The German corporal looked about him as he and his men stood guarded by Americans with loaded rifles, and his chagrin was evident as he realized that he had been captured by so small a force.
"Are these all the men you have?" he asked in passable English of Wilson.
"They were enough, weren't they?" answered Wilson with a grin that reflected itself on the faces of his comrades.
"Donnerwetter!" growled the German. "You would never have taken us if we had known!"
"We don't tell all we know," answered Wilson with a grin.
The prisoners were ferried across in groups of half a dozen at a time, but not before Billy had had the satisfaction of gathering up the insulting placards that had aroused his ire and tearing them up before the Germans' faces.
"Feel better now?" laughed Frank.
"Lots," replied Billy. "I couldn't exactly make them swallow them, but they must have felt almost as bad to see so much German Kultur going to waste."
The party was greeted with exuberant delight on their return, and received the special thanks of the captain.
"It was a big risk," he smiled, "but risks have a way of going through when they are carried out by the boys I'm lucky enough to command."