But laughter drowned the sentence, though Hugo's face was without a smile.
"You ought to go on the stage!" some one exclaimed.
"If it were as easy to amuse a pay audience as you fellows, I might," Hugo replied. "But I've another question," he pursued. "Do you think that the fellows on the other side of the frontier want to be killed?"
"No danger! They'll give in. They always do," said Eugene.
"I confess that it hardly seems reasonable to make war over the Bodlapoo affair!" This from the judge's son.
"Over some hot weather, some swamp, and some black policemen in Africa," said Hugo.
"But they hauled down our flag!" exclaimed the army officer's son.
"On their territory, they say. We were the aggressors," Hugo interposed.
"It was our flag!" said Eugene.
"But we wouldn't want them to put up their flag on our territory, would we?" Hugo asked.