AnyOneCanRead®

      
Module F – Lessons 1 to 10

The Boxcar Children,
by Gertrude Chandler Warner   
   

Lesson 1 (Chapters 1-3)

    
NEW WORDS: Alden, Chandler, Gertrude, Intervale, Jess’s, Townsend, Warner, accorded, admiringly, adumbration, alcoholism, amiss, amounted, appreciatively, asunder, avouch, babbled, bakeshop, birches, canter, carpeted, coaxingly, conclusively, consort, cortege, creaky, dimes, distressfully, dully, duteously, fainter, faltering, filtrating, fistful, greenbacks, greenfield, haycock, inebriated, kinsmen, ledges, lizzen, lusterless, maundered, mistrustful, obstruction, paupers, perpending, phantasmal, pitilessly, questioner, recompense, reluctantly, remunerate, repercussion, reverberation, rickety, shined, snappily, squinting, stocky, teetering, throbbing, townspersons, twinge, underbrush, underscore, undisputable, visitant, workbag  
    
    

Chapter One: The Flight
   
It was about 7:00 PM one hot summer night. A strange family moved into the small town of Middlesex. No one knew where they came from. No one knew who they were. But the townspersons soon made up their minds what they thought of them. They saw that the father was inebriated. He could hardly walk up the rickety front steps of the old tumble-down house. And his 13-year-old son had to help him. Toward 8:00 PM, a pretty, capable-looking girl of 12 came out of the house. She went to buy a loaf of bread at the baker’s shop. And that was all that was learned about them that night.
   
Let’s turn to the next day. “There are four children,” said the bakeshop woman to her consort. “And their mother is dead. They must have a few greenbacks. The girl did recompense me for the bread with a dollar bill.”
   
“Make them remunerate you for each thing that they get,” growled the baker. He was a hard man. “The father is nearly dead with alcoholism now. And soon they will be paupers.” This happened sooner than he thought. The next day, the oldest boy and girl came to ask the bakeshop woman to come over. Their pa was dead. She went over. Someone had to go. But it was clear that she did not expect to be bothered with four strange children. After all, she had the bakery on her hands. And she had two children of her own.
   
“Haven’t you any other kinsmen?” she asked them.
   
“We have a grandfather. He’s from Greenfield,” spoke up the youngest child. Then his sister clapped her hand over his mouth.
   
“Hush, Benny,” she said distressfully.
   
This made the woman mistrustful. “What’s amiss about him?” she asked.
   
“He does not like us,” replied the oldest boy reluctantly. “He did not want my father to marry my mother. And if he found us, he would treat us pitilessly.”
   
“Did you ever see him?”
   
“Jess has. She saw him once,” said the oldest boy.
   
“Well, did he treat you cruelly?” asked the woman. She turned to Jess.
   
“Oh, he did not see me,” replied Jess. “He was just passing through our – where we used to live. And my pa pointed him out to me.”
   
“Where did you used to live?” went on the questioner. But none of the kids could be made to tell.
   
“We’ll get along all right alone. Won’t we, Henry?” declared Jess.

“Yes, we will!” said Henry.
   
“I’ll stay in the house with you tonight,” said the woman. “And tomorrow we’ll see what can be done.” The four children went to bed in the kitchen. They gave the visitant the only other bed in the house. They knew that she did not at once go to bed. In fact, she sat by the window in the dark. Soon, they heard her talking to her husband through the open window.
   
“They must go to their grandfather. That’s undisputable,” Jess heard her say.
   
“Of course,” accorded her husband. “Tomorrow, we’ll underscore the need for them to avouch to us his name.”
   
Soon, Jess and Henry heard her snoring heavily. They sat up in the dark. “Mustn’t we run away?” whispered Jess in Henry’s ear.
   
“Yes!” said Henry. “Let’s take just what we need most. We must be far off before morning. If not, they’ll catch us.”
   
Jess sat still for a moment. She was perpending about their situation. Each motion that she made must count. “I’ll take both loaves of bread,” she thought. “And I’ll take Violet’s workbag. Henry has his knife. And all of Pa’s cash is in my pocket.” She drew it out. She counted it in the dark. She was squinting her eyes in the lusterless light of the moon. It amounted to four dollars.
   
“You’ll have to carry Benny until he gets waked up,” said Jess. “If we wake him up here, he might cry.” She touched Violet as she spoke. “Shh! Violet! Come! We’re going to run away,” she said. The little girl made no sound. She sat up duteously. She tried to make out the dim adumbration of her sister.
   
“What shall I do?” she said, light as a breath.
   
“Take this,” said Jess. She gave her the workbag and a box of matches. Jess tiptoed over to the tin box on the desk. She drew out the two loaves of bread. She slipped them into the laundry bag. She peered around the room for the last time. And then she dropped two small clean towels and a cake of soap into the bag.
   
“All right. Pick him up,” she said to Henry. Henry bent over the sleeping child. He lifted him with care. Jess took the laundry bag. She turned the doorknob softly and opened the door slowly. They tiptoed out in a phantasmal cortege. Jess shut the door with as much care as she had opened it. She listened to the bakeshop woman’s heavy snoring. Then they turned and picked their way without a sound to the country road.

“He may wake up before morning,” said Henry. “We must do our fastest walking before then. We need to get to a town before they find out that we’re gone. That way they won’t know which way to go.” Jess agreed. So, they all walked snappily along in the faint moonlight.
   
“How far can you carry Benny?” asked Violet.
   
“Oh, at least a mile,” said Henry confidently. But his arms were already beginning to twinge. Benny was five years old. He was a stocky, healthy boy, as well.
   
“I think that we could all walk faster if we woke him up,” said Jess conclusively. “We could each take his hand. Then we could almost carry him along.” Henry knelt by the road. He set the little boy against his knee. “Come, Benny. You must wake up now and walk!” said Jess coaxingly.
   
“Go away!” Benny maundered with his eyes shut. He tried to lie back down.
   
“Let me try,” Violet said. “Say, Benny? You know that little Cinnamon Bear who ran off to find a nice warm bed for the winter? Now, you play that you’re Cinnamon. Then Henry and Jess will help you along. Then we’ll find a bed.” Her plan worked! Benny was never too cross to listen to the great stories that his sister could tell about Cinnamon Bear. He stood up bravely. Then he marched along, yawning. His big brother and sister almost swung him between them.
   
Not a soul passed them on the road. All of the homes that they saw were dark and still. The first faint streaks of morning light showed in the sky. At that point, all four children were teetering from lack of sleep. “I must go to sleep,” babbled Jess, at last. Little Benny WAS asleep. Henry was carrying him again.
   
“The first place that we come to, then,” panted Henry.
   
Violet said nothing. But she kept her eyes open. Then, she caught Henry’s sleeve. “Could we make that haystack do?” she asked. She pointed to a newly mown field.
   
“Yes, we could,” said Henry appreciatively. “What a big, enormous one it is! I was too sleepy to see it.”
   
“And see how far away from the farmhouse and barn it is, too!” echoed Jess. The sight gave them new courage. They climbed over two stone walls. And they got across a brook, somehow, with the heavy child. Then they arrived at the haystack. Henry laid his brother down. And he stretched his throbbing arms. Jess began to burrow into the haystack. Violet, after watching her, did the same. “Here’s his nest,” said Jess. Then she took her head out of the deep round hole that she’d made. Henry lifted the child into the opening. He was pleased to see that Benny curled up right away. And he smiled in his sleep.

Jess pulled wisps of hay over the opening. That way it was invisible. Then she proceeded to dig out a burrow like that for herself. “We can stay here just – as long – as we like. Can’t we, Henry?” she murmured. And she dug with her eyes shut.
   
“We sure can,” said Henry. “You’re an old brick, Jess. Get in. I’ll pull the hay over the hole.”
   
Violet was already curled up in her nest. It was hidden so well that Henry spoke to her to see if she were there. Then he wriggled himself backward into the haycock. He didn’t stop to hollow it out. He just pulled a fistful of hay over his head. Then he laid his head on his arm. Just as he did so, he heard a loud voice. It said, “Now, then, lass, git along!” Then he heard the reverberation of a milk wagon. It was coming down a nearby lane. He realized thankfully that they had hidden themselves just before the first farmer in the neighborhood had set off toward Middlesex with his milk cans! “He’ll say that he did not meet us coming this way,” thought Henry. “So, they’ll hunt for us the other way. And that will give us time to cover a lot more ground.” He dropped asleep. It was just as the roosters all over the valley began to talk to each other.

Chapter Two: The Second Night
   
The roosters crowed. The hens clucked. The farmer’s wife began to get breakfast. The four kids slept on. Dinner time came and went. And still they slept! Remember that they had been awake and walking the whole night. It was 7:00 PM when they woke up. Luckily, all of the others woke up before Benny. “Can you hear me, Jess?” said Henry. He was speaking very low through the wall of hay.
   
“Yes,” said Jess softly. “Let’s make one big room of our nests.” No sooner said than done. The boy and girl worked quickly and quietly until they could see each other. They pressed the hay back. Then they made their way into Violet’s ‘room’. She, in turn, groped till she found Benny.
   
“Hi, Cinnamon!” said Violet playfully. Benny at once made up his mind to laugh, and not to cry. But laughing out loud was almost as bad. So, Henry took his brother on the hay next to him. He gave him a serious talk.
   
“You’re old enough now, Benny Alden, to get what I’m telling you. Hear me! When I tell you to keep still after this, that means you’re to stop crying if you’re crying. And you stop laughing if you’re laughing. And be just as still as you can. If you don’t mind me, you’ll be in danger. Got it?”
   
“Don’t I have to mind Jess and Violet, too?” asked Benny.
   
“Yes!” said Henry. “You have to mind us all. Each one of us!”
   
Benny thought a bit. “Can’t I still ask for what I want?” he said.
   
“Yes, you can!” cried Jess and Henry at once. “What is it that you want?”
   
“I’m SO hungry,” said Benny, with wide eyes.
   
Henry’s brow cleared. “Good old Benny,” he said. “Let’s have supper now. Or is it breakfast?” Jess drew out the loaf of bread. She cut it into four quarters with Henry’s jackknife. She and Henry took the two crusty ends.
   
“That’s since we have to be the strongest. And crusts make you strong,” said Jess. Violet looked at her older sister. She thought that she knew why Jess took the crust. But she did not speak.
   
“We will stay here till dark. Then we’ll go on with our trip,” said Henry cheerfully.
   
“I want a drink,” cried Benny.
   
“A drink you shall have,” Henry promised. “But you’ll have to wait till it’s dark. If we should creep out to the brook now, and we were seen!” He did not finish his sentence. But Benny knew that he must wait. He was much refreshed from his long sleep. And he felt lively. Violet had all that she could do to keep him amused. And that’s even with Cinnamon Bear and his five brothers. At last, Henry peeped out. It was 9:00 PM. There were lights on in the farmhouse still. But they were all upstairs. “We can at least get a drink now,” he said. And they all crept to the noisy little brook. It was not far from the haystack.

“Cup,” said Benny.
   
“No, you’ll have to lie down and drink with your mouth,” Jess said. And so they did. Never did water taste so cool and delicious to the thirsty kids as it did that night. When they had finished drinking, they jumped the brook. Then they ran over the fields to the wall. And once more, they found themselves on the road. “Here’s what to do if we meet someone,” said Jess. “We must all crouch behind bushes until they’ve gone by.” They walked in the darkness with light hearts. They were no longer tired or hungry. Their one thought was to get far from their grandfather, if they could.
   
“I think that we should find a big town,” said Violet. “Won’t it be better to stay in than a small town?”
   
“Why?” asked Henry. He was puffing up the hill.
   
“Well, you see, there are a lot of folks in a big town. So, no one will notice us.”
   
“And in a small town, they’d all be talking about us,” finished Henry admiringly. “You’ve got brains, Sis!” He had hardly said this when a wagon was heard behind them in the distance. It was coming from Middlesex. Without a word, the four children sank down behind the bushes. They felt like scared rabbits. They could plainly hear their hearts beat. The horse trotted nearer. And then it began to walk up the hill.
   
“If we hear nothing in Townsend,” they heard a man say, “we have done our duty.” It was the baker’s voice!
   
“More than our duty,” said his wife. “We’ve been tiring out a horse with going a full day, from morning until night!” There was silence as the horse pulled the creaky wagon.
   
“At least we’ll go on to Townsend tonight,” continued the baker. “We’ll tell them to watch out. We need not go to Intervale. They could not walk that far.”
   
“We are well rid of them, I should say,” said his wife. “They may not have come this way. The milkman did not see them, did he?” The baker’s reply was lost, for the horse had reached the top of the hill. Now he broke into a canter. It was some minutes before the children dared to creep out of the bushes.
   
“One thing is sure,” said Henry, when he got his breath. “We will not go to Townsend.”
   
“And we WILL go to Intervale,” said Jess. With a set goal in mind, at last, the children set out with a better spirit. They walked until 2:00 AM. They stopped a lot this time. They would rest and drink from the horses’ watering troughs. And then they came to a fork in the road. There was a white signpost that shined in the moonlight.

“Townsend, four miles. Intervale, six miles,” read Henry, out loud. “Do we feel able to walk six more miles?” He grinned. No one had the least clue how far they’d walked.
   
“We’ll go that way, at least,” said Jess.
   
“That we will,” agreed Henry. He picked up his brother for a change. This time he carried him piggy-back.
   
Violet went on. The new road was a pleasant woody one. And there was grass growing in the middle. The kids could not see the grass. But they could feel it as they walked. “Not lots of folks pass this way, I guess,” remarked Violet. Just then she caught her toe in something. She almost fell. But Jess caught her. The two girls stooped down to look at the obstruction.
   
“Hay!” said Jess.
   
“Yes, it’s Hay!” repeated Violet.
   
“Hey!” cried Henry, coming up. “What did you say?”
   
“It must have fallen off of someone’s load,” said Jess.
   
“We’ll take it with us,” Henry decided wisely. “Load on all that you can carry, Jess.”
   
“For Benny,” thought Violet to herself. So, the odd little party trudged on for nearly three hours, laden with hay. After a while, they found that the road ended in a cart path through the woods.
   
“Oh, dear!” yelled Jess. She was almost ready to cry with disappointment.
   
“What’s the matter?” asked Henry in astonishment. “Aren’t the woods a good place to sleep? We can’t sleep in the road, you know.”
   
“It does seem nice and far from folks,” admitted Jess. “And it’s almost morning.” They stood still at the entrance to the woods. They heard the rumble of a train. It roared down the valley at a great rate. It passed them on the other side of the woods, thundering along toward the city.
   
“Never mind the train,” remarked Henry. “It isn’t that close. And if it were, it could not see us.” He set his brother down. He peered into the woods. It was quite warm.
   
“Lizzen!” said Benny.
   
“Listen!” echoed Violet.
   
“More water!” Benny cried, catching his big brother by the hand.
   
“It’s just a brook,” said Henry with a thankful heart. “He wants a drink.” The trickle of water sounded very pleasant to all the children as they lay down once more to drink. Benny was too sleepy to eat. Jess quickly found a dry spot thick with moss between two stones. Upon this moss, the three older children spread the hay in the shape of an oval bed. Benny tumbled into it with a great sigh of satisfaction. His sisters tucked the hay around him.

“Pine needles up here, Jess,” called Henry from the slope. Each of them scraped together a fragrant pile for a pillow. They once more lay down to sleep, with hardly a thought of fear.
   
“I just hope that we won’t have a storm,” said Jess to herself, as she shut her tired eyes. And she did not open them for a long time. So, she did not see that the dark gray clouds piled higher and more thickly over the sleeping children.

Chapter Three: Shelter
   
Jess opened her eyes. It must have been near 10:00 AM. She sat up and looked all around her. She could see dimly the opening where they had come into the woods. She looked to see that her siblings were still safe. Then she looked up at the sky. At first, she thought it must still be night. But then she saw that the darkness was caused by an approaching storm.
   
“What shall we do now?” demanded Jess of the air. She got up and looked in each direction for shelter. She even walked quite a ways through the woods – and down a hill. And there she stood. She did not know what to do next. “I shall have to wake Henry up,” she said. “But how I hate to!” As she spoke, she glanced into the forest. But her feet felt as if they were nailed to the ground. She could not stir. Faintly outlined among the trees, Jess saw an old freight car or boxcar. Her first thought was one of fear. Her second instinct was hope, for shelter. As she thought of shelter, her feet moved. She stumbled toward it.
   
It really was a boxcar. She felt around it. It stood on rusty broken rails. They were covered with dead leaves. Then the thunder cracked from the sky. Jess came to her usual senses. She ran back for Henry. She flew like the wind. He was awake, looking anxiously overhead. He had not noticed that Jess was missing. “Come!” panted Jess. “I’ve found a place! Hurry!” Henry did not stop to ask questions. He picked up Benny. He told Violet to pick up the hay. And then they ran headlong through the thick underbrush in Jess’s wake. They could see their way only because of the sharp flashes of lightning.
   
“It’s starting to sprinkle!” gasped Henry.
   
“We’ll get there, all right,” Jess shouted back. “It’s not far. Be all ready to help me with the door when we get there!” They had a stroke of good luck. A big tree stump stood under the door of the boxcar. Without that, the children could not have opened it. As it was, Jess sprang on the stump. Henry, pausing to lay Benny down, did likewise. They rolled back the heavy door about a foot. “That’s good,” panted Jess. “I’ll get in. You hand Benny up to me.”
   
“No,” said Henry. “I must see first if anyone is in there.”
   
“It will rain!” protested Jess.

“Nothing will hurt me,” contended Henry. So, Jess knew that it was useless to argue with him. So, she hastily groped in the bag for the matches. She handed them to her brother. It must be confessed that Jess held her breath while Henry struck one of the matches. Then he peered about inside the car.
   
“All’s well!” he reported. “Come in, all of you!” Violet passed the hay up to her brother. Then she crawled in herself. Then Jess handed Benny up like a bag of groceries. She took one last look at the angry sky and waving trees. Then she climbed in after him. The two children managed to roll the door back. Now the crack was completely closed before the storm broke. But at that point, the storm unleashed itself with a vengeance. It seemed to the children that the sky would break asunder, so sharp were the cracks of thunder. But not a drop of rain reached them in their roomy retreat. They could see nothing at all. The boxcar was tightly made. And all of the outside was nearly as black as night. Through it all, Benny slept on.
   
Soon, the thunder grew fainter. It rumbled away down the valley. The rain finally stopped, as well. Only the drip from the trees on the top of the car could be heard. Then Henry ventured to open the door. He knelt on his hands and knees. Then he thrust his head out. The warm sunlight was filtrating through the trees. It made golden pools of light here and there. The beautiful trees – pines, white birches, and oaks – grew thickly around. And the ground was carpeted with flowers and wonderful ferns more than a yard high. But most miraculous of all was a miniature waterfall. It was small but perfect. It was where the same little brown brook fell gracefully over some ledges and danced away down the glen. In an instant, Jess and Violet were looking over Henry’s shoulder at the pretty sight.
   
“How different things look like with the sun shining!” yelled Jess. “Things will soon be dry at this rate.”
   
Henry looked at the sun. “It must be near noon,” he observed. And as he spoke, the faltering repercussion of mill bells in the distance was heard.
   
“Henry!” said Jess sharply. “Let’s live here!”
   
“Live here?” repeated Henry dully.
   
“Yes! Why not?” said Jess. “No one uses this car. And it’s dry and warm. We’re quite far away. And yet we’re near a town so that we can buy things.”

“And we’re near water,” added Violet.
   
Jess hugged her sister. “So we are, little mouse,” she said. “The most important thing of all.”
   
“But,” began Henry.
   
“Please, Henry,” said Jess excitedly. “I could make this old freight car into the dearest little house. We could have beds, chairs, and a table and dishes.”
   
“I’d like to live here, too,” said a determined little voice from the corner. “But I don’t want to, unless.”
   
“Unless what?” asked Henry, panic-stricken.
   
“Unless I can have my dinner,” Benny finished anxiously.
   
“We’ll have something to eat right now, old fellow,” said Henry, thankful that it was no worse. He was starting to see what a cozy home the car would make.
   
Jess cut the last loaf of bread into four pieces. But it was quite dry. The children were so hungry that they tore it with their teeth like dogs. And Benny was nearly crying. He did not actually cry, however. Just at the crucial moment, Violet started a funny tale about Cinnamon Bear eating bread crusts out of the ash can. “He ought to have milk,” said Jess to Henry.
   
“He shall have milk,” replied Henry. “I’ll go down the railroad track to the town and get some.”
   
Jess counted out a dollar in ten dimes. She gave them to Henry. “By the time our four dollars are gone, you will have some work to do,” she said.
   
All the same, Henry did not like to go on his trip. “How I hate to leave you alone, Jess!” he said miserably.
   
“Oh, don’t you sweat,” began Jess lightly. “We’ll have a surprise for you when you come back. You just wait and see!” And she nodded her head wisely as Henry walked slowly off through the woods. The moment that he was out of sight, she turned to Benny and Violet. “Now, children,” she said. “What do you think we’ll do now? Do you know what I saw in the sunny part of the woods? I saw blueberries!”
   
“Oh, oh!” cried Benny, who knew what blueberries were. “Can’t we have some of them with milk?”
   
“We surely,” began Jess. But the sentence never was finished. That’s because a sharp crackle of dry leaves was heard. Something was moving in the woods.

   
     
*********
   
   
The Boxcar Children
    

Lesson 2 (Chapters 4-6)

    
NEW WORDS: Benny’s, Irishwoman, Jessie, amass, armfuls, barbule, behest, blissfully, boscage, bulgy, camed, complied, dainties, delicatessen, delightedly, dishwashing, enameled, erased, expectantly, fated, feebly, fidgeting, fixedly, globes, gracile, handiwork, hemmed, humaneness, interestedly, jabbering, lamb’s, lathered, licious, maidenhair, mysteriously, naturedly, occupants, periphery, piazzas, pliant, pluvious, plying, projections, rapture, rapturous, scrabbled, settles, shunned, sleeves, smeller, smutched, soaped, soothingly, specimen, supposing, surplusage, trimming, triumphantly, washcloths, waxed 
    
    

Chapter Four: A New Home
    
“Keep still!” whispered Jess. Benny obeyed. The three children were as motionless as stone sculptures. They were huddled inside the boxcar. Jess opened her mouth in order to breathe at all, her heart was thumping so wildly. She watched like a cat through the door, in the direction of the rustling noise. And in a bit, the fidgeting bushes parted. Out crawled a dog. He was an Airedale. He was limping along on three legs. And he was whimpering softly. Jess drew a long breath of relief. Then she said to the children, “It’s all right. Just a dog. But he seems to be hurt.” At the sound of her voice, the dog lifted his eyes. Then he wagged his tail feebly. He held up his front foot.
   
“Poor doggie,” murmured Jess soothingly, as she clambered out of the car. “Let Jess see your poor lame foot.” She moved toward the dog with care. She remembered that her mother had always told her never to touch a strange dog unless he wagged his tail. But this dog’s tail was surely wagging! So, Jess bent over – with no fear – to look at the paw. An exclamation of humaneness escaped her when she saw it. A stiff, sharp thorn had been driven right through one of the cushions of the dog’s foot. Around it, the blood had dried.
   
“I guess I can fix that,” said Jess briskly. “But taking the thorn out will hurt you, old fellow.” The dog looked up at her as she laid his paw down. Then he licked her hand. “Come here, Violet and Benny,” directed Jess. She took the pup gently in her lap and turned him on his side. She patted his head and stroked his smeller with one finger. Then she offered him the rest of her bread crust, which she had put in her pocket. The dog snapped it up as if he were starved. Then she held the soft paw firmly with her left hand. She pulled steadily on the thorn with her right hand. The dog did not utter a sound. He lay motionless in her lap. Soon, the thorn let go and lay in Jess’s hand.
   
“Good, good!” cried Violet.
   
“Wet my handkerchief,” Jess ordered briskly. Violet did so. She dipped it in the running brook. Jess wrapped the cool, wet folds around the hot paw. Then she gently squeezed it against the wound, the dog meanwhile trying to lick her hands.

“We’ll surprise Henry, won’t we?” laughed Benny. “Now we’ve got a dog!”
   
“To be sure,” said Jess, struck with the thought. “But that is not what I intended for a surprise. You know that I wanted to get a lot of blueberries. And I hoped to find some old dishes in a dump or something, too.”
   
“Can’t we look while you hold the dog?” asked Violet.
   
“Of course, you can, Pet!” said Jess. “Look over there by those rocks.” Benny and Violet scrambled through the boscage to a place that Jess had pointed out. There, they began to investigate. But they did not have to hunt long. The blueberries were so thick that the bushes almost bent over with their weight.
   
“Oh, Jessie,” screamed Benny. “You never saw so many in your life! What will we pick ’em into?”
   
“Come and get a clean towel,” said Jess. She then saw that Benny was already ‘picking into’ his own mouth! “But that’s just as well,” she thought. “That way he won’t get so hungry waiting for the milk.” She watched the two children for a moment as they dropped handfuls of the bluish globes on the towel. Then she got up with her little patient. She went over and sat down in the center of the patch. The berries were so thick that she did not have to change her position before the towel held over a quart. “Oh, dear,” sighed Jess. “I wish that I could hunt for some dishes. That way, we could have blueberries and milk.”
   
“Never mind tonight,” said Violet. “We can just eat a handful of berries and then take a drink of milk when Henry comes.” But it was even better than that. When Henry got back, he had two bottles of milk under one arm, a huge loaf of brown bread under the other, and some golden cheese in waxed paper in his pocket. But you should have seen Henry stare when he saw what Jess was holding!
   
“Where in the world?” began the boy.
   
“He camed to us,” volunteered Benny. “He camed for a surprise for you. And he’s a nice doggie.”
   
Henry knelt down to look at the visitor. The dog wagged his tail. “It would not be a bad thing to have a watchdog,” said Henry. “I worried about you all the time that I was gone.”
   
“Did you bring some milk?” asked Benny. He was trying to be polite. But he was looking at the bottles with longing eyes.
   
“Bless his heart!” said Jess, struggling to her feet with the dog. “We’ll have dinner right now – or is it supper?”

“Call it supper,” said Henry. “It will be the last thing that we’ll have to eat today.”
   
“And then tomorrow we’ll start to have three meals each day,” laughed Jess. It was surely a queer meal, whatever it was. Jess, who liked, above all, for things to be orderly, spread out the big gray laundry bag on the pine needles for a tablecloth. The brown loaf was cut by an excited little hostess into five thick squares – the cheese into four.
   
“Dogs don’t eat cheese,” Benny said cheerfully. The poor little guy was glad of it, too, for he was quite hungry. He could hardly wait for Jess to set the milk bottles in the center of the table and amass the blueberries in four little mounds, one at each place.
   
“I’m sorry we don’t have cups,” Jess said. “We’ll just have to drink out of the same bottle.”
   
“No, we won’t,” said Henry. “We’ll drink half of each bottle. That will make at least two things to drink out of.”
   
“Good for you, Henry,” said Jess, much relieved. “You and Benny use one. Violet and I will use the other.”
   
So, the meal began. “Look, Benny,” directed Henry. “Eat a handful of blueberries. Then take a bite of brown bread, then a nibble of cheese. Now, a drink of milk!”
   
“It’s good! It’s good!” mumbled Benny to himself all through the meal.
   
You must not think that the poor wandering dog was shunned. Jess fed him gently, as he lay in her lap. She’d poke morsels of bread into his mouth. Then she’d pour milk into her own hand for him to lap up. The meal was over. Half of each bottle of milk remained. Jess then said, “We’ll get to sleep on beds tonight. And just as soon as we get our beds made, we’re all going to be washed.”
   
“That’ll be fun, Benny,” added Violet. “We’ll wash our paws in the brook just the way Cinnamon does.”
   
