The Boxcar Children Mysteries Box Set

by Gertrude Warner

  “This ship is very big, isn’t it, Grandfather?” said Benny.

  Grandfather laughed. “Yes,” he said. “It is not a passenger ship. It is a big freighter, but it’s very clean and very safe. And it will take us where we want to go. Not many ships can do that, for very few ships go to that island.”

  “We want to go to a beautiful desert island, Captain,” said Mike.

  “And that’s where we will take you,” said Captain Brown. “You are the only people on the ship, except the crew. Lars will show you where you eat and sleep.”

  The boat rocked gently at the dock. Jessie and Violet had one very small room. Benny and Mike had another very small one. Henry and Mr. Alden each had a room to himself.

  “We can take only eight people,” said Lars. “The cargo takes up a lot of room on the ship.” There was still room on deck for seven long chairs.

  Soon there were six people in the chairs. The men shouted and threw the ropes over on the deck. The freighter began to move.

  “Here we go!” sang Benny and Mike together.

  They were chugging under the beautiful Golden Gate bridge into the great Pacific Ocean!

  CHAPTER 3

  Ship’s School

  Sea gulls flew after the boat, screaming. The cook threw out food for them. They screamed louder and louder. More and more came, until there were hundreds.

  “Aren’t they beautiful!” cried Jessie. She went over to look. A big gull landed on the rail near her. “They are such a lovely gray color.”

  “How long will this trip be, Captain?” asked Henry.

  “About two weeks,” said Captain Brown. “Then we’ll put the family off at the island, and the Sea Star will go on to Tahiti.”

  “Who is the family?” asked Mike. “Am I in the family?”

  “Of course,” said Benny. “I wouldn’t go without you, would I?”

  “Then the Sea Star will come back for us,” Henry went on.

  “Right. You will be alone on the island with Lars for two or three weeks. I understand that’s what you want?”

  “Yes,” said Jessie. “We love to live like that. We like to find our own food and dishes, and we love to explore.”

  The sunset came then. It was beautiful. The whole sky was red and pink and violet. “We never saw anything like that at home,” Violet said.

  It was beautiful after the sun went down. The sky was black, but the stars were wonderful.

  Benny said, “I never really saw the stars before. I didn’t know they were so bright.”

  The Captain said, “You can see the same stars here that you see at home. Later you will see stars you never saw before. I will show you the Southern Cross.”

  Everyone was tired. They slept well all night. The next morning after breakfast a bell rang.

  “What’s that?” asked Mike. “It sounds like a school bell!”

  “I think it is a school bell,” said Henry laughing. “Look at Grandfather. He is ringing it.”

  Mr. Alden said, “School will begin at nine o’clock every day. You can sit in your chairs and get your lessons. You will find things you need in this box.”

  In the box were pens, pencils, paints and all kinds of paper.

  Jessie opened her blue book. “Well, well!” she said. “Here is Lesson One about gulls and stars and fish!”

  “That’s the picture I saw!” cried Mike. “It’s a flying fish.”

  Soon everyone was busy reading. After a while Violet got up. She took a box of paints out of the box. She began painting a picture of a sea gull. Henry soon began making a picture of the Big Dipper in a black sky. The boys drew pictures of flying fish.

  “A whale!” called Lars. Everyone rushed to the rail.

  “It is very near!” shouted Mike. “Look at that tail!”

  “There he goes, spouting water!” said Henry. A lot of water rose in the air. Then came the porpoises.

  “There are about two hundred of them,” said Lars. “They swim in a long line, like that, every day. They go over to one beach to eat fish and come back every night.”

  “Just see them roll around!” said Mike. “Are they round?”

  “No. You’ll find a picture of them in your book,” said Mr. Alden. “I think that is in Lesson Two.”

  So it was every minute. The children saw something new and then they always found a picture of it in their books.

  “I told you they were wonderful books,” said Grandfather. “There is a lesson about the radio room. You will like that. Bill in the radio room will show you the radar tomorrow.”

  The next day the children saw every part of the ship. They knew every sailor on the Sea Star. They had school every day.

