"It's pepper! That's what it is—cayenne pepper!" came from Codfish. "Oh, give me a drink of water, or something! This is dreadful!"
The sneak made a dash across the room to where a water pitcher stood on a stand with a glass beside it. But the pitcher proved to be empty.
"My gracious, this is terrible!" spluttered Carncross, and began to cough.
In the meantime Glutts smelled of the food that remained on the improvised tray, and suddenly gave a loud sneeze, followed by several others.
"Hurrah! they are enjoying it all right enough," remarked Jack, in a low tone.
"I've got to have a drink!" yelled Carncross recklessly. "Gee! I'm burning up clean from my mouth to my stomach!"
"You're no worse off than I am," spluttered Glutts. "Oh, just wait until I get hold of that Walt Baxter!"
"It was the whole bunch that did it. I'll bet the trick was gotten up by those Rovers!"
The door was flung open, and all of the occupants of the room dashed out into the hallway, bent upon getting to the nearest bathroom or water cooler for a drink. Not one of them noticed the slippery banana skins spread out on the floor, and on the instant Bill Glutts went sliding along and came down flat on his back. Carncross did likewise, Codfish tripping over him and pitching headlong.
"Say! what's this?" exploded Glutts. "Oh, my back! I guess I've broken my shoulder."