“First, let’s gather armfuls of dry pine needles,” ordered Jess. “Get those on top that have been lying in the sunshine.” Jess laid the dog down on a bed of moss as she spoke. Then she started energetically to scoop up piles of the needles. Soon a pile as high as her head stood just under the boxcar door. “I think that we have enough,” she said at last. She took the scissors from Violet’s workbag. Then she cut the laundry bag into two pieces. She saved the cord for a clothesline. One of the big squares was laid across Benny’s hay and tucked under. That was the softest bed of all. Violet’s apron and her own, she cut off at the belt.

“I’ll sleep next to Benny,” said Henry, “with my head up by the door. Then I can hear what is going on.” A big pile of pine needles was loaded into the boxcar for Henry’s bed. Then it was covered with the other half of the laundry bag.
   
The surplusage of the needles Jess piled into the farthest periphery of the car for herself and Violet. “We’ll all sleep on one side. That way, we can call it ‘the bedroom.'”
   
“What will be the other side?” asked Benny.
   
“The other side?” repeated Jess. “Let me think! I guess that will be the sitting room. And some of the time the kitchen.”
   
“On pluvious days, maybe the dining room,” added Henry with a wink.
   
“Couldn’t it be the parlor?” begged Benny.
   
“Surely, the parlor! We forgot that,” agreed Jess, returning the wink. She was covering the last two soft beds with the two aprons. “The tops of these aprons are washcloths,” she said severely. Then armed with the big cake of soap, she led the way to the brook. The dog watched them closely. But when Jess said, “Lie still,” he complied. From the moment that Jess drew the barbule from his foot, he was her dog. He was fated to obey her slightest behest and to follow her wherever she went.
   
The clean cool brook was delightful – even to Benny. The children rolled up their sleeves and plunged their dusty arms into its waters. They quarreled good-naturedly over the soap, and they lathered their smutched faces and necks with it. When they were well rinsed with clear water, they dried themselves with the towel. Then Jess washed both towels nicely with soap. She rinsed them and hung them on the clothesline of tape, which she had stretched between two gracile birch trees. They flapped lazily in the wind.
   
“Looks like home now, Jess,” said Henry, smiling at the washing. The tired children scrabbled into the ‘bedroom.’ Jess came in last with the wounded dog.
   
“We’ll have to leave the door open, it’s so hot,” said Henry. He lay down with a tired sigh. And in less than ten minutes, they were fast asleep, dog and all. And they were asleep at 6:00 PM. They went to sleep without naming the dog, without locking the door, without fear, for this was the first night in four that they could go to sleep at night, as children should.

Chapter Five: Housekeeping
   
The next morning, Jess was up before the others. This was fitting for a little housekeeper. She was the first up if we except the dog. You see, he had opened one eye each time that his mistress had stirred in her sleep. He sat watching gravely in the door of the boxcar as Jess descended to get breakfast. She walked from the waterfall quite a distance down the brook. She looked at it with critical eyes. “This will be the well,” she said to herself. She was looking at a small but deep and quiet basin just below the falls. Below that she found a larger basin. It was lined with gravel. And flat stones were around it.
   
“This will be the washtub,” she decided. “And now I must go back to the refrigerator.” This was the strangest spot of all. Behind the little waterfall was a small quiet pool. Jess had set the milk bottles in it the night before. Not a drop of water could get in the bottles. But all night long, the cool running water had surrounded them. They were now fairly icy to the touch. Jess smiled as she drew them out.
   
“Is it good?” asked Benny’s voice. There he sat in the door of the car, swinging his legs. His arm was around the shaggy dog.
   
“It’s delicious!” said Jess. “Cold as ice.” She climbed up beside him as she spoke. She brought the breakfast with her. The other two children sat up and looked at it.
   
“Today, Jess,” said Henry, “I will go back to town and try to get a job mowing lawns or something. Then we can afford to have something besides milk for breakfast.” Milk suited Benny quite well, though. Thus, the older children let him drink rather more than his share. Henry did not waste any time talking. He brushed his hair as well as he could without a brush. Then he rolled down his sleeves and went toward town with the second dollar.
   
“Glad you’ve got a dog, Jess,” he called back. He waved his straw hat at her.
   
The children watched him disappear around the curve. They then turned to Jess expectantly. They were not mistaken. Jess had a plan. “We’ll explore,” she began mysteriously. “We’ll start here at the boxcar. Then we’ll hunt all through these woods till we find a dump!”
   
“What’s a dump?” asked Benny.
   
“Oh, Benny!” answered Violet. “You know what a dump is. It’s all old bottles and papers and broken dishes.”
   
“And wheels?” asked Benny interestedly. “Will there be some old wheels?”

“Yes, maybe,” assented Violet. “But cups, Benny! Think of drinking milk out of a cup again!”
   
“Oh, yes,” said Benny, politely. But it was clear that his mind was centered on wheels rather than cups.
   
The exploring party started slowly down the rusty track. The dog followed. He was hopping happily on three legs. The fourth paw was nicely bandaged with Jess’s handkerchief. And he held it up out of harm’s way. “I think that this is a spur track,” said Jess. “They built it in here so that they could load wood on the cars. Then when they had cut all the wood, they did not need the track anymore.” This explanation seemed very likely, for here and there were stumps of trees and decaying chips. Violet took note of these chips. And she would remember them some days later. In fact, both girls kept their eyes open. And they pointed out things of interest to each other.
   
“Remember these logs, Violet, if we should ever need any,” said Jess, pointing.
   
“Blackberry blossoms!” returned Violet briefly. She turned one over gently with her foot.
   
“Big flat stones!” remarked Jess, later on, as they came upon a great heap of them.
   
Here the track came out into the open sunshine. Broken pieces of rail showed where it had joined the main track at some time in the past. And here from the top of the wooded hill, they could plainly see the city in the valley. They walked along the track, picking out a church steeple here and there. And they forgot for a bit the object of their search. “There’s a wheel!” Benny cried triumphantly from behind. He relished picking it up.
   
The girls looked down. And with a glad cry of surprise, Jess recognized a dump at the foot of the hill. They found that it was not composed just of ashes and tin cans, either, though both of these were there in great profusion. It was a royal dump. It contained both cups and wheels. “Oh, Benny!” cried Jess. “If it hadn’t been for you!” She hugged him, wheel and all. She then began turning over the rubbish with glee.
   
“Here’s a white pitcher, Jess,” Violet called. She held up a perfect specimen with a tiny chip in its nose.
   
“Here’s a big white cup,” said Jess delightedly. She laid it aside.
   
“Want a teapot, Jessie?” asked Benny. He offered her an enormous blue enameled affair with no handle.

“Yes, indeed!” cried Jess. “We can use that for water. I’ve found two cups and a bowl already. And Violet, we ought to look for spoons, too.” Violet pointed without speaking to her little pile of treasures. There were five iron spoons covered with rust. “Super!” pronounced Jess with rapture. Indeed, it is doubtful if collectors of rare and pretty bits of porcelain have ever enjoyed a search as much as did these adventurers in the dump heap. Benny even found four wheels, exactly alike. They were perhaps from the same cart. He insisted upon carrying them back. To please him, Jess let him add them to the growing pile.
   
“Here’s a big iron kettle,” observed Violet. “But we won’t really cook with a fire, will we, Jess?”
   
“We’ll take it back, though,” replied Jess with a knowing look. “We can pile lots of dishes into it.” They could, and they did. But not until after Benny had found his beloved ‘pink cup.’ It was a tea party cup of bright rose coloring, with a wreath of gorgeous roses on it. It also had a little shepherdess giving her lamb a drink from a pale blue brook. It had a good handle, gold added into the bargain. Its only flaw was a dangerous crack through the lamb’s nose and front feet. Jess made a cushion for it out of grass. Then she laid it on top of the kettle full of treasures. All of the things, even the wheels, were laid on a wide board which the two girls carried between them.
   
Can you imagine the dishwashing when the gay party got back to the boxcar? Children do not often care for dishwashing. But never did a little boy hand dishes to his sister so carefully as Benny did. They were all on their hands and knees beside the clear, cool little ‘washtub.’ The three children soaped, rinsed, and dried their precious store of dishes. Jess scoured the rust from the spoons with sand. “There!” she said, as she dried the last polished spoon. The children sat back and looked admiringly at their own handiwork. But they did not look long. There was too much to be done.

“Jess,” yelled Violet, “I’ll tell you!” Violet seldom spoke so excitedly. Even Benny turned around and looked at her. “Come and see what I saw inside the car last night!” Both children followed her and peered in at the door. “See, on the wall, right over on the other door, Jess.” Now, all that Jess could see were two thick chunks of wood. They were nailed securely to the closed door opposite the open one. But she whirled around and around as fast as she could, clapping her hands. When she could get her breath, she skipped over to the board that they had carried. She dusted it nicely. Then she laid it carefully across the two wooden projections. It was a perfect shelf!
   
“There!” said Jess. The children could hardly wait to arrange the shining new dishes on the shelf. Violet gathered some feathery white flowers. She found a daisy or two, and some maidenhair ferns, which she arranged in a glass vase filled with water from the ‘well.’ This she put in the middle, with the broken edge hidden. “There!” said Jess.
   
“You said ‘there’ three times, Jessie,” said Benny, contentedly.
   
“So I did,” replied Jess laughing. “And I’ll say it once more.” She pointed and said, “There!”
   
And then they all spied Henry coming up the path.

Chapter Six: Earning A Living
   
Henry had all sorts of packages in his arms and in his pockets. But he wouldn’t open them or tell a thing about his day until dinner was fixed. “Jess, you’re a wonder!” he exclaimed when he saw the dishes and the shelf. The big kettle was chosen. And they all went to pick blueberries as fast as they could. They were jabbering all about the dump. At last, the tablecloth was spread. Now Henry unwrapped his parcels before the whole excited family.
   
“I bought some more brown bread,” he said, producing the loaves. “And some more milk. I got it all in the same store where I went yesterday. It’s kept by a little old man. And it’s called a ‘Delicatessen Shop.’ He has everything in his store to eat. I bought some dried beef because we can eat it with our fingers. And I bought a big bone for the dog.”
   
“His name is ‘Watch’,” Jess interrupted.
   
“All right,” said Henry, accepting the name. “I bought a bone for Watch.” Watch fell on the bone as if he were famished, which indeed he nearly was.
   
It was a rapturous moment. Jess poured the yellow milk into four cups or bowls. Then each child started to crumble the brown bread into it. Then they added a liberal scattering of blueberries. And then they ate it with spoons! No one was able to speak a word for a few minutes. Then Henry began slowly to tell his tale.
   
“I earned a dollar just this morning,” he began proudly. “I walked along the first shady street that I came to – nice homes, you know. And there was a man out mowing his own lawn. He’s a nice guy, too, I can tell you. He’s a young doctor.” Henry paused to chew blissfully. “He was pretty hot,” Henry went on. “And just as I came to the gate, his phone rang. I heard it. So, I called after him. I asked if he wanted me to finish up the mowing.”
   
“And he said he did!” cried Jess.
   
“Yes. He said, ‘For goodness’ sake, yes!'” Henry answered smiling. “You see, he wasn’t used to it. So, I mowed the lawn. Then I trimmed the edges. And he said that he’d never had a boy trim it as well as I did. And then he asked me if I’d like a steady job!”
   
“Oh, Henry!” cried Violet and Jess together.

“I told him I did. So, he said to come back this afternoon any time that I wanted to, or tomorrow. He said that he didn’t care just when. ‘Any time.'” Henry gave his cup a last polish with his spoon. Then he set it down dreamily. “It’s a pretty house,” he went on. “And there’s a big garden behind it. It’s a vegetable garden. And there’s an orchard behind that. It’s a cherry orchard. You ought to see the cherry trees! Well, when I was trimming the edges near the kitchen door, the cook came and watched me. She’s a big Irishwoman.” Henry laughed at the recollection. “She asked me if I liked cookies. Oh, Benny, if you had smelled them baking, you’d have died laughing. Dee-licious! So, I said that I did. And she passed one to me. She went back in. Then I put it in my pocket.”
   
“Did she see you?” asked Jess.
   
“Oh, no,” said Henry confidently. “For I faked chewing away for a long time on nothing at all.” Benny began to look fixedly at Henry’s pocket. It was still rather bulgy. “When I went, the doctor paid me a dollar. And the cook gave me this bag.” Henry grinned as he tossed the paper bag to Jess. Inside were twelve ginger cookies with scalloped edges. They smelled faintly of cinnamon and sugar. “I’m going to keep track of everything that I earn and spend,” said Henry. He watched Jess as she handed around the cookies with reverence.
   
“How are you going to write without a pencil?” asked Jess.
   
“There are chunks of tailor’s chalk in my workbag,” said Violet. Henry gave her a gentle pat. She came back with her workbag. She then fished for the chalk. While the girls rinsed the empty dishes in the brook and stored away the food for supper, Henry was starting his cash account on the wall of his bedroom. It was never erased. Henry often now looks at the account with great affection. Soon, the girls came to inspect it. Meanwhile, Benny looked on with great delight as Watch tried to bury his bone with only one paw to dig with.
   
“Earned, $1.00. Cash on hand, $3.85,” read Jess aloud.
   
Below, he had written:

    Milk       $0.24

    Bread    $0.20

    Cheese  $0.10

    Milk       $0.24

    Beef      $0.20

    Bone     $0.05

    Cloth     $0.10
   
“Cloth!” yelled Violet. “What on Earth?”

Henry laughed a bit. He watched her face as he drew out his last package. Then he handed it to her. “I thought that we ought to have a tablecloth,” he explained. “So, I got a yard at the ten-cent store. But it isn’t hemmed, of course.” With a cry of delight, Violet unwrapped the brown cloth with its edge of blue. Her clever fingers were already evening the two ends. She was never so happy as when with a needle.
   
Henry set off again with a light heart. Here was one sister curled up happily against a big tree. She was setting tiny stitches into a very straight hem. Here was another sister busily gathering pliant twigs into a bundle. This was for a broom with which to sweep the stray pine needles from the house. And here was Benny. He was curled up sound asleep on the ground with the dog for a pillow.
   
It was quite late when Henry got back. In fact, it was 7:00 PM, though he did not know that. Lots of treasures had been added in his absence. The broom stood proudly in the corner. It had a slim stick for a handle. The new tablecloth had been washed and was drying on the line. And Jess, who had decided to wash one garment a day, had begun with Benny’s stockings. When Henry came, they were being put on again with much pride by Benny himself. Violet had darned a big hole in each. This time Henry himself could not wait to tell his sisters what he had. He passed them the package at once, with shining eyes.
   
“Butter!” cried Jess with a radiant face. It was butter, cool and sweet. No one recalled that they had been a week without tasting either butter or meat when, at last, they sat down to their royal supper.
   
“These are trick spoons,” said Henry. “Turn them upside down, and use the handle. Then they become knives.” They were knives, sort of. Anyway, they were used to spread the tasty morsels of butter on the brown loaf. With dried beef, and a cookie for dessert, who could ask for better fare? Surely not the four children. They relished it more than the rarest dainties. “I washed the doctor’s car this afternoon,” Henry related. “Then I washed both piazzas with the hose. And tomorrow I’m going to hoe in the garden. Oh, I’d love to have a nice cold swim in that brook!” Henry was hot and sticky, for sure. He looked with longing eyes at the waterfall as he ate the last crumbs of his meal. “I wonder if we couldn’t fix up a regular swimming pool,” he said, half to himself.

“Of course we could,” said Violet, as if nothing was too hard. “Jess and I know where there are big logs, and big flat stones.”
   
“You do, eh?” said Henry staring at his gentle little sister.
   
“Well, why couldn’t we, Henry?” struck in Jess. “Just a little below this, there is a sort of pool already, only not big enough.”
   
“We could, for sure!” cried Henry. “One day I’ll stay home from work, and we’ll see.” No one realized that Henry had been working just one day in all. Anyway, it seemed as if they had always lived in the comfortable home in the boxcar, with Henry plying back and forth from the city each day, bringing them new surprises. Henry went to bed that night with a head full of plans for damming up the brook. He almost shouted when he thought suddenly of Benny’s wheels. He began to plan to make a cart to carry the heavy stones to the brook. And that was when he first saw that Watch was not asleep. He could see his eyes shining red in the darkness. It must have been around 11:00 PM. Henry reached over and patted his rough little back. Watch licked his hand. But he did not close his eyes. Then he began to growl softly.
   
“Shh!” said Henry to the dog. Now thoroughly startled, Watch sat up. Jess sat up. They did not hear a sound. “Best to shut the door,” breathed Henry. Together they rolled the door slowly and softly until it was shut. Still, they did not hear a thing. But Watch kept on with his uneasy growling. Violet and Benny slumbered on. Jess and Henry sat motionless. Their hearts were in their mouths.
   
“Supposing that it was some other tramp?” whispered Jess. “Someone else that wanted to sleep here!”

“Watch would bite ’em,” whispered Henry briefly. Jess didn’t know that Henry had so much confidence in the faithful dog. Then a branch cracked sharply outside. Now Watch barked out loud. Jess smothered the dog instantly in her arms. But it had been a bark. And it was loud, clear, and unmistakable. “That settles it,” thought Henry. “Whoever it is, now they know that there’s someone in here.” And the boy waited with the new broom in his hand. He expected at any moment to see the door opened from the outside.
   
But nothing happened. Not a thing. The children sat in perfect silence for at least a half hour. But nothing more was heard. Watch sniffed a bit when Henry finally rolled the door open again. But he then turned around three times and laid down by Jess. He was apparently satisfied, at last. Henry took the dog’s conduct as a sure guide. Thus, he composed himself for sleep. “It must have been a rabbit or something,” he said to Jess. The occupants of the boxcar slept peacefully until morning.

   
   
*********

   
   
The Boxcar Children
   

Lesson 3 (Chapters 7-8)

    
NEW WORDS: McAllister, afternoon’s, allotment, amply, apportioning, approving, approvingly, ardently, aromatic, barefooted, barricade, beguiling, bludgeoned, bristling, builded, burble, businesslike, cambered, clone, commandeering, conformation, constricted, corking, crinkled, culch, declivity, decorous, deepness, deftly, delegated, doc’s, dutifully, eatable, effectuate, elation, eventful, exaggeration, excusable, exertion, foamy, frenetically, gawked, guggled, harmonious, hauteur, heaved, hesitancy, hesitatingly, hoardings, hungrily, incredulity, incredulously, indifferently, inspirit, lacked, lambent, lettered, lettering, meddlers, medley, mercy’s, mingled, misshapen, natty, neglected, overspill, paring, pebbly, percolating, pickers, plashed, portions, quicksilver, remunerated, residuum, resolutely, rout, savor, savoriness, scampish, scruples, scrupulous, serviceable, shim, shreds, slapdash, solemnity, spattered, spooned, stewpot, stoppled, sufflated, sunder, synchronally, thinned, thrifty, turpentine, understructure, wanderers, widened, woodpile 
        
    

Chapter Seven: At Home
     
Jess and Henry had a short committee meeting the next morning. That was before the others woke up. It was agreed that no one should stray off into the woods alone. Not even the dog. And with much mystery, Henry left some orders with all of them. He asked them to build something for him during the morning.
   
“What for?” asked Benny.
   
“Shan’t tell, old fellow,” teased Henry. “You just build it. Then you’ll see later.” So, Henry walked briskly through the woods. He was feeling sure that the noise in the night had been a rabbit. Having no watch, Henry made a slight mistake by getting to the doctor’s door before 8:00 AM. He was just in time to meet the doctor. He was coming in from a night call. If Henry had not been so eager to start work, he would have seen how the young man’s dark eyes examined him from head to foot, even to his plastered hair, wet with brook water. It was not the doctor who directed his work. It was the doc’s mom. The sweet-faced Mrs. McAllister had her heart centered in her son and her vegetable garden. And her heart warmed to the boy. She loved how carefully he had thinned out the carrots, which had been sadly neglected.
   
“I’ve been so busy,” she said. “Why, I’ve stayed awake nights thinking about these carrots. There, see that?” She pulled out a fairly good-sized carrot as she spoke. “It had to come out. It was much too near its neighbors.” In fact, when Henry had thinned out half a row, he had quite a little pile of eatable carrots. Each was as large as his thumb. Then Mrs. McAllister saw Henry deftly press the earth back again around the carrots which remained standing. She now left him with a smile. Here was a gardener whom she could trust.
   
Henry worked hard in the hot sun. He finished row after row of carrots, parsnips, and onions. The mill bells rang at noon. But Henry dutifully worked on. He did not note that his employer was again watching him. When he did at last notice her, he asked her, smiling, what she wanted done with the things that he had pulled up.
   
“Oh, throw them away,” she said indifferently. “Toss them over into the orchard. Then sometime we’ll burn them when they get dry.”
   
“Do you mind if I take them?” asked Henry, hesitatingly.

“Oh, of course,” said Mrs. McAllister cordially. “Have you chickens? That will be fine.” Henry was thankful that she went right along without waiting for an answer. But in a way, he did have chickens, he thought with a grin.
   
“You must stop work now,” she said. “Any time that you want to do something, there will be a place for you here.” She gave him a dollar bill. And she left the delighted boy with the piles of nice little vegetables. As long as Henry expected to get back so soon, he hastily chose an orderly bunch of the largest of the carrots and the smallest of the onions. He added a few of the miniature parsnips for good measure. They looked like dolls’ vegetables. When Henry walked down the drive with his ‘bouquet,’ he would have seen a face at the window if he had looked up. But he did not look up. He was too anxious to get to the little old man’s shop and buy his meat.
   
So, Henry walked in upon his siblings at 2:00 PM. He had all of the materials for a feast. The feast could not be made ready before night, Jess hastened to explain to Benny. But Benny was satisfied, anyway. He was enjoying the bread and milk in his pink cup. “Your building is done,” Benny informed his brother. “I builded lots of it.”
   
“He really did,” said Violet. Then she led the way to the sunny open spot that was a trifle behind the house. The ‘building’ was a fireplace. With a great amount of labor, the kids had made quite a hollow at the base of a rock. This was lined with flat stones. More flat stones had been set on end to keep out the wind. On top of the stones lay the most wonderful collection of firewood that you could think of. The wood was all set to light. There were chips and bits of crumpled paper, pine cones, and dry twigs. Next to the big rock was a woodpile. The children had been working like beavers all morning. Jess had found a heavy wire in the dump. She had fastened it between two trees. On the wire, the kettle swung merrily.
   
“Fine! Fine!” shouted Henry when he saw it. “I could not have done it so well myself.” And he truly believed that.
   
“We have dinner at night, here,” observed Jess impressively. “What did you buy?”

When the girls saw the tiny vegetables, they began, with cries of elation, to sunder them from their stalks. They used Henry’s knife and a broken paring knife. They scrubbed them in the ‘washtub.’ They filled the kettle half full of water from the ‘well.’ Then they began in great excitement to cut the raw meat into cubes. When this had been dropped into the kettle, Henry lit the fire. It burned frenetically. It was as if it were trying to inspirit the stew to do its best. Violet laid the tin plate over the top for a cover. Then they all stood by to hear the first burble. Soon the aromatic medley in the kettle began to boil in good earnest. Watch sat down gravely near it. He gave an approving sniff at intervals.
   
“Keep it percolating,” advised Henry as he left again. “When I come home tonight, I’ll bring some salt. And for mercy’s sake, don’t catch on fire.”
   
Violet pointed at the big teapot. She had filled it with water in case of emergency. “That’s if Benny catches on fire,” she said. “Or Watch.” Henry laughed. Then he went on his way happily enough. He wished that he might share the delightful task of keeping the fire going and sniffing the stew. But when he found out his afternoon’s duties, he changed his mind abruptly.
   
“Think that you can clean up this garage?” asked Dr. McAllister quizzically when Henry appeared. Henry flashed a look around the place. Then he met the young doc’s eyes with a smile. It did need cleaning, for sure. When its owner purred out in his high-powered little car, Henry drew a long breath and began in earnest. He opened all of the chests of drawers to start with. Then he arranged all of the tools in the deepest drawer. He then grabbed a long-handled brush and a can of black paint that was nearly dry. He labeled the drawer “TOOLS,” with natty lettering. Another drawer he lettered “NAILS.” And he moved its contents into a few of the many boxes that were lying around. He folded up the robes that he found. He swept off the shelves. He moved the oil cans into orderly ranks. He sorted out countless pairs of gloves. He swept the floor. He washed the cement floor with the hose. And while waiting for it to dry, he rinsed each brush in turpentine.

To tell the truth, Henry had found a few things in the culch which he had stored in his own pocket. The hoardings consisted of an allotment of bent and rusty nails of all sizes. And there were a few screws and nuts. The doctor returned at 6:00 PM. He found Henry corking up the turpentine and apportioning the brushes on the shelf.
   
“My word!” he yelled. He gawked at his garage with his mouth open. Then he threw back his head and laughed till his mother came down the walk to see what the matter was. “Look at my gloves, Mother,” he said. He wiped his eyes in positive incredulity. “All mated up. They never met each other before, that I recall.” His mom looked the garage over. She observed the newly labeled drawers. Her son opened one of them and looked at his four hammers. “My tack hammer, Mother,” he said. “Your tack hammer, and two other hammers! That last one I never thought I’d see again. If you can use it, you may have it, my boy.”
   
Now, it is no exaggeration to say that if Henry had been asked what he wished for most of anything in the world, he would have answered without any hesitancy, “A hammer.” He accepted it with thanks. He was hardly able to stand still. He was anxious to put it to use on the hill that he called home.
   
“Tomorrow’s Sunday,” said the doctor. “Shall I see you on Monday?”
   
“Oh, yes,” said Henry. He had lost all track of the days.
   
“The cherries must be picked,” said his new friend. “We could use any number of cherry pickers. Especially if they were as careful as you.” He gave him an odd look.
   
“Could you?” asked Henry ardently. “I’ll surely come down.”
   
With that, he bade his friends good-bye. He started for home. He was quite a bit richer. He had another dollar. He had two doughnuts that the cook had given him. He had a pocket full of misshapen nails. And he had the rest of the veggies. He reached his boxcar home. A delicious savor greeted him. “Onions!” he yelled as he ran up to the kettle. The cook stood by and took off the cover and put in the salt. It was, for sure, the most beguiling odor that Henry had ever smelled. Years later, Jess tried to clone it with the same kettle, veggies from the same garden, and all mingled with the same spoon. But it didn’t match this stew in savoriness.

“A ladle, as sure as I live!” gasped Henry. Jess had found a tin cup in the dump. She had placed onto it a wood handle with a bit of wire. She spooned out four portions on four plates of all sizes. Some of them were tin. Then she laid a spoon in each. With great joy, the children felt that the world held no greater riches. The tiny onions floated around like pearls. The carrots melted in your mouth. And the shreds of meat were as tender as possible from long boiling. A bit of bread in one hand helped the feast along with cheer. The wanderers ate until they could eat no more.
   
“I have time before dark to make Benny’s cart,” said Henry. Then he bit into a crisp, sweet carrot.
   
“With my wheels?” asked Benny.
   
“Yes, sir, with your wheels,” said Henry. “But when it’s done, you’ll have to cart stones in it.”
   
“Sure,” agreed Benny. “Cart stones – or anything.”
   
“We’ll need it to help make the dam,” said Henry, for the behoof of his sisters. “Tomorrow’s Sunday. So, I shan’t work down in the town. Do you think that it’s all right to build the pool on Sunday, Jess?”
   
“I surely do,” said Jess with solemnity. “We’re just building the dam so that we can keep clean. I guess if Sunday is your sole day off, it will be all right.”
   
Henry’s conscience was set at rest. Thus, he began with delight to hammer out his bent nails. He and Benny ran about finding pieces of wood to fasten the wheels on. A trip to the dump was needed, at last. They had to find just the right piece of timber for a tongue. But before it was too dark to see, Henry had bludgeoned the last nail in place. And he had trundled the flat cart back and forth just to see it go. The cart seemed valuable enough to all of them to take into the house for the night. And Henry could not afford to laugh at Benny for going to sleep with his hand upon one of his precious wheels. After all, he himself had tucked his new hammer under his own pillow!

