"Was the sister's name Merrick, too, or was she married?" asked Sam.

"She was a widow, so I was told. When she died she left her son in charge of Merrick--but I don't believe he ever looked after the boy very much."

"What was her name?" asked d.i.c.k.

"Sobber--Mary Ann Sobber."

"Sobber!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the three Rover boys.

"That's it."

"Did you ever hear the son's name?" asked d.i.c.k.

"I don't remember--yes, I do. Merrick had a letter from him once. The boy's name was Tad Sobber. He was at a boarding school somewhere."

CHAPTER XXV

CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM

"What do you think of that?"

"Isn't that the greatest ever!"

"Well, I'm sorry for Tad."

Such were the exclamations from the three Rover boys after listening to Bill Dangler's declaration that the lad who had run away from Putnam Hall was the nephew of Merrick.

"Are you certain of this?" asked d.i.c.k.

"Certainly I am. But why are you so interested in Merrick's sister and her son?"

"I will tell you," answered Tom. "Tad Sobber used to go to school with us, but he ran away a short while ago and we haven't heard from him since."

"Phew! so that's it! Maybe he's with his uncle."

"Like as not. I wonder if he knows his uncle is a thief?"

"I don't know anything about that. Sid Merrick is a sly one and can put on the most innocent front you ever saw."

"What do you know about Pike?"

"Oh, John Pike is only a tool, same as I was."

After that Bill Dangler seemed anxious to relieve his mind, and he related many of the particulars of the freight robberies. He said that all had been planned by Sid Merrick, and that two other men were implicated besides himself and Pike and named the men. He said that Merrick had sold the stolen stuff in various large cities.

"Did he divide with the others?" asked d.i.c.k.

"He was supposed to do it, but I don't think any of us ever got our full share."

Old Derringham listened to the thief's recital with keen interest. But presently he rushed forward and caught Bill Dangler by the arm.

"I want you to go!" he cried, almost fiercely. "I want no thief under my roof!"

"He shall go, and at once," declared d.i.c.k. "It is getting late, and it is a long tramp to Oak Run."

"He owes me a dollar for keeping him several days," went on the old man.

"Then he had better pay you," said Tom.

Dangler wanted to demur, but in the end he paid for his board, and then the whole party left, the old man gazing after them curiously. That he had been entirely innocent in the affair there could not be the slightest doubt.

"Now, Dangler, it won't do you any good to try to get away," said d.i.c.k, as they tramped along through the snow. "We are four to one and armed."

"I won't try to run away," was the dogged answer.

"If you give the authorities all the help you can, perhaps, when it comes to a trial, they will be a little easy on you," put in Tom.

"I hope so. I was coaxed into this. I used to be an honest man,"

responded the freight thief.

"Well, before you die, you'll learn that 'honesty is the best policy,'"

observed Sam.

"I've learned that already. I've lost all my old friends, and I can't show myself anywhere any more."

The crowd had to tramp a good mile and a half before they reached a farmhouse where they could procure a team and a sleigh big enough to take all of them to Oak Run. Then they set off at a fast pace and at about supper time reached the Rover farm.

Those at the farm were much astonished at the "game brought in," as Anderson Rover declared. The boys waited long enough to get a meal, and gave the prisoner something to eat, and then they set off for Oak Run with their father and Dangler. Here the freight thief was placed in the custody of the local constable, who locked the man up in the garret of his own home.

That night and the next day the telegraph and telephone were kept busy, and some officers of the law from Ithaca visited the old Sobber homestead. They found the place deserted and no trace of Merrick, Pike or Tad Sobber was to be found.

"It is too bad," declared d.i.c.k, when the news came in. "I thought sure we'd round up the rascals."

From the authorities the boys learned one thing--that the Sobber homestead was on the same road that ran past the Stanhope cottage.

"That may account for Merrick coming and looking in the window that night," said d.i.c.k. "Maybe he was traveling past and wanted to see what was going on."

"More than likely he was looking for a chance to rob the place," was Tom's grim comment.

On Christmas day the boys received a number of valuable presents and gave everybody presents in return. There was a grand family dinner, such as only their aunt Martha could prepare, and it is needless to say that all did full justice to the spread. After dinner the lads went out s...o...b..lling and got Aleck Pop and Jack Ness to do the same. The boys s...o...b..lled the colored man and Jack Ness so vigorously that the pair had to run for the barn.

"My sakes alibe, boys!" cried Aleck Pop, after he had received a s...o...b..ll in the ear. "Yo' dun work yo' s...o...b..a.l.l.s lik da was comin' from a Gatling gun!"

During the week between Christmas and New Year, Bill Dangler was removed to the county jail, there to await the action of the grand jury. In the meantime the authorities continued the hunt for Merrick, Pike and the others, but without success.