"Probably some small animal."
"I suppose so. The woods are full of them."
Harry pocketed the flashlight. Accompanied by Major Weston, he reentered the cottage. Harry closed the door behind him.
CHAPTER XXXV. THE SIXTH MAN
A stranger alighted from the afternoon train at Culbertville. He was a dapper man of rather good appearance, his pointed mustache forming a thin black line beneath his aquiline nose. He glanced leisurely about him and looked with interest at the bus which was loading passengers for its trip across the mountains.
He approached as though to speak to the bus driver. Then, apparently changing his mind, he sat on a bench of the station platform. Even when the bus got under way, he made no move.
The stranger finished a cigarette, then strolled across the street and stopped to light another cigarette beside a parked coupe. Two men were seated in the automobile. The stranger noticed them as he raised his head.
"Pardon me," he said with a pleasant smile. "Which direction do I go to find the road called Mountain Pike?"
"Straight ahead," said the young man at the wheel of the car. "But if you are going up Mountain Pike you should have taken the bus."
"I realize that," replied the stranger. "But I can take the bus on its next trip."