Quotes from Franklin W. Dixon

On their right an embankment of tumbled rocks and boulders sloped steeply to the water below. From the opposite side rose a jagged cliff. The little-traveled road was winding, and just wide enough for two cars to pass.

Frank and Joe sprinted toward a crowd of people milling in the town square. They were gathered around an old Civil War mortar that stood on a pedestal. White smoke drifted from the muzzle. "Somebody fired the gun!" Joe cried out. "It must have been an accident," Frank said.

The boys took a taxi to the oceanfront. It was a beautiful day and the sea sparkled in the sunshine. The four sleuths ate lunch at a restaurant specializing in seafood, then Frank rented a trim little speedboat. "Oh, boy, I can hardly wait to take her out!" Tony gloated as he warmed up the motor. "We should stick in pairs to be on the safe side," Joe said thoughtfully. Chet would accompany Tony. A few moments later the two boys put-putted out across the water.

You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too!" Nine-year-old Frank Hardy looked at his brother, Joe, and laughed as their friend Paul McMahon blew out the candles on his huge birthday cake, which was decorated to look like a dinosaur. Everyone cheered as Paul blew out all ten candles on the first try.

After lunch the boys set off in their convertible for the Greenville Museum. It was a small building at an intersection of two roads at the edge of town. The main entrance was on one road, with a tall hedge in front of the building. Extensive grounds stretched to the rear on the side road, along which ran a high iron picket fence. Frank parked alongside the hedge, and the young detectives strode through a gate to the spacious lawn at the back.

Mr. Hardy looked out the window of his second-floor study as if searching for the answer somewhere in the town of Bayport, where the Hardys lived.

Or when you're with me, either," Callie said, tossing her head teasingly.

The sooner, the better!

Joe Hardy to Frank Hardy: "Age before beauty

I go to school by bus

I was once told that flying involves long hours of boredom, interrupted by moments of extreme fright.

That was close!" Frank gasped. The car had been traveling at such high speed that the boys had been unable to get the license number or a glimpse of the driver's features. But they had noted that he was hatless and had a shock of red hair.

The Hardy home, on the corner of High and Elm streets, was an old stone house set in a large, tree-shaded lawn. Right now, crocuses and miniature narcissi were sticking their heads through the light-green grass.

Pretzel Pete said that he had picked up a bit of information that led him to think an East Indian sailor named Ali Singh might be engaged in some smuggling. The vendor did not know what ship he sailed on, but he understood that the man had come ashore for a secret meeting of some gang.

Hanade's Puppet Repair Shop did, indeed, carry "all kinds of doodads." The tiny store was crammed with Oriental trinkets, samurai swords, brass Buddhas, dolls' heads hanging on the wall, birds and bird cages, aquariums with darting tropical fish, and numerous other items.

the one who stole the small float plane at Yellowknife.

with a duffel bag over his shoulder.

When the boys reached home they hurried into the kitchen. Aunt Gertrude was just removing a batch of cookies from the oven. She glanced over her spectacles and exclaimed, "Frank! You've torn your pants!

At home the boys were greeted by the aroma of fried chicken that their mother was preparing. "You're just in time," she said, smiling.

No excuses," Miss Hardy said firmly. "It won't take you any time to drive out there. I'll whip up a strawberry shortcake while you're gone." "In that case," Frank said, laughing, "we'll leave right away.

now whipped a sandwich onto the kitchen

With a deftness born of long practice, she

Moon-faced Chet Morton, who was much fonder of eating and relaxing than he was of dangerous adventures, was constantly bemoaning the Hardys' habit of becoming involved in crime cases. But the stocky youth was a loyal pal and could always be depended on in a tight spot.

At this point, Mrs. Hardy brought the discussion to an end by setting before each boy a stack of steaming, golden-brown pancakes. Aunt Gertrude came in behind her with a block of yellow butter and a tall pitcher of maple syrup. "There are more cakes on the griddle," she said. "You need your strength.