"But I went at it alone. Pete and I carried the box, with the snake in it, of course, close to one of the buildings. I did not know until later that it was the officers' mess hall. Then Pete left me alone."
"How did you manage to get through the sentry lines unchallenged?" asked Jerry.
"I don't know," frankly answered the professor. "I suppose it was because no one saw us; or they may have supposed we were bringing some supplies to one of the officers. Then, there was a sham battle going on not far away at the time, and that may have taken the attention of the sentries. Anyhow, I got through the lines, and, opening the box, let Ticula out to roam about and catch a rat if she could.
"I was crawling around after her, watching her as she went under the building when suddenly a soldier pounced on me and yelled that I was a German spy. I was never more surprised in all my life."
"I should think you might be!" laughed Ned. "Then what happened?"
"Well, they handled me rather roughly, and took me into custody, as I suppose it is called. They seemed to think Ticula's box was an infernal machine. They were very much excited, and I was trying to explain to them who I was, when Ticula suddenly crawled up through a hole in the floor in the building where I was being questioned."
"And then there was more excitement, I suppose," said Jerry.
"There was--considerable," admitted the professor. "Then you boys came in, and--well, it's all over now. But I surely feared for a moment they might shoot my snake."
"Yes, it was rather a close call," observed Bob. "But did you have a good dinner with the colonel?"
"Listen to him, would you!" protested Ned. "All he can think of is eating!"
"Cut it out!" growled Bob, as Ned poked him in the ribs. "I just wanted to know what sort of feed they give the officers."
"Oh," said Jerry significantly. "Merely an academic interest, I suppose."
"Well, the dinner was very good, though I cannot say that I remember what I ate," confessed the professor. "I was thinking too much of something else."
"Do you mean you were puzzled as to how to study the effect of the noises of the French battlefields on grasshoppers and crickets?" asked Jerry.
"No," and the professor shook his head. "This is an altogether different problem. It is, as I might call it, the problem of two girls."