"Roberto!" "You promised." " Adios, Kashkin." " Adios, Roberto." "Oh, hola, Americano." " Hello." " Hola, amigo." "Get back!" " Help yourself, Jordan." " General Golz!" "What an accent." "He even knows me in the dark." "That's all we have in Spain now:" "Accents." "Eh, Jordan?" "Yes, I was looking for you when the lights went out." "I saw you." "How did it go?" "The train." " All right." " Mm-hmm." "And, uh, Kashkin?" " He caught one." " Huh?" " He didn't want to be taken alive." " Oh." " So it was like that." " Yes." "Murder." " Orders are orders." " I still say it was murder." "Well, in this business, Jordan, remember nothing." "Nothing except the next job." " What's next?" " A bridge." " Oh, a bridge." " Right." "To blow the bridge is nothing." "But to blow it at the stated hour and the time set for the attack, that's a horse of another color, as you Americans say." " Attack?" " Yes." "At last we take the offensive." "Oh, it will be beautiful attack." "On paper it looks wonderful." "And if it succeeds..." "No, I will not say "if."" "This time, it must succeed, and it will." "What I've told you, Jordan, is known only to the General's staff." "Our only chance to succeed is by a surprise attack." "Now, here's the bridge, over a deep gorge." "It's the only way the enemy can bring up reinforcements." "Tanks, artillery, troops..." "all must come over this bridge." "I must know absolutely it is gone." "Not before the attack." "They'd rebuild it." "It must go the minute the attack starts." "No sooner, no later." "So, the bridge is nothing." "But suppose their soldiers are sitting on it when it's time to blow it." "You know, sentries on both ends." "What do you do then?" "In our country, General, they say never blow a bridge 'til you come to it." "Good." "That's good." "You joke." "In this business, one should joke a little." "I am so serious." "It's why I can joke." " You think you can get through the enemy lines tomorrow night?" " Sure." "Good." "That will give you three days to prepare for the dynamiting." "Wait for the attack at dawn, after the third night." "Mm-hmm." "How will I know the exact time?" "Well, use these." "Listen." "First, we attack from the air." "When our planes fly over, you'll hear the explosions." "That's your time." "Oh, uh, I've got a good guide for you:" "An old man named Anselmo." "But good." "Knows the country like a fox, and, uh, the people to help you." "Now go and find yourself a pretty girl." " But first, get a haircut." " Is that an order, General?" " Why not?" " I don't like your barber." "Up the gorge to the left is the bridge." " Sentry boxes, huh?" " At each end, Roberto." "Always two sentries on guard." "Where do the sentries live?" "At the roadmender's hut, across the bridge." "You can't see it from here." "The other post is on this side, in that old sawmill." " How many men at the sawmill?" " Eight and the corporal." "The other post..." "how many men?" "Maybe more." "We'll find out." "Look!" "They always spit in the gorge." "It brings luck." "I wish I could spit that far." " Roberto." " Hmm?" "That sentry..." "He looks like a man from my village." "He's very young." "He must die?" "You couldn't do it, Anselmo?" "I would kill the sentry, yes, considering the necessity of the bridge." "But if I live later," "I'll try to live in such a way, doing no harm to anyone, that it will be forgiven." "Come on." "Let's get this dynamite where it'll be safe." " You wait here, Roberto." " Oh, I can make it, Anselmo." "You want to be shot at carrying these?" "No, not even in a joke." "Go ahead." "Roberto." "He's the boss here, Roberto." "Very strong man." " I can see." " Foreigner." "And a friend." "Didn't the old man tell you?" "I'm asking you." "I'm here for the republic." "You know those seals, don't you?" "S.I.M., Service of Military Intelligence." "This is the seal of the General's staff." "They command for the republic." "In these mountains, I command." "No one else." " What's that?" " Dynamite." "Good." "I can use dynamite." " How much you bring me?" " None." " What's your name?" " What's that to you?" "Pablo." "He's Pablo." " What for?" " A bridge." " What bridge?" " That's my business." " In this country, foreigner, it's my business." " Is that the way to talk?" " Do you want to die?" " No." " Shut your mouth." " But didn't you hear what this comrade said?" " He comes for the republic!" " Anselmo." "Help us get this stuff up to your camp, will you?" "The old man's tired." "Hola." "What is it that comes?" "The old man and the dynamiter." "Hey, that, that stuff." "Not in the cave." " What are you making?" " A trap for foxes." "See?" "Very practical." "He catches rabbits." "If a gypsy catches rabbits, he says it's foxes." "If he catches a fox, he would call it an elephant." " And if I catch an elephant?" " You'd say it was a tank." "I'll get me a tank, old man." "Someday I'll get me a tank, and you can call it what you please." "Gypsies talk much, kill little." " I'm going for wine." " Bring a cup for me." " Hey, you have wine, huh?" " And plenty of it." " We eat like generals here." " He eats like ten generals." " What do gypsies do in the war?" " They keep on being gypsies." " Well, that's a good job." " The best." " How do they call you?" " Roberto." "And you?" "Rafael." "Oh, wine!" " There will be food soon." " Food!" "You have tobacco, huh?" "Yeah." "I know these." "Much air and little