"I think it will be useless to try any mass playing," said Larry.
"Sobber and Pell and some of the others are too heavy for us. We'll have
to trust to some swift passes and quick runs."

In the first half of the game Sobber's eleven got ten points, while
Larry's team got nothing.

"Sobber is too brutal for me," said Tom. "He deliberately kicked me in
the shins."

"If he does it again, knock him down," advised Dick, promptly.

Larry's eleven went into the second half with vigor. They soon got a
goal and followed it up by two more. Then Sobber claimed a foul, but it
was not granted.

"If anybody is fouling it is you," said Dick. "You fouled Tom twice. If
you do it again----"

"Never mind, Dick," interrupted Larry. "Go on and play, or give up," he
added to Tad Sobber.

"I want Dick Rover to understand that he----" began Sobber, when another
player pulled him back. Some hot words followed, and then the game
proceeded. Larry's eleven made another touchdown and kicked the
goal,--and thus won a substantial victory, much to Sobber's disgust and
that of his crony, Nick Pell.

"No use of talking, those Rover boys make me sick," said Sobber, when he
and Nick Pell were alone. "Everybody in this school seems to toady to
them."

"If I had been you I'd have pitched into Dick Rover on the gridiron,"
answered Pell.

"Well, I wanted to, but the others wouldn't have it. But I'll polish him
off some day--and polish off Tom, too," added Sobber, uglily.

Two of the small boys of the school had been taken sick, and in order to
keep them quiet they were removed to the top floor of the institution,
and one of the colored waiters was ordered to carry their meals up to
them. Dick knew both of the lads, and he frequently went up to pay them
a visit and cheer them up a bit.

One day he was just returning from a visit to the sick students when he
heard a noise in the hallway on the second floor. He looked down the
stairs and saw Tom and Tad Sobber near a landing, having a wordy
quarrel. Nick Pell was approaching and so were Fred and Hans.

"For two pins I'd give you a good thrashing, Rover," the bully was
saying. "You can't lord it over me, understand that."

"Well, I want you to keep your distance, Tad Sobber," returned Tom. "And
I stick to it that you kicked me on purpose during the football game."

Both boys were walking to the stairs landing, and Dick and the others
who heard the words followed. Then of a sudden the crowd that was
gathered saw Sobber catch Tom by the throat.

"Le--let go!" gasped Tom.

"Take that!" retorted the bully, and banged Tom's head against the wall.

There was a scuffle near the stairs, and both boys fell up against the
railing.

"Look out, Tom!" cried Dick. "He'll throw you down the stairs!" And he
tried to go to his brother's assistance. But before he could reach the
spot the two contestants had separated.

"That for you!" roared Sobber, and aimed a blow for Tom's eye. Tom
dodged, and then let out with his right fist. The blow landed on the
bully's chin. He tottered backward, lost his balance, and pitched down
the stairs.

Just as the bully went backwards, a side door of the mess hall opened
and the colored waiter who carried the food to the sick lads upstairs
came out. He held a trayful of dainties in his hands. Crash! came Sobber
into the tray, and he and the dishes and the waiter went to the floor in
a confused heap.

[Illustration: CRASH! CAME SOBBER INTO THE TRAY.]

"Fo' de lan' sake!" gasped the waiter. "What fo' you dun dat to me?"

"Oh!" groaned the bully, and tried to get up. On one cheek he had a dab
of jelly and his hand and shirt front were covered with broth. The sight
was such a comical one that the boys on the landing could not help but
laugh.

"Yo' dun bust de whole dinnah up!" was the waiter's comment, as he arose
and surveyed the wreck. The food had been scattered in all directions
and half of the dishes were broken.

"It wasn't my fault!" growled Tad Sobber. "Tom Rover knocked me down the
stairs."

"It was your own fault," cried Tom. "You started the fight, I didn't."

"Somebody's got to pay fo' dis smash," said the waiter. "I ain't gwine
to do it. Why, I ought to sue yo' fo' damages, dat's wot!" he added,
glaring wrathfully at Sobber.

"I'll fix Tom Rover for this!" exclaimed the bully, and looked up the
stairs at the laughing students. "I'll make him laugh on the other side
of his face!"

And he ran up the stairs with the intention of attacking Tom again.




CHAPTER XIII

DORA, GRACE AND NELLIE


That Tad Sobber was in a thorough rage was easily to be seen. His eyes
were full of hate and he looked ready to fly at Tom and tear him to
pieces.

All of the boys expected to see a great fight, and some backed away from
the landing, to give the contestants more room.

But before anything could be done Dick leaped to the front and barred
the bully's further progress.

"Stop it, Sobber," he said quietly but firmly.

"Get out of my way, Dick Rover!" roared the bully. "This is none of your
affair."

"Then I'll make it my affair," answered the eldest Rover boy. "You shall
not attack my brother here."

"Don't worry, Dick--I can take care of him," put in Tom, undauntedly,
and doubled up his fists. "Maybe he'd like to go down stairs again and
smash some more dishes."

"Not when John Fly am carryin' dem," put in the colored waiter, who
stood looking at the wreckage with a sober face. "I don't want no moah
such knockovers, I don't!" And he shook his woolly head decidedly.

The noise had summoned numerous cadets to the scene, and now George
Strong, the head teacher, appeared.

"What is the trouble here?" he demanded.

For the moment nobody answered him, and he gazed in wonderment at the
broken dishes and the scattered food.

