carried a big basket of wood. “Nice, dry wood,” he laughed.
Benny said, “I never thought I would just love dry wood.”
Then they went out again to the canoes and brought up the packs. Soon Jessie and Alice had a fine fire going in the stove, while Violet got the potatoes ready.
“I think we’ll eat in the kitchen,” said Henry looking around. He pulled the table into the middle of the room. “Benny, see if you can find six chairs.”
Violet found some heavy white plates, and set the table. Jessie cut the fish into six pieces before she cooked it. Then she put it in a big pan. For the first time in many days, they all sat down on real chairs to eat a meal at their own table. When they had finished supper there was no food left at all.
Before long the dishes were washed, the beds were made, and everything was ready for the night. But it was not yet dark.
“Let’s go out and sit on the front steps,” said Jessie. “We don’t want to go to bed yet.”
The family went through the little house and sat down on the wooden steps. A soft wind was blowing through the trees. Soon a toad hopped out from under the steps.
“He lives there,” said Benny. “I like to have toads living under our steps.”
“They come out at night,” said Joe. “They catch bugs.”
“You know, I feel as if something will happen soon,” said Violet slowly.
Alice turned to look at her. “That’s funny, Violet,” she said. “I feel as if we had done this before. Almost as if we had a clue and didn’t know it.”
Joe surprised them all by saying, “I feel that way, too.”
CHAPTER 13
The Tin Box Again
T he next day the children were up early. They had breakfast. They made their beds.
“We ought to go down to see Rita the first thing we do,” said Violet. “We were not very polite to her yesterday. All we could think of was Benny.”
“Very well,” said Alice laughing. She sat down at the kitchen table. “You four go to Rita’s and Joe and I will write a letter to your grandfather.”
So the four children went down the road. Rita came out when she saw them coming. She began at once to show Violet what to do next on the basket. “This will be just a small basket,” she said. “You can make them as big as you want to.”
When Violet finished her basket, Benny said, “That’s very pretty, Violet. You can give it to Grandfather.”
“So I can,” said Violet, very much pleased. “He likes things we make. Now we must pay for it, Henry.”
“You have paid for it already,” said Rita, smiling. “The big boy paid me for the basket and the lesson and the trip into the woods. He really paid me too much.” She looked at Benny and took hold of his hands. “Don’t you run away, again, little boy. You make too much trouble for the hermit.”
“For the hermit!” cried Jessie. “It was more trouble for us.”
“No,” said Rita, shaking her head. “Dave Hunter was upset. I could see he liked Benny. It is the first time he has said more than one word at a time. My father says he was a very nice young man once. He built that house you are staying in.”
“He did!” cried Henry. “Did he live there himself?”
“Oh, yes. Many years ago. My father told me about it last night, after you found the little boy. He said Dave went away to work, and stayed a long, long time. When he came back he was different. He stayed in his little house for about a week, and one night some mean-looking men came to see him. They had a fight, and then they went away and left Dave alone. In a few days Dave went into the woods and built his cabin and he has stayed there ever since. He wouldn’t ever talk.”
As the excited children started back to Old Village, Benny said, “Jessie, Jessie, maybe Dave Hunter is Bill.”
“Why do you say that, young fellow?” asked Henry.
“Well, Bill could build houses. He built the little yellow house on Surprise Island and he built the little house here in Old Village.”
“Maybe
Jimmy Fallon, Gloria Fallon