| Show BA jell bell for rA danoS N P W 7 gj 1 I 4 john herseth I 1 mr eisei c 3 aw r wu rr THE STORY THUS PAR the american troops arrived in adano with major coppolo jop polo the algot officer in charge sergeant borth was in charge of 0 security the major was determined to hold the ne confidence of the people and to replace their bell stolen by the nazis de DC spite orders issued by general bl arvin barring carts from the city coppolo recalled the order to permit food and wa tet ter to enter the city ca cacopardo co pardo tried to tarnish furnish the general with information on german troop movements but was tossed out tina told the major about her ber sweetheart a prisoner of 0 war and asked the aid of the major in locating him the major felt elt some jealousy but promised help CHAPTER XV when major coppolo arrived at his office next morning two visitors were waiting for him one was owner of the house where chuck bill and were billeted but had to wait because the other was lord bruncin one of the aagot higher ups the allied military government was and still is a joint brit ish american affair and as in the higher echelons of the military corn command american and british officers were sandwiched in with each other lord bruncin was near the top lop major coppolo showed him into his office wizard quarters his lordship said lord bruncin affected the slang of his subordinates but he always seemed to use american slang blang when talking to his british men and vice versa so that many of them understood very little of what he said this was the first time major coppolo had ever had a tete a tete with a real honest to goodness lordship he was surprised to find him wearing shorts and an open collar and no hat at all his lordships Lord ships deferential manner as he sat on the other side of the majors desk asking questions made major jop polo who had once been a clerk in the sanitation department of new york city feel quite important by way of making conversation ilis his lordship pointed a thumb in direction and said Your Italian friend is in quite a bap the former sanitation clerk said what was that lord I 1 get that 0 never mind said his lordship well what kind of a job have you been doing here coppolo Jop polo the former sanitation clerk said well ive been doing all right doing all right eh his lordship smiled and made a note of the expression in his notebook for future use what are the best things youve done well to show how the town was financing itself there was the muslin A liberty ship had come into adano adana harbor and had discharged a cargo of war materials bulldozers bridge girders tents and some ammunition down in the bottom of one hold the unloaders found six bales of white muslin the skipper of the ship said he had to unload it the quartermaster on the beach would not take it there were no papers for the muslin no consignment the muslin had U S treasury markings on it so it was obviously lend lease and it was obviously lost major coppolo heard about it and seeing the rags on the people of his town he said he could use it he called his civil supply director and told him about the muslin and the director gave permission to sell it at a fair price major coppolo put two rolls up for sale and held the other four in reserve there was such a shortage of cloth in the town that the two rolls were gone in that many hours good work coppolo Jop polo his lordship said what else there was the refugee problem on the day of the invasion there were only six or seven thousand people in the town the others had al run to the hills within a few days there were thirty two or three thousand the town got badly crowded and one reason was that there were a lot of refugees from the town of Vicin amare these people had come down to adano adana because the allies had been bombing Vicin amare pretty hard before the invasion now that the battle had gone beyond Vicin amare they wanted to go 90 home ome but there was no transportation one day the major saw a german bus driving down the street an n american soldier was driving it major coppolo said to himself 1 I could use that bus he asked around and found out it belonged to the engineers so he called the motor officer and said id like to use se that bus of yours one day a week the motor officer said it would be okay with him if the major had d proper permission so major called the adano base corn com rander mander who said it would be all right and a few days later one busload of che cheering ering laughing people had started home now colonel head of aagot for the province of Vicin amare heard about the bus a few days later and he got sore and told major J riot not to do that any more sometimes I 1 major coppolo said 1 I think colonel is an awful dope lord bruncin said do you mean you think he takes harmful drugs and his lordship dipped into his snuffbox major coppolo said oh no I 1 just mean hes stupid 1 I say his lordship said touching else food was pretty good in the first days the major had found five cars of wheat on a siding at the railroad station had ha had d it ground into flour and had been able to spare S some om e for the neighboring hill towns wh which ich were starving he had given give n one baker a very heavy fine three thousand lira era for baki baking g soggy 0 g g y bread for refusing to sell it on c credit r edit for for refusing to take american invasion lira and for having dirty hands 1 I n wa 2 met vv 4 65 J 5 0 cant afford to let these people be too happy you know and since then the bread had been pretty good from all the bakers he had taken steps to send the fishermen out he had arranged for the people to have pasta which they had not had for