things hung on the wall. TenenteYoure damned right.

 Not in this ambulance business
 Not in this ambulance business. I said.The battery in the next garden woke me in the morning and I saw the sun coming through the window and got out of the bed. left the car at the dressing station under the hill. darling.You see Ive been leading a sort of a funny life. they would not be loaded. I stop by. He bandaged. I wore a real one and felt like a gunman until I practised firing it.There arent any four hundred twenties in the mountains. I translated. because they found the three per cent bonds on his person.Saint Anthony asked the driver. He denied all knowledge of the five per cent bonds. There were not enough stretchers.We sat on the flat stone bench and I held Catherine Barkleys hand.

 Some one was coming down the hallway. It was what I had wanted to do and I tried to explain how one thing had led to another and finally he saw it and understood that I had really wanted to go and it was almost all right. gonorrhea. He slapped me on the shoulder.He took off his gloves. Yes. Come with me if you want.The Italians didnt want women so near the front.There is a class that controls a country that is stupid and does not realize anything and never can. but it was not Catherine.Id really rather. The other officers were amused at the baiting. with the sun on it.Look.Of course they dont. it was dark and the Austrian search lights were moving on the mountains behind us.I was going to cut it all off when he died.

All right.Ill bring it to you.I am sorry. Jt was warm and like the spring and I walked down the alleyway of trees. She was crying. Here they would never have arrested him. I thought I was coming back.At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. Manera said. They picked me up and took me into the dressing room.Ill bring it to you. higher snow mountains. great general but he looked like a man. There was an English there.Theyll send you to a hospital. Ive known him before. Inside they were operating on all the tables.

 I said. darling. I said. the priest said. she said. With your priest and your English girl. I knew you was an American. Bacchus barred. Profound wounds of right knee and foot. The only son of the American Ambassador.Very. I handed the canteen back to Passini.Id rather wait. dusty and tired. I said.There was great laughter from everybody. I thought I was coming back.

 The snow slanted across the wind. Three others were up in the mountains at dressing stations. British ambulance drivers were killed sometimes.Dont get angry.Not reallyNever. I said. I threw away the goddam truss so it would get bad and I wouldnt have to go to the line again.Theyll shell the   out of us. lieutenant. You will please come and make me a good impression on her. The window was open.Has there been any trouble getting parts I asked the sergeant mechanic. God. I will write you cards to my family in Amalfi. We are brothers and we love each other. The offensive was going to start again I heard. I had imagined that the condition of the cars.

 It was one of those things that gave you a false feeling of soldiering. He bent over me. Miss Barkley was in the garden. I had been up the river to the bridgehead at Plava. Im sorry for your head. Ireland of Michigan. I must go. Gordini got up and ran for the dugout. you cant kiss me here. Not Bacchus. Florence.This is the third day.I saw Catherine Barkley coming down the hall.They dont give them like that. Ill send your English girl. where I sat with a friend and two glasses drinking a bottle of Asti.Another night.

 As soon as I got to the dressing station Manera brought a medical sergeant out and he put bandages on both my legs. They had always cracked in other wars. Stop it. If they did. the major said. Evidently it did not matter whether I was there or not. smoking. clear red. and I spoke Italian.We drove fast when we were over the bridge and soon we saw the dust of the other cars ahead down the road. Rinaldi said that the French had mutinied and troops marched on Paris. you met British men and sometimes women. It is disgraceful. The telescope that fitted it was. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves. mama Mia I pulled and twisted and got my legs loose finally and turned around and touched him.Ill bring it to you.

 Lots of them would have liked him to be king. You should go to Rome. I said I was sorry.Of a whatHe explained. I sat now in the chair and an orderly of some sort looked at me disapprovingly from behind a desk while I looked at the marble floor. The major was a little man with upturned mustaches.Dont go. A mass loosened. chilblains. I said.I will send her. You dont have to pretend you love me. isnt heYes. They cant go on doing things like the Somme and not crack. Gordini got up and ran for the dugout. He slapped his gloves on the edge of the bed. how do you feel Where is that damn corkscrew You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering.

 It was quiet for a moment still.Saint Anthony asked the driver.Are you very tired she asked.Yes.Good Christ I said.They dont give them like that. How is your headGood Christ I said. she said. she said. Rocca said. He looked like a king. Manera said he hoped it would come before the bombardment started. Rinaldi was lying on his bed. I had gotten somewhat drunk and had nearly forgotten to come but when I could not see her there I was feeling lonely and hollow. A V.Here is the corkscrew.You are ignorant.

 They are too stupid.Ah. I said. I thought perhaps he couldnt stand it and then of course he was killed and that was the end of it. Outside it was nearly dark. Rinaldi carried a holster stuffed with toilet paper.Ca va bienCa va. and found we still lived in the same house and that it all looked the same as when I had left it. Not Bacchus. His legs are very painful. He was goodlooking. The wind blew the leaves in the bower over the door of the dressing station and the night was getting cold. Really.Oh.A shell fell close and they both dropped to the ground and dropped me.Goodnight. said the captain.

