The Washington times., 1931-11-20
CHAPTER 35

Everything is topsy-turvy.
There is Bosse, for instance,
the standing joke of the whole
company, who was always hav'
ing jokes played on him be-
cause he was such a poor fool.
Out there he used to be so
dirty that more than once we
had to put him under the
pump. And now here he is sit
ting among us in a flash,
worsted suit, with a pearl tie
pin and spats, quite a well-to-
do fellow with a big line Of
talk. And beside him Is Adolf
Bethke, who lowered above
him so out there that he was
glad if Bethke would so much
as speak to him. And yet
Bethke is now suddenly moth
ing but a poor village cobbler
with a bit of a farm holding.
And Ludwig Breyer-instead Of
q lieutenant's uniform he now
wears a shiny, too tightly fit
ting school suit with a boys
knitted cravat tied askew
around his neck; and his for
mer batman is slapping him
familiarly on thc back, once
more the plumber in a large
way and owner of fine premises
on the main business street.
Then, there is Valentin-under
his ragged, open tunic is an
old blue-and.white sweater. He
looks like a tramp, but, my
God, what a soldier! And Led.
derhose, the dirty dog, sitting
there alongside him, full of i'm
portance in a shiny top hat
and a canary-yellow mackin-
tosh, and smoking English
cigarettes! It is all turned bot
tom up!
Still that might pass. But even
the talk is different, and that
comes from the clothes, too.
Fellows who formerly wouldn't
have said boo to a goose are
now playing the heavy uncle.
The men with good clothes
have a patronizing air and
those with shabby ones are for
the most part silent. A school
master, who was formerly
corporal and a bad one at that,
condescends to ask Karl and
Ludwig about their examina-
tion. If were Ludwig, I'd pour
my beer down his neck. Karl,
thank heaven! makes a few un-
flattering remarks about educa.
tion and examinations and the
rest Of it and extols buSi:-ess
and trade instead.
The talk here makes me quite
Ill I would rather we had never
come together again; then, at
least, we might still have pre-
served a memory. In vain do
try to picture all these fellows
in dirty uniforms again, and
this Kornersmann's restaurant
as canteen in the rest area. It
cannot be done. The things
here are stronger-the things
that differentiate us from one
another are too powerful. The
common interest is no longer
decisive. It has broken up al
ready and given place to the
interest Of the individual. Now
and then something still will
shine through from that other
time when we all wore the same
rig, but already it is dwindled
and dim. These others here are
still our comrades and yet our
comrades no longer-that is
what is so sad. All else went
west in the war, but comrade-
ship we did believe in; now
only to find that what death
could not do, life is achieving;
it is driving us aSunder.
Could Not BeIiSve It
But we are unwilling to be-
Ieve it. We all sit down at one
table together-Ludwig, Albert,
Karl, Adolf, Willy, Tjaden,
Valentin. A feeling of gloom is
over us.
Anyway, We'll stick together,
says Albert, glancing toward
the big room We agree and
shake hands on it, whilst over
yonder the good clothes are al
ready beginning to draw their
chairs closer together. We do