"Been a accident, sah," said John Fly. "Dat young gen'man dun fall down
de stairs an' knock me ober, tray an' all, sah."

"Did you fall down stairs, Sobber?"

"No, sir, I was thrown down by Tom Rover," replied the bully.

"Thrown down?" repeated the head teacher in surprise.

"He attacked me and I hit back," explained Tom. "It was his own fault
that he fell down stairs. Had he let me alone there would have been no
trouble."

"It is false--he hit me first," said the bully.

"That is not so," cried Fred. "Sobber struck the first blow."

"Yah, dot is der fact alretty," put in Hans. "He vos caught Dom py der
throat und knock his head py der vall chust so hard like nefer vos!"

"He hit me first, didn't he, Nick?" said the bully, turning to his
crony.

"I--I think he did," stammered Nick Pell. He did not dare to tell an
outright falsehood. "I think it was all Tom Rover's fault," he added,
after a surly look from Sobber.

"All of you know it is against the rules to fight in this school," said
Mr. Strong, sternly.

"Well, I only fought after I was attacked," answered Tom, doggedly.

"Mr. Strong, whether you believe it or not, my brother speaks the plain
truth," came from Dick. "I was coming from Larmore's room and saw it
all. Had you been in Tom's place you would have done as he did."

These plain words from Dick made George Strong hesitate. He knew the
Rover boys well, and knew that they were generally in the right. More
than this, he had caught Tad Sobber in a falsehood only the day before.

"You may all go to your rooms and I will see about this later," he said.
"Sobber, as you broke the dishes, you will have to pay for them."

"Can't Rover pay half the bill?" growled the bully.

"No, for I cannot see how he is to blame for that."

After this some sharp words followed. Tad Sobber was impudent, and as a
consequence was marched off to a storeroom which was occasionally used
as a "guardhouse" by the teachers and Captain Putnam. Here he had to
stay in solitary confinement for twenty-four hours and on the plainest
kind of a diet. This imprisonment made Sobber furious, and he vowed he
would get square with Tom and Dick for it if it cost him his life.

"They may have been able to down other fellows in this school, but they
shan't down me," was what he told Nick Pell.

"Well, you want to go slow in what you do," answered Pell. "I've been
talking to some of the others and I've learned that they got the best of
several fellows who were here at different times--Dan Baxter, Lew Flapp
and some others."

"Humph! I am not afraid of them," growled Tad Sobber. "I suppose they
think, because they are rich and have traveled some, they can lord it
over everybody. Well, I'll show them a trick or two before I'm done with
them."

After Tad Sobber came out of confinement the Rover boys thought he might
try to play some underhand trick on Tom, and consequently kept their
eyes open. But nothing developed for some days, and then it came in a
most unexpected way.

The boys settled down to their studies, but it was not in their nature
to go in for all work and no play. On the following Saturday they asked
for permission to visit Cedarville, to buy some things Sam and Tom
needed. They took with them Songbird and Hans, and went on foot, the
weather being ideal for walking. Just before leaving they saw Sobber and
Pell hurry away, also in the direction of the town.

"I wonder where they are going?" mused Dick.

"Sobber is going to take a run by steamboat to Ithaca," answered
Songbird. "I heard him speak to Captain Putnam about it."

"Is Pell going along?"

"I don't think so."

The three Rover boys and their friends were soon on the way. They felt
in the best of spirits, and Powell could not resist the temptation to
break out into his usual doggerel:

    "I love to roam o'er hill and dale,
    In calm or storm or windy gale,
    I love the valley and the hill,
    The brooklet and the running rill,
    I love the broad and placid lake----"

    "Where we can swim or take a skate,"

finished Tom, and then went on:

    "And just remember, of the rest,
    I love old Putnam Hall the best!"

"That last sentiment hits me," said Fred. "Tell you what, fellows, no
place like our school."

"I dink I make me some boetry alretty," said Hans, solemnly, and began:

    "I lof to hear der insects hum,
    I lof to chew on chewing gum!
    I lof to see der moon shine owit----"

    "And love to eat my sauerkraut,"

added Tom gaily. "Songbird, can't you get up some real nice bit of verse
about sauerkraut and Limburger cheese for Hans' benefit?"

"The idea of poetry about sauerkraut and Limburger cheese!" snorted the
verse maker in disgust.

"Well, anyway, the lines about the cheese would be good and strong," was
Dick's comment.

"A poem about sauerkraut wouldn't do for this automobile age," said Sam,
dryly.

"Why not?" asked Tom.

"Because sauerkraut belongs to the cabbage," answered the youngest
Rover, and then dodged a blow Tom playfully aimed at him.

"I shan't try to make up any more verses," said Songbird. "Every time I
try----"

"Hullo, here comes a carriage with three young ladies in it," called out
Dick.

"They look familiar to me," announced Tom. "Yes, they are Dora Stanhope
and Grace and Nellie Laning!" he cried.

"Well, this is a pleasure," said Songbird, and forgot all about what he
was going to say concerning his verse making.

The carriage was soon up to them. It was a two-seated affair, and on the
front seat were Dora and Nellie and in the rear Grace and Mrs. Stanhope.

"We were going to stop at Putnam Hall for a few minutes," said Dora,
after the greetings were over. "It was such a lovely day we couldn't
resist the temptation to go out for a long drive."

"Sorry we won't be at the Hall to receive you," answered Dick, and he
gave Dora such an earnest look that the pretty girl blushed.

