The priest accepted it as a joke.

Goodnight
Goodnight. baby. I had a drink with a captain that I knew in one of the dugouts and went back across the bridge.Priest not with girls. The offensive was going to start again I heard. Passini was dead. she said.In Milano.They talked too much at the mess and I drank wine because tonight we were not all brothers unless I drank a little and talked with the priest about Archbishop Ireland who was. lieutenant We wont get a chance to eat after this thing starts. But dont bring a lot of Italians. Not Bacchus. But dont be a fool. There are a few real wounded.They want to eat.

 I said.I have brought him in.We two were talking while the others argued.Oh.Id really rather. The lieutenant said I slipped the truss on purpose. he said.Youre the American in the Italian army she asked.We two were talking while the others argued.In Milano. With a sabre cut. Goodnight. I watched the flashes on San Gabriele. The tall English driver came around and looked in.Lets drop it anyway.

Some troops went out.You wouldnt want to go in the line all the time.Its not really the army. as they fall from an icicle after the sun has gone. There is no finish to a war. Another night when you feel stronger. The road climbed steeply going up and back and forth through chestnut woods to level finally along a ridge. and things went very badly. Youre a very good boy. It was quiet for a moment still. Something picturesque.I have brought him in. was my age.Do you think it would be any good to try and see her tomorrowYes. The ovens and some deep holes had been equipped as dressing stations.

 As I looked out at the garden I heard a motor truck starting on the road. Now they have a guard outside his house with a bayonet and nobody can come to see his mother and father and sisters and his father loses his civil rights and cannot even vote.I dont believe a word of this.The Germans too. I do not believe in the Free Masons however. I said.I do not believe it. the basins and the stoppered bottles. she said. said Passini and spat on the floor. This took place at B?ziers.Nothing. Ill wrap you up and dont bounce your head around.I sat in the reception hail of the villa. He came back with a handful of roasted coffee beans.

 I knew. I asked him what happened and he said. Uninformed. sitting on the small of my back.He wiped his hands on his jumper and grinned. The other officers were amused at the baiting. to ride along the road across the plain and deliver the wounded at the two hospitals. British ambulance drivers were killed sometimes. Do you suffer much Have a drink.Here is the American Tenente. folded it without rising from the bed and slid it in his breeches pocket. Now they try to forget it.Have you done nursing longSince the end of fifteen. the captain said looking at the priest and at me. baby.

 Manera said. Maybe the Austrians would crack.Passinis dead.Its Manera. go get a corkscrew.You have beautiful hair. We wont drop you again. then we started. Bassi said no that was no test because he had already drunk twice as much as I. I dressed.No.Yes. I tried to move sideways so that it did not fall on me. They all laughed. Those of us that were awake talked across the ward.

 Miss Barkley said. the captain commenced picking on the priest.Goodnight. One of the two men who had carried it looked in.You have beautiful hair. It was not wide enough either to carry all the transport for an offensive and the Austrians could make a shambles out of it. the leather shiny with oil.Sure.Are you unwoundedWe are both wounded a little. He saw us and smiled. the dust rising from the wheels and going off through the trees. biting his arm. then it pattered into a stream. Manera said. It was all right if she was.

 opened it.Im so sorry. He bellows. The river ran behind us and the town had been captured very handsomely but the mountains beyond it could not be taken and I was very glad the Austrians seemed to want to come back to the town some time. The other cars pulled up. then from all the guns behind us the bombardment started. So were all on very special behavior.She looked down at the grass. She went on down the hall. This was a joke. I took another mouthful and some cheese and a rinse of wine. They were hospitals beyond the river.That road will be a dirty mess.I dont believe it. They were sitting in the dugout talking and when I came in they stopped.

Ill go and see now. He could have had anything he wanted if I would have known. You dont have to pretend you love me. FrancoI am all right.All right.Thank you very much. he straightened up.Of course they do. Your friend is a doctor. Maria. Now they have a guard outside his house with a bayonet and nobody can come to see his mother and father and sisters and his father loses his civil rights and cannot even vote. I said I thought they had them. Every one laughed. There were lighted candles on the table. I sat beside him.

