With trembling fingers Frank picked up the candle and George struck a match and started to light it. But what he saw made him drop the candle with a wild yell.
The fall had broken the hasp on the box and the cover was released. And what George and the other boys saw was a huge gray body already half way out of the box!
For an instant they seemed stricken with paralysis. Then with frantic shouts they leaped for the nearest bunks.
"Get into the top bunk, boys," screamed George.
In a flash they were all in the upper bunks, where for the moment they could take breath. But none of them felt that they were safe. They didn't know but what the snake at any moment might wind its way up the supports on which the bunks were built. They could feel their hair rising on their heads with horror.
Now that the candle was extinguished, the whole bunk-house was in perfect darkness. They listened fearfully. Every thing was still as the grave except for the sibilant hiss and angry rattle that came to their ears as the enraged reptile ranged around the room, seeking some means of escape.
Then the rattling ceased and all they could hear was a dull gliding movement as the slimy body dragged itself over the floor.
It would have been a hideous situation for much older people than the four boys, and it is no wonder that they were terrified.
"What shall we do?" asked Frank, his teeth chattering.
"Keep perfectly still," commanded George, though his nerves were in not much better shape than his brother's. "The snake can't see us, and if you keep quiet he won't know where we are."