"It's as if I were deaf," he told himself. But wait! There was still more. Once again "the Snake" bent his head. When his hands came up this time they were filled with bundles of paper. At first, with their edges toward him, Johnny could make nothing of this. But now Iggy's hand turned about, and Johnny saw. His mouth flew open in astonishment. Those papers were bonds. There were hundreds of them. "The stolen bonds!" he muttered. "The bonds that broke a bank and made paupers of thousands!" He could not believe his eyes. The bonds had been in that package! It had been his, his! He had bought it. Had he looked closely, he would have found those bonds. And now-- A sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach caused him to double over. He saw it all now, clear as day. Those were "hot" bonds. Someone had taken them away, perhaps to New York. They had been frightened, had concealed them in that package and shipped them back. The person at the other end, more afraid than his confederate, had refused to accept the shipment. The package was to be sold at auction. Afraid to bid it in, Iggy had induced Johnny to buy it. When Johnny tried to take the package to his lodging, Iggy and his men had fallen upon him, robbed him of the package, and hit him on the head in the bargain. "That," Johnny hissed, "is Chapter One. There will be other chapters to this little romance of the underworld." Again his eyes were upon that square of glass. Iggy had, beyond doubt, replaced the treasure. He was smiling and going through the motions of drinking. A moment more and he was gone. The glass went black. The spot of yellow light reappeared. And then, to Johnny's vast amazement, he found himself looking once more at the uninteresting Dutch master. "Never mind." He sprang from his chair. "Felix will return. He will know where Iggy was when he put on this little show. I'll get Drew Lane and Tom Howe. We'll crash the door, and then perhaps--" He did not finish. Instead he sprang for the door. He was prepared now, if such a thing were possible, to break it down. He put his hand to the knob. It turned. The door opened. _It was not locked._ He was a long time finding Felix; a much longer time finding Drew Lane and Tom Howe, who were out on a hot scent. It was dark when he at last led them to the street that faces the lake where the gaunt towers of the deserted Fair grounds hung dark against the sky. CHAPTER XVI A STRANGE TREASURE In the meantime, the girl from Kansas who had found a home on Maxwell Street had made a rather wonderful discovery and found herself well on the road to adventure. At the moment Johnny and the two young detectives arrived at the street of the "House of Magic," far away on Maxwell Street Grace Krowl was staring into the friendly eyes of a white-haired book seller and saying, "Do--do you think it is val--valuable?"