 Miss Ferguson was with her.I was away for two days at the posts.We went on eating. Fillipo Vincenza. Nothing to do.Here.Thank you very much. It was really very large and beautiful and there were fine trees in the grounds. are youOh. I told them what I had heard. I had a drink with a captain that I knew in one of the dugouts and went back across the bridge. said the lieutenant. I identified them by their red and white striped collar mark.Theyll send you to a hospital.I drank the cognac and felt it warm all the way down.Kiss me. Then he was quiet.

 and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels.Three hundred fives. It might be good though. At the gate of the driveway that led up to the British villa. baby. Some wore their steel helmets but most of them carried them slung from their packs.The driver came out of the door with the papers for the wounded in the car. Look at your valorous conduct in asking to go always to the first line. You see I didnt care about the other thing and he could have had it all. Miss Barkley was sitting on a bench in the garden. Also we were required to wear an automatic pistol; even doctors and sanitary officers. The wine was bad but not dull. and then I heard close to me some one saying Mama Mia Oh. Suddenly to care very much and to sleep to wake with it sometimes morning and all that had been there gone and everything sharp and hard and clear and sometimes a dispute about the cost.This is a rotten game we play. I said I was sorry. But even the peasants know better than to believe in a war.

 Why did you join up with the ItaliansI was in Italy. I said and went back to the house and drank another bowl of coffee at the mess table. Really.How did you happen to do that Why didnt you join up with usI dont know.Of course they dont. one of the other captains said. The town was very nice and our house was very fine. marched as though they were six months gone with child. Some wore their steel helmets but most of them carried them slung from their packs. I will take you to call. It is with them the war is made. the drivers walking along beside the mules wearing red fezzes. You know.Outside the post a great many of us lay on the ground in the dark.That is not good. Nor for the beautiful uniforms.Where have you beenAt the Villa Rossa.

 Another burst and in the noise you could hear the smaller noise of the brick and dirt raining down.Oh.I was very dusty and dirty and went up to my room to wash. I said. Why did you do itI dont know. I think so.I saw Catherine Barkley coming down the hall.I have to go. All the drivers wore puttees but Passini had only one leg. is a short cut. how do you feel Where is that damn corkscrew You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering.Good Christ I said.Beyond the mule train the road was empty and we climbed through the hills and then went down over the shoulder of a long hill into a river valley. Stop it. I said. Let them keep their sisters in the house.Four for 105.

 The snow slanted across the wind.I will get it for you. They were seventysevens and came with a whishing rush of air. I watched her face. I thought he had a fine name and he came from Minnesota which made a lovely name: Ireland of Minnesota. The pain hasnt started yet. There was nothing to write about. The pain that the major had spoken about had started and all that was happening was without interest or relation. I feigned acquaintance. I said. said the priest. A. Middle name First name Rank Where born What class What corps and so on. It was all right if she was. tannic and lovely. Manera finished. The British hospital was a big villa built by Germans before the war.

 Uninformed. I unwound the puttee and while I was doing it I saw there was no need to try and make a tourniquet because he was dead already.Its a silly front. said Bassi. Take a drink. Miss Ferguson walked away in the dark.He was a very nice boy. an officer directing the light and the crew scared.Oughf. I saw the town with the hill and the old castle above it in a cup in the hills with the mountains beyond. I got down and went over. They are too stupid.At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. How is your headGood Christ I said. an officer directing the light and the crew scared. Are you badly hitIn the leg.I was away for two days at the posts.

 Tenente. Rinaldi was lying on his bed. Then. Thats what keeps you from being court martialled for self inflicted wounds. He bellows. and then there were mountains far off beyond all these that you could hardly tell if you really saw. He started the car. she said. maam. It was not wide enough either to carry all the transport for an offensive and the Austrians could make a shambles out of it.Thats splendid. come. with the eyes shut.Beyond the mule train the road was empty and we climbed through the hills and then went down over the shoulder of a long hill into a river valley.I will send her. but instead we had Ii Generale Cadorna. Fragments of enemy trench mortar shell.

Fine.Shall we sit here or go out in the gardenLets go out. The road here was below the level of the river bank and all along the side of the sunken road there were holes dug in the bank with infantry in them. I said that was a foul lie and. I wanted to go to Austria without war.That night at the mess I sat next to the priest and he was disappointed and suddenly hurt that I had not gone to the Abruzzi. I took another mouthful and some cheese and a rinse of wine. It was there that the offensive was to begin. Manera lit his lighter and passed it around. To your valorous wounds.I know how you talk.As you wish. At first it dropped slowly and regularly. We read.I saw Catherine Barkley coming down the hall. mama Mia. We will convert him.

 yes. Manera said. I said. He did not see me and I did not know whether to go in and report or go upstairs first and clean up. People cant realize what France is like. He opened his trunk and took out a bottle. His breath went away.You drive. The pain hasnt started yet. They say if you can prove you did any heroic act you can get the silver.They may crack. The priest shook his head.I am happy. and he came from Amalfi. I went back to the drivers. my bed was made up with blankets and my things hung on the wall. TenenteYoure damned right.