Chapter: CHERRY PICKING


Henry meditated awhile all to himself early the next morning as to
whether he ought to take any one with him for the cherry picking. "He
certainly said he could use more than one," he mused.

Failing to decide the question, he laid it before his sisters as they
ate bread and milk for breakfast.

"I can't see any reason, except one, why we shouldn't all go," said
Jess.

"What's that?" asked Henry.

"Well, you see there are four of us, and supposing grandfather is
looking for us, it will be easier to find four than one."

"True," agreed Henry. "But supposing we went down the hill and through
the streets two by two? And you took Watch?"

It was finally agreed that Henry and Benny would attract very little
attention together; Violet and Jess would follow with the dog, who would
trace Henry. And so they set out. They took down the clothesline and
closed the car door. Everything instantly looked as lonesome as heart
could wish. Even the merry little brook looked deserted.

When the children arrived at the McAllister orchard they soon saw that
they were not the only workers. Two hired men and the young doctor
himself were carrying ladders and baskets from the barn, and the Irish
cook was bringing piles of square baskets from the house--the kind that
strawberries are sold in.

"The girls can pick cherries as well as I can," said Henry, introducing
his sisters. "Benny ought not to climb very tall trees, but we had to
bring him."

"Benny can carry the baskets, perhaps," suggested the doctor, much
amused. "You see, this is a cherry year, and we have to work quickly
when we once begin. Perhaps he could fill the small baskets from the big
ones."

It was a "cherry year," certainly. There were two varieties in the
orchard, the pale yellow kind with a red cheek, and the deep crimson
ones which were just as red in the center as they were on the outside.
The red ones were huge, bursting with juice, and the trees were laden
full with the luscious fruit. Even the air was perfumed.

It was a pretty sight that the doctor finally turned his back upon when
he went on his calls. Henry, slim, tanned, and graceful, picked rapidly
from the tallest ladder in the largest tree. The two girls in their
sensible bloomer suits could climb like cats. They leaned against the
ladders easily about halfway up, their fluffy short hair gleaming in the
sun. Benny trotted to and fro, waiting upon the busy pickers, his cheeks
as red as the cherries themselves.

"Eat all you want," Dr. McAllister called back. They did not really obey
this command, but occasionally a set of white teeth bit into one of the
glorious oxhearts.

In less than an hour Benny had made five firm friends. The hired men
joked with him, the cook petted him, the young doctor laughed at him
delightedly, and sweet Mrs. McAllister fell in love with him. Finally he
seated himself comfortably at her side under the trees and filled square
boxes with great care under her direction.

"I never had such a cheerful crowd of cherry pickers before," Mrs.
McAllister said at last. "I'd much rather stay out here than go into the
house where it is cool."

Evidently Mary the cook felt the same way, for she kept coming to the
orchard for some reason or other. When the doctor returned at lunch time
his orchard was ringing with laughter, and good-natured barks from Watch
who could not feel easy in his mind with his mistress so high up in a
tree where he couldn't follow.

Dr. McAllister paused in the garage long enough to give a sniff to the
boiling cherries in the kitchen, and then made his way to the orchard,
where he received a warm welcome.

"There's no use in your going home to lunch," he smilingly observed, at
the same time watching Henry's face carefully. "You can eat right here
in the orchard, unless your mother will be worrying about you."

This remark met with an astounding silence. Henry was the first to
collect his wits. "No, our mother is dead," he said evenly, without
embarrassment.

It was the doctor who hastened to change the subject he had introduced.
"I smelled something when I came in," he said to Benny.

"What did it smell like?" inquired Benny.

"It smelled like cherry slump," replied the doctor with twinkling eyes.

"Cherry _what_?" asked Jess, struggling down her ladder with a full
basket.

"I think that's what they call it--slump," repeated Dr. McAllister. "Do
you care to try it?"

At this moment Mary appeared in the orchard with an enormous tray. And
at the first sight of her cookery, nobody cared the least what its name
was. It was that rare combination of dumpling beaten with stoned
cherries, and cooked gently in the juice of the oxheart cherries in a
real "cherry year." It was steaming in the red juice, with the least
suspicion of melted butter over the whole.

"Do get two more, Mary," begged Mrs. McAllister, laughing. "It tastes so
much better under the cherry trees!"

This was another meal that nobody ever forgot. Even the two hired men
sitting under another tree devouring the delicious pudding, paused to
hear Benny laugh. Nowadays those two men sometimes meet Henry--but
that's another story. Anyway, they never will forget that cherry slump
made by Irish Mary.

Almost as soon as lunch was over Benny rolled over on the grass and went
to sleep, his head, as usual, on the dog's back. But the others worked
on steadily. Mrs. McAllister kept an eye on them from the screened porch
without their knowledge.

"Just see how those children keep at it," she said to her son. "There is
good stuff in them. I should like to know where they come from."

Dr. McAllister said nothing. He sauntered out into the orchard when he
thought they had worked long enough. He paid them four dollars and gave
them all the cherries they could carry, although they tried to object.

"You see, you're better than most pickers, because you're so cheerful."

He noticed that they did not all leave the yard at the same time.

When the cherry pickers returned to their little home they examined
everything carefully. Nothing had been disturbed. The door was still
shut, and the milk and butter stood untouched in the refrigerator. They
made a hilarious meal of raw cherries and bread and butter, and before
the stars came out they were fast asleep--happy and dreamless.

That evening, very much later, a young man sat in his study with the
evening paper. He read the news idly, and was just on the point of
tossing the paper aside when this advertisement caught his eye:

     Lost. Four children, aged thirteen, twelve, ten and five. Somewhere
     around the region of Middlesex and Townsend. $5000 reward for
     information.

     JAMES HENRY CORDYCE

"Whew!" whistled the young man. "James Henry Cordyce!"

He sat in perfect silence for a long time, thinking. Then he went to
bed. But long after he had gone upstairs he whistled again, and could
have been heard to say-if anyone had been awake to hear it--"James Henry
Cordyce! Of all people!"

 Henry wonders if he should take the other kids to pick cherries, so he asks Jessie what she thinks. Jessie thinks that their grandfather might be on the lookout for four kids traveling together, so she suggests they walk into town in pairs. It's cherry-pickin' time. The whole gang is there, but Benny is too little to pick cherries so he's just going to watch. Henry, Jessie, and Violet start picking, while Benny just runs around eating cherries and making friends with everyone. At lunchtime, Dr. Moore invites the children to stay and eat. He asks if their mother will mind and gives Henry a quizzical look. Could he possibly know they're on their own? Henry doesn't know what to say about the whole mother thing, but Jessie steps in and says their parents are dead. Everyone eats lunch, and there are cherry dumplings for dessert. Yum. Then, Benny settles down for a nap, and the other kids get back to work. At the end of the day, Dr. Moore gives the kids $4 and more cherries. He notes that the kids leave in pairs instead of walking together as a group. The boxcar is just as the children left it, so they have some supper and go to bed. That night, Dr. Moore sees an ad in the paper: A man named James Henry Alden is offering $5,000 for four lost children. Dr. Moore instantly realizes that the children the man is looking for are his workers. You can't get anything by this doctor. The doctor resolves to keep the children's secret, though, 'cause he's cool like that.

