| 4:36p |
@@@@@In the moonlight the tents were silver, and
@@@@@In the moonlight the tents were silver, and their roofs sloped upward precipitously to give them the appearance of miniature cathedralsThey passed through, and walked along a footpath which cut for fifty feet through a patch of brushOn the other side the four howitzers were extended in a short battery front, not more than fifty yards separating the two flank pieces, their nozzles pointing above the jungle in the direction of the Japanese linesThe moonlight played over them in random mottled patches, tracing over the barrel and trails the stippled outline of the leaves aboveBehind the guns five squad tents were dispersed irregularly in the brush, almost blending into the deep shadows of the jungleThis was virtually the entire battery: the motor pool, the supply and mess, the howitzers, and the tentsThe General surveyed it, scrutinized the few cannoneers who sprawled between the trails of one of the 105s, and had a mild nostalgiaFor a moment or two he was weary, felt an unimportant passing regret that he could not be a cannoneer himself with only his belly to be filled, and nothing more odious to consider than the labor of digging a gun emplacementA curious uncharacteristic mood mounted in him, and furnished a new kind of self-pity, a gentle indulgent one
In the squad tent he could hear an occasional burst of laughter, a few raucous jeers
Always, he had had to be alone, he had chosen it that way, and he would not renege now, nor did he want toThe best things, the things worth doing, in the last analysis had be done aloneThe moments like these, the passing doubts, were the temptations that caught you if you were not carefulCummings stared at the vast dark bulk of Mount Anaka, visible in the darkness as a deeper shadow, a greater mass than the sky above itIt was the axis of the island, its keystone
There's an affinity, he told himselfIf one wanted to get mystical about it, the mountain and he understood each otherBoth of them, from necessity, were bleak and alone, commanding the heightsTonight, Hearn might have negotiated the pass, be traveling under the shadow of Anaka itselfHe felt an odd pang, composed of anger and expectation, not quite certain whether he wanted Hearn to succeedThe problem of what he must do with him eventually was still not settled, could not be unless Hearn did not come backAnd again he was uncertain what he felt, was mildly troubled
The Captain disturbed his reverie"We're going to fire in a minute, sirWould you like to watch?"
The General starte |