Ned, Bob and Jerry on the Firing Line Part 2

"As sure as we see you now, and you're not much smaller around the waist than this same snake," added Jack with a laugh.

"Cut out the comedy stuff!" murmured Bob.

"Well, if there's a real snake in there I want to see it!" exclaimed Jerry. "Come on!" and he pushed open the door which had swung shut after the exit of the excited lads.

Within the barracks the three Motor Boys saw a scene of excitement.

One end of the big building, which was filled with cots and bunks, was comparatively empty, but at the other there was a group of officers and men. Some of them appeared to surround the captive, though the three chums could not just then get a glimpse of him.

"There it is!" suddenly cried Ned, pointing.

"What--the spy?" asked Bob.

"No, the snake! See it?"

He pointed. There was no doubt of it. A long, glistening, brown body was seen to glide under a row of cots.

"It's a snake all right," a.s.sented Jerry, "but not half as big as I thought. It's just like one I've seen----"

He was interrupted by a voice which rang out above the murmurs from the group at the other end of the barracks, and the commanding voice of Colonel Shield demanded:

"What is going on here? What is all the excitement about?"

It appeared that he had just entered at the doorway around which were grouped the excited officers and men.

"We have caught a spy," some one said.

"He must have let the big snake loose!" another added.

"Well, why don't some of you shoot the reptile?" asked the colonel. "A fine lot of soldiers you are, I must say! Afraid of a snake! Where will you be when you go up against the Germans? Some one get a rifle and shoot the snake!"

At this command a protesting cry came from the midst of a group of soldiers who were guarding the man arrested as a spy.

"Don't shoot my snake! Don't shoot my pet snake!" came the entreaty.

"He is worth a fortune! Don't harm him!"

There was a commotion--a scramble. Several men stumbled and fell, and from their midst a figure dashed--a figure at the sight of which a gasp of astonishment came from the three Motor Boys.

And since Ned, Bob and Jerry have been called Motor Boys several times I will take just a moment here to tell who these lads were and something about them; also why they were at Camp Dixton. Of course, the readers who already know this may skip what immediately follows and proceed with the story.

As related in the initial volume of the first part of this series, a book which is named "The Motor Boys," Ned Slade, Bob Baker and Jerry Hopkins were chums of long standing. They lived in Cresville, not far from Boston, and the three lads were well-to-do. Jerry's mother was a wealthy widow, while Bob's father was a banker, and Ned's a department store owner.

The Motor Boys were so called because they spent so much time in or about vehicles that depended on gasoline motors for their activity.

They began with motorcycles and ended with airships--though one should not say ended, for their activities were far from over.

In the books succeeding the initial volume are related the various adventures of the Motor Boys, who journeyed to Mexico, across the plains, and traveled much on the Atlantic and Pacific, both in craft on the surface and in submarines. Their trips above the clouds in aeroplanes and airships were much enjoyed.

"The Motor Boys on Road and River," was the last volume of the first series, the final volume to carry that t.i.tle.

The second series began with "Ned, Bob and Jerry at Boxwood Hall," and the only change in the stories was in the t.i.tle, for the main characters were still the "Motor Boys."

The parents of the lads felt that they ought to do some studying, and, accordingly, Ned, Bob and Jerry were sent to Boxwood Hall. What took place there formed not only a well-remembered part in their lives, but furnished some excitement as well. When vacation came they went to a Western ranch and had fun, as well as helped in an important piece of work.

And then came the Great War.

Our heroes could do nothing less than enlist, and in the volume called "Ned, Bob and Jerry in the Army," which immediately precedes this one you are reading, is told something of their life at Camp Dixton, one of the training camps in the South.

There the chums had learned to become soldiers, and, with others of their kind, were eagerly awaiting a chance to go over seas and fight it out with the Huns.

And now we meet them again in the midst of excitement over a spy scare--not the first of the kind to happen in the camp, where, as the readers of the volume before this will doubtless recall, the activities of "Pug" Kennedy and "Crooked Nose," formed the basis for some real danger.

"That snake sure is real!" cried Bob, as he saw the serpent writhing about. "And whoever has him for a pet must be nervy."

"Look! Look!" exclaimed Jerry. "The spy is going right for the snake!"

"And look who the spy is!" added Ned.

There were shouts from the officers and men. Several of the latter had gotten their rifles and were edging about, trying to find an opening through which they might fire at the serpent.

The man who had broken away from his captors rushed toward the end of the building where Ned, Bob and Jerry had last seen the reptile, which was now out of sight under some bunks.

"Don't shoot him! Don't shoot my pet! He is worth thousands of dollars!" cried the reputed spy.

And then, to the surprise and fear of all save the Motor Boys, who had an insight into the truth, the man fairly threw himself forward on the serpent, as a football player falls on the ball.

"Ah, I have you! I have you, my beauty!" cried the man. "You shall not get away from me again, and they sha'n't shoot you, either!"

CHAPTER III

A PUZZLED PROFESSOR

For a moment there was comparative silence in the big barrack building. It lasted while the little man was crossing the room and hurrying toward the big snake where it could be discerned under a line of bunks. The words uttered by the owner of the serpent were heard by the three chums, as well as by every one else in the building.

And then, as the small man continued on his way, and finally launched himself at the snake with outstretched hands and arms, some one uttered a warning yell.

"Look out!" came the cry. "It's only his bluff! He's trying to escape.

Catch the spy!"

"That's right!" shouted several, who seemed to agree with what had been said.

But if the little man--the "spy" as he had been called--had it in mind to escape, he was taking a queer way to go about it. For even as a rush toward him on the part of those from whose midst he had escaped began, the little man arose and held clasped in his arms the snake--or as much of it as he could raise from the ground. On his face was a look of anxiety relieved, and he fairly beamed on those who confronted him. His former, and would-be, captors had again come to a halt. Almost any ordinary body of men and boys would have done the same under like circ.u.mstances, for there is an inherent fear of snakes in almost every one.

"Get him! Don't let the spy escape!" came the cry.

"Yes! Let's see you get him--with that snake for a protector,"

murmured one.