Free Tattletale Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page B

and let Milly’s paintings be sold,” insisted Janice.
    “Sometimes being a tattletale isn’t such a bad thing,” Violet added softly. “Not if you know somebody’s doing something wrong.”
    Mrs. Turner nodded, but she looked troubled. “Still ... I hope you won’t mention my role in all of this,” she said. “You see, I don’t want to hear that name Turner the Tattletale again. Not ever!”
    “You did everyone a great service, Mrs. Turner,” Grandfather said, speaking for them all. “Your secret’s safe with us.”
    Mrs. Turner looked relieved.
    “And I’ll return that bookmark,” Mrs. Spencer told her. “After all, it was a gift from Milly.”
    Edmund took a napkin from the dispenser. “I wish I’d known Milly Manchester,” he said. “She must’ve been a remarkable person to make such an impression on so many people.”
    Mrs. Spencer nodded. “She was one of a kind.”
    “Milly followed her dream, and she never let anything stand in her way” Rachel commented thoughtfully Then suddenly she turned to her mother. Taking a deep breath, she said, “If that offer’s still open, I just might take you up on it and move back home for a while.”
    “Oh, you’ll make a wonderful nurse, Rachel!” Mrs. Spencer looked close to tears. She reached out and gave her daughter’s hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s never too late to follow your dreams.”
    For a moment, nobody said a word. Then Edmund spoke up. “I think this calls for a celebration. How about dessert all around?” he suggested. “Any takers?”
    “It just so happens I make a great chocolate sundae,” put in Mrs. Turner.
    Benny grinned. “With extra sprinkles?”
    “You’d better believe it!” answered Mrs. Turner.
    “I bet that’s why Mona Lisa was smiling,” said Benny. “I bet she was thinking about a chocolate sundae with —”
    “Extra sprinkles!” everyone finished in unison.

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 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 housekeeping 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.

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 IKE’S 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 AINTING
    T HE A MUSEMENT P