campaign or late, à la carte or table d'hôte, morning or--" Hugo went
on.

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.

"Let them try it!" thundered Eugene, with a full breath from the big