The Ely miner., 1943-08-05


extent that" and he went on and
on. After that we began at the be-
ginning of the manual of arms and
took each command slowly. The
corporal sweated for forty-fve min
utes.
''Are there any questions now, Pri-
vate Hargrove?"
I thought for while. "Yes, sir, ("
I said. ''That is, yes, corporal
What use will have for rifle? I'm
going to be cook"
The corporal mopped his brow.
"Well, Private Hargrove," he said,
patting me lovingly on the shoul-
der, you'll find use for it. Ha! ha!
In the first place, you can peel po-
tatoes with a bayonet. And in the
second place-if you're as good a
cook as you are soldier-you'll
need it every day. After breakfast,
lunch, and supper you'll need it to
protect yourself from murder at the
hands of your comrades in arms. "
Ia
''See here, Private Hargrove," the
sergeant sighed. "Can't you try
just once to do something right2
Don't you want to be a credit to the
platoon? You don't want us to be the
worst bunch in the battery after
we've been the best for so long, do
your"
'Please, sergeant" I begged him,
Couldn't I just stay inside for this
once? They'd never miss me at rifle
inspection. I'd be very quiet and
nobody would ever know
He ignored the request. "Try hard
to remember, private, these few
simple things. When the officer
reaches the man next to you, open
the rifle. When he grabs your gun,
don't hang onto it or you'll have a
bellyache for two weeks. When he
throws it back to you, don't catch it
with your chin. And when you get
it back, snap the trigger. And heav-
en- help you if you ball this thing
up!'
The forces of Destiny placed me
second in the front rank at inspec-
ton. We stood at attention for three
minutes before the inspecting Off
Ger approached. For seconds after
we brought our rifles up for inspec-
ton, fly which seemed to be lit
tie larger than June bug landed on
my forehead. The sergeant shot a
warning glance across my bow and
I decided to humor the fly. It would
go away soon, told myself, al
though I knew it wouldn't.
The inspecting officer still had not
begun his rounds. He was waiting
for us to get off our guard. The
fly demonstrated its impatience by
stepping up to double-quick in its
pacing. "Oh, if I only had you
alone!" I thought. The itching nose
became more insistent. A gnat made
a three-point landing on it and began
playing about the left nostril.
I gave the sergeant a glance
which said distinctly, "This can't
go on much longer. Something's GO
ing to pop!" His return glance said,
in italicized words, "Bat just one
eyelash and I'll break your neck!"
Suddenly the inspecting officer
grabbed the rifle from the hand of
Grafenstein, who stood beside me.
His lightning swoop on the gun, cou-
pied with the speed with which Graf
enstein relinquished it, completely
paralyzed me. An almost inaudible
groan made me look at the sergeant.
He was making furious grimaces at
me and his face looked as if he was
going to burst blood vessel. He
kept wagging his eyes down to the
bolt of my rifle. A split second be-
fore the officer reached me, I man.
aged to pull the bolt.
I could see the sergeant unload
ing freight carloads of potatoes for
me to peel. I could see the next
weekend, with me restricted to quar-
ters while the rest of the platoon en-
joyed themselves in town.
The officer reached me several
lifetimes later. He looked at nv
face and sighed YEARLY. Then. with
infinite tenderness, he gently lifted
the rifle from my grasp. He inspect
ed it and handed it back to me as
though he was laying a brick on an
orchid or giving a UNDERGROUND
weight to mis- aged grandmother. He
sighed again and passed on to the
next man, whose rifle he grabbed
with the confidence that the man
wouldn't fall apart when he snatched