"The girls have something up their sleeve," said Mrs. Stanhope. "And
they wanted to see you and Captain Putnam about it."

"We are getting up a little party," announced Nellie. "It is to come off
at Dora's home some time this fall. We wanted to find out if Captain
Putnam would let you and a few of your friends come over."

"Oh, he'll have to let us come!" cried Tom. "Why, I wouldn't miss a
party for anything!" And he said this so comically that all of the girls
laughed.

"We haven't set any date yet," said Grace. "But you'll speak to Captain
Putnam about it, won't you? We thought you might make up a party of say
eight or ten boys, and come over in the carryall."

"It's as good as done," announced Sam, with a profound bow. "Please put
me down on your card for the first two-step."

"Und put me town for a dree-steps," added Hans, and at this there was
another laugh.

"I don't know whether we'll have dancing or not," said Mrs. Stanhope.
"But we'll try to have a good time."

"Who do you want us to invite--if we can come?" questioned Dick.

"Oh, Dick, we'll leave that to you. Of course we want all who were on
the houseboat," and Dora looked at the Rovers and Songbird and Hans.

"With Fred that will make six. Shall I ask Larry Colby and George
Granbury?"

"If you want to--and two more. But please don't ask those boys we just
met," went on Dora, hastily.

"You mean Tad Sobber and Nick Pell?" questioned Tom, quickly.

"One called the other Nick. He was a very large lad," said Mrs.
Stanhope.

"Sobber and Pell sure," murmured Tom. "What did they do?"

"Stood right in the middle of the road and would not get out of the
way," explained Grace. "I think they were perfectly horrid!"

"They made us drive around to one side and we nearly went into a ditch,"
added Dora.

"And then, after we had passed, they burst out laughing at us,"
continued Nellie. "They certainly weren't a bit nice."

"We'll have to settle with Sobber and Pell for this," said Dick, and his
face took on a serious look that bode no good for the cadets who had
played so ungallant a part towards his lady friends.




CHAPTER XIV

AT THE ICE-CREAM ESTABLISHMENT


The Lanings and the Stanhopes had been in the best of health since
returning from the south. Mrs. Stanhope was no more the pale and
delicate person she had been, and her former nervous manner was entirely
gone. The cheeks of the three girls were like roses, and it was no
wonder that the Rovers thought them the nicest young ladies in the whole
world.

"Wish we were in a carriage," observed Tom, after the turnout had gone
on. "Then we might have gone for a drive together."

"I know what Tom would like," said Sam. "A nice buggy and a slow horse,
and Nellie beside him----"

"Humph, please change the names to Sam and Grace and you'll hit it
closer," answered Tom, his face growing red.

"I'm going to make up a poem about them some day," said Songbird. "I
shall call it--let me see--ah, yes--The Three Fair Maidens of
Cedarville."

"Don't!" cried Dick. "Songbird, if you dare to do anything like
that----"

"You'll have to leave Dora out anyway," said Tom. "If you don't, Dick
will get in your wool sure. He----"

"Say, what about Sobber and Pell?" broke in the eldest Rover, his face
quite red. "I feel like punishing them for making the ladies drive into
the ditch."

"We'll remember it," answered Sam. "If we catch them in Cedarville let's
speak of it and see what they have to say for themselves."

"Speaking about a party," observed Songbird, as they approached the
village, "do you realize that we haven't had any sort of a feast at the
Hall since we got back to the grind?"

"Fred was saying the same thing only a few days ago," answered Tom. "We
certainly ought to have some sort of a blow-out."

"Vot you vos going to plow owid?" asked Hans innocently.

"Blow out the stuffings from a mince pie, Hansy."

"Vere you vos plow dem to, Dom?"

"Blow them into your stomach. Have a spread--a feast--a fill-up, so to
speak--something to eat, cheese, sandwiches, cake, pie, pudding, jam,
oranges, bananas, lard, salt, plum pudding, toothpicks, ice-cream,
turnips, and other delicacies," went on the fun-loving Rover, rapidly.

"Ach, yah, I understand now, ain't it! I like dem feasts. Ve haf him in
von of der pedrooms alretty yet, hey?"

"If the crowd is willing," said Sam. "For one, I vote in favor of it."

"Second the nomination," put in Tom, promptly. "It is elected by a
unanimous vote we have a feast at the school, some night in the near
future, at eleven o'clock, G. M."

The idea of a feast pleased all the boys. They always got enough to eat
during regular meal hours at the Hall, but there was something enticing
in the idea of having a feast on the sly some night in one of the
dormitories. They had had a number of such in the past and these had
been productive of a good deal of sport.

"Let us go down to the steamboat landing and see if we can see anything
of Pell and Sobber," suggested Dick. "If Sobber is going to Ithaca he'll
most likely go by the _Golden Star_."

They were walking along the main street of Cedarville when they chanced
to look into the principal candy store. There, in front of the soda
fountain, were the bully of the Hall and his crony. They were drinking
soda and talking to a young girl who had served them.

"Hullo, here they are!" cried Sam, and came to a halt.

As they looked into the place they saw Tad Sobber reach over the counter
and catch the girl clerk by her curls. He held fast, grinning into her
face, while she tried to pull away from him.

"The mean wretch!" cried Dick. "He tries to make himself as obnoxious as
he can to everybody he meets."

"Oh, please let go!" came in the girl's voice through the open doorway.
"You hurt me!"

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," replied Sobber, still grinning.

