“Just wait for the second,” said Randy.
There was nothing else in the box but excelsior, and having rummaged about in this, Codfish threw the box aside and started to investigate the next receptacle.
The lid to this was screwed on, and he had quite a job opening it. The other cadets watched with interest, doing their best to keep from laughing. When the box was opened, Codfish found that it contained a layer of excelsior. Under this, however, were a number of bundles wrapped in newspapers, each containing a small portion of the stuff taken from his chiffonier.
“Huh! thought they were smart, didn’t they?” he muttered, as he put the things where they belonged. “Just wait! I’ll fix ’em for this.”
The next box contained some of his clothing, which he hung in the closet. Then he tackled a rather large box which was bound up with an old clothesline. He had to tug at the line quite a little to get it loose, not thinking in his excitement that it would be easier to cut the line. The top of the box was filled with all sorts of rubbish. Beneath this were some more of his things, and then at the very bottom a rather small wooden box with a sliding cover.
Any ordinary school boy would have suspected some trick in connection with this box. But not so Codfish. He looked at it carefully, and then, bringing it close under the light, proceeded to pull the sliding cover back.
And then he was treated to another surprise, this time far more disagreeable than the other. The box contained a large codfish, one which, as Andy afterwards explained, had seen better days.
“Phew, what a smell!” cried the sneak, as he allowed the decayed codfish to fall out on the floor.
The odor when released from the air-tight box was so overpowering that he had to go over and throw open the window.
“Codfish for the Codfish!” sang out Andy gaily, unable to keep quiet any longer.