In his week of leisure, as he called it, Dick finished up all his Porto Rico matter by working every day and a large part of every night, and then came his instructions for the trip into the Southwest. “We know what travel on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meant in old times, before the days of railroads,” Mr. Harding told him. “I want you to tell the public what it is now. Go down to Pittsburgh and take a boat down the river. Go to Wheeling, to Cincinnati, and so on down the river at least to Memphis. There you can cross over to Arkansas and make a visit to Hot Springs which is one of the most picturesque towns in this country. Then you can take the Red River to New Orleans, and from there go on to Key West. Telegraph me when you reach Key West, and I will either bring you home or send you further instructions. I think you will find much material of interest. Take your time to it and do your best. The winter has been so mild that the rivers are still open.” Dick climbed into a sleeping-car berth in Jersey City at nine o’clock in the evening, and at seven o’clock next morning he was in Pittsburgh. “There’s article number one,” he said to himself as he stepped from the car. “‘A night in a sleeping-car.’ It’s so commonplace that people don’t write about it, but I think it will make a good story. There are always some curious characters in a sleeping-car, and they are always different.” He walked down a long smoky street to the river and made inquiries in several shipping offices. Yes, there was a boat to sail for Wheeling that afternoon at five o’clock; the Crescent. No boats going farther than Wheeling, because the water was low. But he could go aboard when he liked and make himself comfortable. He paid his fare for a stateroom to Wheeling, for it was an all-night journey; and hunted up an express wagon to carry his trunk to the boat. No meals on the boat till supper time, he was told; but there were plenty of restaurants. There were curious sights to see in Pittsburgh throughout the day, and there were the bridges to cross to Allegheny City, and the inclined railway to ride on, and many unaccustomed scenes by the riverside. He took mental note of them all; not because they interested him specially, but because it was his duty. It was not at five o’clock that the Crescent started for Wheeling, but at nine; Ohio River boats are not express trains. Dick had books in his trunk, for he had thought over the conversation with Darling and made up his mind to become familiar with the best works of the best authors.