distance unless he wants to get the worst of it. We used to put up
with a whole lot from Dan Baxter before he reformed--I am not going
to put up with as much from Sobber."

"Tad certainly went off in bad company," said Sam. "His uncle ought to
be in prison this minute."

"Have the authorities heard anything of Merrick?" asked Songbird.

"Not a thing."

"I dink me dot feller has skipped to Europe alretty," vouchsafed Hans
Mueller. "He vould peen afraid to stay py der United States in, yah!"
And the German boy shook his head wisely.

"Personally I never want to set eyes on Sobber again," said Dick, with
a shrug of his broad shoulders. "The idea of introducing that deadly
snake into the school was the limit. Why, half a dozen of us might
have been bitten instead of only poor Pell."

"Maybe he did it only for a joke," said Larry Colby, another of the
cadets.

"If he did, it was carrying a joke altogether too far--endangering
one or more human lives. I don't believe in that sort of fun."

"Nor do I," came from several.

"If he is in Europe with his uncle perhaps I'll meet him there," said
Larry Colby. "I am going to France and Italy with my uncle and cousin.