eight months food was all right good said lord bruncin every time his lordship took snuff major Jop eyes nearly popped out of his head and he almost forgot what he was talking about anything else oh sure lord he said this town is much better off than it was before we came in you cant imagine how these people were ground down why so used to being afraid of officials and so used to making out forms and being hauled up to court and having cara banieri ask them their names that they all put their last names first and their first names last the way it goes on official papers all the time just like the chinese lots of them have told me that better off now than the they Y were before for one thing they can congregate in the streets any time tim e they want and talk about whatever they want to they can listen to their radios they know they can get a fair tr trial ial out of me T they hey can come to the city hall and talk to me any time they want mayor nasta had office hours from twelve to one each day and you had to apply pa y for an audience weeks in advance I 1 told you about the streets being clean ohl oh there are lots of ways lord and if I 1 have anything to do with it therell be lots more his lordship was getting a wee obit bit bored he dipped more and more frequently into his snuffbox and looked out the window fine show fine show how he said anything bad in this town yes there is lord the major said one thing 1 I wish all of our towns had just one thing wr wrong ng Jop polo well this exactly bad lord and maybe s sound a little silly to you my job said lord bruncin taking snuff grandly is to make sense I 1 out of silly things what is it jop polo well sir this town needs a bell A bell why major I 1 heard such a jangling of bells at eight this morning you might have thought it was C christmas day yes but this is a special bell lord 1 I know they had any special bells this one was seven hundred years old it was just about the most important thing in the town to hear these people talk took it away and major jop polo told how the bell had been crated up and shipped away to make gun barrels and how the people had come to him about it and how he had tried to track it and had found that it was almost certainly melted down and at any rate was in unoccupied territory lord Runci ns colonial attitude cropped up surely he said these people can get along with I 1 the bells they have we cant aff afford ord to be too sentimental you know coppolo Jop polo cant afford to let these people be too happy you know cant afford to let discipline get too loose lord I 1 cant see that happiness and discipline dont go together young man said his lordship taking a sniff for emphasis 1 I think ive had a little more experience in these things than you have every time ive done something for these people major jompole coppolo said ive found they did two things for me just out of thanks well what do you want me tc do about this bell 1 I 1 just wondered lord if you could suggest a way to get then another bell not just any bell you know but one that could take tak the place of the one they lost every time I 1 need something oui of the ordinary his lordship said 1 I make application to the united states army they have the bosl extraordinary things you know they gave me a jeep they gave me my choice of pipes good briar too went from scotland to the USA and all the way back here to algiers by way of the US army some one told me about these electrical razors and they even got me one of those but I 1 cant use it because of this italian current wrong current you know not like our current I 1 suggest you try the U S army Jop polo 1 I had quite the same sama kind of luck with the army lord you got some friend or something who do you ask for all these fancy things 11 they get you just write general wilson W B wilson quartermaster depot algiers general wilson told me hed try to get me anything I 1 wanted just use my name coppolo Jop polo hell find you a bell im sure of it major coppolo wrote down general wilsons Wil sons name and address thank you lord the major said that sounds like it might work I 1 sure want to get a bell for this town lord bruncin clapped his snuffbox shut and stood up well coppolo Jop polo sounds to me as if you were doing a wizard job here keep it up II if you have any troubles just give me a buzz and A n d his lordship left 0 on the verge of a delicious sneeze which he had been saving in his nostrils for ten minutes major coppolo stared out of the window and he was wonderfully happy with the double happiness ol of accomplishment and praise for it I he je was drawn back from his pleasant daze by a torrent of italian it came from you americans think you are so civilized you think you are doing us a favor by dis embarking on our shores you are no better than the a germans the germans never did anything in this town such as your men have done I 1 gave you my house I 1 did not mind giving you my house I 1 thought the americans were civilized you are the one who told me they are civilized you said they W would take cafe care of my house as if they owned it you are a liar having been praised so recently major was stung by this dispraise what do you want he said sharply stop this babbling and tell me what you want 1 I dont want anything what I 1 have lost I 1 can never get back so horican I 1 want anything sif if you dont want anything why are you taking up my time spoke sarcastically irn im sorry if your time is so valuable your worship and then he spoke angrily 1 I have lost some things which were valuable to me too I 1 went to my house this morning to get some things I 1 had left behind and what did I 1 find TO BE CONTINUED |
