The Witchmaster's Key

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Authors: Franklin W. Dixon

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Match Wits with The Hardy Boys
®
!

Collect the Complete

Hardy Boys Mystery Stories
®

by Franklin W. Dixon

#1: The Tower Treasure

#2: The House on the Cliff

#3: The Secret of the Old Mill

#4: The Missing Chums

#5: Hunting for Hidden Gold

#6: The Shore Road Mystery

#7: The Secret of the Caves

#8: The Mystery of Cabin Island

#9: The Great Airport Mystery

#10: What Happened at Midnight

#11: While the Clock Ticked

#12: Footprints Under the Window

#13: The Mark on the Door

#14: The Hidden Harbor Mystery

#15: The Sinister Signpost

#16: A Figure in Hiding

#17: The Secret Warning

#18: The Twisted Claw

#19: The Disappearing Floor

#20: The Mystery of the Flying Express

#21: The Clue of the Broken Blade

#22: The Flickering Torch Mystery

#23: The Melted Coins

#24: The Short-Wave Mystery

#25: The Secret Panel

#26: The Phantom Freighter

#27: The Secret of Skull Mountain

#28: The Sign of the Crooked Arrow

#29: The Secret of the Lost Tunnel

#30: The Wailing Siren Mystery

#31: The Secret of Wildcat Swamp

#32: The Crisscross Shadow

#33: The Yellow Feather Mystery

#34: The Hooded Hawk Mystery

#35: The Clue in the Embers

#36: The Secret of Pirates' Hill

#37: The Ghost at Skeleton Rock

#38: The Mystery at Devil's Paw

#39: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk

#40: Mystery of the Desert Giant

#41: The Clue of the Screeching Owl

#42: The Viking Symbol Mystery

#43: The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior

#44: The Haunted Fort

#45: The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge

#46: The Secret Agent on Flight 101

#47: Mystery of the Whale Tattoo

#48: The Arctic Patrol Mystery

#49: The Bombay Boomerang

#50: Danger on Vampire Trail

#51: The Masked Monkey

#52: The Shattered Helmet

#53: The Clue of the Hissing Serpent

#54: The Mysterious Caravan

#55: The Witchmaster's Key

#56: The Jungle Pyramid

#57: The Firebird Rocket

#58: The Sting of the Scorpion

#59: Night of the Werewolf

#60: Mystery of the Samurai Sword

#61: The Pentagon Spy

#62: The Apeman's Secret

#63: The Mummy Case

#64: Mystery of Smugglers Cove

#65: The Stone Idol

#66: The Vanishing Thieves

The Hardy Boys Back-to-Back

#1: The Tower Treasure/#2: The House on the Cliff

Celebrate over 70 Years with the World's Greatest Super Sleuths!

THE WITCHMASTER'S KEY

T
HERE
is no time for explanations when Mr. Hardy telephones Frank and Joe from the West Coast and sends them flying off to England to help his old friend Professor Rowbotham.

Their stay in East Anglia begins with a weird omen, as they witness the bizarre funeral of an old witchmaster. From then on, strange things happen. They are shadowed, trapped, sprung upon by a huge black dog, and smitten by an old crone's curse. Who are their enemies? The same people who burglarized the professor's witch museum and robbed him of his life's investment? When the Hardys learn about the strange disappearance of Lord Craighead, the plot deepens. Danger lurks everywhere and follows them to Ireland and the Isle of Man.

After surviving a shipwreck in the storm-tossed Irish Sea, the clue of a frightened white witch leads them into the torture chamber of a black witches' coven. Frank and Joe barely escape alive in the final struggle with their fanatic adversaries, from whom they finally snatch the telltale Witchmaster's Key!

“My basketball set shot!” Joe whispered
.

The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories
®

THE
WITCHMASTER'S
KEY

BY

FRANKLIN W. DIXON

GROSSET & DUNLAP

Publishers • New York

A member of The Putnam & Grosset Group

Copyright © 1976 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Putnam & Grosset Group, New York. Published simultaneously in Canada.

THE HARDY BOYS
®
is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 75-17392 ISBN: 978-1-101-65732-4

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
   
 
I
   
A S
POOKY
F
UNERAL
II
   
T
HE
W
ITCH
M
ASKS
III
   
G
RAVEYARD
S
URPRISE
!
IV
   
A N
IGHT
S
EARCH
V
   
T
HE
R
UNAWAY
H
ORSE
VI
   
T
HE
M
ISSING
M
ARQUIS
VII
   
C
URIOUS
Y
ANKS
VIII
   
T
HE
F
ORTUNETELLER
IX
   
J
UMPY
S
LEUTHS
X
   
A W
ILD
R
IDE
XI
   
T
HE
S
TONEHENGE
C
APER
XII
   
M
YSTERIOUS
M
ESSAGE
XIII
   
A N
EAR
M
ISS
XIV
   
T
HE
C
URSE
XV
   
SOS
IN THE
I
RISH
S
EA
XVI
   
A C
OVEN
F
EUD
XVII
   
A H
APPY
R
EUNION
XVIII
   
K
IDNAPPED
!
XIX
   
T
HE
T
ORTURE
C
HAMBER
XX
   
T
HE
S
KELETON
CHAPTER I
A Spooky Funeral

A
S
the giant jet hissed toward London, Joe Hardy looked out the window at the flaming sunrise.

“Frank,” he said to his brother, “have you made head or tail of this mission?”

“Negative. I couldn't get a solid clue out of Dad. His phone call from California was so hurried. Could it be he's putting us on?”

Joe shrugged. “It wouldn't be like him to send us on a transatlantic wild-goose chase. But it all happened too fast. Not a hint except that we're to help his old friend Professor Chauncey Rowbotham in any way we can.”

Airline seats were hard to get at this time of year; so the Hardys had taken the first available flight, even though the professor would be away, lecturing, for another day or two. And only he could brief them properly on their mission!

The boys were used to mysteries. They often
helped their father, Fenton Hardy, the famous private investigator. But they had never been so confused at the start of a case as they were this time.

Frank and Joe had established their reputation by solving the case of
The Tower Treasure
. Their latest, known as
The Mysterious Caravan
, recently took the boys to Morocco. Now, what awaited them in England?

Blond, seventeen-year-old Joe winced, pressing his hand against his cheek.

“That aching wisdom tooth again?” asked Frank, who was dark-haired and a year older.

“Yes. I should have had it pulled before we left J.F.K.”

“Hang in there. We'll find you a good English dentist.” Trying to distract his brother, Frank went on, “What's your guess about this caper? Forgery, bank robbery, missing person, murder?”

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