Thereupon one of the figures came a bit closer and, pointing a finger at the gag, spoke again.
“Henry Stowell,” it said solemnly, “listen! If we remove the gag from your mouth do you promise faithfully that you will not cry out? If so, nod your head.”
There was a second of silence and then Codfish nodded his head vigorously.
“If you cry out do you give us full permission to give you a licking for so doing?” asked another one of the masked figures in a deep bass voice which, however, sounded remarkably like the tones generally used by Andy Rover.
Again there was a second of silence, and then Stowell nodded once more, but this time not so vigorously as before.
“It is well!” came from another of the masked figures. “Remember your promise, Stowell! Remember!” Thereupon the gag was removed from the sneak’s mouth, but his hands were still kept tied behind him.
“Take that snake away! Please take that snake away!” were Codfish’s first words as soon as he could catch his breath. “Don’t let it bite me!”
“Remain on the bed, Codfish,” was the stern reply. “Remain on the bed if you want to keep away from the snake.”
“It is the wonderful noobokoliki snake,” came in weird tones from one of the masked figures. “The educated snake belonging to the secret order of the Kalipops. He’ll not harm our members, but he will strike at an outsider and strike to kill. Beware!”
Perhaps Stowell did not believe what was said, but he saw that he was in the hands of the masked cadets and he saw the wriggling snake tied to the end of the suspended string, and he did not feel that he could take any chances.