The Washington herald., 1922-09-24
The Beautiful
And Damned
By F. Scott Fitzgerald
Continued from Yesterdav.

The first week after tho arrival
OF Anthony's draft was filled with
series of interminable inocula-
tions and physical examinations.
and with the preliminary drilling
The days left him desperately tired.
He had been issued the wrong size
shoes by a popular, easy-going
supply sergeant, and in conse-
quence his feet were SO swollen
that the last hours Of the after
} noon were an acute torture. For
the first time in his life he could
throw himself down on his cot be-
tween dinner and afternoon drill.
| call, and seeming to sink with each
moment deeper into a bottomlesA
bed. drop off Immediately to sleep.
while the noise and laughter
around him faded to a pleasant
/ drone OF drowsy summer sound. In
| the morning he awoke stiff ano
aching, hollow as a ghost. and hur-
Ileu IOEtH " meet lHc OtHeT SHOsl-
/ Iy figures who swarmed in the wan
| company streets, while a harsh
| bugle shrieked and spluttered al
| the gray heavens.
He was in a skeleton infantry
| company of about a hundred men
| After the invariahle breakfast of
| fatty bacon. cold toast. and cereal.
the entire hundred would rush for
| the latrines. which, however well
policed. seemed always intolerable,
| like the lavatories in cheap hotels
Out on the field. then. in ragged
order-the lame man on his left
Erotesquely marring Anthonys
listless efforts to keep in step. the
platoon sergeants either showing
off violently to impress the officers
| and recruits, or else quietly lurk-
| ing in close TO the line of march.
avoiding both labor and unneces-
sary visibility.
When they reached the field.
work began Immediately - they
peeled off their shirts Eor calls
thenlcs. This was the only part of
the day that Anthony enjoyed.
Lieutenant Kretching, who presided
at the antics. was sinewy and mus
cular. and Anthony followed his
/ movements faithfully. with a feel
ing that he was doing something
of positive value to himself The
other officers and sergeants walked
about among the men with the
malice of schoolboys. grouping
here and there around some un-
I fortunate who lacked muscular
| control. giving him confused in
I structions and commands When
| they discovered a particularly for
| lorn. ill-nourished specimen. they
would linEer the full half-hour
making cutting remarks and snick
erinG among themselves.
One little officer named Hopkins.
who had been a sergeant in the
I regular army, was particularly an
| nOying. He took the war as a
/ gift of revenge from the high gods
| to himself. and the constant burden
/ of his haranEues was that these
/ rockies did not appreciate the full
| gravity and responsibility Of 'the
/ service" He considered that by a
| combination of foresight and
/ dauntless efficiency he had raised
| himself to his current magnificenCe.
/ He aped the particular tyrannies
| Of every officer under whom he had
/ served in times gone by. His
| frown was frozen on his brow
/ before giving a private a pass to
| go to town he would ponderously
weigh the effect Of such an absence
upon the company. the army, and
the welfare of the military pro-
/ fessiOn the world over.
| Lieutenant kretchinE, blond. dull
and phIegmatic. introduced An
/ thony ponderously to the prob
lens Of attention, right face. about
| face. and at ease. His principal
| defect was his forgetfulness. He
| often kept the company straining g
! and aching at attention for five
minutes while he stood out in front
and explained a new movement-as
| a result only the men in the center
/ knew what il was all about-those
! on both lanks had been too en-
! phatically impressed with the
! necessity of staring straight ahead.
| The drill continued until noon.
| 1t consisted of stressing success
/ sion OF lnnnltely remote ueIdllS,
/ and though Anthony perceived that
| this was consistent with the logic
| Of war. II none the less irritated
| him. That the same faulty blood
| pressure which would have been
| indecent in an officer did not in
/ terfere. with the duties of private
/ was prepOsterous incongruity
Sometimes. after listening to a
! sustained inyective concerned with
| a dull and, on the face of 1t, alb
| surd subject known as military
| Courtesy" he suspected that the
| dim purpose Of the war was to let
| the regular army officers-men
| with the mentality and aspirations
| of schoolboys-have their fling with
some real slaughter. He was be-
ing grotesquely sacrificed to the
twenty-year patience of a Hop
| kins,
OF his three tent-mates-a fiat
faced. conscientious objector from
| Tennessee, a big, scared Pole. and
the disdainful Celt whom he had
sat beside on the train-the two
former spent the evenings in writ
ing eternal letters home. while the
Irishman sat in the tent door
whistling over and over to himself
half dozen shrill and monotonous
| L;~l