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John Herse11 Herse -J J - : J'Vi 'Vi Vi 1V ' H.U HU r/U r U . / , .SATURU SATURU rLATURaa , . : " r . _ _ _ . - . . _ SIORT STORY THUS TRUS FAH FAn FAR The Amerl Amenl Amerltroop Amenlcoops Araeritroopi 1'JlE 1JlE TUE ' BBE troop coops . arrived at t Adxno Adano a & naport seaport naportIIIIWY seaportb c portI- portI portIKjoy with srlth Major Victor Joppolo loppolo the theJ thegot ( & IIIIWY b - Kjoy jraly Ikintot J rot got officer omeer oMcer In eharre charge cb re ( Eerceint SerC'eant SerCeant Serreant ' Borth BorthIIIP BorthMP Borthjl MP IIIP wai wal was ln In ebarre charge cl rf ofle ofseFurlty ot of 'ecurlty ecurlty seFurlty le ' mlly The The&Jor Ther TheItJor &Jor Jor & r let set et cut out Immediately Immrdlalely te t * . win the theendlbJp thendsldp th * riendinip endlbJp ndsldp and * d con.Odenee conOdenee eonfldence l"lfl llfl : ( " . ence ot or of ole the citizen citizens citizensvowed clUentj\ clUentj clUentjTowed ? I ] \ \ Towed vowed to replace thB the town beU Dell DellVeh beU1 beU1Mth 1 1Weh Mth Weh Veh the ( he Germans Germani Gerraaa had taken He m met metpriest me meT T > priest , , , attended mm man mass and appointed appointedlIerearlo appointedI , &I I a & a * town crier enter Garsso Gat Gar , ) { \lIerearlo lIerearlo \ ) leteario [ ( ttorlo Silvator Slvatore SUvatore * : ! . chief chid thief or of 1 the Carahlnlert Carabinieri Carabinlent shoved shovedij shovedjs ahoved1 frruo II.J&IIo II.JIIo IIJIIo & ) sso -ij ij " ' - js ) , wa way , , y , to | o the bead head of or the bakery Une Unehples line1 , ltBel UneltBel hples lOf Cannellna CanneUna CarmeUna " , wife wile lfe of the lazy laQ ' Fatta.bJeeted Fatta .bJeeted bJeeted . Ue Ju1ed t J the Chief Chid marched marehed her of olt orr to toI to4f I I . i Major lIIaJor " , who ho turned tnrned her Iree free Be He Ined In ISnndl rd ed the citizens that aU all wen were eQuaJ equal eQuaJball equallea equalaa ball lea ( mutt malt mast take their turn . . . . 1 i , iCHAPTER CHAPTER VII VIThe VI , I The cart groaned The right whee wheel wheep'umbled wheelrumbled wheelrumbled } \p'umbled p'umbled pumbled ' < \ ! rumbled around the axle The Thehole Thehole Thehole hole weight of the thing thmg rolled rolledwly rolledwly rollednwly wly over Into the ditch and the theafts theefts thellhatts afts efts twisted and upset the mule muled muleftnd d the mule vitBch Vllfteh wl11ch had always alwaysared alwaysared alwaysa-ared alwaysa ared - ared ditches wtches on the rIght , , , rightBcreanied reamed to find Itself fall { all ng into intohat intohat Intoyhat [ hat It had fearedErrante fearedErrante feared fearedSErrante SErrante Errante hit the earth hard Hepoke He Herofee rofee poke fake up but what with his dazed dazedags dazedless _ ags his drunkenness his surprised surprise surprisend Css . ) .Dd Dd " ' . nd d his natural stupidity he was unlble un unble tble untble , lble [ ble to do anything anythmg except eJ\.cept eJ.cept eJ .cept cept \ . roar roarvordlessly roarWordlessly OrdleSSly vordlessly OrdleSSlyGeDeral vordlesslyGeneral \ General GeDeral Marvin was still roaringServe roaringServe roaring roaringbo bo Serve him right , , he shouttlcL shout shoutJ tlcL Holding up traffic Trying Trymg to top top tothe p the invasIon invasIonA invasionnew J A new fury ( ury rushed up the Gen Genal Genel Gena al el s cheeks Middleton her he r louted outed sh shoot : > ot that mule muleColonel muleColonel mule1 Colonel Middleton s blood frozee froze 4 , , : e shouted back Do you think thinkl thinkl thinks s . wise sr E s r ? 1 ! 