Chapter Eight: Building The Dam
   
Even a hammer makes a good pillow if one is tired enough. The boxcar kids slept till the 9:00 AM church bells began to ring faintly in the valley. There were at least a dozen churches. Their far-off bells sounded sweetly harmonious. Even in so many varied keys. “They almost play a tune,” said Violet, as she heard them.
   
“I like music all right,” said Henry in a businesslike way. “But I, for one, shall have to get to work.”
   
“This will be a good day to wash all of the stockings,” said Jess. “We’ll all be wading so much in the brook, anyway.”
   
The first thing that Henry did was to survey, with scrupulous eyes, the spot that they’d picked for a pool. It was a hollow about three yards wide. There were no stones in it at all. “It’s big enough,” remarked Henry, at last. “But it hasn’t enough water in it.” He measured its deepness with a stick. “We’ll have to guess at inches,” he said.
   
“I have a tape measure in my workbag,” ventured Violet.
   
Henry flashed a smile at her. “Is there anything that you don’t have in your workbag?” he asked her. The children measured the wet stick with care. The water was just ten inches deep in the deepest part. Henry explained his plan of engineering to his sisters. “We will have to haul some big logs across this narrow part. We’ll stuff them from this end with stones and underbrush. It ought to be three feet deep when we get through with it.”
   
“Oh, Henry!” yelled Jess. “Benny would get drowned.”
   
“Drowned!?” echoed Henry. “How tall do you think he is?” They measured the little boy. They found him to be 42 inches tall. That nailed it! The pool was planned to be three feet in depth. Lucky for them, the largest logs were not far away. But as it was, it was a matter of great exertion for the builders to drag them to the scene of operations.
   
“Let’s get all the logs up here first,” said Jess. “Then we can have the fun of laying them across.”

The two older children haled all of the logs. Synchronally, Violet and Benny worked with the stones. The cart was a huge help. Here and there, Henry was called upon to help with a heavy stone. But for the most part, Benny sufflated his cheeks and heaved the stones himself. In fact, Henry decided at this point to let Benny drop them into the water as he gathered them. “Splash ’em right in, old fellow,” he directed. “Just keep them in a nice straight line. Have them placed right across this place between these two trees. It won’t make any difference how wet he gets,” he added in an aside to Jess. “We can dry him in the sun.”
    
Jess thought a bit about that. But she said nothing. She took off Benny’s crinkled shirt and one pair of bloomers. She started to hang them on the line. “Good time to wash them!” she said.
    
“Let me wash them,” begged Violet. “You’re more useful building the dam.” There was wisdom in this comment. So, Jess was bought into the idea. Violet even added Henry’s shirt to the laundry. “When we’re done with the dam, they’ll surely be dry,” she said.
   
As for Henry, he was quite glad to work with his shirt off. “Makes me feel lighter,” he said. Rare and beautiful birds came near the kids. They watched the barefooted children as they scurried around, building their wall of masonry. But the children did not have eyes for birds then. They watched with delight as each stone was added to the wall under the clear water. They could see it rise almost to the surface. “That makes a solid understructure for the logs, you see,” said Henry with pride. “They won’t float off downstream the minute that we lay them on.”
   
Then, at last, the time came when they were to lay the logs on. “Let’s shim the first one between these two trees,” said Jess, with a happy thought. “Then if each end of the log is on the upper side of the trees, the harder the water pounds, the more constricted the dam gets.”

“Good work!” yelled Henry admiringly. “That’s just what we’ll do.” But the children were not at all prepared for what happened next. The first big log was plashed into its place on top of the stone wall. But the water was defeated in its course down the pebbly bed. It guggled and chased about as it met the opposing log. And it found each possible hole to escape. “Leaks,” moaned Henry. He watched as the water rushed around both ends and poured over the top of the log. “We’ll make the logs so thick that it can’t get through. We’ll lay three logs across. Then we’ll put three logs on top of them, and three more on top of that.”
    
The children set about sternly to effectuate this. Violet held great sprays of fine underbrush in place until each log was laid. Wetter children never were seen. But no one cared. They resolutely stoppled the ends. They piled on more stones, more underbrush, and more logs. Each time a leak appeared, someone dropped a stone over it. Even Benny caught the fever of conquering the scampish water which slipped from their grasp like quicksilver.
   
The three top logs were, at last, dropped into place. Now the excited children sat down to watch the pool fill. This it did, slowly. Finding now no means of exit, the water was calmer. It rose slowly up the barricade of logs. It widened perfectly. Henry could not sit still. “It slopes!” he cried. “See how clear it is! And still! See how still it is!” And then the water began to overspill the logs. It flowed over the top with a smooth curve. And on the other side, it formed a second waterfall. That one wasn’t high and narrow and graceful like the natural fall above. It was very low and wide. “Just like a standard mill dam,” said Henry. He held the measuring stick out as far as he could. He plunged it into the pool. It lacked an inch of being three feet deep. “Deep enough,” he declared. In fact, it looked so deep that Benny could not conceal a slight fear.
   
“That’s the beauty of the declivity,” observed Jess. “Benny can wade in just as far as he wants to, and no farther. We all know what the bed of the pool is like. There are no holes or stones.”
   
The girls had to leave to fix dinner. But Henry could not be induced to leave the cool swimming pool. “I’d rather swim than eat!” he yelled.

It was a lucky feast for the kids. Their supply of provisions was the largest of any day since their flight. The girls lit the fire. Then they heated up the residuum of the stew and cut the bread. The butter, hard and cold in the fridge, was taken out. Four portions were cut from it. The two doughnuts made four half rings for dessert. The cooks rang the dinner bell. This was an ingenious conformation hung on a low branch. It was made of a piece of cambered steel swung on a string. Violet hit it sharply with another piece of steel. It sounded deeply and musically through the woods. The boys heard it. They obeyed at once.
   
It was evident the moment that they appeared that at least three of the family had been swimming. Watch shook himself wildly at intervals. He spattered water drops in all directions. Henry and Benny were fresh and lambent. Their hair was plastered. And they had donned clean, dry stockings and shirts. They clearly liked to swim and eat, too. “You can actually swim a few strokes in it, Jess, if you’re careful,” Henry said, with excusable hauteur, as he sat down to eat.
   
Building a dam is wonderful sauce for a dinner. “I think that the stew is much better the second day,” observed Benny. He ate hungrily.
   
There were two more adventures left for the eventful day. The girls cut their hair. Violet’s dark curls came off first. “They’re surely in the way,” said Violet. “And they’re so much trouble when you’re working.” They were tangled, too. Jess cut them off evenly by a string. She used Violet’s little scissors. Jess’s chestnut hair was long and silky and nicely braided. But she never murmured as it came off, too. The two girls ran to the brook mirror to see how they looked. The new haircut was very becoming to both.
   
“I like you better that way,” said Henry approvingly. “Lots more serviceable when you live in the woods.”

Around 4:00 PM, the children took a long walk in the opposite direction from any of their other hikes. They were rewarded by two discoveries. One was a hollow tree literally filled with walnuts. These were gathered, presumably, by a thrifty squirrel the prior fall. The other find scared them a little just at first. For with a bristling back and a loud bark, Watch began to rout out something in the leaves. That something began to cackle loudly. It tried to half-run and half-fly from the human meddlers. It was a runaway hen! The children succeeded in catching the dog. They reduced Watch to order, though it was clear that he liked very much to chase hens.
   
“She had some eggs, too,” remarked Benny as if trying to make pleasant conversation. Jess bent over incredulously. She found a slapdash nest in the moss in which there were five eggs.
   
“A runaway hen!” said Henry. He could hardly believe his eyes. “She wants to hide her nest and raise chickens.” The children had no scruples at all about commandeering the eggs.
   
“A gift from heaven,” said Violet. She stroked one of the eggs with a delicate finger. “It wouldn’t be decorous to refuse them.”
    
Scrambled eggs made a tasty supper for the children. Jess broke all of the eggs into the biggest bowl. She beat them vigorously with a spoon. They became light and foamy. Then she added milk and salt. She delegated Violet to beat them some more while she prepared the fire. The big stewpot, empty and clean, was hung over the low fire. Butter was now dropped in. Jess watched it like a good chef. She tipped the kettle a bit in all directions. The butter had reached the right shade of brown. That’s when Jess poured in the eggs and stirred them with care. She held her skirts away from the fire. She was amply remunerated for her work when she saw her siblings attack the meal. Clearly this was a feast day.
   
“We shall have to be satisfied tomorrow to live on bread and milk,” she said. Then she scraped up the last delicious morsel. But when the next day came, they would have more than bread and milk. This you shall soon see!

   
   
*********

  
    
Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
   
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
   

Daily Living In Colonial America
   

Lesson 4 – Part One

    
NEW WORDS: Allerton, Bartholomew, Tuckers, Walter’s, adjudications, adversities, agonizingly, anemic, balked, battlement, chided, colonizers, console, cook’s, cupped, decease, discomfiting, dispossessed, disregard, energetical, engulf, envelops, eschew, excursionists, expertness, extolled, fiduciaries, forfending, fretfully, galleons, gesticulated, glistering, grainy, habituated, harassed, harshest, hidebound, idiosyncratic, idoneous, illumined, infirmity, ingested, intimidate, jeopardous, joggled, jurisdictions, juxtaposed, lauds, loped, metamorphosed, motivations, motives, owner’s, paladins, panhandling, parsed, pathology, perturb, plots, popularized, portentous, prosperousness, refashion, refulgent, scrappy, shipmates, stinging, subsisted, succumb, thronged, toiling, tottering, transplanted, trustees, ultimatums, untraveled, virile, workshops
    

Introduction
   
Do you want to go on a trip? Want to be a time traveler? I heard you say, “Yes!” Good! Well, you’re about to go back in time. You’ll meet some of the first folks from Europe who came to the New World. You’ll learn more about the 13 English colonies. But this will be more about “daily life” back then. Now, you’ll learn of the brave men, women, and children who came to live in a new land. Some of those in these tales aren’t much older than you. You’ll see, too, that these colonies were parsed into three regions. They’re called the Southern, New England, and Middle Atlantic. Folks came to these jurisdictions at varied times and with varied motives. You’ll go to one region at a time. Note which region you’re in each time that you move.
   
Take care, though. Your trip will have you move back and forth in time as you go from one place to the next. In each place, you’ll meet kids who lived a long time back. You’ll see how varied their lives were when juxtaposed with yours. You might ask if you’d have liked to live in America 100s of years back. For your trip, you’ll have some time traveling tools to help you as you go. You’ll have maps. Time excursionists need good maps, for sure. You’ll have a timeline, too. You’ll find out where these settlers came from. You’ll learn how they came to America. You’ll learn the motivations for why they chose to move so far from their homelands. Are you set? Good! Here we go!

Chapter One: The First English Colony
    
Robert and George loped on a long stretch of grainy beach. They were on Roanoke Island. They liked to splash in the warm surf. And they liked to pick up shells. It was late August in the year 1587. If all went well, they and the other travelers would be the first successful English colonizers in North America. They had watched as their leader, John White, sailed off. He was going back to England. He was to bring back supplies that they needed. They had to have them to survive here. But the reason why the boys were at play on this beach began a few years back.
   
In the 1500s, Spain took large chunks of Central and South America. They built towns and cities there. Their galleons sailed the Atlantic. Their ships were full of gold and other natural resources from these regions. Spain was now quite rich. The Queen of England, Elizabeth I, and her favored knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, saw this with envy. They wished for England to be as rich and strong as Spain. They wished for English people to go to this New World, too.
   
In 1584, Sir Walter got the Queen to let him try to build an English colony in the Americas. The English would stay away from the Spanish soldiers. They would not sail to Central or South America. They would sail north, to North America. With that in mind, some folks set off to find an idoneous place to move to.
   
The explorers who went on this trip in 1584 wrote back to Sir Walter. They told him of Roanoke Island. They thought that this was a great place for the first English colony. Sir Walter’s explorers built a fort on the island. But they failed to build a colony. They had to let go of their mission. They left just fifteen men there to guard the fort. But Sir Walter fought to succeed. In 1587, more ships set out for the New World. Robert and George were in this second group of would-be English settlers. They had been quite willing to set off on this venture. This time, they planned to land north of Roanoke Island. This would be in the Chesapeake Bay region. There, they hoped to build the first English colony.

But on the trip, there was a fight between John White and members of his crew. Members of the ship’s crew would not take the English shipmates to the Chesapeake Bay. So, Robert, George, and the other passengers were forced to land on Roanoke Island. That was in late July. Robert and George did not mind this change of plan. They were just glad to be on firm ground once more. But this was not the end of their adversities. After landing, John White led a group of men to Fort Raleigh. That was the fort that had been built by the prior group. Robert and George did not go with the men. At the fort, John White hoped to find the fifteen English soldiers who had been left there to guard it. They got to the fort. But the soldiers were not to be found. The fort was covered with weeds. The skeleton of one soldier was found.
   
John White and the men came back to the beach with this news. Robert and George were now scared. They were concerned more when the adults asked questions. They asked if the Roanoke Native Americans were the cause of the deaths of the soldiers. The sole good news was that they could refashion the homes in Fort Raleigh. They all got to work. Robert, George, and more than one hundred people worked from sunrise to sunset. They made good progress. But no one spoke of the most alarming thing of all. When winter came, they did not have enough food to survive till spring. They had come at a time when it was too late to plant crops.
   
Robert, George, and the others did not want to head back to England, starving and tired. They wished to succeed. They wished for the Queen and Sir Walter to be proud of them. But they had to have a plan. It was one month from when they got there. They agreed that John White would take one of the two ships that were left. He’d go back to England. He’d get lots of supplies. If all went well, he would be back before the harshest days of winter would hit them.

So, Robert and George had watched and played as John White’s ship sailed out of sight. The two boys stayed on the shore. They loved the freedom that this new land gave to them. Neither of the boys missed the busy, thronged streets of Portsmouth, England. They did not miss the rain. They did not miss the sight of the poor people who begged on the streets. This was to be their new home. And they gave thanks that they were here.
   
But there was a big question. Would they make it? Do you think that they did? Does the colony survive? Will Roanoke Island be the first success story of an English colony in North America?

Chapter Two: Jamestown, Part One – A New Life
   
“Tom, speed it up. Eat your breakfast. You should have been out in the fields at least an hour ago,” urged Mrs. Ann Tucker.
   
“I’m coming,” Tom said as he swallowed his milk and bread. “I’ve been helping Jane get the eggs.”
   
“Well, speed it up,” Mrs. Tucker barked. “The sun will have set before you’ve lifted a finger to help Mr. Tucker.” Tom ingested the last chunk of bread. He then raced out of the small house. He could tell that Mrs. Tucker was mad. The bright sun made him squint as he ran to the tobacco fields. It was harvest time. And lots of folks were at work in the fields. Mrs. Tucker was the mistress of the house. She glanced at Tom as he ran off. She let out a deep sigh.
   
She and her husband Daniel Tucker were now in charge of Tom and his sister, Jane. They were good kids. But they’d come with few skills. The good news was that Tom was proving to be a good hunter. Like the Tuckers, Tom and Jane were from London. Both of them had come to Jamestown, Virginia. That was five months back, in April, 1618. When they first got there, it was clear that they did not want to be there. For days, they would not speak. Jane cried all the time. Their clothes were scrappy and grimy. And they were quite thin. Tom, Jane, and one hundred other children had sailed there. They had been on an English trade ship. Sailing the ocean is not a good experience. But that was not the sole reason why they looked so raggedy when they first got there. Tom and Jane had been street children. In England, their parents had died. And they had been found trying to make it on the city streets. In fact, all of the children who were sent to Jamestown had been living that way.

 Times were hard in England. There were hundreds of children panhandling on the streets of London. The king of England, James I, thought that so many dispossessed kids would lead to trouble. He had the children rounded up. They were then shipped 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to Jamestown. Families in the colony had agreed to take the children in. They would put them to work. There was lots to be done for sure. Boys were needed to work in the fields. The settlers grew corn, squash, pumpkins, and tobacco. They had to hunt and fish, too. Girls were needed to cook, sew, make candles, and make soap. Boys and girls were needed to look after the cattle, goats, horses, and pigs. And they cared for fruit trees and berry bushes, too.
       
The English colonists had first come to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Some of them had died of hunger and pathology. Some had not survived the freezing cold temperatures or the attacks on them by the Powhatan. But none of these things had stopped more of them from coming to Jamestown. They all wished to start a new life. One of the first colonists was a man named John Smith. He had helped to save the colony from collapse. Another person named John Rolfe had brought in a new kind of tobacco. This crop was key, since the settlers earned money when they sold it. Smoking tobacco had become popularized in Europe. With John Rolfe’s help, the colonists learned how to grow lots of it. By 1618, they could send more than 2,000 pounds of it to England each year! That brought in lots of cash for them.
   
“Where have you been, boy?” said a tall man with brown hair. “I’ve harvested pounds of tobacco leaves.” Tom did not speak. He just grabbed a basket and got to work. He knew that the well-being of the colonists depended on this plant. Much care and attention was paid to it. When he first got there, Tom saw that the settlers had planted tobacco seeds in small beds. They had covered the seeds with branches. That would protect them from the snow. The seeds would become seedlings. Then they were transplanted into the fields. Moving the seedlings happened in April. This was the hardest job of all. Later, they had to pick the crop before the first frost.

Tom worked in silence next to Mr. Tucker. The bottom leaves were the first to be cut off. They were collected and hung up to dry. Tom plucked at the leaves and tried to disregard the sweat that dropped from his brow. He’d been told that when all of the crops were picked, they would all celebrate. “That’s one thing to look forward to,” Tom thought. He knew, though, that between now and then there would be lots more days of toiling in the hot sun.
   
Do you think that Tom and his sister Jane will have a better life in Jamestown? If you do, tell us why. If you do not, tell us why not.

Chapter Three: Jamestown, Part Two – Hunting the Powhatan Way
   
Do you recall the last chapter? You met the orphan boy Tom and his sister Jane? Now you will find out more about their life in Jamestown. Tom was glad it was Sunday. This was the sole day of the week that most folks did not work in the fields or in their workshops. Tom was glad. On Sunday, Tom could hunt or fish. Before chapel, Tom and his friend William might set off to catch a rabbit or a fish for the pot. This day was the same. And William had come to Tom’s house bright and early. The two of them had been hunting and fishing together since Tom first got to Jamestown. Like Tom, William was an orphan now living in this colony. William had taught Tom how to use a bow and arrow. He had taught him how to catch fish, too.
   
Though Tom had been a city boy, he liked to hunt and fish right from the start. Or, as Mrs. Tucker had said, “like a duck to water.” William had learned his skills from a group of Powhatan boys. These boys had made friends with some of the English kids. These boys did not visit Jamestown too much now, though. No more were they good friends with the settlers. The settlers were taking more land from the natives to farm tobacco. The natives wished that the settlers would leave their land. But they would not leave. Quite the opposite was happening. More settlers kept coming to the New World. William extolled the Powhatan. He lauded their expertness regarding the land. He talked to Tom about this a lot.
   
“Each thing that they need, they get from the forest and the land around them,” William would point out. “The men are habituated hunters. They can catch more fish in one day than we catch in a whole week. The women grow corn, beans, and squash. And they make their own homes out of saplings, reeds, and bark. They use the fur and hide from the animals that they hunt to make their clothes. They know what berries and nuts are safe to eat. They know what plants can be used to make medicines. If not for their help, we would not have subsisted here.”
   
“Well, we grow our own food, too,” Tom had once said.

“Yes, but they taught us how to do that when we first got here,” William had chided Tom, clearly unimpressed.
   
On this refulgent day, though, William was in a good mood. The boys were out to hunt. William stood in the Tuckers’ open doorway. “Come on, Tom. Let’s go and catch our dinner,” he yelled.
   
“Don’t be out there all day,” cried Mrs. Tucker.
   
“We won’t be,” Tom said. With that, the two boys ran off to the woodlands. The boys loved to be in the woods. At this time of the year, the sights, smells, and sounds were like magic. As they crept forward, they trod upon a carpet of pine needles. The sunlight broke through the tall treetops. Shafts of light illumined their path. All around them they could hear the movements of forest creatures. They walked for a while. They enjoyed their gift of freedom. They crossed a stream. They bent down to drink the water from their cupped hands. As they did, they both heard something. It was the sudden, sharp sound of a branch breaking.
   
The branch fell to the ground a few feet from them. Both boys looked up. High up in a tree, about twenty feet above the ground, was a Powhatan boy about the same age as William and Tom. He sat on a wide branch. He stared at them. His bow and arrow were pointed straight at Tom. William began to speak in a language that Tom did not know. The Powhatan boy talked back using words that Tom did not know. Then, the native boy smiled. He climbed down the tree. He landed right next to the boys.
   
In seconds, the boy gesticulated for them to follow him. William pushed Tom forward. “What are we doing?” asked Tom.
   
“We’re on a hunt,” William said.
   
“Are we on a hunt with him?” Tom asked.
   
“Yes,” William said. “He’s a friend of mine. He’ll teach us how to hunt for deer.”
   
“I thought that we would hunt for rabbits,” said Tom fretfully.
   
“Well, now we’ll hunt for deer,” said William. He was smiling at this friend. “Come on! You’ve survived the streets of London, haven’t you?” With that, William and Tom followed the Powhatan boy deeper into the woods.
   
Why do you think that William lauds the Powhatan so much? And why does he worry about their well-being?

Chapter Four: Plantation Life
   
Laura, Helen, and Joseph called out to their brother. “Seth, it’s your turn to hide.”
   
“We’ll count to thirty-three. And then we’ll add on five more seconds.” That was the oldest child, Laura, speaking confidently.
   
“Okay. Turn around now. Don’t peek,” said Seth. The three of them turned their backs. Seth then ran to hide.
   
So far, none of the kids had tried to hide in the wagon. Seth ran to the wagon near the barn. He hid under a huge piece of sack cloth. Seconds passed, and the three children yelled out loud. “Ready or not, here we come!” Seth lay still in the wagon that was used to transport sacks of rice to town. He could hear the three children. They were running all about to search for him. This was fun. Slave children rarely had time to play.
   
The children looked in the barn. They checked out the cook’s kitchen. They peeked in the chicken coop. But they did not think to look in the wagon. A while passed. They gave up. They called to Seth. “Seth, we can’t find you. You can come out now.” But Seth did not come out. Seth was snug and warm. He lay beneath the sack cloth. So, he had gone to sleep! When Seth did not show up, the three children ran off to do their chores. They knew what it would be like if Seth did not come out soon. He would get into a whole heap of trouble.
   
All four kids were slaves. They lived on a large plantation in South Carolina. It was the year 1715. It was called the Walker Plantation. Mr. Walker was the owner. The main crop grown here was rice. Rice is a type of grass. It is a key food crop. Lots of African slaves had grown rice in Africa. They had brought this knowledge with them to the colonies.

Life there was hard. Slaves worked long hours. They had to succumb to the owner’s rules and ultimatums. Even though he was a child, Seth had lots of chores, too. Seth had gone to sleep thinking of his two older brothers. They did not work on the Walker Plantation now. Both of them went to work for a neighbor who had a tobacco plantation. George was the older of the two brothers. He’d been allowed to visit when their mother became sick with swamp fever. Because they had gone to work on another plantation, it was hard to visit. Seth and his parents were so glad to see George. Even though she was sick, their mom had made cornbread to celebrate. In that visit, George had told Seth that work on a tobacco plantation was not the same as work on a rice plantation.
   
“On a tobacco plantation, slaves work from sunup to sundown,” George had said. “You have no time off. You have to tend to those tobacco leaves all the time. When one job is done, a new one comes at you before you know it.” Seth did not like the sound of that one bit. He hoped that he did not end up growing tobacco. On a rice plantation, the slaves had certain jobs to do. When they were done, they could do the chores that they needed to do for themselves. Now, slaves on a rice plantation spent less time in the fields. But it was not true that life on a rice plantation was easier than life on a tobacco plantation. Growing rice was jeopardous. Rice grows in water. Slaves had to spend hours in swamp-like fields tending to the rice crops. The rice crops and the slaves were not the only things in the water. There were snakes and alligators. There were disease carrying insects. That’s why Seth’s mom was sick with swamp fever.
   
The sound of a dog barking woke Seth. He had been asleep for a few hours. He peeked out from the sack cloth. He saw that the stars were glistering in the night sky. He could smell wood burning in the cook’s kitchen. He could hear the sound of frogs calling to each other in the night air. “Boy, am I in for it!” said Seth out loud. He jumped down from the wagon. He crept through the darkness toward the small, wooden slave house that he lived in with his mother and father. First, he would get a talking to from his mom and dad. He hoped that the field manager had not seen that he had not shown up to work in the rice fields. He might be in big trouble.

Seth peeked through the cracks in the walls of his house. These were the same cracks that let in cold air in the winter. A candle burned on a tottering table. In the light from the candle, he could see his mom sewing his torn pants. “I hope that she’ll be too tired to be mad,” Seth thought. He pushed the door. Then he closed it behind him. “It will be a long time till I get to play with Laura, Helen, and Joseph again,” Seth muttered, as he faced his mom.
   
Do you think that Seth’s mom will be mad at him? Do you think that the manager saw that Seth did not show up to work in the rice fields?

Chapter Five: Early Days in Georgia
   
Hi! My name’s Sarah. My family and I are from England. We have been in Savannah, Georgia, for five years now. We left England in November, 1737. We were on a sailing ship called the Anne. It took us two months to get to these shores. I’ll not forget how agonizingly cold it was on the deck of the ship. The wind felt worse than a stinging bug when it touched my face. The waves were dark, gray, and discomfiting. They joggled our ship about, here, there, and everywhere. I feared that those huge waves would engulf us.
   
Our first stop in North America was Charleston. After that, we made our way to the town that I now live in. That’s Savannah. It’s in the English colony of Georgia. It’s not quite a town yet, like the ones in England. But it will be. When we first came here, my mother called it a wilderness. I was six years old then. Now, I’m eleven.
   
Mr. James Oglethorpe and twenty-one other English gentlemen had been granted a charter by King George II of England. The charter let them start an English colony under English law. It states that they are the trustees, or governors, of this colony. That means that they are in charge. But we all know that it’s really Mr. Oglethorpe who is in charge. That’s because he makes all of the adjudications. I have heard, too, that he much wants to see prosperousness in this colony. Why, we’re told that he sold some of his own property in England to earn money for Georgia!
   
Mr. Oglethorpe is a friend of the king. He persuaded his majesty to start this colony. My father said that Mr. Oglethorpe will bring debtors here, too. I asked him what debtors were. He told me that they are folks who owe money to other folks. Lots of times, they go to jail till they can pay off their debts. In fact, they might die in jail. Mr. Oglethorpe wants some of them to have a second chance here in Georgia.

My parents aren’t debtors. They were brought by Mr. Oglethorpe for their skills. My dad is a carpenter. My mom is a seamstress. Mr. Oglethorpe wished for mostly skilled people to come here. He said that this would be the sole way that we would survive here. I have heard the grownups talk about the first settlers in Virginia. Some of them died. That’s because they were not skilled enough to make their way. Lots of others died due to cold and hunger, though. So, Mr. Oglethorpe and the other fiduciaries chose mostly farmers, merchants, bakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths to be the first English settlers here.
   
