the orderly looking after us. He looked at me.

The day had been hot
The day had been hot. The attack would cross the river up above the narrow gorge and spread up the hillside. and really you are just like me underneath.You speak English he asked. The outlines of the cypresses that lined it were sharp and clear. There was what was left of a railway station and a smashed permanent bridge that could not be repaired and used because it was in plain sight. They were moderately clean. a hard bright burst and flash and then gray smoke that blew across the road. Its been in there too long. The major said there was an Italian story something like that about the duchess who could not sleep at night. Dont you read it. Jesus Christ.Thats the only differenceYes.

 I denied this. In the meantime we were all at the mess.Dont be angry. Passini said. Ill wrap you up and dont bounce your head around. sucked and snapped in the ends. yes.Why dont you ride with the transport I asked. it was slow in the traffic.Here is the corkscrew. Then I made out my report in my room. that there had been three others.I went everywhere.

 Im something called a V. There were big guns too that passed in the day drawn by tractors. But its very beautiful.Oh.Im going on. holding below the target and trying to master the jerk of the ridiculous short barrel until I could hit within a yard of where I aimed at twenty paces and then the ridiculousness of carrying a pistol at all came over me and I soon forgot it and carried it flopping against the small of my back with no feeling at all except a vague sort of shame when I met Englishspeaking people. the major said to the two stretcher bearers.Splendid. There was what was left of a railway station and a smashed permanent bridge that could not be repaired and used because it was in plain sight. Inside the dugout were the three drivers sitting against the wall.Whats the trouble the war. I knew it. I didnt mean to hurt you.

 she said. Rocca ignored this and went on to explain the joke to me. carts and loaded ambulances and all returning traffic up the old narrow road. I practised with it. You are my great and good friend and financial protector. the camion stopped a little off the road.We think. Passing where the shells had landed I avoided the small broken places and smelled the high explosive and the smell of blasted clay and stone and freshly shattered flint.Leave him alone. I was after him. Im Scotch. Sometimes still pleasant and fond and warm and breakfast and lunch.No Yes.

 Oh. looking for cuts or stone bruises. Maybe she would pretend that I was her boy that was killed and we would go in the front door and the porter would take off his cap and I would stop at the concierges desk and ask for the key and she would stand by the elevator and then we would get in the elevator and it would go up very slowly clicking at all the floors and then our floor and the boy would open the door and stand there and she would step out and I would step out and we would walk down the hall and I would put the key in the door and open it and go in and then take down the telephone and ask them to send a bottle of capri bianca in a silver bucket full of ice and you would hear the ice against the pail coming down the condor and the boy would knock and I would say leave it outside the door please. And you play it as well as you know how. Dio te salve. when you knew that that was all there was. What made it pretty was that it sounded like Island. I said. The sun was going down and the day was cooling off. Manera lit his lighter and passed it around.I lifted it to arms length and the strands cleared. he straightened up. Maria.

 Everything seemed in good condition. Do you suffer much Have a drink. I lay still and let the pain ride. I sat now in the chair and an orderly of some sort looked at me disapprovingly from behind a desk while I looked at the marble floor.We went over toward Rinaldi and Miss Ferguson. Then I thought of his puttees.That priest. or else using a continuous lift and sucking into the mouth. she said. Roma. Every one laughed.Have you seen Miss BarkleyI will bring her here. the window open and the sunlight coming into the room.

Wash up and come as you are.This is the picturesque front. They were very nice and we had a big evening. My hand went in and my knee was down on my shin. Shes a nurse.Sit down.Dont worry.She looked at me. I had not noticed her.Four for 105. I had not noticed her. he said.We wont quarrel.

 father. Every one at the table laughed. Uninformed. Rinaldi.It hasnt come up. hung over the two beds. I didnt mean to hurt you. we are. Most of the helmets were too big and came down almost over the ears of the men who wore them.Outside something was set down beside the entrance.Were not far from the top. Its not a wound. I was still angry and as I held her suddenly she shivered.

 He looked at the priest and shouted. I wanted to go to Austria without war. whether or not things were obtainable. Tenente. We drank the second grappa. I would have liked to drive over the new road but it was not yet finished. We parked the cars beyond a brickyard. Ill go and see him and ask if he will recommend you. My Austrian snipers rifle with its blued octagon barrel and the lovely dark walnut. and relaxed.They cant do anything. out of the bandages.Four for 105.

 I had on wool stockings but Passini wore puttees. You wont go awayNo. Not in this ambulance business. You havent any fracture. Middle name First name Rank Where born What class What corps and so on. she said. said the priest. The battery fired twice and the air came each time like a blow and shook the window and made the front of my pajamas flap.Im English. Maybe the Austrians would crack. That major at the first post was a hogbutcher. helping ourselves to wine from the grasscovered gallon flask; it swung in a metal cradle and you pulled the neck of the flask down with the forefinger and the wine.All right.

So you make progress with Miss BarkleyWe are friends. Over on the right they had the Duke of Aosta. I saw the town with the hill and the old castle above it in a cup in the hills with the mountains beyond. far below. My orderly had finished pouring water and the bed felt cool and lovely and I was telling him where to scratch on the soles of my feet against the itching when one of the doctors brought in Rinaldi. I told them what I had heard. I had met two gunners from that lot.The day had been hot. They cant go on doing things like the Somme and not crack. Every night priest five against one! They all laughed again. He didnt have a sabre cut. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves. warmed from the sun on the wall.

 and chewed. My orderly had cut paper into strips and tied the strips to a stick to make a brush that swished the flies away. Every night priest five against one! They all laughed again. I repeated it.You dont need to say a lot of nonsense.I dried my hands and took out my pocketbook from the inside of my tunic hanging on the wall. drunk. He ought to be able to do something. I got out and told the driver to go on and that if we had not caught up to them at the junction of the road to Cormons to wait there. he said. We dont go out. They sat down and waited. It would have been much simpler.

And you dont have to say you love me. the broken houses of the little town that was to be taken. The mechanics were working on one out in the yard. Here at the brickyard we were sheltered from rifle or machine gun fire by the river bank.I stopped in front of the Villa Rossa.The next afternoon I went to call on Miss Barkley again. said Manera.Are you hit badly he asked. Some of the wounded were noisy but most were quiet.I have one. The major was a little man with upturned mustaches. she said. Tenente.

 Perhaps. Another nurse was with her. But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army.Ill take the American Tenente.It was because we were scared. Are you coming to nightNo.I think you do not know anything about being conquered and so you think it is not bad.The road was crowded and there were screens of corn stalk and straw matting on both sides and matting over the top so that it was like the entrance at a circus or a native village. brown mountains with a little green on their slopes. She stood up and put out her hand.I thought it over. They say if you can prove you did any heroic act you can get the silver. biting his arm.

 Three others were up in the mountains at dressing stations. Up the river the mountains had not been taken; none of the mountains beyond the river had been taken. Manera said. she said. He breathed very heavily.In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. she said. the thumb up and fingers outspread as when you make shadow pictures. He was a tall man and wore steel rimmed spectacles.Thats the only differenceYes. he straightened up. the orderly looking after us. He looked at me.