The Mystery of the Black Raven

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH

M
IKE
'
S
M
YSTERY

B
LUE
B
AY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
W
OODSHED
M
YSTERY

T
HE
L
IGHTHOUSE
M
YSTERY

M
OUNTAIN
T
OP
M
YSTERY

S
CHOOLHOUSE
M
YSTERY

C
ABOOSE
M
YSTERY

H
OUSEBOAT
M
YSTERY

S
NOWBOUND
M
YSTERY

T
REE
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

B
ICYCLE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
AND

M
YSTERY
B
EHIND THE
W
ALL

B
US
S
TATION
M
YSTERY

B
ENNY
U
NCOVERS A
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
AUNTED
C
ABIN
M
YSTERY

T
HE
D
ESERTED
L
IBRARY
M
YSTERY

T
HE
A
NIMAL
S
HELTER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
O
LD
M
OTEL
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
P
AINTING

T
HE
A
MUSEMENT
P
ARK
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
IXED
-U
P
Z
OO

T
HE
C
AMP
-O
UT
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
G
IRL

T
HE
M
YSTERY
C
RUISE

T
HE
D
ISAPPEARING
F
RIEND
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
INGING
G
HOST

M
YSTERY IN THE
S
NOW

T
HE
P
IZZA
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY
H
ORSE

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
D
OG
S
HOW

T
HE
C
ASTLE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
V
ILLAGE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
I
CE

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
P
URPLE
P
OOL

T
HE
G
HOST
S
HIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
W
ASHINGTON
, DC

T
HE
C
ANOE
T
RIP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
IDDEN
B
EACH

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
M
ISSING
C
AT

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
S
NOWFLAKE
I
NN

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON
S
TAGE

T
HE
D
INOSAUR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
M
USIC

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
B
ALL
P
ARK

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
S
UNDAE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
H
OT
A
IR
B
ALLOON

T
HE
M
YSTERY
B
OOKSTORE

T
HE
P
ILGRIM
V
ILLAGE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
TOLEN
B
OXCAR

M
YSTERY IN THE
C
AVE

T
HE
M
YSTERY ON THE
T
RAIN

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
F
AIR

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
OST
M
INE

T
HE
G
UIDE
D
OG
M
YSTERY

T
HE
H
URRICANE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
P
ET
S
HOP
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
S
ECRET
M
ESSAGE

T
HE
F
IREHOUSE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN
S
AN
F
RANCISCO

T
HE
N
IAGARA
F
ALLS
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT THE
A
LAMO

T
HE
O
UTER
S
PACE
M
YSTERY

T
HE
S
OCCER
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY IN THE
O
LD
A
TTIC

T
HE
G
ROWLING
B
EAR
M
YSTERY

T
HE
M
YSTERY OF THE
L
AKE
M
ONSTER

T
HE
M
YSTERY AT
P
EACOCK
H
ALL

T
HE
W
INDY
C
ITY
M
YSTERY

1. Grandfather’s Secret

2. The Ghost of the Golden North

3. “One of Us Is a Thief!”

4. Mystery Within a Mystery

5. Miss Parker’s Clue

6. Panning for Gold

7. The Missing Scrapbook

8. Great-uncle Edward’s Message

9. The Raven Speaks

10. Benny’s Mystery Within a Mystery

B
enny Alden leaned against the rail of the ferry. He threw bread crumbs at the swooping gulls. One gull almost landed on the rail next to him.

“Whoa!” Jessie, his older sister, gently pulled Benny back. “I bet that bird is as hungry as you are!” At twelve, Jessie was always looking out for her six-year-old brother.

“I am hungry, but I wanted to feed the birds first,” said Benny.

“Ready for lunch?” Jessie asked. Just then a spray of bracing sea mist stung their faces, making them laugh.

“You bet!” Benny followed Jessie across the ferry deck and into the warm dining cabin.

“There you are,” said Henry. He was fourteen, the oldest of the Alden children. “We ordered hot chocolate.”

“Thanks,” said Jessie. “Brrr! It’s cold out there!”

