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The General had wanted him to build the tent --...
Posted on 2010-Feb-10 at 06:45
The General had wanted him to build the tent -- all right, he would use itBut, tonight, after his realization about Rafferty, the idea of seeing the General gave Hearn an intimation of dreadThere had been very few people he ever feared, but he was beginning to think he was afraid of the GeneralThe cards came around to him, and he shuffled them and dealt, playing mechanically without much interestHe could feel himself perspiring already, and he stripped his shirt and hung it on the back of his chairIt went this way every eveningBy eleven o'clock virtually all the officers were in their undershirts, and the tent stank of sweat and smoke
"Those cards are gonna be hot for me tonight Mantelli grinned, his small mouth twisted around a cigar
The babel of chatter was dense already, gucci backpack saturated in the smokeSomewhere, far off in the jungle, some artillery fired once, the sound thudding in Hearn's head like a jaded angry nerveDivision's nightly smoker, he muttered to himself
He had played only a few hands with moderate luck when there was an interruptionThe General for the first time had come into the tent"Attention!" somebody bawled
"At ease, gentlemen," the General murmuredHe stared about the tent, his nostrils wrinkling faintly at the odor"Hearn," the General called
"Sir?"
"I need you He waved his hand slightly, his voice brisk and impersonalWhile Hearn was still buttoning on his shirt, he left the tent
"Go ahead, run to poppa," Mantelli grinnedNormally, the fact that the General had come to him would have been pleasing, but the General's voice had humiliated chanel purses bags himFor a moment he actually considered remaining in the tent"I'll get back that money later," he said to Mantelli
"Not tonight, huh?" one of the other officers at the table gibed
"My master's voice," Hearn said
He finished buttoning his shirt, kicked his chair back into place, and walked through the tentIn one corner a few officers were drinking up one of their ration bottles of whisky
He heard them singing and then he was fumbling with the folds of the double curtain at the blackout exitAfter the lights inside, he was blinded as he emerged into the dark cool air, so blinded that he almost collided with the General, who had been waiting for him
"Sorry, I thought you'd gone on ahead," Hearn muttered The General strolled slowly toward his own tent, and Hearn constrained his pace discount hermes to keep from walking too fastHad the General heard him say "My master's voice"? Aaah, to hell with him
"What do you need me for, General?"
"We'll discuss that when we get to the tent Between them for the moment there was some antagonismThey walked on in silence, their feet crunching into the gravel walkOnly one or two men passed by them in the darkness; with the night, almost all activity halted in the bivouacAbout them in the rough ellipse of their area Hearn could feel almost tangibly the ring of enlisted men sitting in their foxholes on guard"Quiet tonight," he muttered,
"Yes
At the entrance to the General's tent, another collision occurredHearn halted at the tent flaps to allow the General to precede him, and Cummings in turn put his hand on Hearn's back to indicate that prada knock offs he was to go firstThey both started at once, and Hearn sideswiped the General, felt him recoil a foot or two from the weight of Hearn's big body There was no answer for a moment, and in a little spasm of anger Hearn separated the flaps and walked in aheadWhen Cummings followed, his face was extremely pale and his lower lip showed the indentation of two teethEither the collision had hurt him more than Hearn had thought or he was disturbed enough to pinch his lipBut why? It would be more characteristic for Cummings to find amusement in the situation
Still defiant, Hearn sat down without permissionThe General seemed about to say something and then was silentHe took the other chair, which faced his desk, shifted it slightly to face Hearn, and stared at him impassively for almost a louis vuitton diaper bag tote minute
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