tobacco." "Ah, we eat!" " Hola." " Hola." "That's the way I comb it." "Go ahead and eat." "Hey." "Bread." "How are you called?" "Maria." "And you?" "Roberto." "Been here long?" "This long." "Three months." "They shaved my head in Valladolid." "I was on the train." "They were taking me south." " The train Pablo blew at Talavera." " Yeah." "Many of the prisoners were caught again, but they saved me." "They and Pilar." "We found her hiding in the rock... where she'd run from the train." "You should have seen her when we brought her here." "No hair at all!" "Cried all the time, and if anyone touch her, she'd shiver like a wet dog." "Man, but she was ugly." "God's truth, Roberto, though gypsies usually lie." "She looked like a half-drowned kitten." "Hey." " You blow trains?" " I have." " Here?" " No, in Estremadura." "In another six months, it'll grow out." "Are you, uh, his woman?" "Pablo's?" "You've seen Pablo." " I've seen Rafael too." " No." "No, not the gypsy." "This is a very strange woman, Roberto." "Is of no one." "But she cooks well." "Really?" "No one?" "No one." "No one." "Nor of you, either." "No." "No, I have no time for women." "No?" "Maria." "Maria!" "Who's that?" "Pablo's woman, Pilar." "She's something barbarous, but brave!" "Wah!" " Hundred times braver than Pablo." " Pablo was brave in the beginning." "Sure." "He killed more people than the cholera." "At the start of the movement, he killed more people than the bubonic plague." "But Pilar..." "she's something barbarous!" " Mmm!" " Gypsy's afraid of her." "Why not?" "She has a strong hatred for me." " Why?" " She treats me as a time waster." " She doesn't like gypsies." " What an injustice." "She has gypsy blood herself." "She knows of what she speaks." "But she has a tongue." "It bites like a bull whip!" "What are you saying now, you lazy, unspeakable son of an unmentionable gypsy?" "Answer me, gypsy." "I was telling this comrade what a kind woman you are, Pilar." " Liar!" " This one comes as a dynamiter." "I know that." "Relieve Andres." "He's on guard at the top." "I go, Pilar." "I go." "I'll see you, Roberto, at the hour of eating." "Not even in a joke!" "Three times today you've eaten." " And I can eat twice more." " Get out of here." " And send me Andres." " Eh." " Hola, Ingles." "How are you, and how's everything in the republic?" " Good." " Both good." " I'm happy." "What was that gypsy saying about me?" "He said you were much woman." "And I'd say he's right." "And what were you saying to the girl before I came out?" " Mmm, nothing." " I saw how she was from seeing you." " I only joked with her." " Jokes." "Listen to me, Ingles." "She's young." "Not hardened as we are." "And she's had a bad time, the worst time a woman can have, you understand?" " Yes, I guess so." " I'm worried about her." "When do you leave here?" "In three days..." "if I'm still alive." "What made you say that?" "That way of speaking never brings luck." "Let me see your hand." "Well?" "Nothing." "I saw nothing." "What you come for?" "Blow another train?" "No, a bridge." "All the better." "Now we have causes." "Let's blow all the bridges and get out." "I'm sick of this place." "We are all rotting here because there is no fighting." "Nothing to do but watch Pablo get drunk." "This life is ruining him." " Tell me, what did you see in my hand?" " I saw nothing." "Yes, you did." "I'm only curious, Pilar." "I don't believe in such things." " In what do you believe?" " In my work." " I saw that." " What else?" "Nothing else." "A bridge is very difficult, you said." " No, I said it was important." " But it can be very difficult." "Yes." "I'm going back there to look it over again." " How many men have you got here?" " Five that are good." "The gypsy's worthless, although his intentions are good." "Pablo I no longer trust." "Thanks." "I like your way of speaking." "I try to speak frankly." " Then tell me what you saw in my hand." " No." "I saw nothing else." "Go now to the bridge." "I look after your equipment." "Let me tell you again, Ingles." "I'm glad you've come." "We will understand each other." "Are they not well outside?" "I don't want dynamite in here." "We have fire." "It's far from the fire." "Smoke?" "How goes it, gypsy?" " Is she gonna let you eat again?" " Why not?" "Is there wine?" "Not much left." "Well, in that case, I'll have a cup of water." "Maria, is there any water left?" "It's too strong or I'd give you some." "I'd offer it to you, Pablo, but there's not much left." " I have wine." " What drink is that?" "Medicine." "Wanna taste it?" " What's it for?" " It changes your ideas." "Yeah?" "Bitter as gall!" "I'd rather be sick than have that medicine." "That's the wormwood." "I'm glad you don't like it because there's not much left." "What are you saying there?" "I was explaining the medicine." "Maria." " What's that?" " The bridge." "Showing the construction." "Look how it seems." "Why, that's the bridge itself." " How do you blow up bridge?" " That's what I'm figuring out." "No!" "I don't go for the bridge." "Neither me nor my people." "Then we'll do it alone." "Old one?" "Yes." "Without this coward." "Hey, you." "What did you say?" "Nothing for you." "I spoke to Roberto." "My orders are to blow the bridge." "And I say no." "In these mountains, we hide." "My business is to take care of my people, and I-I know my business." "Live one place." "Fight somewhere