with the eyes shut
with the eyes shut. go get a corkscrew. I wish she were here now. They were big and shy and embarrassed and very appreciative together of anything that happened. You ought to wash. I said. Manera lit his lighter and passed it around. The snow slanted across the wind.Who goes to the attack asked Gavuzzi. He said it was true and by the corpse of Bacchus we would test whether it was true or not. I thought she was very beautiful. I repeated it. He made a gesture and laughed loudly.
Good Christ I said.It could not be worse. The earth of the dugout was warm and dry and I let my shoulders back against the wall. You must forgive me for talking so much.Yes. I had drunk much wine and afterward coffee and Strega and I explained. Five stars.No. I said.You wouldnt want to go in the line all the time.When you come back bring a phonograph. I had a drink with a captain that I knew in one of the dugouts and went back across the bridge. she said.
loosely packed cigarettes that spilled tobacco and needed to have the ends twisted before you smoked them. That left three. It was one of those things that gave you a false feeling of soldiering. TaorminaYou talk like a timetable. and stood up. She would not let me put my arm around her. Tenente. There isnt always an explanation for everything. I will probably marry Miss Barkley.Ive heard about it. They take nearly a thousand prisoners. You were liable to arrest if you did not have one worn in plain sight. Dont you read it.
Signor Tenente. All right. and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to think you just died. she said.We drove fast when we were over the bridge and soon we saw the dust of the other cars ahead down the road.All right. But its very beautiful. Suddenly to care very much and to sleep to wake with it sometimes morning and all that had been there gone and everything sharp and hard and clear and sometimes a dispute about the cost. I said. darling. The other officers were amused at the baiting.Have you seen Miss BarkleyI will bring her here. Those of us that were awake talked across the ward.
In a moment the blanket in front of the dressing station opened and two stretcherbearers came out followed by the tall Englishman. He ought to be able to do something.That road will be a dirty mess.Thank you for the coffee beans. There was more to it than that. have that pleasant air of a dog whoStop it.Outside we ran across the brickyard. and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. 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. I wondered who had done them and how much he got.I will get it for you.Do the men know that who attackI dont think so.And you dont have to say you love me.
This captain baited him often. That is why we have this war. He spread the hand again. havent youYes. And then you are so very beautiful.You dont need to say a lot of nonsense. I said. I watched them settle on the ceiling. I said in Italian. I looked across the wire at the Austrian lines. Then he was quiet.I believe in the Free Masons. he said.
youre very good. I sat up straight and as I did so something inside my head moved like the weights on a dolls eyes and it hit me inside in back of my eyeballs. Then in Italian: Lift him very carefully about the legs. 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.We sat on the flat stone bench and I held Catherine Barkleys hand. Tell me about Gorizia. There is nothing worse than war. I said. The officers were not good but dull. They all ask for you. We drank the second grappa. said Bassi. you see.
Let everybody defend his home. D.I did not understand the word. You do not really like it. I know all about it. Incurred in the line of duty.I like him. I identified them by their red and white striped collar mark. The system was to bring everything down the new road and take the empty trucks. then choking.Some of the officers went alone. I had been up the river to the bridgehead at Plava. you patriots.
No. Passini said still respectfully. He loved being a surgeon and we were great friends. Some wore their steel helmets but most of them carried them slung from their packs.Oh. he said. And then you are so very beautiful. isnt heYes. We understand you let us talk. The river ran behind us and the town had been captured very handsomely but the mountains beyond it could not be taken and I was very glad the Austrians seemed to want to come back to the town some time.Yes. Everybody hates this war. The fields were green and there were small green shoots on the vines.
It would be fine if you would take the cars. Whats the matter with you Do you want us to come outside and get himThe two stretcher bearers picked up the man under the arms and by the legs and brought him in.Of course they do.Of course they do. he said. Passini said. It would have been impolite not to have known something of them when I had listened to such a splendid explanation of their causes which were. I took her hands.Here is the American Tenente. The British hospital was a big villa built by Germans before the war. Oh you should see what I did in the removal of three metres of small intestine and better now than ever. There is only one difference between taking a girl who has always been good and a woman.What about eating.
I decided to go on upstairs. chemical smells and the sweet smell of blood. Shall attack!The priest nodded. It was really very large and beautiful and there were fine trees in the grounds. He drank a half tumbler of cognac. I had a drink with a captain that I knew in one of the dugouts and went back across the bridge.Oh. Rinaldi put away the bottle and we went down the stairs. A trench mortar shell.No. The other cars pulled up.Open the bottle. He lived in Udine and came out in this way nearly every day to see how things were going.
Passini said. A shell burst short near the river bank. Five stars.We must shut up. I feigned acquaintance.Now you see.Whats to stop itIt will crack somewhere.That priest. It was very hot and when I woke my legs itched.An outside nation cant make you be a soldier.Say. But I do with you. Miss Barkley said.
cheekfitted.The forest of oak trees on the mountain beyond the town was gone. I said.We sat on the flat stone bench and I held Catherine Barkleys hand. I had gone to no such place but to the smoke of cafe and nights when the room whirled and you needed to look at the wall to make it stop. You should go on leave. They were bersaglieri. All the drivers wore puttees but Passini had only one leg. Tell me. We were supposed to wear steel helmets even in Gorizia but they were uncomfortable and too bloody theatrical in a town where the civilian inhabitants had not been evacuated. darling. I would have married him or anything. said the major.
I said.I can come here though. They tell me youre an American. It was hot walking through the town but the sun was starting to go down and it was very pleasant.Which side is it onHere.Bersaglieri. lifting the spaghetti on the fork until the loose strands hung clear then lowering it into the mouth. And we have gotten away from the war.Cant I stay here. People cant realize what France is like.Outside something was set down beside the entrance. sir.No.
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