He carried two tin cans in his mouth.

His apron was loaded to bursting with bread, fish, cheese, potatoes, and other edibles; the necks of bottles protruded from all his pocket's,--from the bosom of his jacket and from the fob of his breeches,--and round his neck hung a ponderous chain of onions.

In short, the errand-boy was busy; and our heroes, even with their short experience of business life, saw that there was little hope of extracting information from him under present circumstances.
So they let him pass, and waited for another.

They had not to wait long, for the passage appeared to be a regular highway for the junior members of the staff of the _Rocket_ Newspaper Company, Limited.

But though several boys came, it was some time before one appeared whose convenience it suited to conduct our heroes to the presence of Mr Durfy.