1The l The 'l'he lhe ' General shouted ' "What What 'Wha Wha 'what " ' t s * " $ lit at at ? ? What s that thatColone1 thaf ' \Colone1 Colone1 'Colonel Colonel \ ' ' .Colonel Colonel . Middleton knew It was wasOpeless wasfcpeless wasvopeless /Opeless Opeless fcpeless . / but be he shouted agam again I Ilid Ihid lid aid do you think it is wise sir sirSylng ' ' Sylng 'r7ing r7ing tying to reason with any man and andpecially andipecially pecially Clally with this man at two hun bun huned bunred himred red ed feet and the top of one i s a lungsas lungs as . l not rewarding rewardmg work workThe workThe [ The General shouted MIddleton MIddletontrymg Middletontrymg Middletona/a Middletona a / trying trymg to stop the lnasion imaston ln\ ln im \ asion ulon too tooo ? what I saya say saySo " $ So 50 a Colonel Middleton pulled out his hisvolt hisolt volt apd and fired three shots into the thesd thead thee sd ad > d of the screaming screammg mule muleAll muleAll muleAll All this was accomplished accompl1shed before beforeante beforeante beforetrrante ante Gaetano was able to shape shaperoaring shapeIjjj shapej Ijjj roaring into words He stood stoodJere stood.Acre stoodLAere Jere .Acre Acre . In absolute amazement at the thesting thelooting thelootingGeneral otng sting ! otngGeneral stingGeneral General Marvin shouted ' "Let Let 'Let "Leti " I a Ican acan hereJ i can t spend all day here hereThe hereThe hereP J The men got back into the arred anred ar an arored ored red car and the seep As theyIlarted they | ranted theyranted trted up General Marvin Marvm saidhot saidsot said Ilarted | ( hot : Sot to teach these people a lessonake lessonaka lesson lessonake ake aka me to the mayor of this town townrhat townbat townIrhat rhat bat is this town anyhow ? pAnd lAnd 1And they drove oft off leaving leavmg Er Erte Erto Erinte te to sobbing on the flank of his hisule hisale histule ule ale lying lymg with his arms around arounde > e neck of the mule which had hadd hadd hadid d a sense of the middle but no nonse nonse nouse nse of urgencyThe urgencyThe urgency urgencyThe The General s armored car pulled pulledIn pulledIn pulledy in front of the Palazzo di dl Cltta Citta Clttaeutenant Cittaeutenant Cittaleutenant eutenant Byrd ran across the wide widedewalk widedewalk widedewalk dewalk and up the marble stairs stairsd ctairsid d burst into Major Major Joppolo Joppoloa I * of ofe ofe ofie e He interrupt interrupted interrupted d the Major in inmIddle inmiddle ine middle of a conversation WIthIrano withargano with rgano argano Irano ( the Chief of the Carabini'General Carabinl Carabmi Carabini Carabinli i . ' "General General 'General ' ' " Marvin I a * downstairs andanti andanti and andanti anti to see you . , , the Lieutenant Lieutenantlid LieutenantId lid Id He s s mad as hell beU hell , , so < o youtter youtter you youttter ttter tter hurryI hurryGenpral hurryGeneral hurry I General Genpral Marvin said Majorpolo Majorpolo Major Majorippolo ippolo polo and the tone of his voicea voiceas voice voiceu a u as . not of delight del1ght . . Though he hadver badvet had bad hadever ever ver vet met the General he had hearduch hearduch heard heardinch inch uch about him I 111 Ill n be rightwn righteutenant right rightown own wn ownLieutenant wneutenant ( Lieutenant eutenant Byrd turned and ranwnstalrs ranwnstairs ran wnstairs wnstalrs Major Joppolo absentdedly absentdedly absent absentlndedly lndedly dedly arranged the papers on his hisk hisk hissk ( k in neat piles plIes Then he Itood stood Itoodand stoodand stoodp and walked out of bis his office HaUa7 Haltay Half HaU Halt ; a7 ay y down the marble stairs he real realed realed real.ed realed ' . ed that he was out of uniform He Hed Heid 6 d beard heard stones storIes of General Mar Mars Marla s * . Insistence on correct uniform uniformre uniformtore re he was in pink pmk pants and andaki andski andhaki aki ski shirt when ha hi was supposedbe supposed supposedI I be In woolena woolens He was waa Iud sud sudrily Iudvery udpily rily very frightened and he turnedbegan turned id 14 began walking up the Itairs stairs Itairsain stairssin ( tainCain ain sin trying trylDg to figure out wha what t to tohow tohow tof how to get into proper uniform umform umformColonel uniformthe 1 Colonel MIddleton ran to the foot footthe footd d the marble starrs starts