| In a few days the patrol would be over, and they would be in bivouac
He thought of Cummings, an felt a sour hatred, had no desire suddenly for the patrol to endHis mood was spoiled momentarilyWhatever they accomplished would be for Cummings's benefitIf you ever traced anything out to the end, you found yourself in troubleThe trick was to keep putting one foot in front of the other"Okay, men, let's keep moving," he said quietly, as they filed past him on a slope
And there were other problemsAs never before he would have to keep his eyes open, absorb things, learn in a few days the lessons Croft had acquired over months and yearsNow he was in command only through the most delicate of balancesIn a sense tiffany's jewelry designs Croft could kick it over whenever he wanted toLast night on the hilltopCroft had the wrong kind of command, a frightening command
He continued talking to the men as they marched, but the sun was hotter, and everyone was tired again, a little irritableHis own approach was less spontaneous now
"How's it going, Polack?"
"No kicks Polack kept walking silently
There was a resistance they had toward himThey were cautious, perhaps distrustfulHe was an officer, and instinctively they would be waryBut there was more to it, he feltCroft had been with them so long, had controlled the platoon so completely, that probably they could not believe Croft was no longer the platoon leaderThey were afraid to respond chanel classic purse to him, afraid Croft would remember whenever he resumed his commandThe thing was to make them understand that he would be with the platoon permanentlyBut that would take timeIf only he had had a week with them in bivouac, a few minor patrols before thisHearn shrugged again, wiped some sweat from his foreheadThe sun was fierce once more
And the hills were always risingAll morning the platoon plodded through the tall grass, climbing slowly, trudging through valleys, laboring awkwardly around the slopes of the hillsTheir fatigue started again, their breath grew short, and their faces burned from the sun and the exertionNow, no one was talking, and they progressed sullenly in file
The sun clouded over, and louis vuitton wallets it began to rainThis was pleasant at first, for the rain was cool and stirred a breeze along the top of the grass, but soon the ground turned soft and their shoes fouled with mudBy degrees they became completely wet againTheir heads drooping, their rifle muzzles pointed toward the ground to avoid the rain, the file of men looked like a row of wilted flowersEverything about them sagged
The terrain had altered, become rockierThe hills were steeper now, and some of them were covered with a waist-high brush of low thickets and flat-leafed plantsFor the first time since they had left the jungle they passed a grove of treesThe rain halted, and the sun began to burn again, directly overheadThe platoon halted cheap chanel watches in a tiny grove, and the men stripped their packs, and ate another rationWilson fingered his crackers distastefully, mouthed down a square of cheese"Ah heard this binds a man up," he said to Red
"Hell, it must be good for something
Wilson laughed, but he was confusedAll morning his diarrhea had plagued him, his back and groin had achedHe could not understand why his body had deserted him soHe had always prided himself on being able to do as much as any other man, and now he had to drag along at the tail of the column, pulling himself over even the smallest hills by tugging at the kunai grassHe had been doubled up with cramps, had sweated terribly, his pack abusing his shoulders like a block of imitation prada handbags concrete |