"This time we'll make a really thorough search," Frank said.

Once inside the rambling log structure, each of the quartet took one of the bedrooms that opened off the living room. There were fingerprints visible everywhere but not one clear set.

Frank was going through the drawers of a bureau in one of the bedrooms when he chanced upon a small sealed box. The label, written in both English and what appeared to be Indian script, bore the words: Krait Serum. Krait Serum.

"The people who lived here probably kept it around in case their krait got out of hand,"

he thought, as he took the box and a bottle of alcohol 81 that lay beside the serum and hurried to show the others.

Ahmed took the items from Frank and carefully opened the box. Inside were a number of sealed capsules, each with its own syringe.

"M-maybe there are lots of kraits around," Chet said, wild-eyed. "We'd better get out of here p.r.o.nto!"

The others were startled by the suggestion. Chet could be right!

"We'd better watch every step we take from now on," said Frank with concern.

Ahmed put the box of serum and the bottle of alcohol inside his voluminous robe, in case they had any further encounter with kraits. Then he left the boys to resume his examination. A moment later he called: "In here, boys! Look what I've found."

The others ran to a bedroom which was furnished more luxuriously than the others. In his hand the elderly rug dealer was holding a dark-brown object the size of a robin's egg. It looked like a salt shaker, was delicately carved, and had a number of colored bands for decoration.

"What is it?" Frank asked, puzzled.

"A sandalwood scent box," Ahmed replied slowly. "It belongs in the luggage of an Indian prince!"

CHAPTER XI.

Snake Trouble.

"indian prince?" Chet repeated Ahmed's words as he examined the box, sure that he could not have heard right.

In an undertone Joe said to Frank, "Prince Tava! This must have been his 'prison'!"

Frank nodded, then said, "I guess now we'd better tell the others."

Completely astounded, Ahmed and Chet listened to the story of the kidnaped prince and the Hardys' suspicion that he had been held here.

"I ought to put myself behind bars for not continuing the search yesterday," Joe berated himself.

Ahmed laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do not blame yourself. Let your thoughts dwell rather on finding him," he advised.

"But where have they taken him?" Chet asked, adding, "I don't think I want to meet those kidnapers."

"Wherever the prince has been taken," said Frank,

82.

83 "you can be sure the place won't be so easy to liud as this one was. His captors will see to that and will make it dangerous for anyone trying to find him."

"Maybe now they'll kill the prince," Chet said dolefully.

A look of alarm crossed Ahmed's face, but he said quietly, "We must hope for happiness and good fortune for Prince Tava."

The boys felt slightly reprimanded by the remark and determined to follow the Indian's advice.

"What's next?" Chet asked, as he headed for the front veranda and relaxed in a comfortable rush-bottomed chair.

"I guess we'd better follow up the pigeon angle for further clues," Frank replied, as all of them sat down to rest before starting back through the forest. "I haven't seen any signs of cotes around here. I thought for a while that maybe pigeons were kept here, both as food for the goshawk and as carriers for the smugglers. But I guess that the pet goshawk had other food. Ahmed, do you think the bird could have belonged to the missing prince?"

"It is quite possible," the man replied. "However, I am puzzled as to why Prince Tava did not escape from his captors yesterday when he was evidently within sight of you boys."

Joe suggested that perhaps the prince was not being held against his will, but Ahmed scoffed at this thought. "More likely, guards watch over him every minute," the rug dealer said.

84 "It could be," said Frank, "that the prince has been given some wrong information. He believes it and is not trying to escape!"

"This is getting too deep for me." Chet sighed. "Let's go home. I'm hungry." He went back inside the lodge, helped himself to an unopened box of crackers from the fugitives'

kitchen, and pa.s.sed them around.

Both Frank and Joe felt that the mysterious house and grounds should not be left unguarded, so it was decided that as soon as the group reached Chet's home they would phone Mr. Hardy's operative, Sam Radley, to take on this job.

Radley and the boys worked closely together. He admired Frank and Joe's sleuthing abilities, and encouraged them in every way he could. Now and then, when things were going slowly on a case, he would needle them, but more often he called on them for a.s.sistance when his own sleuthing led him to a dead end. In order to be close to Mr. Hardy and ready for his orders, Radley lived in a hotel in Bayport.

Feeling somewhat rested, Ahmed and the three boys started back through the forest.

As they neared the spot where they had left the snake, there was a good deal of bantering among the boys as to who would present the krait to the zoo. They were considering drawing straws for the honor of making the presentation when suddenly Joe spoke up.

"Wasn't it right here that we left the cage?"

85 The group came to a halt and studied the surrounding trees and shrubbery. All concluded that it was the spot, as Frank pointed to a number of broken stalks. "Those are the bushes we took the branches from to make the cage," he said. "And you can see where the vines were torn out of the shrubbery over there. It was here, all right."

"Golly," Chet broke in, "the cage is gone! Maybe that krait moved it by twisting and turning around inside and then broke out!" He looked around, wide-eyed.

"I think not," said Ahmed. "Someone has taken the snake. There are only two possible answers, both of them potentially dangerous. The owner may have come back and reclaimed his krait. That would mean that the kidnapers have not abandoned this area completely. Perhaps your Sam Radley will have more to do than you expected."

As the rug dealer paused, Chet asked, "And the other possibility?"

