly a spooky place. Violet noticed that everyone was beginning to whisper. The air was dry and stuffy.

  The four children went into the next room. They found only some old boxes and chairs. They were dusty and faded.

  “Never mind this side of the house,” said Jeffrey. “The round window is at the back of the house.”

  Sammy said, “There’s a very large clothes closet. It’s almost as big as a room.”

  “That’s what we want to see,” said Benny.

  There was a door to the closet. It had a glass doorknob. Jeffrey opened it and they all went in.

  “Oh, look at the wallpaper!” Violet exclaimed. “I never saw anything like it.”

  It was beautiful old paper with pictures of toys on it: balls and horns and drums. The colors were still bright. There was one big window, but it was not round. Mrs. Beach had hung some dresses on a row of hooks on the wall, and there were piles of old books and boxes on the floor.

  Sammy said, “Those are hatboxes. Mom’s winter hats are in them. I carried them up for her, but I didn’t look at the wallpaper. I thought this was just an old attic to put things in.”

  “Let’s open the window,” Benny suggested.

  It wasn’t easy to open the window, but the boys did it. Benny leaned out as far as he safely could.

  “I see it! I see the round window!” he called into the attic room to the others. Then he added, “That’s funny.”

  Benny pulled his head in and looked around him. “The round window is just beyond this closet window.”

  “How can it be?” Jeffrey asked. “This wall of the closet is the end of the house.”

  Jeffrey and Sammy and Violet took turns looking out of the open window. They each saw the round window.

  Violet said, “Maybe the round window isn’t a real window. Maybe it is just trimming on the outside of the house.”

  Benny shook his head. “It looks like a real window to me. Come on, let’s look around while it’s still light up here.”

  Benny began to tap on the wall. It was the wall that Jeffrey and Sam had thought was the end of the attic.

  “What are you doing?” asked Sammy.

  “Does this sound like a plaster wall?” Benny said. “Listen!”

  Violet looked surprised. “It sounds like wood or something hollow,” she said. “Oh, Benny, do you think someone boarded up part of the attic? But why?”

  “Let’s find out,” Jeffrey said.

  “Make a hole,” Sammy suggested.

  Benny held up his hand. “Wait,” he said. “Let’s tap all along here. You can run your hand over the wall and maybe you can feel something.”

  It was Sammy who said, “Something is different here, Benny. There’s a long crack. What does that mean?”

  “Another crack over here,” Jeffrey called.

  Benny said, “That means just one thing. A door. The door must be papered right over.”

  Violet said, “Somebody must have taken the knob off. I wonder what’s on the other side. Oh, it’s a little scary, isn’t it?”

  “Let’s open it!” Sammy and Jeffrey both cried.

  “Wait,” Benny said. “Run and ask first.”

  The two Beach boys raced to find their mother, who was getting dinner.

  “A door papered over?” she said. “I can hardly believe that! Yes, you can try to open it. I’m sure you’ll just find an empty space and plenty of dust.”

  “Get something to cut the paper with,” Sammy said.

  “A screwdriver,” Jeffrey said.

  Benny and Violet were waiting for the boys. Although the sun had not set, the attic was getting dark. Violet could imagine she heard a rocking noise on the other side of the hidden door. She wished that Mr. or Mrs. Beach would come upstairs, too.

  “Here, Benny,” Jeffrey called. “I have a screwdriver. Mom doesn’t think we’ll find anything, though.”

  “We’ll soon see,” Benny said. He ran the screwdriver along the two cracks. Then he climbed on a stool and ran the screwdriver along the top of the hidden door. The paper was already loose at the bottom, near the floor.

  “Now, everybody push!” Benny said. “The hinges must be on the other side. The door should swing into the hidden room, if there is one.”

  But although Violet, Benny, Jeffrey, and Sammy pushed as hard as they could, nothing happened.

  “It must be nailed shut,” Benny said, disappointed.

  Jeffrey gave the door another push. “It rattles a little,” he said. “And hear that soft rocking?” He put his ear to the crack.

  “I’m dumb!” Benny said. “Here, give me the screwdriver again. Where could that door catch be?”

  Vio
let felt along the edges of the door. “Here,” she said. “I can feel a little hole where the doorknob was.”

  Benny pried carefully and pushed back the door catch. “Now let’s try again!” he said.

  There was a push and the door suddenly opened. All four of the children nearly fell into the gloomy space on the other side.

