The Mystery of the Fire Dragon Read Online Free

someone from another college.”
    “Would you like to come and have lunch with our group?” the Chinese girl invited.
    “Why, thank you very much,” said Nancy. “We’d love it. I’m Nancy Drew and this is my friend Bess Marvin.”
    “My name is Amy Ching,” the other girl said.
    The three went into the cafeteria and Amy Ching introduced Nancy and Bess to several other foreign students, but none could give any information about Chi Che Soong.
    Nancy and Bess returned to the apartment early in the afternoon and brought George up to date on their findings. Nancy remarked, “Frankly I’m worried, even more than I was before. Apparently Chi Che Soong had no idea while at school on the day she disappeared that she was going to be away.”
    At supper that evening Nancy and the other girls, as well as Aunt Eloise, forced themselves to be gay in the presence of Grandpa Soong. The door between the two apartments was left open
    Later that night Nancy was in a deep sleep when she was suddenly awakened by a scream. As she sat up in bed she realized that the scream had come from the Soong apartment. The young detective jumped out of bed.
    By this time Aunt Eloise, Bess, and George were awake also. They could hear moaning from the adjoining apartment.
    They grabbed their robes, rushed into Grandpa Soong’s living room, and turned on the light. No one was there.
    Aunt Eloise led the way to the elderly man’s bedroom. A desk lamp was on. In its rays they could see Grandpa Soong lying on the floor. He was barely conscious. As the group knelt beside him, he whispered:
    “Stole—my—manuscript!”

CHAPTER IV
    A Disappointing Wait
    “WE MUST call a doctor at once,” Aunt Eloise said. She asked Grandpa Soong who his physician was, but the elderly man was too weak to answer. Miss Drew turned to George and requested, “Please telephone my physician, Dr. Gordon.”
    Meanwhile Aunt Eloise, Bess, and Nancy gently lifted Grandpa Soong onto his bed. Then Nancy ran back through her aunt’s apartment and out into the hall to see if the attacker were in sight. The young sleuth knew it was a vain hope, and as she had expected, no one was there.
    Nancy realized that by the time she waited for the self-service elevator to come up from the first floor and take her down again, the thief would have made his escape.
    Quickly Nancy ran down the stairs. She stopped at each floor and looked around for any sign of the thief. Finally, reaching the lobby without having seen anyone, she dashed to the front door and gazed up and down the street. No one carrying papers under his arm or a bundle or suitcase was in sight.
    Nancy hurried back to Aunt Eloise’s apartment, and using the kitchen phone, immediately called police headquarters. She was switched to Captain Gray, who was on duty at the nearby precinct. The officer said he would send two of his men at once to investigate.
    Then Nancy returned to Mr. Soong’s apartment to do a little investigating of her own. She found that everything had been stripped from the archaeologist’s worktable except the lamp. A bottle of Chinese ink and brushes lay on the floor and near it an exquisite hand-painted metal vase.
    Every drawer in the room was open and the contents were strewn about. Bookshelves were in disarray. Apparently the thief had made a quick but thorough search of Grandpa Soong’s workshop for all papers, notes, and photographs pertaining to the manuscript.
    The buzzer interrupted Nancy’s investigation and she went to open the door.
    “I’m Dr. Gordon,” said the smiling young man.
    Nancy led him to Mr. Soong’s bedroom. Aunt Eloise and the girls withdrew while the doctor made an examination of the victim. As they waited for his report, the buzzer sounded again.
    Two police officers had arrived. They introduced themselves as Brady and Reed. Upon hearing that the doctor was in the bedroom, the two men said they would start in the living room to search for a clue to the intruder.
    Presently