hospital I told the driver to stop.

 he explained to me
 he explained to me. Henry. It would only be worse if we stopped fighting.Its rotten. to take a shower. Passini said. My legs felt warm and wet and my shoes were wet and warm inside. The system was to bring everything down the new road and take the empty trucks. To the silver medal.Where is the gasoline park nowAt the same place. said Rinaldi. Oh mama mia. This was a game. as when a blast furnace door is swung open. Also we were required to wear an automatic pistol; even doctors and sanitary officers.Ill leave you two.

 Im not. I asked him what happened and he said. I would have liked to drive over the new road but it was not yet finished. And I never even talk English. Are they going to have an offensiveYes. Henry. baby. There is nothing worse than war. Rinaldi saluted.Im afraid it will make it bigger.They cant hang every one.I see. I felt him in his metal box against my chest while we drove. He slapped the bed with his glove. I said. They were laughing.

I say its rotten.And why didnt you marryI dont know. Stretcher bearers came in all the time. NapoliThats enough.Hell say I did it on purpose.No. You go away sototenente! You come back sotocolonello! They all laughed. looking for cuts or stone bruises. These V. They all ask for you. It was impossible to salute foreigners as an Italian. One of the two men who had carried it looked in. It does not go so well. there was a soldier sitting on a bench outside in the sun. You wont go awayNo. Here now we have beautiful girls.

Well crack.Do the men know that who attackI dont think so. tannic and lovely. one of the other captains said.You couldnt have sent me a noteNo.Youre an orator. Why did you join up with the ItaliansI was in Italy. I said. He saw us and smiled.We think. I said. I suppose it was mutual tolerance because the Austrians still kept a bridgehead further down the river. For two weeks now they havent changed them. I said. As far as I could make out the last mile or so of the new road where it started to level out would be able to be shelled steadily by the Austrians. It would not finish it if one side stopped fighting.

 He started with the upright thumb and named in their order the thumb and four fingers. long 6. she said.Ill take the American Tenente. holding their chins close over the basin. There were many strong smells. Ive seen you about. I love you so. You could not tell anything about them. How is your headGood Christ I said.Lets drop the war.Its way out. Doesnt anybody work nowSince you are gone we have nothing but frostbites. I kissed her hard and held her tight and tried to open her lips; they were closed tight. he said. The major got up from the telephone.

 No. A V. although I learned it later. Your blood coagulates beautifully.I have to go. Underneath we are the same. I said.I dont believe a word of this. 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. the major said. His mother sent it to me.The next afternoon I went to call on Miss Barkley again. Something picturesque.Very.There are no forks.You see Ive been leading a sort of a funny life.

 we knew it was all over for that year. He was sitting up beside one of the brick walls. wont youWhat the hell. that there had been three others.There was great laughter from everybody. Maybe she would. He hoped the road would not jam. That night in the mess after the spaghetti course. The orderly brought a chair and he sat down. The pain that the major had spoken about had started and all that was happening was without interest or relation. Ill always come back. the captain said. I remembered where I was going. there were some new hospitals. He stopped the car and looked in through the hole behind his seat. They say so.

 Firenze. he pointed to the thumb. depended to a considerable extent on myself. I said. so she loves Scotland better than England. baby. What hit youMe. nights in bed. father. Bring on something serious. yes. in the infantry. You only pretend to be American.I dont know.Not Strega. gentlemen.

Thank you for the coffee beans.What is her nameFerguson. the window open and the sunlight coming into the room.Thats splendid. We go whorehouse before it shuts. Thats over for the evening. She would not let me put my arm around her. he explained to me. Listen. He laughed. Now the fighting was in the next mountains beyond and was not a mile away. and other trucks with loads covered with canvas that moved slower in the traffic.Nonsense. I like him.You speak English he asked. The saint hung down on the Outside of my uniform and I undid the throat of my tunic.

 That is why we have this war. and. I myself felt as badly as he did and could not understand why I had not gone. The British hospital was a big villa built by Germans before the war. to take a shower. Im sending you now with the English ambulance. he said. It would not finish it if one side stopped fighting. Nobody was in sight. I said. We drank rum and it was very friendly.At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. We both went flat and with the flash and bump of the burst and the smell heard the singing off of the fragments and the rattle of falling brick. He drank a half tumbler of cognac. You go away sototenente! You come back sotocolonello! They all laughed. Goodnight.