  Violet drew in her breath. Something seemed to move gently in the shadows. On tiptoe they all stepped into the room. It was bigger than they had expected, but the only light came in from the round window.

  “It’s a boy’s room,” exclaimed Jeffrey.

  Then Violet said, “Look! Over in that spot of light! A rocking horse! How big it is.”

  “As big as a real pony,” said Sammy. “It looks like a wooden horse on a merry-go-round.”

  He touched the horse’s wooden nose and it rocked gently. “This is what I heard. My room is right under the attic here. It wasn’t my imagination!”

  And before anyone could stop him, Sammy was on the horse’s back, riding back and forth, a fine high ride, bump, bump, bump.

  “This is exactly the bump,” said Sammy, nodding. “Only it’s louder when I’m riding the horse. The wind must blow in a little and make it rock gently.”

  Benny, Jeffrey, and Violet were looking all around the room. There was a boy’s bed with sides. A red blanket was folded at the foot of the bed. A large stuffed dog printed on cloth lay against the pillow. A toy monkey sat in a small chair. There were books and pictures and a pair of boy’s red leather slippers.

  Jeffrey picked up the slippers. “These are too small for Sammy,” he said. “The boy must have been younger than eight.”

  “And who was he?” asked Violet. “He must have had this room a long, long time ago.”

  Benny said, “A mystery room for sure.”

  “I’m going to call Dad,” said Jeffrey. “He’ll want to see this room, and maybe he’ll have an idea.”

  Jeffrey went to the stairs and called, “Dad! Can you come up to the attic?”

  Soon both Mr. and Mrs. Beach came up the stairs and looked into the mystery room. It was getting darker, but they could see enough to be surprised.

  “Well, well,” said Mr. Beach. “You did find something by using that telescope, didn’t you? I never knew a thing about this room.”

  “How can we find out who the little boy was?” asked Benny.

  Mr. Beach was thinking. “I know one thing we can try. Uncle Max is older than I am. He might have a clue. Tomorrow is Saturday. We can drive down to see Max. I want to tell him you found the spyglass.”

  Sam and Jeff were too surprised to say a word. Their parents were really going to take them to see Uncle Max.

  “This is a beautiful room for a little boy,” said Mrs. Beach. “I wonder who he was and what happened to him. And why did somebody try to hide his room?”

  Benny said, “Maybe something happened to him. He might have been sick or even died.”

  “And then it was too sad to see his old room,” Violet went on. She felt unhappy thinking about it.

  But it turned out that Benny and Violet were not right at all.

  CHAPTER 7

  More Questions

  Benny and Violet told Henry, Jessie, and Mr. Alden all about the secret room in the attic. Everyone tried to guess why the room had been closed, but no one had any new ideas.

  Benny said, “Mr. Beach thought Uncle Max might have a clue. He’s going to take Mrs. Beach and the boys to see Uncle Max tomorrow. He wants to explain about the telescope. He asked if we would come, too.”

  “I’d like to,” Jessie said. “But do you think we’d be in the way? I’m sure Sammy and Jeffrey haven’t had their mother and father take them anywhere very often.”

  Henry said, “The boys think their parents are more interested in their work than in the things their sons do. It’s too bad.”

  “But Mr. Beach asked us,” Benny said. “Their car won’t hold all of us. Henry, why don’t you drive our station wagon?”

  That was the way it turned out. Violet and Benny looked at each other when Mr. Beach said, “Come, Sammy. You sit with me. Then we can talk. Jeffrey, you hold the spyglass and sit with your mother.”

  As Henry started the car he heard Mr. Beach say, “I wish Max were doing better with his restaurant. So few people use the Shore Road that he hasn’t any customers.”

  Jeffrey nodded. “That’s right. But he’s the best cook in the world.”

  Sammy said, “And Uncle Max likes to see people enjoy his cooking. It makes him happy.”

  “The trouble is that Max won’t let anyone help him,” Mr. Beach said.

  Suddenly Sammy said, “Maybe we can help him with some ideas. I think that would be all right.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” said Mrs. Beach.

  Uncle Max could hardly believe his eyes when the car drove up to his door. He came down the steps and shook hands with his brother.

  He said, “John, how wonderful to see you! Welcome, everybody, and come right in.”

  Sammy said, “We told you we’d be back.”

  “Yes, you did. And I knew you would, too. Come and sit down.”