When we first got here, we lived in tents. There were forty families, to start. We worked quite hard to build the wall that now envelops us. Inside the wall, we built our homes. All of us worked, even the kids. Slowly, our town began to take shape. There is still a lot of work to be done, though. It does not yet look like the energetical city of London that we left behind. Mr. Oglethorpe had hoped to eschew the use of slaves. But there was so much work to be done. At last, some slaves came to help us clear the forests. That helped us to build our homes and plant our crops. Here in Savannah, families have plots of land where they grow their own crops. Mr. Oglethorpe has banned the drinking of rum here. My dad says that some folks are mad about how hidebound Mr. Oglethorpe is. My parents say that Mr. Oglethorpe is a wise man. When we first got here, he made friends with the chief of a local tribe. It’s called the Yamacraw. The chief’s name is Tomochichi. Tomochichi even went back to England with Mr. Oglethorpe when he went to get more supplies for us.

Tomochichi and his people trust us – at least for now. In fact, I have heard some of the boys say that the Spanish to the south of us are our main enemy. They want this land. They have a large battlement called St. Augustine. It’s in Spanish Florida. They could go to war with us at any time. Due to this ability to intimidate us, Mr. Oglethorpe has once again gone back to England to ask King George II for paladins to help in forfending us. My father says that it is just a matter of time before we will have to fight the Spanish for this land. These words perturb me. I must go now. I hear my mom calling me. I have to help her fix the evening meal. I hope that we get a chance to talk soon.
   
How do you think that it felt to know that you could be attacked at any time? Do you think that King George II sent soldiers to protect the colonists?

Chapter Six: The Pilgrims, Part One – Arrival
   
Mary and Remember Allerton ran as fast as they could. They were headed to their house. Their stepmother was Mrs. Fear Allerton. She was waiting for them. Their father had pointed something out to them. It was not good to keep a woman whose name was “Fear” waiting! It was the late afternoon. The kids had gone out to get firewood. They’d gathered the wood. They they’d stopped to play in the woods with their friends. They were named Love and Wrestling Brewster. They were Pilgrim brothers. They, too, had gone to the woods to get firewood. They were like lots of the Pilgrim children. These two boys had been given idiosyncratic names at birth. Their names often meant what kind of person their parents hoped that they would become. Sometimes their names spoke of something that had happened at the time of their birth.
   
Here’s why remember had been given her name. It was because her mother had said that she would always remember her birth. Wrestling was not happy with his name. He did not feel much like a wrestler. He planned to change his name when he was older. He said that he would change it to John. You see, he had been an anemic baby. And his pa had given him that name in hope that it would make him a virile adult.
   
The kids now had as much firewood as they could carry. They dropped it into a large pile. Then they played a game of hide and seek. Next, they climbed trees. And they picked sweet berries to eat. They played like they were English pirates. They would capture Spanish galleons full of gold! It was not till the sun had begun to set that they knew that they’d been gone for quite some time. They picked up their firewood. They then made their way home.

Four years prior, all four of these children had survived the journey on the Mayflower from England. They had made it to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621. Their parents were English Separatists. They were people who were not happy with the Church of England. So, they wished to start their own church. They wished to be free to worship God in their own way. The king of England, James I, was the head of the Church of England. He harassed those who did not obey the rules of the church. So, lots of English Separatists left England. These families had first tried to live in the Netherlands. But they were not happy there. In the end, they and others set out to cross the Atlantic. This was to start their own colony in North America. Because they were willing to travel to a faraway place for their religious beliefs, they called themselves Pilgrims.
   
The trip to cross the ocean, and the first winter in the colony, was now just a terrible memory. So many had died, either on the ship or within the first months of being in Plymouth. They had died from infirmity, hunger, and the harsh, cold weather. Mary, Remember, Love, and Wrestling had seen the decease of lots of Pilgrims. Worst of all was the death of the girls’ beloved mother. After she had died, their father had tried to console them as best he could. The girls had felt that their hearts had been broken. Their brother Bartholomew had hidden in the woods for many days. He had balked at coming back, no matter how often they called his name. He did come back, though. When spring arrived, Bartholomew had helped their father build a house and plant crops.

The Pilgrims had not planned to settle in Plymouth. They had planned to go to Virginia. But their ship had been blown off course. It had taken them two months to cross the ocean. Mary, Remember, Wrestling, and Love had wondered if they would ever see dry land again. When they did arrive, it was winter. And they were in an untraveled land hundreds of miles north of their planned destination. This place was much colder than Virginia. Even more portentous was that lots of the Pilgrims took note that the soil was not that good for farming. If they could not farm, they would have no chance of surviving in this new land. The children’s new home was not at all what they had hoped it would be.
   
Now that the children are no longer in England or the Netherlands, in what ways do you think their lives have metamorphosed?

   
   
*********

Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
   
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
   

Daily Living In Colonial America
    
Lesson 5 – Part Two

    
NEW WORDS: Hester’s, Jonah, Lapowinsa, Lenape’s, Lizzie, Lizzie’s, Lutheran, Matthew’s, Micah, Patuxet, Robbins, Welsh, William’s, abstained, acknowledgement, addressing, assuredness, atelier, autonomy, belaboring, bewailed, braids, breechcloth, canvassing, casks, clans, commemoration, congeries, consociation, debtor, directives, enjoyment, enraptured, entombed, excuses, fringes, frowns, galleon, habitancy, habitations, habitual, hairpiece, hawkers, homily, inception, incipient, incumbrance, inking, inks, inset, journeyman, kindred, maltreated, mariners, midlands, minister’s, neonatal, noting, novitiate, orally, overgrown, overseer, palpitate, pastureland, patience’s, peacefulness, persecute, presided, primrose’s, printer’s, privations, proliferous, punctuation, ranged, rebuke, recuperated, reprimanding, roiled, roomed, ruminate, sawed, scaffolding, scrapple, secureness, separatist, sermonizing, slighted, steadfastly, steamed, strudel, substandard, sulfate, supplications, tannin, transplant, unlade, willed, wisecracked        
   

Chapter Seven: The Pilgrims, Part Two – Thanksgiving Celebration
   
Do you recall the last chapter? You met some Pilgrim kids? They were Mary and Remember Allerton – and Love and Wrestling Brewster? Go back to the inception of the story. They were picking up firewood. They were at play in the woods. Then, you went back in time. And you learned how they had come to Plymouth, Massachusetts. In this chapter, we’ll find out more about their incipient times in Plymouth. Years before, the Pilgrims in Plymouth in 1621 had not gone unnoticed. Native Americans had watched them from the secureness of the forest. They had watched these strangers steadfastly. They had watched them work to build their habitations by day. They saw them return to their ship by night to sleep.
    
They had watched as they’d shiver in the cold. They had watched as they entombed their dead in the still of the night. Mary, Remember, Love, and Wrestling had watched, too. And they had wondered if they would make it. There were many privations, yes. But there were two things that let them survive. There was a native tribe called the Patuxet. They had lived here and had created fields for planting. Sadly, many from this tribe had died. That was because they had caught diseases from European explorers. So, now their fields were not in use. This meant that the hungry and weary English settlers did not have to clear the trees before planting time. Having bewailed the loss of his own kindred, a Native American came to the aid of the Pilgrims. He was called Squanto. Squanto’s friend Samoset said that he would help, too. Both of these Native Americans spoke English. Squanto spoke good English. In 1605, he had gone to England with an English explorer.

Squanto and Samoset showed the Pilgrims much. They showed them how to plant corn, squash, and beans. And they trained them on how to make these crops grow in the substandard soil. Squanto also taught them to recognize berries and fruits that could be eaten. He showed them where the best spots to fish were. Wrestling Brewster talked of how he had feared these people at first. But when they helped the settlers, Wrestling had changed his mind. Love and Wrestling had gone fishing with Squanto. Squanto gave the Pilgrims hope. The settlers had also come to a state of peacefulness with a local tribe called the Wampanoag. Both sides pledged to help and protect each other. They said that they’d trade with each other, too. This meant that the settlers could work to build their homes without the fear of attack.
   
Slowly, the days grew warmer. The Pilgrims were now happier. They were no longer cold and hungry. The first fall was one of the most precious memories that Mary, Remember, Love, and Wrestling had. The crops had grown well. Their harvest was proliferous. Besides farming, they had also learned how to hunt and fish in this new land. Thus, they had saved more than enough food to get them through the next winter. They had also built homes that would protect them from the cold weather when it came again. Yes, they mourned the loss of so many. But they were thankful for what they now had. That is why they planned to give thanks to God and to the native people who had helped them.
   
A commemoration of thanksgiving was planned. The local Wampanoag were invited to the thanksgiving celebration. Squanto and Samoset were invited, too. The Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was the guest of honor. All who were there had dined on deer, duck, lobster, fish, cornbread, pumpkin, squash, and berries. They had eaten until they were fuller than they had ever been. They had played games. And they had run races. The Wampanoag had stayed in the colony for a few days. It was the best time that the children could ever recall. They spoke of it a lot. Since then, more Pilgrims had come. More homes had been built. Their father had married Mistress Fear. All of these early experiences of the children happened four years ago. Now, here the children were, at play in the woods in a new world.

Mary and Remember flew out of the forest. They said their goodbyes to Love and Wrestling. Minutes later they came to the door of their house. Their arrival had not gone unnoticed. The door to their house was flung open. Mistress Fear showed up in the doorway. She stood there with her hands on her hips. “It’s a good thing I had gotten firewood earlier in the day. If I had not, the fire would have gone out long ago,” yelled Mistress Fear. “Someone would think that you had to grow the tree before you cut it down. Now, go wash your hands. Then help me set the table.” Mary and Remember looked at each other as they inched past Mistress Fear. They both knew that she was not done reprimanding them.
   
Why do you think that Squanto and Samoset had helped the struggling Pilgrims? Do you think that the Pilgrims would have made it if they had not helped?

Chapter Eight: Puritan Life
   
Hi! My name’s Lizzie. My ma and pa are once again roiled with me. I smiled too much at the morning sermon. And then I went to sleep at the afternoon homily. They both said that what I did is a great sin. A Puritan child should not go to sleep while hearing the word of God. At the morning sermon, I had smiled at the sight of Elder Jones’s new wig. I could not see why a minister would care to wear such a thing on his head. But it looks like he does. Not only is it strange. But it does not seem to sit straight on his head. Well, I smiled. Then I pointed at him. My mother pinched me. She pinched so hard that my leg has not yet recuperated.
   
You may or may not know this. The most important place for a Puritan is the meeting house. Each meeting house is placed in the center of a town or village. That’s because the meeting house is the center of our lives. Our church services take place there. And so do all important meetings. We Puritans live in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Our colony was begun in consociation with a Puritan company. It was called the Massachusetts Bay Company. They sell the fur that we get from hunting. And they sell the fish that we catch. Our colony is getting rich due to this trade contract.
       
We came here from England in the year 1630. I was just a baby. Now, I’m eleven years old. Unlike the Pilgrims, we did not want to break from the Church of England. We wished for the church to be purer and stronger. But neither King James I nor his son King Charles I would hear our supplications for change. In the end, we had no choice. We had to leave our homeland. We had to start a new life elsewhere. We chose to start our own Puritan Colony on land north of the Pilgrim colony of Plymouth. We were presided over by our overseer, John Winthrop. We sent men ahead to make way for us. They began to build homes in a place that we call Salem. They cleared the land for farms. We now have four settlements in our colony. Apart from Salem, we have Boston, Charlestown, and Cambridge. The habitancy in our colony is growing fast. Each year, hundreds of folks come to live their lives with us. I have heard the grownups say that even King Charles I can’t believe how successful and strong we have become.

Trade ships move in and out of our harbors all the time. I love to watch the men unlade things that have been sent across the ocean from our former homeland. We need guns, tools, and cloth. We hear news from home. We talk to the sailors and new settlers. It makes our hearts palpitate when the mariners and settlers talk of life in England. Just two months back, I sat on the snow-covered dock. I heard lots of tales from home. The sailors spoke of the cheery sound of the London church bells as they rang out on Christmas Day. They talked of the smell of roast pheasant and sweet plum pudding. As you can tell, some of us are homesick once in a while. But we know that our cause is just and good. It is well worth the sacrifice. People are welcome here. But all who come to live with us must live by the rules of the Bible. That is the Puritan way. Thus, I must mend my ways, for sure. I must not smile during Elder Jones’s sermon. And that’s no matter how long it is. I can tell you this! Elder Jones does like to do a lot of sermonizing.
   
My brother George likes to pull my hair and then run off. I have asked him to stop. I have frowned at him like Mother frowns at me. But he still keeps on with it. I must make sure that I don’t wag my finger at him, too. I must not rebuke him, either. I have done it twice now. But my mother has not seen me do it. George is the baby in our house. He is no longer a real baby. He is now four years old. My mother and father had seven children. But we are the only two children still alive. Mother and Father make excuses for George’s behavior, but not for mine. I must be “responsible Lizzie.” Well, it seems that Elder Jones is not done preaching. He has called us back to the meeting house. There will be one more sermon before sunset. I hope that he is not wearing that hairpiece again.
   
Why do you think the Puritans made the meeting house the center of their lives?

Chapter Nine: Life on a Farm in the Middle Atlantic, Part One
   
“Primrose! Come see the kittens! They’ve just been born,” yelled Patience. She was Primrose’s sister. “See, there are six of them.” Primrose sat down next to Patience. She saw the spot beneath a large shrub. That’s where the mother cat and her kittens lay. The two girls stared long and hard at the wee kits. They looked more like little rats than kittens. There were six of them in all. Their eyes were closed. And they could not walk. They lay in a heap by their mother.
  
“I want to keep one as my own,” said Patience.
   
“Well, you can’t yet,” Primrose said. “They have to stay with their mother for at least ten or eleven weeks. Then, you’ll have to ask Ma and Pa. They’ll say no, though. They won’t like for us to keep critters in the house.”
   
“I’ll hide it in a safe place,” said Patience.
   
“Where in the world?” asked Primrose. “Where will you hide it? I can’t think of one place that Ma and Pa would not find it.”
   
“In a pail,” said Patience with assuredness.
   
“Do you think that one of them would stay in a pail all day? It would not wait for you to be done with your chores!” laughed Primrose. “Do you think that Ma and Pa won’t see that you’re carrying a bucket all over the place?”
   
Patience thought about this for a while. Then she said, “The kit will stay in there if I train her to.” Patience chose to ignore the last part of Primrose’s question. The two girls went on with their talk. Could one hide a kitten in their small log house with no one noting it? Like lots of colonial homes, theirs had two small rooms downstairs and three small rooms upstairs. Primrose and Patience shared a bedroom. So did their three brothers.

These sisters lived on a farm. It was in southern New Jersey. Their family were from Sweden. They had moved to this English colony due to their Uncle Sven. He had written to their Pa. He had told him of the nice life that they could have there. Sven had come to New Jersey from Sweden in 1699. That was just thirty years after the English took control of this region from the Dutch. Sven was now a successful wheat farmer. The girls’ family had come to New Jersey in 1701. The two sisters lived with their father, mother, and three brothers. They were on a 100 acre farm. They grew wheat, rye, and barley. They kept cows, pigs, and chickens, too. Most folks in the Middle Atlantic lived on small farms. They ranged from 50 acres to 150 acres. These farms were quite spread out. So, neighbors did not see much of each other except at church on Sunday. Sometimes they’d meet for special occurrences, or if someone had need of help.
   
The farm that the girls lived on had a house and a large barn. They had a garden, too. In it, they grew vegetables, berries, and fruits. They had a small orchard, too. Their garden was fenced. So was the place where they kept their pigs. Their cows were sent out to ruminate in the pastureland each morn. They were brought back to the barn each night for milking. Their farm animals were valuable. Thus, they kept a close eye on them.
   
After a while, the girls’ older brother Lars found them by the shrub. Lars had been sent to look for them by their Pa. He sat down next to the girls. He peeked at the kits. Soon, he spoke. “We need the two of you in the barn. Pa wants you to lead the cows out into the grass. Then, Ma wants you to weed and water the garden. Then she wants you to go in the house. You can help her with the new quilt that she’s making.”
   
The sisters sighed. They knew that they had a few hours of chores in front of them. Next week would be even more busy. It was spring cleaning week. They would have to help Ma make soap. Then they’d have to clean and sweep out the whole house. Before running off, Patience knelt down. She kissed the small pile of neonatal kittens. “I’ll be back in a while,” she said.
    
Do you think that Patience could keep her kitten in a pail?

Chapter Ten: Life on a Farm in the Middle Atlantic Colonies, Part Two
   
Do you recall Patience and Primrose? You met them in the last chapter. They found something under a shrub. Who can recall what it was? When you left them, they had set off to do their chores. Let’s find out what’s up with them. The girls’ uncle had given them advice about the Middle Atlantic colonies. These colonies gave folks from Europe new chances. And it gave them religious autonomy. Though these were English colonies, Germans, Dutch, French, Swedish, and Irish folks came. They were spread through New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Each day, more folks came to start a new life.
   
Pa would tell the kids tales of his trips into town. He would tell them of all the languages that he heard. He would talk of the folks who came from parts of Europe. He would bring home strange foods that he’d bought from the market or the street hawkers. One of the best was English ‘pop robbins‘. The girls liked the tasty balls of batter made from flour and eggs that were boiled in milk. Pa would tell of the styles of clothes that folks wore. He’d speak of the varied customs that he’d heard of.
   
Most of their neighbors were from different parts of Europe. Their closest neighbor was German. In the first years of the 18th century, Germans had come to this colony. At harvest thanksgiving time, their German neighbors had cooked scrapple. They had brought it to their home. The boys had loved this pudding dish of meat and grain. The girls were less enraptured with it. But they had loved the apple strudel that they were served. The girls and their family had been invited to meet an Irish family, too. They lived a mile off. Ma had been amazed by how much the Irish liked to eat butter and cream.

Here was a well-known fact. The Middle Atlantic produced more food than New England. Their soil was so much better for farming. Due to this, these colonies had earned the name ‘breadbasket of the colonies’. They produced huge amounts of rye, barley, and wheat. Farmers sent their grain harvest to the water-powered mills across the region. At the mills, the grain was turned into flour. The flour was sold to other colonies and to folks in the West Indies. It was sold, too, to English merchants. They shipped it to England. The girls’ mother often wisecracked that they were helping to feed the King of England himself.
   
The Middle Atlantic was not just known their farms. On the coast, fisherman fished. And skilled craftsmen built boats and ships. Men cut down trees from the woods. They turned them into lumber to be used to make boats. They shipped lumber to towns and cities in England. People of varied faiths were free to worship as they wished. Thus, lots of churches spring up through these colonies. There were various Christian churches. These were like the Lutheran church that the girls’ family went to. Like the children’s family, most of the Swedish settlers were Lutheran. There were Jewish temples, too. Small, one-roomed schoolhouses were starting to appear, too. Just boys could go to them. The girls’ two older brothers went to school. They learned reading, writing, and manners. What did they do when they weren’t at school? Pa taught the boys how to hunt, farm, build fences, and make tools.

Primrose and Patience did their chores. They led the cows to the pasture. The cows followed them on the habitual track. After that, they weeded and watered the just-planted vegetable garden. They stopped just once to drink from the well. Then they put on their sun bonnets. They did not speak much as they worked. Primrose hummed to herself as she worked, though. They neared the end of their tasks. Patience looked up. She called out, “I know! I will hide my kitten in my pocket. That way, she can come with me each place that I go. Her name will be Midnight.” Primrose glanced at her sis and sighed. There was no use in belaboring the point with her. And why point out the fact that her kitten would grow into a cat. It was clear that Patience was bent on having a pet kitten.
   
They were done with the weeding. Primrose now stood up and looked at their home. “We’d best go help Ma with the quilt. Now that it’s spring, maybe she’ll make each of us a new dress,” she said with hope. “I’d like some new ribbon for my hair, too.”
   
Patience’s eyes lit up. “I want a blue dress with a large pocket,” she said with joy. “And some yarn for Midnight to play with.” With that, the two girls ran off to find their Ma.
   
How would you feel if you had to do such chores each day?

Chapter Eleven: The Quakers and the Lenni Lenape
   
Let’s meet some new folks. They’re Charles, Hester, and their dad, Micah. They walked toward the Lenni Lenape village. They brought gifts from some of the families who lived in their small Quaker colony. Just one year past, it was 1685. Some of the young Lenni Lenape men had helped some newly-arrived English and Welsh Quakers clear land for their farms. The gifts that they brought were in three straw baskets. These were heavy. Charles and Hester struggled to hold theirs. They held dumplings, cheese, bread, apple butter, and ham. They were not nervous about being at the village. They had been there lots of times with their dad. In fact, they had been in some of the homes. They were called wigwams. Both kids had been amazed by how warm and dry these homes were, that were made of bark.
   
The village was on the bank of a long, curved river. There were some thirty wigwams. And there were four longhouses. Like the wigwams, the longhouses were made from a wooden scaffolding covered in bark. Not like the wigwams, though, lots of families lived in one longhouse. On the fringes of the village, the children could see the Lenni Lenape’s fields. They were full of corn, squash, and beans. In the river near the bank, four dugout canoes bobbed up and down in the water. Two of the canoes held congeries of raccoon, beaver, and fox fur. This fur was a sign. It meant that some of the native men would soon set off to trade. That would be with both Europeans or other Native Americans.
   
Charles and Hester were Quakers. They were from a part of England called the Midlands. They had come to Philadelphia the prior year with their parents. It was a growing town. It was in the English colony known as Pennsylvania. In 1681, William Penn, a Quaker and the leader of this colony, had gotten land from King Charles II of England. The king gave him this land. That settled an incumbrance that Charles owed to William’s father. Penn was grateful to the king. That’s because he wished for this land to be a place where Quakers could live with no fear. Quakers were maltreated in England. They were arrested lots of times. Some were killed due to their thoughts.

Quakers were slighted because they did not believe in war. Thus, they abstained from fighting in a war! They did not think that there was just one way to worship God, too. They did not think that one had to go to church to worship, either. They thought, too, that each person in the world was equal. To them, this meant that Native Americans and African slaves were equal, too. These views made folks in the king’s government mad. The king was not pleased with them, for sure. Penn thought that it was time to find a safe place for Quakers to live. It was before leaving England in 1681. Penn drew up a plan for Philadelphia. He wished for it to have wide, tree-lined streets. He wished for it to have public parks. He wished for it to be a majestic city. He wished for it to be a place where folks lived in such a way that they were an example to the rest of the world. People of all faiths, not just Quakers, would be welcome.
   
The children neared the village. A Lenni Lenape boy ran up to them. He’d been waiting for them. “Hello, Lapowinsa,” said Charles to the boy.
   
“Hey,” said Lapowinsa. “What do you have in the baskets?” Both Charles and Hester had taught the boy to speak English. He was their friend. They liked to spend time with him.
   
“We have gifts,” Hester said. Lapowinsa joined the boys. They all marched behind their father. They went into the Lenni Lenape village. The folks there smiled at the children’s father. They came to greet him. He liked the breechcloths and leggings that the men wore. The women wore dresses. And their long, dark hair was in braids. The men, women, and children wore moccasins on their feet.
   
The kids’ father had learned to speak a bit of the native tongue. With Penn, he had been part of the purchase of the land that they lived on from the Lenni Lenape. They gave them the gifts. Then, their father was invited to smoke tobacco with some of the Lenni Lenape men. This meant that Charles, Hester, and Lapowinsa would get a chance to play. The kids walked to the river. Lapowinsa had said that he’d take them out in a canoe. They would search for turtles. “Be back by the time that the sun sets,” their father called. The kids nodded. Then, Lapowinsa led the way. They ran like the wind on the open land.
    
Let’s hear your view. How might Lapowinsa differ from Charles and Hester’s friends in England?

Chapter Twelve: Matthew, the Apprentice
   
“Matthew! Are you done printing those newspapers?” Uncle Abe asked.
   
“I’m close,” Matthew said.
   
“Well, let me know when you’re done. I need for you to take these sermons to Pastor Keller. He’s waiting for them,” said Abe. “Oh! And when you get back from taking the sermons, you’ll need to make more ink.”
   
Matthew nodded his head. This was to let Abe know that he had heard his directives. In 1755, Matthew was a printer’s apprentice. He was from a small town thirty miles north of Philadelphia. His dad was a cooper there. A cooper is a skilled craftsman. He knew how to make casks, buckets, barrels, and containers of all shapes and sizes. In the colonies, each kind of food and drink was stored in the kinds of containers that his dad made.
   
When Matthew was young, he had thought that he would one day work with his dad. But his older brother Jonah had become their dad’s apprentice. From the age of seven till he was ten, Matthew had gone to a one-room school house. There, he was lucky to have been taught how to read and write. Four days after his eleventh birthday, Matthew’s Uncle Abe had come to see them. At this visit, he had offered Matthew the chance to move to Philadelphia. Then he’d be Abe’s novitiate. At first, Matthew had not wished to leave. He had three younger sisters who he loved dearly. And there was his dear brother Jonah. But Matthew’s parents had told him that he would have to learn a skill. That way, when he grew up, he too could build a family.
   
Before Abe left, Matthew had signed an apprenticeship acknowledgement. It said that he “would serve his uncle with faith, keep his secrets, and obey all of his lawful commands.” For his part, Abe had agreed to spend seven years teaching him the skills that he’d need to be a successful printer. In that time, he would house, feed, and clothe Matthew. Four weeks after his uncle’s visit, Matthew’s dad had loaded up their wagon. They had set off for Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia, Matthew and his dad had spent two days canvassing the city with Uncle Abe. Then on the third day, his dad had bought supplies for his atelier. Then, he said goodbye. Matthew had watched his dad go till he was out of sight. His eyes filled with tears. But the boy willed them not to fall. Four years had passed since that day. Now, Matthew was fifteen. He had three more years to serve as an apprentice. When his seven years of training were done, he would be a journeyman. He would be a skilled printer. But he was not yet a master craftsman. Matthew would spend three more years at work alongside his uncle. And now he would get payment for his work. When he turned twenty-one years of age, Matthew hoped to be a master craftsman. Then he would open up his own business.
   
Matthew finished printing the last newspaper. Doing this was one of the hardest jobs of all. It could take more than twenty hours to print one page. All of the work was done by hand. One had to put in the right order wee pieces of metal. They’d have single letters or punctuation marks on them. And you had to get it right, so that people could read it! This task was called “setting the type.” The type was then held firmly in place as an inking pad spread ink over the type. The printing press transferred the carefully arranged words and sentences onto paper. Matthew picked up the bundle of printed sermons. He checked to see if he had all of the ingredients needed to make the ink when he’d get back. Ink was made from tannin, iron sulfate, gum, and water. He was glad to see that Abe had stocked up on these supplies.

Out on the street, Matthew made his way to the small wooden church at the end of the street. Pastor Keller was the Lutheran minister in charge of this church. As Matthew walked, a small, hirsute, white dog came to keep him company. The dog had shown up a few times that week near the door to their kitchen. Matthew had thrown it some scraps. Now it showed up when Matthew did. “Hey, you want to come with me?” Matthew asked as he clicked his fingers. The small dog looked up at Matthew. He wagged its tail. “Okay then,” said Matthew. “Let’s go.” Matthew began to run down the avenue. He took care to hold on tight to his parcel. The small white dog ran after him.
   
Do you think that being a printer’s apprentice is a good opportunity for Matthew?

   
   
+++++    
 
   
Glossary
   
Acre—a measurement of an area of land that is almost the size of a football field (acres).

Admire—to look at with enjoyment (admired).

Advice—a suggestion about what someone should do.

Alarming—disturbing or causing fear.

Anxiously—acting nervous or worried.

Apprentice—someone who learns a skill by working with an expert for a set amount of time (apprenticeship).

Astonished—suddenly surprised.

   
Ban—to forbid, not allow (banned).

Barley—a grain that is used for making food.

Beg—to ask for money or food (begged).

Beloved—greatly loved.

Bible—the book of holy, religious writings in the Christian religion.

Bitterly—extremely.

Bonnet—a hat worn by women and babies that ties under the chin (bonnets).

Breechcloth—a cloth worn by men to cover the lower body (breechcloths).

Brow—forehead.

