Read Online Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion by Carolyn Keene - Free Book Online Page A

agreed.
    After the conversation ended, Nancy continued to think about the message. She suddenly remembered the lion at the moss-covered mansion. Suppose that by some chance this was the beast referred to in the mysterious note! It could mean that the strange setup of the animal enclosure and the odd behavior of Mr. Scarlett are connected with the explosive oranges!
    “It would explain why the girls and I aren’t wanted at the Webster house,” Nancy told herself.
    At this moment Bess came to warn her that Antin and Tina had come in. The caretaker was taciturn. Not only did he not speak to anyone but did not wait to eat lunch. Instead, the couple went up to their room.
    “What’s the matter with him?” George asked.
    Before anyone could hazard a guess, an alarm bell began to ring.
    “What’s that for?” George asked.
    There was pounding on the stairway and Antin came rushing down. “Fire!” he shouted, and rushed out the rear door.
    Everyone followed. He sped through the grove to the packing house.
    Suddenly Nancy stopped. “I wonder if anyone notified the fire department,” she said. “I’d better go back and phone them anyway.”
    “I’ll go with you,” said Bess. “This might have been a ruse to get all of us out of the house.” They had left the doors and windows open.
    “We’ll soon find out,” said Nancy.
    Hurrying inside, she dashed to the telephone and called the fire department. They had not been notified but said they would come at once.
    Quickly Nancy and Bess locked all the doors and windows, and took the kitchen door key with them. As they ran through the grove toward the packing house, the girls noticed that blazes had sprung up here and there among the trees.
    “This fire has been deliberately set!” Nancy declared. “Someone started it while the workers were at lunch.” Immediately she wondered where Antin had been. Could he possibly be the arsonist and if so why?
    When they caught up to George and Hannah, Nancy told them that the firemen were coming. She rushed up to a burly picker and asked how she could help.
    “You’re a girl,” he said. “What can you do?”
    Nancy was angry. She turned away. There was nothing she could do to save the orange packing house which was now a mass of flames, but she might be able to do something to preserve the trees. She ran over to Tina, who was sobbing, and asked her.
    The woman pointed toward the river. “There’s a hose and a pump down there,” she replied.
    Nancy did not wait to hear more. She quickly told Bess and George, and the three rushed off toward the river. It seemed as if trees were burning everywhere. They found the pump and hose, quickly unwound it, and turned on the nozzle. Within minutes they were able to put out the fire in the nearby trees.
    “Let’s try another section,” George suggested, and began lugging the hose forward.
    Just then they heard the fire engines arriving. The girls, however, kept on with their own work.
    In a short while two of the firemen came into the grove dragging a large hose. Suddenly they realized that the trees were already being hosed, and were astounded to see the job being done by three girls.
    “Good work!” said one.
    With the two steady streams of water, the rest of the fires in the grove were soon extinguished.
    “Who’s in charge here?” one of the firemen asked Nancy.
    “The foreman, Antin Resardo. I think he’s at the packing house.”
    “Let’s get out of here,” Bess suggested. “This place smells horrible.”
    The scent of scorched oranges mixed with burning wood was bad enough, but added to this was rank-smelling steam. The girls’ eyes were smarting and they were covered with soot.
    “We’ll take care of your hose,” said one of the firemen. “You’d better go to the house and bathe your eyes.”
    “We will,” Nancy replied.
    On the way, back they met Hannah, who reported that the packing house was a complete wreck.
    “It’s a shame,” she said. “The fire