@@@@@For the first time he remembered that he had
@@@@@For the first time he remembered that he had a child, and he wondered what it looked like and what its sex might beIt gave him a delicate joy for an instant, and he thought, If it's a boy, I'm gonna train him earlyHe'll be a pro baseball player, that's where the money isHis thoughts eddied away, and his mind became rested and emptyHe looked moodily at the dense jungle behind him, and wondered how far he would have to walk backThe wind was still sweeping along the beach, and his emotions became vague and shifted about like vaporsHe was sad again and thought of cold and lonely things like wind on a winter beach
It was a shame such a misfortune had to come to Gallagher, Roth thoughtThe men had taken an hour break from the unloading detail to eat their K rations, and Roth had gone for a stroll along the beachHe was thinking now of the way Gallagher had looked when he came back from his walkHis eyes had been very red, and Roth decided he had been cryingStill, he takes it well, Roth sighed to himselfHe's an ignorant fellow, no education, he probably doesn't have so many feelingsRoth shook his head and continued to trudge through the sandAbsorbed in thought, his chin rested almost on his chest and it emphasized the misshapen humped appearance of his back The great rain cloud that had spread over them that morning had blown away and the sun was very hot on his green fatigue capHe stopped, and mopped his foreheadThis tropical weather is uncertain, he told himself, very unhealthy, it's miasmalHis legs and arms ached from the labor of carrying the boxes from the boat to the dump, and he sighedI'm too old for this kind of thingIt's all right for someone like Wilson or Ridges or even Goldstein, but it's not for meA wry smile played over his mouthI figured that Goldstein out wrong, he said to himself, for his height he's built very well, he's a strong fellow, but he's changed, I don't know what's the matter with himHe's very gloomy all the time, he's got a chip on his shoulderThere's been something the matter with him ever since that first squad came back from the front; it's the combat, I suppose, it makes changes in a ma