James Alden, the children’s grandfather, nodded. “It usually is on the water, even in the spring. This far north, it rarely gets hot. Not like back home in Connecticut.”

Violet, who was ten, watched seabirds flying past the large square windows. “I can’t believe we’ll be in Alaska in just a little while!” She patted the camera bag hanging on the back of her chair. “I plan to take lots of pictures.”

“I hope I see a polar bear,” said Benny. He was trying to read the menu. He didn’t know many words, but he could read
hamburger
and
ice cream.

Grandfather chuckled. “I doubt we’ll see one in Skagway. Polar bears live farther north.”

“Skagway!” Benny laughed. “What a funny name!”

Their waiter came by their table. “Alaska is full of odd names,” he said, setting down mugs of hot chocolate. “Skagway was once just a shack owned by a man named Moore. But then the sourdoughs came and called the place Skagway, after the Skagway River.”

“Sourdoughs?” asked Jessie. “Isn’t that a bread?”

The waiter nodded. “Yes. The early prospectors made that bread in the mining camps. Life was hard for those tough old gold hunters. That’s why people called them sourdoughs.”

“Gold hunters?” Benny said with awe. “I want to hunt gold!”

“Let’s eat first,” Grandfather said after ordering burgers for all.

“And wait for our ferry to dock in Skagway,” Violet said. “You won’t find much gold until we get to Alaska!”

So far it had been a whirlwind trip. First they flew from their home in Greenfield, Connecticut, to Seattle, Washington. That was all the way across the country! Then they took a bus to Bellingham. Big boats, little boats, and ferries were anchored at the pier in the port city.

“I like this ferry,” Benny remarked when their food arrived. He bit into the juicy burger. “It’s like our boxcar. Only with a boat on the bottom.”

“That’s a good observation, Benny,” Henry said. “The ferry
is
like a floating boxcar.”

The Alden children never forgot their first home. Their parents had died and they were alone. They had heard about a grandfather, but were afraid he was mean. So they found an empty boxcar in the woods and lived in it.

Then Grandfather found
them.
He wasn’t mean at all, but kind and very glad to have four grandchildren. He brought the boxcar to his big house in Greenfield. Since then, the children had had many adventures.

And now they were starting a new one.

“Tell us again why we’re going to Alaska,” Violet said excitedly. She loved Grandfather’s stories.

“Many years ago my great-uncle Edward Alden came here to be a prospector,” began Grandfather. “When gold was discovered, thousands of people caught ‘gold fever.’”

“Were they sick?” Benny wanted to know.

Henry shook his head. “That’s just an expression.”

“People were in a fever to find gold,” Grandfather added. “Edward worked as a clerk in the family business. He was a young man who craved excitement. So he took a train to Seattle and then boarded a boat to Skagway.”

“Just like we’re doing,” Jessie commented.

“Only Edward’s boat was loaded with hundreds of passengers who wanted to find gold, too,” Grandfather continued. “On the boat, Edward met two other men. They became friends. When they landed in Skagway, the little town was jammed with people! Edward and his new friends met another man. The four decided to stick together.”

“Did they find gold?” asked Violet.

“Yes, they did,” replied Grandfather. “But they had to walk a long way to the goldfields. Then they had to find enough gold in one place to stake a claim. When they found gold, they marked their claim with four rocks, so no one else could dig at their spot. My great-uncle carried a camera with him. He also kept a diary. When the men finished working their claim, they headed back to Skagway.”

“I wouldn’t have left,” Benny put in. “I would have dug and dug till I found all the gold in the world!”

“You would have been pretty tired of the cold,” said Grandfather. “And the hard work.”

“What happened when the men got to Skagway?” Jessie asked.

“They turned in their gold for cash,” Grandfather replied. “Then the Four Rock Miners, as they called themselves, went home.”

“Were they rich?” Henry wanted to know.

“I doubt it,” Grandfather answered. “The men had excitement and adventure. After being a sourdough, Uncle Edward came back to his old job as a clerk in Connecticut.”