Three Soldiers

out of the barracks. They trembled like bits of brilliant jelly in the bla

of the barracks snapped on, revealing a rotund cheerful man with a little yellow mustache and an unlit cigarette dangling out of

ht; line

ined up with the rest. He had been trans

eyes and grinned hard at the slip of paper he had in his ha

en your name is c

ll voice from the

spa

er

mpanies could be heard calling the roll. Some

he sergeant with his air of quiet omniscience, when

ody ch

t want the Huns to

there was a broad grin on

t top-kicker," whispered Fus

other man in a voice full of devotion. "T

ext man along. "The corpora

of the barracks. He was a pink-faced boy. His trench coat, a li

g all right?" he asked several times, shif

inment, sir," said t

you know the order

" "order of march," had a businesslike sound. He suddenly started to wonder

out o' this hell-hole," h

et, buddy," said the sergeant striding up

ody la

" said the man next to Fuselli. "He's

ybody moves away from this barracks, I'll put him in K.

all man with the shrill voice whose name had been called first on the

eggs in every good bu

from standing so long. Outside all the barracks, as far as h

day. A few sparrows twittered ab

e not goin'

ed somebod

ways leave

ell th

comes

eir necks in the di

d up with a mysterio

ercoats and get o

of the sun. They marched to the mess hall and back

d friends of the other company were. They were good kids too, Chris and

ed into the barracks one by on

on't leave this camp for a

s Fuselli was leaving the mess hall tapping a tattoo on his kit wit

kit, buddy. We may

skin, though he was still young, and an arrow-shaped mout

'All right, corporal,' to me soon," he thought. An idea that he repelled came into his mind. The corporal did

enant appeared suddenly, his face flus

ine up your men," he sa

hey marched out in columns of fours and halted with their pac

s Apple Blossom Time in Normandy." Men in spiked helmets who looked like firemen kept charging through, like the Ku-Klux Klan in the movies, jumping from their horses and setting fire to buildings with strange outlandish gestures, spitting babies on their long swords. Those were the Huns. Then there were flags blowing very

en-s

-ard,

the gate Fuselli caught a glimpse of Chris standing with his arm about Andrews's shoulders. They bot

windows, flags leisurely swaying in the twilight. But the weight of the pack, as the column marched under arc lights glaring through the afterglow, inevitably forced his head to droop forward. The soles of boots and legs wrapped in puttees and the bottom strap of the pack of the man ahead of him were all he could see. The pack seemed heavy enough to push him through the asphalt pavement. And all about him was the faint jingle of

sleep with his head on Bill Grey's shoulder. It was already broad daylight. The train was jolting slowly over cross-tracks in some dismal sub

Atlantic Ocean," crie

ore? That's the Perth River,

me from t

of the window side by side

ain jolted to a stop. Two untidy red-haired girls

kiss," crie

rl,-"anythin' fer

d far out of the window, just mana

flush of desi

lt," he said. "I'

the girl's pink gingham shoulders, lifted her off

l. Men leaning out of the other win

her again and t

, damn ye," said

ody laughed. The train moved on. Fuselli looked about him proudly. The imag

a little fun. Don't mea

t up some with the Madimerzels, won't we, kid?

tiful

Ki-

ly gugugu-gir

the mo-mo

the c

at the ki-ki-k

faster. Fuselli looked about contentedly at the company s

he said to Bill Grey. "Ye kin

two days before, "is an embarkation camp, but I'd like to know where the hell we embark at." He

ed into a dim mess hall, where a thin stew was splashed into the mess kits. Behind the counter of the kitchen the non-coms, the jovial first sergeant, and the businesslike sergeant who looked like a preacher, and

d to himself earnestly. Overseas, under fire, he'd have a chance to show what he was worth; and he pictured himself heroically

r came strangely down th

Grey who, with his hands in his po

ldiers were sitting in a ring round two tall negroes whose

y, give us anoth

now, or mus'

while the other strummed

us the '

-time for a moment. The negro's voice

ob de Titanic, S

in the negro's voice that had made everyone sto

ic ran in dat

ic ran in da

' on d

strummed to the same sobbing rag-time. Verse after v

s sinkin' in

de deep blu

' in d

de chilen a-flo

de chilen a-flo

at cole

er, my gaw

er, my gaw

r to

e. The negro was singing with every c

nd spat into the box of sawdust in the m

in, fast, almost mockingly. The ne

de chilen dey

de chilen dey

t cole i

bugle blew in the dista

ey went silently ba

ea," said Grey as he rolled himself in his b

he darkness, cold terror stiffened him suddenly. He thought for a moment of de

de chilen dey

t cole i

n," he said to himself, and he thought of the hilly streets of San Francisco, and the glow of the sunset ove

" Bill Grey, next to Fuselli in the ranks, stood bent double so as to take the weight of his pack off his shoulders. They were at a cross-roads on fairly high ground so that they could see the long sheds and barracks of the camp s

d bread, counting them carefully without a mistake. He felt full of desire to do things, to show what he was good for. "Gee," he said to himself, "this war's a luck

on the morning air. Fuselli's heart was thumping. He felt proud of himself and of the company-

-ard,

feet. Dust rose from the road, along which

iliar smell choke

y taking us d

d if I

ip seemed to them. Every man had a blue card in his hand with a number on it.

