Show M 1 1191 aft esa ra 9 WJ of TH THEODORE E 0 Q 0 R E sa J PRATT RELEASE THE STORY THUS FAR forty foar year old wilbert winkle who operates a repair shop in the alley back of his bli home jl Is notified by his bis drift draft board that be li Is in 1 A he breaks the bad news to his domineering wile wife amy who becomes suddenly tender mr winkle Is sent scot to camp squibb where after graduating from roto motor alator mechanics school he be leaves tor for home on a furlough amy hardly knows him and his dog barks at him furiously mr winkle and nd hit his friend mr tinker soon find themselves on the high seas in a huge nue convoy they land on the island ol of tilleo and report at on one a of f the repair shops some of their friends f r I 1 ds are also on the island there Is a bad mist that might screen japs CHAPTER XII mr winkle pulled his steel helmet more securely on his head and pressed on the accelerator of the car the jeep shot off the road and along the sand trail leading to the beach the command car stood where it had been left in a partially cleared space enclosed by low palms mr winkle stopped alongside it As they got out he glanced at the tent set at one side among the trees ordinarily the off duty members of the machine gun crew would be lolling or sleeping there it was empty up on the low ridge fifty feet away a helmeted head appeared above the sand it was the alphabet recognizing them he waved briefly and then disappeared it aint like him mr tinker observed not to be hospitable to his friends mr winkle took their tools from the back seat of the jeep his hands shook a little he pulled his helmet still more securely over his head and said wed better get to work we can take a minute mr tinker said to see going on up there reluctantly mr winkle followed him to the ridge they receive a very warm welcome if you got to come here sergeant knappe snapped d get down in they scrambled below ground level hunching bunching hun ching themselves into the fox X the jeep shot off the road and along the sand trail hole crowding freddie jack and the other men who sat listening attentively tent ively or kneeled to stare out over the ocean freddie at the machine gun whose snout pointed across the beach greeted them maybe youre just in time for the performance the alphabet picked up the field telephone he identified his post listened for a moment and then said yes sir no N 01 6 sir I 1 r it lifted yet he put the instrument down and told his visitors that was your boss he wanted to know if you got here like you heard I 1 give away you being with us but you better get back where you belong and beat it as soon as youre through the they went mr winkle with alacrity and mr tinker with regret from out over the sea there came a sudden roar guns began to spit virtually at the same instant buckl yelled mr winkle he i dropped the wrench helas holding and dived under the command car lying there his heart beating so 0 fast it seemed to equal the rapid firing of the guns he expected mr tinker to join him instead he heard the quick firing of a garand he could see mr tinkers feet and part of his legs braced to take up the shock from the gun the plane came over it appeared to know exactly where to come the firing stopped mr winkle opened his eyes again he saw mr tinker who was now standing halfway to the ridge he was reloading his rifle and looking malevolently at the sky the plane came back once more it spit heavy death from its nose and lighter more gentle death from its wings mr tinker fired right back at it zt it until a moment after the plane had gone again out over the ocean that mr tinkers arms dropped and the rifle slid from his hands his voice choked and gurgled when he called pop hey pop then he crumpled like something stiff gone soft folding up and sinking to the ground mr winkle watching this from beneath the command car believe at first that it was actual it had happened too quickly too much without warning to be any different from field tactics tactic s in which picked men simulated those hit when the planes came over then he realized that the plane been a friendly one he crawled out from beneath the car and got to his feet his legs seemed to function automatically without any volition on his part as he made his way to mr tinker the blood spreading over mr tinkers chest made him sick and weak he bent and touched him whispering his name but mr tinker answer mr winkle realized something else when the plane went over the second time the alphabets machine gun fired from the fox hole now there came no movement all about there was silence he ran to the ridge he arrived breathing hard not from exertion but from excitement lie he gasped at what he saw one of the shells from the planes cannon had exploded in the fox hole the bodies of the men lay about some of them half buried freddie was sprawled over the gun as if protecting it sergeant ski was on his back his open eyes staring straight up at the burning sun and not blinking in a tangled pile mr winkle caught sight of the side of jacks still face A single thought ran through him repetitiously how will I 1 ever tell the Petti grews he asked himself how will I 1 ever tell the Petti grews the sound of surging water made him turn his head out of the mist had come a flat nosed japanese assault boat behind it but somewhat off to either side were two more mr winkle sank to his knees both to get out of sight and because his legs hold him up any more after a moment he knew that he must do something he realized that the whole position on calizo might be lost if the men in those assault boats ever landed and infiltrated through the jungle he found himself scrabbling about in the sand of the fox hole