  Sammy couldn’t wait any longer. “Look, Uncle Max—here’s the telescope!”

  “You found it? Where?” asked Uncle Max looking in surprise from Sammy to Jeffrey.

  “In a knothole in the oak tree,” Jeffrey said.

  “Well!” Uncle Max said, and then he thought a moment. “I believe the man from next door who helped us build our tree house must have put the telescope in the knothole. He just forgot to tell us. I’m sure now it was that kind man.”

  Mr. Beach said, “That’s what we think, too, Max. I didn’t have it, and you didn’t have it. Nobody had it.” And he shook hands with his brother again.

  “And we’ve got more news. A surprise and a mystery!” Sammy sat down on a stool and whirled around. Everyone else sat down at the big table.

  “Sammy is right,” said his father. “It is a mystery. Let the boys tell it. Maybe you can help solve it.”

  The two boys told about the round window and how they could see it with the telescope. Then they told about the hidden room and all the toys.

  Uncle Max began to frown. “Oh, I wish I could remember,” he exclaimed. “I never knew about that room. But I did know the name of the family who lived there long ago. Now what was it?”

  “Try the alphabet,” said Jeffrey.

  They all laughed, but Uncle Max began. “The name didn’t begin with A. And it didn’t begin with B. Now, C! I think it must have been C. Cook? Collins? No, those names aren’t right.”

  “Cooper,” suggested Mrs. Beach.

  “Carter,” said Jessie.

  “Wait!” Uncle Max said. “Carter sounds almost right. Let me think. I know. Carver! That’s the name. I’m sure of it.”

  Everybody looked happy and clapped.

  “My father told me that a family named Carver built the house many years ago. It was at least a hundred years old when we lived in it.”

  “Too bad I wasn’t interested in such things when I was a boy,” Mr. Beach said. “Can you remember anything else that might give the children a clue about the room?”

  Max shook his head. “I’ll try to think of something else. But if I were there, I’d hunt some more in that room. There might be letters or papers or something else that would be a clue.”

  His brother laughed and said, “I’m sure the boys and the Aldens will go over every inch of that room, Max. And now let’s talk about you.”

  Uncle Max looked unhappy. “The diner isn’t doing very well,” he said. “But that’s not your worry, it’s mine.”

  “It’s mine,” said Sammy. “I want to worry about you, Uncle Max.”

  “Thank you, Sammy,” said Uncle Max. “I suppose I ought to close the diner and work at something else. But I do love to cook and see people eat.”

  Mrs. Beach said, “Then you should not close the restaurant, Max. People ought
to do the things they like to do. Never mind just working for money.”

  Benny looked around. He said, “I think people like to eat where it’s bright. It seems dark here.”

  Jeffrey added, “Maybe a new name would help. We used to go to the Jumping Jack Restaurant in New York just because we liked the name. The food wasn’t as good as yours.”

  Jessie said, “I think people have forgotten about your place because they don’t use this road much any more. You need to do something special to make them want to come.”

  “I could try a new name,” said Uncle Max. “And I could put in more windows myself.”

  The Beaches and the Aldens talked about the restaurant until lunchtime. Then John Beach found out what delicious food his brother could cook. He and his wife had a chicken salad, but all the children had hot dogs.

  When Henry and Mr. Beach started to pay Uncle Max, he said, “Oh, no! You are invited to lunch.”

  Henry said, “No. It is silly for you to take in eight people for nothing.”

  “My grandfather wouldn’t like it if we didn’t pay,” Benny said.

  Uncle Max had to take the money.

  When they were riding home, Jeffrey said, “Let’s go right up to the room and hunt around again. We might find something we missed.”

  “And I haven’t even seen it,” Henry said.

  “Nor I!” Jessie added.

  CHAPTER 8

  Mrs. McGregor’s Clue

  Jessie and Henry looked around the little room that Violet, Benny, and the Beach boys had found. It looked brighter and not as spooky in the afternoon light. The big rocking horse still had some of its gay colors.

  “How shall we begin?” Sammy asked.

  Henry said, “Suppose you two boys take the bed. Look at everything. Don’t miss a thing. Take off all the bedclothes and the mattress.”

  Sammy said, “I know. Maybe there’s something hidden in the mattress. Come on, Jeffrey.”

  “Be careful,” Jessie warned. “These things are old and some of them may break.”

  Henry said, “Violet and Jessie can take the desk. Benny and I can look at the rest of the room.”