Just when the home was burning fiercest and the sound of bombers was fading into the night that had fallen, Jan came rattling up the hill.
Seeing the plight they were all in, she said never a word, but gathering two small children who had learned to love her into her arms, sat down in silence.
“It’s that woman,” said the aged grandfather. “She was seen only yesterday at the home where her friend the war lord lived. It is she who set these bombers upon us.” He spoke in Chinese, but Mai-da translated his speech for Isabelle and Jan.
“What woman does he mean?” Isabelle asked.
“She is the one you call the Woman in Purple,” was Mai-da’s reply.
“Oh!” Isabelle cried in dismay.
“I hoped she was dead!” Jan exclaimed. “She’s too bad to live!”
The old grandfather was speaking again.
“There is a small dark man with her. Wherever this pair goes destruction follows. She has caused the destruction of a thousand homes and the death of many people.”
“Isabelle!” Jan sprang up. “Know what? Gale’s radar set is gone! It was stolen from headquarters! That woman took it! We—we’ve got to get it back! Don’t forget, Three Secrets of Radar. She must not keep that set.”