| Show bell for ay john THUS FAR the amerl THE iton T T troops oops arrived I 1 d at adino adana with major JP C polo the aagot officer in charte charge sergeant int dart north h was in charge of 0 5 sc e curtly nalty the major v was w determined ined to mil bold the continence confidence ot of the people and to replace till the town towa bell stolen by the nazis nails ty by general mar 10 orders issued vin via tarring barring carts rom arom the city major jod recalled the order to permit food and witter water to enter the city AL M Cc capardo pardo cameto came to we major asking for permission to see general marvin and deliver information on important ger bin an troop inove ments no lie was given iven his pass anil and set let out for or the generals head arter he was determined to aid hit he americans against the nazis CHAPTER XIII oh 11 said the sentry why you say you had a pass sure the generals here and he shouted the old mans in aint ht he buck yeah I 1 think his nibs came in in about hall half an hour ago yeah hes in the sentry said what nat you want to see him about cacopardo pulled out the tissue paper 1 I can tell you where are the germans pl he said right up there the sentry said pointing no intine up the driveway driy eway to the mam main i door of the villa right in that there door the jeep drove up to the main door there was another sentry there when cacopardo tried to go in the sentry put his bayoneted rifle across the path cacopardo jump jumped d back alarmed 1 I am no enemies he said 1 I have the paper to see general marvin and he stretched out the pass cacopardo learned quickly for a man his age the sentry took the pass B brother roth I 1 doubt if you can see the general right now he said he dont like to see no one in the mornings you stand here a minute the sentry called the corporal of the guard the corporal of the guard came right back this way brother he said lie he led cacopardo to a man at a desk name the man said gloomily cacopardo Is that a first name or a last name came the sour man said that is the name of my family cacopardo said how you spell that cacopardo spelled it out the man wrote laboriously first name the unhappy man said matteo you got to spell those dago names cacopardo spelled it and the man inis misspelled spelled it who you want to see general marvin you got a chance of seeing him the man said theres a war going on dago what you want to see the general about cacopardo reached in his pocket t lor for the tissue paper 1 I can show you where are the germans he said have to talk with G two about that the man said and he pointed with his pencil first door on the right where it says colonel Re henderson cacopardo went to the door marked colonel henderson and he knocked walk in a voice shouted general marvin cacopardo asked upstairs upstairs the impatient voice which belonged to a full colonel said cacopardo started out say wait a minute cacopardo turned around the colonel said who are you anyway cacopardo matteo I 1 was sent to see general marvin general marvin like italians the colonel said what do you want to see him about you better not ask him for any favors hell hen henlick kick you out personally him self cacopardo reached in his pocket for r the tissue paper 1 I can show you where are the germans he said laid youve got no business taking that kind of thing to general mar vin w what do you think we have a G two section for around here you can n just show that to me I 1 was sent to see general mar vill aln that is the one I 1 am going to see after an argument with colonel ll enderson cacopardo was sent upstairs under guard was stopped and questioned questioned by a sentry at the head of 01 the stairs was sent downstairs because he did id not have a proper division pass was given a pass was as taken upstairs again was questioned as to age religion political beliefs buels and sex by a sergeant was interviewed by a staff officer who doubted whether the general would be e tree free to see him was referred to lionel colonel middleton the generals chief of staff was questioned by lionel colonel middletons Middle tons secretary who thought nought the colonel was busy was finady y admitted to colonel middle tons who after an argument agreed to see whether the general would see cacopardo lopardo op ardo which he doubted at the he rno lent ment general marvin vs playing mumble te peg with lieutenant had benant he aa nant byrd yd his aide T hey y found that a certain m mahogany table 16 took the G knife beautifully the flin general J had ad just reached the double ZIP off the forehead W colonel 00 middleton walked in just a as the general let the knife go off net his forehead sa the surprise ol of colo nel middletons Middle tons entrance was lust just enough to throw the general general off his aim and the e knife clattered the 1 e t table on and did not stick in this annoyed the general bleton dietsc dIetS 1 I 1 told you to knock mid yes sir theres an old italian here wants to see you middleton the matter with you I 1 teu tell you I 1 want to see any more italians yes sir sut but this one seems to be above the average he was sent to you by one of our people he awa says he has 50 some anfor in information for you would want well show him in what are you standing there for show him to in and so cacopardo was finally brought into the presence of the general by this time he was just as angry as the general and being some twenty years the generals senior he considered it his privilege to vent his anger first he found perfect expression for his ms anger in what he saw cri on the sur lace face of the mahogany table you are a barbarian he said this was not a very good way for old cacopardo to begin with general marvin especially since he had two strikes against him to begin with he had caught the general in a bad mood and he was italian A what the general bellowed in his famous voice 1 I said you are a barbarian how dare you chop and pick at the surface of my friend ellos table for the sake of argument it would have made no difference whatsoever K if 1 1 r you are a barbarian 01 he said if general marvin had known that