"'Tis a trick, I'm after thinkin'——"
"No, sir, I give you my word of honor it is not. Let me out and I will explain. Please hurry up."
Dave's earnestness at last impressed the farmer to the extent that he opened the door cautiously for the space of a foot. As the youth came forth the man caught him by the arm.
"Now don't try to run, or 'twill be the worse for ye!"
"Mr. Marcy, listen!" cried Dave. "Only a short while ago two men were here. They stopped close to the smokehouse to talk. They spoke of the Widow Fairchild having money in her house which she had just gotten from the bank. They talked of robbing her, and they went off to do the job."
The farmer listened and his jaw dropped slightly.
"Is it a fairy story ye are after tellin'?"
"No, sir, it is the absolute truth. I think they were the same chaps who robbed Mr. Lapham and robbed that house in Oakdale. They seem to be doing their best to loot this whole neighborhood."
"They were here?" faltered Mike Marcy. At last he began to believe Dave.
"Yes, sir, not over quarter of an hour ago."