. We'll have to make the best

was full of tramping of feet and the sound of packs being thrown on bunks as endless files of soldiers poured in down every ladder. Somewhere down the alley an officer with a shrill voice was shouting to his men: "Speed it up there; speed it up there." Fuselli sat on his bu

a fat chance we'll have

d to keep us from goin u

you like you was a steer

a damn sight more.

y, contracting his sallow face into a curious spasm, as if the

ooked up at

e Eisenstein," m

utside," shouted Bill

ein, turning over and bur

makes it smell so funny

When he tilted his head a little to one side he could see Bill Grey's heavy colorless face and the dark bristles of his unshaven chin and his mouth a little twisted to the left, from which a cigarette dangled unlighted. Beyond were heads and bodies hud

y, taking the cigarette out of his

guy puke to think of it." Fuselli spoke in a whining voice, watching the top of the

ck eyebrows and hair curling crisply about a forehead with many h

hell out

s contracted in an expression of sympathy. "Funny, I'd have my sixs

when they have to go on K.

who lives on the plains like I do ought to take to

ully. "I don't know how they get that way. The fellers in our company ain't that way. The

like a horse than a broomstick. Ye're juss made to be sheep. No wonder they have to herd you round like calves." Meadville got to his feet and went unste

eyes blink when they go down to th

turned

ng in the place Mead

do, d

turn men into beasts before ye can get

way you do." Fuselli lowered his voice confidentially. "I hea

I'm a desperate ma

, I do.... Did you get ri

war somewhere a man can get to o

t down in it," said Eisenstei

out o' my place," said Meadvill

than me," said Eis

know, sonny, I nearly cried when I found I was going to be in this damn medical corps? I enlisted for

unny," sa

ddenly in the middle of

straighten out the bunks as fast as you goddam can.

there was no light but the invariable reddish glow of electric bulbs.

the rolling. Their heads were stuck forward and they peered from side to sid

, "bring up the record book to my

y. He admired the first sergeant and wished h

cers strolling about at their ease-it all made him think of the big liners he used to watch come in through the Golden Gate, the liners he was going to Europe on some day, when he got rich. Oh, if

came an unfa

nt Olst

me the sergeant's voice. "Let

ting with their feet dangling over the red varnished boards that enclo

saying. "They say the girls come up an' put

nt," said Fuselli stiffly i

d the sergeant, his voice more jovial than ever.

us suddenly on noticing that one of the young men wo

himself. "I ough

merry group talking about women in Paris. He began thinking. Sure he'd get private first-class as soon as they got overseas. Th

to himself as he went down the ladder into the hold. But he forgot everyt

nd. The deck was deserted. The wet ropes strung along it shivered dismally in the wind. Every other moment came the rattle of spray, that rose up in white fringy trees to windward and smashed against him like hail. Without closing the door he crept forward along the deck, clinging as hard as he could to the icy rope. Beyond the spray he could see huge marbled green waves rise in constant succession out of the mist. The

" a man as

ent me to get some stuff for so

o' sickness

another man solemnly, pointing over his shoulder with a j

ie of?" asked

someth

e in a man at the

awful catch

sure

t hit yer?" a

uss go stiff all over," came the ma

infirmary a man with a packet of medicines in

d Fuselli in a low voice a

road shouldered with heavy black eyebrows, burst out, as if he were s

girl waitin' for me at home. It's two years since I ain't touched a woman

er before you left?" so

o war bride, that she could w

l men

ness, after keepin' myself clean on account of that girl..

his bunk with a swollen neck, while h

f way up the passag

t makes me feel sort o' confident-like, I dunno why. I juss

ined in t

in'?" asked Fuselli

ng in a shrill hysterical voice, "bein' thrown over to the sharks. Gee, they ain't got a right to d

am please, buddy. Who's goin' to stop 'em

't throw him over like that," came

e, "no use gettin' in wrong

so near where those fellers are with that sic

dy," came the othe

making his way

d. "Shoot," he was thinking, "I'll tell 'em th

burn with fever and his arms and legs stiffen until everything would be effaced in the blackness of death. Bu

the black night. They staggered unsteadily to the rail and emptied the pail into the darkness. The splash was lost in the sound of the waves and of churned water fleeing along the sides. Fuselli leaned over the rail and looked down at the faint phosphorescence that was the only light i

r," he said to the other man, kicking the c

s seemed to press in upon his eyeballs, blinding him. S

sea before this, I didn'

n the zo

e may go down

ar

... It'ld be awful to dro

be over

you ever been so

feel a-

ere it is. God, it's so hellish b

ou shiverin' so? God,

n the sea before..

