CHAPTER 11
A New Discovery
Henry said, “We certainly want to see Mr. Cole right away. I hope he has something to tell us.”
“I hope he will talk more than Willie,” said Benny.
They all laughed as they started out for Grandpa Cole’s.
The two old men were sitting side by side in two chairs in the yard.
“They look a lot alike, don’t they?” said Jessie. “But we know they are not twins. How exciting this is! We may get news and we may not.”
“Be prepared,” said Benny. “Just like the Boy Scouts.”
The two Mr. Coles were delighted to see the visitors. “Go and get four chairs,” said Grandpa.
“Oh, no, we can sit on the grass,” said Jessie. “We like it.” They all sat down, so it was too late to get chairs.
“We are very glad you came at last, sir,” said Henry to Mr. Cole. “We have been waiting for you. Maybe you can tell us something new.”
“Well, my boy, I think I can,” said Mr. Cole. “I knew Andy Bean very well. I was a young man and Andy was just a big boy. Always up to something. He was good looking with a one-sided kind of smile. He always wanted to do exciting things. And we were quiet people.”
“We always come right back to Andy Bean, don’t we?” said Benny.
“Yes, your mystery is about Andy Bean, that’s why. I’m sure of that. You see I knew he had that flintlock.”
“You did!” they all said.
“Yes. He came and showed it to me as a secret. But I didn’t think much about it because I didn’t know how to shoot it.”
“Didn’t Andy know?” asked Violet.
“No. That’s why he took it up into the woods to fool with it. He had gunpowder and matches. But I suppose the gun was too rusty. So before he knew it, he had started a big fire. The leaves and grass were very dry and caught fire easily. The farmhouse was saved, but many trees were burned. I suppose Andy was afraid somebody would put him in jail. He never could stand being shut in, so he ran away.”
“He left the gun,” said Henry.
“Yes, he left the gun. But this isn’t what I wanted to tell you. You knew this already, didn’t you?”
“Most of it,” said Henry. “But we hope you know things we don’t. People keep saying someone at our house hid there and gave Andy the flintlock.”
“Not a bit of truth to it,” Mr. Cole said loudly. “People like to tell tales just to scare themselves. Andy told me he found the gun somewhere in your house. He didn’t say where. But he did say, ‘I found the whole story, too, all written out.’ Those were his own words. Then he said, ‘The other end is in the woodshed.’”
“I wonder what he meant? The other end of what?” cried Violet.
“I never knew,” said Mr. Cole sadly. “Now I’m sorry I didn’t ask him, but then I didn’t think it was important.”
“Is there anyone else we could ask?” said Jessie. “Who else was around here at that time?”
“Oh, Willie,” said Mr. Cole laughing. “But you won’t get much out of Willie!”
“No, he doesn’t talk,” said Benny.
“No, he doesn’t talk, and he doesn’t know much either. He was born that way. He can’t help it. But he was around here then, sure enough.”
Violet said, “Do you think there could be a tunnel between the woodshed and our house?”
“No, it’s too far. But if I were you, I’d hunt around in your own cellar. For Andy said the woodshed is the other end of something.”
“We’ll do that right off,” said Henry getting up. “Do you think we might find this mystery written down?”
“It looks that way to me,” said Mr. Cole. “Something happened in your house. That’s what makes the mystery. People had always felt there was something unusual about the old place. After Andy Bean’s disappearance, there were more stories whispered around.”
“That’s what makes it so exciting,” said Benny.
“You are new,” said Grandpa Cole. “You never lived here long ago with all these goings-on.”
“Thanks a million,” said Henry. “You helped us a lot, Mr. Cole. We’ll tell you what we find.”
The Aldens could hardly wait to get to their own cellar. Violet stopped to tell Aunt Jane all about it. Then she went down the cellar with the rest.
Henry was standing still, looking all around. He laughed and said, “Benny, where would you begin? You have good luck finding things.”
Benny was very much pleased. He said at once, “The potato pit. You can see everything else. But you can’t see the inside of the potato pit.”
“OK,” said Henry. “You and I will be the ones to get dirty. In you go!” He helped his little brother over the edge of the empty pit. He handed down a flashlight and a small shovel. Then he took an axe and jumped in.
Jessie and Violet could see the top of his head.
“How are you going to get out?” asked Jessie as she looked down.
“You can give us a box to step on,” said Henry. “But we haven’t begun yet.”
First the boys looked at the floor very carefully. They found nothing but dirt. Then they began to look at the walls.
“These walls are made of stones, aren’t they, Henry?” asked Benny. “And then plaster over them?”
“Right,” said Henry. “But maybe some of them are loose.”
He hit the wall with his axehead and said, “Listen! This isn’t stone. It’s wood!”
“Don’t tell me!” shouted Benny. “Maybe it’s a little wooden door! And all covered with plaster!”
The boys pounded away at the door. The plaster fell off in big pieces. At last they could open the door. What a noise it made as it opened!
The boys flashed the light in the door. “A big hole!” cried Benny. “Just exactly like the hole under the woodshed! This is the other end of something, whatever it is!” |