"But I--I don't want my curls pulled," pleaded the frightened girl. "Oh,
please let go, won't you?"

"I want you----" began the bully, but did not finish, for at that moment
he felt Dick's hand on his ear. Then he received a yank that pained him
exceedingly.

"Ouch!" he yelled, and dropped his hold of the girl. "Oh, my ear! Dick
Rover, what did you do that for?"

"I did it to make you behave yourself," answered Dick, sternly. "Sobber,
I didn't really think you could be so mean," he went on.

"I--I wasn't hurting the girl," grumbled the bully. "And it's none of
your business anyway," he added, suddenly, in a blaze of passion.

"After this, you leave her alone."

Tad Sobber glared at Dick for an instant. Then he raised his glass of
soda and attempted to dash it into Dick's face. But Sam saw the
movement, knocked up the bully's arm, and the soda went into Nick Pell's
ear.

"Hi, stop!" roared Nick Pell, as the soda trickled down his neck. "What
did you do that for?"

"It was Sam Rover's fault," answered Sobber.

"My brand new collar is spoilt!"

"Charge it to your crony," said Tom.

"I'll fix you fellows!" roared the bully, and raised the empty soda
glass over Dick's head. But now Tom rushed in and wrenched the glass
from Sobber's hand. In the meantime the girl behind the counter had
become more frightened than ever and she ran to the back of the store to
summon assistance.

It looked as if there might be a regular fight, but in a few seconds the
proprietor of the store appeared, armed with a mop stick he had picked
up. He happened to be the father of the girl, and she told him how Tad
Sobber had caught her by the hair.

"See here," began the candy store keeper, and flourished his mop stick
at the bully. Then Sobber retreated from the establishment and Nick Pell
did likewise, and both started on a run up the street.

"What do you cadets mean by coming in here and annoying my daughter?"
demanded the storekeeper hotly. "If you can't behave yourselves, you had
better keep away."

"We didn't hurt your daughter," said Sam.

"My brother here did what he could to save her from annoyance," said
Tom.

"Oh, I know you cadets! You are all tarred with the same brush!"
muttered the storekeeper. "I want you to get out--and stay out!"

"Yes, but----" began Dick.

"No 'buts' about it, young man. I want you to get out."

"Father, he made the other boy let go of my curls," explained the girl.
"He caught the other boy by the ear."

"That may be, Fanny, but these young bloods are all alike. I don't want
their trade. They must clear out, and stay away."

"Come on, fellows," said Dick. "We'll not stay if we are not wanted." He
turned again to the storekeeper. "But I want you to remember one thing:
We had nothing to do with annoying your daughter."

"Did they pay for the soda?" asked the man suddenly.

"No," replied the girl.

"Then this crowd has got to pay," went on the storekeeper, unreasonably.
"How much was it?"

"Ten cents."

"We haven't bought anything and we'll not pay for anything," said Sam.

"Not a cent shall I pay," put in Songbird.

"Did vos a outrages!" burst out Hans. "Of you insult us some more I vos
call a bolicemans alretty!" And he puffed up his chest indignantly.

"Well, you get out, and be quick about it!" cried the man, and raised
his stick. "Don't let me catch any of you in here again either!"

"Don't worry,--we can spend our money elsewhere," said Tom.

"Where we are treated decently," added Dick, and walked from the candy
store.

Once outside, the boys talked the situation over for all of ten minutes,
but without satisfaction. All were indignant over the way the
storekeeper had treated them, and Tom wanted to go back on the sly and
play a trick on him, but Dick demurred.

"Let it go, Tom. He is a mean man, that's all."

"Well, I am going to show folks how generous he is," answered Tom, with
a sudden grin. "Wait here a few minutes," and he darted into a nearby
store where they sold stationery. When he came out he had a good-sized
sheet of paper in his hand and also several big red seals.

"What's that?" asked Sam.

"It's a sign for the candy storekeeper's front window."

With caution Tom went back to the store. He saw that the proprietor was
in the rear parlor, dishing out ice-cream to several customers who had
come in. The girl was also at the back. Swiftly Tom stuck the sheet of
paper up under the show window, fastening it with the gummy seals. The
paper read as follows:

FREE BOUQUETS OF ROSES TO ALL YOUNG LADIES BUYING ICE-CREAM HERE TO-DAY.
COME IN!

"Now let us watch for some fun," said Tom.

They had not long to wait. The steamboat had come in and a number of
passengers were walking up the street. Soon a party of three girls and a
young man espied the sign.

"Oh, Clara," cried one of the girls. "Free roses this time of year, just
think of it!"

"Come on right in," said the young man, and led the way into the store.
Then another young man came along with a girl and they also read the
sign and entered. Soon two old maids stopped and read the announcement.

"I do love ice-cream, Angelina," said one. "Let us go in and get
chocolate and get the bouquets, too." And they followed the crowd
inside.

The store had two side windows to it, which were opened a few inches
from the bottom for ventilation, and the cadets stole up to these
windows to listen to the talk. Everybody ordered cream and began to eat,
and then asked for the bouquets.

"Bouquets?" asked the storekeeper, mystified.

"Why, yes," said the young man who had brought in the three girls.

"If you don't mind, I'd like Jack roses," said one of the maidens.

"And I like American Beauties," said another.

"I don't care what kind I get so long as it is a big bunch," added the
third girl.

"What are you talking about?" demanded the storekeeper.

