Free The Flying Saucer Mystery by Carolyn Keene

doctors to come up there at once. I’ll be with them. Wait right there for us. If we’re going to be delayed, I’ll phone you in about an hour.”
    Mr. Drew took the number of the telephone Nancy was using. “By the way, dear,” he said, “an excited young woman phoned and wants you to solve a mystery for her. Something about strange identities. I told her you’re tied up on another mystery right now, but she begged me to get in touch with you and call her back. What shall I tell her?”
    “Oh, I wish I could help.” Nancy sighed. “Dad, why don’t you suggest she contact our friends the Dana Girls? They’re great at solving mysteries.”
    “I’ll do that,” Mr. Drew promised. Then he hung up the phone, and Nancy returned to Ned and Jan.
    “We’re going to have a fairly long wait,” she remarked. “Can we take Susan B to a vet?”
    Jan nodded. “Follow me.”
    The three walked to the office-hospital of Dr. Doyle. Fortunately, he was able to examine the stricken animal at once. Nancy told him about the swamp but did not mention the flying saucer. This was to remain a secret until the mystery was solved.
    “We thought it might be interesting to have the soil analyzed,” she said, “and decided to bring some of it back to camp. The sample was so hot it burned a hole through my saddlebag and injured my horse’s flank. I put salve on it.” Nancy gave Dr. Doyle the name of the ointment.
    “Quick thinking,” the veterinarian complimented her.
    “What worries us in particular is that part of Dismal Swamp may be contaminated by radiation and could have affected Susan B. My father is flying here with some chemists to analyze it.”
    Dr. Doyle looked surprised. “How could Dismal Swamp become contaminated?” he inquired, puzzled.
    Nancy shrugged. After the veterinarian had examined Susan B’s wound, he said, “I suggest you leave the horse here. This is a pretty bad burn .”
    “All right,” Jan said, adding that the animal had been rented in town. “But our group will be responsible for your fee.”
    Before Nancy left the office, she put her arms around the horse that she had grown to love. She whispered in Susan B’s ear, “I’m so sorry I got you into this. I hope you’ll be okay soon.”
    After they left, Jan said they would need to rent horses for the new arrivals, a replacement horse for Nancy, and two more packhorses to carry whatever equipment the party might bring. “And we’ll buy a lot of food to take back to camp,” she added.
    By the time the extra horses were collected and all purchases made, Nancy and her friends heard the whir of a helicopter overhead. It did not go to the airfield, but came down in a field on the outskirts of town. Nancy, Ned, and Jan hurried to meet its passengers.
    As soon as Nancy saw her father step out of the copter, she ran ahead of the others. Then she stopped short. If I’m contaminated, perhaps I should not kiss him, the girl thought. She blew a kiss from a distance. He laughed, came up, and gave her a hug.
    “Let’s not be overanxious about this,” he said. “I’ve brought two doctors and two scientists with me. Others will arrive later. Right now the doctors are going to test you and Ned for radioactivity.”
    After introductions had been made, one of the doctors took from his bag a strange-looking instrument with all sorts of dials and indicators on its face. He held the end of a tube with a knob against Nancy’s heart, lungs, and the back of her neck. Was he testing her brain?
    “So far everything is negative,” Dr. Caffrey reported. “Now, young man,” he said, “it’s your turn.”
    Ned, too, was pronounced all right. The doctor shook his head and remarked, “You’re lucky.” He put away his instruments and the group stowed their gear on the packhorses and set off for camp. They had barely started when Nancy rode up beside Jan and asked if she would please stop the string of riders.
    Without questioning Nancy’s reason, the leader