ly the man's teeth cha

ether, kid. You can't

G

g but the churned water speeding along the s

an' it sort o' gits my goat, all this sickness an' a

, don't th

u're saved, Fred, an' not me, you

reckon you an' me'll b

't forget to write that girl

o the sam

t's no use. An' I feel so well an' husky....

wasn't so go

THE META

taken off his wet slicker and stood in front of the window looking out dismally at the rain. Behind him was the smoking stove into which a man was poking wood, and beyond that a few brok

for everything here, don

do in this hell-hole, bud

his thumb at the wi

hree weeks and it ain't stopped rainin' onc

me," said Fuselli. "I'm goi

damn r

s well try

ellow lights, the color of amber in a cigarette holder, as he went home from work through the blue dusk. He had begun to think of Mabe handing him the five-pound box of candy when hi

an said, "was you there to

t's about all

. The doctor says I'm all right now,

ime, wa

inkin' of the shape of the Fritzies' helmets. Have you ever thought

uselli, half turning round. "I seen 'em i

the man with the nervous twitch in his voice, laughing a croa

o d

en here two month

; you're for

le on Fuselli while he filled

w m

uarter," said the "Y" man, his well-f

lot for a cup of cha

mber that," said the "Y" man severe

n't crab. He was in the war now. If the sergeant had heard him crabbing, it might have spoiled his chances

ad stood in line behind Fuselli rose to a sudden shriek. Everybody looked round. The "Y" ma

u there's no

been at the front, you goddam slacker." The man was yelling at the top of his lungs. He had hold

you," said the "Y" man. "Is there a

nothing done worse than what's been done to me alr

n kept looking from side to side. His little eyes were hard a

said the other man in a low voi

the grandstand in the training camp and watched the jolly soldiers in khaki marching into towns, pu

e back that way?" he

The man and his friend stood side by s

gether, kid," the

ght now, Tub. That slacker

d a high, gaunt forehead going up to sparse, curly brown hair. His eyes

elmets in the movies.... Come on, buddy, co

ou get

d a little on the slanting sides of tents and on the roofs of the rows of sheds that disappeared into the rainy mist in every direction. A few lig

st the wet flap of a tent and saluted as an

usually stay in these re

," said Tub, pointing carelessly to t

t you worry, buddy," said the man wi

Replaceme

oys didn't last long at t

hey di

protesting; "I'll last out

Tub? I'll be goddamned if anybody ever found a button of their pants."

as crowded with red-faced men, with shiny brass buttons on their k

said Fusell

elli's cup was handed back to him a

m on the shoulder. "You found the liqu

li la

t with yo

uselli proudly, "these guy

ty good scrappers, they say. Tell me, do you us

to drill with my goddam rifle, I'll be a sucker

d of the room had

from Armenteer

ice went on talking, while

ets the Fritzies wear. Have you ever thought that there wa

aid his friend. "You told

u why I can't fo

ficer crosse

ley

ficer cross

women and l

ky, parle

ttle attack to straighten out our trenches a bit just before I got winged. Our barrage cut off a bit of Fritzie's trench an

" said h

isperin', 'There's a bunch of Fritzies playin' cards in a dugout. The

nd clear the buggars out.' So we crept

had start

selle from

ley

in'. An' they sat round the lamp layin' down the cards serious-

women and li

ley

ts like toadstools popped up in the air an' somebody gave a yell an' the light went out an' the damn grenade went off. Then I let 'em have th

e havin' a he

ley

lmets looked. It upsets a feller to think of a thing like that." His voi

ourself together, k

need, Tub. I

dville. "I'd like to get me a nice litt

the town.... They say it's ful

he man with the nervou

ough of these go

left th

building, Fuselli heard the nervous twitching

w funny the helmets looked all round

the hard floor of the tent very close to each other, listening to the rain

' pneumonia," said Fuse

usiness. I'd hate to die o' sickness... an' they say anothe

was the matte

poral wo

sort o' sick hims

whispered Bill Grey, in the

. Let a feller sleep," came a voic

m in a hotel if y

l, tell him whe

put the whole blame lot of you on K. P.

