“I certainly didn’t think that snowball would go down the stairs so easily,” remarked Andy, when he and the other Rovers were alone.

“Keep quiet,” warned Jack, who had remained at the partly-opened door.  “I want to hear what takes place.”

“This is outrageous, simply outrageous!” they heard in Snopper Duke’s high-pitched voice.  “How dared you roll such a snowball down these stairs?  And how came you to get that snowball up there anyway?”

“Excuse me, Professor, but I don’t know what you’re talking about,” answered another voice; and at this Jack gave a slight start, for he recognized the words as coming from Brassy Bangs.

“What is that?  You do not know anything about the big snowball that just came hurtling down these stairs?” stormed Professor Duke.

“No, sir.  I just reached the top of the stairs,” answered Brassy Bangs.  “I came out of my room not ten seconds ago.”

“What do you know about this, Stowell?” went on the professor, who had now come slowly to the top of the stairs, followed by Professor Grawson, who had come out of Colonel Colby’s private office where he had been looking over some reports when the big snowball had landed with a thump against the desk at which he had been seated.

“Me?  What do you mean?” stammered the youth who was known to the cadets as Codfish and who had always been more or less of a sneak.

“Somebody just rolled a big snowball down the stairs.  It struck me and nearly knocked me flat,” returned the irate teacher.

“Yes, and it rolled all the way into the private office,” added Professor Grawson.

“I don’t know anything about any snowballs,” said Codfish.  “I noticed the floor was all wet and I wondered what it meant.”

“I saw some fellows rushing around the corner,” came from Brassy Bangs.

“Who were they?” demanded Snopper Duke.

“I don’t know.”

“Which way did they go?”

“That way,” and Brassy pointed out the direction.

By this time the two professors had reached the top of the stairs and Grawson was looking at the water marks on the polished floor.

“Here is where they brought that big snowball in,” he remarked, pointing to the track that led to one of the windows.  “They must have brought it up on the fire-escape.”

“Here are several other tracks.  I think we had better follow them,” returned Snopper Duke quickly.

The track leading to the bathroom was most in evidence, and the two professors quickly discovered the big snowball resting in the bathtub.

“Evidently they put this here to have some more fun with,” announced Professor Grawson grimly.  “Well, it won’t do much harm here.  I’ll turn on a little hot water and it will soon melt and run off,” and he turned on the faucet as he spoke.

From the bathroom the two professors, followed by Codfish and Brassy, followed the water trail into a room occupied by several students who were particularly uppish and whom the Rovers did not like, and here some more of the snowballs were found.

“Here is another trail,” announced Professor Duke, and in a moment more had thrown open the door leading to Stowell’s bedroom.

“Here! what does this mean?” stammered Codfish, as, after the light had been turned on, he and the others saw the two big snowballs resting on either side of the bed.

“Stowell, you must have had something to do with this,” cried Snopper Duke savagely.

“No, sir.  Not at all, sir,” answered the sneak in a trembling voice.  “I don’t know a thing about it.”

“Where did you come from just now?”

“I - I came up the back stairs.  I was just coming through the corridor when I heard the noise and came to see what it meant.”

“The back stairs, eh?” put in Professor Grawson.  “What were you doing on the back stairs this time in the evening?”

“I - I was down in the kitchen.”  And now Codfish grew pale.

“And what called you to the kitchen?”

“I - I was hungry, and so I asked one of the servants for something to eat.”  And now Codfish was fairly whining.

“Humph! didn’t you have any supper?”

“Yes, sir.  But I wasn’t feeling extra well just then and I didn’t eat very much, and that made me hungry afterwards.  And, oh, say!  I guess I can tell you something about those snowballs,” and Codfish’s face lit up suddenly.

“What do you know?”

“When I was passing through the little entryway that leads into the kitchen I happened to glance out of the window and I saw four or five fellows down at the foot of the fire-escape.”

“What were they doing?”

“When I looked at them they were just talking among themselves.  I only looked for a moment because I was in a hurry to get to the kitchen and get back again.”

“Did you recognize any of the cadets?”

At this direct question, Codfish hesitated and showed that he felt far from comfortable.

“I don’t like to tell on anybody,” he whined.  “If I do that they’ll be sure to lick me later on - I know they will!”

“You tell me who they were and I’ll see to it that they do not harm you,” put in Professor Duke quickly.

“I only saw two of the fellows real plainly,” answered Stowell.  “They were standing in the light from one of the windows.”

“And who were they?  Tell me!  I want no nonsense now,” and Snopper Duke caught the sneak firmly by the shoulder.

“Ouch!  Please don’t hurt me!” cried Codfish, in added alarm.

“Then answer me!”

“The two fellows I recognized were Captain Jack Rover and his cousin, Lieutenant Fred Rover.”

“You didn’t know the others?” put in Professor Grawson.

“No, sir.  I didn’t see them well enough.  They were all in the shadows.”

“I’ll investigate this,” cried Professor Duke.  “Stowell, you come with me.”

“Oh, please don’t make me come!” cried the sneak.  “They’ll almost kill me if they find I gave them away!”

“They sha’n’t touch you.”

“Oh, I know what they’ll do,” moaned Codfish.  He had not forgotten how the Rover boys had sided with him on more than one perilous occasion, and it scared him half to death to think what they might do when they discovered how meanly he was acting.

But there was no help for it, and Codfish was marched along between the two professors, with Brassy and a number of other cadets, who had been attracted by the noise and the talk, following.

Meanwhile the four Rover boys had listened to as much of the conversation as they could catch.

