CHAPTER 10
Hints and Plans
The next morning Jessie looked at Violet. “What in the world is the matter with you?” she asked.
“Mosquitoes,” said Violet. Her face was red and puffed.
“Does your face hurt?” asked Jessie. “I would hardly know you. We’ll have to do something.”
“I can hardly open my mouth,” said Violet.
“I heard the mosquitoes,” said Jessie. “Look at my arm.”
The boys came down to breakfast.
“Hello! Hello!” said Benny. “What happened to you, Violet? You look fat in the face.”
“Mosquito bites,” said Jessie.
“I had some, too,” said Mr. Alden. “The wind has changed. Now it comes off the land. That always means mosquitoes.”
Henry said slowly, “We have five windows.”
“We have a screen door but no screens on the windows,” said Benny. “I have an idea. Let’s put screen cloth on the windows and get Larry to help us.”
“And what about poor Violet?” asked Mr. Alden.
“Mr. Hall will have something for her bites,” said Jessie. “I hope he has screen cloth, too.”
Violet could hardly eat.
Henry said, “I’ve finished breakfast. I’ll run over to the store.”
Soon he came back with a great many things. He had something for Violet’s face, a roll of screen cloth, a big box of tacks, and two small hammers.
Jessie covered Violet’s face with white stuff from Mr. Hall’s.
“You don’t need to help, Violet,” said Benny. “You can’t see the tacks.”
“The next thing is to find Larry,” said Jessie. “Now, Benny, don’t say anything about seeing him out in his father’s boat. And don’t ask him about what he does in the summer kitchen. He’ll tell us when he’s ready.”
Benny said, “Oh, Jessie, I’m not that dumb.”
The Aldens walked up and down the street and looked at Larry’s house. Mrs. Cook was out in the yard.
“Where’s Larry?” asked Henry.
“I don’t know. He’s out.”
They could see that the Sea Cook was in.
At last they went down to the wharf. There was Larry, reading a book.
“Hi, Larry,” shouted Benny. “Will you come and help us?”
“What doing?” asked Larry, shutting his book. “And where is the other sister?”
“You wouldn’t know her,” said Benny. “She is all mosquito bites. One eye is all shut.”
Jessie said, “We want to put screens on five windows.”
“You don’t need me,” said Larry.
“Count us,” said Benny. “We have five windows and four people.”
Larry laughed. He got up, put his book under his arm, and they all walked down the street.
Larry looked at the high windows. Then he looked at the screen cloth. “You can’t put this on from the outside,” he said.
“No,” said Benny. “We are going to put it on from the inside. We’ll show you. We have done it before.”
“I’d like to see how you do it,” said Larry.
Then Violet came out.
“I’m very sorry about your face,” said Larry. Then he began to cut screen cloth.
Grandfather sat out on the rocks. He laughed to himself. Everyone was tapping or cutting. Grandfather could hear them talking. Once he heard Larry laugh. Then he got up quietly and went to the store.
Grandfather said to Mr. Hall, “Do you think Larry Cook would like steak?”
“Steak?” said Mr. Hall, “I don’t think he ever had much.”
“We’ll try it then,” said Grandfather. “Five pounds of steak should be enough.”
“Potato chips,” said Mr. Hall.
“Pickles,” said Grandfather.
“How about a pie?” said Mr. Hall.
“I’ll need rolls and two pies,” said Grandfather. “Make them cherry.”
Mr. Hall put all the food in a big bag. Grandfather went quietly back to the rocks. He could hear that the pounding had stopped. He found two pieces of old iron. He hit them together. It sounded like a bell. Grandfather looked up and saw Benny at his window.
“Is that a dinner bell, Grandfather?” shouted Benny.
“Come down and see,” said Grandfather.
Laughing, they all ran to the rocks. Grandfather showed them what he had bought.
“We’ll need a fire for that steak,” said Larry.
“Right,” said Henry. “Here’s our fireplace. We can use our grill.”
Everyone began to gather dry wood, but it was Larry who built the fire.
The Aldens noticed that Larry never looked toward the summer kitchen. He did not know that they already knew a great deal about something that interested him very much.
“I forgot you were a cook,” said Benny.
“How do you like your steak?” asked Larry. “Well done?”
“No, he likes it burned up,” said Henry.
“He won’t get any burned up steak from me,” said Larry.
“I want mine very rare, my boy,” said Mr. Alden.
“I know,” said Larry. “Rare but not raw.”
“Good!” said Mr. Alden. “I shall enjoy this meal.”
They could hardly wait for the fire to burn down, but Larry would not put the steaks on. At last the fire was just right. Larry counted, “Two rare, three medium, and Benny’s well done.”
“That means I’ll have to wait till last,” said Benny.
Jessie put butter on the rolls. Mr. Alden’s steak was done first. Larry took his own off and moved the rest to the hot part of the fire. Soon everyone was eating a steak sandwich.
“Poor Grandfather,” said Benny. “No coffee.”
“I don’t need coffee today,” said Grandfather. “Just give me a pickle.”
When they had picked up after lunch, Larry began to think he should go home. He said, “I had a fine time.” He looked at Violet and smiled. “I hope you’ll have no mosquitoes.”
“Thank you for helping us,” said Violet. “Come again soon.”
“Maybe I will,” said Larry.
After he had gone, Jessie said, “I think we are really friends with Larry now. Don’t you, Grandfather?”
“Yes,” said Mr. Alden. “You did exactly right.
You gave him something interesting to do. Then you all worked together. That’s the best way to make friends.”
“Well,” said Benny, “I wish that we’d get to be such good friends that Larry would tell us about his work. Maybe he thinks he can sell that stuff and get rich.”
“I think he’s more interested in it as science work,” said Henry. “But that’s just a guess.”
Then they all sat looking at the beautiful blue sea. Violet said, “It never seems to rain here. Every single day has been sunny. I wonder why?”
“Yes,” said Mr. Alden. “So far it has been sunny for three weeks. But you will find it isn’t always that way. In fact I think I feel a storm coming up now.”
“I don’t,” said Benny. “There isn’t a cloud in the sky.”
“Maybe not today,” said Grandfather, “but soon. It is lucky we have a nice tight lighthouse to stay in. We’ll see some big waves.”
“Oh, I love big waves,” said Violet. “They are so beautiful dashing on the rocks. And we are right by the water—almost in the water.”
The storm did not come that night. The family had supper on the rocks. They had a fine night with no mosquitoes.
“Pretty good screens,” said Benny.
All the next day they swam or sat on the beach in the sun. Then the family had supper on the rocks. Just as they finished, Grandfather said, “Look! The storm! The wind has changed!”
Sure enough, clouds were speeding across the sky.
Jessie and Henry gathered the supper things together.
They hurried into the lighthouse just as the first drops began to fall.
“Just a little rain,” said Benny, laughing. “It feels good on my head. I like to get my hair wet.” |