"I tell you you have no time to ask questions. Why did you come here?"
"You seem inclined to ask questions. I came because I could not help it."
"That is not true. You came to search for the hiding place of the last of the Danites. You may as well confess it."
"But I tell you I had no idea of coming here when I started."
"I know more than your name, Frank Merriwell; I know that you were eager to come in search of the place where Uric Dugan and a few of his former friends have hidden themselves from the world, hoping to remain there in peace to the end of their days."
Frank was filled with wonder unutterable.
"Are you a supernatural creature—a phantom?" he demanded. "If not, how do you know that I ever heard of Uric Dugan?"
"I am not the only one who knows. Uric Dugan and his companions know it. They are ready for you, and you have walked into their snare. You are meshed."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that there is not one chance in ten thousand that you will ever be able to escape alive."