Chapter: GINSENG


What Dr. McAllister ever did before Henry began to work for him would be
hard to guess.

There were certainly as many duties always waiting for him as he had
time to do. And it made no difference to the industrious boy what the
job was. Nothing was too hard or too dirty for him to attempt.

One day the doctor set him at the task of clearing out his little
laboratory. The boy washed bottles, pasted labels, and cleaned
instruments for one whole morning. And more than one broken flask on its
way to the rubbish heap was carefully carried up the hill to the hidden
family.

While Henry was busy carefully lettering a sticky label, he noticed a
young man in the outer office who was talking with the doctor.

"Can you tell me if this is real ginseng?" Henry heard him say.

"It certainly is," returned Dr. McAllister. "They will give you two
dollars a pound for the root at any of the drug stores."

Henry ventured to steal a peep, and found he could readily see the plant
the man was holding. It was about a foot high with branching leaves and
a fine feathery white flower. Henry knew it was exactly the same white
puffball that he had noticed in Violet's vase that very morning.

When the young man had gone, Henry said, "I know where I can find a
whole lot of that plant."

"Is that so?" replied the doctor kindly. "It's only the root, you know,
that is valuable. But any one who wants the bother of digging it up can
sell any quantity of that."

When Henry went home at noon he related enough of this incident to set
his sisters to work in good earnest. They started out with both knives
and two strong iron spoons, and the kettle. And with Benny to run about
finding every white flower he could, the girls succeeded, with a great
deal of hard digging, in finding enormous quantities of ginseng root. In
fact that first afternoon's work resulted in a kettle full, not counting
a single leaf or stem. Henry was delighted when he saw the result of
their work, and took it next day to the largest drug store, where he
received three dollars for the roots.

Without any hesitation Henry paid a visit to the dry-goods store, and
came home with a pair of new brown stockings for Benny. That was a great
day in the woods. Benny gave them no peace at all until they had admired
his wonderful new stockings, and felt of each rib.

There had been one other thing that Benny had given them no peace about.
On the night when the children had crept so quietly away from the
baker's wife, Jess had forgotten to take Benny's bear. This bear was a
poor looking creature, which had once been an expensive bright-eyed
Teddy-bear made of brown plush. But Benny had taken it to bed every
single night for three years, and had loved it by day, so that it was
not attractive to any one but himself. Both eyes were gone, and its body
was very limp, but Benny had certainly suffered a great deal trying to
sleep in a strange bed without his beloved bear.

Jess, therefore, had plans on foot, the moment she saw Benny's new
stockings. She washed the old brown stockings with their many neat
darns, and hung them up to dry. And early in the afternoon she and
Violet sat with the workbag between them, each with a stocking.

With Benny sitting by to watch proceedings, Jess mapped out a remarkable
Teddy-bear. One stocking, carefully trimmed, made the head and body,
while the other furnished material for two arms, two legs, and the
stuffing. Jess worked hard over the head, pushing the padding well into
the blunt nose. Violet embroidered two beautiful eyes in black and
white, and a jet black nose-tip.

"You must make a tail, too, Jessy," said Benny, watching her snip the
brown rags.

"Bears don't have tails, Benny," argued Jess--although she wasn't
exactly sure she was right. "Your old bear didn't have any tail, you
know."

"But _this_ bear has a tail, though," returned Benny, knowing that Jess
would put on two tails if he insisted.

And it was true. His bear finally did have a tail.

"What _kind_ of tail?" asked Jess helplessly at last. "Bushy, long and
slim, or cotton-tail?"

"Long and slim," decided Benny with great satisfaction, "so I can pull
it."

"Benny!" cried Jess, laughing in spite of herself. But she made a tail,
long and slim, exactly as Benny ordered, and sewed it on very tightly,
so that it might be "pulled" if desired. She fastened on the legs and
arms with flat hinges, so the bear might sit down easily, and added at
last a pair of cunning flappy ears and a gay collar of braided red
string from a bundle.

"What's his name, Jessy?" inquired Benny, when the wonderful bear was
finally handed over to him.

"His name?" repeated Jess. "Well, you know he's a _new_ bear; he isn't
your old one, so I wouldn't call him Teddy."

"Oh, no," said Benny, shocked. "This is not Teddy. This has a pretty
tail."

"Of course," agreed Jess, trying not to laugh. "Well, you know we sold
that ginseng to pay for your new stockings. And if you hadn't had your
new ones, we couldn't have made this bear out of your old ones."

"You want his name to be Stockings?" asked Benny politely.

"Stockings? No," answered Jess. "I was thinking of 'Ginseng.'"

"Ginseng?" echoed Benny, thinking deeply. "That's a nice name. All
right, I think Ginseng will be a good bear, if Watchie doesn't bark at
him." And from that moment the bear's name was Ginseng as long as he
lived, and he lived to be a very old bear indeed.

 Dr. Moore lets his mother in on the secret that Mr. Alden is the Boxcar Children's grandfather. Everyone agrees that Mr. Alden should introduce himself without admitting that he's their grandfather. Mr. Alden says he'll give Dr. Moore the $5,000 reward, but Dr. Moore refuses it. The cook is nervous about what to make for Mr. Alden--she doesn't know how to cook for rich people. It's dinnertime. Violet is still sick in bed, but the other children are meeting Mr. Alden. Henry knows he looks familiar, but he can't quite place him. Mr. Alden tells the children about a cucumber he's growing inside a bottle. Apparently, this strange anecdote is the key to their hearts; they all like him very much. Eventually, Violet is well enough to receive visitors, so Mr. Alden takes her flowers and everyone is charmed. Henry finally realizes that Mr. Alden is the same man who gave him the $25 prize on Field Day. He goes to confront Dr. Moore. Dr. Moore reveals the truth: Mr. Alden is Henry's grandfather. Henry is shocked--shocked. Now, Henry goes to confront Mr. Alden. They shake hands, as relatives do, and when Jessie and Benny walk in on their conversation, Henry explains that Mr. Alden is their grandfather. Then, they go to tell Violet. Mr. Alden wonders where the children have been living all this time. Who's going to break it to him that they were living in a boxcar in the woods? The children realize that Dr. Moore knew they were living in the boxcar. Turns out he was the "intruder" that night when Watch was barking. He followed Henry home out of curiosity. Dr. Moore has been sneaking around quite a lot, actually: The day the children picked cherries, he went back to the boxcar to check it out more closely. Mr. Alden wonders why Dr. Moore didn't tell him that his grandchildren were living in a boxcar. Good question, Mr. Alden. The doctor says he thought the kids were having a good time on their own so he only came forward once Violet became ill. Mr. Alden wants to see the boxcar. He's also ready to show the children his own house--which is not a boxcar, we're willing to bet. Once Violet recovers, everyone goes out to the boxcar for a visit. They have a picnic and stay until dark. On the agenda for tomorrow? A visit to Mr. Alden's house.

