"He shall not harm you," put in Tom. "He'll soon be behind the bars."
A glance at the party of four, with their shotguns, convinced the freight thief that escape was out of the question.
"I suppose I'll have to give up," he growled. "But I ain't as guilty as you may think I am."
"You are guilty enough," said Sam.
"I didn't plan those freight robberies."
"Who did then?" questioned Tom.
"Merrick and Pike. I don't mind telling on them, for they have gone back on me."
"Is Merrick the head of the gang?" asked Dick.
"Yes."
"Where is he now?"
"If I tell will you let me go?"
"I can't do that, Dangler."
"Well, I don't care anyway. Merrick hasn't treated me right, and he ought to suffer. He has a hangout a few miles from the city of Ithaca, if you know where that is."
"Yes, on Lake Cayuga."
"That's it."
"You say a few miles from the city," pursued Sam. "What do you mean by that?"
"He and some of his friends. Pike among them, have a meeting place along the lake. It's an old house, unpainted, and with very narrow
