y, but the advice he had given Ned, Bob and Jerry was not
very welcome.

"This is our sleeping barracks, anyhow," said Ned. "We have a right to
stick around, and go in, too."

"If they let us," added Bob.

"Come on, let's try," suggested Jerry. "Here's a place," and he led
the way through a thinning portion of the crowd toward one of the
doors of the big wooden shack, in which he and his chums slept while
at Camp Dixton.

Suddenly there came a series of excited shouts from within the
building. Then several soldiers were seen to rush out as though
something had chased them.

"What in the world is up now?" asked Jerry of his chums.

They pressed forward toward the door from which the excited soldiers
had emerged, and one of them, seeing that the three chums were about
to enter, cried:

"Don't go in there!"

"Why not?" asked Bob.

"Did the spy try to shoot any one?" Ned wanted to know.

"Don't go in!" yelled another lad. "There's a snake in there as big as
a barrel, and he's skipping around as lively as a kitten! Keep out if
you don't want to meet sudden death. Oh, boy! I saw him open his
mouth, and one look was enough. No more for me!"

CHAPTER II

A MAN AND A SNAKE

Ned, Bob and Jerry paused a moment on the threshold of the barrack
building they had been about to enter. From within came a sound of
commotion, as if several persons were quickly rushing to and fro, and
there were excited shouts.

"Come off, Jack, what are you doing? Trying to string us?" asked Ned
of the lad who had spoken of the snake.

"Nothing of the sort!" protested the other. "As true as I'm telling
you, there's a snake loose in there as big as a barrel, and as long as
a fence rail around one of these cotton plantations!"

"Is he joking, Ted?" asked Jerry of another of the lads who had rushed
out in such haste.

"Not a bit of it! I saw the snake myself. It isn't quite as big as a
barrel, but it certainly is long."

"Come on, fellows!" called Jerry to his two chums. "We've got to see
this!"

"What!" cried Jack Wade, "you aren't going in there, are you?"

"Why not?" asked Jerry. "We've had some experience with snakes.
Besides, we want to see the spy. Is there a spy inside here, too?"

"There is!" cried another lad. "They caught the spy dead to rights,
planting a bomb under the officers' mess building. Wanted to blow 'em
all up when they were eating, I guess. Oh, he's a German spy, all
right, and they have him tied up