"What am I to do?" he asked, in a quandary, of Bart.
"Oh," smiled Bart, "I guess you had better trust him to find his friend and come back with the money."
"I'll hold the trunk, anyway," observed Pope. "What have you got in it? Some old worthless togs, I suppose."
"Mistake—about a thousand dollars in value," coolly retorted the Professor.
"Yes, you have! I thought so. Some old burlap."
"Careful, my friend!" spoke the deadhead sharply. "There's nothing there that you will care to see."
"Isn't there? I'll investigate, just the same," declared Pope, throwing back the trunk cover and delving in the heap of burlap. "Murder! Help!"
Peter Pope uttered a fearful yell. He backed from the trunk suddenly, A sinuous, hissing form had risen up before his face.
This was an enormous cobra, and, under the circumstances, very frightful to see. The Cardysville express agent made a headlong bolt for the door. He slid clear outside across the platform, and landed in the mud of the road.
"Prt! prt! Caesar, so—so!" spoke Professor Rigoletto in a peculiar, purring tone, approaching the serpent.