else." "Fight, raid, blow trains, bridges, but a way off." "Not here where they will hunt us." "You'll clear out." "Get away to the Gredos." "You've got horses." "I have five horses and eight people!" "You and the old man with the loud mouth make ten." "Now if this bridge is blown, we will be hunted." "Hunted from the earth, from the air." "Yeah." "Explosions will fall from the sky... on my horses." "Until you had horses, you were one of us." "Now you're rich with horses." "You want to retire." "A lie." "You no expose the horses for the cause." "To eat well, yes." "To steal, yes." "To murder, yes." "To fight for the republic, no." "You're an old man who will make trouble with his mouth." "I'm an old man not afraid to fight." "I'm an old man without horses." "You're an old man who might not live long." "I'm an old man who will live until I die." "You will blow no bridge here." " No?" " No." "No bridge." "Pilar." " What do you say?" " I am for the bridge." "And for the republic." "What's that, woman?" "I am for the bridge and against you, nothing more." "What you say, Primitivo?" "I am also for the bridge." " Fernando?" " To me, the bridge means nothing." "I'm for the woman of Pablo." " Andres?" " Yes, equally." "The same, Pilar." "Then we blow the bridge and retreat to the Gredos afterwards." "You with your head of a bull and your heart of a hog." "You think there will be any afterwards from this bridge?" "I am for the republic, and the republic is a bridge." "It means nothing, huh?" "Nothing, then, to be hunted like a beast... after this thing which brings no profit." "Everyone to die for it?" "Don't try to frighten us, coward." "Coward?" "Is it cowardly to know what's foolish?" "Or am I a leader for nothing?" "Haven't I brought you all alive through a year of this war?" "This foreigner comes here to do a thing for the good of the foreigners." "And for his good, you want to sacrifice us." "I'm for the good and safety of all." "Safety." "Huh!" "There is no such thing as safety." "Did I spend nine years with the worst-paid matadors of the world... not to learn about fear and about safety?" "Speak to me of anything but safety." "Look at him." "How I believed in him once." "And look what he is now." "From one year of war, you've become lazy, a drunkard and a coward." "Woman, you have no right to speak in that way, not before my people and the stranger." "Do you still believe you command here?" "Yes." "Here, I command." "Here, I command." "Haven't you heard them?" "Here, no one commands but me now." "I should shoot you and the foreigner both." "Try it and see what happens." "Listen to me, drunkard." "You understand now who commands?" " Why, I command." " No." "Listen." "Take the wax from your ears." "Listen well." "I command." "All right." "All right!" "You command." "And if you want, he..." "he can command too." "Maybe I am lazy and drink too much." "Maybe you think I'm a coward, though you know better." "Maybe, but I'm not stupid." "Now if you're a woman as well as a commander, show us something to eat." "Maria." "Take the food." " You must be careful." " Pablo?" "If you sleep, yes." "I'll keep an eye open." "What's he doing?" "Only drinking." "There'll be danger if he begins to hide the sadness." "If he pretends to be friendly, it'll mean he's made a decision." "I heard Pilar say it." "What kind of decision?" "Who knows?" "After what's happened, it would mean great danger for you." "I'll look after myself." "I'm thinking about the bridge." "I'm thinking about you, Roberto." "Why, Maria?" "Well, I don't know." "Did I muss it?" "All day I wanted you to do that." "I, too, Maria." "Where is Pablo?" "Aha." "He's gone to the horses." "Now you have to kill him." "Why don't you kill him before he kills you?" "He won't kill me." "We waited for you to kill him." "Why didn't you?" "And turn Pilar against me?" "Without the woman, there's no control here." "So he takes the horses and goes." "What about your bridge then?" "Ah, you don't know Pablo." "Now, man, you have tightened your garters." "You, my friend." "You know I'm not a coward." "Yeah." "You are no woman, no fool." "No." "Nor any colt of a girl either... that makes a man crazy with hunger." "You don't lie, make insults and leave me like my people." "Yes." "Yes, eat." "Eat, my friend." "Pay no attention to the woman." "You know who commands." "You and me, we'll show them who's stupid." "Not me." "Not you, my friend." "Get out of sight!" " Ours?" " German and Italian." " Huh?" "Can they see the horses?" " They're not looking for horses." "Man, I could see their faces." "I spit in their faces." "I spit in the milk of their mothers." "I tell you..." "I tell you they could see the horses." "Wipe the sweat from your face." "They could see the cigarette butts." "Huh?" " Hey, wait!" "They may be back!" " Coward!" "Go to your horses." " Have you seen planes like this before?" " Never, Ingles." "Get inside." "I'm going with Pilar to the camp of El Sordo." "We've got to have more horses." "You know your sentry posts." "Keep a close watch." "Anselmo," "I want you to write down everything that passes along the road." "I can't write, Roberto." "I'll show you how to write." "Look how Roberto can make pictures." "That..." "That's a truck." "See?" "And here's a soldier on a horse." "Look!" "A tank!" "I will catch me a tank like that!" "Whatever passes, make a mark." "The man on the horse is for