@@@@@"I won't have any more of this It silenced
@@@@@"I won't have any more of this
It silenced them all, cast a hush through the tent in which even the clacking of the tableware was muted, and then the reaction set in with a chorus of whispers and small exclamations, an uncomfortable self-conscious return to the food before themHearn was furious with himself, disgusted by the relief he had felt when the General intervened
Beneath the surface of his thoughts he had known, he realized now, that the General would protect him, and an old confused emotion caught him again, resentment and yet something else, something not so genuine
Conn, Dalleson and Hobart were glaring at him, a trio of ferocious marionettesHe brought his spoon up, champed at the remote sweet pulp of the canned peach which mingled so imperfectly with the nervous bile in his throat, the hot sour turmoil of his stomachAfter a moment he clanked the spoon down, and sat staring at the tableConn and Dalleson were talking self-consciously now like people who know they are being listened to by strangers on a bus or trainHe heard a fragment or two, something about their work for the afternoon
At least Conn would be having indigestion too
The General stood up quietly, and walked out of the tentIt gave permission for the rest of them to leaveConn's eyes met Hearn's for a moment and they both looked away in embarrassmentAfter a minute or so, Hearn slid off the bench, and strolled outsideHis clothing was completely wet, the air caressing against it like cool water
He lit a cigarette and strolled irritably through the bivouac, halting when he reached the barbed wire, and then pacing back underneath the coconut trees, staring morosely at the scattered clusters of dark-green pup tentsWhen he had completed the circuit, he clambered down the bluff that led to the beach, and walked along through the sand, kicking abstractedly at pieces of discarded equipment still left from invasion dayA few trucks motored by, and a detail of men shuffled in file through the sand carrying shovels against their shouldersOut in the water a few freighters were anchored, yawing lazily in the midday heatOver to his left a landing craft was approaching a supply dump
Hearn finished the cigarette and nodded curtly to an officer passing byThe nod was returned, but after a doubtful pauseHe was going to be in for it now, there was no getting away from thatConn was a bloody fool, but he had been a bigger assIt was the old pattern; when he could take something no longer he flared up, but that was weakness in itsel