Edmund from red, had turned pale; he did not lift his eyes from the
floor; he was feeling more ashamed of himself than he had ever
thought to feel in his life. Poor blundering Oscar whom he had
despised had conquered his horror of snakes to do a service to a
boy who had never given him a pleasant word; while he--_he_
had tried to steal Lady Margaret's pet! Now Oscar was avowing his
carelessness without a thought of concealment, while he could not
summon courage to tell the truth.

"It may be in the rooms somewhere," he managed to say finally; "and
never mind, Oscar, you did your best to keep him."

"I'm awful sorry, I am, for a fact," said Oscar; "but of course
it's my fault. You're good not to row me, Ned!"

"Don't!" said Edmund quickly.

"Why"--began Oscar; but his words were drowned by a tumult that
suddenly arose outside; shrieks, voices, a great trampling of feet.

"They've found Marcus! They're killing him!" cried Oscar.

Both boys flew out of the room. "Don't kill him!" called Edmund.

"He is our snake!" shouted Oscar.

People opened doors in all directions as the boys raced past. One
timid woman put her head out of her window, screaming, "Police!"
until quite a small army of blue-coated fellows had assembled.