I am a very grave man----"

"And I do so admire a brave man!" gushed Nancy.

While passing through the village on the way to Tad Jones' home, Frank
had purchased an automatic mouse. Being wound up, the mouse would run
swiftly across the room.

At this juncture, Frank pointed the mouse toward Nancy, and let it go,
at the same time giving a squeak, which both professors distinctly
heard.

Nancy saw the mouse coming, and she uttered a wild shriek of terror,
clutching Professor Jenks around his slender neck.

"Save me! Save me from that terrible beast!" she squawked.

It happened that the professor was quite as scared of a mouse as Nancy
could be, and he broke away and jumped up on a chair, squealing:

"Murder! We'll all be bitten!"

In a most remarkably skillful manner the widow sprang up to the top of
the center-table, where she stood, in a stooping position, her head
against the ceiling.

"Who's scared of a mouse!" sneered Professor Scotch, as he gave chase
to the toy, which bumped against various pieces of furniture, and so
kept dodging about.

Under the chair on which Jenks stood ran the mouse. Scotch knocked the
chair over, and Jenks uttered a wild shriek as he came down astride the
little professor's neck. Then both rolled against the center-table,
which was upset.

Down came Nancy, like a balloon, nearly smothering the two professors,
upon whom she alighted.

This was too much for Tad Jones, who burst into a shriek of laughter,
jumped out, and extinguished the light, and shouted:

"Skip, fellows--skip!"

Frank and Hans lost no time in leaving their places of concealment and
hustling out of the room, abandoning the two professors to their fate.

CHAPTER XXIII.

SKATING FOR HONORS.

"I nefer seen der peat uf dot alretty yet," declared Hans, as he and
Frank were hurrying back to the academy. "Uf dot don'd peen der
piggest racket vot nefer vos, you dunno vot I vos talkin' apout."

"If it is found that we know anything about it, we will be sure to get
into trouble," said Frank. "Should anybody question you, why you must
be ignorant as a mule."

"You pet me your life I vos. I vill peen ignorand as a clam."

But it seemed that the professors did not suspect that any of the
academy boys had been present, and so no inquiries were made in the
school.

Tad Jones, however, was accused of having some of his village chums in
the scrape, and, when he refused to tell their names, he was so