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.]