Benny Alden was a boy who liked to see things happen. One day at breakfast he burst out, “Those kids next door are the dumbest kids I ever saw!”
Grandfather Alden looked up in surprise. He said, “That doesn’t sound like you, Benny. You are usually a kind boy.”
“Well, I don’t mean to hurt anybody,” answered Benny. “I’m just telling you the way it is. You know what those new boys do, Grandfather?”
“No, what?”
“Nothing,” said Benny. “They don’t play, and they don’t read. They don’t work, and they don’t talk to each other. The big one lies in the swing and never swings. And the little one lies on his back and just looks up at the leaves. He doesn’t even go to sleep!”
“It’s true, Grandfather,” said Henry. He looked at Mr. Alden. “I have never seen boys like them.”
Benny went on. “Here they are, two healthy boys, one eight and one ten.”
“How do you know how old they are?” Jessie asked.
“I asked them. I went through our woods and looked over the hedge and asked them how old they were.”
“What did they say?” asked Violet.
“Just that. Jeffrey said one word, ten, and Sammy said one word, eight. Then I said, ‘Don’t you ever play anything?’ And they both said one word, no. So I came home. I was discouraged.”
Henry glanced at Mr. Alden and raised his eyebrows as if asking a question. Mr. Alden nodded. Getting up from the table, he said, “I must go to work. Good luck to you all.”
Then Grandfather Alden stopped and added, “I must tell you that I have an idea for a vacation later in the summer, maybe the last of July. So that gives you about three weeks to do whatever you like with the neighbors.”
The four Aldens looked at their grandfather.
Benny said, “I don’t suppose it’s any use to ask you what your idea is?”
“No, Ben. No use at all. You know I never tell secrets.”
“I know,” said Henry, laughing. “Do you want me to drive you to work?”
“No, Bill will drive. But thank you just the same, Henry.”
Bill was Mrs. McGregor’s husband. He took care of the yard and the vegetable garden and the flowers.
When Mr. Alden had gone, the four young people still sat at the table, thinking and talking.
Benny said, “I wonder why those boys don’t do anything. There is something wrong somewhere.”
Violet looked at her brother and said, “Benny, I don’t think they’re lazy. I think they are unhappy.”
“Why?” asked Benny. “Why should they be unhappy? They have a big yard full of trees and bushes and rocks. Most boys would think it was a great place to have fun.”
Violet shook her head. “I don’t really know, but I think they are not very happy with their parents.”
“You’re right,” said Jessie. “We all noticed that Mrs. Beach didn’t pay any attention to the boys that time when we called on them.”
At last Henry said, “Let’s say they are not happy. We can’t let two boys live like this right next door. We must do something about it.”
Jessie agreed. “We ought to try.”
“Now what could we do?” asked Violet. “Let’s think.”
They were quiet for a long time. Then Benny’s eyes opened wide and he jumped up.
“I know! A tree house! Everybody likes a tree house, even grownups. Even the Swiss Family Robinson! Even Robinson Crusoe!”
Jessie said, “That’s right, Ben. The Beaches have plenty of trees in their backyard. Is there a good one for a tree house? We’ve never made a tree house ourselves!”
“It would be fun,” Violet said, “even for us. You’ll have to show us how, Henry. Where are the boys now?”
Jeffrey and Sammy were in their backyard, as usual. They were sitting in the swing, side by side. They were even swinging a little.
When Benny saw them, he said, “Well, that’s a good sign. I never saw them swing before. Let’s go and get something started.”
The four Aldens went to the hedge and called, “Hello, there!”
“Hello,” said the boys together. They stopped swinging.
Benny said, “You don’t seem to play much or do anything.”
Sammy answered, “There isn’t anything special to do.”
“Haven’t you got bikes?” asked Henry. “I thought I saw two bikes.”
“Oh, yes, we have bikes,” replied Jeffrey. “But we can’t go out on the highway with them. My mom says it is too dangerous.”
Jessie asked, “Are you all alone? Is your mother at home?”
“No, she isn’t here right now,” said Jeffrey. “She’s writing a book, so she has to study in the new Science Library a lot. That’s why we moved here, to give Mom a nice quiet place to write in. But she doesn’t know what to do with us. She said, ‘You’ll be perfectly safe if you stay right in the yard. And don’t do anything to get into trouble.’”
