"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.