The Mystery of the Fire Dragon Read Online Free PDF

moment George appeared on the street, with Nancy and Bess following at a safe distance, people began to stare at the attractive “Chinese” girl. But no one stopped to speak to her or seemed to be following.
    Nancy and Bess were beginning to think that perhaps their experiment was going to be a failure, when Bess suddenly grabbed her friend’s arm. “Look at the man in that car!” she whispered tensely. “See how slowly he’s going! And he’s sure staring at George—I mean Chi Che.”
    The car, a dark-blue hardtop, was hugging the curb. The driver was about twenty-five years old. He was slender and dark, but not an Oriental. He drove slowly as far as the hospital, watched “Chi Che” go in, then drove off.
    “Do you think he might be connected with the case?” Bess asked Nancy.
    “I don’t know. We can’t very well follow him, but I did get his license number.”
    The two girls walked into the hospital. They stopped at the desk to inquire the number of Mr. Soong’s room, received passes to see him, then took the elevator upstairs.
    The elderly man looked better and expressed his delight at seeing the callers. He said the doctor had told him he must remain in the hospital at least a week, maybe longer.
    “Since I must stay here, I am asking you, Nancy, to bring my mail to me. And will you please answer my phone? There may be word from Chi Che. So far I have had none and do not know where to reach her.”
    “I’ll be very happy to do that,” Nancy answered. Grandpa Soong told the girls that a nurse had brought him a message a short time before from Mr. Stromberg. He had telephoned to find out how the patient was.
    “I have never met him,” said the archaeologist, “so I consider it very kind that he has taken an interest in me.”
    Nancy and Bess wondered how the bookshop owner had learned of the attack on Mr. Soong. Had someone at the apartment house told him?
    On the bureau in the room stood a beautiful bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums. When Bess admired them, Grandpa Soong said, “I do not know who sent them. The card of good wishes which came with the flowers has no name on it.”
    “How strange!” Nancy remarked. “May I see the card?”
    “Certainly. It is in the top drawer of the bureau.”
    As Nancy took out the card, she gave an involuntary start. In the lower right-hand comer was a hand-painted dragon! Printed on the card were the words: “Best wishes for a speedy recovery.”
    Nancy turned to Mr. Soong. “Surely you must have an idea who sent these?”
    “Only a guess,” he answered. “The person who gave my Chi Che the stationery may have heard of my illness and sent the flowers, but did not want me to feel obligated to write a note of thanks.”
    Nancy was glad that Grandpa Soong had no suspicions regarding the sender of the flowers. She herself was worried. The user of the dragon stationery obviously knew that Mr. Soong was in the hospital. Did this mean that the person had something to do with the attack?
    Trying not to show her true feelings, the young sleuth said lightly, “Well, Grandpa Soong, you must have an unknown admirer. Isn’t that exciting!”
    She slipped the card back into the drawer and closed it.
    “We must go now,” she told Mr. Soong. “But we’ll come again soon and make a longer visit.”
    “I shall look forward to seeing you. And I hope next time you will bring some letter or message from my Chi Che,” Grandpa Soong added wistfully, handing Nancy the key to his lobby mailbox.
    “Oh, something is bound to arrive,” said Bess cheerfully. But as the girls walked down the hall to the elevator, she whispered to Nancy, “I wish I could have meant that. To tell the truth, I don’t like the looks of things at all.”
    “It certainly is a puzzling situation,” Nancy admitted. “Well, let’s see what happens from here on.”
    “I’ll tell you what may happen,” Bess said. “If some of the Chinese students we met yesterday at Columbia see us and think