How did Cocky Stop the soldiers from finding bob and Peters hiding place

When two soldiers question the van Woerden’s daughter Cocky if she has brothers, she tells the truth because she has been taught to do so her whole life. She tells him that she has three brothers who are twenty-one, nineteen and eighteen. When he asks her where they are Cocky tells the truth, that they are under the table. Luckily her hysterical laughter leads the soldier to believe she is making fun of him and he does not check. Later the family is divided as to whether Cocky did right in telling the truth.