of sight,
Dick and Sam assisting him.

With quaking hearts the merry-makers waited for the knock to be
repeated, and waited to hear the sound of Captain Putnam's voice or that
of the first assistant teacher.

"Bartlett might have warned us," whispered Fred. Bartlett was the
monitor who had been bribed.

No other knock came on the door, nor did anybody demand admittance. The
boys waited for several seconds, each holding his breath in anxiety.

"Who can it be?" asked Sam of his oldest brother.

"I suppose I might as well go and see," said Dick. "Maybe some of the
other fellows are up to some tricks."

With caution he approached the hall door and opened it. Only a dim light
was burning, and for the instant he could see nothing. Then he caught
sight of a white object on the floor and picked it up. It was a
pasteboard box, tied with a strong string.

"This must be some kind of a joke," he said, and came back into the
dormitory with the box in his hands. "Light up and let me see what this
is."

The lights were lit and several of the boys began to eat the stuff that
had been swept out of sight. They all gazed curiously at the pasteboard
box.

"Here's a card on the top," said Dick, and commenced to read it. The
inscription was as follows:

_To the Rover Boys From Their Friends, Dora, Grace and Nellie._

_Keep it a secret among you and your chums at the feast._

"How in the world did they know we were going to have a feast?"
questioned Sam.

"And how did they manage to smuggle the box into the Hall?" asked Larry.

"Open it and see what's inside, Dick," came from Tom. "I'll wager they
have sent us something good."

"Maybe it's a loaf cake," said Fred.

"Oder a pudding," broke in Hans. "I lof chocolate puddings, yah!"

"You can't pack a pudding in a box very well," commented Songbird.

Holding the box in one hand, Dick undid the string and threw off the
cover.

The next instant he let out a yell of horror and Tom, who was near by,
did likewise and fell over a chair in his fright.

For out of the box glided a real, live snake, fully three feet long, and
with beady and dangerous looking eyes!

[Illustration: FROM OUT OF THE BOX GLIDED A REAL, LIVE SNAKE.]

CHAPTER XVI

THE HUNT FOR A SNAKE

"It's a snake!"

"And it's alive!"

"Look out, or he'll bite you!"

"There he goes on the floor!"

These and a number of other cries rang through the dormitory as the
cadets saw the conten