cavalry." "Each mark will mean a troop of 20 mounted men." "Understand?" "Each troop, a mark." "In this way, I can write." "Yes." "That's an educated pencil!" "One paper is for movement up the road, the other for movement down the road." "When you get back tonight, I'll know what they're moving up to the front." "Better get along, and take some food with you." "Can I write too?" "Huh?" "I want you to watch the bridge and the two sentry posts." "See if more soldiers are brought and at what intervals the guard is changed." "What..." "What is "intervals"?" "How many hours the sentries stay on and at what time changes are made." "Yeah." " Without a watch?" " Take mine." "Oh!" "What a watch!" "Look at what a complication." " Such a watch should be able to read and write." " Don't fool with it." " Can you tell time?" " Why not?" "12:00 day:" "Hunger." "6:00 night:" "Drunk." "With luck." "10:00 night:" "Ooh-ooh." "You don't need to be a clown." "Do what I tell you and keep out of sight." "Salud, gypsy." "Did you see the air machines?" "See them?" "We ate them for breakfast." "Is there food, Pilar?" "I'm hungry." "It's a long walk from La Granja." "La Granja?" "Yes, Roberto." "You wish tobacco?" " You?" " Didn't you sleep here last night?" "For a while, yes." "Then I thought of my woman and children in La Granja." " Then I went to La Granja." " Wasn't that dangerous?" "Eh, it's all a matter of getting past their sentries." "That's why I only go at night." "Oh, Maria." "See much movement along the road last night?" "Nothing." "A few trucks, as usual." "Cars." "A few guns, as usual." " No troops." " Pick up any news in town?" "But nothing." "Oh..." "It still goes badly in the north." "That's not news." "Oh, yes, there is talk that the republic is preparing an attack." " That what?" " That we are preparing an offensive." " Where?" " Perhaps here." "Perhaps near Navacerrada." " Have you heard of it?" " Where's that talk come from?" "Where?" "Surely you know how rumors fly." "The officers talk in the cafes, and the waiters listen." "The rumors come running." "They say this is an offensive of some size, but, uh, it's only a rumor." "What else did you hear?" "Nothing, man." "Uh, just..." "there is some talk... that the republicans will try to blow the bridges, but..." "Are you joking?" "This one doesn't joke, Ingles." "Bad luck he doesn't." "A man like me is never alarmed by rumors, Pilar." " Remember anything more?" " No." "Oh, they talk as usual of soldiers to be sent to clean us out of these mountains." "There is some talk troops are on the way, but they always talk like that." "Is not to give any importance to." "Only rumors as usual." "Mmmm, rumors." "Everything as usual." "Things are bad in the north, as usual." "The troops come to hunt us out, as usual." "An offensive here, as usual." "Man, you are a monument to "as usual."" "But the last two, Pilar, are only rumor." "My mother!" "Let's go, Pilar." "Who'll look after my things?" "The man of rumors." "Remain here, Fernando, and guard the explosives." "Very well, Pilar." "Calm yourself." "There is nothing to worry about." "Only rumors." "Wait." "Hello, Maria." "Hello, Roberto." "Ingles." " Hola, Pilar." " Hola." " Hola, Joaquin." " Hola, Maria." "Tell El Sordo I am coming with Ingles." "A good boy, Ingles." "El Sordo saved him when his family was killed, and now they are like father and son." "Ingles, tell me." "Have you known many women?" " They meant nothing." " I think you lie." "Well, maybe, a little." "And for this one?" "For Maria, you care much?" "Let's get on." "What is the reason for the bridge, Ingles?" "Is there gonna be an attack?" "And the airplanes this morning." "Does that mean the enemy's found out?" "They're preparing a counterattack?" " I only know one thing for certain." " What's that?" " You have to shout." " I only know one thing for certain." "The bridge has got to go when the attack starts." "To do that, we've got to have more horses and more men, if we can get them." "When do we blow it?" "Day after..." "Day after tomorrow." " Why not tonight?" " Orders." " How do you get whiskey?" " Make it." "No, no, no." "I joke." "This is good whiskey." "We got it on a raid." "No ice." "Plenty ice up there." "Too far." "Easier blow the bridge tonight." "I'd be shot for it." "Do it in daylight and we may all be shot for it." " Not if we have horses." " Hmm?" "Not if we have enough horses." "We'll get out of here quickly before the soldiers come after us." "I have five horses and four men." "Five men, Sordo." "So it is." "Five with the boy." "Five men and five horses." " That's ten horses for 15 people." " Mmm." "We've got to have five more horses." "For the retreat, yes." "No one will get out alive without a horse." " How can you get horses?" " Steal 'em." "Only soldiers have horses now." "Soldiers and thieves like us." " Can you get five more tonight?" " When?" "Tonight." "We can try." " Good." " Maybe not so good." "Not good if it snows." "Horses make tracks, and soldiers follow tracks." " It is too late for snow, Sordo." " Hmm?" "It's the month of May." "And the sun is shining." "Look at the young general." "Already he's stealing horses." "He's always talking, Pilar, how he's carried the girl from the train." " Yeah." " Let's see you carry her... down the hill, my boy." "Now you make fun of me." "Wait, Joaquin!" "I'll carry you on my shoulders!" "Look, Ingles." "Look at