the line of ties and rails running along it.

 The forest had been green in the summer when we had come into the town but now there were the stumps and the broken trunks and the ground torn up
 The forest had been green in the summer when we had come into the town but now there were the stumps and the broken trunks and the ground torn up. English. I remembered. Were you on permissionYes. Poor dear baby. I stop by. Goodby. It was what I had wanted to do and I tried to explain how one thing had led to another and finally he saw it and understood that I had really wanted to go and it was almost all right.Tenente.Id really rather. nights in bed. Besides. She came back from wherever she had been. Rinaldi took the note.Do you like itVery much.

Oh.Oh. It was in France of course. Alpini would.I have one. instead there is a war. It would not rip and I bit the edge of the cloth to start it. said the captain.I wish you were back. We are war brothers. Miss Ferguson walked away in the dark.I would like you to see Abruzzi and visit my family at Capracotta.He took off his gloves. They were sitting in the dugout talking and when I came in they stopped. Through the other noise I heard a cough.

 We were just beginning to get some of them. 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. He was dressed. long 6. said the major. he said. Tenente. lieutenant. I dont mind at all.You speak English he asked. I went on home..How is he the Englishman called back. Stupid. baby.

 even in the ambulance business. Like bridge you had to pretend you were playing for money or playing for some stakes. And you play it as well as you know how.Hello. It is a successful coup de main.You wouldnt want to go in the line all the time.She looked at me. But marble busts all looked like a cemetery. I said. sir. Gordini said. said Rinaldi. Profound wounds of right knee and foot.Goodnight. I said.

 Id be glad to kiss you if you dont mind. You understand Priest every night five against one. Hes very good. she said. Grappa. and chewed. Gavuzzi handed me the basin of macaroni. Im not. little puppy. My legs felt warm and wet and my shoes were wet and warm inside. she said. I said. They did very well last summer.She laughed. He laughed.

Somebody said you should be able to learn it in two weeks.We might sit there just for a little while. then crossed the river. Manera said he hoped it would come before the bombardment started.Sometimes in the dark we heard the troops marching under the window and guns going past pulled by motor-tractors. Porta feriti I tried to get closer to Passini to try to put a tourniquet on the legs but I could not move. Not Bacchus. The major said he had heard a report that I could drink. and his hair shone.Who goes to the attack asked Gavuzzi. I must do something about getting you out of here. Not Bacchus. Mr. Thank you very much. the King passing in his motor car.

 Passini said. The priest shook his head.As the ambulance climbed along the road.No.There arent enough troops here for a real attack. There is nothing worse than war.Im English. Let him go to centres of culture and civilization. The lieutenant. They returned it with his things.Id rather wait. then stopped and kissed her.Please lets not lie when we dont have to. Goodnight. The captain spoke pidgin Italian for my doubtful benefit.

 Your lovely cool goddess. It was not a pleasant trip to the dressing room and I did not know until later that beds could be made with men in them. He is a priest; he will appreciate it. I had gotten somewhat drunk and had nearly forgotten to come but when I could not see her there I was feeling lonely and hollow. Well take you back with us. I had imagined that the condition of the cars. falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves. His right hand left the wheel and opened a button on his tunic and pulled it out from under his shirt. It would not finish it if one side stopped fighting. Rinin.Yes. winefully. That day I visited the posts in the mountains and was back in town late in the afternoon. I was still angry and as I held her suddenly she shivered. He had written to his father that I was coming and they had made preparations.

When you come back bring a phonograph. I said. You should go to Rome. There was a cough. I had gotten somewhat drunk and had nearly forgotten to come but when I could not see her there I was feeling lonely and hollow. a noise like a railway engine starting and then an explosion that shook the earth again. I liked to watch her move. He offered me a glass of cognac. They did very well last summer. though. The road was screened because it was in sight of the Austrians across the river. go to hell. Back at the villa I went upstairs to the room.Oh.I did not understand the word.

You were quite right.I cut the cheese into pieces and laid them on the macaroni. the major said. Maybe he was too goodlooking to be a. Why do you get yourself woundedYou can make fun of the priest. I thought. but instead we had Ii Generale Cadorna. come. Perhaps we should have a drink. The sun was going down and the day was cooling off. doing things that hurt sharply and severing tissue Are you sureMe trying to lie still and feeling my stomach flutter when the flesh was cut. There were three others to locate.J started down the driveway. You could not tell anything about them. Her hand had hit my nose and eyes.

 yes. it couldnt all go on.Wonderful. I said.No. It was a long time since I had written to the States and I knew I should write but I had let it go so long that it was almost impossible to write now. I wished to God it was over though. Shell be off then.I have brought him in. Im not.Three hundred fives. Why do you get yourself woundedYou can make fun of the priest. looking up from the paper.Leave him alone. darling.

He walked across to the dressing station. I repeated it. Ive seen the holes. far below.Goodnight.Most of them dont. he said.Youre not a Catholic. They returned it with his things.All right.The next year there were many victories. I turned her so I could see her face when I kissed her and I saw that her eyes were shut. Im leaving now for a show up above Plava. poured out into the glass held with the same hand; after this course.Are you very tired she asked.

Theyll shell the   out of us. But those grenadiers; all over six feet.He was a very nice boy.If everybody would not attack the war would be over. the major said over his shoulder. The orderly was listening behind the desk. He brought them over to me. He could have had anything he wanted if I would have known.Dont go.Good.Have you any moneyYes. No one to come in at night from adventures. Now he was bandaging.I believe in the Free Masons. Rinaldi said that the French had mutinied and troops marched on Paris.

 She did not seem tall walking toward me but she looked very lovely.There will be no more offensive now that the snow has come. But I thought it would be bad for him.Whats the matterHe looked at me. A soldier came along after the last of the stragglers. I must write some letters. isnt there I was brought up to think there was. People lived on in it and there were hospitals and cafe and artillery up side streets and two bawdy houses. the pillars with the marble busts. It seemed no more dangerous to me myself than war in the movies. I remembered. There is nothing worse than war. Rinaldi was lying on his bed. I put thumb and fingers into the macaroni and lifted. I saw that word pricked him and kept on.

 Macedonias. You should go to Rome. Anybody can take their property. But I thought it would be bad for him.Ah. 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. Kiss me goodby. Then I floated. She wore what seemed to me to be a nurses uniform. Goodnight. I said I hoped it would go well but that he was too kind. Youve been away a long time. as I said. He has a rendezvous. Walking home Rinaldi said.

 chilblains. His nose was skinned and there was dust on the bloody patch and dust in his hair.All bersaglieriI think so. Priest not happy without girls. first fingers extended.Im all right.No. What is defeat You go home.They may crack. Shes a nurse.We went over toward Rinaldi and Miss Ferguson.Ca va bienCa va. Gordini could not drive. The road here was below the level of the river bank and all along the side of the sunken road there were holes dug in the bank with infantry in them. I wore one when we went up to the posts and carried an English gas mask.

 if the war should end. Perhaps it start again. gonorrhea. Yes. 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. Didnt you see itNo. No blood brother and roommate. Shell be off then. with the sun on it. then we started.I wish you were back. darling. 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. she said. the line of ties and rails running along it.