Mystery of the Chinese Ring

Jack Hudson looked up from his desk as Muscles, the powerful mechanic, came in. For a few moments the two men stared at one another, saying nothing. Muscles, hands on hips, broa...

Biff placed a hand on his friend’s arm. Why, Chuba was trembling! The realization of Chuba’s fear of the border patrol was startling to Biff. Chuba showed no such fear in the ju...

What bothered Biff most of all was the sickening smell of the jungle. Rotted vegetation gave off a rank, stifling odor. Biff had been in the jungles of Brazil, but they were not...

Biff’s connections at Chicago with the jetliner for San Francisco went without a hitch. In less than an hour the sleek, silvery plane was in the air, circling over the bustling...

Eerie silence spread over the jungle following the machine-gun firing. The jungle was holding its breath. The monkeys, birds, even the cicadas, stopped their endless chattering...

Darkness had spread over the airfield by the time Biff and Jack Hudson reached the “Explorations” plane. It was a twin-engine Cessna, a five-passenger, capable of a speed of 250...

“Gee, Uncle Charlie—” Biff broke off. He felt his voice choke up and knew he wasn’t far from tears. This, he told himself, would never do. Not in front of the leering Ping Lu.

The friendship between Biff and Chuba developed rapidly. Chuba was an odd boy, with his mixed-up jive talk, his quick Oriental mind, and his desperate anxiety to be “like Americ...

“Brought me,” Biff muttered to himself as he opened the safety catch of his key chain. “Some way to bring anything to someone!” He removed the ring from a tangle of keys—to his...

The grandson vanished in the night. Biff felt sure that any moment the party would be jumped by pursuing guards. Then he heard voices. The grandson came back, followed by four men.

Night overtook Biff, Chuba, and Muscles before they reached Jaraminka. All were tired. The going in the dark was rough. But Biff was determined to reach the town before they hal...

Muscles didn’t move. He kept his eyes glued to his watch until ten minutes had passed. Not until then did he think it safe to come out of his hiding place. He had overheard ever...

The next day, in a small village of only a few mud and thatched houses, Chuba continued his inquiries. This time, the second man he asked told of having heard of a big bird “roa...

Biff shot a quick look at Chuba. He wanted to see his friend’s reaction to the startling appearance of these men who looked as if they had sprung from the age of primitive man....

The clank of a heavy key in the lock of the door woke Biff the next day. He started to yawn, and stretched the kinks from his shoulders and legs. Abruptly he sat up. It could be...

Nam Palung meant business. There was no question about that. But Biff had no intention of yielding without a struggle. He would make his escape if at all possible. Right now, th...

In the distance, perhaps a hundred miles away, the towering peak of Mt. Minya Konka, reaching 25,000 feet skyward, could be seen. The day was clear, crystal-blue clear. The air...

The native boy raced across the open compound toward the group of low buildings where the servants slept. Jack and Biff ran side by side, ten feet behind the boy.

Muscles checked his watch for the tenth time in the past five minutes. He was growing more and more impatient. The minute hand showed it to be ten minutes past four o’clock. Twe...

A light-skinned boy could never make it. That thought, first suggested by Chuba, restated by Jack Hudson, kept running through Biff’s head. The Chinese Reds’ border patrol would...

Biff Brewster was suddenly awake—wide awake. The gray light of dawn outlined the window of his first-floor bedroom. Something—or someone—was outside. He felt sure of it. Somethi...

“I think we’d better get down to Ling Tang’s shop this morning,” Mr. Brewster said. “It must be something important for him to have called so early. Especially if he knows Biff...