.Ive come back to Catherine in the night.

 Youve had it before
 Youve had it before. brushed my hair and we started. It is the captain. I had a drink with a captain that I knew in one of the dugouts and went back across the bridge. We are not peasants.Three hundred fives. That was how it ought to be. The cars would be all right with their good metaltometal brakes and anyway. Most of the helmets were too big and came down almost over the ears of the men who wore them.J started down the driveway. I said. Not in this ambulance business. But they say a Saint Anthonys very useful.They come after you. and healthy. You go away sototenente! You come back sotocolonello! They all laughed.

 I said. My orderly had cut paper into strips and tied the strips to a stick to make a brush that swished the flies away. 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.You better wait until the shelling is over. he pointed to the thumb.Have you any moneyYes.I know it is bad but we must finish it. This was a joke. passing on the road. I said.You. I said. I said. and a bandage around his head. What was the matter with this war Everybody said the French were through. Passini said.

 Fillipo Vincenza. Priest wants Austrians to win the war. he said. It ought to be good. But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army. I went to the window and looked out. She let me take it and I held it and put my arm around under her arm.Have you any cheeseThe major spoke grudgingly to the orderly who ducked back into the hole again and came out with a quarter of a white cheese. Take a drink.Were not far from the top. thats different. You take it.No. You see the point. Im all right.We kissed and she broke away suddenly.

 that the office opened on. It was all right with me. Nobody knew anything about it although they all spoke with great positiveness and strategical knowledge. I will give you the addresses of places in Naples. For stupidity. They blew him all to bits. the shellmarked iron of the railway bridge. Its in the bulletin. I am positive you will get the silver. He held up the glass. They would.I would like you to see Abruzzi and visit my family at Capracotta. It took the enamel off your teeth and left it on the roof of your mouth. tipping their heads back. The drivers were pleased with it and I left them there.The next afternoon we heard there was to be an attack up the river that night and that we were to take four cars there.

Why notNo.Splendid.No.How do you do I said. 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. It was very hot and when I woke my legs itched. What hit youMe.Yes. the priest said.Is there anything I can do. I thought it would be worse for him. I havent any papers for you.The next afternoon I went to call on Miss Barkley again.Be good while Im gone. I hurried up the driveway and inside the reception hall I asked for Miss Barkley.Do you always know what people thinkNot always.

 Mama mama mia. The Saint Anthony was in a little white metal capsule. no. Nobody had mentioned what the stakes were. They will love you like a son. I said.I wish you were back. You will come with me to see Miss Barkley. I think so.That doesnt matter. they would. One of their drivers came over to me.Ill bring it to you.He likes it. Were you on permissionYes. I said.

 All the officers were very happy. Where did you meet her In the Cova Where did you go How did you feel Tell me everything at once. I do sometimes.He cant do anything about it anyway. Please put your hand there again. I said. Then I made out my report in my room.We drove fast when we were over the bridge and soon we saw the dust of the other cars ahead down the road. One leg was gone and the other was held by tendons and part of the trouser and the stump twitched and jerked as though it were not connected. Or shot through the shoulder.Oh I love to tease you. It was there that the offensive was to begin. lootenant.Could I see her just for a momentThey sent an orderly to see and she came back with him.Must attack. The ground was torn up and in front of my head there was a splintered beam of wood.

You should not let us talk this way. Priest wants Austrians to win the war.Did they scare you. Im not.Bassi wins. Driving in convoy is not unpleasant if you are the first car and I settled back in the seat and watched the country. said the captain. But I found a place where the cars would be sheltered after they passed that last badlooking bit and could wait for the wounded to be brought across the pontoon bridge. What hit youMe. He didnt have a sabre cut. He broke off.Ill take what you can give me. Bring a glass. I could see the light come out from the dressing station when the curtain opened and they brought some one in or out.Im going on.Are you unwoundedWe are both wounded a little.

 Its good. the stumps of trees projected. Then the major told the story of the eleven Czechoslovaks and the Hungarian corporal. I smiled at the priest and he smiled back across the candlelight. Ill take it very easily. Hes very good. Otherwise it will be the bronze. The priest accepted it as a joke.Its rotten. seeing it all ahead like the moves in a chess game. It was a hot day and there were many flies in the room.Bacchus. You have a good time The others all grinned too. You wont go awayNo.You better wait until the shelling is over. What inflicted the woundsThe medical captain.

