"We are doing a bit of traveling overland. We were on a houseboat, but we got tired of riding on the Mississippi."
"I see. One of them 'personally conducted tours' a feller reads about in them magazines, eh?"
"That is pretty close to it," and Dick smiled, more to throw the man off his guard than any-thing else. He did not like the looks of the stranger in the least.
"Don't go an' git lost, young man. Have ye a guide?"
"No, but I don't think we are going to get lost. What place do you call this?" the eldest Rover continued, thinking to ask some questions himself, and thus keep the fellow from becoming too inquisitive.
"This is Pluggins' Palace;" the man gave a short laugh. "Did ye ever hear of Pluggins?"
"No."
"Pluggins was a pretty fair sort, but had a habit of stickin' his nose into other folks' business. One day, so the story goes, he went too far, and nobody has seen him since."
"Was he killed?"
The man shrugged his shoulders.