d quickened his
speech.

"Of course I will go," he said, but he did not speak with enthusiasm.

"And--your word of honour?"

"Certainly, sir." The hesitation before the promise was momentary.

"Very well. I will trust you. Go to your room before opening your
instructions."

And the second somewhat mystified boy went out of the library on that
memorable Thursday morning, to find his first order one which sent him
to a remote district of the city, with the direction to arrive there
within three quarters of an hour.

Out on an electric car Cyrus was speeding to another suburb. After
getting the letter from the seventh floor of the Norwalk Building, he
had read:

Take cross-town car on L Street, transfer to Louisville Avenue,
and go out to Kingston Heights. Find corner West and Dwight
streets and open Env. No. 3. C. W. Jr.

Cyrus was growing more and more puzzled, but he was also getting
interested. At the corner specified he hurriedly tore open No. 3, but
found, to his amazement, only the singular direction:

Take Suburban Elevated Road for Duane Street Station. From there
go to _Sentinel_ Office and secure third edition of yesterday's
paper. Open Env. No. 4. C. W. Jr.

"Well, what under the sun, moon, and stars did he send me out to
Kingston Heights for?" cried Cyrus aloud. He caught the next train,
thinking longingly of his broken engagement with Harold Dunning, and of
certain plans for the afternoon which he was beginning to fear might be
thwarted if this seemingly endless and aimless excursion continued. He
looked at the packet of unopened envelopes.

"It would be mighty easy to break open the whole outfit and see what
this game is," he thought. "Never knew father to do a thing like this
before. If it's a joke"--his fingers felt the seal of "Env. No. 4"--"I
might as well find it out at once. Still, father never would joke with a
fellow's promise the way he asked it of me. 'My word of honour'--that's
putting it pretty strong. I'll see it through, of course. My, but I'm
getting hungry! It must be near luncheon-time."

It was not; but by the time Cyrus had been ordered twice across the city
and once up a sixteen-story building in which the elevator was out of
order it was past noon, and he was in a condition to find "Env. No. 7" a
very satisfactory one:

Go to Cafe Reynard on Westchester Square. Take seat at table in
left alcove. Ask waiter for card of Corneli