“I see,” Henry said. “Do you think she would mind if we came over to see you?”
Jeffrey said, “No, I don’t think so. But we can’t go out of this yard. Mom doesn’t want us run over by a car. I know Dad would like to have you come. But he told us not to bother you because you are older than we are.”
Sammy said suddenly, “Dad is a very smart man. He’s a scientist. I’m going to be a scientist, too, when I grow up, just like my dad. I like to think about chlorophyll.”
“About what?” Benny asked in surprise.
“Chlorophyll,” repeated Sammy. “My dad says chlorophyll is the green in the leaves and that’s what keeps us alive. I like to lie and look at those trees and think about that.”
Benny laughed, “That’s a big word for an eight-year-old,” he said.
Jeffrey broke in, “I like to think about space. I’d like to run a computer and guide the men walking on the moon.”
Benny said, “You boys are interested in grown-up ideas. You don’t seem to want to play. Why is that?”
Jeffrey thought a minute. Then he said, “I guess it’s because we haven’t any friends our age.”
Henry said, “Benny thought building a tree house would be fun.” That was all he said, and the other Aldens waited and said nothing.
The Beach boys looked at each other and then they both began to talk at once. They were so different from the boys who never said a word.
Sammy said, “Do you know how to build one?”
“Well, I never built one,” replied Henry. “But I think I could.”
“That wouldn’t be dangerous,” shouted Sammy. “And we wouldn’t get into any trouble.”
“We’ve got lots of tools,” said Jeffrey. “They are really my father’s tools, but I know he will let us use them. He’s very fussy about them. He put a big piece of white oilcloth on the wall in the cellar. Then he drew pictures of every tool with black ink, just exactly the size of the tools. You always have to put each tool back in the right place.”
“That I’d like to see!” Benny said. “Lots of times I can’t even find a hammer.”
“We’ve got loads of boards, too!” exclaimed Sammy. “There are the big boxes in the cellar that the furniture came in. One is a piano box. We could take the boxes apart. Do you want to see them?”
The Beach boys led the Aldens down the outside steps into the dark cellar. Jeffrey turned on the light. There were boxes and boxes, just as Sammy said.
Henry looked at the boxes and then said, “The floor of the tree house must be strong. Let’s use the piano box for the floor.”
But Jessie said, “Wait a minute. Do you think it will be all right? Maybe Mr. or Mrs. Beach wants the piano box for something else?”
“Oh, no,” replied Jeffrey. “I’m positive. I don’t think they remember the boxes are in the cellar.”
Sammy nodded his head. “That’s right. Boxes don’t mean a thing to Mom or Dad.”
“Well, if you’re sure, we’ll begin,” said Henry. “It will take a long time just to get enough boards for the floor.”
The Aldens and the Beaches tugged and lifted the piano box up the cellar steps into the backyard. They set it down.
“Now for a tree,” said Sammy. “I think that one would be exactly right.” He pointed upward. “That would be grand for a tree house. It’s a white oak.”
Henry looked at Sammy. He said, “You are exactly right. It’s the best tree in the whole yard.”
Jessie looked at the tree and said, “I never saw a tree just like that one. Its lower branches are enormous.”
“It’s a special tree,” said Sammy. “Dad told us that Uncle Max fell out of it once.”
“Years and years ago,” Jeffrey said.
“Your Uncle Max? Who is Uncle Max? Did he live here?” asked Benny.
Jeffrey looked at Sammy, and Sammy looked at Jeffrey. They laughed, and Jeffrey said, “We might as well tell you. Dad and Uncle Max are brothers, and they lived right in this house when they were boys.”
“Then that’s why Mr. Beach didn’t seem to be a stranger in the neighborhood. We wondered about that,” Henry said.
“Yes, that’s why,” agreed Jeffrey. “Dad is no stranger, and Uncle Max is no stranger. Grandfather bought this big house.”
“It is a big house,” Jessie said. “It must have twenty rooms.”
Benny asked, “Was this before our grandfather bought our house?”
“Yes,” Jeffrey said. “Dad told us two families lived in your house before your grandfather came here.”
“Your dad and uncle must have had a good time here when they were boys,” Benny said.
