“Go on; I haven't time to talk to you. Get busy!”
Working by flashlight, the men cut open the tins, dumped the biscuits on a blanket spread in a corner of the cellar, while Barry made preparations for a fire.
“Here, Hobbs, you punch two holes in these cans, just an inch from the top.”
Soon the fire was blazing cheerily. In its light Barry was searching through the ruin.
“By Jove,” he shouted, “the very thing. Just made for us.”
He pulled out a long steel rod from a heap of rubbish and ran with it to the fire.
“Here, boys, punch a hole in this wall. Now then, for the cans. String them on this rod.”
In twenty minutes the coffee was ready.
“How is it?” he inquired anxiously, handing a mess tin full to one of his men.
The boy tasted it.