I knew I would not be killed.Were you there.

 the captain said
 the captain said. Im awfully tired. I saw the blanket open. tipping their heads back. There were some British batteries up with the third army. I said. A. Some wore their steel helmets but most of them carried them slung from their packs.At dinner I ate very quickly and left for the villa where the British had their hospital. Really.Youre the American in the Italian army she asked. I thought perhaps he couldnt stand it and then of course he was killed and that was the end of it. I undid the clasp of the gold chain and put it around my neck and clasped it. They took off my trousers and the medical captain commenced dictating to the sergeant adjutant while he worked.

No.Yes there is.All right. His legs are very painful.Are you very tired she asked. I said. He was a big smart tall boy to be in the granatieri. she said.You must go on leave at once. There was fighting for that mountain too. I helped him down. I wanted to go to the Black Forest. That is why we have this war. I said.

 She went on down the hall.Im not.Yes. Im sorry. The major was at the telephone sitting on a box.The priest smiled. Where have you beenIve been out on post.Were you in the StatesSure. I just couldnt stand the nurseseveningoff aspect of it.He cant do anything about it anyway. 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. chewed. We walked to the door and I saw her go in and down the hall. Walking home Rinaldi said.

 There were some British batteries up with the third army. That day I visited the posts in the mountains and was back in town late in the afternoon.We sat on the flat stone bench and I held Catherine Barkleys hand. I forget exactly what they were. There are some people who never realize. They took off my trousers and the medical captain commenced dictating to the sergeant adjutant while he worked. I said.Youre a nice boy. looking for cuts or stone bruises. 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. Outside the window it was a lovely spring morning.Ah. Mr.Tenente.

 looking out of the window of the bawdy house. I helped the soldier with the rupture up on the seat with us. God. the major said over his shoulder. I went back and told the drivers I would get them as soon as the food came.What about eating. was my age. The stream kept on. 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. Every week some one gets wounded by rock fragments. and chewed. He is a priest; he will appreciate it. I was cold and my leg hurt so that it made me sick. then crossed the river.

 said the priest. It seemed no more dangerous to me myself than war in the movies. the captain said. Stop it. Hang onto my neck. He spread the hand again. If youve got a fracture you dont want inflammation. TenenteWhere is Gordini and GavuzziGordinis at the post getting bandaged. There are some people who never realize.Come on. spaced by the interval of their dust. Up the river the mountains had not been taken; none of the mountains beyond the river had been taken. I took her hands. he said.

 with plaster and rubble in their gardens and sometimes in the street. Bring on something serious. he pointed to the thumb. Every one at the table laughed.We drove fast when we were over the bridge and soon we saw the dust of the other cars ahead down the road. Bassi said no that was no test because he had already drunk twice as much as I. What hit youMe. It has been put back again.No.Youre a nice boy. His shoulder was smashed and his head was hurt.Yes.Did you ever read the Black Pig asked the lieutenant. I could see the light come out from the dressing station when the curtain opened and they brought some one in or out.

 Beautiful young girlsaccompanied by their mothers. Rocca said. the tiny man with the long thin neck and the goat beard. What was the matter with this war Everybody said the French were through. I feigned acquaintance.He walked across to the dressing station. I said.I did not.Of a whatHe explained. Rocca said. Bless me. I denied this. In the dark it was like summer lightning. This is close to the front.

 It was one of those things that gave you a false feeling of soldiering. You could not tell anything about them. Evviva lesercito. I do not believe in the Free Masons however. They cant go on doing things like the Somme and not crack. the shellmarked iron of the railway bridge.Yes. There were stretchers lifted and slid into the slings above.I lifted it to arms length and the strands cleared. Inside the dugout were the three drivers sitting against the wall. I saw the town with the hill and the old castle above it in a cup in the hills with the mountains beyond. he said. Well all eat. she said.

 Good by. This had been the villa of a very wealthy German and the busts must have cost him plenty. TenenteNo. one for troops and one for officers.Hows everythingNot so bad. the smashed tunnel by the river where the fighting had been. lieutenant! he shouted. I said. Everybody was in the dugouts.I didnt say anything. Im not.Not Strega. Its not a wound. But dont be a fool.

 looking out of the window of the bawdy house.Quite well.Not Strega. the bare ground was covered. My hand went in and my knee was down on my shin. She was carrying a thin rattan stick like a toy riding-crop. Henry. Dont be a bloody hero. I felt the engine start. Dio te salve. You could stay with my family. The major was unhooking the forceps now. Thats over for the evening.I wanted to kiss her.

 The wind blew the leaves in the bower over the door of the dressing station and the night was getting cold. and the frescoes on the wall and waited for Miss Barkley. I threw away the goddam truss so it would get bad and I wouldnt have to go to the line again. He had not felt bad but now the shoulder had stiffened.I will get it for you. the major said. higher snow mountains. the broken houses of the little town that was to be taken. There was nothing to write about. We went along the rough new military road that followed the crest of the ridge and I looked to the north at the two ranges of mountains. I knew. Not in the auto ambulance. There was much traffic at night and many mules on the roads with boxes of ammunition on each side of their pack-saddles and gray motor trucks that carried men. and.

 When I got home it was too late and I did not see Miss Barkley until the next evening.I thought you said he was a Frenchman. But they are still fools. The doctors were working with their sleeves up to their shoulders and were red as butchers.No. Carabinieri shot them. She was crying. I stood up.Youre a good old boy. and I stood outside his cell and I said as though I were going to confession.They hang you. They all laughed. I lowered it into the mouth.The next year there were many victories.

 It looked as though it might be a mess. I thought somebody was screaming. I had it in the car. It was that which shook my faith. and the strange excitement of waking and not knowing who it was with you. baby. You will be good to me. But its very beautiful.This isnt a deep dugout. she said.Goodnight. The major was unhooking the forceps now. Dio te salve. Let them keep their sisters in the house.

Kiss me. Nothing to do. I would eat quickly and go and see Catherine Barkley.Not like the English Not like Miss BarkleyOh. The stream kept on. All right. I am very moved to see you badly wounded.There are no forks.Ah. They splashed more mud than the camions even and if one of the officers in the back was very small and sitting between two generals. and then there were mountains far off beyond all these that you could hardly tell if you really saw. Inside the dugout were the three drivers sitting against the wall.Good Christ I said. depended to a considerable extent on myself.

 she said. Hes dead. Some bersaglieri.You will. I translated. You cant.Priest not with girls. She wore what seemed to me to be a nurses uniform.I will send her. falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves. the captain said looking at the priest and at me.Dont go. I knew I would not be killed.Were you there.