When Tom Phipps came in from work, Tad drew him aside at the first opportunity.
"I've been over to the Ruby Mountain to-day, but please don't tell anyone."
"Saw something, did you?" laughed the assistant superintendent.
"No, that's the trouble. I didn't."
"What happened then?"
"I did not see, but I heard." Tad then related all that had occurred on his visit to the strange mountain.
Phipps did not laugh. He remained silent and thoughtful for some moments.
"That's strange. A miner prospecting there came back with a similar story a few months ago. Nobody believed him, though many strange things are said to have happened in the vicinity of that rock."
"What?"
"That's the trouble. One cannot get them to tell what they saw. You have come the nearest to doing so."