Tubby was so used to having his friends joke at him on account of his chubby build that as a rule he let such reminders pass by without showing any ill feeling. In this instance he hardly noticed what Merritt was saying, because so many other events were happening around them.
Being satisfied at last that they were in no apparent danger from concealed Uhlans, Tubby felt his spirits rise once more.
At the inn Rob entered into a brief conversation with the proprietor. As this worthy knew very little French, and Rob next to nothing of Flemish, the "confab," as Tubby called it, had to be conducted mostly through a series of shrugs and gestures.
"What luck, Rob?" asked Tubby, when the other chum turned to them again.
"He's cram full of sleepers to-night, and couldn't give us even a cot," explained Rob. "When I said we'd put up with the hay, he gave me to understand we could pick out any place found unoccupied."
"Gee whiz! 'unoccupied,' you said, didn't you, Rob?" cried Tubby hastily. "Now, does that mean the place is apt to be swarming with these peasant women and children, and shall we have to listen to babies bawling all night long, not to speak of roosters crowing, dogs barking, horses neighing, pigs grunting and cows mooing?"
"'Beggars should never be choosers,' they say," Merritt warned him.
"And, after all, let's hope it won't be quite so bad as all that," said Rob.
They sought the stable. It was in the rear of the inn, and a rather decent looking structure in the bargain.