tarr and shoutedHey shoutedHey shouted > Hey you what do you mean meankeeping meanr , keeping the General waiting7 waltmg waiting ' 'Yes Yes ' ' Yes BIT Sir Major Joppolo said saide saidBe e right down downThere downThere downThere There was nothing nothmg to do He ranwn ranwin ran wn win the stairsWhen stairs stairsWhen ( [ When Major Joppole reached the theored theored therenored ored car the General was sitg sit g 8 { with his left arm raised In Inont inont in'ont inont ' ont of him glaring glarmg at his wristatch wrist atch Itch r Major Joppolo saluted GeneralII Generalarvlh General Generalenty II ' Irvin arvlh roared One minute and andenty andenty enty seconds You ve ye been keepi keepd keep keepme keepme d me wait ng one minute andenty andenty and andt enty seconds Do you think I Ive ( ve aU all day to wait watt for you ? Who Whoe Whoyou t e you anyway ? Major anywayMajor J Joppolo oppolo sir err senler seni4 senior > r civIlalrl civilf civilairs civil f [ alrl airs tri officer town ot of Adano IiI sir lr ' 'Gtneral Gtneral ' General Marvin remembered the thet theirt t and Ind was apparently too angry angryen angryen nery nery"n unip en to notice Major Jopolo Joppolo , I a uni unirID uniem p "n n rID em " Major these Italian earts carts eartsre earlste 1 re bOldm holding ( up eur our whole invasIon invasIonep invasionCep Invasioniep Cep ep them out of this town . . . Don t tIt tiu ' It let another cart come across acrosst acrossat t bridge back there Into this thisWhat thisI thisWhat thiswn I . What the hell heU is this town townway town.lywayAdano townlywayAdano . . way ! ? ) ) Adano sir town of Adano Adanoat at AdanoAdano ofd Adano Keep the carts carte out ofs ofs of ofYes d s 1oW11 thwp ' you hear me ? Yes sir I IU Ill U take care of that thatght thatd thatEht d ght aWay way wayThe aWay'I'he awayThe ' The 'I'he Ihe General ihouted shouted 'Right Right ' away ? That a s not soon enough for forme forme torme tormeSir me meSir meSir Sir I 111 U ll go right up and call the theM theM theM M P s I a and tell them a about bout it'That It'That it itThat ' ' That 'That s a not soon enough I want wantaction wantaction wantaction action No more carts Adano s a the thename thename thename name of this town remember that thatMiddleton thatMiddleton thatMiddleton Middleton Adano No more carts cartsat cartsat cartsat at all all , , . Major do you understand understandWhat ? What are you stand ng there gawk ing gawking about7 about ' Action Leta Let s get gomg going goinglet gomglet let s get out of here do you think thnk ! I Ihave Ihave Ihave have all day ? And before Major Joppolo could couldeven couldeven couldeven even salute the armored car had hadroared hadroared hadroared roared awayBy awayBy away awayBy By the time he reached bis his desk deskagain deskagain deskagain again Major Joppolo realized real1zed what whatthe whatthe whatthe the consequences of keeping the thecarts thecarts thecarts carts out of town would be He Heknew Heknew Heknew knew very well how essential theywere they theywere theywere I theyI were to the life I1fe of the phceWith phceWith pl-icc pl icc phce pliccWith - With a heavy heart he cranked crankedhis crankedhis ! his field telephone telepbone asked tor for Row RowI Rowboat Rowboat I boat Blue Forward got the ear of ofCaptam ofCaptain ofCaptain Captam Captain Purvis head of the M P sin s sIn sin In Adano and ordered him in the thename thename thename name of General Marvin to keep keepal1 keepall keepall al1 all carts out of Adano to stop them themat themat themat at the bridge bndge on the east and at atthe atthe atthe the sulphur refinery on the "estThen westThen " west "est est westThen Then he be called tor for Zito Zlto his usher usherand usherand usherand and asked him to assemble all the theofficIals theofficials theofficials officIals of the town in ! his us officeWhen officewhen office officeWhen When they were all al1 in m Major 1\1aJor 1 1aJor \ Jop Joppolo