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  THE DRAGON'S SECRET

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  Leslie hurried Phyllis out with what seemed unnecessaryhaste]

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  THE DRAGON'S SECRET

  By AUGUSTA HUIELL SEAMAN

  Author of "The Slipper Point Mystery," "The Girl Next Door," "Three Sides of Paradise Green," "The Sapphire Signet," "The Crimson Patch," etc., etc.

  ILLUSTRATED BY C. M. RELYEA

  NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO.

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  Copyright, 1920, 1921, by The Century Co.

  PRINTED IN U. S. A.

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  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE I The Night of the Storm 3 II Found on the Beach 15 III The Mysterious Casket 29 IV In the Sand 40 V An Exploring Party 54 VI Leslie Makes Some Deductions 69 VII A New Development 77 VIII The Clue of the Green Bead 89 IX Aunt Sally Adds to the Mystification 100 X At Dawn 112 XI An Unexpected Visitor 123 XII The Curious Behavior of Ted 135 XIII A Trap is Set 148 XIV The Man with the Limp 162 XV Out of the Hurricane 176 XVI Rags to the Rescue 189 XVII Eileen Explains 196 XVIII The Dragon Gives Up the Secret 219 XIX The Biggest Surprise of All 239

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  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  Leslie hurried Phyllis out with what seemed unnecessary haste Frontispiece

  Phyllis flashed the torch about in a general survey 62

  Eileen whirled the wheel around, applied the brake, and the car almost came to a stop 137

  In the glare of the electric torch the girls recognized him 193

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  THE DRAGON'S SECRET

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  THE DRAGON'S SECRET

  CHAPTER I

  THE NIGHT OF THE STORM

  It had been a magnificent afternoon, so wonderful that Leslie hated tobreak the spell. Reluctantly she unrolled herself from the Indianblanket, from which she emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon, draped itover her arm, picked up the book she had not once opened, and turned fora last, lingering look at the ocean. A lavender haze lay lightly alongthe horizon. Nearer inshore the blue of sea and sky was intense. A lineof breakers raced shoreward, their white manes streaming back in thewind. Best of all, Leslie loved the flawless green of their curve at theinstant before they crashed on the beach.

  "Oh, but the ocean's wonderful in October!" she murmured aloud. "I neverhad any idea _how_ wonderful. I never saw it in this month before. Come,Rags!"

  A black-and-white English sheep-dog, his name corresponding closely tohis appearance, came racing up the beach at her call.

  "Did you find it hard to tear yourself away from the hermit-crabs,Ragsie?" she laughed. "You must have gobbled down more than a hundred.It's high time you left off!"

  She started to race along the deserted beach, the dog leaping ahead ofher and yapping ecstatically. Twice she stopped to pick up somedriftwood.

  "We'll need it to get supper, Rags," she informed the dog. "Our stock isgetting low."

  He cocked one ear at her intelligently.

  They came presently to a couple of summer bungalows set side by sideabout two hundred feet from the ocean edge. They were long and low, eachwith a wide veranda stretching across the front. There were no otherhouses near, the next bungalow beyond being about half a mile away.

  With a sigh of relief, Leslie deposited the driftwood in one corner ofthe veranda of the nearest bungalow. Then she dropped into one of thewillow rockers to rest, the dog panting at her feet. Presently the screendoor opened and a lady stepped out.

  "Oh! are you here, Leslie? I thought I heard a sound, and then it was soquiet that I came out to see what it meant. Every little noise seems tostartle me this afternoon."

  "I'm so sorry, Aunt Marcia! I should have called to you," said Leslie,starting up contritely to help her aunt to a seat. "I hope you had a goodnap and feel rested, but sometimes I think it would do you more good ifyou'd come out with me and sit by the ocean than try to lie down in yourroom. It was simply glorious to-day."

  Miss Marcia Crane shook her head. "I know what is best for me, Lesliedear. You don't always understand. But I believe this place _is_ doing mea great deal of good. I confess, I thought Dr. Crawford insane when hesuggested it, and I came here with the greatest reluctance. For a nervousinvalid like myself to go and hide away in such a forsaken spot as thisis in October, just you and I, seemed to me the wildest piece of folly.But I must say it appears to be working out all right, and I am certainlyfeeling better already."

  "But why _shouldn't_ it have been all right?" argued Leslie. "I wasalways sure it would be. The doctor said this beach was noted for itswonderfully restful effect, especially after the summer crowds had leftit, and that it was far better than a sanatorium. And as for your beingalone with me--why I'm sixteen and a quite competent housekeeper, asMother says. And you don't need a trained nurse, so I can do mosteverything for you."

  "But your school--" objected Miss Crane. "It was lovely of your mother toallow you to come with me, for I don't know another person who would havebeen so congenial or helpful. But I worry constantly over the time youare losing from high school."

  "Well, don't you worry another bit!" laughed Leslie. "I told you that mychum Elsie is sending me down all our notes, and I study an hour or twoevery morning, and I'll probably go right on with my classes when I goback. Besides, it's the greatest lark in the world for me to be here atthe ocean at this unusual time of the year. I never in all my life had anexperience like it."

  "And then, I didn't think at first that it could possibly be _safe_!"went on her aunt. "We seem quite unprotected here--we're miles from arailroad station, and not another inhabited house around. What wouldhappen if--"

  Again Leslie laughed. "We've a telephone in the bungalow and can call upthe village doctor or the constable, in case of need. The doctor saidthere weren't any tramps or unwelcome characters about, and I'vecertainly never seen any in the two weeks we've been here. And, last butnot least, there's always Rags!--You know how extremely unpleasant he'dmake it for any one who tried to harm us. No, Aunt Ma
rcia, you haven't aghost of an excuse for not feeling perfectly safe. But now I'm going into start supper. You stay here and enjoy the view."

