He made a wry face. "Baby books, maybe. Who would buy these? Throw them in the alley. Black children live in the next street. They carry them off." "But look! Here is the croix de guerre. Some brave fellow fought to win that," she protested. "Yes! But did he keep it? No! Let some black boy wear it." "Then I may keep them? All these?" "If you wish." She rewarded him with a smile. After the evening meal she would read the stories recorded here and she would explore the little horsehair trunk. CHAPTER XIII SO LONG AS GOD GIVES US BREATH That same morning as soon as he could gulp down his coffee, Johnny hastened over to the shack. He was full of talk about the whisperer and his message. "What do you make of a thing like that?" he demanded of Captain Burns. "It seemed to come right out of the sky!" "And why not?" The Captain smiled. "We are living in a strange world these days. "One thing's important," he said as he sat up in his chair, "you must not leave this 'House of Magic' as you call it; at least not for long. I have a feeling that this whisperer must be on our side, the side of law and justice, and that he may be some sort of undercover man who can give us just the information we need. "You see, Johnny--" He leaned forward in his chair. "That gang, the five public enemies, with Iggy the Snake at their head, is back in the city. They are sure, sooner or later, to sell some of these bonds they took from the bank. They are of small denominations and are negotiable. We have their serial numbers. The moment one of these bonds falls into the hands of an honest man, we will be hot on their trail. 'Where did you get it?' we will say to the honest man. He will tell us. We will go to the man who sold the bond and repeat, 'Where did you get it?' He may turn out to be honest and innocent too. But in the end we'll reach a crooked bond dealer who knew those bonds were 'hot' when he bought them. If he doesn't lead us to Iggy the Snake we'll send him up for ten years. The charge will be receiving stolen goods. "Oh, I tell you, Johnny!" he exclaimed, striking the arm of his chair, "we'll get 'em, Johnny! In the end we'll get 'em, you'll see. "But today, Johnny--" His voice took on a mellow tone. "While you and I are free, I'd like to take you to one of those places I spoke of the last time I saw you." "All--all right." Johnny wondered what sort of place that would be. In the Captain's long, powerful gray car they drove across the city and into the suburbs. At last they stopped before a home that was neither large nor showy--a bungalow with its broad side to the street, it stood in the midst of a clump of trees. Nature had planted the trees. Someone, admiring nature's work, had built his home there.