"Something's got me!" bellowed Chunky. "Help, help!"

"It's got me, too," yelled Rector. "It's got me by the foot."

"Oh, wow, wow! Help, help!"

The two boys were fighting and clawing each other in their excitement.

Chunky fastened a hand in the hair of his companion fetching away a handful. Ned retaliated by smiting Chunky on the nose. Then both grabbed hold of the tent wall as they slipped out from under it feet first. The tent swayed and threatened to collapse.

Walter Perkins was struggling about in the dark, shouting to know what had happened. Professor Zepplin roared out a similar inquiry and sprang from his bed of boughs. He fell out into the open in his haste, but the night was so dark that he was unable to make out a single object. He could hear the two boys yelling at the rear of their tent, struggling and fighting to free themselves from the grip on their ankles.

The hauling ceased suddenly. Ned reached down and freed his foot, the same movement freeing that of the fat boy.

At this juncture Tad Butler dashed out from the tent, to which he had run after having thrown the freed rope away.

"Here, here, what's going on here?" he shouted.

"Something got us. It was a snake," howled Chunky. "Oh, wow; oh, wow!"

"A snake? Nonsense!" exploded the Professor. "There are no snakes in Alaska."

"There's one here and he's the biggest one you ever saw. Why, he twisted right around my leg and dragged me out. I think he bit me, too," wailed Chunky.

"Somebody make a light here," commanded the Professor.

"That's what I say," shouted Ned. "You pulled half the hair out of my head, Chunky. I'll be even with you for that."

"Did the Thing get you, too?" questioned Walter.

"Get me? I should say it did. I never had anything grip me like that."

Tad was busy starting the fire. The Professor, by this time, realized that the boys were in earnest; that something really had happened to disturb them, though he had not the least idea that it had been as bad as they said.

The fire began snapping briskly. Tad was bending over it in his pajamas, standing as far back as possible to avoid the sparks. Glancing at the others out of the corners of his eyes, he observed that Stacy's face was pale; Ned Rector's was flushed and angry, and Ned kept pa.s.sing a hand over his head where the hair had come out. Tad could barely keep back the laughter.

"Now, show me!" demanded the Professor after the camp had been lighted up.

Stacy went into an elaborate explanation of what had occurred so far as he knew. He said something had grabbed them by the ankles and dragged them out under the tent. He showed where they had been dragged. The backs of their pajamas were evidence enough of this fact, the dirt being fairly ground into the cloth.

The Professor fixed his keen eyes on the freckled face of Tad Butler.

The Professor was plainly suspicious, but he did not voice his suspicion. Instead, he smiled to himself.

"I am going back to bed, young gentlemen, and I trust there will be no further disturbance in this camp to-night. If there is I shall be under the necessity of taking a hand in it myself."

"If Ned and Chunky will behave themselves, I don't believe there will be any further trouble, sir," said Tad.

Stacy fixed a glance of quick comprehension on Butler, and Tad saw in that one glance that the fat boy's suspicions were aroused, too. Stacy was sharper than Tad had given him credit for being.

CHAPTER X

IN THE HOME OF THE THLINKITS

Stacy did not speak of his suspicions that night, but on the following morning he was up earlier than the others, looking here and there about the camp. He was unusually silent at breakfast time, but Ned Rector on the contrary had a great deal to say.

"Somebody was in this camp again last night. I don't know what he was trying to do, but whatever it was, he made a good start," said Ned.

"Perhaps it was the work of Indians," suggested Walter.

"I shouldn't be surprised," replied the Professor dryly.

"Perhaps," agreed Tad, "the Indian was after another ham and thought he had hold of one when he got Chunky."

"You keep on and I'll say something!" snorted the fat boy.

"I have been looking at that red mark on my ankle," continued Ned. "It was a rope that did the business. How do you suppose they ever managed to tie it to our ankles without waking us up?"

"I thought you did wake up," answered Tad with twinkling eyes.

"We did afterwards, but I don't understand it at all. Didn't you hear anything, Tad?"

"If I remember rightly I heard two boys yelling like frightened babies."

Once again Chunky snorted, but held his peace. Matters were rapidly nearing a crisis. Chunky knew that he had played a mean trick on Tad by tying a string to the provision line and giving it a jerk to wake his companion up, thus making him believe someone was at the provisions. He suspected that the trick had been turned on him, but he wasn't quite sure. Stacy was covertly watching every expression on the face of Tad Butler, every word that was uttered, Tad in the meantime continuing to worry his fat companion. The latter stood it as long as possible. Then he arose rather hastily and strode around to the rear of the tent, returning a moment later with a rope in his hand.

Tad recognized it instantly.

"Here, if you want to know what got hold of us last night. Look at this!" exclaimed Chunky.

"What is it?" questioned Rector.

"It's a rope. Don't you know a rope when you see one? It is the same rope that dragged us from the tent by our ankles last night. Oh, this is a fine outfit!" jeered Chunky.

No one spoke for a few seconds.

"Ah!" breathed the Professor. "I begin to see a light."

"So did we," returned Stacy. "But it wasn't so very light that you could notice it particularly."

Ned started up, his face flushing violently.

"Do you mean to tell me that one of our outfit dragged you and me out by the heels last night?" he demanded.

"Yes!"

"Who did it?" cried Rector angrily. "I can thrash the fellow who did that. Who is he, I say?"