@@@@@Polack threw a glance over his shoulder at
@@@@@Polack threw a glance over his shoulder at Croft and burst among the men shouting, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR? HERE COME THE BUGS!" Without pausing he ran past them, let loose a scream, and the platoon followed him, bolted in a new panicThey scattered over the floor of the amphitheater, continued on in the same spasm of effort over the next ridge, and down below to the valley, to the slopes of the rise beyondIn fifteen minutes they had fled beyond the point where they had started that morning
When Croft finally caught up with the platoon, gathered them together, he discovered there were only three rifles and five packs leftHe knew they could never make the climb againHe was too weak himselfHe accepted the knowledge passively, too fagged to feel any regret or painIn a quiet tired voice he told them to rest before they turned back to the beach to meet the boat
The return march was uneventfulThe men were wretchedly tired, but it was downhill work on the mountain slopesWithout any incident, they jumped the gap in the ledge where Roth had been killed, and by midafternoon descended the last cliffs, and set out into the yellow hillsAll afternoon as they marched they heard the artillery booming on the other side of the mountain rangeThat night they bivouacked about ten miles from the jungle, and by the next day they had reached the shore and joined the litter-bearersBrown and Stanley had come out of the hills only a few hours ahead of the platoon
Goldstein told Croft how they had lost Wilson, and was surprised when he made no commentBut Croft was bothered by something elseDeep inside himself, Croft was relieved that he had not been able to climb the mountainFor that afternoon at least, as the platoon waited on the beach for the boats that were due the next day, Croft was rested by the unadmitted knowledge that he had found a limit to his hunger



14

THE BOAT picked them up the next day and they started on the journey backThis time the landing craft had been equipped with eighteen bunks along the bulkheads and the men put their equipment in the empty ones and stretched out to sleepThey had been sleeping ever since they had come out of the jungle the preceding afternoon, and by now their bodies had stiffened and become painfulSome of them had missed a meal that morning but they were not hungryThe rigors of the patrol had left them depleted in many waysThey drowsed for hours on the return trip, awaking only to lie in their bunks and stare out at the sky above the open boatThe craft pitched and yawed, spray washed over the sides and the bow ramp, but they barely noti