Evening star., 1936-06-21
Mosozine Section

man stepped up with half salute.
"Cortot," said the Major, II want
you to go back to the position and
stay till morning"
He didn't want to go at all, Lieu
tenant Cortot, officer de HdisOn! He
didn't want to 60 back to that sinister
little fiat back there, afoat in the
night! There was moment of silence.
But" he said weakly. 81 have not
my blankets. :"
you can get blankets" said the
Major.
There was another short silence.
Then Cortot said, Very we'll" And
then he did something strange, or at
least that seemed strange to us Amer
leans. "BonSor. mon cOnmandant." he
said. and shook hands with Sandholt.
"Bonsoir. Monsieur" he said. and
shook hands with me.
He turned, and vanished in the
might, toward the shelling, the cold,
the uncertainty back there near the
lines while We, leaping into our car,
rolled toward our cellars, our holes,
our homes. | was not feeling as salts
fed as l had expected l would feel. l
was triumphing only with difficulty. |
was, in fact. falling back on logic.
After all, that was the logical thing
to do" kept saying to myself. ut
is fact that the French captain up
there should have an interpreter"
We rolled through my village with
out stopping, and went on with the
Major, who had promised me better
cellar, and maybe a bit of fire in an
old fireplace at his quarters, and who
had said something about bacon and
eggs. Everything, when we arrived
at his quarters, was up to promises.
The upper floor of the house that he
occupied was gone, but the remaining
story was shored up with great beams
and thickened with sand bags; trap
in the center lead to the cellar; and
there was fireplace, big black
cavern in which little brush fire
burned thinly. We sat before the fire
and drank coffee, and the orderly
brought bacon and eggs.
But a picture was still teasing my
mind, and after a while I heard myself
saying, THE way those Frenchmen
shake hands! Eh, Major? They shake
hands when they meet you, when they
leave you; they shake hands at the
post-office, at the cafe, at the church:
they're always shaking hands,
The Major blinked at me. "Oh," he
said after moment, you're speaking
lof old Cortotr'
1t was my turn to blink. I said
softly, why do you call him old,
Major?"
The Majors eyes were round upon
me. Because he is old" he said. "Old
as Methuselah. No, not quite that old.
But I'll tell you how old he is. He's
come to his age limit - and you know
what this is, in the French army in this
war! He's being retired for good; he
has only few days more. No, wait
minuter' He went to the boxes nailed
above his desk. searched a moment
and came back with paper.
It's tonight he exclaimed. "He
has only twenty-four hours more -
less than that. Tomorrow - or today,
since it's one in the morning now -
he leaves us at midnight, through with
the army and the war foreverr The
Major stretched his legs out to the
FIRE, and began to chuckle.
Hes been funny to watch, these
last two weeks" he said, amused. "He
told us his time was almost up. And
gentlemen he said. Just watch me be
prudent! 1t would be very bad joke
If. after those last three years, I'd
now get what you call bumped of with
only few days left. am going to be
yer-er-ery carefulI
And he wasr said the Major.
"Never a move, a gesture beyond
-