| 9:13a |
@@@@@He lost his balance and sat down in the mud,
@@@@@He lost his balance and sat down in the mud, struggling feebly under the folds of the tentHe felt as if caught in a sack, and he subsided into helpless laughterToo weak to punch my way out of a paper bag, he said to himself, and this made everything seem even more ludicrous"Where are you?" he shouted, and then the folds of the tent filled out again like a sail, ripped loose completely, and went eddying and twisting through the airA little piece of the poncho had been left on one of the stakes, and it flapped in the galeThe four men stood up in the hole, and then crouched before the force of the windThey could still see the sun just above the horizon in one clear swatch of sky that seemed infinite miles awayThe rain was very cold now, almost frigid, and they shudderedAlmost all the tents were down in the bivouac area, and here and there a soldier would go skittering through the mud, staggering from the force of the wind with the odd jerking motions of a man walking in a motion picture when the film is unwinding too rapidly"Christ, I'm freezin'," Toglio shouted
"Let's get out of here," Wyman saidHe was covered with mud and his lips were chattering"Goddam rain," he said
They stumbled out of the hole, and began to run toward the motor pool where there would be some shelter in the lee of the trucksToglio staggered as though he had lost some necessary ballast and was being driven downwind without any way to control himselfGoldstein shouted to him, "I forgot my rifle
"You don't need it," he bawled back
Goldstein tried to halt and turn around but it was impossible"You never can tell," he heard himself shoutThey were running side by side, but it felt as if they were roaring to each other across a vast roomGoldstein had a moment of glee
For a whole week they had worked on improving their bivouacEvery spare moment, there had been something new to set upAnd now his tent was lost, his clothing and writing paper were sopping, his gun would probably rust, the ground would be too wet for sleepingEverything was ruin |