"I've never seen him before, to my knowledge," declared Colonel Anderson.
The Austrian officer glared down at Uncle John.
"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded in broken English. "Why do you accost these gentlemen?"
"Why?" exclaimed Uncle John, dancing up and down in his rage, "why? Because one of them is my nephew. What does he want to deny he knows me for?"
"He says one of you is his nephew," said the Austrian turning to the others.
"Well, he's wrong," declared Chester. "I'm sure none of us ever saw him before. Let us go."
The Austrian signified his readiness and they moved off; and as they went along Uncle John, glaring after them, shook a finger violently, and shouted time after time:
"You young rascals. You'll be sorry for this."
He was still raging when the others disappeared from sight among the tents.
"I wonder why?" he asked himself repeatedly, when he was back in his prison tent. And then suddenly it dawned upon him. "What a fool I was," he muttered. "Of course they are here to get me out of this and I came almost spoiling the whole thing, if I have not done so. I ought to be licked."