He had brought a razor with him, but he had not...
He had brought a razor with him, but he had not shaved yet this morning, and it made his face seem smaller"It ain't impossible, LootenantI've been looking at that mountain since yesterday morning and they's a break in the cliffs about five miles to the east of the passWe start out now and we can climb that damn thing in a day
There had been that look on Croft's face when they stared at it through the field glassesHearn shook his head again"We'll try it through the pass Undoubtedly they were the only two men who would want to try the mountain
Croft felt a curious mixture of satisfaction and fearThe thing was committed"All right," he said, his lips numb black and white chanel against his teethHe stood up and motioned the men to gather around him"We're gonna go through the pass," he told them
There was a sullen murmur from the platoon
"All right, you men, you can jus' cut it outWe're goin' that way, and maybe today you'll keep your eyes open Martinez stared at him and Croft shrugged meaninglessly
"What the fug good does it do if we got to fight our way through the goddam Japs?" Gallagher asked
"You can quit your bitching, Gallagher Croft surveyed them all"We're gonna get moving in five minutes so you all better get your ass in gear
Hearn held up his hand"Hold on, men, there's something I want to tell youWe sent Martinez out last prada bowler handbag night, and he reconnoitered the pass, and it was emptyThe chances are it's still empty Their eyes disbelieved him"I'll give you my word for one thingIf we run into anything, any ambushes, any Japs in the pass, we're turning right around and going back to the beachIs that fair enough?"
"Yeah," a few of them said
"Okay, then let's get ready
In a few minutes they started outHearn buckled his pack and hefted it to his shouldersIt was seven rations lighter now than it had been when they started, and it felt almost comfortableThe sun was beginning to give some warmth, which made him cheerfulAs they moved along out of the hollow he felt good; it was a new morning rolex diamond watch and it was impossible not to feel hopefulThe dejection, the decisions of the previous night seemed unimportantHe was enjoying this, but if he was, so much the better
Quite naturally he assumed the point and led the platoon toward the pass

A half hour later, Lieutenant Hearn was killed by a machine-gun bullet which passed through his chest
At the ledge that faced the first grove he had stood up casually, had been about to motion the others to follow him, when the Jap machine gun firedHe toppled back among the men gathered behind the shelf
The shock was acuteFor ten or twenty seconds the men in the platoon did nothing, squeezed themselves into the sale tiffany jewelry defilade of the rock, their arms covering their heads, while the Japanese rifles, the machine gun lashed above them
Croft reacted first, poked his rifle through a gap in the rocks and fired rapidly at the grove, listening dumbly to the flat pinging sound of his empty clip as it popped out of his rifleBeside him, Red and Polack had recovered enough to stand up and fire backCroft felt a deep release; at that moment his body was light"Come on, men, get some fire back," he bawledHis mind was working quicklyThere were only a few men in the grove, probably not even a squad, or they would have waited for the whole platoon to show itselfThis way, they wanted to frighten rolex watches online them