"Oh, I know vots der madder. You vos jealous of me, hey?"
"Sure he is jealous, Hans," said Dick. "Songbird couldn't make up such poetry in a hundred years."
"It runs in der family," went on the German boy calmly. "Mine granfadder he vonce wrote a song. Da sung him py a funeral."
"Did it kill anybody?" asked Fred.
"Not much! It vos a brize song. He got a dollar for doing it."
"It must run in the family, like wooden legs among the soldiers," said Tom, and there the fun for the time being came to an end.
The road now ran up a hill, and then they came to a thick patch of timber. Before they left the timber, they rested for their mid-day lunch, camping out, as suited them.
"This is something like," remarked Fred. "I think it first-rate."
"It is very nice to be outdoors when it doesn't rain," answered Dick.
"How nice it would be if we had the girls along," said Sam.