| Ridges drank thirstilyWhen he had almost emptied the canteen he looked at Goldstein
"We're gonna have to rustle in the jungle for food tomorrow," Ridges said
Ridges smiled weakly
13
WHEN ROTH missed the leap, the platoon was shatteredFor ten minutes they huddled together on the shelf, too stricken, too terrified, to move onAn incommunicable horror affected them allThey stood upright, frozen to the wall, their fingers clenched into the fissures of the rock, their legs powerlessOnce or twice Croft tried to rouse them, but they shied away from the commands, petrified by his voice as though they were dogs terrified by a master's bootWyman was sobbing in nervous exhaustion, quietly, thinly, a small steady wailing, and into it fitted their own voices, a grunt or a small moan or a hysterical curse, random things, disconnected, so that the men who uttered them were hardly aware that they had spoken
Their will recovered enough for them to continue, but they moved at a frantically slow pace, refusing discount hermes to step forward for seconds at a time before some minor obstacle, clinging to the wall ferociously wherever the ledge became narrow againAfter half an hour Croft finally brought them out, and the ledge widened and crossed the ridgeBeyond was nothing but another deep valley, another precipitous slopeHe led them down to the bottom, and started up the next ascent, but they did not follow himOne by one they sprawled down on the ground, looked at him with blank staring eyes
It was almost dark, and he knew he could not drive them any more; they were too exhausted, too frightened, and another accident might occurHe called a halt, giving approval to what was already a fact, and sat down in their midst
On the next morning there would be the slope, a few gullies to traverse, and then the main ridge of the mountain to be crossedThey could do it in two or three hours ifif he could stir them againAt that moment he doubted himself seriously
The platoon slept poorlyIt was very difficult to find level ground, and of cheap gucci bags course they were overtired, their limbs too tenseMost of them dreamed and muttered in their sleepTo cap it all, Croft gave them each an hour of guard, and some of them awoke too early and waited nervously for many minutes before going on, found it difficult afterward to fall asleepCroft had been aware of this, knew they needed the extra rest and knew it was virtually impossible there would be any Japanese on the mountain, but he had felt it more important not to break routineRoth's death had temporarily shattered his command, and it was vital to start repairing it
Gallagher had the last shiftIt was very cold in the half hour before daylight and he woke up dazed, and sat shuddering in his blanketFor many minutes he was conscious of little, feeling the vast shapes of the mountain range about him as no more than a deeper border to the nightHe only shivered and drowsed, waiting passively for the morning and the heat of the sunA complete lethargy had settled over him, and Roth's death was remoteHe drifted through louis vuitton online a stupor, his mind almost inert, dreaming sluggishly of far-gone pleasant things as though deep within him he had to keep a small fire going against the cold of the night, the space of the hills, and the cumulative exhaustion, the mounting deaths of the platoon
The dawn came slowly on the mountainAt five o'clock he could see the top of the mountain range clearly as the sky became lighter, but for a long half hour there was little changeActually he could see nothing, but his body contained a tranquil anticipationSoon the sun would struggle over the eastern ramparts of the mountain and come down into their little valleyHe searched the sky and found a few tentative washes of pink streaming over the higher peaks, coloring the tiny oblong clouds of the dawn a purpleThe mountains looked very highGallagher wondered that the sun could get over them
All about him now it was getting lighter but it was a subtle process, for the sun still remained hidden and the light seemed to rise from the ground, a soft rose chanel j10 watch fake colorAlready he could discern clearly the bodies of the men sleeping about him, and he felt a touch of superiorityThey looked gaunt and bleak in the early dawn, oblivious to the approach of morningHe knew that in a short while he would be rousing them, and they would groan as they came out of their sleep
In the west he could still see the night, and he recalled a troop train speeding across the great plains of NebraskaIt had been twilight then, and the night chased the train out of the east, overtook it, and passed on across the Rockies, on to the PacificIt had been beautiful and it made him wistful nowHe longed suddenly for America, wished so passionately to see it again that he could smell the odor of wet cobblestones on a summer morning in South Boston
The sun was close to the eastern ridge-line now and the sky seemed vast, yet fresh and joyfulHe thought of Mary and himself camping in a little pup tent in the mountains and he dreamt that he was waking with the velvet teasing touch of her breasts against his imitation prada handbags f |