   
Cabin—a small house, usually made of wood (cabins).

Cask—a large, wooden barrel (casks).

Chapel—Christian religious services.

Chore—a small job done regularly (chores).

Colony—an area in another country settled by a group of people that is still governed by the native country (colonial, colonies).

Craftsman—a person who makes things by hand.

Creation—the act of making something new.

Custom—tradition (customs).

   
Debt—money or something else owed (debts).

Debtor—a person who owes money (debtors).

Delivery—something taken to a person or place.

Destination—the place someone is traveling to.

Devour—to completely destroy.

Distinct—clearly different from other things.

Dock—a platform that sticks out in water so boats and ships can stop next to it to load and unload things.

Dumpling—a small ball of dough that has been steamed or boiled and has food wrapped inside (dumplings).

    
Elder—a formal name for addressing a minister or religious leader.

English Separatist—a person who was unhappy with the Church of England and wanted to start a new church with others who felt the same way (English Separatists).

   
Faithfully—showing true and constant support and deserving trust.

Flutter—to become excited or nervous.

Foreigner—a person who is living in a country that is not his / her homeland (foreigners).

   
Galleon—a large sailing ship (galleons).

Glorious—wonderful.

Graze—to feed on grass growing in a field.

Grimy—dirty.

Gulp—to swallow quickly or in large amounts (gulped).

   
Harass—to continuously annoy or bother (harassed).

Harbor—an area of calm, deep water next to land where ships can safely put down their anchors (harbors).

Harshest—most difficult and unpleasant.

Heap—a lot of.

Homeland—the country where someone was born or grew up (homelands).

Homesick—sad because you are away from your home, homeland, or family and friends.

    
Illuminate—to light up (illuminated).

Indicate—to make a sign of (indicated).

Ingredient—an item needed to make something (ingredients).

Intend—to plan (intended).

Iron sulfate—a bluish-green salt used to make inks.

    
Jewish—people whose ancestors are from ancient Hebrew tribes of Israel, Jewish people believe that God has chosen them to have a special relationship with him.

Just—fair.

    
Lenni Lenape—a Native American group from what is now the Delaware River valley, the Lenni Lenape lived in clans according to the mother’s line of ancestors, grew corn, beans, and squash, and hunted and fished, which many still do today.

Lumber—wood that has been sawed into boards.

Lutheran—a branch of Christianity that follows the teachings of Martin Luther, who taught that the Bible is the only reliable guide for faith and religious practice, and each passage in the Bible can only be interpreted in one way.

    
Mend my ways—change behavior to be a better person.

Mill—a building with machines that grind grains into flour (mills).

Minister—a religious leader or pastor.

Mistress—the female head of the household.

Moccasin—a soft, flat leather shoe (moccasins).

    
Obediently—behaving in a way that follows what you have been told to do.

Occasionally—sometimes but not often.

Occasion—an event or celebration (occasions).

Off course—not following the intended plan.

Opportunity—a chance to do something (opportunities).

Orchard—an area of land where fruit trees grow.

Originally—at first.

Orphan—a child whose parents are no longer alive.

Outskirts—the outer edges of a town or city.

Overgrown—covered with plants that have grown in an uncontrolled way.

    
Pastor—a religious leader or minister.

Patuxet—a Native American group from the area around Plymouth and what is now southeastern Massachusetts, the Patuxet grew corn, fished, hunted, and helped the Pilgrims when they first arrived at Plymouth.

Persecute—to continually treat in a harsh and unfair way due to a person’s beliefs (persecuted).

Persuade—to convince (persuaded).

Pheasant—a large bird with a long tail that is hunted for fun and for food.

Pilgrim—a person who left England to find a new place to practice religion in his / her own way, Pilgrims started a colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 (Pilgrims).

Plantation—a large farm, usually found in warm climates, where crops such as cotton, rice, and tobacco are grown.

Pluck—to pull something quickly to remove it (plucked).

Powhatan—a Native American group from what is now eastern and southeastern Virginia, the Powhatan lived in longhouses, grew crops like beans, squash, and corn, and hunted and fished.

Preach—to talk about a religious subject (preaching).

Printing press—a large machine that presses sheets of paper against a surface with ink on it to print words and designs.

Pure—free from evil (purer).

Puritan—a member of a group of people who wanted the Church of England to be purer and thus left England to find a new place to practice religion. Some Puritans were Pilgrims, like some English Separatists were (Puritans).

   
Quaker—a person who is part of a Christian group who believes that all people have something of God in them and are, therefore, equal, believes in simple religious services, and is against war (Quakers).

   
Raggedy—tired from stress and wearing tattered clothes.

Request—an act of politely asking for something (requests).

Reveal—to make known (revealed).

Rickety—poorly made and could break at any moment.

Rye—a grain that looks like wheat and is used to make flour.

    
Sack cloth—rough cloth used to make sacks or bags for carrying things.

Sacrifice—the act of giving up something you like for something that is more important.

Scurry—hurried movement (scurrying).

Seamstress—a woman who sews as a job.

Sermon—a message delivered orally by a religious leader, usually during a religious service, that is designed to teach.

Shaft—ray or beam (shafts).

Shaggy—covered with long, tangled, or rough hair.

Squint—to look at something through partially closed eyes.

Street children—children whose parents had died so they lived on their own on the streets of London.

Street vendor—a person who sells things, such as food, on the street (street vendors).

Strudel—a German pastry made with thin dough rolled up, filled with fruit, and baked.

Successful—reaching a goal you had (succeed).

Swamp fever—malaria, a sickness stemming from being bitten by infected mosquitos found in warm climates.

Swamp—wet, spongy land that is often partially covered with water.

    
Talking to—the act of scolding or a serious conversation during which you tell someone why his / her behavior is wrong.

Tannin—a red substance that comes from plants, is used to make ink, and is in a variety of food and drinks.

Tattered—old and torn.

Tend—to take care of.

Threat—the possibility that something harmful and bad might happen.

Time traveler—someone who travels back and forth to different points in time (time travelers, time traveling, time travel).

Transplant—to dig up a plant and plant it somewhere else (transplanted).

Transport—to carry from one place to another.

Tribe—a large group of people who live in the same area and have the same language, customs, and beliefs.

Trod—walked on or over.

Twinkling—sparkling.

   
Well-being—a feeling of happiness and good health.

Welsh—from the country of Wales.

Witness—to see something happen (witnessed).

Worship—to show love and devotion to God or a god by praying or going to a religious service.

Would-be—hoping to be a particular type of person.

Wrestler—a person who fights by holding and pushing (wrestling).
   
    
+++++
    
    
Subtitles to illustrations
   
Are you ready to become a time traveler? Time travelers use maps. Robert and George played on the beach on Roanoke Island. A group of English explorers prepared to sail to North America. John White and his group found the fort overgrown with weeds and the skeleton of one soldier. Men, women, and children reconstructed the fort. John White’s ship sailed away. Tom hurried to the tobacco field to work with Mr. Tucker. Tom and Jane’s arrival at the Tuckers’ home. Colonial children working. Top, John Smith. Bottom, John Rolfe (in center, facing left). Tobacco plants. Mr. Tucker and Tom harvested tobacco. William taught Tom how to use a bow and arrow. William often talked to Tom about his respect for the Powhatan. William told Tom how the Powhatan got all they needed from the forest and the land around them. William and Tom loved to be in the forest. The Powhatan boy with his arrow pointed at Tom. The boys set off to hunt for deer. Seth hid in the wagon. The children called to Seth. George told Seth about working on a tobacco plantation. Slaves working on a rice plantation. Seth awoke to see stars in the sky. James Oglethorpe (top right) and King George II (bottom left). Seth hoped his mother would not be angry. Sarah on board the sailing ship called the Anne. A baker, a carpenter, a farmer, and a blacksmith. Mr. Oglethorpe traded with the Yamacraw. Families lived in tents until they built their homes. Mary and Remember hurried home. Wrestling Brewster. Pilgrim children pretended to be English pirates. The Mayflower (left) and King James I (right). Mary, Remember, and their father tended to their mother. Plymouth was hundreds of miles north of their intended destination, which was Jamestown. Native Americans watched Mary, Remember, and their father bury their mother. Squanto and Samoset helped the Pilgrims. Squanto and Samoset showed the Pilgrims how to make crops grow in poor soil. An abundant harvest. A celebration of thanksgiving. Mistress Fear scolded the girls. Lizzie smiled at the sight of Elder Jones’s new wig. Common, Woods, Village Green, Meeting House School, Farms, Church, River, Cow Pasture, Ox Pasture, Swamp and Woodland, Mill, Minister’s, House, A Puritan town. Puritans arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Inset, John Winthrop. A sailor delivered supplies and news from home. George pulled Lizzie’s hair. Patience found a litter of kittens. Primrose tried to talk Patience out of her idea to keep a kitten for herself. Patience and her family doing chores. Lars found the kittens. Patience kissed the kittens. Colonists arrived from many different European countries. Families from different countries ate together. A water-powered mill. The girls’ family attended a Lutheran church. Patience and Primrose weeded the vegetable garden. Patience will name her kitten Midnight. Charles, Hester, and Micah delivered gifts to the Lenni Lenape. Lenni Lenape men loaded fur into their canoes. William Penn’s father (left) and William Penn (right). William Penn’s plan for the city of Philadelphia. Lapowinsa greeted Charles and Hester. Charles, Hester, and Micah handed over their gifts to the Lenni Lenape men. Matthew printing newspapers. Uncle Abraham offered Matthew the opportunity to become his apprentice. Matthew signed the apprenticeship agreement. Matthew watched his father leave. Matthew and a freshly printed newspaper. Matthew and his shaggy friend.
     
   
*********

Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
   
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
   

Lesson 6 – Introduction To Ecology

      
NEW WORDS: BP, Deepwater, Emerson, Muir, Thoreau, Waldo, abrade, accessing, acme, alternatives, arachnids, bevies, biosphere, birthed, buries, catalogued, cheetahs, compelling, conjecturing, conservationist, conservationists, contaminated, cordoned, corrupted, crisscrossed, debacle, decomposed, decomposer, decomposers, dedication, desiccated, deterrences, dirt’s, dredge, ecological, ecology, ecosystem, embeds, endeavoring, evinces, expedient, extirpated, frangible, fulmination, grody, grueling, herons, hydroelectric, illicitly, imperiled, initiation, irreversible, jackrabbits, laboriously, leafiest, loggers, mammalians, marshlands, mechanization, microorganisms, milieu, minuscule, mishaps, nonsubmersible, nutriments, onerous, persevere, petrifactions, posing, promulgate, purifying, recuperate, repercussions, reserved, salvaged, saturate, seepage, skitter, subsistence, topsoil, tragically, transformations, transude, trophies, underfoot, unobstructed, vegetate, vitality, wildebeest, wildebeests, windmills   
     
     

Chapter One: Living Things and Their Habitats
    
Ecology is about nature and life. It’s about the relationships between living things and their environment. One who learns ecology is an “ecologist.” They study living things. They learn the way that they relate to their milieu. This toad is part of an ecosystem. An ecosystem is like a habitat where an organism lives. But our biosphere includes lots of habitats. There are the nonliving systems that support them, too. In an ecosystem, each living thing depends on other living and nonliving things for life. Insects find shelter and food on trees and in moss. The toad finds those bugs and eats them. The toad needs rain to have a place to lay eggs. One day, a snake might eat the toad. These are the kinds of things that ecologists like to think about!
     
The bee likes the flower’s bright color. The bee eats the flower’s sweet nectar. The flower is also full of pollen. Pollen looks like dust. The bee buzzes off. It will take some of the flower’s pollen away. It will be on its feet and wings. To make seeds, flowers must share their pollen with other flowers. Flowers do not have hands or feet. They don’t have a way to get their pollen to other flowers. So, they need bees and other insects to spread it for them. The bee needs the flower so that it can live. The flower needs the bee and other insects so that it can live. These are good examples of the kinds of connections that ecologists like to study.
    
Here’s a living thing. You know what it is, of course, a squirrel. She’s a bit shocked to see you. This squirrel does not see folks each day. She’s not one of those squirrels that you see running along branches in the park or your back yard. This squirrel lives deep in the woods. She has a nest of leaves and sticks. They’re way high up in this tree. In the spring, the mother shared her nest with her babies. But now, it’s late summer. The babies have left the nest. The mother has the nest to herself. It’s time for her to get food for the winter.

This squirrel’s favorite food is acorns. Those are nuts from oak trees. In the summer, it’s easy for her to go out and find lots of acorns. But she must also gather and save food for winter. In the winter, acorns won’t be so easy to find. She’ll use her wee paws to dredge a hole in the ground. She embeds an acorn. Over the summer and early fall, she may bury 100s of them. What will she do when she gets hungry in the winter? She can crawl out of her nest. She can go dig up an acorn. It’s easy to see how the squirrel needs the tree. She needs the tree for both food and shelter. But she gives something back to the tree.
    
How do you think that the squirrel knows where she buried all of those acorns? Can she smell them? Does she put a little stick in the ground to mark each one of them? Does she draw a map on the back of a leaf? In fact, she does NOT know where she planted all of those acorns! She forgets a lot of them. Lots of those acorns will stay in the ground right where she dug holes for them.
    
Acorns are nuts. Nuts are seeds with shells that cover them. Like most seeds, acorns need to be planted. That’s so that they can sprout and grow. Well, the squirrel did the oak tree a favor by planting all of those acorns and then forgetting about them. If the acorns weren’t buried, they would not vegetate. And they might be eaten by another creature.
    
The squirrel and the oak tree are each doing what they do to live and produce young. The tree grows leaves and acorns. The squirrel uses the leaves for shelter. She uses the acorns for food. This makes it expedient for the squirrel to live and to produce young. And since the squirrel buries acorns, the oak tree can produce young, too. This is how things work in an ecosystem. This is what ecology is all about!

Chapter Two: Food Chains
     
Now you know more about squirrels and oak trees. Each has something to give to the other. The tree may make 1000s of acorns each year. But just a few will sprout and turn to saplings. Of those, just a couple will persevere and grow into mighty oaks. When this happens, they’ll spread their roots and change with the seasons. The rest of the acorns will be eaten by varied creatures. Deer might eat them. So might birds that pass through the woods. Turkeys and woodpeckers like them. The acorns that aren’t eaten will get covered by leaves. They’ll saturate with rain. They’ll freeze in the snow. If they aren’t eaten by worms or such, some of them will sprout into saplings.
    
In the forest ecosystem, living things need one another. Lots of living things need trees for shelter and food. You can find bugs on most trees. Woodpeckers can find them, too! What happens if you dig down into the soil, or abrade some tree bark? You’ll find all sorts of other critters in the forest ecosystem. You could see worms, beetles, and ants. You might not see all of that are around. But they ARE there! You can find them under leaves, rocks, and dead trees. For the most part, their world is underfoot. They’re out of sight. But you can find more of them if you’re up to getting dirty while digging for them!
     
What do all those bugs do there? They do what all living things do. They survive. To survive, living things need food. The nutriments in food give vitality to the body. With no energy, the body stops. It’s that simple! What else do bugs and other living things do besides eat? They do what they need to do in order to produce young. Plants make seeds. Mammals, such as mice and deer, give birth to live babies. Bugs and birds lay eggs. Spiders make egg sacs. They’re like the one in this image. When the sac opens, 100s of baby arachnids will run out. Most of them will be eaten by other bugs. Those that make it will grow to be hunters like their parents.

Living things also must find ways to protect themselves from other things in the ecosystem. Squirrels build their nests high in trees. They’re up away from predators. Worms dig down into the soil. Snails and turtles have shells to protect them. Of course, for squirrels, worms, snails, and turtles, these deterrences do not work all of the time. The hunters that eat other creatures for their subsistence have sharp teeth and claws to catch their prey.
   
There are ecosystems in lots of places. Each ecosystem has its own food chain. Look at the image of the wolf, the deer, and the acorn. This is a simple way to think of the food chain. Smaller animals are eaten by slightly larger animals. But this image only shows a small part of a real food chain. Most food chains also include plants. They also include bacteria and other tiny, minuscule organisms. Plants and smaller animals are often near the bottom of the food chain. What about the top of the food chain? You’ll find beasts like grizzly bears, lions, blue whales, or great white sharks. These creatures are too big to be hunted by anything else. A lion or shark is called an “apex predator.” That’s because it’s at the top of the food chain.

Chapter Three: Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers
    
Do you know what the brown stuff in this picture is? Some folks call it dirt. Dirt is what you have to wipe off your shoes and wash off your hands, right? Dirt’s what you don’t want to get on your good shirt, right? To some folks, dirt is just grody. It needs to be cleaned up. Well, ecologists don’t mind getting dirty! Ecologists know that dirt is important. In fact, they don’t call it dirt at all. They call it soil. With no soil, life on land as we know it could not exist. Soil is at the heart of most ecosystems on land.
   
In the forest ecosystem, each living thing can be catalogued into one of three basic categories. These are “producers,” “consumers,” and “decomposers.” Producers make their own food. Plants do this through the process of “photosynthesis.” Lots of producers also make things that creatures eat. The blackberry plant is a tasty one. It makes its own food through photosynthesis. The berries contain the plant’s seeds. Wild animals such as birds, bears, and bugs eat the berries. The creatures eat the juicy berries. But they do not digest the tiny seeds.
   
Consumers eat other plants and animals. As you may be conjecturing, squirrels are acorn consumers. But squirrels are not at the acme of the food chain. This owl is a skilled predator. It is nocturnal. That means that it hunts at night. It eats small rodents. That includes squirrels. The owl has strong hearing and eyesight. So, it will catch a squirrel or other rodent who leaves the safety of its nest at night.

Decomposers are the third type of living thing in the forest ecosystem. Earthworms are decomposers. They feed on dead organic matter. That can be something as simple as leaves. The worms pull the leaves down into the ground. They shred the leaves into little pieces. Then they eat them. Worms are low on the food chain. Fish, birds, frogs, and turtles will all eat any worm unlucky enough to have crisscrossed their paths.
   
Some insects are pretty big. Some are so small that you need a magnifying glass to see them. Some fly. Some crawl. Some of them are decomposers. Some are consumers. And some are even predators. Most insects are far down on the food chain.
   
In fact, there are billions of other living things in the soil living around the worm. These bacteria, fungi, and other organisms are endeavoring to live in the same soil. These organisms are so small that you can’t see them without a microscope. Bacteria are the most crucial decomposers. They’re also the most abundant form of life in an ecosystem. Bacteria and other simple organisms have quite an important job. They cause dead plant and animal matter to decompose. When a thing decomposes, its body breaks down into simpler types of matter. As leaves decompose, their nutrients will become part of the soil. This decomposed matter provides vitamins and minerals for new plants or other living things.

Chapter Four: The Balance of Nature
   
This photo is from Kenya. That’s a country in east Africa. It is known for the wildlife on its grasslands. When folks go there, they might go on safari to see the animals. A large part of Kenya is in the Mara National Reserve. A reserve is a protected part of land. You may not build towns or major roads there. The land is set aside for nature.
   
Most of the Mara is grassland. That’s known as a “savanna.” The land is largely flat. And there are some rolling hills. Some trees and bushes grow there. But it’s mostly grass. In lots of ways, this ecosystem is like any other. There are food chains. There are producers, consumers, and decomposers.
   
Huge bevies of wildebeests, zebras, and other consumers eat the grass. There is lots of grass for all of them. This means that there is plenty of meat for the lions, too! The Mara is known for its many types of acacia trees. Giraffes like to eat acacia leaves. Some ants in the Mara like to eat acacia seeds. The ants take the seeds under the ground. They eat the fruit that surrounds the seed. But they do not hurt the seed. They leave it there in the ground where they ate it. That’s how some acacias promulgate their seeds! This is a way in which organisms rely on each other in an ecosystem.
   
Each living thing can live with help from other living things. They need each other. Of course, not all living things make it for very long. Lots of critters are eaten by bigger creatures. Most seeds do not sprout. But enough will live to make sure that life goes on.
   
The region’s grass eaters would be glad if all of the big cats went away. But if all of the big cats left the Mara, this would mess up the natural balance in the food chain. Cheetahs and other predators hunt the weak, sick, and young members of the herd. Thus, the strong animals in the herd tend to live on and have healthy young.

No gazelle wants to be eaten by a lion or cheetah. But in an ecosystem, the hunters help to keep the population from getting out of control. What if there were too many gazelles? All of the gazelles might have trouble finding enough food. Cheetahs help to make sure that there aren’t too many gazelles!
   
The grasslands of the Mara seem to stretch on and on. It’s hard to think that something bad ever happened to mess up the ecosystem of this vast land. But if nothing bad ever happened, then their government would not have made this a reserve. Lots of creatures were illicitly hunted. Some were near extinction. The people of Kenya had to set this land apart. That would protect the ecosystem and all of the animals in it.

Chapter Five: Natural Changes to the Environment
   
Ecosystems can be frangible. It does not take much to cause big change in the environment. Sometimes the system can bounce back from a change. But the change might be irreversible. Erosion is one common force of nature. Over time, the land on each side of a stream can erode. When it rains hard, a small stream can fill with water and flood. A flood may last for an hour. It may last for a few days. The plants on a hillside have roots. These roots reach deep into the soil. The roots hold the soil together. When it rains, or when the wind blows hard, the plant roots hold the soil in place. If there were no plants, the soil would start to erode.
   
Water is one of nature’s strongest forces. In a big flood, the entire landscape can be changed. A flooded river can tear apart plants, trees, and soil. First, the topsoil is extirpated. This is the richest soil. That’s where you find most of the nutrients and decaying matter. Once the topsoil is washed away, the forces of nature slowly eat at the clay and rock underneath.

This is from Petrified Forest National Park. That’s in Arizona. All through the park, there are ancient trees. But they have become petrifactions. The trees have been “petrified!” These may look like rocks, but they’re not! There was a forest ecosystem here some 200 million years ago. That’s when some of the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth. These rocks are pieces of prehistoric trees! Back then, there were producers, consumers, and decomposers, too! Fossils found here show that there were swamp plants. Some of these were like ferns. And there were dinosaurs that looked sort of like crocodiles. At some point, the region was flooded by huge amounts of water and mud. The trees were covered. The entire forest was destroyed. And so was the food chain. All of that mud that covered the trees desiccated. Over millions of years, the mud turned to rock. Instead of rotting, the trees turned to rock, too!
   
Millions of years and countless floods later, the land in Petrified Forest has eroded. We are left with this strange landscape. It’s still called a forest. But lots of the trees are really rocks. The land is much like a desert. But the Petrified Forest does get some rain. There is a lot that goes on in this ecosystem. And that’s even though it looks like a dry, sandy place. There are 500 different species of plants here. There are no dinosaurs, of course. But there are small lizards. And there are toads, snakes, birds, and jackrabbits. Coyotes are near the top of the food chain. They eat just about anything. That includes meat and plants.
   
The Petrified Forest is compelling. It evinces how nature’s forces can change the landscape. When the land changes, the ecology changes. There were once woods and swamps here. Now, it’s a rocky desert. The hills have eroded. Much of the rich soil has been washed away. That’s left mostly sand and rocks. But it’s still an ecosystem! Through all of these transformations, there has always been life here. Living things find a way to change and to live on.

Chapter Six: Human Changes to the Environment
   
As you’ve learned, each plant and animal in an ecosystem needs other plants or animals to survive. A butterfly needs a flower’s nectar for food. A flower needs butterflies and other insects to spread its pollen.
   
Thousands of years back, early humans were like all other living things in nature. They were just another part of the natural food chain. They hunted animals. They gathered plants for food. They made shelters and clothes using the materials in their environment. They used just what they needed for basic survival. But humans could create and use technology. At first, they used simple tech. This might be like tools made of stone and wood. These tools made it easier to hunt, build, and do other things to survive.
   
As time passed, technology improved, which included mechanization. We learned to build and use machines. We no longer had to hunt as much. We learned to raise animals like cows and chickens for food. We no longer had to gather nuts, berries, and roots. We learned to grow our own crops. Humans learned to change and control some parts of nature. This was in order to meet our needs. With technology, humans could change the environment. The land in this picture may have been a forest or grassland. Now it’s a wheat field. Bugs and other organisms still live in the soil. They feed on the wheat plants. But this is not what you might call a natural field. Humans planted the seeds in this field. And humans make the call on when to harvest the crops to make food.

The land beneath towns or cities was once a natural ecosystem. Then, humans came along. We used technology to change the natural environment. There are some trees, grass, and flowers in a city. But they are there because people want them there. Some creatures, like squirrels and birds, also live in cities along with humans. But these creatures had to learn to survive in an environment that was built by humans. Now, with all of our cities and technology, it’s sometimes easy for us to forget about nature and ecosystems. It’s easy for us to think of nature as something that we can visit. But we may not see it as something that we are part of.
   
It’s also easy for us to think of nature as a resource that’s there mostly for humans. We may see it as something that we can use and change to suit our needs. This image shows one of the coolest things ever built in America. It’s the Hoover Dam. There are 1000s of dams in the U.S. But the Hoover Dam is the biggest. It was built across the mighty Colorado River. It creates hydroelectric power. That brings electricity to over a million people. They live in Arizona, Nevada, and California. There’s a reservoir that was birthed by the building of the dam. It provides water for 1000s of homes and farms. The Hoover Dam is needed by people who depend on it for water and electricity. But the dam changed the landscape and ecology along the Colorado River forever. It changed the flow of the river. It imperiled lots of species of fish and plants. You can say that the dam was good for people. But it was not so good for the environment. But it is here to stay. It’s a good example of a way in which people can change the natural environment.
   
The people in this small town live in a pretty place. They are circled by a natural ecosystem. They have their homes and roads. And they have cleared out some of the forest. That was to make pastures for animals or farming. But most of the land still belongs to nature. Not all changes caused by humans are bad for the environment. It is surely possible for folks to survive and to enjoy life while helping to protect the balance of nature. In the next three chapters, you will learn more about that. We’ll talk of the harm that people can do to ecosystems. And we’ll talk of the things that we can do to protect them.

Chapter Seven: Environmental Harm Caused by Humans
   
Think about most of the vehicles that you see each day. Boats, trains, cars, and planes have one thing in common. They all need gasoline to operate. A car’s engine burns gas. The energy from burning the gas makes the car move. Gas is made from oil. That’s a thick, black liquid. It’s found deep under the ground in certain places on Earth. Getting oil out of the ground is not easy. We get oil by drilling wells deep into the Earth. The wells suck oil up from under the ground. Thousands of oil wells are out there. They’re used to pump oil out of the ground all over the world. A lot of oil is in the Earth’s crust deep beneath the ocean floor. This is a picture of an oil rig. Or it can be called an oil platform. It’s anchored far out in the sea. Dozens of workers live on the oil rig. They live there for months at a time. They use a special type of drill. That gets oil from 100s or 1000s of feet beneath the sea’s surface.
   
Drilling for oil is not just onerous. It’s dangerous, too. This became a reality on April 20, 2010. A horrid accident happened on an oil rig. It was called the “Deepwater Horizon.” This rig was owned by a company called BP. It was anchored in the Gulf of Mexico. It was some 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. A key piece of equipment deep under the water broke. This let oil and natural gases transude from the Earth. This caused a huge fulmination on the rig. The rig was destroyed by the explosion and fire that followed. Tragically, 11 men died. And 16 more were badly injured. But this was not the end of the story. The debacle that came next was a huge oil spill. When the rig blew up, oil flowed unobstructed from inside the Earth. Since it was so far underwater, no one knew how to stop the oil from flowing. In just days, the waters near the corrupted well were heavily contaminated with thick, black oil. Oil kept spilling into the water for three months. And the oil spread far and wide.

The ocean ecosystem is fragile. All things from microorganisms to plants and fish need clean water in order to live. The oil threatened fish and all other life in these waters. Within days, oil from the oil spill washed up on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. The oil washed right up on beaches. These were in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. At the same time, the oil threatened the lives of fish, birds, and other wildlife in or near the water.
   
