The Mystery of the Fire Dragon Read online

  The three girls stood a little distance from the ramp and closely watched each passenger go aboard their plane. The only one they recognized was Mrs. Horace Truesdale. Finally Nancy and her companions were warned by a loud-speaker announcement to go aboard.

  Quickly they got on the plane and showed their tickets to the stewardess. To the girls’ annoyance, Mrs. Truesdale was standing just beyond the doorway. She looked at them in amazement.

  “Why, when did you decide to come on this trip?” she asked. “Are you students at the university? Or are you traveling first class?”

  “Neither,” Nancy replied, and started toward the rear of the plane.

  “Are you going to Hong Kong?” Mrs. Truesdale persisted.

  “Isn’t everyone on board?” Nancy countered. “Will you be visiting friends over there?” the woman pursued.

  “Yes,” Nancy replied. Secretly she was thinking that this overly inquisitive woman might try to be friendly with the girls in Hong Kong and interfere with their sleuthing.

  The stewardess asked Mrs. Truesdale please to take her seat and motioned for the girls to go to theirs. Finally the lights went on, requesting passengers to fasten their seat belts. The door was closed and locked. The giant engines roared, and finally the plane taxied to the end of the runway.

  After the great craft had stood there for over ten minutes, Bess said to Nancy and George seated alongside her, “Why don’t we take off?”

  At that moment the stewardess’s voice came over the loud-speaker. “Your attention, please! On order of the police department all hand luggage must be examined. Will you please co-operate?”

  Nancy, Bess, and George looked at one another. Were the police, perhaps, looking for a bomb after all?

  CHAPTER XV

  The Mah-jongg Dealer

  “LET’S get off the plane!” Bess urged in a tense whisper.

  Nancy shook her head. “Maybe it isn’t a bomb. Perhaps someone is trying to smuggle goods out of the United States.”

  The student group sat in strained silence. They could plainly hear a woman in the first-class section arguing loudly. Nancy recognized Mrs. Truesdale’s voice.

  “This is an outrage!” she was shouting. “I am telling you here and now that it’s a disgraceful procedure. Can’t a person take a trip out of the United States without being treated like a common thief?”

  Nancy and her friends had to smile in spite of the fact that there might be a bomb aboard. George remarked, “That woman is a pain!”

  Presently two police officers came to the rear part of the aircraft and inspected everyone’s hand luggage. As they finished their checkup, and started toward the door, Nancy asked them, “Could you tell us why you searched our bags, or is that against regulations?”

  One of the officers looked at her intently, then said, “I’m sure there’s no harm in telling you. Someone phoned the airport that a bomb was being carried in the hand luggage of a passenger on this plane. It must have been a crank. We did not find anything.”

  “Thank goodness,” said Bess.

  The officers left the plane, and a few minutes later the craft finally took off. It had been in the air about an hour when Nancy saw her father walking back toward her.

  “I think it’s all right now for me to speak to you,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.

  The lawyer perched on the arm of his daughter’s chair. “I’ve been engaging various men in conversation,” he said in a low tone. “All seem to be in legitimate businesses. I’m sure there are no suspects among them.”

  “Did you know that the police were looking for a bomb?” Nancy asked.

  Mr. Drew nodded.

  Nancy told him about the bomb threat the girls had received and about her own ruse to keep one from being placed in the plane.

  Mr. Drew frowned. “I believe your trick worked for a while, but the gang probably had you trailed to be sure. There was no time to place a bomb aboard, but they still hoped to scare you and try to keep you from going to Hong Kong.”

  Nancy whispered, “This must surely mean the gang has transferred its operations to Hong Kong.”

  Mr. Drew agreed. He got up and returned to his seat.

  Gradually, during the flight, Nancy made the acquaintance of the students, and in her own subtle way quizzed each one to see if by any chance there was a suspect among them. She came to the conclusion there was none.

  “Members of the gang holding Chi Che must have gone by some other route,” the girl detective told herself.

  The great plane stopped at Anchorage, Alaska, for refueling. Nancy and her friends were intrigued by the beautiful city. They were amazed at its size and the tall modern buildings.

