"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 windows, so I've been told. You find that house and likely you'll find Merrick and Pike."
"I thought those chaps were from the city?" said Sam.
"They are, but every once in a while they find it convenient to disappear, and then they go to that place on Lake Cayuga. It's an old homestead that used to belong to Merrick's sister."
"We ought to be able to find that place," said Tom to his brothers. "Especially if it was a homestead."
"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 Dick.
"Sobber—Mary Ann Sobber."
"Sobber!" ejaculated the three Rover boys.