Accordingly, he addressed the principal speaker and asked what all the talk was about.
"Highway robbery, that's what!" came the vehement answer. "A couple of men guarding the pay roll of the shoe factory here were held up this afternoon and robbed of about four thousand dollars."
"I just now heard you mention Dismal Mountain," went on Tom. "Is that a hang-out for highwaymen?"
"That and worse," was the reply. "Dismal Mountain is a good place for honest folks to stay away from."
"Well, my friend and I claim to be honest," said Tom, indicating Ned. "But we are on our way to Dismal Mountain and——"
"Don't go!" exclaimed an old man in the store. "I know more about that place than most folks, and my advice to you is not to go there. Unless you're officers aiming to arrest the scoundrels that hide there," he added hopefully.
"No, we aren't officers," stated Ned.
"We were just going there to find out what gives the place its bad name," added Tom. "We would rather like to solve the mystery."
"Well, be warned by me and keep away," went on the old man. "I used to live not far from the place," he added, "and I don't want to see any more such goings on as I witnessed."
"What were they?" asked Ned.