"BC012 - Houseboat Mystery - Warner, Gertrude Chandler" - читать интересную книгу автора (Warner Gertrude)

Henry looked at his sister in astonishment. "How did you ever guess?" he said. "It doesn't look like anything so far."
"You mean I'm right?" asked Violet. "I was only guessing."
"Well, you guessed right," said Henry. He crossed another line and tied it.
"Why do we need another chair seat?" asked Benny. "We've got enough chairs, and someone can always lie down."
"This is different," said Henry. He tied the last cord. What he had made looked like a square piece of net with very long ends. "Remember that big hook on the back of the boat? But wait. I'll put on my swimming trunks first. You change, too, Benny."
When the boys came back, the family went down to the rear deck. Henry hung the loops on the hook so that the seat was over the water. He made a fine dive off the boat. He swam back and came up beside the new chair seat.
But when Henry got into the seat, it began to go down, down, down! The ropes stretched so much that Henry was soon up to his neck in water.
Everyone began to laugh. "A joke on me," said Henry. "I thought I could sit in this seat and wash Benny's clothes. Then we wouldn't have to take all that water on board."
"It's a good idea, though," said Mr. Alden quickly. "Maybe you can still make it work. Make the loops shorter."
"You're too heavy, Henry," said Benny.
Then Violet said, "Maybe I'm not. Let me do the laundry!" She went inside and put on her swimsuit. Henry climbed out of the seat and Violet climbed in. There she sat, just up to her waist in the river.
"Good for you," said Mr. Alden. "Too bad there isn't any laundry."
"Oh, but there is," said Violet. "Benny, just hand down your shirt and shorts and the cake of soap."
"You can't hold the soap," called Benny. "What will you do with it?"
"Well," said Violet looking around at the water, "put the soap dish on the deck and I'll put the soap in it every time I use it."
She soaped Benny's clothes and rubbed and rinsed them in the river.
"Pass them up to me, Violet," said Jessie. "I'll hang them on the real clothesline. There's nothing so homelike as having washing on the line."
Then they all went swimming. The water was cool and lovely. Even Mr. Alden was floating beside the boat.
"This is the nicest place," said Benny. "If you want to go swimming, just jump out the window."
After their swim, the Aldens were glad to sit on the deck. Everyone was so hungry that they had supper at five o'clock.
Henry took his last bite and said, "I think we should find a place for the night before it gets any darker."
"You and Benny find one," said Jessie. "Violet and I will wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen."
"Galley, not kitchen," said Mr. Alden. And after that it was always the galley.
The boys found a fine place to stay for the night, where the branches of the trees hung over the houseboat. They left the windows open, but locked the doors.
In his bunk, Benny turned this way and that. He could not get to sleep. He kept remembering those two men in the restaurant and the little envelope and the big black car parked outside.


CHAPTER 3
Trouble Brewing

The first morning on The James H. Alden was bright and sunny. As soon as Benny was dressed he climbed up the ladder to change the name of the boat to The Henry J. Alden.
"This boat is all yours, captain," he called to Henry as he came down again.
Henry went out on the deck to look. He began to laugh. "You did well, mate," Henry said. "Come and see for yourself."
Benny looked up and began to laugh, too. The name was nedlA .J yrneH ehT!
"Well, it looked okay to me," Benny said, climbing up the ladder again. "But it's backwards to everyone else." He soon changed the letters to read the right way.
Jessie was in the galley looking out the window. "It's so cool and pleasant on this boat," she said. "I suppose it's because we're on the water. Oh, the boat is moving sideways!"
"Don't worry, Jessie," said Henry. "Mr. Rivers said it doesn't do any harm. The boat will straighten out by itself or I can pole it back."
Henry did not need to pole the houseboat. It soon turned slowly by itself.
Henry went inside the cabin. He looked up and said, "Look, there's a fishing pole up there and a fishnet with a long handle. I think I'll go fishing."
"Not a very good day for fishing, Henry," said Benny. "The sun is too bright."
"It's okay, Ben," said Henry. "I think I'll try my luck anyway." Henry took down the pole and fishnet and looked at the line and hook.
"What are you going to use for bait, Henry?" asked Benny.
"Oh, I don't know," said Henry. "This is one time I have to use what we've got."
Benny thought a minute. Then he said, "Didn't we see a lot of little minnows yesterday? Maybe we could catch some of them in that net."
"Good for you, Ben!" said Henry. "Minnows are the best bait of all. They swim near the shore, where the water isn't so deep. I'll pole in nearer."
Both boys began to pole. When they reached shallow water, they looked over the side. Sure enough, they saw hundreds of minnows swimming around.
"This is easy!" said Benny. He bent over with the net and pulled up a lot of the tiny fish.
"Now we're all set," said Henry. He poled back into the deeper water. He set two chairs on the rear deck. Then he put a tiny minnow on his hook. He threw the fishline out over the water and sat down with the heavy pole. Benny sat down beside him. The boat floated gently along. Everything was quiet.
Grandfather and Violet went out to the front deck. They smiled at each other. Violet said, "I wouldn't count on having fish for lunch today."
Mr. Alden nodded. "I'm afraid you're right if you mean fish from the river. But Jessie can give us tuna fish."