Besides being tired, they were hungry. In fact, they had eaten nothing for two days. On they marched, until suddenly, ahead of them, they saw the lights of a village. Now the peasants of the place feared strangers. When they heard that three soldiers were coming down the road, they talked among themselves.
Soldiers are always hungry.
But we have so little for ourselves. And they hurried to hide their food. They hid the barley in hay lofts, carrots under quilts, and buckets of milk down the wells. They hid all they had to eat. Then they waited.