Read Online The Lighthouse Mystery by Gertrude Warner - Free Book Online

them are broken.”
    Quickly Mr. Alden picked over the shells. He never stopped once.
    “My!” said Benny. “You know a lot about shells.”
    “I ought to,” said Mr. Alden. “I have studied them all my life. Isn’t this shell beautiful?”
    “Say!” cried Benny. “Doesn’t it look something like an olive? And speaking of olives, I wonder if Mrs. Cook will have pickles? If she has hamburger she will have to have pickles.”
    “Now, Benny,” said Henry, “stop talking about food. You know you are not hungry yet.”
    But all day long Benny was waiting for five o’clock to come. At quarter of five he said, “Don’t you think we could go now? It will take us fifteen minutes to walk to Mrs. Cook’s.”
    Henry said, “Oh, so we are going to walk, are we?”
    “Henry and I will ride,” said Mr. Alden.
    “Wait five minutes more, Benny,” said Henry, “and you can help me wipe off the car. Then we will go.”
    They reached the Cooks’ house at exactly five o’clock. Mrs. Cook came around the house from the backyard. “You are just in time,” she said. “Mr. Cook wants to show you our yard.”
    The Aldens were very much surprised when they saw the yard. It was beautiful. There were big bushes of flowers and beds filled with flowers. The grass was very green. In the middle was an enormous fireplace and a long table.
    “She does have pickles,” whispered Benny to Jessie. There were chairs around the table.
    “We might as well eat,” said Mrs. Cook. “We are all here.”
    “That’s good,” said Benny. “I’ve been hungy all day.”
    “We’ll fill you up,” said Mr. Cook.
    Larry sat in a long chair. He looked weak, but he said he felt fine.
    “You can help me, Henry,” said Mrs. Cook. Henry came back from the house with a pan of rolls. They were light and brown. They smelled delicious.
    Benny whispered again to Jessie, “I still wonder what we will have to go with the rolls.”
    He did not have to wait long. Mrs. Cook gave Henry two holders, and he lifted an enormous pan off the fire. The fire was almost out.
    “Oh! Oh! Chicken legs!” yelled Benny. “I can eat a lot of those.”
    “How many can you eat?” asked Mrs. Cook.
    “Well, four anyway,” said Benny. “My friend Mike can eat eight.”
    “You can have eight, too, if you want,” said Mrs. Cook, laughing.
    But when Benny saw the watermelon, he ate only four chicken legs. Mr. Alden said, “Mrs. Cook, these are delicious. You can certainly cook as well as Larry.”
    Suddenly Larry looked toward the street. A big car drove up quietly and stopped.
    “We have more company, Mother,” Larry said, pointing to the car.
    “No,” shouted Benny, “it’s our company! It’s Mr. Carter. He’s getting out now.”
    And it was John Carter, one of the men who worked for Grandfather. He had a large black box. He carried it over to where everyone waited.
    With a smile he said, “I felt lonesome, and after I read your letters I wanted to see Larry.”
    “Well, this is Larry,” said Benny. “He is lying down in that long chair because he was almost drowned in the storm we had.”
    “I know,” nodded Mr. Carter. “Your grandfather telephoned me.” He shook hands and said hello to everybody.
    All this time Larry looked at the box. He knew what was in it, but he could not believe it might be for him.
    Mr. Carter was saying, “Here you are, Larry. From what Mr. Alden told me, I guess you need a bigger microscope. Mine has just been lying around. I haven’t used it for years now that I’m not with the F.B.I. You may keep it.”
    Benny carried the box over to Larry for him to open.
    Larry’s hands shook so that Benny said, “Maybe your hands are shaking because you almost drowned.”
    “No,” said Larry, and his voice shook, too. “It’s because I’m so glad to have a good microscope. I can never thank you enough, Mr. Carter, never!”
    “Don’t try,” said Mr. Carter. He and the Aldens were glad to see how pleased Larry