  “This used to be the capital,” said Bess, “but now Juneau is.”

  Nancy remarked, “I’d love to come to Alaska in the middle of winter, and ride on a dog sled!”

  The travelers’ next landing was Tokyo, Japan. What a bustling place the airport was! The girls were fascinated by the native people, most of whom wore Western dress, but many had on kimonos and sandals. Everyone seemed good-natured and there was lots of laughter. Men and women always bowed low to one another in greeting or when saying good-by.

  The twenty minutes during which the travelers were allowed to visit the terminal were soon up, and Nancy and her friends climbed back into the plane. It was now two o’clock Sunday afternoon. By the time they reached their destination, it was exactly eleven hours later than it was in New York.

  As the plane began its Hong Kong descent, George looked at her watch and grinned. “It’s one o’clock yesterday afternoon in New York,” she said.

  The plane set down and taxied toward the airport building. The landing and take-off strips of Kai Tak Airport fascinated Nancy. They were on a spit of man-made land and she realized how skillful a pilot had to be to use them.

  “We’re on the China mainland,” said Bess. “Not Hong Kong Island at all.”

  “That’s right,” said George, who had studied the map. “This Kai Tak Airport actually is in the city of Kowloon.”

  “How do you get over to Hong Kong Island?” Bess queried.

  “By ferry,” George replied.

  All this time Nancy, who now had a window seat, was looking intently at the crowd of people waiting behind a wire-mesh fence. She hoped to see Ned Nickerson among them!

  “Oh, there he is!” A tingle of excitement rushed up and down Nancy’s spine.

  The plane stopped and the exit door was opened. First-class passengers disembarked. Mr. Drew hurried toward the fence behind which he had spied Ned Nickerson.

  “Hello, Mr. Drew!” the tall, good-looking, athletic young man called. “Where are the girls?”

  “They’re coming.” The lawyer laughed. “I traveled in style. They’re in the tourist section.”

  At that very moment the girls were moving toward the exit. George was saying, “I hope that pesky Mrs. Truesdale won’t stop us and try to find out what we’re going to do.”

  The three girls finally went down the steps and exchanged gay greetings with Ned through the wire fence. Then the four travelers entered the low, white administration building. Here they went through the immigration formalities and customs examination. Finally they collected their baggage, then hurried to meet Ned in the waiting room.

  “It’s sure good to see you,” the young man said, giving Mr. Drew a hearty handshake and kissing each of the girls. “I have a jalopy outside. I guess we can all crowd into it.”

  “Did you get us hotel accommodations?” Mr. Drew asked him.

  “Yes, at the Peninsula Hotel. That’s right here in Kowloon and I’m sure you will like it.” He chuckled. “Since prices here are lower than in the States, I engaged a three-bedroom suite with a living room. Nancy may want to entertain one or more villains.”

  “Including yourself?” Nancy teased.

  “Call me anything you like,” Ned responded, “but just let me stick around.”

  “How much time can you
spend away from Chung Chi College?” Nancy asked him.

  “A few days. Well, shall we go?”

  Ned escorted the group outside the building. Two porters stowed the luggage in Ned’s small foreign car, then everyone got in. Bess giggled. “It’s a tight squeeze!”

  As the visitors approached the business section of Kowloon, they became more and more intrigued with the city. Most of the buildings were not more than three stories high, and Chinese signs hung everywhere. There were many Western people walking about, but the bulk of the populace was Chinese. Native men, women, and children wore pants and loose-fitting straight jackets. Most of the suits were black and plain, but here and there one would see someone wearing a beautifully embroidered garment.

  Presently Ned drove to the hotel and residential area, where the streets were broad. The Peninsula Hotel was a large, attractive building. They entered the long, curving driveway and alighted at the front entrance.

  “This is very charming,” Mr. Drew remarked as the travelers walked through the lobby to the registration desk.

  The whole central section was filled with couches, lounge chairs, palms, flowers, and tea tables. People, seated in groups, were sipping tea and eating small cakes.

