Bell for Adano, A - John Hersey [44]
The corporal of the guard came right back. “This way, brother,” he said.
He led Cacopardo to a man at a desk. “Name,” the man said gloomily. “Cacopardo. “
“Is that a first name, for godsake, or a last name?” the sour man said.
“That is the name of my family,” Cacopardo said. “How you spell that?”
Cacopardo spelled it out. The man wrote laboriously: Cacaporato.
“First name,” the unhappy man said. “Matteo. “
“Goddamit, you got to spell those Dago names.” Cacopardo spelled it and the man misspelled it. “Who you want to see?”
“General Marvin.”
“You haven’t got a chance of seeing him,” the man said. “Hell, there’s a war going on, Dago. What you want to see the General about?”
Cacopardo reached in his pocket for the tissue paper. “I can show you where are the Germans,” he said. “You’ll have to talk with G-two about that,” the man said, and he pointed with his pencil. “First door on the right, where it says Colonel Henderson.”
Cacopardo went to the door marked Colonel Henderson, and he knocked.
“Walk in, damn it,” a voice shouted. “General Marvin?” Cacopardo asked.
“Upstairs, upstairs,” the impatient voice, which belonged to a full colonel, said. Cacopardo started out. “Say, wait a minute.”
Cacopardo turned around. The Colonel said: “Who are you, anyway?”
“Cacopardo Matteo, I was sent to see General Marvin.”
“General Marvin doesn’t like Italians,” the Colonel said. “What do you want to see him about? You better not ask him for any favors, he’ll kick you out, personally, himself.”
Cacopardo reached in his pocket for the tissue paper. “I can show you where are the Germans,” he said. “You’ve got no business taking that kind of thing to General Marvin. What do you think we have a G-two section for around here? You can just show that to me.” “I was sent to see General Marvin. That is the one I am going to see.”
After an argument with Colonel Henderson, Cacopardo was sent upstairs under guard, was stopped and questioned by a sentry at the head of the stairs, was sent downstairs because he did not have a proper Division pass, was given a pass, was taken upstairs again, was questioned as to age, religion, political beliefs and sex by a sergeant, was interviewed by a staff officer who doubted whether the General would be free to see him, was referred to Colonel Middleton, the General’s Chief of Staff, was questioned by Colonel Middleton’s secretary, who thought the Colonel was busy, was finally admitted to Colonel Middleton, who, after an argument, agreed to see whether the General would see Cacopardo, which he doubted.
At the moment, General Marvin was playing mumblete-peg with Lieutenant Byrd, his aide. They had found that a certain magohany table took the knife beautifully. The General had just reached the double flip off the forehead.
Colonel Middleton walked in just as the General let the knife go off his forehead. The surprise of Colonel Middleton’s entrance was just enough to throw the General off his aim, and the knife clattered on the table and did not stick in. This annoyed the General. “Goddamit, haven’t I told you to knock, Middleton?” “Yes, sir. There’s an old Italian here wants to see you.” “Middleton, what’s the matter with you? Didn’t I tell you I didn’t want to see any more Italians?”
“Yes, sir. But this one seems to be above the average. He was sent to you by one of our people. He says he has some information you would want.”
“Well, dammit, show him in. What are you standing there for? Show him in.”
And so Cacopardo was finally brought into the pres-ence of the General. By this time he was just as angry as the General, and being some twenty years the General’s senior, he considered it his privilege to vent his anger first.
He found perfect expression for his anger in what he saw on the surface of the mahogany table.
“You are a barbarian,” he said.
This was not a very good way for old Cacopardo to begin with General Marvin, especially since he had two strikes against him to begin with: he had caught the General in a bad mood, and