Free Trouble at the Arcade by Franklin W. Dixon

THE HARDY BOYS ®
    SECRET FILES #1
    Trouble at the Arcade

    BY FRANKLIN W. DIXON
ILLUSTRATED BY SCOTT BURROUGHS

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    If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
    This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
    An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin paperback edition April 2010
Text copyright © 2010 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Scott Burroughs
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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THE HARDY BOYS is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Designed by Lisa Vega
The text of this book was set in Garamond.
Manufactured in the United States of America
0310 OFF
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Control Number 2009932648
ISBN 978-1-4169-9164-9
ISBN 978-1-4169-9922-5 (eBook)
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Contents
    1 Alien Attack!
    2 Fun World
    3 A Major Score
    4 Who’s the Thief?
    5 A Big Threat
    6 A Real Mystery
    7 Who, What, When . . .
    8 A New Suspect
    9 Lost and Found
    10 Secret File #1: Solved!

1
Alien Attack!
    A
ll humans will be destroyed!”
a metallic voice rang out.
    Nine-year-old Frank Hardy gasped as yet another row of hideous aliens appeared over the horizon. There was no question about it. Earth was being invaded!
    â€œHa!” he shouted, and his dark hair fell in his eyes as he dodged a laser blast by doing a somersault through the air. Then he ducked around a huge pile of rocks.
    Oh no! There were more aliens behind the rock pile. And these were even worse. They were spitting horrible blue goo!
    BLURP!
A wad of goo came flying at Frank.
    He jumped up and did a flip in midair to avoid the goo. Then he karate-kicked a rock. It crashed down on one of the aliens.
    SPLAT!
Blue goo spurted everywhere.

    â€œGotcha!” Frank cried.
    â€œFrank! Are you up there?”
    For a second Frank thought one of the aliens was calling him. Then he realized it wasn’t an alien. It was his mother. He blinked and looked up from the video game console.
    BLURP!
On the screen, the aliens were still coming. A few seconds later a big blob of goo took over the screen, and then two words appeared:
    â€œRats,” Frank muttered. “I’ll never be ready for the contest if I don’t do better than that.”
    His mother called his name again. He set down the controls and walked out to the top of the stairs to see what she wanted.
    â€œOh, there you are.” Mrs. Hardy was holding a large spoon in one hand and a book in the other. She was a librarian, and she almost always had a book with her. “It’s Joe’s turn to set the table for dinner,” she said. “But I can’t find him anywhere. Have you seen him?”
    â€œNope.” Frank started down the stairs. “But don’t worry. I’ll find him.”
    He went out the back door and crossed the lawn, heading toward the woods at the back of the