 I said. Would you like a drink of brandy How did you run into this thing anyway What were you trying to do Commit suicide Antitetanus please. the tall Englishman said in Italian.Bacchus. said the priest. I was still angry and as I held her suddenly she shivered.There are no forks.They have big Skoda guns.Oh. Fillipo Vincenza Bassi or Bassi Fillippo Vicenza had never touched a drop all evening and what was his name anyway He said was my name Frederico Enrico or Enrico Federico I said let the best man win. sucking in the ends. The Englishman broke into voluble and perfect Italian. I said to the priest. Here they would never have arrested him. Its only a little sometimes. the smooth functioning of the business of removing wounded and sick from the dressing stations.

 I could see the river far down below.I will get it for you. But I thought it would be bad for him. We will convert him. Signor Tenente.Its not been away. I watched the snow falling. aint this a goddam warListen.No understand. long 6. Middle name First name Rank Where born What class What corps and so on.About the soup. Manera said.Its not serious I hope.Hes an American.You are ignorant.

 He smiled. Yes. Kiss me goodby. I said.What is itThe man on the stretcher over me has a hemorrhage. British ambulance drivers were killed sometimes. Passini said sarcastically. Catherine asked me to tell you she was sorry she couldnt see you this evening. have that pleasant air of a dog whoStop it. Outside the sergeant adjutant knelt down beside me where I lay. I watched her face. The major was a little man with upturned mustaches. sometimes now seeing his face and little long necked body and gray beard like a goats chin tuft; all these with the sudden interiors of houses that had lost a wall through shelling. Beautiful young girlsaccompanied by their mothers.Bersaglieri.Very.

 Here they would never have arrested him.Rinaldi looked at me blankly. he said. fast and shallow. Firenze. that looked chalky white and furrowed.It was just beyond where we turned off. but not losing sight of the priest. It had been impossible to advance on the far side the year before because there was only one road leading down from the pass to the pontoon bridge and it was under machinegun and shell fire for nearly a mile. said the lieutenant.We went over toward Rinaldi and Miss Ferguson.Will you tell her how sorry I amYes. Oh. They cant go on doing things like the Somme and not crack. It was all right with me.I know it is bad but we must finish it.

 They were laughing. Why dont you go to the hospitalThey wont let me. Henry. Still I would probably have been killed. She let me take it and I held it and put my arm around under her arm.Thats a relief. This was a strange and mysterious war zone but I supposed it was quite well run and grim compared to other wars with the Austrians. as I said. But the little Scotch one is very nice.Youre sloppy.I wanted to kiss her. We all sang.Poor Rinaldi.You are crazy. Every day I am better.Do they ever shell that battery Tasked one of the mechanics.

 He stopped and sat down beside the road.Not Strega. Ill not learn it in two weeks. British ambulance drivers were killed sometimes. We read. These V. I was there and reading of it in the paper.I dont believe it. one for troops and one for officers. I was cold and my leg hurt so that it made me sick. But then he wanted to go to war and I didnt know. father. The sun was going down and looking up along the bank as we drove I saw the Austrian observation balloons above the hills on the other side dark against the sunset.We went over toward Rinaldi and Miss Ferguson. They say if you can prove you did any heroic act you can get the silver. Passini said sarcastically.

 But as long as you drive the cars and behave  and dont talk so other officers can hear. It came down through the forest in sharp turns. Mr. D. Fragments of enemy trench mortar shell. Rinaldi said. They would take me as soon as possible. The cognac is under the bed.All right. marched as though they were six months gone with child. Ahead there was a rounded turn off in the road to the right and looking down I could see the road dropping through the trees. It was an Astra 7. 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. I suppose it was mutual tolerance because the Austrians still kept a bridgehead further down the river. Ive seen you about. We are war brothers.

Could I see her just for a momentThey sent an orderly to see and she came back with him.It wasnt that way with the granatieri. It was a nuisance to have them there but it was a comfort that they were no bigger. There isnt always an explanation for everything. A regiment went by in the road and I watched them pass. Genoa was the place to see the bad marbles. sitting on the small of my back. It was a hot day and the sky was very bright and blue and the road was white and dusty. You could not tell anything about them.Thats awfully nice. with the eyes shut. It is with them the war is made. Aldo. They carried wounded in and brought them out. He bellows. I was riding in the first car and as we passed the entry to the British hospital I told the driver to stop.