Читать книгу The Mystery of the Night Explorers - Mary Adrian - Страница 5

Jimmy climbed to the top of the giant oak tree. He swung out on a limb, curled around it, and managed to get into a sittting position.

“Hey, Randy, aren’t you coming up?” he called to his cousin, who had started to climb the tree but was not making much progress.

“Yes, I’m coming,” answered Randy, pulling himself up a bit farther. He was the same age as Jimmy, ten years old, but climbing trees was something new to him because he lived in an apartment house in New York City. However, since he was going to spend two weeks visiting Jimmy in the country, he decided he had better become a tree climber, even if it made him dizzy to look down at the ground below. Randy swung up onto another branch.

“You’re doing fine,” encouraged Jimmy. “Once you get up here, youll feel you’re sitting on top of the world.”

Randy grunted, took a deep breath, and climbed higher. He was almost to the top of the tree now.

Jimmy moved farther out on the limb to make room for him. “This is a strong branch. It will hold us both.”

“I hope so.” Randy’s voice sounded weak as he. slowly made his way next to Jimmy. Then, holding onto the branch for dear life, he sat there with eyes closed.

“Why are your eyes closed?” asked Jimmy, glancing at his cousin in surprise. “You’re not scared, are you?”

“Shucks, no. It’s just I’ve never sat in the top of a tree before.” Randy opened one eye, then the other, and stared straight ahead. He could see the Connecticut town of Hanneford in the distance with its church steeple looming up like a tall candle over roofs of houses. Then, without thinking, he looked down at the brook that was a stone’s throw away from the oak tree. To his delight he no longer felt dizzy.

“It is fun up here!” he exclaimed. “Why, you can see for miles around, and you can see close up, too.” Randy now was getting a good view of the stone wall that separated the property belonging to Jimmy’s family from their neighbor’s. “What kind of a little animal is that running along the fence?” he asked.

“It’s a chipmunk,” replied Jimmy. “He lives in a hole under the fence. Boy, can he stuff nuts in his mouth! I watched him take lots of nuts to his hole last fall before he hibernated.”

“Hibernated?” Randy was puzzled.

“Before he went to sleep for the winter,” explained Jimmy.

Randy looked at his cousin with admiration. “You know a lot about animals and things. I wish I did.”

Jimmy was pleased. Ever since he was a little boy he had showed a great interest in the outdoors. His grandfather had hoped he would become a naturalist. Unfortunately, the old man had died when Jimmy was six years old. It would have made him very happy to see how Jimmy had taken to nature study and to know that he wanted to be a naturalist when he grew up. He also planned to write books on what he saw and discovered about the woodland creatures.

Right now, as Jimmy looked out from the giant oak tree, an idea suddenly came to him. “You know what, Randy? We should build a tree house up here. Then we’d be able to watch all kinds of animals. We could study different birds, too, and we might find out something about them that no one else knows.”

“Boy, I think a tree house would be super!” answered Randy. To show his enthusiasm he shouted at the top of his lungs. His cry frightened a gray squirrel. She disappeared into her summer nest in a hickory tree.

The hickory stood fairly close to the giant oak tree so that by carefully moving farther out on the limb, Jimmy was able to study the squirrel’s nest. It was made of leaves and twigs and looked like a crow’s nest.

“Let’s camouflage our tree house,” Jimmy said to Randy.

“Camouflage? What’s that?” asked Randy. “You certainly know a lot of big words!”

“We’ll disguise the house,” answered Jimmy. “We’ll make it look like the squirrel’s summer nest. Of course, our house will be much bigger, but we’ll cover it with plenty of leaves so that we can watch the red fox. He won’t know we’re spying on him because hell think our tree house is just a bunch of leaves.”

“Does a red fox really live on your place?’’ asked Randy.

“I’m not sure, but I hope so,” answered Jimmy. “A couple of weeks ago I saw a red fox from here. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen one on our place. I tried to track him to his den. I lost him, though, before I could find out where he lives. He’s a sly fellow. I’d give anything to know more about him.”

“I would, too,” said Randy. “The only fox I’ve ever seen was in a zoo. It’s not much fun to watch an animal in a cage, so I’m all for spying on the red fox, and any other animals that come along. When do we start to build our house?”

“Soon, I hope,” replied Jimmy, “but I’ll have to get Dad’s permission if we have it here. You see, this oak is a hundred and fifty years old, and it’s one of Dad’s favorite trees on the place.”

“It sure is a whopper,” said Randy. “What will we call our house? I guess it should have a mysterious name if we’re going to camouflage it”—he proudly used the new word—”and make it look like the squirrel’s summer nest.”

Jimmy agreed, and after that the boys were silent, trying to think up a good name.

A breeze soon cooled their warm faces. It felt good on that hot summer day. The same breeze blew back a leaf that had been hiding an insect on a branch near the boys. It was long-legged, with a body shaped like a twig. First it moved one leg and then the other along the branch.

