Meg Mackintosh Solves Seven American History Mysteries by Lucinda Landon Page A

shaft. Inside was a rolled-up piece of paper.
    â€œIt looks like a Chinese scroll.” Said Peter, amazed.
    Meg unrolled the thin paper, but she couldn’t read the message. “It’s in Chinese.”

    â€œCome on,” Peter said, practically pushing her out the door of the minivan. “Let’s go to Chinatown and find someone to translate.”
    Do you notice anything about the symbols?

    â€œIt says, ‘Ming Brothers switch lanterns’,” the conductor told them. They thanked him as they spun off the trolley in Chinatown.
    â€œThat’s the same symbol that’s on the lantern. This lantern obviously belonged to the Ming family!” Peter asserted.
    â€œI’m still trying to figure out what ‘strike’ and ‘spike’ have to do with the mystery,” said Meg, scratching her head.
    Peter found a phone booth and pulled out the local directory. “Gee, there are so many Mings.”

    â€œPeter, this is hopeless,” said Meg as she gazed over his shoulder. “Let’s try a different tactic.”
    â€œNot so fast, Meg-o. Look at this listing,” said Peter.

    What did Peter notice?

    â€œ W. Ming Far Away Antiques! Do you suppose there’s a connection?” asked Peter, jotting down the address.
    â€œIt’s in Chinatown. It can’t be too far away,” Meg answered him, and they set off in search of the antique shop.
    A few minutes later, they found it. A bell gently rang as they pushed open the door and entered the store.
    Meg gazed around the dimly lit room. “So much neat stuff!”
    Gramps pointed to some pictures on the wall. “Here are some very old photographs of men working on the railroad.”
    â€œConditions don’t look very good,” said Meg. “They worked all winter, even in the snow.”
    â€œThat’s true,” said a young man behind the counter. “The working conditions were deplorable, and the Chinese who built the railroad worked fourteen-hour days and were only paid $28 a month.”
    â€œI read about that,” said Peter. “The Central Pacific Railroad was in a hurry to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad to become the first transcontinental railway.”

    â€œSo they worked all winter to complete the job. They went on strike for better wages, but the owners cut off their food supply until they began work again,” the young man added.
    â€œThat’s awful,” said Meg.
    â€œStrike?!” cried Peter. “Let’s see that clue again.”
    Meg pulled the clue out of her knapsack and the lantern too. She read the end of the clue aloud: “Far-away brother lost the strike, city brother saved the spike.”
    â€œCould I please see your lantern?” asked the young man.
    What did he notice?

    Meg handed over the lantern. Then something on the shelf caught her eye. “Look! It’s a lantern like ours!”
    â€œExactly what I noticed,” said the young man as he took down the second lantern.
    â€œThey’re twins,” confirmed Peter. “The both have the same mark.”
    â€œWhere did you find this?” asked the young man.

    â€œIt’s a long story, but we have been searching for a twin,” said Meg. “I thought we were looking for a twin brother, but we found a twin lantern!”
    Peter briefly explained about Professor Brown’s history mysteries, and Meg showed the young man the riddle and the clue that was hidden inside the lantern.
    â€œProfessor Brown must have known that you had the matching lantern,” said Gramps. “It’s lucky it wasn’t sold.”
    â€œIt’s not for sale,” said the young man. “It has a special meaning to my family. My name is Wesley Ming. This is my family’s store. The lantern is a reminder of the hard work my ancestors did when they came to this country. And you were looking for a pair of twin brothers, my great-great