The Mysterious Code

Honey said. “Tom is going to bring Mother in to the station to take a
train to meet Daddy in New York. I’ll tell him to pick us all up at the school.
We’ll get home about the same time we would if we took the bus.”
    So it was arranged.
    On the way to the
police station, the Bob-Whites passed the small retail store where the Hakaito
brothers sold the produce they raised in their outlying farms and greenhouses.
    Kasyo was in the
window arranging a display. When he saw the Bob-Whites pass, he waved to them
frantically and called back to his brother Oto. Together they threw open the
door, grinning and bowing.
    Inside, Oto pulled
out a bench and some chairs. “Please to sit down,” he invited.
    “We’re sorry, Oto,”
Jim said, “but we have to hurry over to the police station.”
    “Won’t take long,”
Oto said. “Maybe have something more to tell police. You miss something from
clubhouse night of Valentine party?” he asked.
    Trixie’s face fell.
“The swords,” she said. “Now you’ll never be able to buy them for your father
and the museum in Tokyo. They were stolen.”
    “Hakaito brothers have swords,” Oto replied. “We find them in pawnshop in White Plains. Thief pawn
them there.”
    “He did?” Trixie
exclaimed. “Did you ask the pawnbroker for a description of him?”
    “Yes,” Oto said
sadly. “He said he didn’t remember who pawned swords. I do not think he tell
the truth.”
    “Of course he
didn’t,” Mart said. “Those people are always afraid they’ll get in bad with the
law.”
    “Maybe the police
can help jog his memory,” Trixie said. “We re going there now, you know,” she
said to the Hakaito brothers. “Did you say you have the swords now?”
    “Yes, Miss Tlixie,”
Oto said. “Hakaito brothers buy samurai swords. We were going to take them to clubhouse
tonight, give them back to Bob-Whites of the Glen. Here are your swords!”
    Kasyo unrolled the
paper from a package he pulled from under the counter and displayed the Satsuma
samurai swords, polished and beautiful.
    While Mart and Brian
and Honey and Diana exclaimed over the return of the swords and chatted with
the Japanese, Jim and Trixie, huddled in the background, whispered busily.
    “We can’t possibly
accept the swords, can we?” Jim asked the others, interrupting their polite
conversation.
    The Hakaito
brothers’ faces fell.
    “You not accept
present?” Oto asked.
    “No,” Trixie said.
“You want those swords to send to your father. They are yours. They belong in Tokyo. You paid money for them at the pawnshop, money you worked hard to earn.”
    “Makes no difference,”
Oto and Kasyo said. Then Oto continued. “Money is for little UNICEF children.
We give swords. Maybe be lucky enough to buy them back at antique show.” Both
brothers grinned happily.
    “Why not just
consider lending them to us for the exhibit?” Jim inquired. “We’d never feel
right if you weren’t able to send them to your father.” The Hakaito brothers
held a conference in quick, sibilant whispers.
    “How much you think
swords sell for at show?” Oto asked.
    “Maybe a hundred
dollars for the pair,” Trixie said. “I think that is what we planned to ask for
them. Why?”
    “We pay only fifty
dollars,” Oto said happily, “at pawnshopl We pay you fifty dollars more; then
we own swords and you exhibit them at show. That right?”
    “It’s wonderful!”
Trixie said. “I’m so glad we will have them to display at the antique
show.”
    “You like maybe to
show other swords?” Oto asked hesitantly.
    “We sure would!”
Mart exclaimed. “Do you have others?”
    “Yes,” Kasyo said,
“six other swords. After antique show we send all to Tokyo to our father. We
have Japanese prints and carved ivory, too. You like to show them?”
    Trixie clapped her
hands, delighted. “We’d love it,” she said. “Shall the boys pick them up
tomorrow?”
    “If you like, we fix exhibit at showroom,” Oto said. Kasyo nodded vigorously. “We fix Japanese
style,” he said.
    “That will be
swell!” Jim said.
    “Keen!” Mart added.
    “Thanks a million,”
Trixie said. “We have to go now. We’ll see you at the showroom tomorrow.
Good-bye!”
    “Good-bye!
Good-bye!” the Hakaito brothers said, smiling happily.
     
    At the station
Sergeant Molinson groaned when he saw Trixie and her group. “Oh, no,” he said,
“not again! What is it this time?”
    Trixie told him
about the Hakaito brothers and the swords—how