From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [117]
“Corporal Miller,” The Warden said, “take this baby’s bayonet and put it away, he aint old enough to play with it yet. Then take Bloom over and sit him down on his bunk and see he stays there. Have him sit with his face to the wall, thats the way to punish children. The only thing he’s allowed to move for is to go to the latrine, and when he does you go with him, and see that he comes back, since he aint to be trusted out by himself. And dont forget to button his pants for him.
“Prewitt, I want you to do the same thing with baby Maggio. They’re both to stay there till time to report to the kitchen. And they talk to nobody. Looks like we have to fix up a couple dunces’ stools in this Compny.
“If either one of them gives you any back talk I want to know about it. They court-martial men for things like this, although it would be a shame to court-martial babies. Thats the only reason I dont have you both locked up, see?
“Now,” he said. “Is there any other little things for me to take care of? If not, maybe you punks’ll be quiet enough so I can get my goddam beauty sleep, ’ey?”
He turned and walked off disgustedly, back to his room, not even waiting to see if his orders were carried out. The men moved around steathily to do as they were told, and the squadroom settled down again with Maggio sitting in one corner and Bloom in the other, and nobody knew that The Warden lay down on his bunk dry mouthed, wiping the sweat of a near thing off his forehead, and made himself lay there for ten minutes before he would pass through the squadroom to get the drink of water that he needed very badly.
“He’s right,” Maggio whispered to Prewitt. “The Warden. He’s a damned good man, you know it?”
“I know it,” Prew whispered back. “He could just as easy have had you both in the Stockade. They dont come like him very often.”
“I’ve never even seen a dead man,” Maggio whispered. “Except my grandfather in his casket when I was a kid, and that made me sick.”
“Well I’ve seen them, no matter what The Warden says. I’ve seen a lot of them. They no different than dead dogs, once you get used to the idea.”
“Even dead dogs bother me,” Maggio whispered. “I made a mistake someplace, I guess, but I dont know where. I dont see how I could of done anything else, after that big stoop said a thing like that.”
“I’ll tell you where you made your mistake. Your mistake was you didnt hit him hard enough to put him out. He wouldnt have gone off his nut if he’d been unconscious. He might have laid for you after he come to, but I doubt even that.”
“My God,” Maggio protested, whispering. “I hit him hard as I could. His head must be solid ivory.”
“Personally,” Prew whispered, “I think it is. But if he ever fucks with me any more it wont be in the head I’ll hit him.”
“Just the same, I’m sure glad The Warden stopped us.”
“So am I,” Prew said.
Chapter 15
THEY SAT THAT WAY till the cook’s whistle shrilled up through the screens, calling them back to work. Then they went down, singly and silently, no one of them talking to any of the others. There was not much conversation and absolutely no horseplay on KP that night. For once even Bloom did not feel like talking. Probably he was still trying to figure out if whether, with the surprise ending the afternoon had taken, his honor had been smirched or not.
Even Stark noticed the gloominess of no talking and he came around to Prew to ask what had happened upstairs to cause such a profound dismalness. Prew told him, although it was obvious he had already heard about it, probably from someone who had run downstairs with the news right after it had happened, as someone always does, and he was only checking stories now and trying to get an inside account, instinctively, as good cops and good noncoms always do. But Prew was glad Stark had picked him to ask and, remembering what Stark had done this morning, he would have told him anyway.
“Maybe it’ll teach the big kike a lesson,” Stark said.
“Nothing will ever teach that guy a lesson.”
“I reckon yore right,” Stark said. “Jews never learn. They still think t