"Hey, Sergeant, I'm gonna be a cook, I hate to...
"Hey, Sergeant, I'm gonna be a cook, I hate to leave ya
"Aaah, get the hell out, you're a bunch of goddam women," Croft drawled
And this seemed funniest of allThey held weakly onto the stanchions of their bunks"Do I have to leave now, Sergeant? There's a lot of water," Polack bawledIt rushed through them in a succession of confused waves like water ripples spreading out from a stone only to be balked by other wavelets formed by another stoneEvery time someone opened his mouth they roared again, wild hysterical laughter, close to tearsThe boat shook from it
It died down slowly, erupted again several times like fire licking out from fendi spy under a blanket, and finally wore itself outThere was nothing left but their spent bodies and the mild pleasure they found in releasing the tension upon their cheek muscles, soothing the ache of laughter in their chests, wiping their freshened eyesAnd it was replaced by the flat extensive depression which overlay everything
Polack tried to revive it again by singing but only a few of them joined him

"Roll me over
In the clover
Roll me over,
Lay me down
And do it again

Ha' past three
I had her on my knee
Lay me down,
Roll me over,
Do it again
Roll me over in the clover

Their voices piped out feebly, lost in the white ceramic chanel watch flat placid washes of the blue seaTheir boat chugged along, the motors almost smothering the sound

"Ha' past four
I had her on the floor
Lay me down,
Roll me over,
Do it again

Croft got out of his bunk and peered over the side, staring moodily at the waterHe had not been told the date on which the campaign had been won, and he made the error of assuming it was the day they had failed on the mountainIf they had been able to climb it, the campaign would have depended upon themHe did not even question thisIt was a bitter certainty in his mindHis jaw muscles quivered as he spat over the side

"Ha' past five
We began to tiffany knockoff jive

They sang as if they were playing chimes, Polack and Red and Minetta, gathered together at the sternAt every pause Polack would blow out his cheeks and go "Waah-waaaah," like a trumpet when it is fanned with a muteGradually it was catching the others"Where's Wilson?" one of them shouted, and they all stopped for a momentThey had heard the news of his death but it hadn't registeredAnd suddenly he was deadThe knowledge shocked them, loosed the familiar unreality of war and death, and the song wavered over a syllable or two"I'm gonna miss that old sonofabitch," Polack said
"C'mon, let's keep going," Red mutteredGuys came and guys rolex watches ladies went, and after a while you didn't even remember their names
"Roll me over in the clover
They passed a bend in the island and saw Mount Anaka in the distance"Boy, did we climb that?" Wyman asked
Some of them scrambled up the side, pointing out slopes of the mountain to each other, arguing whether they had climbed each particular ridgeThey had a startled pride in themselves"It's a big sonofabitch
"We did okay to go as far as we did
That was the main sentimentAlready they were thinking how they would tell it to their buddies in other platoons
"We just got lost in the shuffleEverybody's gonna have a story to tell
And that pleased them gucci backpack