"Are you certain of this?" asked Dick.
"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 Dick.