  One morning the family could not see land any more. The bell rang for Ship’s School and soon the five children were studying.

  Henry went to the rail and looked down.

  “Now this is interesting!” he cried. “Come and look!”

  They all saw a long white bag. The ship was pulling it through the water.

  “What is that thing?” asked Mike.

  “It is a piece of cloth made into a net,” said Henry. “It catches plankton.”

  “What is plankton?” asked Mike.

  “It is made up of tiny, tiny animals and fish eggs and seaweed,” said Henry. “Some of it is too small to see. But whales live on it.”

  Jessie said, “I’ve heard about it. I heard that we could feed the whole world on plankton if we wanted to.”

  “Why don’t we?” asked Benny.

  “People don’t like it,” said Jessie.

  Mike said, “Maybe somebody will find how to make it taste good. Maybe I will when I grow up.”

  “Good old Mike!” said Benny. “Maybe you will. I’d like to see what is in that net.”

  The children looked up. Lars was coming. He said, “If you come below, we will pull in the net.”

  “Can we see the things inside?” asked Mike.

  “Some of them,” said Lars, “but some are too small to see. We have a microscope, which is fun to look into.”

  “Isn’t this exciting!” cried Mike. He ran down the stairs.

  A sailor had pulled in the net. He let the plankton run out into a big tub. The plankton was very bright colored. In the dark ship, it shone like red fire.

  “Beautiful!” said Violet.

  “How awful it smells!” said Mike.

  “Just a good old fish smell,” said Benny. “You’ll have to learn to like fish, Mike.”

  “Oh, there’s a tiny crab!” cried Mike. “I can see right through him!”

  “And that’s a tiny little fish!” cried Violet. “And pink seaweed. And green seaweed.”

  Mr. Alden had the microscope. He put it on the table. Then he gave Henry a piece of glass. “Get some of the plankton on that glass,” he said.

  It was exciting when the glass went under the microscope. Henry had the first look. “After all, it’s Henry’s lesson,” said Benny.

  They took turns. There were many tiny eggs and weeds and fish that they could not see without the microscope.

  Mike said, “So tiny! Tiny animals. Tiny everything. And to think this is what whales eat! They grow big enough!”

  Benny said, “And now we all know Henry’s lesson. That’s Grandfather for you. He thought up this Ship’s School.”

  The next day they all learned Violet’s lesson. At first the school was very quiet. All were studying.

  Violet surprised them. She was excited about something. She said, “Everyone listen to this! You’ve all heard of Captain Cook?”

  “Oh, yes,” said Mike. “He was the man who found hundreds of islands on his sea trips.”

  “Yes, Mike,” said Violet. “That’s what I thought. I mean I thought it was all he did. I can hardly tell you!”

  “Take it easy, Violet!” called Henry. “You’ve got lots of time. What else did your Captain Cook do?”

  “Thanks, Henry! It was really more important than finding islands. He
found Vitamin C long before anyone knew what it was. Listen to this! ‘On every long sea trip, more than half of every crew died of scurvy. Captain Cook thought they had scurvy because they had nothing to eat but salted meat and crackers. So he made every sailor eat sauerkraut and onions every day! They also had to eat a kind of syrup made of lemons and oranges.’ “

  “That wouldn’t be too bad,” said Benny.

  “No, but some sailors didn’t like sauerkraut or onions or lemons. And still they had to eat them. You see they got Vitamin C without knowing it. Even Captain Cook didn’t know what Vitamin C was. He just knew people didn’t have scurvy if they ate sauerkraut and oranges.”

  “I suppose that’s why we drink orange juice every day,” said Mike.

  “Exactly right, Mike!” cried Violet. “Then when Captain Cook got home after three years at sea, he had lost only one man!”

  “I bet that man wouldn’t eat his sauerkraut!” said Benny.

  “I bet so, too,” said Mike.

  Henry and Jessie looked at Violet. They both were thinking, “I never heard Violet talk so much.”

