| His head smarted where Gallagher had struck him, his body tottered, but if they had not been marching he might have flung himself at the men, fought them until he was unconsciousNothing he could do was right, nothing would please themHe seethed, but with more than self-pity nowHe was the butt because there always had to be a buttA Jew was a punching bag because they could not do without one
His body was so smallThe rage was pathetic, but its pitifulness was unfairIf he had been stronger, he could have done somethingAnd even so, as he churned along the trail behind the men there was something different in him, something more impressiveFor these few minutes he was not afraid of the menHis body wavering, his head lolling on his shoulders, he fought clear of his exhaustion, straggled along oblivious of his body, alone in the new rage cartier love of his person
Croft, at the point, was worriedHe had not taken part when Roth had collapsedFor once he had been irresoluteThe labor of leading the platoon for so many months, the tensions of the three days with Hearn, had been having their effectHe was tired, his senses rasped by everything that went wrong; all the sullenness of the men, their fatigue, their reluctance to go on had been causing attritionThe decision he had made after Martinez's reconnaissance had drained himWhen Roth fell down the last time Croft had turned to go back to him and then had pausedAt that moment he had been too weary to do anythingIf Gallagher had not struck him, Croft might have interfered, but for once he was content to waitAll his lapses and minor failures seemed important to himHe was remembering with disgust his paralysis on the river when the cartier santos 100 chronograph Japanese had called to him; he was thinking of the combat since then, all the minor blank spots that had occurred before he could actFor once he was uncertainThe mountain still taunted him, still drew him forward, but it was with an automatic leaden response of his legsHe knew he had miscalculated the strength of the platoon, his own energyThere was only an hour or two until dark and they would never reach the peak before then
The ledge they were on was becoming narrowerA hundred feet above them he could see the top of the ridge, rocky and jagged, almost impossible to traverseFarther ahead the ledge rose upward and crossed the ridge and beyond should be the mountain peakIt could not be more than a thousand feet above themHe wanted to have the summit in view before they halted for the night
But the ledge was becoming dangerousThe rain omega ladies watch clouds had settled over them like bloated balloons, and they traveled forward in what was almost a fogThe rain was colder hereIt chilled them and their feet slid upon the damp rockAfter a few more minutes the rain obscured the ridge above them, and they inched along the ledge cautiously, their faces to the rock wall
The ledge was no more than a foot wide nowThe platoon worked along it very slowly, taking a purchase on the weeds and small bushes that grew out of the vertical cracks in the wallEach step was painful, frightening, but the farther they inched out along the ledge the more terrifying became the idea of turning backThey hoped that at any moment the ledge would widen again, for they could not conceive of returning over a few of the places they had already crossedThis passage was dangerous enough to rouse them temporarily chanel purse white from their fatigue, and they moved alertly, strung out over forty yardsOnce or twice they would look down, but it was too frighteningEven in the fog they could see a sheer drop of at least a hundred feet and it roused another kind of faintnessThey would become conscious of the walls, which were of a soft gray slimy rock that seemed to breathe like the skin of a sealIt had an odious fleshlike sensation which roused panic, made them want to hasten
The ledge narrowed to nine inchesCroft kept peering ahead in the mist, trying to determine if it would become widerThis was the first place on the mountain that demanded some skillUntil now it has been essentially a very high hill, but here he wished for a rope or a mountain pickHe continued along it, his arms and legs spread-eagled, hugging the rock, his fingers searching for crevices to latch chanel purses bags |
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