“Let me see,” answered the assistant teacher, and they heard his hand upon the knob. “Have you a key, Snuggers?”
“No, sir.”
There was a brief pause.
“Boys, are you in there?” called out Josiah Crabtree. “If you are, answer me.”
A deathlike silence followed. Jack and Pepper scarcely dared to breathe.
“They couldn’t git up here nohow, Mr. Crabtree,” said the general-utility man. “Somebody would be sure to see ’em.”
“I don’t know about that. Boys that will crawl through the flooring of a closet will do almost anything,” grumbled the teacher. “Who has the key to this room?”
“Most likely Mrs. Green.”
Mrs. Green was the matron of the Hall, she having charge of all the female help and also doing a great deal for the small boys in the institution. At the mention of her name the hearts of the cadets sank.
“Mr. Crabtree!” called a voice, from the floor below.