  But Violet went right on. “Then another thing!” she said. “Once he was sailing through cakes of ice, very far south. And he found that when he melted a cake of ice, it was fresh water!”

  “That’s funny!” said Henry. “I always thought salt water would freeze into salt ice. Then it would melt back into salt water!”

  “It doesn’t, though!” said Violet laughing. “Everyone else thought so, too. They didn’t even try. Oh, Captain Cook was such a very smart man, and so brave! You all ought to read my book!”

  “I think so too, my dear,” said Mr. Alden. “I’d like to read it myself.”

  Day after day the Sea Star went along through the purple sea. It had been going for almost two weeks.

  Mike said, “My, I’m hot, but I like it hot.”

  Lars said, “We are almost there, Mr. Mike. I think we had better get ready for our island.”

  CHAPTER 4

  The Lifeboat

  How do we get ready, Lars?” asked Benny, as they stood on the deck.

  “First, we start to pack the biggest lifeboat,” said Lars.

  “We love to do things like that!” said Jessie. Her eyes were very bright. “What do we pack?”

  “We must take a lot of food,” said Lars. “Then we’ll not have to live on bananas.”

  “Bananas!” cried Benny. “I’d like to live on bananas!”

  “Believe me, you could,” said Lars smiling. “They grow wild. Just put up your hand and pick a banana whenever you want one.”

  “Oh, boy!” said Mike. “Come on, let’s go!”

  Mr. Alden looked at the children. Then he said, “Lars, you tell us all exactly what to do. You be the boss.”

  “Very good,” said Lars. “I’ll do that. Be sure to take shoes, and not little thin ones. You’ll be walking over sharp stones and shells. Don’t take any best clothes, but sport clothes. I’ll pack the food we need.”

  “Oh, Lars, let me pack the food with you!” begged Mike.

  “And me too,” shouted Benny. “It won’t take a minute to pack my clothes.”

  “All right, all of you can help. Come to the galley when you are ready.”

  Captain Brown laughed. “Don’t forget seven blankets,” he said.

  “Is it very cold on the island?” asked Violet.

  “No, it is very hot,” said the Captain. “You sleep on top of the blankets.”

  Each one went to pack his small bag. Then they ran to the galley.

  “Isn’t it exciting?” said Mike. “I think this is nice!”

  “I hope it will be,” said Lars. “Now here is some dry milk.”

  He gave Mike a lot of little boxes to put in the big box.

  “Let’s have some beans, Lars,” said Benny. “We all like beans.”

  “Just what I was going to say,” said Lars. He was down on the floor beside the box. “Beans will do instead of bread. We can’t take any bread.”

  “I don’t like bread very well anyway,” said Mike.

  “Ho-ho!” said Benny. “I’ve seen you eat ten slices of bread at a time.”

  “And you, too!” cried Mike.

  “Careful, boys!” said Henry. “Have a good time, but don’t fight.”

  Jessie looked over the cans and boxes. “Let’s take some cereal,” she said. “That will last a few days.”

  “Here is some sea biscuit,” said Lars. He gave Mike two tin boxes.

  “Sea biscuit?” said Mike looking at the picture on the box. “I don’t call those sea biscuit. I call them crackers.”

  “Even so, Mr. Mike, those are called sea biscuit,” said Lars.

  “O.K.,” said Mike. “You call them sea biscuit, and I’ll call them crackers. Then I will know what I mean.”

  “Matches,” said Henry quietly. He put some in the big box.

  “Good!” said Lars. “We will need a fire, because we will catch fish and cook them.”

  “We will need dishes,” said Jessie.

  “Not too many,” said Lars. “We can use leaves for plates. But take a big spoon and some knives. A hatchet, too, to cut trees.”

  At last the big box was ready. The children went back to their deck chairs.

  “Watch, now,” said Lars. We will soon see the island. Look out there, over the rail. It will look like nothing at first.”

  The children watched. For a long time they saw nothing but blue sea.

  Lars saw the island first, but he said nothing. He looked at all the children to see who saw it first. Suddenly Henry went to the rail. “Is that land, Lars, or is it nothing?” he asked.