"We are talking about the bouquets you are giving away," said the young
man. He had eaten nearly all of his cream and the girls had almost
finished.

"I am giving away no bouquets."

"Why, yes you are!" cried the girls.

"Of course!" put in one of the old maids, suspiciously. "And I want just
as good a bunch of roses as anybody."

"So do I," added the second old maid.

"Are you folks all crazy?" demanded the storekeeper. "I am not giving
away anything."

"What!" demanded the young man who had come in with one girl. "Your sign
don't read that way. It says 'free bouquets of roses to all young ladies
buying ice-cream here to-day.' You've got to give this young lady her
bouquet or I won't pay for this cream!"

"Where is that sign?" demanded the storekeeper, and when told rushed out
and tore the announcement down and into shreds. "This is a--an outrage!
I didn't put the sign up!"

After this there was a wordy war lasting several minutes. Nobody wanted
to pay for the cream eaten, and as he could not furnish the bouquets the
storekeeper could not collect. In a rage he chased the would-be
customers out and then started to look for the person who had played him
such a trick. But the cadets of Putnam Hall had withdrawn from that
vicinity and they took good care to keep out of sight.




CHAPTER XV

AN ASTONISHING GIFT


The steamboat had to take on considerable freight at Cedarville, so she
remained at the little dock for the best part of half an hour. During
that time the Rovers and their friends saw Tad Sobber and Nick Pell
walking around the village, but did not speak to them.

"Hullo, here is something new," said Songbird, as they walked past the
stores. "A dime museum!"

"Such a thing as that will never pay here," was Dick's comment. "Not
enough people."

"It is to remain only one week," said Sam, after reading the sign over
the door.

"Wonder if they really have one hundred snakes in the collection?" mused
Tom, also reading the sign. "If so, there would be some fun if the bunch
broke loose."

"Want to go in and look at the snakes?" asked Songbird.

"I ton't," answered Hans. "Of I look at so many of dem nasty dings I
couldn't sleep for a month or sefen days, ain't it!" And he shuddered.

While the boys were walking away they chanced to look back and saw Tad
Sobber and Nick Pell come from the "museum," so called. The bully was
talking to a man connected with the show, a fellow who usually stood
outside, "barking" as it is called,--that is, asking folks to come up
and walk in and see the wonders inside.

"Sobber must know that fellow," was Dick's comment, but thought no more
of this until long afterwards. A little later they saw the bully embark
on the steamboat, and Nick Pell started back for Putnam Hall alone.

The boys purchased the things they wanted and returned to the school.
They did not see Nick Pell until the following day, and then the latter
paid no attention to them. Sobber did not return to Putnam Hall for the
best part of a week. Then he appeared very thoughtful and he eyed all of
the Rover boys in a crafty, speculative way.

"He has got it in for us," said Tom, but how much Tad Sobber "had it in"
for the Rovers was still to be learned.

The boys had not forgotten about the proposed feast, and it was arranged
that it should come off in the dormitory occupied by the Rovers and some
others on the following Tuesday night as soon as all the lights were
out. Word was passed around quietly, and the Rover boys thought that
only their intimate friends knew of what was going on, but they were
mistaken.

By pure accident Nick Pell overheard Larry Colby and Fred Garrison
speaking of the feast. It had been arranged that Larry and Fred should
contribute a big raisin cake and the two boys were wondering how they
could get it from the bake shop in Cedarville and up to the dormitory
without being seen.

"Never mind, we'll manage it somehow, if we have to use a rope," said
Larry.

"They are going to have a spread," said Nick Pell, running up to Tad
Sobber with the story. "We ought to tell Captain Putnam and spoil things
for them."

"That won't do us any good, Nick," answered the bully. "The captain
thinks too much of the Rovers--he wouldn't punish them much, especially
as this is their last term here. I'll think up something else. I want to
do something to 'em that they will remember as long as they live."

"You seem to be extra bitter against the Rovers since you got back from
Ithaca," said Pell, curiously.

"Am I? Well, I have good cause to be bitter," growled Tad Sobber. "Just
let me put on my thinking cap, and I'll fix 'em, and don't you forget
it!"

That night the bully asked for permission to go to Cedarville on
important business. He went alone, and once in the town hurried directly
to the museum already mentioned. The proprietor had done little or no
business in the village and was about to move to another place.

When Tad Sobber returned to Putnam Hall he carried under his arm a heavy
pasteboard box which he carried with great care. This box he hid away in
a corner of the barn, among some loose hay.

"I'm ready to fix the Rovers now," he told Nick Pell. "Keep your mouth
shut but your eyes wide open."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just wait and see."

At the appointed time the Rovers and their chums assembled in the
dormitory for the feast. A large quantity of good things had been
procured, including chicken sandwiches, cake, oranges and lemonade. Tom
had even had a dealer in Cedarville pack him up several bricks of
ice-cream, and these now rested in some cracked ice in a washbowl.

"Say, but this is a touch of old times," said Sam. "Do you remember the
first feast we had here, when Mumps got scared to death?"

"Indeed I do!" cried one of the other students. "Here's to the good old
times!" and he raised his glass of lemonade to his lips.

In a short while the feast was in full swing. There was a hall monitor
supposed to be on guard, but Tom had bought him off with a slice of
cake, some candy and an orange, and he was keeping himself in a front
hallway, where he could not hear what was going on.

"If it wasn't for the noise, we might have a song," said Sam. "As it is,
I move Songbird recite 'Mary Had a Little Cow,' or something equally
elevating."