Think about the grassy, shallow wetlands along the Gulf Coast. They’re home to a fragile ecosystem. There’s a huge variety of wildlife there. Folks were quite worried about the repercussions that the oil spill might have on this region. In the marshlands, you can find all sorts of shellfish. These could be like oysters, crabs, and shrimp. You can find lots of birds. These could be like herons, pelicans, and egrets. Reptiles such as alligators and snakes, as well as lots of mammalians, rely on the Gulf Coast wetlands for food and shelter. All of these creatures can be harmed if they get covered in oil – or if they eat other creatures that are bathed in oil. Further, the wetlands are crucial for people. They’re a big source of seafood. Think about the shrimp that you might eat in a diner. The wetlands are crucial for other reasons, as well. The grass roots keep the sand and soil in place. If the grasses get covered in oil, they could die. Then, the sand and soil would wash away. Thus, the coastline could erode. This would harm nearby towns and cities.
   
So, oil from the spill posed a threat to life at sea and on land. This meant people, too. This was a huge problem. It was well-known that something had to be done. We had to protect the wetlands and wildlife from the oil. In the next chapter, you’ll learn what folks did to save the Gulf Coast from the spill. You’ll also learn about other things that folks can do to protect all kinds of ecosystems from human goings-on.

Chapter Eight: Protecting the Environment
   
Three months had passed since the initiation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Engineers, scientists, and other experts from all over the U.S. and around the world had managed to stop the spill. They cordoned off the seepage. That way the oil no longer leaked into the water. Through those grueling months, folks worked laboriously to protect the waters and beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s one of the first things that they did. They spread oil booms in the water. An oil boom is like a nonsubmersible wall. Its barrier was used to contain the spread of oil. Oil booms were spread all along the coast. This was to keep oil off of the beaches and wetlands. The oil would be trapped within the oil booms. Then special boats came by and cleaned the oil out of the water.
   
Still, 1000s of gallons of oil washed up on land. Workers spent months purifying the beaches. Thanks to lots of hard work and grit, folks had been able to prevent a total environmental disaster. We’ll never know how many fish, shrimp, and other creatures were killed by the spill. But we do know that it could have been worse. In the end, most of the wetlands were salvaged. And those that were harmed will likely recuperate.
   
There are lots of things that you can do to help save the environment. Think of the things that we use each day. These could be like bottles, cans, and paper. For these products, we need to use natural resources. To make cans, we need to dig mines in the Earth. We have to get metals like aluminum and iron. To make paper and cardboard, we cut down trees. Think of all the plastic that you use. These could be bottles, bags, toys, furniture, and lots of other things. Plastic is made from oil. That’s the same kind of oil that goes into your car’s engine! Cans, bottles, papers, and boxes can be recycled. They can be turned into new cans, bottles, papers, and boxes. This means that less metal needs to be mined. Fewer trees need to be cut down. And less oil needs to be used to make plastics. This helps to protect the environment! Recycling is quite helpful. But alone, it is just not enough to protect the Earth’s ecosystems. Now, there are some 7 billion people on Earth. Some half of all the land on Earth is used to grow food for all of these folks. Towns, cities, and roads cover a lot of the remaining land. That does not leave much room for forests, grasslands, and other natural ecosystems.

This is a tree farm. It’s one sample of the lots of ways in which people can protect nature while using its valuable resources. The tree farm has three sections. In one section, you can see where the loggers just cut down all the trees. In another section, they left the trees standing. They’ll come back and cut those trees down in a few years. In the third section, they planted new trees. One day, those trees will be big enough to cut down. By then, the loggers will have planted more trees. With tree farms like this, we can keep using the same land over and over. We’ll get the wood that we need without having to find new forests to cut down.
   
People are working hard to find cleaner, safer energy sources. These will fuel our vehicles. These will give us electricity for our homes, schools, and businesses. Today, most fuel comes from oil and coal. As you learned, accessing these fuels can lead to huge mishaps. The good news is that oil and coal aren’t our only choices. We can also use the wind and sun to get electricity. This picture shows a wind farm. The giant windmills are used to create clean, safe electricity for people’s homes. We’ll continue to use oil and coal for lots of years to come. But we are finding safer, cleaner alternatives. It is possible to protect the environment and get all of the food and fuel that we need in order to live happy, healthy lives. To do this, we need to know what we can do to help maintain the balance of nature. And we need to avoid causing damage.

Chapter Nine: John Muir
   
This is a picture of the grand Yosemite Valley. It is in Yosemite National Park. That’s a huge national park in California. It’s easy to see why folks fall in love with Yosemite. Lots of folks think that it’s America’s most beautiful national park. Yosemite is also home to a rich ecosystem. One day, you might get a chance to visit there. If you’re lucky, you might see a mountain lion. This is America’s big cat. It’s not as big as an African lion. But it’s still at the top of the Yosemite food chain. You’re far more likely to see squirrels there. There are oak trees and acorns there. But there are also lots of other seeds and grains to eat and bury.
   
John Muir was not the first American to see the beauty of this park. But he was one of the first to say that it was a “natural treasure.” He worked to make sure that this park and other special lands were protected forever. John Muir was born in Scotland. In 1849, when he was 10 years old, his family moved to the U.S. They lived on a farm in Wisconsin. Muir loved to read as much as he loved nature. He grew up reading books by famed American naturalists. These books were all about plants, animals, and the forces of nature. Muir read books by two of America’s most famous naturalists. They were Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
   
When he was some 30 years old, Muir walked over 1,000 miles from Indiana to Florida. He took what he called the “wildest, leafiest” way that he could find. And he loved each minute of it! A few years later, he went out to California. While there, Muir hiked in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This wild landscape inspired him to start the Sierra Club. Today, this is America’s oldest and largest environmental organization. It has 1000s of members.

Muir became a well-known writer. He wrote books and articles about America’s natural treasures. A few years after he started the Sierra Club, Teddy Roosevelt was elected President of the U.S. In the image on the next page, Roosevelt and Muir are posing for a picture in Yosemite. Roosevelt and Muir had lots in common. They both loved nature. They were both conservationists. That means that they wished to protect natural treasures. Roosevelt used the power of the presidency to protect over 200 million acres of American wilderness. Conservationists like them have saved millions of acres from being paved over by cities and roads. They’ve also saved lots of important animals from extinction.
   
The bald eagle is the national bird of the U.S. It is a symbol of strength and freedom. There was a time not so far back when the bald eagle was endangered. This meant that scientists were scared that it might become extinct, just like the dinosaurs. Eagles were endangered for lots of reasons. Folks used to hunt eagles. They would make nice trophies for their living rooms. Pesticides and other chemical pollution harmed eagles, too. Lastly, eagles lost a lot of their habitat and nesting grounds. This was due to farming and the growth of cities. About 100 years ago, there were just a few eagles left. Then, the U.S. Congress passed laws to protect them. It is against the law to hunt them. Farmers stopped using certain chemicals. Large areas of land, such as Yellowstone National Park and other parks, were reserved as habitats for eagles and other wildlife. All of this helped to save the bald eagle population. Today, they are no longer in danger of becoming extinct. That’s, of course, as long as we continue to be careful.
   
The eagle’s history teaches a key story about protecting ecosystems. People almost caused eagles to become extinct. But through hard work and dedication, we also managed to save eagles. Today, we have eagles because some people cared enough to convince other Americans that the eagles were worth saving.
   
There are lots of amazing ecosystems to visit in the U.S. They’re all there, thanks to the work of preservationists and groups like the Sierra Club. Are you willing to work to help save America’s natural ecological treasures?

   
   
+++++


Glossary
   
Abundant, plentiful.
    
Acacia, a small tree that has yellow or white flowers (acacias).
   
Alternative, another choice (alternatives).
   
Anchored, held firmly in place.
   
Apex, the top point.
   
  
Bacteria, microscopic living things that exist everywhere, some can be helpful and some can be harmful.
   
Balance, in nature, the maintenance of populations in the proper amounts and conditions.
   
   
Coastline, the place where the land and the ocean meet.
   
Common, occurring often.
   
Conservationist, a person who works to protect animals, plants, and other natural resources (conservationists).
   
Consumer, a living thing that eats other living things (consumers).
   
Countless, too many to count.
   
   
Decay, to rot (decaying).
   
Decompose, to rot, decay, or be slowly destroyed and broken down by natural processes (decomposes, decomposed).
   
Decomposer, a living thing that eats dead plant and animal matter (decomposers).
   
Defense, a way to protect against harm (defenses).
   
Depend on, to rely on or need (depends on).
   
Disaster, a sudden event that causes much damage or loss.
   
   
Ecology, the study of relationships between living things and their environment.
   
Ecosystem, everything in a particular environment, both living and nonliving.
   
Effect, a change resulting from influence or power (effects).
   
Endangered, in danger of dying out completely.
   
Environment, natural surroundings (environments).
   
Erode, to wear away over time due to wind or water (erosion, eroded).
   
Extinction, a condition in which a kind of plant or animal dies out completely.
   
  
Flood, a condition in which a body of water rises and overflows beyond its usual limits (floods).
   
Food chain, a relationship of living things as food sources for other living things (food chains).
   
Force, something powerful, especially in nature (forces).
   
Fragile, weak, easily harmed.
   
Fungus, a plant-like organism that lives on dead or decaying things (fungi).
   
    
Gazelle, an antelope, or deer-like creature, that runs very fast (gazelles).
   
Generate, to make (generates).
   
   
Herd, a large group of animals (herds).
   
Hydroelectric, using the power of water to make electricity.
   
  
Jackrabbit, an animal that looks like a large rabbit with long ears and long hind legs (jackrabbits).
   
  
Landscape, an area of land that can be seen in one look.
   
  
Microscopic, can only be seen with a microscope.
   
Mighty, large in size.
   
Mineral, a substance that occurs naturally in some food and contributes to good health (minerals).
   
  
Natural resource, a useful or valuable thing found in nature (natural resources).
   
Naturalist, a person who studies living things in nature (naturalists).
   
Nutrient, a vitamin or mineral that helps living things stay healthy (nutrients).
   
  
Oil boom, a floating barrier put in water to keep oil from spreading (oil booms).
   
Oil rig, a platform built above the ocean to support drilling for oil underwater.
   
Oil spill, an event during which oil is released into nature, usually into water, causing pollution.
   
Organic, from or made by living things.
    
Organism, a living thing.

   
Pasture, a field in which animals eat grass (pastures).
   
Petrified, slowly changed into stone over time.
   
Photosynthesis, the process by which plants make their own food using sunlight.
   
Pollen, a yellow substance made by plants that is carried to other plants of the same kind to make seeds.
   
Polluted, dirty and unsafe.
   
Predator, an animal that lives by hunting other animals (predators).
   
Prehistoric, a time before history was written down.
   
Prey, animals that are hunted by other animals for food.
   
Primarily, mainly.
   
Producer, a living thing that makes its own food (producers).
   
Protect, to keep safe from harm.
   
Pump, to move liquid using a special machine.
   
   
Recover, to improve after an accident or difficult time.
   
Recycle, to process old things so that they can be used again to make new things (recycled, recycling).
   
Rely on, to depend on or need.
   
Reserve, an area of land where plants and animals are given special protection.
   
Reservoir, a lake in which water is stored for use.
   
Resource, something that is useful or valuable.
   
  
Safari, a trip taken to see or hunt wild animals.
   
Safety, the state of being free from harm.
   
Sapling, a young tree (saplings).
   
Seal, to close up (sealed).
   
Skitter, to move quickly across something (skittering).
   
Soil, dirt.
   
Source, where something comes from.
   
Species, a group into which animals or plants are divided by scientists.
   
Sprout, to begin to grow.
   
Survival, the ability to continue living.
   
Survive, to continue living.
   
   
Technology, the invention of useful things or solving problems using science and engineering.
   
Topsoil, the top layer of soil that includes nutrients plants need.
   
Treasure, a valuable, important, or special thing (treasures).
   
  
Unnecessary, not needed.
   
Upset, to interfere with.
   
  
Variety, a collection of different types.
   
Vitamin, a substance found in food that is necessary for good health (vitamins).
   
   
Wander, to move around without a particular direction or purpose.
   
Wildebeest, a large, African antelope, or deer-like creature, with long, curving horns (wildebeests).
   
Wilderness, a wild and natural area where no people live.
   
Wildlife, animals living in nature.
    
  
+++++
   
   
Illustration subtitles
      
This toad is part of an ecosystem. The bee needs the flower in order to survive. This squirrel is surprised to see you. Acorns are nuts from oak trees. Like most seeds, acorns need to be planted in order to sprout and grow. Sometimes deer will eat acorns. Beetles live in the forest ecosystem. Spiders make egg sacs like this one. A food chain. Dirt is called soil by ecologists. A blackberry plant is a producer. The owl is a skilled predator. Earthworms are decomposers. Some insects are consumers and some are decomposers. Bacteria, fungi, and other organisms are microscopic. A savanna is basically flat, with gently rolling hills. Giraffes like to eat acacia leaves. A cheetah is a predator. Open grasslands. Without plants, the soil starts to erode. Water is one of nature’s most powerful forces. These rocks are actually pieces of prehistoric trees. Coyotes are near the top of the food chain in the Petrified Forest. Humans used tools made of stone and wood. Technology for harvesting food improved over time. People used technology to create cities. The Hoover Dam is the biggest dam in the United States. This town is surrounded by a natural ecosystem. An oil rig. The Deepwater Horizon explosion. The oil threatened wildlife. Egrets. The oil spill posed a threat to life at sea and on land. An oil boom. Workers spent months cleaning oil from the beaches. Recycling is important. This is a tree farm. This is a wind farm. Yosemite National Park. John Muir. Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir. The bald eagle is no longer endangered. How can you help?
     
   
*********

Lesson 7 – Prefixes 02: “RE-“

The prefix “RE-” means “again.” Examples: “recheck” means “check your work again”; “reboot” means “boot the computer again”; “replay” means “show the last play again.” Etc …

    
NEW WORDS: Arnold, Bartlett, Bettie, Gianna, Logan, Maxine, Mindy, Morris, Nico, Ozzie, Padilla, Patterson, Pitts, Powell, Ramsey, Ukraine, Wally, Wolfe, Ziplock, admin, backsplash, dishwasher, goofed, readapt, readd, realign, reapply, rearm, reavow, rebegin, rebid, rebill, rebind, rebury, rebuy, recast, recheck, reclaim, reclean, recomb, redate, redock, redone, redraft, redrawn, redrew, reedits, reenact, reenter, reequip, refile, refill, refilm, refit, refocus, refold, reframe, refried, refuel, regive, reglue, regrind, regrow, reheat, reheats, rehire, rehired, reissue, rejudge, relabel, relace, relearn, relit, relive, relived, reload, remade, remake, remarry, rematch, remeet, remix, remodel, remount, removes, renail, rename, reoccur, reorder, repack, repaid, repaint, repaper, repark, repatch, repaved, replan, replay, replays, reprint, reran, rereads, reroof, reroofs, rerun, reseal, resew, reshoe, resoak, restack, restaff, restart, restudy, retake, retaken, retaste, reteach, retells, retest, retile, retitle, retool, retorn, retrial, retrim, retuned, retype, retyped, reunite, revalue, reviews, rewarm, reweigh, rewiden, rewind, reword, rework, rewrap, rewrote, rezone, stains, sturdier, zillion
        
   

They need to rezone this beat-up part of town.
   
Arnold needs to relace his shoes.
   
How will Bettie react to this news?
   
Since Gianna is ill, we need to recast her lead role in the play.
   
This came undone, so I need to reglue it.
   
Shall we remeet about this same time next year?
   
The replay shows that the ref was right.
   
Let’s redate this contract to March 10.
   
We defeated the enemy, so we can reclaim this land for our country.
   
Widow Brown says that she will never remarry.
   
They will rerun this TV series over the summer.
   
If we move far north, we’ll need to readapt to the cold climate.
   
Mr. Bartlett asked his admin to retype this note.
   
The Patterson sisters got to reunite with each other for the first time in 30 years.
   
You do not want to regrind coffee grounds.
   
We’ll need to refuel the car in an hour.
   
I’ll regive this tie to someone who’ll like it.
   
Now that the recession is past us, we can restaff our sales team.
   
The director wants to refilm this scene in the film.
   
Ukraine has retaken some of the land that it lost to Russia.

Mrs. Ramsey has done a gorgeous kitchen remodel.
   
Now that the company has fixed itself, we’ll rebuy some of their stock.
   
Let’s rebegin our choir practice now that our voices are warmed up.
   
Ms. Powell said to us, “Class, make sure to recheck your math problems.”
   
That ex-con has remade his life.
   
Darn it, Nico, your shirt is retorn.
   
Our finance team reran the numbers, and they got the same results.
   
The post office will reissue these stamps.
   
We need to redock the boat on the north pier.
   
We’ll reapply for that grant.
   
This apartment reroofs its building every 25 years.
   
Please reseal this ziplock bag.
   
I’ll relive that car crash a zillion times.
   
Maxine, please refile this note for me.
   
It’s time to reheat the rolls.
   
These reedits have tightened up my novel.
   
Since they had a hung jury, there will be a retrial.
   
Can you repatch the elbows on this sports coat?
   
Colonel Padilla has ordered us to retake that hill from the enemy.
   
The boundaries of our Congressional district have been redrawn.

This type of airplane is due for a refit.
  
I need to recomb my hair due to all of that wind.
   
This removes clothing stains.
   
If you fall off, remount your horse.
   
I can’t rebid if the price goes above $20,000.
   
We need to reshoe the horse’s right hind hoof.
   
The pros’ rematch event is this weekend.
   
Your redone book report is much better.
   
The replays show that there were lots of tough calls in this game.
   
These folks will reenact the Battle of Bull Run.
   
Add a cup of water and remix the liquid.
   
Mr. Pitts was rehired at his old firm.
   
I’d reword that last phrase.
   
I need to retrim my bangs.
   
Reequip the troops with these better flashlights.
  
I think I like this, but I need to retaste it to be sure.
   
That can’t be right; I will reweigh myself.
  
Mom will rewrap this gift.
   
I think that I should retitle my poem.
   
Can we rehire Ms. Morris?

This plant will regrow next year.
   
This retyped note looks better.
   
I’ve repaid all of my debts.
   
Resoak this stained towel in soda water.
   
Dad reheats his tea in the microwave.
   
I need to renail a number of places on the fence.
   
After the fire drill, reenter from that door.
   
The artist redrew her sketch.
   
It’s time to reroof the house.
   
Please reload the dishwasher for me.
   
I reavow my oath to my Queen!
   
I’m going to retool my work shop.
   
You have to realign your car tires.
   
Mindy rereads her homework at least twice.
   
Let’s refocus on the problem at hand!
   
Mom wants to repaper the bathroom.
   
Class, your scores were so low that I’m going to give you a retest.
   
The Peace Party does not want its nation to rearm.
   
Logan, restack the boxes on that shelf.
   
Rewind this to hear that solo again.

I relived lots of fun times when I went back there on vacation.
   
The reviews of this film are strong.
   
Do the job right the first time, so we won’t have rework to do.
   
Repack this in a sturdier box.
   
My guitar sounds better since I retuned it.
   
I’ll repaint the deck this month.
   
Let’s rename this dog “Ozzie.”
   
It’s about time that they repaved this road.
   
I goofed, and I need to rebill the customer.
   
If the dog goes outside with this bone, he will rebury it.
   
I will restudy for the test.
   
Mom, can you resew this hem?
   
If they revalue our home, we’ll have to pay more taxes on it.
   
Let me reframe my point this way.
   
Did you like that product enough to reorder it?
   
I will redraft my speech to make it less strident.
  
I found a reprint of this old book.
   
They’ll need to rewiden this highway in a few years.
   
Mrs. Wolfe, can you reteach us how to do that math problem?
   
Uncle Wally retells that same tale each time that I see him.

Now that you’ve charged the battery, try to restart the car.
   
Let’s relabel this box “car parts.”
   
I’ll rewarm your soup for you.
   
Dad relit the fire.
   
Reclean these glasses to get the lipstick off of them.
   
I want to retile the kitchen backsplash.
   
Readd these numbers, and I think you’ll get a different answer.
   
I’ll repark the car in a spot closer to the entrance.
   
He performed so well that I think I’ll rejudge his abilities.
   
Can you rebind this book?
   
Let’s replan our vacation for a less expensive city.
   
This is a remake of a famous 1947 film.
   
I’m going to refill my soft drink.
   
Refold your clothes more neatly, like this.
   
I hope that a storm like this does not reoccur any time soon.
   
When I eat at a Mexican place, I like to get refried beans.
   
I rewrote that last paragraph, and it’s better now.
   
It’s been so long since I’ve done that, that I’ll need to relearn how to do it.

   
   
*********

The Boxcar Children
    

Lesson 8 (Chapters 9-11)

Editor’s note: in the first half of “The Boxcar Children,” a lot happened. You got to meet Henry, Jess, Violet, and Benny. The four children’s father had died. Then they journeyed out on their own, trying to find a way to live without their grandfather being able to find them. They found interesting places to stay on the way, like a haystack and the floor of a forest. But eventually, they found an old empty boxcar that they could stay in. First, Jess got a briar out of a stray dog’s paw. They fell in love with the dog, and vice-versa. They named him “Watch.” Then they found an old dump and obtained lots of practical things from it, like silverware, cups, etc. They fixed up the boxcar to be quite homey. They even had flowers on a shelf! Henry found a good place to buy food. And then he got a job! He started to work for a kind young doctor and his mother. He was quite the handyman. He helped them with gardening, straightening out the garage, etc. And the doctor and his mom were very impressed with Henry’s work ethic. He was very hard-working, and he was always cheerful about it. Since Henry was now getting paid, he could buy more things for all of the siblings to eat. They were quite resourceful at not having much and turning it into a lot. In other words, they had lots of “adult skills” for being so young. We last left them after they had cleverly dammed up the nearby brook to create a little swimming pool for themselves. Please enjoy the rest of this wonderful story and find out what other wonderful adventures awaited the boxcar children!
       

NEW WORDS: Cordyce, Intervale’s, absently, admittance, ambrosial, aplomb, attendee, bankrolling, beamish, beatifically, befuddlement, cannoned, capitals, catamounts, colloquy, compeers, conclave, confounding, contestants, cookery, delaying, desisted, devouring, discomposure, dissected, drainer, dreamless, drubbed, drupes, durably, egress, embossed, exhibitions, experimentation, fastidiousness, featherlight, flummery, forbearance, foundered, fretting, gamesomely, grandstands, gripped, hearteningly, heartily, hilarity, idly, imaginable, intendance, jittered, lightsome, limousine, locating, manufactories, marshaled, meditated, millionaire, munificent, muteness, ossified, overwhelming, oxheart, oxhearts, peppy, performances, perusing, practicable, prizes, prizewinner, probed, punnet, quietude, racecourse, racers, recapped, recreational, respite, reverberated, reviewing, saporous, scoreboard, scorekeeper, sibilated, signally, signboard, singed, slump, solicited, squiggly, starter’s, stoned, stunts, stupefaction, suntanned, surmount, titleholder, topple, undertone, unrivaled, utterance, whittle, wrinkling     
    
   

Chapter Nine: Cherry Picking
   
It was early the next morn. Henry meditated a bit. Should he take someone with him for the cherry picking? “The doc said that he could use more than one,” he mused. He foundered to decide the question on his own. So, he laid it in front of his sisters as they ate their bread and milk.
   
“I can’t see but one reason why we won’t ALL go,” said Jess.
   
“What’s that?” asked Henry.
   
“Well, you see. There are four of us. And what if grandfather is looking for us? It will be simpler to find four than one.”
   
“True,” said Henry. “But what if we went down the hill. Then we could go through the streets two-by-two? And you took Watch?”
   
That’s just what they did. Henry and Benny would get no attention. Violet and Jess would be with the dog. They would trace Henry. And so they set out. They took down the clothes line. They closed the car door. Their place now looked as lonesome as a heart could wish. Even the beamish brook looked deserted.
   
The kids came to the McAllister orchard. They soon saw that they were not the sole workers. There were two hired men. And the young doctor himself was there. All of them brought ladders and pails from the barn. And the Irish cook had brought piles of square baskets from the house. These were the kind that strawberries are sold in.
   
“The girls can pick fruit as well as I can,” said Henry. He then introduced his sisters. “Benny ought not to climb tall trees. But we had to bring him.”
   
The doc had a question, much amused. “Can Benny carry the baskets? You see, this is a cherry year. And we have to work fast when we once start. He could fill the small baskets from the big ones.”
   
Yes, it was a ‘cherry year’ for sure. There were two types in the orchard. There was the pale-yellow kind with a red cheek. And there were the deep crimson ones. These were just as red in the center as they were on the skin. The red ones were huge. And they dripped with juice. And the trees were full of the saporous drupes. Even the air was ambrosial.

It was a nice sight that the doctor turned his back on when he went on his calls. Henry – slim, suntanned, and graceful – picked fast from the tallest ladder in the largest tree. The two girls in their practicable bloomer suits could surmount the ladders like catamounts. They leaned on the ladders about halfway up. Their featherlight short hair gleamed in the sun. Benny trotted to and fro. He spent his time waiting on the busy pickers. His cheeks were as red as the cherries were. “Eat all you want,” the doc called back. They did not obey this command. But here and there, a set of white teeth would bite into one of the unrivaled oxhearts.
   
In less than an hour, Benny had made five firm compeers. The hired men joked with him. The cook would pat him on the head. The young doc laughed at him. And sweet Mrs. McAllister fell in love with him. At one point, he sat down at her side by the trees. He filled square boxes with great fastidiousness under her intendance. “I’ve never had such a peppy conclave of cherry pickers,” the doc’s mom said, at last. “I’d much prefer to stay out here than go in the house, where it’s cool.”
   
It seemed that the cook felt the same way. She kept coming to the orchard. She’d have some reason or other. The doctor came back at lunch time. His orchard was full of hilarity. And he heard good-natured barks from Watch. The dog could not feel safe in his mind with his mistress so high up in a tree where he could not be next to her. The doctor took a moment of respite in the garage. He sniffed the boiling cherries in the kitchen. He then made his way to the orchard. Once there, he received a warm welcome.
   
“There’s no use in your going home to lunch,” he said. At the same time, he dissected Henry’s face with care. “You can eat right here. That is, if your mom will not be fretting about you.”
   
This utterance met with a confounding muteness. Henry was the first to get his aplomb. “No, I’m afraid that our mom is dead,” he said. He spoke evenly – and there was no discomposure.
   
It was the doctor who changed the subject that he had brought up. “I smelled something when I came in,” he said to Benny.
   
“What did it smell like?” probed Benny.
   
“It smelled like cherry slump,” said the doc with glistering eyes.

“Cherry what?” asked Jess. She was struggling down her ladder with a full punnet.
   
“I think that’s what they call it – slump,” said the doctor. “Do you care to try it?”
   
Right then, Mary showed up in the orchard with a huge tray. And at the first sight of her cookery, no one cared the least what its name was. It was that rare mix of dumpling mixed with stoned cherries. It had been cooked in the juice of the oxheart cherries in a real ‘cherry year.’ It was steaming in the red juice. And there was the least bit of melted butter over the whole. “Please get two more, Mary,” solicited the doctor’s mom. “It tastes so much better by the cherry trees!”
   
This was another meal that no one ever forgot. The two hired men – sitting under another tree devouring the tasty flummery – desisted to hear Benny laugh. Now, those two men sometimes meet Henry. But that’s another tale. They never will forget the cherry slump that was made by the Irish cook.
   
After a bit, lunch was done. Benny rolled on the grass. He went into a calm sleep. His head was on the dog’s back. But the rest worked on. Mrs. McAllister kept an eye on them from the screened porch. They did not know that she was looking at them. “Just see how those kids keep at it,” she said to her son. “There is good stuff in them. I should like to know where they come from.”
   
