"We'd better go, George," said Harry. "I think we only waste time
asking questions of such a forgetful family."

"It iss so," said Onderdonk; "but, young Mister Rebels, I remember one
thing."

"And what is that?" asked Dalton.

"It vas a piece of advice dot I ought to gif you. You tell dot General
Lee to turn his horse's head and ride back to der South. You are good
young rebels. I can see it by your faces. Ride back to der South,
I tell you again. We are too many for you up here. Der field uf
corn iss so thick und so long dot you cannot cut your way through it.
Your knife may be sharp and heavy, but it vill vear out first. Do I
not tell the truth, Vilhelmina, mein vife?"

"All your life you haf been a speaker of der truth, Hans, mein husband."

"I think you're a poor prophet, Mr. Onderdonk," said Dalton. "We
recognize, however, the fact that we can't get any information out of
you. But we ask one thing of you."

"Vat iss dot?"

"Please to remember that while we two are rebels, as you call them,
we neither burn nor kill. We have offered you no rudeness whatever,
and the Army of Northern Virginia is composed of men of the same kind."

"I vill remember it," said Onderdonk gravely, and as they saluted him
politely, he returned the salute.