Jimmy spotted the insect and pointed it out to Randy. “It’s a walking stick. I’ll bet it fools many birds by being shaped like a twig, just as we’ll fool the red fox with our camouflaged tree house. Gosh, I wish I could think of a name for it!”

The next morning Jimmy received his father’s consent to build the house in the oak tree. Suddenly a name came to him.

“I’ve got it!” he exclaimed. “Hidden Lookout! How is that for a name for our tree house?”

“I think it’s a fine name,” answered Jimmy’s father, Mr. Moore. “It sounds mysterious and makes you want to know what kind of lookout it is.”

“It’s a swell name, Jimmy,” added Randy, “especially since our tree house is going to be camouflaged. We want to spy on the red fox,” he explained.

“Glad to hear it,” answered Mr. Moore. Then he made a suggestion. “Why don’t you boys spy on the red fox at night? You’re more likely to see him then.”

Jimmy was thrilled with the idea. He had slept outdoors in a tent with a friend, but to spend the night in a tree house would be even more exciting.

“You’ll be able to watch many other night animals, too,” continued Mr. Moore. “If I were you boys I’d build part of the house without a roof. You can observe more then. I doubt if you’ll sleep very much anyway, because there will be so much to see.”

Randy was silent. The thought of sleeping outdoors terrified him. Every night before he went to sleep at home he looked under his bed to make sure no one was hiding there. Not a person, not even his mother or father, knew that he did this, and Randy felt ashamed that he was afraid of the dark. Furthermore, it seemed to be something that he could not get over, something that made him feel scared even when he turned off the light in his own room. Now here was Jimmy telling him that they would be night explorers in a tree house. That would be ten times worse.

“What’s the matter, Randy?” asked Jimmy, noticing his cousin’s lack of enthusiasm. “Don’t you want to be a night explorer?”

“Sure. Only . . .” Randy stopped. He wasn’t going to tell Jimmy his secret. He would just make himself brave at night. “Let’s start to build the tree house right away,” he said, trying to sound jolly.

Mr. Moore patted him on the back. “That’s the spirit, Randy. You and Jimmy will be able to tell me things about the doings of the animals at night that I don’t know. Now you boys will need plenty of lumber for your house. There are some extra boards in my workshop. Youll also need a ladder and tools.”

The boys went with Mr. Moore to the barn. It was no longer a place to house cattle, for part of it had been converted into a workshop and the rest was used for storage. Mr. Moore helped the boys pick out saws, hammers, and nails. They thanked him, and then Jimmy hammered as hard as he could on an old board. The sound was pleasant to his ears. It made him feel that already he was a carpenter. Randy also made noises with his hammer.

“You’d better save your muscle, boys,” said Mr. Moore. “You’ll need it to build Hidden Lookout. By the way, where do you plan to put your house in the oak tree?”

“Close to the top,” Jimmy answered quickly. “We want it to be a real lookout, Dad.”

“I see,” said Mr. Moore, trying to hide a smile. Then he said seriously, “Don’t you think it would be better if you picked a lower spot? It would be rather hard to haul your lumber to the top. Come on. Let’s inspect the big oak tree together.”

The boys were happy to have Mr. Moore’s help. They walked around the tree several times, stretching their necks as they looked up to find a good location. Finally they decided that two low branches would be a good spot for the house.

“That’s an excellent place,” said Mr. Moore. “The branches are about the same height and should make a good support for Hidden Lookout. Also the tree is open on that side so that you will be able to see out of your house over to the brook and beyond.”

The boys beamed at Mr. Moore’s approval.

“Now we’ll get the lumber,” Jimmy said to Randy. “I’ll race you to Dad’s workshop.”

Then legs went flying as the boys ran across a stretch of grass. Jimmy reached the workshop first. Breathless, he climbed on top of a pile of old lumber stored in a corner. Randy was close at his heels. They were busy pulling out boards when Mr. Moore came in a few minutes later to tell them which ones were the best to use.

“Here are two heavy boards for your foundation,” he said. “You’ll also need stringers.”

The boys looked puzzled.

“Stringers? What are those, Dad?” asked Jimmy.

Mr. Moore explained that they were long pieces of timber used to support a floor. He picked out four boards suitable for this purpose.

The boys spotted nails in them.

“We’ll get the nails out,” they said together, eager to use their hammers. But they soon found that the nails were in crooked, and it was not easy to remove them from the boards. Perspiration stood out on their foreheads as they worked with their hammers. They kept at the job, though, until the boards were in ship-shape condition.

Then, feeling proud of themselves, they put the two heavy boards on a wheelbarrow and started for the oak tree.

The old wheelbarrow squeaked as Jimmy pushed it along. Randy kept up with his cousin, trying to keep the boards from falling off.

“Hey, don’t go so fast,” he shouted as one board began to seesaw.

“Sorry,” apologized Jimmy. “Ill take it easy.” He moved along at a turtle’s pace after that.