Her son did not say a thing. He came out into the orchard. That’s when he thought that they had worked long enough. He paid them a munificent four dollars. And he gave them all the cherries that they could take. They did try to object, though. “You see, you’re better than most pickers. That’s because you’re so lightsome.” And, signally, with a little bit of Sherlock Holmes in his assessment, he saw that they did not all egress the yard at the same time!

The kids went back to their wee home. They looked at the scene with care. Not a thing had been moved. The door was still shut. And the milk and butter stood untouched in the fridge. They made an odd meal of raw cherries and bread and butter. And before the stars came out, they had gone to sleep. They slept happy and dreamless.
   
Let’s turn to much later that night. A young man sat at his desk. He was perusing the paper. He read the news idly. He was just on the point of tossing the paper aside. But then this ad caught his eye:
   
Lost. Four children. Aged 13, 12, 10, and 5. Some point near the region of Middlesex and Townsend. $5,000 reward for info.

JAMES HENRY CORDYCE
   
“Whew!” whistled the young man. “James Henry Cordyce!”
   
He sat in quietude for a long time, thinking. Then he went to bed. But long after he had gone up the stairs, he whistled once more. And he could have been heard to say – if someone had been awake to hear it – “James Henry Cordyce! Of all people!”

Chapter Ten: The Race
   
We now come to the Cordyce Steel Mills. They stood a bit aside from the town of Greenfield. It was as if they were a bit too good to mix with common manufactories. James Henry Cordyce sat in a huge leather chair. He was in his private office. He was a man some 60 years of age. His dark brown hair still had no gray in it. He had rather hard lines around his mouth. But he had softer ones around his eyes. The top of his door was ground-glass. Embossed on it were black and gold words. They were: J. H. CORDYCE – President. Private.
   
Once a year, Cordyce gave himself a holiday. He had a ‘good’ weak spot. It was for boys in good health. He thought that boys should be running with no hats on. They should be jumping, throwing rings, swimming, and vaulting with a long pole. And he did a good thing, in company with three other very rich men. He set up, once a year, a Field Day. This was for the town of Intervale. These men came to it in person. And it was just them who were bankrolling it. This day was Field Day.
   
Folks were getting ready through the spring and early summer months. Boys trained for miles around. They were getting prepped for Intervale’s Field Day! And this was not just for boys. Men, old and young – and girls of all ages – got into the fun, too. There were prizes for tennis, baseball, rowing, swimming, and running. Each imaginable type of recreational feat was part of the fun. But for the most part, the key fun of the day centered on a ‘free-for-all’ race. It was for one mile. All the folks loved it. And lots of folks entered. A prize of 25 dollars was offered to the winner of this race. They’d get a silver trophy cup with small wings on its handles, too. At times, this cup was won by a middle-aged man. At times, it was won by a girl. At times, even a trained athlete might win. Mr. Cordyce smiled about his eyes as he closed his desk. He called for his limousine. Then he went out and locked the door of his office. The mill had been closed down for the day. All of the folks came to Field Day.

Henry was washing the concrete drives at the doctor’s. He heard the doc call to him from the road. So, he turned off the hose. He then ran out to see what was wanted. “Hop in,” said the doctor. He did not stop his engine. “You ought to go to see the stunts at the athletic meet. It’s Field Day.” Henry did not wish to be delaying the doctor. So, he hopped in.
   
“I can’t be an attendee,” said the doc. “I’ll just drop you at the grounds. There’s no charge for admittance. You just watch all of the events. Then let me know who wins.” Henry tried to tell his friend that he ought to stay at work. But there was just no time. He soon found himself in a seat on the grandstands. The performances began. He forgot everything in the world. He was gripped by the exciting exhibitions in front his eyes. Henry had no pencil. But he had a great memory. He went over in his mind the name of each prizewinner. Their names would be posted on a huge signboard.
   
It was nearly 11:00 AM. That’s when the free-for-all race was called. “What do they mean, ‘free-for-all’?” asked Henry of a small boy at his side.
   
“Why, just anyone,” said the boy. “Have you not seen one? Didn’t you see the one last year?”
   
“No,” said Henry.
   
The boy laughed. “That was a funny one,” he said. “There was a college runner in it. There were a couple of fat men. Some girls joined in. Lots of folks ran. And the small African-American boy who’s over there won it. You just ought to have seen him run! He went so fast that you could not see his legs. He beat the college boy, you know!” Henry gazed at the titleholder of last year’s race. He was smaller than Henry. But he was older. In a few minutes, Henry had quickly left his place on the bleachers. The boy turned to speak to him. But he was gone.
   
Henry had gone, in fact, to the dressing room. In there, boys of all sizes were putting on sandals and running trunks. A man stepped up to him. “Want to be in the race?” he asked. “No time to waste.”
   
“Yes,” said Henry.

The man tossed him a pair of white shoes and some blue trunks. He liked the look of Henry’s face. He paused to ask in an undertone, “Where did you train?”
   
“I have not trained,” said Henry.
   
“I guess you know that these folks have been training all year?” said the man. “You don’t think that you can win?”
   
“Oh, no!” said Henry. He was shocked at that thought. “But it’s lots of fun to run, you know.” He was dressed and ready by this time. How light he felt! He felt as if he could fly. Then, the contestants were all marshaled out to the track. Henry was #4.
   
Now, Henry had not been trained to run. But the boy had a great amount of common sense. “It’s a mile race,” he thought. “And it’s the second half mile that counts.” So, it happened that this was the main thought in his mind. When the starter’s gong reverberated, the racers cannoned away down the track. In no time, Henry was far back of the first half of the runners. But strangely, he did not seem to mind this. “It’s fun to just run,” he thought.
   
It WAS fun, for sure. He felt as if his limbs were strung together on springs. He ran with ease. He ran without effort. Each step bounded into the next like an elastic band. A couple of minutes passed. Then Henry had a new thought. “You’ve tried to feel how easy you can run. Now let’s see how FAST you can run!”
   
And then not just Henry himself, but the huge crowd, as well, saw how fast he could run. Slowly he gained on the fellow ahead of him. He passed him. With the next fellow as a goal, he slowly crept up next to him. He passed him with a spurt. The crowd shouted itself hoarse. The field all along the racecourse was black with people. Henry could hear them cheering for #4, as he drubbed his way on. Six racers stayed ahead of him. Here was the kind of race the crowd loved. It was not an easily won affair between two runners. It was a gradual victory between the best runner and overwhelming odds.

Henry could see the finish flag now in the distance. He began to spurt. He passed Numbers 14 and 3. He passed 25, 6, and 1 in a bunch. Number 16 stayed ahead. Then Henry thought of winning. How much the 25 dollar prize would mean to Jess and the rest! Number 16 must be passed. “I must win this race!” he said in his own mind. “I’ll bet you I am!” The thought lent him speed.
   
“Number 4! Number 4!” yelled the crowd. Henry did not know that the fellow ahead had been in the front all the way. And just because he had slowly gained over them all, the crowd loved him best. He waited till he could have touched him. He was within three yards of the wire. He bent double. Then he put all of his grit into the last elastic bound. He passed Number 16. And he shot under the wire!
   
Then the crowd went wild. It scrambled over and under the fence. They cheered and blew their horns. Henry felt himself lifted on lots of shoulders. He was carried, panting, up to the reviewing stand. He bowed laughing at the sea of faces. And when he took the silver cup with its small wings, he felt like he was in a sort of a dream. It’s a wonder that he did not lose the envelope that held the prize. He hardly knew when he took it what it was. Then someone said, “What’s your name, boy?” That called him back to Earth. He had to think fast under cover of getting his breath.
   
“Henry James,” he said. This was really true, as far as it went. In a bit, the huge scoreboard flashed out the name:
   
    HENRY JAMES. No. 4. AGE 13.

    WINNER OF FREE-FOR-ALL.
   
At the same time, the man of the dressing room was busy locating Mr. Cordyce. He knew that this was just the kind of tale that old James Henry would like. “Yes, sir,” he said with a smile. “I says to him, ‘You don’t think that you can win, of course.’ And he says to me, ‘Oh, no. But it’s lots of fun to run, you know.'”
   
“Thank you, sir,” said Mr. Cordyce. “That’s a good story. Bring the young man over here, if you don’t mind.” Henry came up to him. He was a trifle shaken out of his befuddlement and anxious just to get away. Mr. Cordyce stretched out his hand. “I like your spirit, my boy,” he said. “I like the way that you run, too. But it’s your spirit that I like best. Don’t ever lose it.”
   
“Thank you,” said Henry, as he shook the man’s hand. And there was just one man in the whole crowd that knew who was shaking hands with whom. And they were least of all James Henry and Henry James!

Chapter Eleven: More Learning
  
Henry had 25 dollars in his hand. He felt like a millionaire! He edged through the crowd to the gate. “That’s the boy,” he heard lots of folks say. He was forced to hold his silver cup in view. But he kept it out of harm’s way. The doctor drove into his yard. He found a boy washing the concrete drives. He was as calm as if nothing had happened. He laughed. He had stopped at the Fair Grounds for a few minutes. He had held a conversation with the scorekeeper. Henry got the list of winners perfect.
   
“What will you do with the prize?” asked the doc.
   
“Put it in the savings bank, I guess,” said Henry.
   
“Have you an account?” asked his friend.
   
“No, but Jess says that it’s high time we got one.”
   
“Good for Jess,” said the doctor absently. “I recall an old uncle of mine. He’d put 200 dollars in the savings bank. And he forgot all about it. He left it in there till he died. The cash came to me. It added up to 1,600 dollars!”
   
“Whew!” said Henry.
   
“He left it there for over 40 years, you see,” said the doc.
   
Henry came to his new home in the woods. He would not think of putting the $25 in the bank before Jess saw it. He found a nice lunch waiting for him. Jess had boiled the vegetables in clear water. She poked them to know when they were done. Then she drained off the water in a clever drainer. She heaped them on the biggest dish. Then she poured melted butter on top. Henry recapped the details of the race. His family almost forgot to eat! Then he showed them the silver cup and the cash. Then they really DID stop eating, hungry as they were.
   
“I said that my name was Henry James,” said Henry.
   
“That’s all right. So it is,” said Jess. “It’s smart, too. You can use that name for your bank book.”
   
“So I can!” said Henry, with a grin. “I’ll put it in the bank this afternoon. And by the way, I brought something for dinner tonight.”
   
Jess looked in the bag. There were 12 smooth, brown potatoes. “I know how to cook those,” said Jess. She cocked her head wisely. “You just wait!”
   
“Can’t wait!” Henry called back as he went to work.

When he had gone, Benny played loudly with the dog.
   
Jess was hanging her dish towels up to dry. “Benny,” she said. “It’s high time that you learned to read.”
   
“No school now,” said Benny, with hope.
   
“No, but I can teach you. If I only had a primer!”
   
“Let’s make one,” said Violet. She shook her hair back. “We’ve saved all the wrapping paper off of the bundles, you know.”
   
Jess stared off into space. That’s what she would do when she had a bright thought.
   
“Violet,” she cried at last. “Do you recall those chips? We could whittle out letters like type. We could make each letter backwards, you know.”
   
“And stamp them on paper!” said Violet.
   
“There would be just 26 in all. It would not be that hard,” said Jess. “We would not mess with capitals.”
   
“What could we use for ink?” Violet asked. She was wrinkling her forehead.
   
“Blackberry juice!” cried Jess. The two girls clapped their hands. “Won’t Henry be shocked when he finds that Benny can read?”
   
Benny had heard this colloquy. He thought that this type of business would take his sisters a while to fix up. So, he was not much worried about his part of the work. In fact, he sorted out chips very cheerfully. And he watched his teachers closely as they dug around the letters with the two knives.
   
“We’ll teach him two words to start with,” said Jess. “Then we won’t have to make the whole alphabet at once. Let’s begin to teach him ‘see’.”
   
“That’s good,” said Violet. “Then we won’t have to make but two letters. Just ‘S’ and ‘E’.”
   
“And the other word will be ‘me’,” cried Jess. “So, just three bits of type, in all.”
   
Jess cut the wiggly ‘S’. She had the better knife. Violet struggled with the ‘E’. Then Jess cut a good ‘M’. Violet sewed the primer down the back. Then she got a cupful of blackberries. She crushed the juice from the berries with a stick. And Jess planned the ink pad. “We’ll have to use a small piece of the washcloth, I fear,” she said.

It was not as bad as she’d thought. They had to cut off just the uneven bits of cloth. That is, those which hung around the edges. These they used to stuff the pad. Then they covered them with a pocket, which Violet ripped with care from her apron. This was sewed durably into place. It was put into a small saucer. Then Jess poured on the purple juice. Even Benny came up on his hands and knees to watch her stamp the first ‘S’. It came out nicely! It was on the first page of the primer. It was purple and clean-cut. The ‘E’ was just as good. And what about the ‘M’? Jess’s hand jittered with pure pride as she stamped it evenly on the page. At last, the two words were done. And they were done long before Benny knew that his sisters were prepped for him.
   
He came willingly enough for his first lesson. But he could not tell the two words apart. “Don’t you see, Benny?” Jess asked with forbearance. “This one with the squiggly ‘S’ says ‘see’.” But Benny did not ‘see.’
   
“I’ll tell you, Jess,” said Violet at last. “Let’s print each word on a separate card. That’s the way they do it at school. And then let him point to ‘see’.”
   
The girls did this. They used squares of stiff brown paper. Then they called Benny. With care, Jess explained again which word said ‘see’. She sibilated like a huge snake to show him the sound of the ‘S’. Then she mixed the cards. She said hearteningly, “Now, Benny, point to ‘s-s-s-see’.”
   
Benny did not move. He sat with his finger on his lip. But the kids were nearly ossified with stupefaction. They saw Watch cock his head to one side. Then he gravely put his paw on the center of the word! Now, this was only an accident. Watch did not really know one of the words from the other. But Benny thought he did. And he would not let a dog get ahead of him. Not Benny! In less time than it takes to tell it, Benny had learned both words. “Good old Watch,” said Jess.
   
“It is not hard at all,” said Benny. “Is it, Watch?”

During all of this experimentation, Jess had not lost track of her dinner. When you live outdoors all the time, you do not forget things like that. In fact, both girls had learned to tell the time by the sun. Jess started up a pretty little fire of cones. They were turning into red-hot ashes. Then they began to topple over one-by-one into the glowing pile. Jess laughed heartily. She had scrubbed the smooth potatoes a while back. And she had dried them with care. She now poked them one-by-one into the ashes. She used a stick from a birch tree. When a potato would light up too much, she’d give it a poke into a new position. And when Henry found her, she was just rolling the singed balls out onto the flat stones.
   
“Burned ’em up?” asked Henry.
   
“Burned, nothing!” cried Jess. “You just wait!”
   
“Can’t wait,” said Henry.
   
“You said that a long time ago,” said Benny.
   
“Well, isn’t it true?” asked Henry. Then he gamesomely rolled his brother over on the pine needles.
   
“Come,” said Violet. She had forgotten to ring the bell.
   
“Hold them with leaves,” said Jess. “They’re quite hot. Knock them on the side. Then scoop them out with a spoon. And put butter on top.” The children did as the little cook asked them to. They sprinkled on a little salt from the salt shaker. And then they took a taste.
   
“Ah!” said Henry.
   
“It’s good,” said Benny beatifically. It was about the most successful meal of all, in fact. The kids in their later years would recall their varied feasts. They always came back to the baked potatoes. These were the ones that were roasted in the ashes of the pine cones. Henry said it was because they were poked with a black-birch stick. Benny said it was because Jess nearly burned them up. Jess herself said that maybe it was the remarkable salt shaker. That shaker had to stand on its head all the time. That’s because there was no floor to it.
   
After supper, the kids still were not that sleepy. So, they showed Henry the new primer. They let Benny show his first reading lesson. Henry was taken with the idea. He sat up till it was almost dark. He spent that time chipping out the remaining letters of the alphabet. This primer grew to ten pages in length after some time. It took four days to complete it. The first page had the below written on it:
   
    page 1

    See

    me

    See me

    Oh Oh See me

    Come

    Come to me

    Come to see me

    cat

    rat
   
Henry argued that the rat’s tail was too long. But Jess said that his knife must have slipped. That would have been when he made the ‘A.’ So, they were now even.

   
   
*********

The Boxcar Children
    

Lesson 9 (Chapters 12-14)

    
NEW WORDS: Bridget, Cordyce’s, McAllister’s, Swede, Watchie, acceded, aggravation, assailed, balsam, bated, blithesomely, branching, breakneck, broil, bronchitis, chauffeur, chinks, codger, comforters, comfortingly, cursory, darns, dawdling, delineated, disinterred, dredging, extricated, flappy, flasks, flowerpot, forename, geraniums, impatience, impeccable, inscribing, intimidated, monogrammed, mortified, nameless, noontide, novelties, padding, pasted, pooch, puffball, quinces, reorganizing, scutwork, sedulous, spellbound, tailored, tailpiece, thunderstruck, torrent, tramps, unaccounted, verified, vials, visitor’s, wakened, weeder
       
   

Chapter Twelve: Ginseng
   
What did the doc do before Henry worked for him? That would be hard to guess. There was lots of scutwork that would wait for him each day. And he just did not have time to get to them all. And sedulous Henry did not care what the job was. Nothing was too hard for him to try. Nothing was too dirty for him to try. One day, the doc set him at the task of reorganizing his little lab. The boy washed bottles. He pasted labels. He cleaned instruments. This took a full morning. There were lots of broken flasks on their way to the trash heap. But some of these vials were brought up the hill to the hidden family. They’d find a use for them.
  
One day, Henry was inscribing letters onto a sticky label. He saw a young man in the outer office. He was talking with the doc.
   
“Can you tell me if this is real ginseng?” Henry heard him say.
   
“Yes, it is,” said the doc. “They’ll give you two bucks a pound for the root. That’s at most of the drug stores.”
   
Henry took a look. He could see the plant that the man held. It was about a foot high. It had branching leaves. It had a fine feathery white flower. Henry also recognized the plant’s white puffball. He had seen it in Violet’s flowerpot that very morn.
   
The young man had gone. Henry said, “I know where I can find a whole lot of that plant.”
   
“Is that so?” said the doctor kindly. “It’s only the root that is worth something. But someone who wants the aggravation of digging it up can sell any bit of that.”
   
Henry went home at noontide. He told his sisters about this. Then he set them to work in good earnest. They started out with both knives, two strong iron spoons, and the kettle. Benny was charged to find each white flower that he could. In the end, it was a big success. There was a great deal of hard dredging. But they disinterred tons of ginseng root. In fact, that first day’s work got them a kettle full. And that’s not counting a single leaf or stem. Henry was pleased when he saw the fruits of their work. He took it next day to the large drug store. He got three bucks for the roots!

Without any dawdling, Henry went to the dry-goods store. He 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. He wished for them to admire his fine new stockings. There had been one other thing that Benny had given them no peace about. Turn back to the night when the kids had crept away from the baker’s wife. Jess had left behind Benny’s bear. This bear was a poor looking thing. It had once been a dear bright-eyed Teddy-bear. It was made of brown plush. But Benny took it to bed with him each night for three years. And he had loved it each day. It got to a point that it was not pretty to anyone but himself. Both eyes were unaccounted for. Its body was quite limp. But Benny had suffered a great deal. It was tough to sleep in a strange bed without his beloved bear.
   
Thus, Jess had plans on foot. The thought came to her when she saw Benny’s new stockings. She washed the OLD brown stockings with their neat darns. Then she hung them up to dry. She started her project early in the afternoon. She and Violet sat with the workbag between them. Each one of them held one of the old stockings.
   
Benny sat by to watch all of this. Jess delineated an impeccable Teddy-bear. One stocking, neatly trimmed, made the head and body. The other material went for two arms, two legs, and the stuffing. Jess worked hard over the head. She pushed the padding well into the blunt nose. Violet embroidered two gorgeous eyes in black and white. And she created a jet-black nose-tip.
   
“You must make a tail, too, Jessie,” said Benny. He watched her snip the brown rags.
   
“Bears don’t have tails,” said Jess. She was not 100% sure that she was right. “Your old bear did not have a tail, you know.”
    
“But THIS bear has a tail,” said Benny. He knew that Jess would put on two tails if he pushed the point. And it was true. His bear would have a tail in the end.
   
“What kind of tailpiece?” asked Jess, at last. “Bushy, long and slim, or cottontail?”
   
“Long and slim,” said Benny with glee. “That way, I can pull it.”

“Benny!” cried Jess. She laughed in spite of herself. But she made a tail, long and slim. It was just as Benny had asked for. She tailored it on tightly. That way, it might be “pulled” if he wished to. She fastened on the legs and arms with flat hinges. That meant that the bear might sit down with ease. And she added, first, a pair of cunning flappy ears. And after that, she added a gay collar. It was made of braided red string from a bundle.
   
At last, Jess gave the sweet bear to Benny. “What’s his name?” he asked.
   
“His forename?” asked Jess. “Well, you know that he’s a new bear. He’s not your old one. So, I would not call him Teddy.”
   
“Oh, no,” said Benny, mortified. “This is not Teddy. This has a nice tail.”
   
“Of course,” said Jess, trying not to laugh. “Well, you know we sold that ginseng to pay for your new stockings. And what if you didn’t have your new ones? Then we could not have made this bear out of your old ones.”
   
“So, you want his name to be ‘Stockings’?” asked Benny.
   
“Stockings? No,” said Jess. “I was thinking of ‘Ginseng.'”
   
“Ginseng?” said Benny, thinking deeply. “That’s a nice name. All right, I think Ginseng will be a good bear. But I hope that Watchie doesn’t bark at him.” And from that point, the bear’s name was Ginseng as long as he lived. And he lived to be quite an old bear, indeed.

Chapter Thirteen: Trouble
   
The days went blithesomely by for the boxcar kids. But hardly a day passed without some kind of adventure. The doc’s mom found out that Violet was a great seamstress. She sent home fine linen handkerchiefs for her to hem. Each one had a small colored rose in the corner. Violet was pleased with the dainty work. She sat sewing each day by their pool. She could watch Benny there. He sailed wee boats of chips. And he would wade around to his heart’s content.
   
The box car pantry now held nice dishes. They’d all been extricated from the dump. There were a number of novelties. There was a standard bread knife. They had a blue and gold soap dish. They had half of a real cut-glass bowl.
   
Henry proudly deposited $31 in the savings bank. He used the name of Henry James. And he worked hard for his kind friend. Doc did not ask him any more embarrassing questions.
   
Benny learned to read fairly well. The girls spent their time making balsam pillows. These were for the four beds. And they cooked good meals out of little material. Violet kept a bouquet each day in the small vase. She had a perfect genius for arranging three purple irises. They’d look like a picture. Or there might be a single wood lily. Its leaves would look like they were in a Japanese print. Each day, they would have a cooked dinner. And they’d fill in the chinks with bread and butter. Or they might have bread and milk, or bread and cheese. They named their queer house, “Home for Tramps.” They printed this title in fancy letters inside the car.
   
One day Jess began to teach Benny a bit of math. He learned quickly that two and one make three. “I knew that before,” he said, with pride. But it was not the same when Jess told him that two minus one left one.
   
“No, it does not left one,” said Benny, a bit mad. “It left two.”
   
“Why, Benny!” cried Jess. “What if you had two quinces? Then I took away one. Wouldn’t you have one left?”
   
“You would not,” objected Benny. He was sure that he was right.
   
“No, but what if Watch took one?” asked Jess.
   
“Watchie would not take one,” said Benny. “Would you, pooch?”

Watch cocked one eye. Then he wagged his tail. Jess looked at Violet in despair. “What shall I do with him?” she asked.
   
Violet took out her chalk. She printed clearly on the outside of the freight car this example:
   
    2 – 1 =
   
“Now, Benny, don’t you see?” she asked. “Let’s say that you have two things. Someone takes one from you. You must have just one left? Right?”
   
“I’ll show you myself,” said Benny with resignation. “Now see the 2?” He scratched a decent figure 2 on the boxcar. “Now, here’s a nice 1. Now, I take away the 1. Don’t you see that the 2 is left on the car?” He covered the figure 1 with his chubby hand. Then he looked about at his sisters with bated breath.
   
Jess rolled over next to a tree trunk. She laughed till she nearly cried. Violet laughed till she really DID cry. And here we come to the first unpleasant incident in the story of the runaway children.
   
Violet could not stop crying. Jess soon made up her mind that she was quite ill. She helped her into the car. She heaped all of the pine needles around and under her. She made her the softest bed that she could. Then she wet cloths in the cool water of the brook. She laid them across her sister’s hot forehead.
   
“How glad I am that it’s time for Henry to come!” she said in her mind. She held Violet’s thin brown hands in her cool ones.
   
Henry came right at his normal time. He thought that she had a cold. And this seemed likely. Violet began to cough gently while the rest ate a cursory supper.
   
“We don’t want to let her go to a hospital,” said Henry. He was more scared than he cared to show. “If she goes there, we’ll have to give her name. Then Grandfather will find us, for sure.”
   
Jess agreed. So, the two older kids kept changing the cool cloths on Violet’s aching head. But at 10:00 PM, Violet had a chill. She shivered and shook. Her teeth chattered. Jess could plainly hear them. Nothing that they tried could warm the sweet girl. And this was despite her being well packed in hay and pine needles.

“I’ll go down to the doc’s,” said Henry. “I fear that Violet is quite ill.”
   
No one knew how fast he ran down the hill. In his big race, Henry had hardly touched his present speed. He was truly scared. So, he never stopped to notice how quickly the doc seemed to understand what was wanted. He did not even notice that he did not have to tell the doc which way to drive his car in order to reach the hill. The car reached the road at the base of the hill. Doc said, “Stay here in the car.” He went up the hill alone.
   
When the doctor came back, he held Violet in his arms. Jess and Benny and Watch were right behind him. No one spoke during the drive to the doc’s house. The car flew through the darkness. They got there, at last. The doc said three words to his mom. Those words were, “Pneumonia, I fear.” They all heard it.
   
Irish Mary flew from the kitchen. She had with her hot-water bottles and warm comforters. Mrs. McAllister went around. She opened beds and brought pillows. A trained nurse in a white dress showed up like magic. They had no clue where she had come from. They all worked hard to get the sick child warmed up. Soon the hot blankets, hot water, and steaming drinks began to take effect. Thank goodness, the shivering stopped.
   
Mrs. McAllister left the sick room. She wanted to see to the other children. Henry and Benny were left in a large spare room. It had a double bed. Jess was put in a small dressing room. It was just out of Mrs. McAllister’s own room. Upon finding that Violet was warm again, they went to sleep. But Violet was not out of danger. For she soon grew as hot as she had been cold. The doctor did not leave her side until 10:00 AM the next morn. Violet, though very ill, did NOT have pneumonia. It turned out to be bronchitis, which is still an ugly illness to catch.
   
Then let’s turn to 9:00 AM. The doctor had a visitor. It was a man who said he would wait. He did wait in the cool front parlor for some half an hour. Then Benny drifted in.
   
“Where is the doctor?” asked the man sharply of Benny.
   
“He’s upstairs,” said Benny.
   
“This means a lot of cash to him. If he just knew it,” said the visitor with impatience.
   
“Oh, that would not make any difference,” Benny said with great assurance. He started to go out again. But the man caught him.

“What do you mean by that, sonny?” he asked. “What’s he doing?”
   
“He’s taking care of my sister, Violet. She’s quite sick.”
   
“And you mean that he would not leave her? Even if I gave him a lot of cash?”
   
“Yes, that’s it,” said Benny. “That’s what I mean.”
   
The visitor calmed down. “You see, I’ve lost a little boy somewhere,” he said. “The doctor knows where he is, I think. He would be about as old as you are.”
   