  “It is land,” said Lars smiling. “Soon we will see the green palm trees and the big round bay. I told you it looked like nothing at first.”

  Everyone went to the rail and watched the green spot. An hour or so later, they could see white sand around the edge. They could see the waves on the beach.

  The Sea Star came nearer and nearer. They could see big palm trees bending over the water. The ship stopped. The crew began to let the lifeboat down into the water. They put in the seven blankets and the big box. The family and four sailors went down a ladder into the lifeboat. They all sat down.

  Another lifeboat was fastened to their boat for the sailors’ return to the ship.

  Lars said to Henry, “You sit on this seat and watch how I use the rudder.”

  “All right, sir,” said Henry.

  Captain Brown called, “You can expect us in two or three weeks. But don’t worry if we are late.”

  “I hope you will be late,” said Mike. “It will be so much fun on the island that we won’t want to leave.”

  “I hope so,” said the Captain, laughing. “And you all mind Lars. He knows best.”

  The men untied the rope, and the lifeboats started out on the big ocean. The boat tipped and rocked.

  “Should we be afraid, Lars?” asked Violet.

  “No, Miss Violet, not afraid, but we are all going to get very wet. Wet from head to foot.”

  “All right,” said Benny. “But why will we get wet? Do you think we’ll fall out of the boat?”

  “No,” said Lars. “You won’t if you sit still. But when we land, you will all have to help. You will have to step out into the water.”

  Jessie said, “That will be all right, Lars. All our clothes will dry in a short time in this heat.”

  The family looked back at the Sea Star. It was getting farther and farther away. They all waved at Captain Brown. Then Henry saw that Violet had a large cloth bag in her hand.

  “What’s in that big bag, Violet?” he asked.

  “A secret,” said Violet.

  “Oh, tell us!” said Benny.

  “Oh, no, Benny,” said Violet. “That is what a secret is. You don’t tell anybody.”

  “Don’t bother her, Ben,” said Mike. “Violet can have a secret if she wants to. I don’t even want to know, myself.”

&nbs
p; Then they all looked at the island. It came nearer and nearer. There were great rocks on one side. Palm trees were hanging over the edge. All around the water was blue, blue.

  “I never saw such a lovely blue!” cried Jessie.

  “You never will,” said Lars. “They say this is the bluest bay in the world. We call it Blue Bay. Now take off your shoes and throw them in the middle of the boat. Be ready to jump out and pull the boat up on the sand!”

  The waves were high now. Every wave took the boat nearer shore. Lars gave a last pull on the oars. “Now!” he shouted.

  Everyone jumped over the side into the water. Mr. Alden surprised them all. He helped on the heavy end of the boat. Lars said, “Now!” The sailors gave a great pull as everyone helped. The boat slid up on the sand.

  “Wonderful!” said Lars. “That was a fine landing!”

  They were all soaking wet.

  “Not for long,” said Benny. “We’ll be dry in no time. The sun is so hot.”

  “I don’t want to get dry,” said Mike. “I like to go in and out of the water.”

  The sailors climbed into the other boat and rowed back to the ship.

  “Come here a minute,” said Lars. “Benny, Mike and everyone come here!” He did not smile. When everyone was there, he said, “You must not go into this water any time you like.”

  “I know why,” said Henry. “Sharks!”

  “Right!” said Lars. “I suppose you have read about them.” He was surprised. “I will show you a fine place later, but we must get right to work. Now first thing! We must make a place to sleep tonight. We haven’t much time.”

  The family stood on the beautiful white sand. They looked all around.

  “What a beautiful place!” said Violet softly.

  There were palm trees as far as they could see. Lovely flowers grew all over the trees. The flowers were bright red and yellow and white. The children saw trees and flowers and butterflies. But Lars and Mr. Alden saw banana trees, breadfruit trees and coconuts. As they looked, a great flock of blue birds rose in the air. Their big bills were bright orange. They did not make a sound.

  “They can’t sing,” said Lars. “They are just pretty.”