Then the stretcher bearers took the man off the table.

Do you want to very muchYes
Do you want to very muchYes. Rocca said. the major said to the two stretcher bearers. I waked the orderly and he poured mineral water on the dressings. The lieutenant. baby.The Pope wants the Austrians to win the war. Signor Tenente. He came in very fast and bent down over the bed and kissed me. I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind. and the frescoes on the wall and waited for Miss Barkley. No one to lend me money. The pain hasnt started yet. Rinaldi saluted.You dont believe me We will go now this afternoon and see.

Certainly not. are youOh. In a little while we would say insulting things. What hit youMe. hotter and slower than ever: then the stragglers. You cant.Some of the officers went alone. The little major looked at us furious. What kind of time did you haveMagnificent. Any frescoes were good when they started to peel and flake off.Were you in the StatesSure. He was walking with a limp. His right hand left the wheel and opened a button on his tunic and pulled it out from under his shirt. Manera lit his lighter and passed it around. His nose was skinned and there was dust on the bloody patch and dust in his hair.

Ill leave you two.Rinaldi looked at me blankly. mama Mia I pulled and twisted and got my legs loose finally and turned around and touched him.Listen to him talk about the Abruzzi.Im English.He likes it. Passini said. There were trees along both sides of the road and through the right line of trees I saw the river. Oh. Also we were required to wear an automatic pistol; even doctors and sanitary officers.Then well have to work.You dont need to say a lot of nonsense. baby. gentlemen. It was in France of course.

 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. It was a hot night and there was a good deal going on up in the mountains. he said. He was a tall man and wore steel rimmed spectacles. I am now in love with Miss Barkley. stupid from inexperience. The mechanics were working on one out in the yard.Oh. I asked him what happened and he said.Do you want to very muchYes. to take a shower. to take a shower. wiped off the blade and pared off the dirty outside surface of the cheese. Goodnight.You dont wear himNo.

Open the bottle. Profound wounds of right knee and foot. 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.But now we will shut up. His mother sent it to me. He slapped his gloves on the edge of the bed. and healthy. I just couldnt stand the nurseseveningoff aspect of it. Do you suffer much Have a drink. when you lie here all the time in the hot weather dont you get excitedSometimes.Do you like itVery much. Messina.The next year there were many victories. hot and dirty. the lieutenant said.

 I went back and told the drivers I would get them as soon as the food came. I said I thought they had them. spaced by the interval of their dust.An outside nation cant make you be a soldier. I followed his hands with my eyes. One killed and the fellow that brought you. walking under the trees. Some looked pretty bad. Do you have to take me to that regimentYes. Oh mama mia. He slapped the bed with his glove. Now they try to forget it. Im sending you now with the English ambulance. I said. Thank you.

 He makes big preparations. They returned it with his things.Slit the tunic. I would go crazy. I thought it would be worse for him. The river was low and there were stretches of sand and pebbles with a narrow channel of water and sometimes the water spread like a sheen over the pebbly bed.The room I shared with the lieutenant Rinaldi looked out on the courtyard. You will like it. Henry. Im leaving now for a show up above Plava. Did you do any heroic actNo. I said and went back to the house and drank another bowl of coffee at the mess table. We were just beginning to get some of them. How are you. 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.

 which was protected by a shoulder of the mountain. The men were hot and sweating. Why dont we stop fighting If they come down into Italy they will get tired and go away. When this road was finished the offensive would start.Nothing.It sounds very funny nowCatherine. with plaster and rubble in their gardens and sometimes in the street. I went on home. I said. Oh oh oh oh. Dont you read it.You love Italy Rinaldi asked Miss Ferguson in English. Laugh. We two stopped talking and the captain shouted. and stopped at the main dressing station.

 No blood brother and roommate.Most of them dont. it seemed.Come on. the major said.The major spoke to an orderly who went out of sight in the back and came back with a metal basin of cold cooked macaroni. He bellows.You dont go at allI just go to see if there is anything new. close behind the lines. all this in a moment. You havent any fracture.Goodnight. Another burst and in the noise you could hear the smaller noise of the brick and dirt raining down. I went on home. You will come with me to see Miss Barkley.

 One of the medical captains said the attack had been put forward an hour. He was a big smart tall boy to be in the granatieri.Yes. Hes coming to see you.But Scotland is England.It was nearly dark when we came down and turned onto the main road that ran beside the river. To the silver medal.You have beautiful hair.The adjutant. The Austrian trenches were above on the hillside only a few yards from the Italian lines. ha! he said. Stop it. and a few more houses had been hit by shell fire. and if the car went especially fast it was probably the King. There was more to it than that.

 Im something called a V. I lied.I wish you were back. the major said. I looked back and saw Rinaldi standing watching me and waved to him. The telescope that fitted it was. The drivers were pleased with it and I left them there. I said. Manera said he hoped it would come before the bombardment started.Here. and the world all unreal in the dark and so exciting that you must resume again unknowing and not caring in the night. He hoped the road would not jam.Its very hard. Stupid. Maria.

 she said. They will love you like a son. sucking in the ends. baby.Certainly not. It was there that the offensive was to begin. She had slapped my face hard. go get a corkscrew. Manera said. father.Whats the trouble the war. She went on down the hall. Bring on something serious.Another night. I drove coming back and went fast with the empty car to find the man from Pittsburgh.

Three hundred fives. The only son of the American Ambassador.If everybody would not attack the war would be over. He loved being a surgeon and we were great friends. Now they try to forget it. Nor for the beautiful uniforms. It was very hot and when I woke my legs itched.Later.The drops fell very slowly. You take it. the captain said looking at the priest and at me. He bandaged. Really. D. please.

 It was a one road show. This took place at B?ziers. I forget exactly what they were. We do not like the English. What made it pretty was that it sounded like Island. Ill wrap you up and dont bounce your head around. After a while the stream from the stretcher above lessened and started to drip again and I heard and felt the canvas above move as the man on the stretcher settled more comfortably. You rarely find any one any good this close to the front. wop. bulged forward under the capes so that the men.Its not been away. 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. biting his arm. If they did. It was a nuisance to have them there but it was a comfort that they were no bigger.

 Some one came in and as the door opened I could see the snow falling. The King was good but dull.Rinaldi was talking with the other nurse. I was there and reading of it in the paper. hung over the two beds. then it pattered into a stream. Ive studied it for months now. major.. They take nearly a thousand prisoners. I practised with it. Not very well. And you do love meYes.Whats wrong with your legIts not my leg. You get out and fall down by the road and get a bump on your head and Ill pick you up on our way back and take you to a hospital.

 It would be the same when the offensive started. get me out of here. I said.We were off the driveway. she said.Later.In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. You are my great and good friend and financial protector. Every week some one gets wounded by rock fragments. tipping their heads back. I identified them by their red and white striped collar mark. There were three doctors that I knew.Here.I didnt carry anybody. He was a big smart tall boy to be in the granatieri.

 I said. Im sorry for your head. The officers were not good but dull. Why do you get yourself woundedYou can make fun of the priest. We passed a long column of loaded mules.Now you see. One side must stop fighting. chilblains. Theres no place to drop it. Dio te salve.Hes dead I think. Isnt itWhat is the stick I asked.You couldnt have sent me a noteNo. darling. Then the stretcher bearers took the man off the table.