had been thirteen years dead the general could not possibly have been more outraged he bellowed at the walls who is this anyhow that table was made circa 1775 when your country had not even begun to existed barbarian it was carved by vincenzio di lucca of parma I 1 cannot calculate the values of that table you are a pig to chop and pick at it the general shouted take this crazy out cut of here colonel middleton and lieutenant byrd rushed into the room they grabbed old cacopardo and started to push him out wait Wai tp the general roared who sent that idiot here middleton 1 I dont know sir it was some major you dont know its your business to know colonel middleton asked C cacopardo who was it who sent you YO u here my friend major coppolo Jop JOPP polo who is not a barbarian colonel middleton said what unit is this major from adano from adano I 1 old cacopardo said from my in home ada no adano the general shouted l theres something about that place what is it about adano middleton what is it the cart general colonel middleton said colonel mi middleton addleton would never forget adano as long as he lived the cart c art what cart dont talk in riddles middleton what at cart the cart that we thre threw w off ob the road si sir the mule we shot sir general marvin rem remembered and turned his face a shade the memory mem ory darker so the major who sent you 11 he roared what was that name again I 1 want to reme remember that name P eoppolo Jop jp polo middleton said gene general ral marvin shouted coppo 10 lo write writ that down middleton remember member r that name that majors major a er now he hes s a too I 1 remember remco a himself be aco middle ton 0 S MY I 1 u re as w in the interests s of justice colonel M middleton said 1 I dont remember sir general marvin shouted well I 1 do now throw this crazy italian out of here and if you let any more italians in here middleton ill i U break you back to a second lieutenant yes sir colonel middleton said As they started to run him out cacopardo said but I 1 have mat ions I 1 can tell you where are the germans it is important the germans the germans but the general was much too tar far gone in in rage cacopardo was taken out and sent home he get anyone not even the sentry at the front gate to listen to a description of the german positions before behind major Jop back captain purvis was very critical of him to his face the captain was cordial even friendly the two men now nov had besides their mere community of tongue another thing to draw them together they both knew the same girls in a foreign land that is enough to make damon and pythias out of two sworn enemies one day at lunch they talked about the girls they talked a as s american men do talk about gai girls when they are abroad the captain said that younger one that francesca she sure is nice just a matter of taste the ma jor said yeah the captain said what do you say we go up there tonight and see em lets do that the major said that would be fun then he wondered why he had reacted so quickly and so happily to the captains suggestion the captains attitude toward these girls disgusted the major the captain regarded the girls as trash he seemed to think of them as something to buy and sell like italian watermelon and grapes and red wine the major refused to believe that he was falling into this way of thinking I 1 and so it happened that the two dissimilar men went that evening to the house at 9 via vittorio emanuele with very similar feelings of excitement and anticipation major coppolo and captain purvis caught the family of tomasino by surprise that evening the fat rosa was sitting on the living room floor plucking a chicken and there were feathers all over the room the radio was on and the two little daughters of the sister who was in rome were sitting by it also on the floor francesca and tina were in brightly colored pajamas lying on the floor side by side reading together a cheap italian romance called un cuore in tre tomasino who opened the front door grimly led the two Ameri americans americal cai ns into the room without any advance notice everyone jumped up the little girls squealing fat rosa ca calling ling the name of the lord in english and the big girls shouting greetings to the americans the famile of tomasino and their guests spent the next five minutes on their hands and knees picking up the chicken feathers when that was done rosa said to tomasino sad one put the girls to bed tomasino led the little ones ou out t without gentleness rosa retired to the kitchen with the feathers and the bird to finish her job As soon as the two officers cers and the two girls in pajamas were left alone tina said mister major I 1 want to talk with you and she stretched out her hand for hi his s and led him into her bedroom captain sober shouts followed them this time hey dont desert me I 1 cant talk to this lovely thing where you going and he subsided and settled down for an evening 0 of desperate sign language tina sat down on her b bed ed and the major sat down on a chair by a wooden dressing table 1 I want to ask you something mister major tina said yes the major said he did not know what to expect but he expected it would please him whatever it was how long do you think the war will last here on italian soil I 1 mean the major found that he was not pleased a very serious question he sa said id d lets not talk about war all I 1 have all day long war war war but I 1 have hav W a special reason for w wanting to know tina said how long do you think it will last how should I 1 know the major asked his voice was a little testy if I 1 knew that I 1 would have to know a lot more about our plans for the campaign and if I 1 knew the plans I 1 would know military secrets and I 1 tell yo you U seer secrets t it if I 1 knew them but you ca can n guess mister major all right I 1 guess two more mora months and how long do you think it will be after those two months betor our italian prisoners of war are released major got the point very quickly and it d did id not please him in the least you have a sweetheart who has bee been n captured TO ITO BE CONTINUED ED |
