@@@@@Had the General heard him say "My master's
@@@@@Had the General heard him say "My master's voice"? Aaah, to hell with him
"What do you need me for, General?"
"We'll discuss that when we get to the tent Between them for the moment there was some antagonismThey walked on in silence, their feet crunching into the gravel walkOnly one or two men passed by them in the darkness; with the night, almost all activity halted in the bivouacAbout them in the rough ellipse of their area Hearn could feel almost tangibly the ring of enlisted men sitting in their foxholes on guard"Quiet tonight," he muttered,
"Yes
At the entrance to the General's tent, another collision occurredHearn halted at the tent flaps to allow the General to precede him, and Cummings in turn put his hand on Hearn's back to indicate that he was to go firstThey both started at once, and Hearn sideswiped the General, felt him recoil a foot or two from the weight of Hearn's big body There was no answer for a moment, and in a little spasm of anger Hearn separated the flaps and walked in aheadWhen Cummings followed, his face was extremely pale and his lower lip showed the indentation of two teethEither the collision had hurt him more than Hearn had thought or he was disturbed enough to pinch his lipBut why? It would be more characteristic for Cummings to find amusement in the situation
Still defiant, Hearn sat down without permissionThe General seemed about to say something and then was silentHe took the other chair, which faced his desk, shifted it slightly to face Hearn, and stared at him impassively for almost a minuteHe had an entirely new expression on his face, one Hearn had never seen beforeThe bald gray eyes with their immense and startling white pupils seemed dulledHearn had the impression that he could touch the surface of Cummings's eyeballs, and the eyes would not blinkIn the slight pinch of his mouth, the constriction of the muscles at all the vertices of his face, there seemed a curious pain
With a little shock, Hearn wondered at the tensions that had made the General seek him outIt must have been humiliatingEven more, there was no artifice about it now, no suggestion of work for him on the General's clean furled deskHearn stared at the map of Anopopei that lay tacked to a large drawing bo