“Have you lived long in Oakdale?”
“Brought up there,” answered Hooker.
“Then I presume you know nearly everyone in town?”
“Sure. In a little place like that everybody knows everybody else.”
The man’s next question gave the lad a start: “Do you know any people by the name of Sage?”
“What? Sage? I should say so!”
“Ah!” breathed the man. “There is a family by that name in Oakdale?”
“Yes.”
“How long have they been there?”
“Let me see. About three years, I think.”