present for me to give you. Would you like to keep it to remember Owlâs Glen by?â
Benny smiled and closed his fingers around the tiny toy. âOh, yes,â he cried.
The meal was beautiful. The canned ham was glazed with rings of apples dyed red with cinnamon candies. Tiny new potatoes swam in butter beside a bowl of ruby-red beets.
Mrs. Hodges finally put down her fork with a sigh. âWhat a wonderful meal,â she said.
âAnd every single thing except the canned ham is from Capâs garden and orchard,â Jessie told her.
âWe have dessert, too,â Benny said.
âI donât know where Iâll find room for it,â Jason said.
Cap took a spoonful of Violetâs apple bread pudding with caramel sauce and grinned at his son. âDonât even try to eat this, Jason,â he said. âJust pass it right over here. One serving of this isnât going to be near enough for me.â
âYou and I are a lot alike, Cap,â Benny said, smiling at him. âWe both like good things in our mouths, donât we?â
The grown-ups sat over coffee while the children cleaned up the dishes, then played games in the backyard. Before they left, Mrs. Hodges asked Violet for her recipe for apple bread pudding and caramel sauce. âItâs just delicious,â she told Violet. âIâll want to make it for Cap to remind him of you. I just wish you could stay.â
âWe might come back,â Benny said. âI like it here.â
As Mr. Aldenâs car pulled away, Cap waved back with his rooster on his shoulder and his son at his side. âThis may have been our best mystery adventure ever,â Jessie told her grandfather thoughtfully.
Benny said, âYes, but I want to get home and see Watch and our boxcar.â
Jessie grinned at him. Funny little boy. But Jessie knew Benny was only saying what each of them felt.
About the Author
G ERTRUDE C HANDLER W ARNER 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 each 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 housekeeping in a caboose or freight carâthe 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 Warnerâs books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldensâ 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 possibleâsomething 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.
The Boxcar Children Mysteries
T HE B OXCAR C HILDREN
S URPRISE I SLAND
T HE Y ELLOW H OUSE M YSTERY
M YSTERY R ANCH
M IKEâS M YSTERY
B LUE B AY M YSTERY
T HE W OODSHED M YSTERY
T HE L IGHTHOUSE M YSTERY
M OUNTAIN T OP M YSTERY
S CHOOLHOUSE M YSTERY
C ABOOSE M YSTERY
H OUSEBOAT M YSTERY
S NOWBOUND M YSTERY
T REE H OUSE M YSTERY
B ICYCLE M YSTERY
M YSTERY IN THE S AND
M YSTERY B EHIND THE W ALL
B US S TATION M YSTERY
B ENNY U NCOVERS A M YSTERY
T HE H AUNTED C ABIN M YSTERY
T HE D ESERTED L IBRARY M YSTERY
T HE A NIMAL S HELTER M YSTERY
T HE O LD M OTEL M YSTERY
T HE M YSTERY OF THE H IDDEN P