“The millionaire sure left hard clues,” Benny said the next morning.
The Aldens were standing on the front lawn of Mrs. Spencer’s house. They had arrived to wash the outside of her windows. Just moments before, the elderly owner had come out to greet the children before going back inside the house.
“I wonder who he was,” Benny went on. “The mysterious millionaire, I mean.”
Henry turned on the hose. “There’s no way of knowing,” he said as he filled the buckets with water.
Jessie added cleaning solution to the water. “It’s funny that he wanted to keep his identity such a secret.”
“We know one thing for sure,” said Benny. “The millionaire was somebody who liked mysteries.”
Violet nodded. “And he was good at making them up, too.”
“But we’re even better at solving them!” Benny was quick to remind them.
Jessie laughed. “I wonder just how good we are at washing windows.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Henry.
With that, everyone grabbed a rag and set to work. Henry leaned the ladder against the house and climbed up to reach the top windows. Jessie, Violet, and Benny tackled the lower windows. While they worked, the children were each lost in thought about the mysterious millionaire and his strange clues.
“You really ought to take a break, children,” a voice called out to them some time later. “If you’re interested, I have some cold apple cider.”
Violet turned to see Mrs. Spencer poking her head out of an opened window. Wisps of snowy-white hair fluttered in the breeze.
“Apple cider sounds great, Mrs. Spencer,” Violet called back to her, while Benny let out a cheer. The four children had been working hard all morning and were ready for a break.
Henry stepped down from the ladder. “I guess we’re done here anyway,” he said. The Aldens stood back to admire their work.
“We did a good job,” Benny said proudly, and the others agreed.
Inside, Mrs. Spencer poured apple cider into tall glasses while Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny sat around the table in her cheery little kitchen.
“What dear children you are!” said Mrs. Spencer, smiling over at them. As she sat down, she reached into her pocket and pulled out some dollar bills. “I want to give you a little something for—”
Jessie shook her head firmly. “Please put your money away, Mrs. Spencer.”
“You deserve a reward for your hard work,” insisted Mrs. Spencer.
“Grandfather says hard work is its own reward,” Violet told her quietly.
Mrs. Spencer hesitated for a moment. Then she tucked the money into her pocket again. “Your grandfather is a wise man,” she said. “And a lucky one, too.”
Benny looked puzzled. “Lucky?”
“He’s very lucky indeed to have such wonderful grandchildren.” Mrs. Spencer gave them a happy smile. “Just look at how the sun comes shining through those clean windows! Oh, I shall enjoy watching the birds even more now.”
The children chatted happily with the elderly woman. She talked for a while about Sam and how good he’d always been to her. Later, when she got up to answer the phone, the Aldens cleared away the empty glasses, waved good-bye, and walked back outside.
“Mrs. Spencer is such a sweet lady, isn’t she?” Violet said.
“You know what I think?” Benny piped up as he helped give the rags a good wringing-out. “I think this is why Sam washes windows.”
“What do you mean, Benny?” asked Henry.
“I think he does it because he likes making people happy.”
Jessie nodded. “Sam’s always thinking of others.” She hung the buckets over the handlebars of her bike. “I just hope we can solve the mystery for him.”
“Oh, if only we could figure out that Little Boy Blue clue!” cried Violet. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“And we won’t stop,” Henry said firmly. “Not until we come up with an answer.”
Everybody nodded except Benny.
“I’m too hungry to think,” he said.
Henry laughed. “We get the hint, Benny. Let’s go home and get something to eat.”
It wasn’t long before the Aldens were enjoying a delicious lunch of cheese sandwiches, Mrs. McGregor’s homemade potato chips, and crisp apples.
“If we can’t figure it out,” Henry said, “we’ll have to ride up and down the streets again.” The children were still talking about the Little Boy Blue clue as they sat in the kitchen of their grandfather’s big white house.
“You’re right, Henry.” Jessie poured Benny another glass of milk. “And that means going back to the Morningside neighborhood to hunt for the hollow tree. We didn’t quite finish checking out all the streets.”
Benny swallowed a bite of his sandwich. “We searched most of them, though,” he reminded them. “We went all the way up Ice Pond Road almost as far as—” Benny stopped talking. He was suddenly staring wide-eyed at his brother and sisters.
“What is it?” asked Henry.
“We . . . we got almost as far as Blue Street!”
Henry, Jessie, and Violet looked at Benny in amazement. “Of course!” cried Jessie.
“The Little Boy Blue nursery rhyme’s telling us to go to Blue Street!”
Henry gave his younger brother a big smile. “Great thinking, Benny!”
After they finished lunch, the children went out to the boxcar to study the map again.
“It’s a very long street,” observed Violet, pointing on the map to where Blue Street started and where it ended. “Any idea where we should begin?”
“I’m not sure,” Jessie answered, without taking her gaze off the map. “But at least we’ve narrowed it down to just the one street—even if it is a long one.”
Henry smiled a little and said, “I think we can narrow it down even more. I have a feeling we should be looking right about here.” Henry put his finger on the map just where Blue Street crossed Ice Pond Road.
“Why do you say that, Henry?” Violet asked curiously.
“Remember how the Spider’s Clue poem goes?” asked Henry. Then he began to recite: “When the sheep in the meadow/ And the cow in the corn/ Do a figure eight/ In the early morn.” Then he straightened up and looked over at his brother and sisters. “Does that remind you of anything? The part about the figure eight, I mean.”
Jessie, Violet, and Benny thought hard for a minute. Then Jessie’s face brightened as she suddenly caught on. “I do figure eights whenever I go skating!”
Henry nodded. “Exactly.”
Benny was confused. “Jessie’s a good skater, but what does that have to do with anything?”
Just then Violet said, “Oh!” She put one hand over her mouth in surprise. “I think I know what Henry means. Skaters can do figure eights on ice ponds!”
“Ice Pond Road!” cried Benny. “Come on!” He was already halfway out of the boxcar. “Let’s go check it out.”
The Aldens set off for the Morningside neighborhood once again. In no time at all they reached the corner of Ice Pond Road and Blue Street. The children hopped off their bikes and took a good look around at the four corners of the intersection. Their gaze took in a barbershop, a vacant lot overgrown with weeds, a bookstore, and a small restaurant with a pink awning.
But there wasn’t a hollow tree anywhere in sight.
“I don’t get it.” Violet checked out the street signs again. “According to the clues, this should be the spot.” She looked over at Henry. “Right?”
Henry nodded. “Has to be,” he said.
“Then where’s the hollow tree?” asked Benny.
Puzzled, they all looked at one another. Then Jessie shook her head.
“Something doesn’t add up,” she said. “Maybe we read the clues wrong.”
“What now?” Benny wanted to know, his shoulders slumped with disappointment.
The Aldens looked at one another. They didn’t know what to do. |