“They went into Codfish’s room - they are following the trail of the water on the floor,” announced Jack.

“Some of the other fellows are coming out and coming upstairs,” announced Fred.  “Let us go out too and see what happens.”

“Maybe they’ll accuse Codfish of this,” remarked Randy, with a grin.

The four Rovers had just come out in the corridor and been joined by Gif, Phil, and Spouter when they found themselves suddenly confronted by Professor Duke, with Professor Grawson and poor Codfish directly behind him.

“So this is your work, is it?” demanded Snopper Duke, glaring angrily at Jack and Fred in turn.

“To what do you refer, Professor?” asked Jack, as calmly as he could.

“You know well enough, Captain Rover.  It is useless for you to deny it,” stormed the angry teacher.  “You and your cousins here are responsible for bringing those big snowballs into the school.”

“Who says so?” questioned Fred. At the same time he gave Codfish a look that made the sneak want to hide himself.

“Never mind who says so.  We know it to be a fact,” stormed Snopper Duke.  “Will you kindly let me know what you mean by such outrageous conduct?”

“Is it so very outrageous, Professor, to bring a few snowballs into the school?” questioned Randy innocently.

“We’ve often brought snow into the school,” put in Andy.  “We used to use it for making a sort of home-made ice-cream - with milk and sugar and a little flavoring, you know.”

“Colonel Colby or Captain Dale never ordered us to leave the snow outdoors,” added Fred, and at this there was a snicker from among a number of the cadets who were gathered.

“I will not listen to such nonsense,” stormed Snopper Duke.  “You four brought those snowballs into this school, and some of you kicked that snowball down the stairs on top of me,” he added, glaring at them.

“I want to say right now, Professor Duke, that that big snowball went downstairs by accident,” answered Andy, feeling that there was no help for it and that he must make a clean breast of the matter.  “We were rolling it down the corridor when all at once I slipped in a puddle of water and both my feet struck the snowball and sent it on its way down the stairs.  But we didn’t mean to send it down; I can give you my word on that.”

“I don’t believe it,” stormed Snopper Duke.

“I’m telling you the truth, sir.”

“Perhaps Rover didn’t mean to send the snowball downstairs,” put in Professor Grawson mildly.  As a general thing he sided with the cadets and they had little difficulty in getting along with him.

“Mr. Grawson, I was the one to suffer through this outrageous trick,” fumed Snopper Duke.  “And you will kindly permit me to handle the affair.  These four cadets are guilty and must be punished.”

“I agree it is more your affair than mine, Mr. Duke,” returned the other teacher.  “But don’t you think it would be wise to let the matter rest until Colonel Colby comes back from the city?”

“Not at all!  Not at all!  These young rascals must be taken in hand, and at once.  Otherwise our authority in this institution will go to pieces.”

At this moment there was a movement among the students who had collected in the corridor, and Gif and Spouter stepped forward.

“Excuse me, Professor Duke,” said Gif.  “But I had as much to do with bringing those snowballs upstairs as anybody.”

“And so did I,” added Spouter.

“And I was in on the deal, too,” came from Phil Franklin, as he too stepped forward.

“What?  All of you?” demanded Snopper Duke, eyeing them coldly.

“I can assure you we meant no great harm,” continued Spouter.  “We were only going to have a little fun among ourselves and with our fellow-cadets - that is, mostly,” he added somewhat lamely, as he remembered what had been said about placing some of the snowballs in the teacher’s room.

“Were any others implicated in this despicable piece of business?” demanded Professor Duke, looking around at the assembled cadets.  “Answer me at once!”

There was no reply to this, the cadets simply looking at each other questioningly.

“We’re all here, sir,” said Jack.  “There were no others.”  And he and his cousins gave their chums a warm look to show they appreciated their coming forward to take a share of the blame.

“Seven of you, eh?” was the teacher’s sour comment.  “A fine piece of business, truly.”  He thought for a moment.  “Come with me, all of you, and we’ll see what damage has been done down in the office.”

The assembled cadets made a passageway, and through this filed the Rovers and their chums with Professor Duke following close on their heels.  Professor Grawson remained behind to talk to Stowell.

“They’ll kill me for this - I know they will!” whined Codfish.  And now he was on the verge of tears.

“I don’t think the Rovers will touch you, Stowell - I don’t think they’re that class of boys,” answered Professor Grawson.  “Come.  I’ll go to your room with you and help you throw those snowballs out of the window.”  He had not forgotten that he had been a schoolboy himself once, and he had small sympathy for such a sneak as Henry Stowell.

Down in Colonel Colby’s private office it was found that the big snowball had done little damage outside of wetting a couple of the rugs.  What was left of the snowball had been gathered up by Pud Hicks, the janitor’s assistant, and now he was mopping up the floor.

“I’ll take the rugs and dry ’em in the laundry,” said Hicks.  “I think they’ll be all right by morning.”

“You cadets remain here until I return,” said Professor Duke, when Hicks was ready to depart.  And then he went outside and in the hallway held a whispered conversation with the janitor’s assistant.

“I guess we’re in for it,” said Jack to his cousins and his chums.

“What do you suppose they’ll do with us?” questioned Phil.

“I’m sure I don’t know.”

In a few minutes Snopper Duke returned, and there was a grin of satisfaction in his eyes as he faced the cadets.

“You will all follow me,” he declared, “and I’ll show you what can be done in this school to cadets who act as outrageously as you have acted.  Come!  March!” and he led the way out of the private office.