Professor Nichols carefully turned the cardboard over and saw the photograph.
“This very house!” he said. “I’m beginning to get some ideas.”
Grandfather looked at Violet and asked, “You still have the coin case, don’t you? Will you get it for the professor?”
Violet went to the hall stairs and ran up to her room.
The professor could not sit still. He pushed back his chair and walked back and forth, waiting for Violet. He did not wait long. She was soon back and put the blue case into his hand.
The professor could not speak for a minute. He said, “Of course I know this! A little girl—Stephanie Shaw—made this. I knew her father. I helped her a little on this collection myself.”
Mr. Alden said, “Then we are right. This is the Blue Collection.”
“It certainly is. I never knew what became of it after the Shaws went to France. Has it been hidden here all this time? I can’t understand why no one ever claimed it.”
“The children learned that the Shaw family died in France many years ago,” Mr. Alden said. “Benny found Stephanie’s journal hidden behind a loose board in a closet wall.”
“Rory helped, too,” Benny said.
Rory added, “The empty coin case was there, Granda.”
“We’ll show you all the clues,” Benny offered.
Professor Nichols said, “What a story! It is a wonderful collection that might easily have been lost forever. Oh, I don’t like to think that I might have missed this collection entirely!” He shuddered. “I would indeed like to see all of the things you found.”
“Here is Stephanie’s journal,” said Violet. “I brought that down, too.”
“It is her writing,” said Professor Nichols. “And you children worked out the mystery? I never could have done it.”
“What do you think we should do with this collection?” asked Henry. “Should we keep it or sell it? Would anybody buy it?”
“I would!” said Professor Nichols. “There are valuable coins in this collection. It would give me great happiness to own it. However, I don’t want to take the famous Blue Collection away from you children.”
Benny said, “You knew Stephanie. I think you should have it.”
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” the professor said. “I’ll pay you for the Blue Collection. Then I’ll select some special coins for each one of you.”
He quickly pulled five coins off the blue cloth from different places on the card. He gave one to each of the Aldens and Rory.
“There!” he said. “You Aldens can start your own collection. I think you’ll enjoy it.”
“Start a collection with four coins?” exclaimed Benny.
The professor nodded. “You’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll add more coins. The minute people know that you are making a collection, they will help you.”
“I think I’ll collect Canadian coins,” Rory said. “I’m visiting the Aldens. I’m from Canada.”
“You are?” said Professor Nichols with a sharp look at the boy. “Maybe you have a Canadian five-cent piece with a beaver on it. And there’s a famous silver dollar from 1947 with men paddling a canoe. Some of the early fur traders, I guess. Yes, you can have an exciting collection.”
That evening at dinner, Professor Nichols looked at Benny and Rory. He said, “You boys are hiding part of the mystery about the Blue Collection from me.“
“We’re not!” Benny exclaimed. “We showed the journal and the clues and told you about the Jenny Wren Shop. That’s all there is.”
The professor shook his head. “I’ll tell what I’m wondering about. How did you boys happen to find the empty coin case and the papers in the closet wall?”
Benny said, “That’s easy. Vacation came and I was lonesome.”
“You were?” asked the professor and laughed. “I can’t believe that! But I still don’t understand.”
“Well, you see,” Benny explained, “all my friends were away and I was lonely. So Grandfather invited Rory to come.”
“That’s right,” Rory said. “Mrs. McGregor knows my family. That’s how it happened.”
“Of course Rory had to have the room next to mine,” Benny went on. “We didn’t know anything about Stephanie then or that it had been her room.”
Professor Nichols smiled. He could see that the only way to get the whole story was to let Benny tell it his way.
Benny went on, “We had rooms next to each other. That made us think of a telegraph between them. We thought we’d run a cord through holes in our closet walls.”
“It was a good idea,” Rory said. “But then we found all this stuff in the hole. Say, Benny, we never did finish our telegraph!”
“That’s right,” Benny exclaimed. “I guess our next mystery is how to make it work.”
The other Aldens and Professor Nichols all laughed.
“If you can’t find a mystery, make one,” the professor said.
Benny added, “And I’ll tell you something else, I’m not lonesome anymore.”
“Good!” said Grandfather. “That’s all I want.”
About the Author
GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book, The Boxcar Children, quickly proved she had succeeded.
Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeep-ing in a caboose or freight car—the situation the Alden children find themselves in.
When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.
While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible—something else that delights young readers.
Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books. And so she continued the Aldens’ adventures, writing a total of nineteen books in the Box-car Children series.