“Well, if you don’t find him, you can have me, I shouldn’t wonder,” said Benny comfortingly. “I like you.”
   
“You do?” said the man in surprise.
   
“That’s because you’ve got such a nice, soft suit on,” said Benny. He stroked the man’s pants leg gently. The man laughed out loud.
   
Benny then changed his mind. “No, I guess it’s since you have such a nice, soft laugh,” he said. Benny did not quite know why he liked this man. He was so gruff at times. But he was so nice at others. He took up the man’s invitation. He climbed into his lap. He saw the man’s dog’s picture in his watch. He liked the feeling of the ‘nice soft suit’ on the way. The doctor found him here. He came down at 10:00 AM.
   
“Best to go and find Watch, Benny,” said the doctor.
   
“Perhaps one day I’ll come back,” said Benny to his new friend. “I like your dog. And I’m sad that he’s dead.” With that, he ran off to find Watch.
   
“I knew that you’d come, Mr. Cordyce,” said the doctor, with a smile. “Just not quite so soon.”
   
“I came as soon as I heard your name hinted at,” said James Cordyce. “My chauffeur heard two workmen. They say that you knew where my four grandchildren are. That’s all that I wished to hear. Is it true? And where are they?”
   
“That was one of them,” said the doc.
   
“That was one of them?” asked the man. “That beautiful little boy?”
   
“Yes, he is beautiful,” acceded Dr. McAllister. “They all are. There’s a bit of trouble. They’re all scared to death to think of your finding them.”
   
“How do you know that?” asked Mr. Cordyce, sharply.
   
“They’ve changed their name. At least the older boy did. In public, too.”
   
“What did he change it to?”
   
The doctor watched his visitor’s face closely. Then he pronounced the name clearly, “Henry James.”
   
A flood of recollections passed over the man’s face. He flushed deeply.
   
“That boy!” he exclaimed. “That wonderful running boy?”
   
Then events began to move along at breakneck speed.

Chapter Fourteen: Caught
   
The poor grandfather was distracted. His head spun. “They will not go with you right at first,” said the doc’s mom. “They’re not ready. You must give us time to break the news slowly. And above all, we must take care while Violet is so ill.”
   
“Couldn’t I see them?” begged the man. He was just like a boy. “We could say that I was a friend of yours. I’m just here on a trip. And I do love kids. I would swear not to tell them until you consented.”
   
“That might do,” said the doc. “Yes, if they grew to like you before they knew who you were. Hmm! It would make things much better, for sure.”
   
So, James Henry Cordyce’s chauffeur was sent off. He would come back with a gold-monogrammed suitcase and his young man to wait upon him. Then Irish Mary held up her hands in despair. She was intimidated when she learned for whom she must cook. This was a rich man!
   
“Don’t fret, Mary Bridget Flynn,” said the doctor, with emphasis. “You could cook for the King of England! Just make one of your peach shortcakes for lunch. And broil a chicken. Then I’ll answer for him.”
   
Lunch time came. J. H. Cordyce saw all of his grandkids save Violet. He smiled with pride when he saw Jess come down the stairs in her womanly fashion. Henry gave him a firm handshake before he sat down. But he kept glancing at the man all through the meal.
   
“Where have I seen that man?” he thought. “I know that I have!”
   
The doc’s mom had given the children’s names clearly when she introduced them. Jess, Benny, and Henry. Henry James, she had added. But she had not told the kids the man’s name! That was odd.
   
“She forgot,” thought Jess. “Since she knows him so well, she thinks that we do, too.”
   
But though nameless, the stranger caught their attention. He told them engaging tales. He talked of a steel rail which held up an entire bridge till the people had time to get off. He spoke of his collie dog. He talked of a cucumber in his garden. It grew inside of a glass bottle. Henry was intrigued. Benny was fascinated. Jess was spellbound.
   
Benny paused while eating his shortcake. “I’d like to see that cuke,” he said.
   
“Would you?” said Mr. Cordyce. He was quite pleased. “One day soon, if Mrs. McAllister is willing. You and I will ride to my garden and pick it.”

“And we’ll bring it to Violet?” asked Benny. He waited for an answer.
   
“We’ll bring it to Violet,” said Mr. Cordyce. Then he kept eating his shortcake.
   
After lunch, the man went to sleep in an easy-chair. That was in the doctor’s big office. He threw his head back. He shut his eyes. And he breathed heavily. Jess went through the room once with ice water. She was humming. She was so pleased that Violet was better. But at the point that she saw the stranger asleep, she stopped her singing. She then tiptoed the rest of the way. Then she turned around and came back. With great care, she shoved a cushion under the man’s feet. It was so gently done that even if he had been really asleep, he would not have wakened. As it was, he could not help but open one eye the slightest crack. He saw Jess’s bright chestnut hair as she passed out of sight.
   
“No,” he thought. “If she hated me, she would not have done that.”
   
Well, the kids were quite far from hating him. They liked him a lot! At last, one day, he went to see Violet for the first time. He came softly into her room. He brought a nosegay of fragrant English double violets. He won all of their hearts when he patted her dark head. He told her simply that he was sad that she’d been sick.
   
It would be hard to say that J. H. Cordyce ever had a favorite grandchild. But, for sure, his manner with Violet was quite gentle. It was clear to all, even to the anxious nurse, that the stranger was not tiring the sick child. He told her in a pleasant normal voice about his garden and his greenhouses. There, he grew many violets. He had an old Swede gardener who always said that he must “vaw-ter the wi-lets.”
   
“I’d love to see him,” said Violet.
  
“How long will you stay here?” Benny piped up.
   
It was not a polite question. But it was clear to them all that Benny wished for him to stay. So, they all laughed.
   
“As long as they’ll let me, my boy,” said the man. Then he left the sick room. He knew that he should not stay too long.
   
One thing in the man’s last sentence rang in Henry’s ears. He said it over and over in his mind. He tried to recall where he had heard that same voice say, “my boy.”

Mr. Cordyce sat under a tree. He was reading. Henry made an excuse to work in the flower beds along the veranda. He was close to the stranger. This was so that he could glance off and on at the man’s face. Often Henry thought that he had caught hold of his truant memory. Then the man would turn his head. And Henry lost it again. But then it came to him. The man had a smile as he went over a passage in his book. Henry knew it now! This was the man who had shaken hands with him on the day of the race! And he had said, “I like your spirit, my boy.” That was it! Henry sat down out of sight. He weeded geraniums for a bit. His head spun. It’s a wonder that he did not pull up the flowers instead of weeds. You see, his mind was so far off.
   
“I didn’t recall him at first. That’s because I was so jolly excited when he shook hands with me,” thought Henry. Then he was thunderstruck afresh. He sat with his weeder on his knee. His mouth was wide open. “He’s the man who passed me the cup with the wings!” He stole a new look around the corner. This verified his hypothesis. “Same man, for sure!” he said.
   
Henry was done with the flower bed. Then he thought that he heard the young doctor move in the office. He stuck his head in the door. The doc sat at his desk. He took notes from a book. “Do you know who gave out the prizes on Field Day?” asked Henry, nonchalantly. “Do you know what his name was?” 

“James Cordyce. He owns the Steel Mills,” said the doctor. “J. H. Cordyce, from Greenfield.”
   
The doctor looked back at his notes. His eyes were lowered, at least. But for Henry, the heavens were reeling. He withdrew his head. He sat still on the step. That nice man? Was this their grandfather? It just could not be. He was too young, to start with. Henry thought that he’d be a white-haired codger. He’d have a cane and a harsh voice. But all the time, he knew in his soul that it was not only likely. It was true. He recalled the man’s reply to Benny’s straight question. He had said that he would stay as long as they would let him. Could it be that the man knew them without introducing himself? He sat crouched on the steps. A perfect torrent of thoughts assailed his brain. It was clear to him now that Mrs. McAllister had failed to give them his name ON PURPOSE. It was a wonder that Benny had not asked what it was, long before this. He then saw that the man was getting out of his chair by the trees.
   
“It’s now or never,” thought Henry. “I’ve got to know!”
   
The man went toward the garden. His back was turned. Henry walked eagerly after him. He caught up with him. But he was breathing with effort. The man turned to him. “Are you James Henry Cordyce of Greenfield?” panted Henry.
   
“I am, my boy,” said the man with a long look. “Does that question of yours mean that you know – that I know – that you are Henry James Cordyce?”
   
“Yes,” said Henry, simply.
   
The man’s eyes filled with happy alligator tears. And J. H. Cordyce of the Steel Mills shook hands for the third time with his grandson, H. J. Cordyce of the Home for Tramps.

    
     
*********
     
     

The Boxcar Children
    

Lesson 10 (Chapters 15-17)

NEW WORDS: Airedales, Italianate, McAllisters, afflictive, capered, caresses, commodious, conceded, convened, courtly, dishpan, euphonious, excessively, footfall, frigerator, hugely, kennels, moonflowers, passers, purposeful, quilted, recurring, reunited, rumpled, strainer, telephoned, tremendously, trooped, undulant, unequivocal, velutinous
         
   

Chapter Fifteen: A New Grandfather
    
It took less than an hour! The town buzzed with the news. The chauffeur told the maids. Then the maids told the grocer. Then he went from house to house. He said that old James Cordyce had found his four grandkids, at last. In fact, most of the town knew it before the kids did themselves.
   
Jess and Benny came across the lawn. They were going to pick some white moonflowers for Violet’s tray. They were just in time to hear Henry say, “But, Grandfather.”
   
“Grandfather!” yelled Jess. She whirled to gaze at them.
   
“Yes, Jess,” said Henry. “He’s the man who we’ve run from all this time.”
   
“I thought you was old,” said Benny. “And excessively cross. Jess said so.”
   
“I did not know, Benny,” said Jess. She turned pink. To think of running from this kind friend!
   
But her grandfather did not seem to mind. He stroked her short silky hair. Then he proposed that they all go up into Violet’s room. They’d bring the moonflowers. There was no stopping Benny. He rushed to her room. He dragged his grandfather by one hand. He yelled, “It’s Grandfather, Violet! And he’s nice, after all! Isn’t it awesome?”
   
Violet at last saw just what Benny was trying to tell. So, she was happy to rest against her rumpled pillows. And she kept one hand curled about her grandfather’s arm. Then she listened to the rest.
   
“Where have you been living?” asked Mr. Cordyce, at last. The whole group looked at each other. Even Dr. McAllister and his mother exchanged looks. Then they all laughed as if they would not stop.
   
“You just ought to see!” said the doc. He wiped his eyes.
   
“What?” said the kids all at once. “You did not see it in the daytime!”
   
“You don’t mean it!” said the doctor. He teased them. “I have seen it quite a number of times in the daytime.”
   
“Seen what, in heaven’s name?” asked Mr. Cordyce, at last. Then they told him. They interrupted each other to tell about their cozy abode. The beds of pine needles. The nice dishes. The boxcar roof over all. The fireplace. And, of course, the swimming pool.
   
“That’s where Violet got her bronchitis,” said the doctor. “She sat by that pool for so long. She should not have done it. I thought so from the first.”

“You thought so?” asked Henry. “How did you know that she sat by it? I’m sure that I did not myself.”
   
“I was your most recurring guest,” said the doctor. He enjoyed himself hugely.
   
“I hope that you were our only one,” said Jess, with her mouth open.
   
“Well, I think I was,” said the doc. “It was the first night after Henry mowed my lawn. I followed him as far as the hill. I wished to see where he lived.”
   
“Why did you do that?” asked Mr. Cordyce.
   
“I liked his looks,” said the doc. “And I saw that he did not tell much about himself. So, I was curious.”
   
“But you did not see the boxcar then, for sure” said Jess.
   
“No. But I came back that night. I hunted around for a bit,” said Dr. McAllister.
   
“At about 11:00 PM!” Henry cried. The doctor nodded “yes.”
   
“Our rabbit!” said Henry and Jess at the same time.
   
“I made as little noise as I could when I saw the freight car. Then I saw the door move. So, I thought that someone was in it. Then I heard the dog bark. So, I was sure of it. And then I went home.”
   
“But you came back?” asked Jess.
   
“Yes. Each time that I knew all of you were safe in my garden, I made you a wee visit. This was just to be sure that you had enough to eat. And enough dishes.” The doctor laughed. “I found that you had a strainer, a vase of flowers, a salt shaker, and a cut glass punch bowl. So, then I stopped fretting.”
   
“Didn’t you think that they were my children?” asked Mr. Cordyce. “Didn’t you see my ad? Why did you not let me know at once?”
   
“They were having such a good time,” conceded the doctor. “And I was, too. I just wished to see how long they could manage their own affairs. It was all quite tremendously interesting. Why, that boy and girl of yours are born business managers, Mr. Cordyce!” Mr. Cordyce took note of this!
   
“But I don’t see one thing, yet. How did you know that Violet sat by the pool?” asked Jess.
   
“You could not know that, of course,” said the doctor. “I went up twice. That’s when I knew that Henry had taken the dog down to my barn. I’d asked them to catch rats. I hid behind the big white rock with the flat top.”
   
“That’s Lookout Rock,” said Jess. “That’s where we used to let Benny watch for Henry. But we did not hear you.”

“No,” said the doc. “I did not even snap a twig those times. But I had the best time when I went with Mother.”
   
“Have you seen it, too?” cried the kids. They stared at Mrs. McAllister.
   
“Yes, I have!” she said. “I have even had a drink from your well.”
   
“Each of you has seen it but me,” said Mr. Cordyce.
   
“We’ll show it to you!” screamed Benny. “And I’ll show you my wheels made on a cart. And you can see my bed made out of hay – and my pink cup!”
   
“Good for you, Benny,” said Mr. Cordyce, pleased. “Let’s wait till Violet gets well. Then we’ll all go up there. You show me your house. Then I’ll show you mine.”
   
“Have you got a house?” asked Benny.
   
“Yes. You can live there with me. If you like it, that is,” said Mr. Cordyce. “I’ve looked for you for some two months.”
   
With Mrs. McAllister’s purposeful care, Violet soon was strong again. But she had been skipping around the garden for a few days before the doctor would allow the trip to the boxcar house. At last, the whole group drove out in the great limousine. Lots of folks looked out of their windows. They were dying to watch Mr. Cordyce and his grandkids. Lots of them knew Henry as the boy who won the race. And they were glad that he had found such a friendly relative.
   
The children reached their beloved home. They were like wild things. Watch capered about furiously. He took little swims in the pool. He sniffed at all the dear old familiar things. Mr. Cordyce took a seat on a rock. He watched them all. He was engrossed. He exchanged a glance now and then with Mrs. McAllister and her son.
   
“See our ‘building’?” yelled Benny. That’s what he called the fireplace. “It burns hot, too. And this is the well. And this is the dishpan. And this is the ‘frigerator‘!”
   
At last, they all climbed into the car itself. Mr. Cordyce saw the beds. He looked at the cash account on the wall. He saw the ingenious shelf and each dish. Each dish had a tale of its own.
   
“That’s more dishes than I have,” said Mr. Cordyce.
   
Mrs. McAllister, who knew what his dishes were, was silent.
   
They ate tasty chicken sandwiches. They used their very same tablecloth. Benny drank from his pink cup. And Watch could not see why they had gone away at all. But it was a trifle cool on the hill now. The sun had begun to sink. So, after they rolled the door shut, they left regretfully.
   
They drove back to the McAllisters. “What about tomorrow?” asked Mr. Cordyce. “Will you all come and see my house?”
   
“Oh, yes,” chirped the kids. They had no clue what was in store for them on the next day – and for all the days to come.

Chapter Sixteen: A United Family
   
Mr. Cordyce had planned this day for more than a week. He had sent his most trusted foreman to his own commodious home. He was to superintend matters there. The house was being remodeled entirely. Mr. Cordyce came up with the plans himself. There were carpenters, painters, and decorators all over the place. One day Mr. Cordyce got word that it was all done. And that’s the day that he asked about the drive.
   
“Do you live all alone, Grandfather?” asked Benny.
   
“Yes,” said Mr. Cordyce. “No company at all.” At first Benny did not think that this was the truth. He thought that a cook was company. And also a butler. And a housekeeper. And when he saw the array of maids, he kept quiet. The house was enormous. It was at least a quarter of a mile from its own front gate. And the grounds were covered with gardens.
   
They rolled smoothly down the driveway. “Do you live here?” asked Henry? He was thunderstruck.
   
“You do, too, if you like it,” said his grandfather. He loved to see Henry’s wide-eyed face.
   
Then they got to the inside of the house. It was more wonderful than even the older kids had ever dreamed. The velutinous rugs were so thick and soft. No footfall could be heard on them. Flowers were all over the mansion. The great stairway had steps of marble. They had a courtly look. They rose from the center of the big hallway. But it was upstairs that the kids felt most at home. Here the rooms were not quite so large. They were sunny and homelike.
   
“This must be Violet’s room!” cried Benny. It was unequivocal. There were violets on the wallpaper. The bed was snow white. And it had a thick quilt of violet silk. On the small table were English violets. They were pouring their fragrance into the room.
   
“What a gorgeous room!” sighed Violet. She sank down into one of the soft cushioned chairs. She closed her eyes. Then she took a deep breath.

But the children were most enthused when they saw Benny’s room. The wallpaper was blue. It was covered with large figures of cats and dogs. And it had the Three Bears and Peter Rabbit. There was a swinging rocking-horse. It was nearly as large as a real horse. There was a blackboard and a tool chest. And there were low tables and chairs. They were just the right size for Benny. And oh, my! There was an electric train set. The cars were nearly as large as Benny himself.
   
“Can I run the cars all day?” asked Benny.
   
“Oh, no,” said Henry. “You’ve got to go to school as soon as it starts.”
   
This was the first that his grandfather had heard of school. But he agreed with Henry. And he laughed to himself.
   
“The finest schools in the country,” he said. And this came true.
   
In Jess’s room, Benny found a bed for Watch. It was, in fact, a standard dog’s straw hamper. But it was lined with heavy quilted silk. And it was padded with wool. Watch got in at once. He sniffed in each corner. Then he turned around three times. He plopped down, and he looked quite pleased with himself.
   
Just then, a distant doorbell rang. It had a low, euphonious chime. That delighted the kids. And they never once gave a thought as to who it might be.
   
At once, a soft-footed servant showed up. He said that a man wished to see Mr. Cordyce “about the dog.” When Jess heard that word “dog,” she was scared. She had not thought of Watch as a common runaway dog. And it was afflictive when she saw passers-by gaze at him as he ran by her side.
   
“They won’t take Watch from us?” she said to Henry. Her breath was almost gone.
   
“Indeed, they will not!” said her brother. “We will not give him up.”
   
But Henry went with his grandfather and Jess with great concern.
   
It was about Watch that the man wished to talk. And Jess’s heart sank again. That’s when she saw the dog jump happily upon the man. He returned his caresses with short barks.
   
“He’s a runaway, sir. He’s from my kennels out in Townsend,” the man said to Mr. Cordyce. “I have 200 Airedales out there. This one was sold the day before he ran from me. So, you see that I have to send him to the lady who I sold him to.”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” said Mr. Cordyce. “I’ll give you three times what the dog is worth.”
   
The man glanced around. He was uneasy. “That’s very kind. But I just could not do that, sir. You see, it’s not about the cash. It’s a question of my promised word to the lady.”
   
Mr. Cordyce failed to ‘see.’ He said, “She can find a new dog. There must be a good match from among 200 Airedales. And you can’t know positively that this is the right dog.”
   
“Excuse me,” said the man, embarrassed. “He’s the dog, all right. He knows me well, as you see. His name is Rough #3. He has a black spot in his ear.” It was too true. And at the mere mention of his name, the dog cocked an ear and wagged his tail. But he had placed himself as close to Jess as he could. And he licked her hand when she would pat him.
   
Well, it seemed that Henry could see the man’s point. And that was even if Mr. Cordyce could not. He now put in a timid word of his own.
   
“If the lady would agree to let the dog go, would you be willing?”
   
“Sure,” said the man, as he shot a glance at Henry.
   
“I know that anyone would let us keep Watch, Grandfather,” said Henry earnestly. “If only they knew how much he had done for us.”
   
“I’m sure of it, my boy,” said Mr. Cordyce kindly.
   
Mr. Cordyce liked Henry’s negotiation skills. After all, he’d been the first to make headway with the dog fancier. But it was clear that Jess would not be able to sleep until the matter had been settled. So, they moved fast once the man had gone. The kids set out from their spacious new home. They were to head to the address of the lady who had bought Watch.

The big car purred along from Greenfield to Townsend in no time. The whole family, including Watch himself, trooped up the veranda steps. There, they would interview the lady who’d bought Watch. Would she hold it in her power to break their hearts? Or would she make them happy?
   
She was not terrible to look at. In fact, she was quite young. She was quite lively. And she was very pretty. She asked them all to sit down. They did so, gravely. Even Benny was scared about losing ‘Watchie,’ his best pillow. He could not wait for his grandfather to begin. He struggled down from his chair. He dashed over to the young lady. He said, in one breath, “You’ll let us keep Watchie? Please, won’t you? We want him so bad. And Jess did not know that he was your dog!”
   
By degrees, the lady knew just what dog it was.
   
“We have had him for so long,” said Henry, eagerly. “It would be almost like letting Benny go away. Watch never leaves us even for a minute. That’s been ever since Jess took the briar out of his foot.”
   
“So, you are the children who lived in the freight car!” said the lively young lady. “I’ve heard all about that. How did you like it?”
   
“All right,” said Henry, with an effort. “But we could not have done it without Watch. He stayed and looked after the girls while I was gone. And he just thinks the world of Jess.”
   
“Well,” said the young lady, laughing. “I can see that you’re quite concerned about that dog. Now listen and relax! I would not take that dog from you. Not any more than I’d take Benny! In fact, not so much. I think that I might just like to keep Benny instead.” Her face lit up with a wide, kind grin.
   
Benny seemed quite willing that she should. He climbed into her lap. That was before he could be stopped. Then he gave her one of his best bear hugs. From that point, they were firm friends. The kids always spoke of her as the “lady who owns Watch.” Of course, Mr. Cordyce paid for the dog in less time than you can think of. It did not matter to the kids that Watch was a valuable dog. They had loved him when he had not been worth a cent. And now they loved him more. That’s because they had so nearly lost him.
   
It was a happy and reunited family which convened around the Cordyce dining table that night. The maids smiled in the kitchen. They loved to hear the children laugh. And the kids laughed because Watch sat up at the table. He was in the seat of honor beside Jess! In fact, he was waited upon by a butler!

Chapter Seventeen: Safe
   
Would you ever dream that four children could be homesick in such a house as Mr. Cordyce’s? Jess was the first one to long for the old boxcar.
   
“Oh, Grandfather,” she said one day. “I wish I could cook once more in the old kettle.”
   
“Go out in the kitchen,” he said. “And mess around all you like. The maids will help you.”
   
Jess brightened up at once. She flew out into the kitchen. There, three or four maids brought her everything that she wished to cook with.
   
And Benny was the last one to wish for his old home. “Grandfather,” he said one day. “I wish that I could drink this milk out of my own pink cup!”
   
This set Mr. Cordyce to thinking. He had lots of pink cups, it is true. But none of them were as dear to Benny as his own.
   
“I think I shall have to surprise you all,” said Mr. Cordyce, at last. “But before the surprise comes, would you like to see Benny’s pony?” Then he led the way to the stables. He owned more than one beautiful horse. And he had some dozen cars. But nothing was half so engaging as the pony. He was very small and very fat and black. His undulant tail was so long that it nearly touched the ground. And his name was “Cracker.” That’s because his birthday fell on the Fourth of July. That’s when firecrackers were popping.
   
Benny took a short ride around the stable. He was being “held on to” by a groom. But the next time around, he said this. “Cracker does not need you to hold onto him, I shouldn’t wonder.” And he trotted around with great delight, with no more help. All the others sat down on the fragrant hay to watch him ride.
   
“What will I do when I grow up, Grandfather?” asked Henry.
   
“You’ll take my place, Henry. You’ll become president of the steel mills,” said Mr. Cordyce. “You’ll do it better than I ever have.” (And one day this came true. Most of Mr. Cordyce’s prophecies came true.)
   
“And what will I do?” asked Jess.
   
“All of you children must go to school. And then to college. Then you may do whatever you choose for a living,” replied Mr. Cordyce. (This also came true.)
   
“Of course, I have more than enough cash to support us all,” went on Mr. Cordyce. “But if you have something to do, you will be happier.” (This not only came true. But it is always and forever true, all over the world.)

“Am I going to college tomorrow?” asked Benny. He had stopped his little pony in front of the group.
   
“Not tomorrow, Benny,” said his grandfather, laughing. “But I’m glad that you reminded me. All of you must go to Dr. McAllister’s tomorrow. You can stay there while the surprise comes.”
   
“Is it nice?” asked Benny.
   
“No, not so much,” said Mr. Cordyce with a twinkle.
   
“Did it cost a great deal?” asked Jess.
   
“It didn’t cost me a thing,” said her grandfather. “The only thing that I shall have to pay will be transportation.” (He did not tell them that this would cost him a few hundred dollars.)
   
It was the next day. The kids rode gladly over to see the kind doctor. They stayed until Mr. Cordyce telephoned to them that the surprise was now there. And then Mrs. McAllister and her son rode back with them in the big car.
   
Mr. Cordyce was as happy as a boy. He led the merry little procession out through his big gardens. They passed by the rose garden. Then they went through the banks of purple asters. Then they came to an Italianate garden. There was a fountain in the middle. And there was a shady little wood around the edge. Among the trees was the surprise. It was the old boxcar! The kids rushed to it with cries of delight. They pushed back the dear old door. They scrambled in. Everything was in place. Here was Benny’s pink cup. Here was his bed. Here was the old knife which had cut butter and bread. Here were vegetables. There were firewood and string. And here were the letters for Benny’s primer. Here was the big kettle and the tablecloth. And hanging on a nearby tree was the old dinner bell. Benny rang the bell over and over again. And Watch rolled on the floor. He barked himself hoarse.
   
The children were never homesick after that. To be sure, a dull and ugly freight car looked a bit strange in a gorgeous Italian garden. But it was never dull or ugly to the Cordyce children or their dog. They never were so happy as when showing visitors each beauty of their beloved old home. And there were lots of visitors. Some of them were fascinated by the stories of the wonderful dishes and the shelf. And the children never grew tired of telling them over and over again.
   
It was one summer day, years later. Watch climbed out of his pretty padded silk bed. He barked until Henry lifted him into the freight car. There he lay down on the hard, splintery floor. He blinked his eyes in the sun. And he watched the children as they sat studying their lessons by the fountain.
   
“He likes the old home best,” said Jess Cordyce. She smiled at him. She patted his rough back.
   
And as Benny would say, if he had not grown up, “That’s true, I shouldn’t wonder.”

    
   
*********

     
     
Click on this link to move forward to Module F, Lessons 11 – 20
   

      
COPYRIGHT AnyOneCanRead ®, Inc., 2023, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Note to Educators, Parents, Tutors, and Students: AOCR ® has attempted to provide authorship to all reading content where we have been able to find it. Some content is in the public domain without evidence of authorship. Some content has been written by AOCR ®.

All content contained in the AOCR ® curriculum is from one of four sources: 1) Content written by AOCR ® personnel; 2) Content derived from the Core Knowledge ® curriculum; 3) Content that is — to the best of AOCR’s knowledge — in the public domain and free of any copyright restrictions — with or without knowledge of authorship; 4) Content that is provided to us by an author with their permission, which shall be noted at the beginning of such content.

Further, ANY lesson that is identified as “Core Knowledge ®” is following all stipulations required by Core Knowledge ® in order for AOCR ® to reproduce it. The guidelines outlined in the next few lines, in italic, apply to ALL passages that are identified as originating from the Core Knowledge ® curriculum:

This work is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge ® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. With the understanding that for reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do that is with a link to this web page:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/   .