kettle over the boys' stone furnace.

"It must be fun to camp out," Mabel Herold remarked.

"Yes, just think of the dishes saved," added Mildred Manners, who
always had so many dishes to do at home.

"And we really don't need them," Nan argued, passing her tin cup on to
Flossie.

"Think how the soldiers get along!" Bert put in.

"And the firemen'" lisped Freddie, who never forgot the heroes of flame
and water.

Of course everybody was either sitting on the grass or on a "soft
stump." These latter conveniences had been brought by the boys for Aunt
Sarah and Mrs. Bobbsey.

"What's that!" exclaimed little Flossie, as something was plainly
moving under the tables cloth.

"A snake, a snake!" called everybody at once, for indeed under the
white linen was plainly to be seen the creeping form of a reptile.

While the girls made a run for safety the boys carefully lifted the
cloth and went for his snakeship.

"There he is! There he is!" shouted Tom Mason, as the thing tried to
crawl under the stump lately used as a seat by Mrs. Bobbsey.

"Whack him!" called August Stout, who, armed with a good club, made
straight for the stump.

"Look out! He's a big fellow!" Harry declared, as the snake attempted
to get upright.

The boys fell back a little now, and as the snake actually stood on the
tip of his tail, as they do before striking, Harry sprang forward and
dealt him a heavy blow right on the head that laid the intruder flat.

"At him, boys! At him!" called Jack Hopkins, while the snake lay
wriggling in the grass; and the boys, making good use of the stunning
blow Harry had dealt, piled on as many more blows as their clubs could
wield.

All this time the girls and ladies were over on a knoll "high and dry,"
as Nan said, and now, when assured that the snake was done for they
could hardly be induced to come and look at him.

"He's a beauty!" Harry declared, as the boys actually stretched the
creature out to measure him. Bert had a rule, and when the snake was
measured up he was found to be five feet long!

"He's a black racer!" Jack Hopkins announced, and the others said they
guessed he was.

"Lucky we saw him first!" remarked Harry, "Racers are very poisonous!"

"Let's go home; there might be more!", pleaded Flossie, but the boys
said the snake hunt was the best fun at the picnic.

"Goodness!" exclaimed Harry suddenly, "we forgot to let the pigeons
loose!" and so saying he ran for the basket of birds that