The young folks talked it over for some time, and decided to wait until they got further word from home. Then the two girls went back into the school to tell Miss Garwood and their chums the news, while the boys hurried to Colby Hall, arriving there during the morning recess.
"Say, but we've had some fun since you went away!" cried Andy gaily, when they appeared. "Pud Hicks, the janitor's assistant, got the surprise of his life."
"Why, Pud was using a vacuum cleaner in the upper hall when he saw something in a dark corner that he couldn't quite make out. The thing got stuck in the cleaner, and he put down his hand to see what it was. The next minute he let out a yell like a wild Indian and came flying down the corridor, scared stiff."
"What was it--the snapping turtle?" asked Jack.
"You've struck it. The turtle must have crawled into the corner, and when he felt Pud's hand on him he took a good solid hold on Pud's little finger.
"I had just gone upstairs to get a book when I saw Pud tearing around. Half a dozen fellows were there, and the way Pud cut up was like a circus. Shout Plunger came tearing upstairs to find out what it was all about, and Pud gave the snapping turtle a sling, and it hit Shout right in the face and then fell down inside his coat. Shout put his hand inside to find out what it was, he being too deaf to hear the talk about a snapping turtle, and then the turtle got busy and got Shout by the hand. Then there was more fun!"
"What did they do with the turtle at last?" questioned Jack.
"Oh, Shout wouldn't take any chances," answered Andy. "He put the turtle down on the floor and smashed it with his heel; and then, of course, the fun was all over."
"Did they find out how the turtle came to be there?" questioned Fred.
"No, they didn't. Codfish came along, and he started to say something, but I put up my fist and motioned to him, and then he shut up like a clam."
"He'll give you away sooner or later, Andy," remarked Jack.
"If he does, he'll pay for it," retorted the fun-loving Rover.
Several days went by, and during that time the boys learned not a little concerning the catastrophe at the Hasley Shell-Loading plant, the local papers giving a full account of the affair. Fortunately the report that several had been killed was untrue, but about sixteen men had been injured, and several of them quite seriously.