Three Soldiers

ing pan before her. Behind her was the dark stove and above it a row of copper kettles that gleamed through the bluish obscurity

few stray hairs off her fore

n, watching Yvonne's slender body in tight black dress and blue apron move in and out of the area of light as she got

ff," he was saying to

ng her cut the bread, holding the big loaf to her chest and pulling the knif

e; ain't yer?" Fuselli

said, laughing an

girl came into the kitchen, a thin yellow-f

n." They both laughed. Fuselli bl

hein?" said

gain. Fuselli who did not understand laughed too, thinking to hims

oak table. In the dim light that came from the kitchen he saw the old woman's white bon

ma'am," h

e voice, the old woman follow

, rose in pillars to the ceili

le roses on them, seemed, after the army mess, the most beautiful things Fuselli had ever seen. The wine

wo girls rattled at each other. The old woman rarely spoke and when she did one

ts. An idea came to him. He'd have to bring Sarge to see Yvonne. They could set him up to a feed. "It would help me to stay in good with

e melted in

aid to Yvonne wi

ed at hi

n," he s

in was looking from one to the other enviously, he

her bread in a silen

e irey." He put his napkin down and went out wiping his mouth on the

epin' house here?"

d Fuselli c

" asked the chalky-faced bo

elves and threw a cake of c

hing

you, corporal.

g trail a-winding," Fuselli st

hocolate?"

ain, smiling importantly. He must write Al about all this, he was th

hard in the outside door. When she came back, Fuselli said good-night to everyone and left by the back door into the court. There he leaned sulkily against the wall and waited in the dark, listening to the sounds that came from the house. He could see shadows passing across the orange square of light the window threw on the cobbles of the court. A light went on in an upper window, sending a faint glow over the disorderly tiles of the r

she sai

h delight. Yvonne pointed to his shoes. He took them off, and left the

," she

trembling a little from exc

is barracks. The long shed was pitch black, full of a sound of deep breathing and of occasional snoring. There was a thick smell of uniform wool on which the sweat had dried. Fuse

layed with the swollen buds on the plane trees. The sky was a drowsy violet color, and the blood pumped hot and stinging through the stiffened arms and legs of the soldiers

he buttons of his tunic were in danger of snapping off. His shoes were well-sh

e sounded across

!" shouted t

tudying assiduously for the last week. He was thinking of an imagin

missed, he went up famil

oin' anything

an do when he's broke?

n with me. I want to int

re

they sent that a

d the top sergeant. "It's all ma

g was silvery-violet. The few windows in the old

oin' to get

th mud, leaving them a glimpse of offi

the top sergeant in h

They saluted stiffly as two

a feller marryin' a French gir

etting hitched

as crimson. "I just s

C. O., that's

gh the window. The shop was full of soldiers lounging against the coun

drink an' then come

of the white arms presided. Fuse

y, "I wrote all my folks at home I'd been made corpor

in little sips. He smiled broadly and put

xed up all right," he said; then he added jovi

the smell of burnt gasolene and army camps, had a faint suavi

hat shelves rose to the ceiling in the brownish obscurity of the shop where gleamed faintly large jars and small jars, cans neatly placed in rows, glass jars and vegetables. In the corner,

aid. "Je mourrais de

hat that me

ur

guerre on ne savais pas ce que c'e

the top sergeant, "a feller can't j

all get there," said the

arjon, Yvonne,

, and talked as best they could to Yvonne, who, very trim in her black dress and blue apron, perched on the edge of her chair w

whistling, and threw open the door to the inner r

said in an a

at the table that filled up the room, chatting intimately and gaily with Yvonne, who leaned against the yellow wall beside the Frenchman and showed all her little pearly teeth in a laugh

til the others should leave. It was long after pay-day a

n your outfit now?" asked Eisenst

is thin voice, stuttering a little

ression of understanding on his flabb

" said S

om Poland, I thought I was goin' to die. A man can stand more than he thinks for.... I never thought I could stand being in the army, bein' a slave like an' all that, an' I'm still here. No

them both with a d

et transferred to our company. It's an Al bunch, ain't it, Eisenstein? We'

n here a few minutes

ed Fuselli. "

d if I

dows at home at Eastertime and the noise and bustle of San Francisco's streets. "God, I hate this rotten hole," he muttered to himself. He thought of Mabe. He made a noise with his lips. Hell, she was married by this time. Anyway Yvonne was the girl for him. If he could only have Yvonne to himself; far away somewhere, away from the other men and that damn frog and her old mot

d sniffed loudly

" he said. "Que d

laughing. Her glance had made him feel warm all over, and he leaned back in his chair again, looking at her slender body so

his head. She looked from him to the Frenchman pro

oulez-

onversation with the Frenchman again. Fuselli heard that uncomfortabl

ly she could hear, "what you

toi?" asked Yvonne

e

t, and then threw hack her head in

e long lines of grey motor trucks that were throbbing their way slowly through the main street, each with a yellow eye that lit up faintly the tailboards of the truck

anc at the other end of the square, from which came a sound of voices and of billiard balls clinking. He stood quiet letting the acrid cigarette smoke drift out through his nose, his ears full of the silvery tinkle of the water in the fountain beside him. There were little drifts of warm

nd he smiled as he remembered the little faces she used to make at him. He slunk past the shuttered windows of the shop and dove into the darkness under the arch that led to the court. He walked cautiously, on tiptoe, keeping close to the moss-covered wall, for he heard voices in the court. He peeped round the edg

ed to the other side, and was just about to pop himself in behin

rt thumping. The figure turned and in the dar

ou?" whispered the t

clenched. The blood flamed throug

itchen door, and at the dark shadow behind the hogshead. At last, after several smacking kisses, the women went away and the kitchen door closed. The bell in the church spire struck eleven slowly and mournfully. When it had ceased striking, Fuselli heard a discreet tapping and saw the shadow

e town were silent under the pale moon. In the square the fountain sounded loud and metallic. He gave up hi

a voice he knew. "Is my

d Fuselli; "I thought t

on the Red Sox outfield br

al till they saw I wasn't goin' to die right away, an' t

?" said Fuselli wi

? They ain't gone and got

xactly," s