now that tap

or the fast patter of the ra

ttered Bill Grey peevishly, when his coughing h

a very low voice, so that no o

ferent from what we thou

ar

about beatin' the Huns at all, the

that does the thinkin',"

t it'd be excitin'

at was a lo

ay

of him, hearing the endless, monotonous patter of the rain on the drenched canvas above his head. He

that was cold as snow against their faces still warm from sleep. The corporal called the roll, lighting matches to read the

ten out Lieutenant Stanford's room at eigh

hear, F

go and kick. He wasn't going to be a slavey.... He walked towards the door of the tent, thinking what he'd say to the sergeant. But he noticed the corporal coughing into his handkerchief with an expression of pain on his fac

feeling dull fury pounding and fluttering wit

's t

li. "Come back in about twenty minut

right

s so far from anyone who cared about him, so lost in the vast machine. He was telling himself that he'd never get on, would never get up where he could show what he was good for. He felt as if he were in a t

lled the dark clapboard room, which had no furniture but three cots and some officers' trunks. He was a red-faced y

ecent feller,"

el mirror, while he ran the safety razor obliquely across his throat.

sel

arentage,

enly, dragging one of th

a Ita

? Naw, sir," said Fuselli empha

e some more water,

t were blue and stiff from carrying the heavy bucket. The lieutenant was dressed and was ho

any." The lieutenant went out, drawing on a pair of khak

long lines of barracks, gaunt and dripping in the mist, at the big tin sheds of the cook shacks wh

ople make gestures like that in the movies, stout dignified people in evening suits. The president of the Company th

antly, finger by finger, with a little wave, of self-satisfaction wh

rail a-winding Through

oad between high fences covered with great tangles of barbed wire, ab

, his eyes sparkling with delight. Even the sombre sergeant who rarely spoke to anyone, sang. The company strode along, its ninety-six legs splashi

rail a-winding Through

along importantly. The corporal strode along importantly. The right guard strode along more importantly than anyone. A sense of importance, of something tremendous to do, animated the company like wine, made the packs

red in the darkness. The raw air was full of coal smoke and a smell of freshly-cut boards. The captain and the top sergeant had disappeared. The men sat about, huddled in groups, sinking as far as they could into their overcoats, stam

railroads are rott

on a box away from the rest with his lean face

gusted gesture towards the ceiling.

faster than ours

in that rest camp told me that it to

stein. "They used to run the fast

ieth Century.' Goddam, I'm

sergeant, coming suddenly out of the shadows. "Fuselli, Gre

frog trains are faster than our

comic expression. Ever

re going to get aboard tonight than the 'Sunset Limit

ially to the five men who followed him into a small

es? That's three days' rations for the outfit. I want t

kilful in a careless way. The top sergeant stood beaming at them with his legs wide apart. Once he said something in a low voice to the corporal. Fuselli thought

idn't reckon when I used to be teachin' and preachin' and tendin' Sunday School and t

n you," said the top sergeant, slapping him on the back. "Now, I want you five men to look out for the grub." Fuselli's chest swelle

the company waited huddled in their coats, trying to ke

thought Fuselli to himself.

els and the bodies and arms and legs muffled in coats and blankets pressing against him. He woke up with a start. His teeth were chattering. The clanking rumble of wheels seemed to be in his head. His head was being dragged along, bumping over cold iron rails. Someone lighted a match. The freight car's black swaying walls, the packs piled in the center, the bodies heaped in the corners where, out of khaki masses here and

the car, they all stood up and stamped and

hey were in a station, a foreign-looking station where the walls were plastered

in. "That's where the kin

gain slowly. On the platfo

the car passed him. "Say, Fusell

Sarge," sa

ese. Then he sat on his pack eating dry bread and unsavoury beef, whistling joyfully, while the train rumbled and clattered along through a strange, misty-green countrys

g in the middle of a russet plain. Yellow poplars, faint as mist, rose slender against the sky along a black shining s

ther, stamping to get warm. On the other side of the river an old

e front?" somebo

the cry; "Say, w

e oxen. The oxen took up again their quiet processional gait

't the fr

om a group of men he had been talking to. "Th

Fuselli. "They say we're

e's t

forest," vent

the front

A long khaki muffler was thrown careles

d severely, "the orders

back into the

k enigmatic windows, at the red crosses, at the orderlies in white who leaned out of the doors, w

ve been shoo

Huns tried to shoot u

itted on bayonets, of women strapped on tables and violated by soldier after soldier. He thought of Mabe. He wished he were in a combatant service; he wanted to fight, fight. He pictured h

ted slowly waving branches of yellow and brown leaves and patches of black lace-work against t

ck. On the opposite platform crowds of little men in blue with mustaches and long, soiled overcoats t

unny lookin' hel

world," said Eisenstein, "not th

Fuselli's arm. "Let's go ask him how near the f

aid Fuselli. "Say, buddy, how near the fr

d nose. "You're 'way back in the middle of France." The M. P. spat disg

said F

't get there somehow," said

r side the little men in blue were singing a song Fuselli could

he had of being lost in the machine, of being as helpless as a sheep in a flock. Hours passed. They stamped about the platform in the fine rain or sat in a row o