| If that came off, if they brought back a report of some value, if indeed he could manage to send a company over their route, and pull off the Botoi Bay invasion that way, it would be fine, impressiveBut there were too many chances against itThe best thing was to dismiss Hearn's patrol from his calculations until it returned
Despite all his internal objections he had been busy, he had given all his attention to the advance, concentrated on all the reports that came inIt had been exhausting, demanding work, and by nightfall he was tired, needed some diversionAlmost always when the division was in action he found it stimulating to tour the front daily, but at night now it would be impossible for him to inspect the infantry positionsHe decided instead to visit his artillery bivouacs
Cummings phoned for his jeep and driver, and about eight Phe set out on the roadThe moon was almost fullHe relaxed in the front seat of the jeep, and watched the balenciaga bag play of the headlights against the jungle foliageThey were far enough behind the lines to avoid blacking out, and the General smoked idly, feeling the wind wash pleasantly against his faceHe felt drained, yet still tense; the passing sentient traces of the ride, the sound of the motor, the jouncing against the seat cushions, the smell of his cigarette, lulled him, caressed his nerves like a warm lapping bathHe began to fell cheerful and pleasantly empty
After a fifteen-minute ride, they reached a battery of 105s off the side of the roadOn an impulse he told his driver to turn in, and the jeep jounced over a crude culvert made by aligning empty gasoline drums in a ditch and covering them with earthThe wheels sloughed through the mud of the motor pool, and they came to a halt on a stretch of relatively dry earthThe guard at the entrance had phoned the Captain, who came up to the jeep to meet the General
"Sir?"
Cummings noddedHow's the battery replica cartier tank watches coming?"
"Fine, sir
"Service battery was supposed to bring up two hundred rounds about an hour agoYou get them?"
"Yes, sir"Have your touch on everything, don't you, sir?"
This pleased Cummings"Have you told the men how successful the battalion concentration was this afternoon?" he asked
"I did say something about it, sir
"You can't emphasize it enoughWhen the men have completed a good fire mission, it's smart to tell them soIt's good for the men to have a sense of participation
The General strode away from the jeep with the Captain tagging at his side"Your routine orders are for harassing fire every fifteen minutes, is that correct?"
"Since last night, sir
"How're you resting your cannoneers?"
The Captain smiled deprecatingly"I've cut the gun crews in half, sir, and each half-squad is on for an hour, firing four missionsThat way the men miss only an extra hour's sleep
"I think that's a pretty good setup," the General chloe bag white leather padlock agreedThey crossed a small clearing which contained the battery mess tent and the orderly room tentIn 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 gucci wallet 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 chanel jewelry keyston |