“Then you actually went foraging up there, and got back safely with this load?”
“Um!” said Joeboy. “Boss Val must have plenty to eat. Doppies nearly caught um.”
“So I should expect,” I said. “But you nearly got shot, stealing up to the lines like this.”
He laughed softly.
“Boss Val wouldn’t shoot Joeboy. Doppies nearly ketch him. Big lot coming down now.”
“What!” I said excitedly. “Some of them coming down?”
“Um! Big lot coming down to fight.”
I began to grasp now that after all there was some night expedition on the way, and that the pile of haversacks Joeboy had found had been deposited there to leave the men free and unfettered.
“Look here,” I said sharply; “are you sure that the Doppies are coming down?”
“Um! Great big lot.”