"Yes. Are you going to Gridley?"
"Straight."
"Then please take me."
Not waiting for an answer Dick climbed up to the seat.
"How do you come so far out of the way?" asked the farmer, as he started the horse.
"I'd tell you, but for one thing," Dick laughed.
"What's that, son?"
"You wouldn't believe me."
"Wouldn't believe old Prescott's boy?" demanded the farmer. "Well, I would if the boy is half as square as his dad."
Thus encouraged Dick began to tell his story. Some past events the farmer already knew. This inclined him very strongly to believe Dick's strange tale.