for the field phone it in sight he saw the signal corps wire leading up out of therole the hole he grabbed it and started pulling on it A broken piece of the shattered phone cime came into his hands he dropped it from nerveless fingers helplessly mr winkle watched the leading assault boat come on now it was less than a hundred yards from the beach he looked back at the jeep unless the bullet holes through its its windshield meant more than they appeared to the car would still run he could get back in it to give the alarm at the next post but by that time the japs would have effected their landing mr winkle wished that it was not he who had been placed in this position he wanted fervently for it to be another man a fighter a killer a younger a different a better man than he it flashed through his mind that it had been a mistake to draft and make a soldier out of a mouse he felt guilty at not having resigned from the army A different man here now in his place would have known what to do then mr winkle knew what to do it occurred to him that he thought of himself of his own safety when hen considering getting away in the jeep he had thought only to give the warning of what was happening also he saw mr tinker lying sprawled out there on the ground lie he remembered how he had ducked under the command car while mr tinker fired his rifle the recollection made him feel craven especially when now mr tinker would never get his jap he decided that he must get him for mr tinker there were the alphabet freddie jack and the other men to thing think about too it infuriated him that sergeant lay dead it made him see red to think that after freddie had been made into a decent person he had been killed his brain seared with a hot flame at the thought of jack it seemed to be the most natural thing in the world to pull freddier Fr eddies body from the gun swiftly he examined it the gun was intact it needed only a new belt of ammunition lie he clawed about in the sand and among the bodies for an ammunition box he stepped on soft flesh and mind it digging furiously he found what he wanted he stripped the nearly spent belt from the gun and inserted a fresh one As he worked he knew how good and wise it was that he had been trained to operate a machine gun he wished that he was better at it but a rising surge burfie of confidence made him sure he would be good enough the first boat was nearly at the shore mr winkle sighted the gun for the spot he figured the men would be when they stepped out that was what he had been taught he still had a moment he employed i it by coolly taking off of his glasses and wiping them dry with his handkerchief he wiped his face and neck both of which streamed with sweat he glanced about this was where he would die he had often wondered in what circumstances and in what locality it would occur now he knew it such a bad place he saw it almost for the first time the waving palm trees the flowering hibiscus he liked it it was romantic amy he thought would be glad to know it was such an attractive place it occurred to him that for the first time in his life he afraid to die he even exulted in it he heard his voice he was laughing hedelt released from hard painful U I 1 bonds he knew that at last wilbert george winkle in the flesh and not in a newspaper headline was proud to tonight fight he turned back to the gun it was nearly time the assault boat beached in shallow water men started jumping out and splashing through the water he could see their faces brown slant eyed expressionless mr winkle let them all get out then carefully sighting he squeezed the trigger there was a snap and a jerk the gun jammed without firing frantically he worked at the gun one finger caught in the mechanism he tore it away blood spurted but he paid no attention he kept picking at the jammed cartridge finally he got it out and a new one in the firing chamber the gun prepared properly five men had run ahead off to one side mr winkle swung his gun around concentrating on them first this time the gun fired he was astonished to see the men fall he sure if one of them got away he swung the gun back spitting vengeance at the larger group As the bullets spat out from under his hands a still new and greater world opened before him this was what he had lived for life had a meaning and a purpose of which he had never dreamed lie he sprayed the milling men down there he had a mad blind desire to annihilate late and destroy the enemy it seemed like a torrent pent up in him for years and spilling out in one overwhelming rush he sprayed it on the milling men down there that burst was for jack that one was for freddie this long one for mr tinker now one for the alphabet still more for the other men wilbert winkle who operates the dixit shop first married in the 33 36 to 45 group to be called is killing these enemies of his country he is anxious to defend the four freedoms its worth any sacrifice if need be his very life wilbert winkle wanted more enemies to kill when all these were gone when no one stood on his feet in the writhing shrieking mass on the wet sand he saw more at the approach of the other two boats quite calmly without excitement of any kind and not realizing he was following army procedure painstakingly taught him he inserted another fresh belt of ammunition instinctively as if something told him to he looked behind him over the edge of the fox hole A jap officer was stealing his way toward him he was the one who had got away from the group of five the swarthy little man was between the cars and the body of mr tinker mr winkle grabbed the nearest rifle he swung it into position to fire resting it on the edge of the fox tp hole TO BE CONTINUED |