the bullfighter." "He's crying." "Don't mock, Pilar." "He was telling about his sister." "She was a prisoner, as I was." "He only heard yesterday that she was dead." "I am your sister now, Joaquin." "We all love you, and you still have a family." "We are your family." "Including the Ingles." "Is that right, Ingles?" " Of course." " You hear that, boy?" "The Ingles is your brother." "Certainly." "We're all brothers, Joaquin." "Thank you, Ingles." "And don't worry." "I'll get you a horse tonight." "One for Maria too." "What about me?" "Do I have to kiss you too to get a horse?" "It's been years since I kissed a bullfighter." "Hold this, Ingles, 'til I get a good kiss at him." "Ha!" "Look at him." "He's afraid of a kiss as he was afraid of a bull." "You don't need to make a joke of it." "When I kiss, it won't be as a sister." "That's dreadful, kissing as a sister." "Don't be so brutal, Pilar." "I love you very much, but why do you speak so brutally?" "Why do you think, girl?" "Huh?" "Rest, Pilar." "You are tired." "Shut up." "Nobody asked your advice." "You think I'm an old woman, huh?" "Sit down." "Many things tire me." "And one of them is to be old and ugly." "And another is to see panic in the face of a boy... when I say as a joke I might kiss him." "It's not true." "You didn't see that." "What do you know of it, you with your face and your Ingles?" "I have uneven temper today, and I'm jealous." "How foolish." "I'm an ugly old woman, and I love you very much, child." "I love you too." "You're not ugly." "Go on, I'm not ugly." "I was born ugly." "Do you know how an ugly woman feels?" "Do you know what it is to be ugly all your life... and to feel in here that you are beautiful?" "You are beautiful." "Try to use your head and not your heart and listen." "I'm telling you things of much interest." "Does it interest you?" " Maria's right." " Two of a kind." "You are a prize for any woman, if you'd ever let go of yourself." "And this one." "This one is a gift to any man... if she could cook a little better." "Give me a cigarette and listen." "Life is very curious." "I would have made a good man, but I'm all woman and all ugly." "Yet many men have loved me." "Is that strange?" "I don't think you're ugly." "Don't lie to me." "Or has it begun to work with you too?" "No, no, no, no." "Look." "I am ugly." "Yet one can have a feeling here that blinds a man while he loves you." "He thinks you are beautiful, and one day, for no reason at all, he sees you ugly, as you really are, and he's not blind anymore." "Then you see yourself as ugly as he sees you... and you lose your man and your feeling." "Then one day the feeling... that idiotic feeling that you are beautiful... grows inside you again." "And another man sees you and thinks you are beautiful." "And it's all to do over again." "Now I am past it." "But it still might come again." "Lift your head." "This silliness is over." "I was only jealous of your 19 years." "It isn't a jealousy that lasts." "You won't be 19 always." "You, see, I have evil thoughts, Ingles." "If I want, I did." "I take you away from this cropped head." "Even with my ugly face." "Mm-hmm." "No, no, no, no." "Sit there." "I have a surprise for you." "Close your eyes." "You too, Ingles." "No." "Tightly, both of you." "Pilar!" "Pilar, wait!" "Shut up, Ingles!" " I'm bored with both of you!" " Pilar!" "Let her go, Roberto." "Let her go." " Don't you want to be alone with me?" " Of course." "And I want to be with you, Roberto." "That's what Pilar knows." "She knows everything." "I'm beginning to believe it." "Will she be all right?" "Oh, you don't have to worry about Pilar." "It's a wonderful day, Roberto." "What are you worrying about?" " About you." " Me?" "Why?" "Because I'm so happy?" "I wish you weren't here, Maria." " What?" " I mean it." "I'm thinking about what's going to happen to you after the bridge." "Can't I go with you?" "Hmm?" "El Sordo will get us horses." "I know we can't escape without them, but he'll get us horses." "I know it." "You've got to understand, Maria, I'm in this war to the finish." "I can't have anything serious in my life." "A man doing what I'm doing never knows what's gonna happen." "Whatever happens to you will happen to me." " Haven't you any people in the Republic?" " No." "No relatives at all?" "You must have people somewhere." "My father and my mother..." "I saw them killed." "My father was the mayor of our town and a Republican." "When the Nationalists took the town, they lined up all the Republicans against the wall." "My father cried out very loud, "Long live the Republic!"" "Then they shot him." "But my mother was not a Republican." "She had no politics, but she loved my father and she couldn't say that." "So she just looked at my father who lay there on his face at her feet... and she said, "Long live my husband who was the mayor of this town."" "She said it very loud, like a shriek, and then they shot and she fell and I wanted to go to her, but we were all tied." "We were tied by the wrists in a long line of girls and women." "And I wanted to be shot too, and I was going to say," ""Long live the Republic and my mother and my father..."" "But instead there was no more shooting." "They..." "They herded us up the hill... and through the streets, through the square." "My..." "My father's office was in the city hall." "But they took us across the street to the... to the