CHAPTER XVII
A STIRRING SCENE IN THE SCHOOLROOM
The hunt for the snake was continued all of the next day, but withoutsuccess. By that time the excitement had died down and a good many ofthe cadets forgot all about the incident. A few said it must be a jokeand they laughed behind George Strong's back.
"It's one of Tom Rover's tricks," said one pupil. "I'll wager he islaughing in his sleeves at Mr. Strong and Captain Putnam."
"Do you think it was a live snake?" asked another.
"No, it was probably a toy affair on a string."
In the secrecy of their room Tad Sobber and Nick Pell laughed heartilyover the excitement created--that is, Pell laughed and the bully laughedwith him. But Sobber, behind it all, was worried.
The truth of the matter was, he had hoped that the snake would bekilled. The man who had sold him the reptile had said it was fromCentral America and poisonous, but had added that the snake was sick andnot liable to do any harm. Sobber would not have cared had Dick or hisbrothers been bitten by the snake, but that the reptile was at large wasanother story.
"Do you think he'd be poisonous enough to kill anybody?" asked Pell,suddenly, and he sobered down as he spoke.
"Oh, no, of course not," answered the bully, but he turned his face awayas he spoke. He had given five dollars for the snake and now he waswilling to give a like sum to make certain of its death.
In the afternoon Sam led the way to a little case of reptiles which hungon the wall of the school laboratory. In this was a stuffed snake almostthe size of that which had disappeared.
"I guess we can frighten Sobber and Pell with that," he said to hisbrothers.
"Anyway, we can try," answered Tom, falling in with the plan at once.
"We want to be careful of what we do," added Dick. "Otherwise, the pairwill smell a mouse."
They talked the matter over, and managed to get the snake upstairswithout anybody seeing them. Then they paid a visit to the dormitoryoccupied by the bully and his cronies and passed some strong blackthreads across the floor and elsewhere. After that they told Songbirdand their other chums of what had been done.
That night Sobber, Pell and their friends went to bed as usual. Buthardly had they turned out the lights when they heard a curious rustlingsound on the floor near the door.
"What is that?" asked Pell, who was inclined to be nervous.
"I don't know, I'm sure," answered Sobber.
The rustling continued, and something seemed to move across the floor.Wondering what it could be, the bully got up and lit a light. Then hegave a yell and leaped back.
"The snake!"
"Where is it?" screamed Pell, sitting bolt upright and his hair raisingon ends.
"There it is, over in the corner."
"The snake! The snake!" called out the other boys in the room, and somewere so scared that they dove under the bed clothing.
The light was not strong enough to see clearly, and nobody had thecourage to make more of an illumination. Sobber stood in the center ofthe room and as he did this the snake suddenly seemed to fly through theair right at him.
"Oh!" he screamed. "Go away!" and he flopped on his bed and threw ablanket over him. He felt the reptile cross the bed and lay therequaking in mortal terror. Then he heard something moving across thefloor.
"That snake is bound to bite me!" he muttered to himself. "Oh, why did Ibring it to the school!"
"Call Captain Putnam, somebody!" came from Nick Pell. He was sofrightened he could scarcely speak.
There was an emergency bell near the door, to be used in case of fire,and this one of the boys touched. At once the alarm sounded out, and ina few minutes the hallways were filled with pupils as on the previousnight, while some of the teachers and Peleg Snuggers appeared withchemical fire extinguishers in their hands.
"Where is the fire?"
"Shall I telephone for the Cedarville fire department?"
"Has anybody been burnt?"
"What room is it in?"
Such were some of the questions asked. Then Captain Putnam rushed on thescene.
"It's the snake again!" wailed one of the cadets, who now stood boltupright on his bed, his eyes bulging from his head.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, the snake is in here," answered Tad Sobber. "Why, it fairly jumpedover my bed!"
"He tried to bite me in the face!" came from Nick Pell, who was soexcited he scarcely knew what he was saying.
More lights were lit, and Captain Putnam went off to get a shotgun.
"If I catch sight of it, I'll blow it to pieces," he said to GeorgeStrong.
