Bob, grinning. "I guess if I bone down to it I can
learn a few by then."

"You won't even have to memorize them, if you don't want to," said Mr.
Allard. "You can read them right off if you'd rather. Your audience won't
be able to see what you're doing, you know."

"That would probably be better," agreed Bob. "Then there won't be any
chance of my forgetting the answers. Think of how tough it would be on the
kids if I gave them a riddle and then forgot the answer. That would be a
terrible trick to play on them."

"Well, you can suit yourself about that," returned Mr. Allard. "It's
almost six o'clock now, so perhaps you'd better go out and get a bite to
eat right now. I'll pick out a few good conundrums, and you'd better get
back as soon as you can and study them up a bit."

"All right," said Bob. "We'll make it snappy."

He and Joe and Larry went out and had a quick meal at the nearest
restaurant.

"You fellows have broken into the entertaining game with your usual
speed," remarked Larry. "Who would have imagined this morning that you
would be on the broadcasting programme this evening?"

"We wouldn't have been, one time out of a hundred," answered Bob. "If one
of the regulars hadn't been sick, we never would have gotten a look in."

"'It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good,'" quoted Joe. "We'll make
our car fare out of this, and something over. It's lucky I happened to
speak as I did to Mr. Reed."

"But say!" exclaimed Bob, struck by a sudden thought. "Won't Jimmy and
Herb be knocked silly when they hear our voices this evening? They won't
be able to believe their ears."

"You said it," declared Joe. "But the worst of it is, we won't be there to
see their faces at the time. I'd give the evening's profits to see them
then."

"It will be a scream, all right," agreed Larry, with a chuckle. "You two
will have it all over all the other radio fans in Clintonia when you get
back. They'll be green with envy."

"I guess it will make them sit up and take notice," assented Bob. "Just
make out Lon Beardsley won't be sore. This will be a terrible blow to
him."

"It's a good thing it isn't the other way around," said Joe. "If it were
Lon who was on the broadcasting programme, we'd never hear the last of it.
You'd be hearing about it ten years from now."

The three friends finished their meal and returned to the broadcasting
station, where Mr. Allard was waiting for Bob with the riddles that he had
selected.

"