barbershop." " Oh, I want to tell you." " No." "Don't." "Roberto, are you angry about something?" "Of course not." "I'm glad." "I won't cry anymore." "Oh, Roberto." "I like..." "I don't know how to kiss or I would kiss you." "Where do the noses go?" "Always I wonder where the noses would go." "They're not in the way, are they?" "I always thought they would be in the way." "Look, I can do it myself." "Maria..." "Oh, did I do it wrong?" "Look, Pilar." "Roberto fell in the brook." "Already she makes you blind, eh, Ingles?" "Ah." " Hola." " Ah, hola, Ingles." " Hola, Ingles." " Hola, Ingles." "Come sit down here, where it's warm." "Hey." "I'll take your shoes and put them in the smoke of the fire to dry." "Say, don't burn 'em." "I don't want to stand around here barefooted." "Maria, fetch me some dry socks." "Your lord and master." "Here's the key." "The pack is locked." " Who's on guard at the top?" " Agustin." "Put these on." "Dry your feet well." "You can't dry them with your hair?" "What a swine." "Hit him with a chunk of wood, Maria." "I'm joking because I'm happy." " You are happy?" " Yes." "I think everything goes well." "Oh, keep this under your feet until your shoes are dry." "Must you care for him as a child?" "No, as a man who's cold and wet." "He's a man who's just come home to his house." "Take the coffee, worthless one." "Does it always grow dark this early?" "No, Ingles, it's the weather." "The wind is very disorderly." "Seven, please." " Growing colder?" " Yes, Ingles." "It is not correct to be so cold in the month of May." " Oh." " Hello." " Any movement on the road, Anselmo?" " Not much, Roberto." "It's all marked on the papers." " Gypsy, what about the bridge?" " Huh?" "Uh, six-hour, uh, int-intervals." "I stay 'til they change watch, at noon and 6:00." "It was a long watch, Ingles, and cold!" "My, my bones bre..." "What about the sawmill post?" "Ei-Eight men and a corporal." "No more arrived." "Hmm." "What about the post across the bridge?" "The road-mender's hut?" "I didn't get that far." "I remembered what you said;" "to be careful." "See?" "Well..." " Only ten cars, hmm?" "Yeah." " All written down, Roberto." "Ingles!" "How do you like it, Pilar?" "Very beautiful..." "the snow, eh?" "Get out of my sight!" "God help El Sordo." "If it snows all night, it may cover his tracks." "If!" "If!" "How do you like it, woman, eh?" "How do you like to command when it snows?" "Shut up, drunkard!" "Yeah, I know why you went to see El Sordo." "Horses make tracks in the snow, Ingles." "Yeah." "Now there will be no offensive, no bridge." "No, just snow." "Yeah." "And no making love in the heather!" "Watch your mouth!" "No, let me." "Maria." "Maria." "Wipe the table clean, Maria." " Wipe your own spillings!" " Maria!" "Wipe first your chin, drunkard, and then the table!" "Maria." "Pay no attention to him." "He's drunk." "Fix my shoes, Maria." "Are you really drunk?" "Why not?" "But not too drunk to watch your mouth!" " No one on guard at the top?" " In this storm?" "What for?" "No soldiers will move in these mountains tonight." "Pilar, bring me something hot to eat." "Wine, Ingles?" "I thought I was Roberto." "I call you "Ingles" before the others." "Roberto?" "Huh." "Don Roberto." " How's Don Roberto?" " Fine, Don Pablo." "How's Bacchus?" "Who is Bacchus?" "You ought to know." "He's your constant companion." "I don't know such a man." " You say funny things, Ingles." " Sure, I do." " I'm a laugh every minute." " Pay no attention." "He's drunk." "Tell us, Ingles, why have you come so far to fight for our Republic?" "A man fights for what he believes in, Fernando." "Yeah, but..." "in his own country." "Well, maybe you feel that I'm sticking my nose into other people's business, but I don't feel that way." "It's not only Spain fighting here, is it?" "It's Germany and Italy on one side and Russia on the other, and the Spanish people are right in the middle of it all." "The Nazis and Fascists are just as much against democracy... as they are against the Communists." "They're using your country as a proving ground for their new war machinery... their tanks and dive-bombers and stuff like that... so they can get the jump on the democracies... and knock off England and France and my country... before we get armed and ready to fight." "Were you always a Republican?" "And your father?" "Sure, he voted the Republican ticket all his life." "Did they shoot him for it?" "No." "No, they don't shoot you for being a Republican in America." "Roberto was a professor." "He told me this afternoon." "Not a professor, Maria, an instructor." "That's the same thing." "He was a teacher in a college in America." "The professor has no beard." "He's a false professor." "Shut up!" "What did you teach, Ingles?" "Spanish." "That's how I got to know Spain." "No." "No beard." "He has no beard." "He's a false professor." "Ah, stop it!" "Wouldn't it be easier to teach English?" "Why shouldn't he teach Spanish?" "Doesn't he speak it?" "Yes, but, in a way, it is undignified for a foreigner to teach Spanish." "I mean nothing against you, Ingles." " No beard." " He doesn't teaches it to Spaniards!" " I should hope not, Pilar!" " Let me finish, you mule!" "He teaches Spanish to Americans!" "Can't they speak Spanish?" "Mule!" "North Americans speak English!" " No beard." "Nope." "No beard." " Enough!" "But he's got no beard." "Beard." "No beard." "He does have a