The Mystery of the Fire Dragon by Carolyn Keene

probably means what he says!”
    “It is a dreadful situation,” Aunt Eloise remarked. “Perhaps, in order to save many lives, you girls should give up the trip.”
    Bess was inclined to agree but George declared she was not going to let any dragon scare her off. “Anyhow, let’s wait until morning and see what Nancy thinks.”
    The three went to bed but slept fitfully. They were concerned about the dangers which they had experienced in connection with the case.
    The following morning Nancy was up, and except for a sore bruise on the back of her head, she declared she was back to normal. As the group cooked breakfast, they discussed the happenings of the evening before at great length—Nancy’s accident, Grandpa Soong’s story of his brother, and finally the threatening telephone message.
    “The gang certainly has a good spy system,” Nancy remarked, puzzled. “How in the world do they find out all our plans?”
    Then suddenly she put her forefinger to her lips. The others kept quiet as she began to tiptoe around, looking behind the stove, the refrigerator, inside the cabinets, and finally back of the dainty curtains at the windows.
    Presently Nancy nodded and motioned the others to come forward. She pointed out a tiny disk fastened to the window frame under the valance of the curtain. From the disk a tiny wire ran outside the window and down the side of the building.
    Nancy picked up an order pad and pencil. On it she wrote:
    “That disk is a microphone, and probably was hidden here the day the intruder broke in. Our enemies have been picking up all our conversations in the kitchen and recording them somewhere below. I suggest that we turn the tables. Let’s all talk as if we were worried to death about the bomb scare and are going to give up the plane trip.”
    The others, astonished, nodded. Then Aunt Eloise began the conversation.
    “Why are you girls so quiet?” she asked. “Don’t tell me. I know. You’re all very brave but this bomb threat really has you upset.”
    “I’m afraid you’re right,” said Bess, making her voice tremble. “I don’t know about the rest of you but I’d like to be counted out. I’m sure my mother and dad would never approve of my going on a plane that might be blown up!”
    “You have a point there,” George agreed. “If my parents knew about this, they’d put both feet down hard. But it burns me up. Here I was looking forward to a nice trip and someone we don’t know steps in and ruins everything.”
    “Yes,” said Nancy. She gave a tremendous sigh. “We were just getting some good clues and now this has to happen. Well, I suppose I’d better call my dad and tell him we’re canceling our flight tomorrow. He’ll be angry, I know, but I’m sure he’ll tell me to stay home.”
    “Do you think we could keep on with our sleuthing in New York City?” George put in.
    Nancy said she wondered whether this would be worth while. She was sure that most of the members of the gang who were holding Chi Che had left town. “Otherwise,” she added, “the police would have picked them up.”
    Aunt Eloise Drew remarked that she was so sorry everything had turned out the way it had. She laughed. “I suppose, Nancy, you can’t expect good luck in solving every mystery you undertake.”
    “No,” her niece agreed. “Just the same, I hate to leave Chi Che in such a dangerous situation.”
    “Yes,” said Bess, giving a little sob. “Goodness only knows what torture they may be putting her through.”
    “Then we’re all agreed we’re giving up the trip?” Nancy asked. There was a chorus of “ayes.”
    The group stopped speaking. Nancy opened a cabinet drawer and took out a pair of scissors with wooden handles. Then, closing the window tight on the wire, she snipped it and wound the outer end around the curtain rod to keep it from falling to the ground when the window was opened again.
    As George started to speak, the young sleuth held her finger to her lips. Once