The Firebird Rocket Read Online Free PDF

latest newspapers and magazines. Two portraits hung on the opposite wall, flanking the entrance to the main dining room.
    â€œI wonder who those old geezers are,” Chet whispered to Joe.
    The younger Hardy walked closer, surveyed the inscriptions under the portraits, and came back. “They’re two presidents of the United States,” he said. “Woodrow Wilson and Grover Cleveland.”
    Frank strode out of the office and announced that they were set for the night. The three drove to the rear of the club and left the car in the parking lot. Walking toward the back door, they examined the building, which had plenty of corners and angles, tilting roofs and high eaves.
    â€œThe club would make a good haunted house,” Joe suggested. “All we need is a spooky face at the window. Frank! There he is!”
    â€œWho?” Frank asked, glancing in the direction his brother had indicated.
    â€œThe guy from the lab!” Joe gasped. “He was right there, looking out that window. The fellow with the tinted glasses!”
    â€œI don’t see him now,” Frank stated, “but let’s go inside and see if we can catch him!”
    The boys hurried up the wooden steps and through the coatroom door. Seeing nobody, they hastened down the hallway into the reading room, through the dining room, and to the front door.
    A footfall on the carpet made them whirl. Their shadow was trying to tiptoe down the stairs to the basement!
    The boys rushed after him. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw him run into the bar. By the time they got there, he was exiting by another door.
    The pursuers went pell-mell up the stairs to the first floor, and then to the second floor, where Chet was too exhausted to go any farther. He sat on the top step and watched the Hardys race along the corridor to where the man was climbing out the window. The fugitive slid down the fire escape to an alley at the bottom, and hurried around the corner into Nassau Street.
    When Frank and Joe reached the spot, the man had vanished!

CHAPTER V
    Night Visitor
    â€œNo SIGN of him,” Joe said, looking up and down the street. “He could be anywhere by now.”
    Frank nodded glumly. “You’re right. We lost him.”
    The boys returned to the club and picked up Chet, then went to their room. It overlooked the alley and had a fire escape under the window.
    â€œGood,” Chet declared when he noticed the exit. “We can get out of here in a hurry if we’re cornered by crooks. Say, how about chow? I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I might faint.”
    â€œIf you do, you’ll shake up the club,” Joe quipped. “It wasn’t built for your weight.”
    Chet looked pained, but Frank came to his rescue. “I’m with you, Chet. It’s dinnertime anyway.”
    The boys freshened up a bit, then went to the dining room. After giving the waiter their order, Chet leaned back in his chair. “Well, Hardys,” he grinned, “do you have a plan for solving the big mystery yet?”
    â€œWe’re working on it,” Joe said, sipping water from his glass.
    â€œI think Jenson was kidnapped by a foreign power,” Chet declared.
    â€œMaybe he worked for a foreign power and left on his own,” Joe put in.
    â€œYou mean as a spy?” Chet asked.
    Joe nodded. “Perhaps he developed the Firebird Rocket and sold the secret to someone else.”
    Frank shook his head. “But why would he wait until the United States finished building the missile ? I think he would have given away the secret earlier and stolen the plans in order to prevent us from completing the project.”
    Chet nodded. “I’m with Frank. The spy angle doesn’t seem to fit in this case. Jenson was probably kidnapped.”
    â€œSo where do we start with our work?” Joe wanted to know.
    â€œWe interview all the people at the lab,” Frank said. “Let’s