beard." "You should know, girl." " Pay no attention, Ingles." "He's drunk." " I don't think he's so drunk." "Yes." "Yes, I am drunk." "I doubt it." "Cowardly, yes!" "You try to provoke me, Ingles." "Nah, you won't get rid of me that way." "I said cowardly, not drunk." "See?" "See, I don't provoke." "A signal to the woman that you've failed." "Pilar has nothing to do with it." "You spoke to the girl as a coward." "I don't provoke." "See, woman?" "I teach the professor I don't provoke." "I'll still be alive when you're all dead!" "I'm not stupid." "I don't provoke." "I-I don't provoke." "To the professor, to the senora commander, and to all... all the illusioned ones." "That's silly." "It's a waste of good wine." "I don't provoke." "I am drunk." "The wise man gets drunk to spend his time with fools." " Get out!" " Yeah, I go." "I'll go to the horses." "They have more sense than men." "Tell them about the bridge, Professor, and how to escape afterwards." "Who will lead your patriots in their retreat, eh?" "Get out!" "It's still falling, Ingles." "Let me go!" "I'll kill 'im!" "Give me that rifle!" " Why didn't you kill him last night?" " What do you think he'll do now?" "He will toss a bomb in here." "It's his style." "Give me your pistol." "I'll shoot him when he comes back!" "Do you want to blow us all up?" "Remember what's in those sacks." " What fools we are!" " Why didn't you kill him last night?" "He's got to die now!" "Pilar?" "What do you say, Pilar?" "Yes." "Whatever you will." "I'm for it now." "Then let all speak." "Andres, what do you say?" " Yes!" "Kill him!" " Kill him." " Primitivo?" " Kill him!" " Agustin?" " Do you need to ask?" "Kill him!" " Fernando?" " Don't forget, Ingles, that he's smart." " He knows the way to the Gredos." " Fool!" " Who will lead our retreat after the bridge?" " El Sordo!" "He knows the way as well as that traitor!" "Pilar, tell them that El Sordo will lead us." " Couldn't we hold him as a prisoner?" " Who'd look after him!" "He is right, Fernando." "It would take us all to watch him!" " Why not sell him to the enemy?" " Shut up, Gypsy!" " That's filthy!" " No worse than Pablo." "If you'd blind him, he will be easy to handle." "Watch your tongue, Gypsy." "Didn't Pablo blind the civil guard who was wounded?" "Speak of blinding again, and you go with Pablo." "Pilar, I haven't been allowed to finish yet." "Finish then." "Finish!" "I still maintain we need Pablo." "We should reason with him and point out..." " that his conduct..." " Stop it, man!" "Even here one man can make a bureaucracy with his mouth." "You voted to kill him." "Now have done with it!" "Kill him when he returns." " I must wait for him to make the first move." " Why wait?" "Kill him, man!" " In cold blood?" " Cold." "You Ingleses are all cold." "Give me your gun!" "I'm not cold!" "I'm burning!" "Not in here." "No shooting in here." "You'll see how cold my blood is when that coward comes back!" "Ugly." "All of it's ugly." "Remember one thing, Ingles." "He wasn't always like this." "When the war broke out, he wasn't the man you see now." "Brutal, yes, but a leader without fear." "Had it not been for Pablo, the Nationalists would have taken our town the day the revolution began, for many Nationalists lived there." "But Pablo organized the people, and in the night, all the suspected citizens... were dragged from their beds and locked up in the city hall." "Then, in the dark, he surrounded the police barracks, cut the telephone wires, and placed dynamite under the wall." "When morning came, he called on the civil guards to surrender, but they wouldn't, so he blew the wall open!" "But then there was a shout for us to stop firing, and four civil guards walked out with their hands up." "Pablo said, "Show us how to die, you who have always done the killing!"" ""What are you going to do?" the officer asked. "Shoot you!" said Pablo." "Pablo passed behind them." "I can hear the pistol even now... and see the barrel jerk, and the head of each man drop forward." "One held his head still when the pistol touched it." "One shivered in his whole body and his head was shaking." "Only one put his hands in front of his eyes, and he was the last one." "The hat fell from his head and Pablo said, "Look, Pilar, he is polite." "He takes off his hat for a woman like you."" "By this time, a crowd was gathering in the plaza in front of the city hall." ""Why is it done this way?" They asked Pablo." ""To save bullets," he said, "and to make all of you share in the killing."" "I had picked up the hat of a civil guard, and a man said," ""Pilar, it's bad taste to wear that hat, for now we've finished with such things as the civil guards."" "A drunkard yelled, as if at a bullfight," ""Let the bull out!" "Pablo, let the bull out!"" "And then everyone shouted, "Here comes the first one!"" "It was Don Benito Garcia, the mayor." "And he walked between the lines and nothing happened." "He passed two men, four men, eight men... and nothing happened." "From the roof, someone shouted, "What's the matter, cowards?"" "But nothing happened." "I was watching one man who had a dispute with the mayor... about a piece of land, and who hated him." "And it was this man who first raised his flail." "Don Faustino Rivero was known as an annoyer of girls." "He wanted to be known as a bullfighter... and went much with gypsies and the bullfighters, but he was a coward and was