Finally the boys reached the oak tree. They unloaded the lumber and then went back to the workshop for the stringers, which they hauled to the tree.

Mr. Moore had gone into the house to make a telephone call, but he was soon back with the boys, suggesting to them what to do next.

“Well use a rope and pulley to haul up the lumber,” he said, “but we’ll tackle only one board at a time.”

Mr. Moore climbed up the ladder that he had braced against the tree trunk and fastened a pulley to a branch. The boys took turns pulling on the rope to raise the board. After that they watched Mr. Moore use his carpenter’s level to get the board straight with the ground before nailing it to the branches.

“Now may I please nail down the board?” asked Jimmy when his father had finished with the level.

Mr. Moore smiled. “You’d better practice first, son. It’s not easy to drive a nail in straight.”

“I can do it, Dad. I know I can.”

“All right. Let’s see.”

Jimmy missed the nail completely the first time. The second time his hammer went down on it with a bang, but the nail went in crooked.

“Shucks.” Jimmy’s face was red with embarrassment.

“Don’t be discouraged,” said Mr. Moore. He showed the boys how to hold the hammer correctly.

Jimmy and Randy practiced for a while, and soon they were helping Mr. Moore build the foundation. The two heavy boards were nailed down first, one to the trunk, the other to the two branches. Then came the four stringers, nailed crosswise over the heavy boards.

“Why do we have to have so many boards for the foundation?” asked Randy.

“That’s a good question,” answered Mr. Moore. “If you didn’t have a strong foundation, you might fall through the floor.”

“Gosh, I wouldn’t want to do that. I’d land on the hard ground.”

“You wouldn’t mind if you were a squirrel,” said Jimmy.

“But I’m not a squirrel,” protested Randy.

Jimmy quickly explained. “What I meant to say is that a gray squirrel doesn’t mind landing on the hard ground. Sometimes he falls fifty feet from a tree without getting hurt. You know why? His bushy tail acts like a parachute and breaks his fall.”

Mr. Moore was listening. “That’s true, son. Where did you learn that?”

“Miss Wilson at the library told me. She knows a lot about nature, and she picks out good books for me to read. I also read about a gray squirrel in one of Grandpa’s books. When he died, he left all his nature books to me, Randy.”

“I’d like to see them,” said Randy.

“I’ll show them to you, maybe tonight,” answered Jimmy. “Are we going to start now to build the floor for Hidden Lookout, Dad?”

Before Mr. Moore had a chance to answer the lunch bell rang, and they all climbed down the ladder in a hurry. The boys raced each other to the house.

“We’re starved, Mom,” said Jimmy as he rushed into the kitchen with Randy.

Mrs. Moore laughed. “That’s nothing new. Now go and wash your hands, fellows, before you sit down to the table.”

No time was lost doing this, and soon the boys were eating what they thought was the most delicious lunch they had ever tasted—milk and ham-burgers with tomatoes and relish on them. After that they hurried back to the oak tree where they proudly examined their morning’s work and waited for Mr. Moore to show them the second step in building their tree house.

At last they saw him coming. He stopped a few moments outside his workshop and then, taking long strides, continued to the oak tree.

The boys were so glad to see him that they grinned from ear to ear.

“I’m sure happy you’re on vacation, Dad,” said Jimmy, “because we don’t know what to do next.”

“No, we don’t,” chimed in Randy, wondering how the floor boards were going to be laid. He soon found out that some boards were long enough to go across the whole foundation. Others needed to be sawed off to short lengths so that they could be nailed to the stringers.

Randy had never used a saw before. As a result he had a big blister on one finger at the end of the day. He did not complain, though. A tree house was worth it, he told himself. Besides, he was learning to be a carpenter.

The next morning the boys with Mr. Moore’s help nailed the floor boards to the foundation.

By afternoon they started work on the railing and the roof for their house. This took several days to finish. First the boys sawed ten pieces of two-by-four’s (posts that are two inches thick and four inches wide). After nailing them to the floor, they sawed more wood until they had enough pieces for the railing. Once these were nailed in place, they built a flat roof over one end of the house. Two stringers were nailed to the posts for the roof, and boards were laid lengthwise and nailed down to the stringers. Then the boys camouflaged the railing with branches and leaves. The branches were nailed in such a way that between their leaves there were peepholes for the boys to look through.

Now Jimmy and Randy stood at the foot of the giant oak tree and looked up at their house. Mr. Moore was with them.

“It’s a fine tree house,” he said. “Before we call it finished, we had better add two supports from the foundation to the tree so that your house will be solid. You’ve done a good job building Hidden Lookout.”

“Thanks, Dad. We couldn’t have built it without your help.” Jimmy rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “I can hardly wait for tonight to come. The red fox and other animals will never see us in Hidden Lookout because it does look like a squirrel’s summer nest, except that it’s much bigger.”

Randy agreed. He felt as proud as Jimmy did of their camouflaged tree house. There was one thing that bothered him, though. He dreaded sleeping there.