"I can give you an original bit of verse which I have entitled, 'When
the Blossoms Fill the Orchard, Molly Dear,'" answered the doggerel
maker.

"Gracious, that sounds like a new nine-cent piece of sheet music,"
murmured Dick.

"Can't you whistle it?" suggested Tom. "It may sound better."

"Play it out on a fine-tooth comb," suggested Larry.

"Who is ready for ice-cream?" asked Tom, after a general laugh had
ensued. "This isn't going to keep hard forever."

All were ready, and the bricks were cut, the pieces laid on tiny wooden
plates which had been provided, and passed around. Then came more cake
and fruit.

In the midst of the jollification there came a sudden and unexpected
knock on the door.

"Who can that be?" whispered several in alarm.

"Put out the lights!" said Tom. "Those who don't belong here get under
the beds." And he began to get the evidences of the feast out of sight,
Dick and Sam assisting him.

With quaking hearts the merry-makers waited for the knock to be
repeated, and waited to hear the sound of Captain Putnam's voice or that
of the first assistant teacher.

"Bartlett might have warned us," whispered Fred. Bartlett was the
monitor who had been bribed.

No other knock came on the door, nor did anybody demand admittance. The
boys waited for several seconds, each holding his breath in anxiety.

"Who can it be?" asked Sam of his oldest brother.

"I suppose I might as well go and see," said Dick. "Maybe some of the
other fellows are up to some tricks."

With caution he approached the hall door and opened it. Only a dim light
was burning, and for the instant he could see nothing. Then he caught
sight of a white object on the floor and picked it up. It was a
pasteboard box, tied with a strong string.

"This must be some kind of a joke," he said, and came back into the
dormitory with the box in his hands. "Light up and let me see what this
is."

The lights were lit and several of the boys began to eat the stuff that
had been swept out of sight. They all gazed curiously at the pasteboard
box.

"Here's a card on the top," said Dick, and commenced to read it. The
inscription was as follows:

     _To the Rover Boys From Their Friends, Dora, Grace and Nellie._

     _Keep it a secret among you and your chums at the feast._

"How in the world did they know we were going to have a feast?"
questioned Sam.

"And how did they manage to smuggle the box into the Hall?" asked Larry.

"Open it and see what's inside, Dick," came from Tom. "I'll wager they
have sent us something good."

"Maybe it's a loaf cake," said Fred.

"Oder a pudding," broke in Hans. "I lof chocolate puddings, yah!"

"You can't pack a pudding in a box very well," commented Songbird.

Holding the box in one hand, Dick undid the string and threw off the
cover.

The next instant he let out a yell of horror and Tom, who was near by,
did likewise and fell over a chair in his fright.

For out of the box glided a real, live snake, fully three feet long, and
with beady and dangerous looking eyes!

[Illustration: FROM OUT OF THE BOX GLIDED A REAL, LIVE SNAKE.]




CHAPTER XVI

THE HUNT FOR A SNAKE


"It's a snake!"

"And it's alive!"

"Look out, or he'll bite you!"

"There he goes on the floor!"

These and a number of other cries rang through the dormitory as the
cadets saw the contents of the box. Several tried to back away, and Hans
pitched over Tom and both went in a heap.

"Ton't you let dot snake bite me!" roared the German youth.

"Maybe he's poisonous!" came from Larry. He had sought safety by leaping
on a bed.

Slowly the snake had lifted itself from the box, to glare at several of
the boys. Then its cold, beady eyes were fixed on Dick and it uttered a
vicious hiss. This was more than the eldest Rover could stand and he let
box and snake drop in a hurry. The snake glided out of sight under a
bed.

"This is a joke right enough," murmured Sam. "Wonder who played it?"

"Do you think the girls would send a snake?" queried Larry.

"Of course not," answered Tom, who had scrambled up. "This is the work
of some enemy."

"Look out! The snake is getting busy!" screamed Sam, and he was right;
the reptile had left the shelter of the bed and was darting across the
room, in the direction of Songbird.

The would-be poet did not stop to argue with his snakeship, but letting
out a wild yell leaped to the top of a small stand which stood in a
corner. The stand was frail and down it went with a crash, the wreckage
catching the snake on the tail. It whipped around and made a lunge at
Songbird's foot, but the youth was too nimble and leaped on the bed.

"We've got to kill that snake," observed Dick, after the reptile had
disappeared for a moment under a washstand. "If we don't----"

Crash! It was a plate which Sam shied at the snake, as its head showed
for a moment. Then down went a shower of shoes, brushes, plates, and a
cake of soap. But the snake was not seriously hurt. It hissed viciously
and darted from one side of the dormitory to the other, and made all the
boys climb up on the furniture.

"This racket will wake up everybody in the school," said Dick, and he
was right. The boys had hardly time to get the most of the evidence of
the feast out of the way when they heard a knock on the door.

"Look out there!" yelled Tom. "Don't open that door if you value your
life!"

"What's the matter?" came in George Strong's voice.

"A snake!" answered Dick, and then went on in a whisper: "Quick, boys,
get the rest of the stuff out of the way!"

His chums understood, and the remains of the feast were swept under bed
covers in a jiffy.

"Did you say there was a snake in there?" demanded the teacher.

"Yes, sir," said Sam. "He's right close to the door now." And what he
said was true.