  As soon as the Drews and their friends had unpacked and freshened up a bit, they met in their living room. Ned demanded to hear all about the mystery on which the three girls had been working. When they finished telling him, he whistled and said:

  “You really picked a honey this time, Nancy. So you think Chi Che might be a prisoner here in Hong Kong?”

  “I believe there’s a good possibility. But even if she isnÄt, I’m sure this is headquarters for the smuggling ring, and that she knows their secret. If the leaders can be rounded up, Chi Che will automatically be released.”

  “I’m ready to help,” Ned said. “Nancy, when, where, and how do I start?”

  The young sleuth thought for a moment, then she replied, “I want to show you something in my handbag.”

  Nancy obtained the bag from her bedroom and took out the two pages which she had torn from the book on Asia. “These are the sheets which upset Mr. Stromberg. Lily Alys said the words ‘mah-jongg sets’ had been underlined. I don’t believe she noticed in which shop. Now’s your chance to be a detective, Ned.”

  The young man took the sheets and read them carefully. Then a smile spread over his face. “I think I have a clue for you, Nancy,” he said. “One of these shops is owned by a man named Lung. The word lung was the original Chinese name for dragon.”

  “Of course!” Nancy said excitedly. “I remember now! Grandpa Soong told us that. Let’s go there first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Fine,” Ned agreed.

  “George,” said Bess, “this is our chance to go shopping for clothes and souvenirs.”

  The next morning Nancy and Ned started out directly after breakfast. They took Ned’s car to the ferry, parked it, and went by boat to Hong Kong Island. As they crossed the bay, Nancy marveled at the surrounding scenery. The harbor was filled with boats of all kinds, large and small, including junks and sampans. The island ahead of them was almost like a stone fortress which rose to a pinnacle in the center.

  “That is Victoria Peak and it’s eighteen hundred and nine feet high,” Ned told Nancy.

  “It’s amazing how they build houses right into the side of the mountain,” Nancy remarked.

  When she and Ned debarked, he hailed two rickshas and the couple climbed into them. Nancy was intrigued by the man pulling her little two-wheeled vehicle. He trotted along after Ned’s ricksha at a pace that a horse would trot.

  Nancy found Hong Kong a fascinating combination of modern skyscrapers and quaint Oriental buildings. Presently the ricksha men turned down an alley and in a few minutes stopped. They had arrived at Mr. Lung’s shop.

  “Like the ride?” Ned grinned.

  “It was fun,” Nancy replied as they alighted.

  She and Ned entered the shop and gazed around at the wall decorations. Every one of them was a dragon in some form. There were painted scrolls, pictures, and a few wooden figures. Nancy shivered. “This is a creepy place,” she whispered.

  There was a short counter toward the rear of the shallow shop. As the couple approached it, a man came from behind a curtain in back of the counter.

  “Mr. Lung?” Ned asked.

  The man nodded.

  “We’d like to see some mah-jongg sets,” Ned told him.

  Without a word the shop owner took several from a shelf and gave the price of each. All the playing pieces were of ivory, but the less expensive sets were in plain boxes, while others were in carved teakwood chests lined with camphor wood.

  “These are very beautiful,” Nancy said. “Do you have any others?”

  Mr. Lung shook his head. “We have more that are similar, but these are samples of all the varieties I carry.”

  Nancy examined the boxes carefully. It occurred to her that each one contained many places in which small articles could be secreted for smuggling.

  “What do you think?” Ned asked her, careful not to use Nancy’s name.

  “Let’s decide later,” the young sleuth answered. “After all, we’ve just started to shop.” She turned to Mr. Lung. “Thank you very much. We’ll probably be back.”

  The man bowed and started to put the mah-jongg sets back on the shelf. Nancy and Ned left the shop and strolled up the alleyway. They had not gone far when Nancy heard a woman’s familiar voice say loudly, “You charge too much!”

  Turning, the girl saw Mrs. Horace Truesdale just alighting from a ricksha. The woman, frowning, put some money in the man’s hand, then walked into Mr. Lung’s shop.

  Quickly Nancy told Ned of her encounter with Mrs. Truesdale, then whispered tensely:

  “Is it just a coincidence that she knows Mr. Stromberg and came directly here to Mr. Lung’s shop? Or could Mrs. Truesdale, by some chance, be part of the smuggling ring?”

