"Wait!" exclaimed Alice. "Did you happen to notice the number on the messenger boy's cap?"
"No, I did not, I'm sorry to say," the man answered.
"Then that clue is no good," spoke Russ, with a sigh.
"It might be," put in Ruth. "The messenger was probably engaged from the office nearest here. We could find that and make some inquiries."
"So we could!" cried Alice. "Oh, Ruth, you're a dear!"
Russ looked as though he would have said the same thing had he dared.
An inquiry over the telephone to the main office of the messenger service, brought the desired information. And soon, in their taxicab Russ, Ruth and Alice were at the sub-station. There the identity of the messenger was soon learned, and he was sent for.
"Sure, I went to de machine shop," admitted the snub-nosed, freckled-faced lad. "I got some sort of a thing. I didn't know what it was."
"And where did you take it?" asked Russ eagerly.
"Right where dem men told me to. Dey met me around de corner, got in de cab and rode off wid it."