Walk in Hell

"Yes, suh," Cinci

"I don't know anything about that," Ke

Cinci

A sentry near the trucks wore one of the helmets that made U.S. soldiers look as if they had kettles on their heads. He carried a Springfield with a long bayonet, which he pointed at Cinci

"Lieutenant Ke

For a moment, he wondered if there'd be no Lieutenant Straubing, and if Ke

But the sentry, though he didn't lower the rifle, did nod. "Stay right here," he said, as if Cinci

Colored fellow. It was just a description. Cinci

"Oh. Yes, suh." Cinci

"He says you can drive a truck," Straubing said. He waited for Cinci

"Couple-three years before the war started," Cinci

Lieutenant Straubing cocked his head to one side. "You don't hardly look old enough to have been driving that long." For a moment, Cinci

"Reckon I can," Cinci

"All right. Show me. The key's in it." Lieutenant Straubing scrambled up into the truck, sliding over to the passenger's half of the front seat.

Cinci

"Pull out of the line and take me on a spin through town. Be back here in, oh, twenty minutes or so," Lieutenant Straubing told him over the growl of the motor.

"Yes, suh," Cinci

They didn't get back to the parked trucks in twenty minutes. They had a blowout not five minutes after getting on the road. Cinci

Cinci

Some white men hated Negroes, plain and simple. He'd met a good many of those before having the imperfect delight of busting his hump for Lieutenant Ke

He'd even had white men grateful to him: Tom Ke

He didn't feel any of that from Lieutenant Straubing. The way Straubing was acting, they might both have been white-or, for that matter, they might both have been black. He'd never run into that from Confederate white men. He hadn't run into it from Yankees, either, not till now. He didn't know how to react to it.

Straubing suddenly spoke up: "You can go on back now, Cinci

"It's what I'm makin' now, most days," Cinci

"I thought longshoreman's rate was a dollar a day," Straubing said with a small frown. Then he laughed-at himself. "And I'm a dimwit. I think half the reason Ke

Now Cinci

"You're changing jobs-you ought to do better for yourself," Straubing said. "Hmm. Can you read and write?"

Cinci