OCR Text |
Show Flying - 46 "Friendly looking place," says John Henry, homesick at the sight of trees, wishing he had never left the Catskills. "Damn sight better looking country than we got around here." "That'll cost you a quarter, soldier," says a loud and cheerful voice behind him. Standing by the bed, golden-haired and crisply uniformed, is the chaplain, who is holding out his glass jar to John Henry and obviously expects something. "That's the chaplain's cuss jar," says an old-timer from across the aisle. "Cuss jar?" says John Henry blankly. "Cuss jar," says the old timer. "Every time he catches you cussing, you got to put in a quarter. Goes to the old soldiers' home in Austin." "For God and Country," says the chaplain, still holding out the jar and smiling a manly and a Christian smile. John Henry puts in a quarter from his winnings and the chaplain marches off towards B company, where there are a lot of new men. Virgin territory over there. Tex puts away the picture of his birthplace. "Good thing I didn't have to give him no quarter," he says. "I only got thirty cents left to last me till payday." "Yeah? Well, you live close enough so you can go home and get some money, I guess," says John Henry. "I sure wish I lived close enough to do that." |