Boxcar Children 64 - Black Pearl Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online Page A

see any sharks?”
    Henry chased Benny and lifted him into the air. “No. Did you?”
    Benny laughed. “Not on the beach, silly!”
    Jessie put away the snorkeling gear in her duffel bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars. “Let’s go back up to those rocks. I want to take another look over Reef Bay to see if we can figure out where the cave is. Let’s leave our snorkeling gear here in this bag. There’s not a soul on the beach to worry about.”
    The children walked a bit until they reached the rocky point. It was much easier climbing to the top during the day than it had been the night before.
    Here.” Henry handed the binoculars to Benny when the children reached the top of the ledge.
    There’s a boat out there where you’re pointing, Henry,” Benny said.
    Henry bent down to help Benny focus the binoculars.
    Benny held the binoculars steady. “Now I see the boat better. It’s a little red sailboat, only the sails are down. Someone is swimming near the boat, but I can’t tell who it is.”
    Jessie checked her watch. “We should be getting back. Grandfather’s going to call us this afternoon from Honolulu. I don’t want to miss his call.”
    The Aldens climbed down from the rocks. They walked along the shore until they spotted the sand castle the younger three children had built.
    Where’s our snorkel bag?” Violet asked. “You put it down right by our sand castle, didn’t you, Jessie? I hope the ocean didn’t wash it away.”
    Jessie shook her head. “The water is calm here. Besides, the sand castle would have been washed away, too, and it’s not even wet.”
    The children walked back to the palm trees behind the beach. There was no snorkel bag to be seen.
    Jessie was upset. “I should’ve been more careful. I thought it was fine to leave our bag here since no one was around.”
    Soo Lee, being the littlest Alden, noticed something the other children had missed. She pointed down at the sand. “Someone was on the beach. Look at the footprints. We don’t have such big feet.”
    Sure enough, a set of footprints led away from the sand castle into the rain forest behind the beach. Whoever made them had worn shoes or sandals with V-shaped markings — someone with much bigger feet than any of the Aldens.

CHAPTER 8
Sleeping Volcano
    T hat afternoon, Cousin Mary returned to Pineapple Place just as the Aldens returned from snorkeling. “Such long faces! Is anything the matter?” she asked when she noticed how quiet the children were. “Was the water too cloudy for snorkeling? Sometimes that happens if it’s windy.”
    At first the children didn’t answer.
    Finally Jessie spoke up. “Our snorkeling equipment disappeared from the beach after we went snorkeling. We don’t know what happened to it.”
    Benny could hardly stand still. “Somebody with big feet came to the beach. We saw footprints and everything!”
    This surprised Cousin Mary. “Goodness! We never lock a thing around here. This part of the island is so safe. Perhaps the tide carried it off. Why, I once lost a picnic basket that way.”
    But the waves didn’t wash our sand castle away,” Soo Lee told Cousin Mary. “And know what? There were feet marks. They were bigger than Henry’s feet, even!”
    I see,” Cousin Mary said. “Well, I’ll have to look into this. But not to worry, you can go snorkeling again. I always keep snorkeling equipment available for my guests, even my young guests. Now tell me, before your snorkels disappeared, did you find any of those coral reefs my husband marked on his maps?”
    That’s another thing,” Jessie answered. “We checked your office for the maps you told us about, but we couldn’t find them.”
    Cousin Mary looked puzzled. “How strange. I left the maps right on top of my desk for you. I hope no one else borrowed them. They’re the only ones I have. Oh, dear.”
    Jessie and Henry looked at each other.
    Actually, the Pierces came to your office, but they didn’t seem to know about the