 No one to come in at night from adventures.You love Italy Rinaldi asked Miss Ferguson in English. I said and went back to the house and drank another bowl of coffee at the mess table. I wish she were here now. folded it without rising from the bed and slid it in his breeches pocket. I myself felt as badly as he did and could not understand why I had not gone. and I stood outside his cell and I said as though I were going to confession.I was going to cut it all off when he died. Rinaldi carried a holster stuffed with toilet paper. He spoke again in pidgin Italian.The next afternoon we heard there was to be an attack up the river that night and that we were to take four cars there. She waved and I kissed my hand and held it out. But then he wanted to go to war and I didnt know. My God what would a man do with a woman like that except worship her What else is an Englishwoman good forYou are an ignorant foulmouthed dago. although I learned it later. in which you said things instead of playing cards.

 I said. Ive studied it for months now. I would like to eat at the Cova and then walk down the Via Manzoni in the hot evening and cross over and turn off along the canal and go to the hotel with Catherine Barkley.No. Do you think I would do right to marry Miss Barkleyafter the war of courseAbsolutely. baby. good luck and Vive la France.We shook hands and he put his arm around my neck and kissed me.If you drop me again.Savoia. Manera lit his lighter and passed it around. Stupid. the captain said. His helmet was off and his forehead was bleeding below the hair line. Listen. I do not believe in the Free Masons however.

Thank you for the coffee beans. the stumps of trees projected. At this point the priest left and I told the story about the travelling salesman who arrived at five oclock in the morning at Marseilles when the mistral was blowing. That is very clear. You will be good to me.Oh. The priest looked up.The driver came out of the door with the papers for the wounded in the car. dropping them in a basin.Poor Rinaldi. They take your home. It was a hot day and the sky was very bright and blue and the road was white and dusty.There will be no more offensive now that the snow has come. Fragments of enemy trench mortar shell.Yes. I will.

 It was all right with me.Dont get angry. crossing out everything except. painted gray and built like moving-vans. There were three others to locate.That will be nice. He was goodlooking. The officers all came from such good families.Sure.Yes.Its rotten. The two captains took off their coats. 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 identified them by their red and white striped collar mark.Those that went out were not lined up when they took the tenth men. said the lieutenant.

Outside the post a great many of us lay on the ground in the dark. To the silver medal. Your lovely cool goddess.Most of them dont.Its not really the army.A rivederci. . There was one smashed bridge across the river.Outside we ran across the brickyard. Miss Barkley prefers you to me.Ill just step out the door a minute. I said. As soon as I got to the dressing station Manera brought a medical sergeant out and he put bandages on both my legs. There were racks of rockets standing to be touched off to call for help from the artillery or to signal with if the telephone wires were cut. the gas mask in an oblong tin can. and tears came in my eyes from the reflex.

 Anybody may crack. Some one took hold of me under the arms and somebody else lifted my legs.Kiss me. I said. Goodnight. Rocca ignored this and went on to explain the joke to me. he said. There were troops on this road and motor trucks and mules with mountain guns and as we went down. Theres not really any war of that sort down here.It belonged to a boy who was killed last year. I stop by.That doesnt matter. bronzes looked like something. He patted Gordini on the shoulder. Alpini would. 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.

We shook hands and he put his arm around my neck and kissed me. It was a hot night and there was a good deal going on up in the mountains. We drank the second grappa.Have you done nursing longSince the end of fifteen. Hes very good. The ground was torn up and in front of my head there was a splintered beam of wood. I said to the priest. To your valorous wounds. He bellows. I said. its smooth surface covered with brick dust. A shell burst short near the river bank. selfinflicted wounds. Manera said. They take your home. You wont worry now.

 He bent over me. and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. 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.Thats splendid. Theres more snow there than here. Goodby. It was quiet. my bed was made up with blankets and my things hung on the wall. English. It would only be worse if we stopped fighting.They wont crack here. we are. you patriots. I said.Yes.It was nearly dark when we came down and turned onto the main road that ran beside the river.

 What an odd thing--to be in the Italian army.Bersaglieri. You are a frozenfaced . I said. How is your poor head I looked at your papers. A mass loosened. Passini said. The other officers were amused at the baiting.Im all right.They want to eat. There were big guns too that passed in the day drawn by tractors. Stretcher bearers came in all the time. For two weeks now they havent changed them. It was hot walking through the town but the sun was starting to go down and it was very pleasant. What was the matter with this war Everybody said the French were through.Ive come back to Catherine in the night.