Read Online The Mummy Case by Franklin W. Dixon - Free Book Online

clearly a reference to the illegal weapons shipment. But why Luxor? What had the Egyptian city to do with the Rubassa conspiracy?
    Unable to figure out the answer, Frank banged the pipes in the bathroom a few times to make them echo in the basement and give Reggie the impression that he was doing his work upstairs. Then he descended to the kitchen and slipped under the sink. He was lying flat on his back when Joe and Reggie came up from the cellar.
    â€œHow are the pipes on the second floor?” Reggie inquired.
    â€œOkay,” Frank replied. “But I think you may have trouble with the sink. Joe, take a look at this!”
    When Joe got down on his hands and knees and poked his head under the sink, Frank whispered, “I found something. Let’s wrestle with this pipe to make it look good, and then get out of here.”
    â€œThere’s something suspicious in the basement, too,” Joe whispered back.
    Frank clamped his wrench around the bolt at the point where the pipe curved down from the wall and then up into the sink. It seemed stuck, so Frank got a firm grip on the wrench and twisted it. Suddenly the bolt came off!
    Whoosh! Water gushed out of the pipe, deluging Frank and throwing spray into Joe’s face!
    â€œPut the bolt back on!” Joe cried.
    â€œI can‘t! I dropped it but I can’t move!”
    Joe felt around on the soggy floor.
    â€œHurry up. I’m drowning!” Frank cried out and pressed one hand against the leak and held the other over his face.
    At last Joe’s fingers closed around the bolt. Frantically he thrust it into position against the force of water gushing out of the pipe. As he screwed it back on, the deluge subsided to a trickle and then stopped.
    Wet and bedraggled, the Hardys crawled out from underneath the sink. Water covered the floor around them.
    â€œI wasn’t planning to start a flood,” Frank said in embarrassment. “I was just testing the bolt. I didn’t expect it to come off so easily!”
    â€œForget it,” Reggie said cheerfully. “I’ll mop up.”
    Frank and Joe went back to the van feeling like fools. “I hope Reggie didn’t catch on to the fact that we aren’t plumbers,” Frank said worriedly.
    Joe shrugged. “He didn’t seem to. But we sure got wet.”
    The boys drove to a vacant lot where they took off their overalls and tossed them into the back of the van. They discussed the secret room in the basement of Reggie’s house and the message on the slip of paper in the bedroom. Deciding they should report to their father, they phoned the American Embassy, but were told that neither Mr. Hardy nor Colonel Palos was in at the time.
    â€œWhat do you think we should do?” Joe asked.
    â€œLet’s call that phone number I found in the bedroom,” Frank suggested.
    â€œGood idea. It must be a number the gang uses. Why don’t you imitate Reggie’s voice and see what happens?”
    Frank nodded and dialed the number. A man answered. “Who is this?”
    â€œReggie,” Frank replied, hoping that his imitation would get by. “I need confirmation of our plans.”
    â€œYou know we don’t discuss that over the phone,” the man said impatiently. “Come to the Beacon.” He hung up.
    â€œDid you hear what he said?” Frank asked. “The Beacon. I wonder what that is.”
    â€œLet’s ask a policeman,” his brother suggested.
    Frank drove to the main square of Loma, where an officer directing traffic supplied the answer.
    â€œThe Beacon is an abandoned lighthouse. Take this road, turn right when the pavement ends, and follow the dirt lane straight up. It’s near the top of Beacon Mountain.”
    Frank, at the wheel of the van, drove as directed. He took the steep mountain trail, and kept going until they spotted the lighthouse about a hundred yards to the right. Since the area below was too open to afford