"Someone walking along this path saw the snake in the cage, and not knowing that the krait was poisonous, picked it up. He may have taken the snake along, or he may have freed it."

There was tense silence for a few moments, then Frank said, "If some uninformed person has the snake, we'd better find it-fast!"

They knew that this might be difficult. No one could know whether the cage with the snake in it 86 had been found a few minutes after the Hardys had left it alongside the trail, or whether it had been carried off only a short time before their return.

Fortunately, there was a clearly marked trail leading away from the spot. The foursome hurried along it, peering ahead for anyone carrying the cage. Presently they came to a spot where a little rill moved across the trail, leaving a damp spot. In this moist dirt was a heel mark, which Chet spotted first.

"Someone's not far ahead!" he cried. "The water hasn't filled up this heel mark yet."

"We must be careful," Frank warned. "If it's the original owner we may be in for trouble.

He may even try to use the snake on us."

"True," said Ahmed. "And if it's anyone not aware of the danger of the snake, he may become frightened and run off with it."

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the searchers continued quietly but with speed.

Suddenly Joe cried, "There they are! A couple of kids!"

Less than a hundred yards ahead of them, two boys who looked about ten and twelve years of age were walking briskly in single file. On his right shoulder, each boy held one end of a long stick from which, midway between the boys, swung the krait's cage. The Hardys and their friends sighed in relief.

"Hey, boys!" Frank called.

The two lads halted and turned. When they saw 87 the three youths and the Indian following them, they became confused. One of them asked: "What do you want?"

Joe, moving forward at a slow trot, said, "That cage you're carrying-set it down and stand away from it. There's a poisonous snake inside."

"Poisonous snake?" the older boy in the rear repeated. With a startled cry, he jumped back, pulling the stick from his companion's grasp. As the forward end hit the ground, the cage slid down the stick, striking hard against the ankles of the other boy. Thrown off balance, he toppled backward, smashing one corner of the cage.

"Roll away! Roll away!" Frank yelled.

Panic-stricken, the boy tried to comply, but part of his jacket had caught on the cage. A moment later he screamed.

"The snake bit me!" yelled the boy.

CHAPTER XII.

A Strange Lead.

the krait slithered off as the Hardys and their friends ran to help the stricken lad, who was clutching his ankle. Quickly Frank drew the boy away from the cage, stripped off his sock, and grimly noted the tiny twin punctures just above the ankle.

"I'll use the serum," Ahmed said. "Frank, give him the standard first-aid treatment."

Uns.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the bottle of alcohol, Frank quickly sterilized his pocketknife blade and swabbed the area around the wound. Then he made a cross cut over each fang mark, forcing them to bleed freely. Next, he put a tourniquet just above the knee to prevent the poison from circulating through the blood stream. The ten-year-old bravely gritted his teeth.

Meanwhile, Ahmed had taken out one of the capsules and prepared the syringe. He located a proper vein and administered serum to the boy.

"He's going through shock," Ahmed said. "We must keep him quiet and warm."

At once the Hardys wrapped the boy in their sports jackets.

Ahmed had arisen, saying, "I must get the snake before it bites someone else," and had pulled out the reed.

He piped softly, hoping the krait had not gone far. Presently they saw the snake rear its head from behind a stone and soon Ahmed had charmed it back into the cage which Joe had repaired.

Now Ahmed turned his attention back to the boy who had been bitten. He observed him for a few minutes and said that he expected complete success from their efforts. The others, sharing his confidence, settled down to wait until the boy could be moved.

Chet, meanwhile, had tried to comfort the older boy who had been numb with fright.

"What made you decide to pick up the snake's cage?" Chet asked.

"We saw it there beside the trail and decided it had been left by one of the zoo collectors," the lad explained. "Fred and I are working for points in our Nature Club and we thought we might talk to the zoo men and learn something that would help us. So we waited a while. Then it got pretty late and we had to be home for lunch, so we decided to take it to the zoo."

"So he's Fred," Joe said, pointing to the stricken boy. "What's your name?"

"Gene, er-Eugene Moran. We're brothers. Are you sure Fred's going to be all right?"

Gene asked.

90 "Yes, son," Ahmed a.s.sured him. "The swelling is going down and he's breathing easier."

The frightened boy looked at his brother, who tried to smile. The Indian put a comforting arm about Gene's shoulder and said, "If you came upon a snake captured by zoo employees, it would be in a st.u.r.dy collection box, and not in a handmade cage built of branches and vines."

Gene's eyes opened in amazement. "We didn't think of that."

After putting the boy at ease, Frank remarked, "If you fellows live close by and hike in these woods often, you probably know the people who live at the hunting lodge. Tell us something about them."

Gene replied promptly, "Oh, this is the first time my brother and I have ever been in these woods."

"Did you see anyone else in the woods today besides us?" Joe asked.

"Yes, a whole bunch of dark-skinned people who looked something like Mr. Ahmed."

"Where?" the Hardys asked in unison.

Gene pointed in a southwesterly direction. "They seemed to be in a big hurry. Say, one of them, a fellow about your age, Frank, had a pet bird on his right wrist. It had something like a cap pulled over its head."

The listeners exchanged excited glances. Could the bird have been the goshawk and its owner Prince Tava?

Joe told the Moran boys that he and his friends 91 were looking for such a group of people and asked, "Were they wearing foreign clothing?"

"Oh, no," Gene replied positively. "They had on regular American suits."