"Don't ask me, stranger. He disappeared, and that was the end of him.
He used to live here, and the boys writ that motto to his memory."
And the man pointed to a wall, upon which hung a board, on which had
been painted the following:
ThiS iS iN MEMorY Of SiLAs plUGGinS he waS A GooD MaN bUT hE coULD NOT kEEp HiS NOsE FRoM oTHeRS bISSnESS. tAkE wARNiNG.!
Dick read the lines with deep interest, and so did all of the others.
"They didn't know much about sign painting, but they evidently knew what they wanted to say," remarked Tom. "Do you live here now?" he added, to the strange man.
"No; I was only taking a nap, that's all."
"Are you on foot?" asked Fred.
"No, my hoss is close by." The man gave a loud whistle, and soon a slick-looking mare came into view from behind the shack. "Reckon I must be goin'." He pointed to the board on the wall. "Kind of a sign to set a feller to thinkin', eh?"
"Just a bit," returned Dick dryly.
"It don't do to stick your nose into what don't concern you. Good-by."
The man left the shack, leaped into the saddle on the mare, spoke to the steed and, in a second, was off like the wind around a turn in the woods.