  CHAPTER XVI

  A Chinese Puzzle

  “NANCY, that’s a good hunch,” Ned said. “Let’s eavesdrop on Mrs. Truesdale.”

  Quickly the couple moved up the narrow street and cautiously posted themselves, one on either side, at the door of Mr. Lung’s shop.

  Nancy and Ned were just in time to see Mrs. Truesdale take a small white paper from her purse. She held it up and turned it first on one side, then the other, for Mr. Lung to see. Then, without looking, she seemingly returned it to her purse. But the paper fluttered to the floor apparently unnoticed.

  “Please ship four dozen mah-jongg sets to my sister’s gift shop,” the woman said to the owner.

  Mr. Lung grinned. “Very soon,” he said.

  Mrs. Truesdale snapped her purse shut and started for the door, evidently unaware that the paper she had shown the man lay on the floor.

  “I’d certainly like to see what’s written on it,” the young sleuth told herself.

  “We’d better hide!” Ned warned. He took hold of Nancy’s arm and hurried her into the doorway of an adjoining shop.

  They saw Mrs. Truesdale come out onto the street, hail a ricksha man, and climb into the cart. As soon as she was out of sight, Nancy urged Ned to return to Mr. Lung’s shop with her.

  “Suppose you buy a mah-jongg set while I try to find out what is on the paper.”

  “All right,” he agreed.

  The eager couple re-entered Mr. Lung’s shop. Fortunately, the owner had not noticed the paper. Nancy and Ned smilingly walked up to the counter.

  “We decided to come back, as you see,” Ned said. “May I see your assortment again?”

  The shop owner nodded briefly and turned his back. Nancy quickly leaned down and picked up the paper from the floor. One side was white. Two words were printed on it—Kam Tin.

  The girl detective hastily put it in her handbag. By now Mr. Lung had brought out the various sets. Nancy and Ned finally selected one in a teakwood chest.

  “Shall I send this to you in the Stat
es?” Mr. Lung asked.

  Ned had no intention of disclosing their names. “I think we’ll take it along,” he said.

  “I will get your set from stock.” Mr. Lung disappeared behind the curtain into his back room. Now was Nancy’s chance to take out the paper. This time she noticed that the other side was red. Ned, too, took a glance and both of them gave a slight gasp.

  The paper was definitely the cover to a package of firecrackers. On it was painted the fire dragon!

  Quickly Nancy put the paper back on the floor. Mr. Lung reappeared and wrapped the set. Ned paid him. Both the young people smiled and thanked the shop owner, then walked outside.

  “Where do we go next?” Ned asked.

  “Some place where we can talk without being overheard,” Nancy whispered.

  “Let’s go into the lobby of a small hotel near here,” he suggested.

  As soon as they entered the place, Ned remarked, “This firecracker business seems to prove Mrs. Truesdale is part of the dragon gang.”

  Nancy nodded. “Ned, have you any idea what Kam Tin means? That was printed on the white side of the firecracker paper.”

  “Why, yes,” he replied. “Kam Tin is an ancient Chinese walled city several miles inland in the New Territories, beyond Kowloon.”

  “I believe,” said Nancy, “that Kam Tin is either a place where the smugglers’ goods are collected, and perhaps put into the mah-jongg sets, or else it’s the spot where Chi Che Soong is a prisoner.”

  “Oh, I hope it’s not the latter!” Ned said.

  “Why?”

  Ned described Kam Tin as hundreds of years behind the times. “There’s no plumbing in the one- to two-room houses which are set close together. People and farm animals also are crowded together. The streets are extremely narrow and there’s mud everywhere.”

  “Oh, dear! Poor Chi Che!” Nancy exclaimed.

  Ned explained that the men farmed outside the walls. At night the animals were brought inside the city walls for safety.

  Nancy was thoughtful for several seconds, then she suggested to Ned that they contact Grandpa Soong’s brother as soon as possible. “He’s Mr. Lee Soong and is retired now. But at one time he was head of the police in Shanghai.”