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 to
break the spell. Reluctantly she unrolled herself from the Indian
blanket, from which she emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon, draped it
over her arm, picked up the book she had not once opened, and turned for
a last, lingering look at the ocean. A lavender haze lay lightly along
the horizon. Nearer inshore the blue of sea and sky was intense. A line
of breakers raced shoreward, their white manes streaming back in the
wind. Best of all, Leslie loved the flawless green of their curve at the
instant before they crashed on the beach.

"Oh, but the ocean's wonderful in October!" she murmured aloud. "I never
had 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 to
his appearance, came racing u