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Curiously enough, they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal.

The cows declared unanimously that Snowball crept into their stalls and milked them in their sleep.

The rats, which had been troublesome that winter, were also said to be in league with Snowball.

Napoleon decreed that there should be a full investigation into Snowball's activities.

With his dogs in attendance he set out and made a careful tour of inspection of the farm buildings, the other animals following at a respectful distance.

At every few steps Napoleon stopped and snuffed the ground for traces of Snowball's footsteps, which, he said, he could detect by the smell.

He snuffed in every corner, in the barn, in the cow-shed, in the henhouses, in the vegetable garden, and found traces of Snowball almost everywhere.

He would put his snout to the ground, give several deep sniffs, ad exclaim in a terrible voice, "Snowball! He has been here! I can smell him distinctly!" and at the word "Snowball" all the dogs let out blood-curdling growls and showed their side teeth.

The animals were thoroughly frightened.

It seemed to them as though Snowball were some kind of invisible influence, pervading the air about them and menacing them with all kinds of dangers.

In the evening Squealer called them together, and with an alarmed expression on his face told them that he had some serious news to report.

"Comrades!" cried Squealer, making little nervous skips, "a most terrible thing has been discovered.

Snowball has sold himself to Frederick of Pinchfield Farm, who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us! Snowball is to act as his guide when the attack begins.

But there is worse than that.

We had thought that Snowball's rebellion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition.

But we were wrong, comrades.

Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! He was Jones's secret agent all the time.

It has all been proved by documents which he left behind him and which we have only just discovered.

To my mind this explains a great deal, comrades.

Did we not see for ourselves how he attempted - fortunately without success - to get us defeated and destroyed at the Battle of the Cowshed?"

The animals were stupefied.

This was a wickedness far outdoing Snowball's destruction of the windmill.

But it was some minutes before they could fully take it in.

They all remembered, or thought they remembered, how they had seen Snowball charging ahead of them at the Battle of the Cowshed, how he had rallied and encouraged them at every turn, and how he had not paused for an instant even when the pellets from Jones's gun had wounded his back.

At first it was a little difficult to see how this fitted in with his being on Jones's side.

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