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN
SURPRISE ISLAND
THE YELLOW HOUSE MYSTERY
MYSTERY RANCH
MIKE’S MYSTERY
THE WOODSHED MYSTERY
THE LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY
MOUNTAIN TOP MYSTERY
SCHOOLHOUSE MYSTERY
CABOOSE MYSTERY
HOUSEBOAT MYSTERY
SNOWBOUND MYSTERY
TREE HOUSE MYSTERY
BICYCLE MYSTERY
MYSTERY IN THE SAND
MYSTERY BEHIND THE WALL
BUS STATION MYSTERY
BENNY UNCOVERS A MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CABIN MYSTERY
THE DESERTED LIBRARY MYSTERY
THE ANIMAL SHELTER MYSTERY
THE OLD MOTEL MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN
PAINTING
THE AMUSEMENT PARK MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIXED-UP ZOO
THE CAMP-OUT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY GIRL
THE MYSTERY CRUISE
THE DISAPPEARING FRIEND MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST
MYSTERY IN THE SNOW
THE PIZZA MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY HORSE
THE MYSTERY AT THE DOG SHOW
THE CASTLE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST VILLAGE
&
nbsp; THE MYSTERY ON THE ICE
THE MYSTERY OF THE PURPLE POOL
THE GHOST SHIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN WASHINGTON, DC
THE CANOE TRIP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN BEACH
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING CAT
THE MYSTERY AT SNOWFLAKE INN
THE MYSTERY ON STAGE
THE DINOSAUR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN MUSIC
THE MYSTERY AT THE BALL PARK
THE CHOCOLATE SUNDAE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HOT
AIR BALLOON
THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
THE PILGRIM VILLAGE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN
BOXCAR
THE MYSTERY IN THE CAVE
THE MYSTERY ON THE TRAIN
THE MYSTERY AT THE FAIR
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST MINE
THE GUIDE DOG MYSTERY
THE HURRICANE MYSTERY
THE PET SHOP MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE SECRET MESSAGE
THE FIREHOUSE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE NIAGARA FALLS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY AT THE ALAMO
THE OUTER SPACE MYSTERY
THE SOCCER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE OLD ATTIC
THE GROWLING BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE LAKE MONSTER
THE MYSTERY AT PEACOCK HALL
THE WINDY CITY MYSTERY
THE BLACK PEARL MYSTERY
THE CEREAL BOX MYSTERY
THE PANTHER MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN’S JEWELS
THE STOLEN SWORD MYSTERY
THE BASKETBALL MYSTERY
THE MOVIE STAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S MAP
THE GHOST TOWN MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK RAVEN
THE MYSTERY IN THE MALL
THE MYSTERY IN NEW YORK
THE GYMNASTICS MYSTERY
THE POISON FROG MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY SAFE
THE HOME RUN MYSTERY
THE GREAT BICYCLE RACE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES
THE MYSTERY IN THE COMPUTER
GAME
THE MYSTERY AT THE CROOKED
HOUSE
THE HOCKEY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT DOG
THE MYSTERY OF THE SCREECH OWL
THE SUMMER CAMP MYSTERY
THE COPYCAT MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED CLOCK TOWER
MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE TIGER’S EYE
THE DISAPPEARING STAIRCASE
MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD
MOUNTAIN
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER’S CLUE
THE CANDY FACTORY MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE MUMMY’S
CURSE
THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY
THE STUFFED BEAR MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF ALLIGATOR SWAMP
THE MYSTERY AT SKELETON POINT
THE TATTLETALE MYSTERY
THE COMIC BOOK MYSTERY
THE GREAT SHARK MYSTERY
THE ICE CREAM MYSTERY
THE MIDNIGHT MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY IN THE FORTUNE
COOKIE
THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER MYSTERY
THE RADIO MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUNAWAY
GHOST
THE FINDERS KEEPERS MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED
BOXCAR
THE CLUE IN THE CORN MAZE
THE GHOST OF THE CHATTERING
BONES
THE SWORD OF THE SILVER KNIGHT
THE GAME STORE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY OF THE ORPHAN TRAIN
THE VANISHING PASSENGER
THE GIANT YO-YO MYSTERY
THE CREATURE IN OGOPOGO LAKE
THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL MYSTERY
THE SECRET OF THE MASK
THE SEATTLE PUZZLE
THE GHOST IN THE FIRST ROW
THE BOX THAT WATCH FOUND
A HORSE NAMED DRAGON
THE GREAT DETECTIVE RACE
THE GHOST AT THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE
THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELING
TOMATOES
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1973 by Albert Whitman & Company
ISBN: 978-1-4532-0822-9
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