Read Online The Camp-out Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner - Free Book Online Page A

down!”
    The door flew open. “All right! All right!” Andy said. He came outside, trembling.
    Doris dashed into the cabin.
    The children waited at the door.
    Andy Watts paced back and forth. “Oh my, oh my,” he kept mumbling to himself.
    Finally, Doris came out with Hildy at her side. Hildy looked furious.
    â€œNow, Andy Watts, let’s hear your explanation for all of this!” Doris demanded.

CHAPTER 16
    The Confession
    A ndy took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean any harm,” he said. “I just wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine.”
    â€œWho are you talking about?” Doris snapped impatiently.
    â€œThose awful campers,” Andy said. “The litter everywhere. They don’t care about the forest. They just come here to make noise and mess things up.”
    â€œHe stole a lantern from the Aldens,” Hildy piped up.
    â€œBut our lantern is at your cabin,” Henry said.
    â€œMine’s broken,” Hildy explained. “There’s no electricity in my cabin. Without a lantern it gets awfully dark. Andy gave me one to use. When I saw your name on it, I began to wonder how he got it.”
    â€œSo you came over here to question him?” Doris asked.
    â€œI did,” Hildy answered. “But when I started asking questions, Andy pushed me into the bathroom and locked the door. I knew then that he was the guilty party.”
    â€œWhen did you take the lantern?” Henry asked. “It was there in the morning and, later, it was missing. But Grandfather was at the camp the whole time.”
    Andy Watts shrugged. “I just waited until he fell asleep. Then I sneaked over and … took it. I figured without a lantern, you’d go home.”
    â€œYou played the loud music, too?” Violet asked.
    â€œYes, yes,” Andy said. “For years, I’ve had to listen to it. Loud music, loud voices—any time of the night. The forest is a quiet place. People should respect that. I just wanted to let people know how it sounded. But I never meant to cause Mr. Alden’s accident. That made me feel real bad!”
    â€œAnd the lights?” Jessie asked. “Why did you do that?”
    â€œTo scare people away,” Andy explained. “That’s why I took the food. People get edgy when strange things like that happen. It worked, too. Word got around. Campers have been staying away.”
    â€œBut how could you take our food when we were right there?” Jessie asked.
    â€œYou were difficult,” Andy admitted. “I dropped the honey when I heard someone rustling around in the tent.”
    â€œThat was me,” Violet said. “I thought I heard something. I came out to look.”
    â€œI just got away in time,” Andy said. “And the morning when I took the stew—”
    â€œI saw you!” Jessie interrupted. She turned to Henry. “Remember, Henry? Watch woke me up and then I saw something moving in the mist.”
    â€œI was sure you’d catch me that time,”Andy said.
    â€œAnd the arrows? Did you do that, too?” Benny asked.
    â€œThat’s the first thing I did: turn the wooden arrow that pointed to the ranger’s station in a different direction. A few people got so confused, they left. But most people figured it out,” Andy said.
    â€œI mean the arrow in the maple tree,” Benny persisted.
    â€œYes,” Andy admitted. “I did that, too. When I returned from your campsite, you children were at my cabin.”
    â€œThat was the morning we found Grandfather in the ravine,” Henry said putting the pieces together.
    â€œI only meant to scare you … nothing more,” Andy said.
    â€œYou know, you weren’t the first to complain about strange things happening,” Hildy said to the Aldens. “I never believed it. Thought it was nonsense. Imagine my surprise when I realized the lantern was yours. And then to find