  But her aunt shivered and rose when Leslie did. "No, I prefer to sit bythe open fire. I started it a while ago. And I'm glad you brought somemore wood. It was getting low."

  As they went in together, the girl glanced up at the faded andweather-beaten sign over the door. "Isn't it the most appropriate namefor this place!--'Rest Haven.' It is surely a haven of rest to us. But Ithink I like the name of that closed cottage next door even better."

  "What is it?" asked her aunt, idly. "I've never even had the curiosity tolook."

  "Then you must come and see for yourself!" laughed Leslie, turning heraunt about and gently forcing her across the veranda. They ploughed theirway across a twenty-foot stretch of sand and stepped on the veranda ofthe cottage next door. It was a bungalow somewhat similar to their own,but plainly closed up for the winter. The windows had their boardshutters adjusted, the door was padlocked, and a small heap of sand haddrifted in on the veranda.

  Leslie pointed to the sign-board over the door. "There it is,--_'Curlew'sNest.'_ There's something about the name that fascinates me. Don't youfeel so too, Aunt Marcia? I can imagine all sorts of curious andwonderful things about a closed-up house called 'Curlew's Nest'! It justfairly bristles with possibilities!"

  "What a romantic child you are, Leslie!" smiled her aunt. "When you areas old as I am, you'll find you won't be thinking of interestingpossibilities in a perfectly ordinary shut-up summer bungalow. It's apretty enough name, of course, but I must confess it doesn't suggest asingle thing to me except that I'm cold and want to get back to the fire.Come along, dearie!"

  Leslie sighed and turned back, without another word, to lead her aunt totheir own abode. One phase of their stay she had been very, very carefulto conceal from Miss Marcia. She loved this aunt devotedly, all the moreperhaps because she was ill and weak and nervous and very dependent onher niece's care; but down in the depths of her soul, Leslie had toconfess to herself that she was lonely, horribly lonely for thecompanionship of her parents and sisters and school chums. The lonelinessdid not always bother her, but it came over her at times like anoverwhelming wave, usually when Miss Marcia failed to respond to somewhim or project or bubbling enthusiasm. Between them gaped the abyss offorty years difference in age, and more than a score of times Leslie hadyearned for some one of her own years to share the joy she felt in herunusual surroundings.

  As they stepped on their own veranda, Leslie glanced out to sea with astart of surprise. "Why, look how it's clouding up!" she exclaimed. "Itwas as clear as a bell a few minutes ago, and now the blue sky isdisappearing rapidly."

  "I knew to-day was a weather-breeder," averred Miss Marcia. "I felt in mybones that a storm was coming. We'll probably get it to-night. I do hopethe roof won't leak. We haven't had a real bad storm since we came, and Idread the experience."

  At eight o'clock that evening it became apparent that they were in for awild night. The wind had whipped around to the northeast and was blowinga gale. There was a persistent crash of breakers on the beach. To open adoor or window was to admit a small cyclone of wind and sand and rain.Miss Marcia sat for a while over the open fire, bemoaning the fact thatthe roof _did_ leak in spots, though fortunately not over the beds. Shewas depressed and nervous, and finally declared she would go to bed.

  But Leslie, far from being nervous, was wildly excited and exhilarated bythe conflict of the elements. When her aunt had finally retired, shehurried on a big mackinaw and cap and slipped out to the veranda to enjoyit better. Rags, whimpering, followed her. There was not much to see, forthe night was pitch black, but she enjoyed the feel of the wind and rainin her face and the little occasional dashes of sand. Wet through atlast, but happy, she crept noiselessly indoors and went to her own roomon the opposite side of the big living-room from her aunt's.

  "I'm glad Aunt Marcia is on the other side," she thought. "It's quieterthere on the south and west. I get the full force of things here. Itwould only worry her, but I like it. How lonesome Curlew's Nest seems ona wild night like this!" She switched off her electric light, raised hershade, and looked over at the empty bungalow. Rags, who always slept inher room, jumped up on the window-seat beside her. The mingled sand andrain on the window prevented her from seeing anything clearly, so sheslipped the sash quietly open, and, heedless for a moment of thedrenching inrush, stood gazing out.

  Only the wall of the house twenty feet away was visible, with two orthree windows, all tightly shuttered--a deserted and lonely sight. Shewas just about to close her window when a curious thing happened. The dogbeside her uttered a rumbling, half-suppressed growl and movedrestlessly.

  "What is it, Rags?" she whispered. "Do you see or hear anything? I'm surethere's no one around." The dog grumbled again, half audibly, and thehair along his spine lifted a little.

  "Hush, Rags! For gracious sake don't let Aunt Marcia hear you, whateverhappens! It would upset her terribly," breathed Leslie, distractedly. Thedog obediently lay quiet, but he continued to tremble with some obscureexcitement, and Leslie remained stock still, gazing at the empty house.

  At length, neither seeing nor hearing anything unusual, she was about toclose the window and turn away, when something caused her to lean out,regardless of the rain, and stare fixedly at a window in the oppositewall. Was she mistaken? Did her eyes deceive her? Was it possibly somefreak of the darkness or the storm? It had been only for an instant, andit did not happen again. But in that instant she was almost certain thatshe had seen a faint streak of light from a crack at the side of one ofthe heavily shuttered windows!