Joppolo Joppolo polo stood at his Ins desk and sa d I Ihave Ihave Ihave have promised to tell you every 1m im 1mportant important 1mportant portant thing tung ! " which "hlCh hlCh the Amencan American Amencanauthontles Americanauthorities Americanauthorities authontles authorities decide to do in m this town.1 town1 townI town . . I do not " want "ant ant this to be a town of ofmysteries ofmysteries ofmysteries mysteries In a democracy one of ofthe ofthe ofthe the most Important things thmgs is tor for ev everyone everyone everyone eryone to know as much as possIble possIbleabout possibleabout possibleabout about what is going gomg onThe onThe on onThe The American Amencan authorities have havedecided havedecided havedecided decided that because of mil tary Lary ne lie necessitles liecessitres necessities cessitles cessitres it will no longer be pOSSI posse pOSSIble posseble possible ble tor for mule carts to come into mto the theItreets thestreets thestreets Itreets streets of townMaJor townMaor town townMajor Major Maor ) Joppolo could see his audl audi audlence audience audience ence suck in m its collective breathtl breath breathGeneral eZ ; - ' tl eZa \ ' . : : : - : a } 6 I11 I11u u n + Cti General Marvin roared One Oneminute Oneminute Oneminute minute and twenty seconds ! ! ' He said I am not happy to have haveto haveto haveto to announce this decision It is be because because because cause of military mlhtary necessities I am amsorry amsorry amsorry sorry That Is allThe allThe all allThe The officials of Adano a comic comiclookmg comiclooking comiclooking lookmg looking collection turned sadly to togo togo togo go They did not protest They Theyhad Theyhad Theybad had learned during durmg the years of Fas Fes Fasclsm Fescism Fascism clsm cism how to swallow their protests protestsBut protestsBut protestsBut But Major Joppolo could tell that thatthey thatthey thatthey they were not with him that for the thefirst thefirst thefirst first time in m nme nine days they were wereagamst wereagainst wereagainst agamst against himBefore himBefore him himBefore Before the first of them reached reachedthe reachedthe reachedthe the door Major Joppolo said I IIsh Iwish Iwish \\Ish Ish wish \ to tell you that I will do all allthat allthat allthat that is In my power to have this un tin tinjust unjust unjust just order revokedAnd revokedAnd revoked revokedAnd And when the comic looking offi officlals officials offlcials clals cials of Adano went out of the door doorof doorof doorof of the Major i 8 a office they were still stillsad stillsad ttillsad sad but they were for him huh . huhThe . The Major worried all day about aboutthe aboutthe aboutthe the order and wondered what he hecould hecould hecould could do about it He slept very verybadly verybadly verybadly badly during durlDg thp the th night because of ofb1s ofhis ofhis b1s his worryEarly worryEarly worry worryEarly Early in the morning Zito ZltO the lit- lit littie lit little - . tle tie usher came up to his desk and andsaid andsaid andsaid said Mister Major there are three threemen threemen threemen men to see you about the cartsBecause cartsBecause carts cartsBecause Because it worried him the Ma MaI Major Major Major I jor snapped back angrily angrlIy at Zito ZltO ZltOWhat ZitoWhat ZitoWhat What do they want about the , That is something somethmg they wish to totell totell totell I tell you Mister Major Zito Zlto said saidIt saidIt saidIt It is something they did not tellme tell tellme ; meWell meWell me meWell Well show them inThe inThe in inThe The three Italians were evidently evidentlypoor evidentlypoor evidentlypoor poor but respected men There wasa wasa was a kind of democracy in their com coming coming corning ing to see the Major they were werethe werethe werethe the chosen delegates of all the cart cartmen cartmen cartmen men to argue artue this thing thmg outThey outThey cut out cutThey They all had old clean coats on onand onand onand |