"I think that myself," put in Sam. "Don't you remember how he was talking to that barker, just as if they were friends? It was surely Sobber who played that trick."
"If it was Sobber we ought to pay him back," came from Songbird, grimly. "A snake! Ugh, it makes me creep to think of it."
"Don't you want to compose an ode in its honor?" questioned Tom, dryly. "Might go like this:
"A hissing, gliding snake
Kept all the school awake;
Each boy in awful fright
Was looking for a bite!"
"You can make fun if you want to, but I think it is no laughing matter," observed Fred. "Supposing a fellow goes to sleep and wakes up to find that snake crawling over him! Phew! talk about nightmares!"
"It certainly would make a fellow feel queer," answered Sam. "But I say, Dick, if you are sure Sobber did it, why can't we pay him back in his own coin?"
"I'm willing, but how can it be done?"
"Wait until to-morrow night and I'll show you," answered the youngest Rover. "That is, unless the snake is caught in the meantime."
"Have you a plan to get square?" asked Larry.
"Yes."