The Witchmaster's Key

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

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
.

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?”