Thinking the youngest Rover might be fooling, the first assistant
teacher opened the door cautiously and peered into the dormitory. Then
he, too, let out a cry of alarm, for the snake darted forward and made
as if to bite him in the foot. Not to be caught he fell back, leaving
the door open about a foot. Through this opening the snake glided and
disappeared in the semi-dark hallway.

By this time Putnam Hall was in an uproar, and boys were pouring into
the hallways demanding to know if there was a fire or a robbery. Soon
Captain Putnam appeared, wrapped in a dressing robe and wearing
slippers.

"Beware, all of you!" cried George Strong. "It's a snake and it is loose
in this hallway somewhere."

"A snake!" ejaculated the master of Putnam Hall. "Where did it come
from?"

"It was in the dormitory over there. I heard a noise and went to see
what was the matter and the snake came out of the room and made off in
that direction," and George Strong pointed with his hand.

"Humph!" muttered Captain Putnam. "This must be looked into. What kind
of a snake was it?"

"I don't know, sir, but it was fully three feet long, and it hissed
loudly as it went past me."

"Some more of the boys' tricks, I suppose. But this is going too far,
especially if the reptile is poisonous."

Lights were lit and turned up as high as possible, and a search of all
the hallways followed. When the cadets learned that a snake was really
at large in the school many of the timid ones were badly frightened.

"He might poison a fellow and kill him," said one lad.

"Oh, I can't bear snakes," said another. "If he came for me I'd have a
fit sure."

The search for the snake was kept up the best part of an hour, but
without success. Peleg Snuggers was forced to join in the hunt and
nearly collapsed when he saw something under a stand in a far corner.

"The snake! The snake!" he yelled and started to run away. But what he
had seen proved to be nothing but a piece of old window cord, and the
general utility man was laughed at so heartily he was glad to sneak out
of sight.

"He must have gone downstairs," said Dick, and then a hunt was made
below. Here some windows had been left open for ventilation, and Captain
Putnam said it was possible the reptile had made its escape in that
manner. He did not quite believe this, but he thought the snake must be
harmless, and he wanted to say something to quiet those pupils who were
timid.

"How did the snake get in your room?" he asked later on of the Rovers
and their dormitory fellows.

"It came in this box," answered Dick, and brought forth the pasteboard
box in question. "Somebody knocked on the door and when we opened it the
box was on the floor."

Captain Putnam looked at the box and the inscription.

"Your lady friends must have peculiar tastes," he said, smiling.

"Of course that was a trick--just to get us to take the box and open
it," answered Tom.

"Do you suspect anybody, Thomas?"

"Well--not exactly," said the fun-loving Rover, slowly.

"What have you to say, Samuel?"

"I'm sure I can't imagine who could send that box."

"Richard, what can you tell of this?"

Dick paused and took a long breath.

"I can't tell you anything, just now, Captain Putnam," he answered
slowly. "But I've got something of an idea of how that box got here. But
I'd hate to accuse anybody unless I was sure of it."

"Mr. Strong said the snake was at least three feet long."

"It was certainly all of that."

"Was it a poisonous snake, do you think?"

"It was not a rattlesnake, nor was it any kind of a snake such as are
usually found in this part of our country, of that I am sure."

"You got a good look at it then?"

"Yes."

"I certainly had no idea snakes of such size could be found close to the
school."

"I am pretty sure that snake was never found around here. During my
travels I have studied snakes a little, and that variety was a stranger
to me."

"I see." The master of Putnam Hall mused for a moment. "Well, it is very
queer. But, as the snake has disappeared, I think we may as well retire
once more. I do not imagine we have anything to fear."

It was a good hour before the school was quiet. Many of the boys were
afraid to go to bed, and the teachers could not blame them. The Rovers
and their chums got together to discuss the situation in whispers and at
the same time remove all traces of the feast which had been so curiously
interrupted.

"Dick, what do you make of this?" asked Tom.

"I think Tad Sobber is guilty, Tom--but I didn't want to tell Captain
Putnam so."

"You think he got the snake out of that museum?"

"I do."

"I think that myself," put in Sam. "Don't you remember how he was
talking to that barker, just as if they were friends? It was surely
Sobber who played that trick."

"If it was Sobber we ought to pay him back," came from Songbird, grimly.
"A snake! Ugh, it makes me creep to think of it."

"Don't you want to compose an ode in its honor?" questioned Tom, dryly.
"Might go like this:

    "A hissing, gliding snake
    Kept all the school awake;
    Each boy in awful fright
    Was looking for a bite!"

"You can make fun if you want to, but I think it is no laughing matter,"
observed Fred. "Supposing a fellow goes to sleep and wakes up to find
that snake crawling over him! Phew! talk about nightmares!"

"It certainly would make a fellow feel queer," answered Sam. "But I say,
Dick, if you are sure Sobber did it, why can't we pay him back in his
own coin?"

"I'm willing, but how can it be done?"

"Wait until to-morrow night and I'll show you," answered the youngest
Rover. "That is, unless the snake is caught in the meantime."

"Have you a plan to get square?" asked Larry.

"Yes."

"Den go ahead sure," came from Hans. "Of dot Sobber fellow peen guilty
he ought to be hung up on der pottom of der sea alretty quick!"

"Just wait, and we'll fix Mr. Tad Sobber," answered Dick. "He'll wish he
never saw a snake." He had an inkling of what was in his brother Sam's
mind to do.




