“Yes, I do,” said the man Peter. “Now let me tell you. For years I was in England; sent there to study those foolish bull-headed people and to create all the unrest I could. It was _so_ easy. I saw these Americans there, crazy, loud-mouthed, boasting, always boasting. They talked fight, they told wild tales about the bad men of their west, always boasting. So I tried them. I am a big man, Fritz, and strong; I was not afraid of a little fight, me, myself. I tried them. I slurred their government, sneered at their president, laughed at their institutions. What think you? They laughed. They _laughed_! Quite as if I said the most kindly things. I said, ‘What I say is true, is it not?’ and they said, ‘Perhaps, but it is so funny!’ That is what they said, ‘_so funny_!’ They should have slain me where I stood.” “They don’t care what you say or what the rest of the world says,” whispered Fritz. “They are too big. Their country is too big. When they fight.... Wait until you have seen them fight! They fight with grunts and gasps and bared teeth. They do not need trenches, they will go over the top with a shout. You will see, friend Peter. They are back there in the darkness now. I feel them!” “A few of them, only a few,” said Peter. “This little castle of sod and stone is getting on your nerves, my friend. Look you! Do you think the Highest would deceive us? Never, never! There is nothing to this talk of the Americans coming over here. To be sure, they have declared war, but what of it? They are no good. They have no army. All their boasted possessions, all their harbors, all their wealth, yet they have no army. No army! That shows how inefficient they are. Never fear, my Fritz. Not a hundred thousand will reach this soil. I have it from our commanding officer himself.” “Then here’s hoping for a quick release from this hole,” said Fritz bitterly. “To-morrow,” said Peter; “to-morrow our hosts will sweep across this valley, and we will be with our own again.” “Oh, I hope for some release. It’s the hardest duty I have ever been given.” “But think how we have been able to guide our guns, talking as we can to the airplanes through the clever arrangement of our three little trees on top of our delightful little hill.” He laughed. “How clever it all is! And no one will ever suspect!” He paused again to chuckle, and Porky quite suddenly shoved a sharp elbow into Beany’s ribs. “Well, I’m sick of it,” said Fritz still in his low, hoarse whisper, and seemed to move away from the side of the hill where he had been standing. The boys with the greatest caution wriggled away. “Now what do you think of _that_?” said Porky when they were in a position where they could talk in safety. “_What do you think of that?_” “Anyhow,” said Beany, “they aren’t spies. I’m sort of fed up on spies. I can stand for most anything else.”