 Maria. What an odd thing--to be in the Italian army. I opened the capsule and spilled him out into my hand. I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. TenenteYoure damned right. The captain spoke pidgin Italian for my doubtful benefit.I have to get washed and report. Its a Saint Anthony.Dont worry.If you drop me again. The major was unhooking the forceps now.We looked at Rinaldi talking with the other nurse.In the ward at the field hospital they told me a visitor was coming to see me in the afternoon. I saluted too but more moderately. Aldo.

 They were a real mask. She was crying.Of course they do. I watched the flashes on San Gabriele. he said. That should handle them. I thought. I said. He has a rendezvous.Rinaldi poured himself another glass of the cognac. all this in a moment. She let me take it and I held it and put my arm around under her arm.How are you.5 mm. and he came from Amalfi.

 Passini said respectfully. I myself felt as badly as he did and could not understand why I had not gone.5 mm.I will send Miss Barkley. He drank a half tumbler of cognac.Didnt you carry anybody on your back Gordini says you carried several people on your back but the medical major at the first post declares it is impossible. the basins and the stoppered bottles. It was cold in the car in the night as the road climbed. You are my great and good friend and financial protector. He can handle the English.How are you. We go whorehouse before it shuts. Maybe she would pretend that I was her boy that was killed and we would go in the front door and the porter would take off his cap and I would stop at the concierges desk and ask for the key and she would stand by the elevator and then we would get in the elevator and it would go up very slowly clicking at all the floors and then our floor and the boy would open the door and stand there and she would step out and I would step out and we would walk down the hall and I would put the key in the door and open it and go in and then take down the telephone and ask them to send a bottle of capri bianca in a silver bucket full of ice and you would hear the ice against the pail coming down the condor and the boy would knock and I would say leave it outside the door please. What was the matter with this war Everybody said the French were through. I said.

 Otherwise it will be the bronze. We all got up and left the table. baby. We will convert him. One killed and the fellow that brought you.Carabinieri. A trench mortar shell. 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. because they did not bombard it to destroy it but only a little in a military way. Ill always come back. We all got up and left the table. misunderstandings. He can handle the English. Theres no place to drop it.The road was crowded and there were screens of corn stalk and straw matting on both sides and matting over the top so that it was like the entrance at a circus or a native village.

 They sent me the little stick.It could not be worse.We drove fast when we were over the bridge and soon we saw the dust of the other cars ahead down the road. I looked at her. I knew that I was hit and leaned over and put my hand on my knee. Do you think I would do right to marry Miss Barkleyafter the war of courseAbsolutely. Well.Hell say I did it on purpose. the steel helmet on the same peg. Nobody was in sight.And youre all right I asked outside. He breathed very heavily. baby. I said.You have that pleasant air of a dog in heat.

 I said. which every one ate very quickly and seriously. Bacchus barred. Youve been away a long time. and with the end of the summer.All right. With a girl it is painful. no. under a hill beyond the river. The drivers were pleased with it and I left them there.He does really. They blew him all to bits. Goodnight. Maybe it would finish this summer. I wouldnt be able to get the stretcher out alone.

 father.I will get it for you. Over on the right they had the Duke of Aosta. in order that I might understand perfectly. Every day I am better. darling. It evidently made no difference whether I was there to look after things or not.That way youll be decorated. with plaster and rubble in their gardens and sometimes in the street. she said. Halfway through the wine I did not want any more. Im not. hotter and slower than ever: then the stragglers.I drank the cognac and felt it warm all the way down. I knew that I was hit and leaned over and put my hand on my knee.

 His right hand left the wheel and opened a button on his tunic and pulled it out from under his shirt. I said. as I said. Priest not happy. The officers all came from such good families. he said. They want to get you the medaglia dargento but perhaps they can get only the bronze. He laughed.Wash up and come as you are. Ill not learn it in two weeks. Miss Ferguson walked away in the dark. Everybody is proud of you. This captain baited him often. The sun was going down and the day was cooling off. The priest accepted it as a joke.