"Thank you, sir."

And Pep felt much relieved.

"You must come up Sunday," put in Frank. "Come up to dinner, same as you were going to."

"Thank you, Mr. Massanet, I will," replied Pep. "My uncle expects both of you down soon, too."

And they separated, Pep being on his way to Frying Pan Court to get a few treasured belongings that still remained there.

Early the following morning Richard and Frank started for the store together. It was a clear, but windy day, thick clouds of dust flying in all directions. As they passed the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, a fire engine dashed past, on its way down the street.

"Hello! there's a fire somewhere!" exclaimed Frank.

"Can we go to it?" cried Richard. He had not yet seen a conflagration in the city, and was anxious to see how such a thing would be handled. Frank looked at his watch.

"We've got twenty-five minutes," he replied. "Come on; if it's in the neighborhood we can take a look at it."

Both boys started off on a run. They reached Spruce Street, and followed the engine around the corner.