They hiked a long way into the woods. After a while they came to another small clearing. A camp was set up there. A woman, a man, and two small children sat at the picnic table eating breakfast. At one end of the table, a portable radio played softly.
“Maybe they played the loud music,” Benny said.
“Let’s find out,” Henry suggested.
The man saw the Alden children. He snapped off the radio. Then, he waved. “Hello, there,” he said. “Are you camping here, too?”
The Aldens walked closer.
Henry said, “Yes, our camp is over that way.” He pointed toward their campsite.
“We’re the Changs,” the man said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Henry introduced himself and his sisters and brother.
“And this is our dog Watch,” Benny added.
Watch lifted his paw.
The Chang children giggled.
Mrs. Chang said, “We thought we were the only campers here.”
“It seemed a pleasant change,” Mr. Chang added. “All the other campgrounds we’ve tried have been so crowded.”
“We thought we were the only ones, too,” Benny piped up, “until we heard loud music last night.”
The man and woman looked at each other. “Loud music?” they both said.
“You didn’t hear it?” Jessie said.
“We were awfully tired last night,” Mr.
Chang said. “We slept pretty soundly. But— ”
One of the children said, “More milk, Daddy,” and reached for the pitcher. It tipped. Mr. Chang caught it just as it was about to fall over.
Just then, the other child slipped off the picnic bench and started to cry. Mrs. Chang rushed to pick her up.
Henry edged toward the path. “We’ll see you again,” he said.
The Aldens hiked along silently. They listened to the birds singing overhead. They saw chipmunks and squirrels and rabbits.
Finally Jessie said, “It sure is strange that the Changs didn’t hear that music last night. Their campsite isn’t that far from ours.”
“Do you think the Changs are the ones who played it?” Violet asked.
“They have a radio,” Jessie said. “They could be the ones.”
“But why would they do it?” Henry asked.
“I don’t know,” Jessie answered.
They fell silent again, thinking.
After a while, Benny said, “I’m hungry.”
“Again!” Violet said.
“You’re always hungry,” Henry joked.
“I know,” Benny agreed.
Jessie pointed to a large flat rock. “Let’s sit there,” she said, “and eat some fruit.”
“We can leave the seeds and peels here,” Violet said when they had finished their snack. “The birds and small animals will eat them.”
They continued on. Every so often, they found an empty soda can or some other waste. They picked it up and dumped it into their empty lunch sack.
When it was full, Henry said, “Too bad there aren’t more garbage cans along the way. We’ll have to carry this with us until we find one.”
Before long, they came to a wide stream. Watch wagged his tail and lapped up a drink of water.
“This must be the same brook that runs along our campsite,” Henry said. He took out the campgrounds map and studied it. “We’re nearly out of the park,” he told the others. “We’d better turn back.”
They followed the stream back toward camp.
“We have to stop for wood,” Henry reminded them.
There were special areas marked on the map where campers could get wood. The children stopped at one. They dropped the debris they had collected into a garbage can. Then they went to the large, tarpaulin-covered woodpile.
“How will we carry the wood back to camp?” Violet wondered.
“I have an idea,” Henry said. He took off his belt. He wrapped it around several pieces of wood and buckled it. “We can carry it this way.”
When the children got back to camp, Grandfather was napping against the maple tree, his magazine open beside him.
The children didn’t wake him. Instead, they took off their shoes and socks and went wading in the stream. The cold clear water soothed their tired feet. They splashed it on their wrists and faces. It was refreshing.
In the late afternoon, Henry and Benny laid the fire. Then they went into the kitchen tent to prepare supper.
“Benny, you can peel and slice the carrots,” Henry directed. “Jessie, you do the potatoes.” He began slicing a large onion.
Grandfather came in. “What can I do?” he asked.
“You can tear up the lettuce for the salad,” Violet said. “I’ll set the table.”
When they all had finished, Violet made hamburger patties and Henry put each one into a foil packet with some of the vegetables. Jessie lit the fire. “We don’t want a big flame for this meal,” Henry said. “We’ll have to let it burn down a while.”
While they waited for the fire to be just right, they sat at the table and had cranberry juice and crackers.
“How was your hike?” Mr. Alden asked.
“We met some other campers,” Henry said.
“They didn’t hear the loud music,” Violet told him.
“That’s strange,” Mr. Alden said. “It was loud enough to be heard all over the park.”
“That’s what we thought,” Jessie said.
“They must be very sound sleepers,” Mr. Alden said.
When most of the logs had turned to ash, Henry brought out the foil packages and Jessie set them on top of the coals. Twenty minutes after that, everyone sat down to enjoy their meal.
“This is delicious,” Jessie said.
Everyone agreed.
“It’s called hobo stew,” Henry said.
“What are we having for dessert?” Benny asked.
“Who needs dessert after that big meal?” Grandfather teased.
“I do,” Benny said.
Jessie brought out the marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars. Violet got the long, pointed sticks. Henry added wood to the fire. Benny danced around it excitedly.
“S’mores!” he exclaimed. “My favorite.”
They sat around the campfire until it had burned itself out. Even then, they hated to go to bed.
“It’s so quiet here,” Violet said.
“And so dark,” Benny added.
“I’ll get the lantern,” Henry said. He walked to the table. Then he called, “Where is the lantern?”
“The last time I saw it, it was on the table,” Jessie said. It was there when Violet and I came back from our showers.”
“It was there after breakfast,” Violet said. “I had to move it when I took off the tablecloth.”
“Then it must have been there when we left for our hike,” Henry said. He made his way to the tent where he got a flashlight from his backpack. He shone it this way and that, but he couldn’t find the lantern anywhere. “Someone must have taken it,” he concluded.
“Why would anyone want our lantern?” Benny asked.
“How could anyone have taken it?” Mr. Alden wondered. “I was here the whole time you were gone. Do you think someone took it while I dozed?”
“Maybe,” Jessie said.
“Wherever it is, we won’t find it tonight,” Mr. Alden said. “It’s time to turn in. We’ll look for it in the morning.”
Suddenly Watch, who had been curled up at Jessie’s feet, sat up. He growled softly.
“What is it, Watch?” Jessie asked.
“Look over there!” Benny said. “Lights!”
They all looked toward the woods. Two beams of light moved away from them. They seemed to dance through the trees. Then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone.
“What was that?” Benny asked.
“Maybe it’s someone with our lantern,” Violet answered.
“There were two light beams,” Henry said.
“It could be people with flashlights,” Jessie said. “The Changs maybe.”
“What would they be doing in the woods at this time of night?” Violet asked.
Jessie couldn’t think of a single reason.
Mr. Alden got to his feet. “Let’s sleep on it,” he said. “In daylight, things look less mysterious.” |