Bell for Adano, A - John Hersey [83]
Major Joppolo finished: “And that’s all it was, Liv ingston. I think I want to get this town the right bell more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”
Commander Robertson was the first one to speak: “Seems to me we ought to be able to find a bell,” he said.
“Lots of bells in the Navy,” said Robertson’s communications officer.
“It’s got to be just the right bell, though,” Livingston said.
“Yes,” Major Joppolo said, “that’s the important thing. It’s got to be the right bell. I wouldn’t want to give these people anything but just the right bell.”
Commander Robertson stood up and said: “Let me think, seems to me,” and he walked around the room.
Then he said: “I think maybe I can get just the kind of bell you want, Major.”
Major Joppolo said: “Do you really think you can?”
The Commander said: “I think maybe.”
Major Joppolo said: “If you can, I’m going to switch over to the Navy.”
The Commander said: “How would this be, Major? There’s destroyer, she’s named for an Italian-American, the U.S.S. Corelli, you know her, boys. Well, all destroyers have ship’s bells, they have to be loud and clear so that the men can hear them all over the ship, to tell the hours of the watches. I don’t know about you boys, but I think the sound I love better than anything in the world is the sound of the bell aboard the Stevenson. Of course we can’t ring it all the time while a war’s going on, but I don’t know, the sound of that bell means the whole ship to me. I think a ship’s bell could get to be that way for a town.”
Major Joppolo was looking out of the window. He was thinking. “Maybe it could,” he said.
Commander Robertson went on: “There’s a reason why the Corelli’s in on this invasion. You see, the Navy thinks about that kind of thing. There was something about Captain Corelli, the guy it was named for, he did something in the last war over here in the Mediterranean. Italy was our ally then, you know.”
Commander Robertson’s communications officer said: “We were talking about that the other day. Bradshaw seemed to know all about it, what’d he say, Red?”
The officer addressed as Red said: “I didn’t listen very carefully, it was something about going to the assistance of an Italian ship that was being attacked by a U-boat.”
“And was probably running away from itl” the communications officer added. “I guess the Navy had Corelh over here because he was a wop.”
Commander Robertson said: “There’s a good tie-in there, Major.”
Major Joppolo said: “Maybe it’s all right.” Lieutenant Livingston, who didn’t want to miss out on the credit which Major Joppolo had been handing out, said: “Do you think we could get the Corelli to give up her bell? You said you liked your bell so much: would you give it up?”
Commander Robertson said: “For a thing like this, if it was put to me in the right way, I think I would. The good thing is that Toot Dowling, he has the Corelli, he was in my class at the Academy, he used to substitute for me in football. Hell, I’m sure I could persuade him, if I could just find him.”
The communications officer said: “Wait a minute, I think I remember seeing something about the Corelli in that intercept that I decoded last night. Do you remember that, skipper?”
Commander Robertson said: “Yeah, that’s right, she was mentioned. That was all present whereabouts and future movements, wasn’t it? Can you remember what it said?”
The communications officer said: “No sir, I couldn’t possibly remember, there were too many ships in that thing. But I remember the Corelli was mentioned.”
Commander Robertson said to the communications officer: “Farley, would you mind going out to the ship and finding that order. I think we ought to tell the Major here whether there’s any chance of our helping him out. If the liberty boat isn’t at the dock, you can take my gig.”
“Yes sir,” the communications officer said.
While Farley was on his way out to the ship and back, the others talked about new things, but the Major did not enter much into the conversation. He was thinking. He was trying to imagine the