A long search followed, and then came a sudden cry from a corner of thedormitory.
"There he is!"
"Shoot him, Captain Putnam!"
The master of the Hall took aim and came up slowly. Then he suddenlydropped the barrel of his shotgun, stepped forward, and took hold of thesnake by the tail.
"It's a stuffed snake," he said. "It belongs in the case in thelaboratory."
"A stuffed snake?" queried Tad Sobber, and when he realized the truth hewas the maddest boy in that school.
"See here," said the master of the Hall, turning to Dick. "Was this whatyou saw last night?"
"No, sir," was the prompt reply. "What we saw was a real, live snake."
"Indeed it was," said George Strong.
"Are you sure this one is from the case in the laboratory, CaptainPutnam?" questioned Andrew Garmore, one of the teachers.
"Yes, I know it well. Besides, here is the label on it."
"Well, I looked at the case early this morning and it was filled as ithas always been."
"It's a trick on me!" roared Tad Sobber, angrily. "Just wait, I'll getsquare with somebody for this!" And he looked sharply at the Rovers.
"Sobber must like snakes--I saw him at the museum in Cedarville oneday," answered Dick, and eyed the bully boldly. At this Sobber grew redin the face and slunk out of sight.
"Get to bed, all of you," said Captain Putnam sharply. "I'll investigatethis in the morning."
As on the night before, it took the school a long time to quiet down.The Rover boys and their chums had a hearty laugh over the success ofthe trick.
"My! but Sobber is mad," said Fred. "You want to watch out, he'll doalmost anything to get square."
The promised investigation the next day did not materialize, for thereason that Captain Putnam was called away on important business. Thustwo days passed, and the snake incident was again practically forgottenby the majority of the students.
On the following day the master of the Hall came back and said he wouldstart his investigation that afternoon after the school session.
"And let me tell you one thing," he announced. "Whoever brought thatreal snake into this academy will have to suffer for it."
That afternoon in one of the classrooms some of the pupils were recitinghistory when of a sudden a wild shriek rang through the air and NickPell was seen to bounce up out of his seat and run away from his desk asif a demon was after him.
"What is it, Pell?" demanded the teacher.
"The--the snake!" groaned Nick. "Oh, I'm a dead boy!"
"Where is it?" asked a score of voices.
"In my desk! It just bit me in the hand! Oh, I'm a dead boy, I know Iam!" And Nick Pell shook from head to foot in his terror.
The announcement that the snake was in Nick's desk was received invarious ways by the boys present. Some thought it must be the real snakeand others thought it might be only a trick. With caution the teacherapproached the desk, armed with a ruler. Then came a hissing sound andthe snake stuck out its head.
"It's alive!" yelled a dozen cadets.
"Kill it! Kill it!"
"You go and kill it!"
"I haven't anything."
"Neither have I."
"Throw a book at it," suggested Tom, and let fly his Caesar. His aim wasgood and the snake was hit in the neck and tumbled to the floor. Thenthe boys threw books, rulers and inkw
ells at the reptile, and it wasdriven into a corner. Dick took up a big geography, let it fall on topof the snake, and stood on it. The reptile squirmed, but could not getaway, and in a few seconds more it was killed.
"That's the end of that snake," said Sam, breathing a sigh of relief."And I am mighty glad of it."
"I am poisoned! I am poisoned!" screamed Nick Pell. "See, my hand isswelling up already!"
"Do you think he was really bitten?" whispered Tom.
"It looks like it," answered Dick. "Too bad--if the snake really waspoisonous."
By this time Captain Putnam had come in. He glanced at the dead snakeand gave a start.
"Did that thing bite you, Pell?" he questioned.
"Yes, sir, right here--in--the--the palm of the hand," cried the youthaddressed. "See how it is swelling."
"I'll telephone for a doctor at once. Come to my office and I will seewhat I can do for you."
Nick had certainly been bitten and now the hand was twice its ordinarysize, while the pain was acute. The boy shook like a leaf.
"I'm poisoned, I know I am!" he wailed. "It's all Tad Sobber's fault,too! Oh, if I should die!" And then of a sudden he fell to the floor inconvulsions.