CHAPTER XVII

A STIRRING SCENE IN THE SCHOOLROOM


The hunt for the snake was continued all of the next day, but without
success. By that time the excitement had died down and a good many of
the cadets forgot all about the incident. A few said it must be a joke
and they laughed behind George Strong's back.

"It's one of Tom Rover's tricks," said one pupil. "I'll wager he is
laughing 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 heartily
over the excitement created--that is, Pell laughed and the bully laughed
with him. But Sobber, behind it all, was worried.

The truth of the matter was, he had hoped that the snake would be
killed. The man who had sold him the reptile had said it was from
Central America and poisonous, but had added that the snake was sick and
not liable to do any harm. Sobber would not have cared had Dick or his
brothers been bitten by the snake, but that the reptile was at large was
another 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 away
as he spoke. He had given five dollars for the snake and now he was
willing 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 hung
on the wall of the school laboratory. In this was a stuffed snake almost
the size of that which had disappeared.

"I guess we can frighten Sobber and Pell with that," he said to his
brothers.

"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 pair
will smell a mouse."

They talked the matter over, and managed to get the snake upstairs
without anybody seeing them. Then they paid a visit to the dormitory
occupied by the bully and his cronies and passed some strong black
threads across the floor and elsewhere. After that they told Songbird
and their other chums of what had been done.

That night Sobber, Pell and their friends went to bed as usual. But
hardly had they turned out the lights when they heard a curious rustling
sound 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 he
gave a yell and leaped back.

"The snake!"

"Where is it?" screamed Pell, sitting bolt upright and his hair raising
on ends.

"There it is, over in the corner."

"The snake! The snake!" called out the other boys in the room, and some
were so scared that they dove under the bed clothing.

The light was not strong enough to see clearly, and nobody had the
courage to make more of an illumination. Sobber stood in the center of
the room and as he did this the snake suddenly seemed to fly through the
air right at him.

"Oh!" he screamed. "Go away!" and he flopped on his bed and threw a
blanket over him. He felt the reptile cross the bed and lay there
quaking in mortal terror. Then he heard something moving across the
floor.

"That snake is bound to bite me!" he muttered to himself. "Oh, why did I
bring it to the school!"

"Call Captain Putnam, somebody!" came from Nick Pell. He was so
frightened 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 in
a few minutes the hallways were filled with pupils as on the previous
night, while some of the teachers and Peleg Snuggers appeared with
chemical 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 the
scene.

"It's the snake again!" wailed one of the cadets, who now stood bolt
upright on his bed, his eyes bulging from his head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, the snake is in here," answered Tad Sobber. "Why, it fairly jumped
over my bed!"

"He tried to bite me in the face!" came from Nick Pell, who was so
excited 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 George
Strong.

A long search followed, and then came a sudden cry from a corner of the
dormitory.

"There he is!"

"Shoot him, Captain Putnam!"

The master of the Hall took aim and came up slowly. Then he suddenly
dropped the barrel of his shotgun, stepped forward, and took hold of the
snake by the tail.

"It's a stuffed snake," he said. "It belongs in the case in the
laboratory."

"A stuffed snake?" queried Tad Sobber, and when he realized the truth he
was the maddest boy in that school.

"See here," said the master of the Hall, turning to Dick. "Was this what
you 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, Captain
Putnam?" 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 it
has always been."

"It's a trick on me!" roared Tad Sobber, angrily. "Just wait, I'll get
square with somebody for this!" And he looked sharply at the Rovers.

"Sobber must like snakes--I saw him at the museum in Cedarville one
day," answered Dick, and eyed the bully boldly. At this Sobber grew red
in the face and slunk out of sight.

"Get to bed, all of you," said Captain Putnam sharply. "I'll investigate
this 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 of
the trick.

"My! but Sobber is mad," said Fred. "You want to watch out, he'll do
almost anything to get square."

The promised investigation the next day did not materialize, for the
reason that Captain Putnam was called away on important business. Thus
two days passed, and the snake incident was again practically forgotten
by the majority of the students.

On the following day the master of the Hall came back and said he would
start his investigation that afternoon after the school session.

"And let me tell you one thing," he announced. "Whoever brought that
real snake into this academy will have to suffer for it."

That afternoon in one of the classrooms some of the pupils were reciting
history when of a sudden a wild shriek rang through the air and Nick
Pell was seen to bounce up out of his seat and run away from his desk as
if 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 I
am!" And Nick Pell shook from head to foot in his terror.

The announcement that the snake was in Nick's desk was received in
various ways by the boys present. Some thought it must be the real snake
and others thought it might be only a trick. With caution the teacher
approached the desk, armed with a ruler. Then came a hissing sound and
the 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 Cæsar. His aim was
good and the snake was hit in the neck and tumbled to the floor. Then
the boys threw books, rulers and inkwells at the reptile, and it was
driven into a corner. Dick took up a big geography, let it fall on top
of the snake, and stood on it. The reptile squirmed, but could not get
away, 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 is
swelling up already!"

"Do you think he was really bitten?" whispered Tom.

"It looks like it," answered Dick. "Too bad--if the snake really was
poisonous."

By this time Captain Putnam had come in. He glanced at the dead snake
and gave a start.

"Did that thing bite you, Pell?" he questioned.

"Yes, sir, right here--in--the--the palm of the hand," cried the youth
addressed. "See how it is swelling."

"I'll telephone for a doctor at once. Come to my office and I will see
what I can do for you."

Nick had certainly been bitten and now the hand was twice its ordinary
size, 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 in
convulsions.