362
PARTISAN REVIEW
"What's he say?"
I told Smitty. I saw the lieutenant run out the side door. Smitty
took a step toward the Volkswagon, and the other Russian made a
move with his burp gun. Smitty whirled and caught him on the
side of the face with the rifle stock and knocked him flat. He shoved
the rifle into the sergeant's face.
((Reraus!"
"Put that gun down, Smitty!" the lieutenant bellowed. "Drop
it. You hear me, you dumb screwball!" He ran up and pulled the
rifle away from Smitty. "Now get into the CP and wait till I come
for you. On the double!"
The sergeant climbed out of the Volkswagon. He glared sullenly
at the lieutenant. The lieutenant apologized. The Russian answered
harshly in his native tongue. I helped him raise his comrade. He
shook me off and lifted the man easily. He was surprizingly strong
for so little a man. He hoisted his comrade into the cart. He shouted
back at us and smacked the horses with his reins.
"That's just great," the lieutenant said. "I knew that dumb
hillbilly was going to make trouble."
But Smitty was not in the mood to be threatened by rank. The
passivity of the rear echelons to Russian offensiveness was intolerable
to his trigger finger, which knew the simplicity of justice. That
baggy little Russian, claiming the privileges of our town, usurping
the domain we had conquered, was someone to be wiped out. He
meant, wiped out. Squashed, then smothered in a rag, then dumped
in the refuse pile where other corpses were heaped. "No, I ain't go–
ing to apologize!" he raged at the lieutenant. "I ain't going to bend
down to garbage. I don't care about no court-martial. He don't be–
long here and he ain't going to come into our town, right up to
our CP, and take whatever he fancies. You can lock me up for it,
lieutenant, but you won't make me apologize."
The lieutenant was too sympathetic to maintain his indign<lition.
He told Smitty he shared his feelings. "But you put me in a rough
position, Smitty. What am I supposed to do if his officer complains?
I got my orders. I told you before-I told you about the krauts and
I told you about the reds-we got nothing to do with justice. That
isn't our line."
"You do what you got to, lieutenant." Smitty sat on the bed
of his sweetheart with his fists clenched. His eyes bulged behind
his
spectacles. "I don't CMe. You got to court-martial me, go ahead. I