“They had a big fight,” Jeffrey said. “Their father gave them a spyglass—a telescope, you know. It was a good one. One day they couldn’t find it. My dad said my uncle took it, and Uncle Max said my dad took it. They never found the spyglass. Uncle Max and Dad never got along very well after that.”
Violet said, “I don’t see why a spyglass made that much difference.”
“It wasn’t just that,” Jeffrey said. “Dad went to college, but Uncle Max wouldn’t go. He was in the army for a while. When he came back he decided he’d open a restaurant. He bought a place just off the state road. He lives there all alone upstairs over the restaurant.”
Benny exclaimed, “Oh, we know where that is. It’s called Beach’s Place.”
“Right!” said Sammy. “Dad said he would take us down to see Uncle Max when he has time. But he’ll never have time. I would like to go there, though, and ask Uncle Max about the spyglass.”
Jeffrey shook his head. “Dad would be angry. He still thinks Uncle Max knows something about the spyglass. And maybe he does.”
Sammy said, “If we have a tree house we need a spyglass.”
“Well, meanwhile,” said Jeffrey, “let’s get to work. It’s more fun to build a tree house than to wish for a spyglass.”
The Aldens laughed. The Beach boys were eager to begin.
Then Jeffrey had a question. “How are we going to get up that tree to build the house?” he asked.
“Climb,” said Benny. “Do you know how to climb a tree?”
Jeffrey looked at the big tree trunk. “I think it will be more fun to use a rope ladder when we get the tree house done. We can pull the ladder up after us.”
“And we could have a basket,” Sammy went on. “Put a rope on the basket and pull up our dinner.”
Benny looked at the boys. “You surprise me. When we came over at first you didn’t say a word. And now you talk all the time.”
Jeffrey thought a minute. Then he said, “I can tell you about that. My parents don’t like noise. They would rather think about their work than listen to us talk. But you Aldens talk to us, so we talk to you.”
“But now let’s get to work,” Benny said. He borrowed Jeffrey’s hammer and said, “Watch. First you give a hard pound on the back of the board. Then you pound in front where the head of the nail is.”
Sammy said, “But if you pound the head of the nail, it will stay in all the better.”
“No, you don’t pound the head of the nail. You pound just beside it. See? The board goes down and the nail comes up. Then you can pry the nail up with the claws of the hammer.”
Henry went back to the Alden house to get two more hammers. Soon the backyard at the Beach house was filled with the noise of pounding.
As Jeffrey and Sammy worked, their faces grew redder and happier.
Henry said, “I think we had better get another box. There are too many of us working on one box. We’ll get in each other’s way.”
“A good idea,” said Jessie. “Somebody will pound somebody’s thumb.”
“Maybe his own,” said Sammy.
The pile of boards grew. Henry said, “Let’s put the biggest boards in one pile and the smaller ones in another. I’d smooth them off a bit if I had a plane.”
“I’ll get one,” Jeffrey said. “It will take off the splinters.”
After a while Jessie looked at her watch. “It’s twelve o’clock!” she exclaimed. “We’ll have to go.”
Henry looked at the two piles. “I think we have enough boards for the floor. But I don’t think we ought to start the tree house without asking your father and mother. After all, it’s their tree.”
“They won’t care,” Sammy said, shaking his head. “But maybe we’d better ask them just the same.”
“Well, goodbye,” said Jeffrey. “I’m sorry we can’t work this afternoon.”
“You can work alone,” Benny said. “Just get more boards. We can use a lot. Do you have to get your own lunch?”
“No,” Jeffrey said. “Our lunch is all ready. Mom leaves it on the table. Usually I’m not very hungry, but today I am.”
So the Beach boys went inside for their lunch and the Aldens went home. Grandfather was there, and they told him what had happened. Benny let the others do most of the talking.
Suddenly Benny said, “Grandfather, do you remember a long time ago you said it was very hard to say ‘I was wrong’?”
Mr. Alden laughed. “Yes, I’m sure I said that.”
Benny said, “I was wrong.”
“What do you mean, Benny?” asked Jessie.
“About the Beach kids,” replied Benny. “I said they were dumb and they didn’t do anything.”
“Well, what do they do?” asked Mr. Alden.
“They think,” said Benny. “That’s what.” |