considered a joke." "But Don Faustino was inspired by the example of Don Garcia and stood there..." "looking handsome and brave, and he made his face scornful." "Now the lines began to shout," ""Listen, Don Faustino, there are beautiful girls over the cliff." "Why don't you chase them?"" "It was then I knew that the lines had become savage, and it was, first, the insult of Don Garcia, and, second, the cowardice of Don Faustino that had made them so." "Don Guillermo was not a bad man." "He was only in politics because of his wife." "I heard her screaming, "Guillermo!" "Husband!" "Wait and I'll go with you!"" "He couldn't see her without his glasses, but he looked up and waved his hand, and no one in the lines would hit him." "Then a drunkard yelled, "Guillermo!"" ""What passes, Pilar?" They asked me." ""I am sick," I told them." "And they said, "Us too." "We'll take no further part in it."" "But the worst was yet to come when Pablo opened the door of the city hall... and let the mob in to kill the rest of the prisoners." "For, yes, it was now a mob... and no longer had any organization." "The snow has stopped, Ingles." "Now we'll have good weather for the bridge." "Yes, I've come back to help you." "I cannot desert Pilar and my people." "Wait, man!" " What trick is this, drunkard?" " No trick, Pilar." "I've changed my mind, that's all." "You are right about the bridge, and I'm with you now." "Don't forget you'll need me for the retreat, Ingles." "Just what I said." "You were listening!" "You're afraid of being killed, that's why you've changed!" "You were listening!" "Do you think I like to hear it told how we killed those men?" "If I could bring them back to life, I'd..." "I'd do it." " Liar!" " No, I mean it." "I wish I could bring them back to life." " Even Don Ricardo, who cursed me." " Stop it!" "Yes, I would restore them all to life." "That's God's truth!" "It's also true that I..." "I'm with you now." "I was drunk." "Now I'm not drunk, and I've changed my mind." "Now you trust me or not, but there's no one who... can get you out of here to the Gredos as... as I can." "I believe you." "But take an oath." "Are you with us now and in favor of the bridge?" "Yes, yes, man." "And you think it can be successful in spite of the snow?" "There will be no snow at the bridge." "You have confidence?" "Why not?" "Fools!" "Lunatics!" "You're all crazy if you believe him!" " What, Roberto?" " Trooper." " What does it mean?" " I don't know." " See anything?" " No." " Are you sure it was a trooper?" " Yes." " Where's Pablo?" " In the cave." "Man, what a horse!" "Never mind the horse." "Get in the saddle." "This horse made tracks in here." "He must make them out again." "You have much sense, Ingles." "I'll hide him in the hills 'til the snow has melted." "Keep your eyes open." "There's bound to be more cavalry." "Go back to the cave and get the machine gun and my binoculars." "We've got to cover the pass below." "You give him a hand." "You too, Anselmo." "Go back to that soldier and see if you can find more clips for this gun." "And leave his pockets alone!" "Roberto!" "Roberto, I am coming with you!" "Go back to the cave." "Tell Pilar to get packed." "We may have to run for it." " No." " Go back, Maria." "There may be a fight." " I'll hold the legs of the machine gun for you." " No." " Let me hold the machine gun while you fire it." " Go back." "Please let me go with you." "I want to help." "Then go back." "Kiss me." " You're shameless." " Yes." " What's happened to that gypsy?" " I saw him coming, Roberto." "Then he saw a rabbit and went after it." "Fine time to go hunting." "Primitivo, get up on that rock as high as you can climb." "If you see soldiers, throw a stone down for a signal." "Wait a minute." "If you see one soldier, raise your rifle like this." " Like this." " Yeah." "If more than one, pump it like this." " One for each soldier." "Understand?" " Yes." "Anselmo, go down with Agustin and hold the legs of the gun if I have to shoot." " Here, hold this for me." " For what?" "I'm liable to shoot me a gypsy." "Roberto, now we will have fresh meat!" "See?" "Does something annoy you, Roberto?" " If you weren't a gypsy, I'd shoot you." " But why?" "Look how fat they are." "Look." "L..." "Get down." " Rifles." " Now the soldiers are hunting." "Wait here." " Is it Pablo?" " El Sordo." " Come, Ingles, now they need us." " Where?" "To join with El Sordo." "To die there?" "Don't you realize they're lost?" "If we show ourselves, we're done for too." "Then what happens to the bridge?" "Bridge?" "That's our friend!" " Listen, Agustin..." " I listen to that!" "Are you afraid to fight for our friends?" "Roberto!" "Roberto!" "Oh, Roberto!" "Oh!" "We could hear the firing at the cave!" "I was afraid!" "I was afraid!" " You shouldn't have come here." " I let her come, Ingles." "She was half crazy." "She thought you were fighting." " Why aren't we fighting?" " They want to go to El Sordo." "Have you lost your minds?" "What kind of locos do we have in our camp?" " Men, not women!" " Then act like men!" "Don't you think you'll die soon enough?" "Swallow your tongue, woman, and choke yourself!" "Silence!" "What use is courage if you have no head?" "El Sordo has both." "He'll understand." "Was he coming with the horses when they found him?" "He'd have found better cover on this side." "Looks like he did his best to lead them away from us." "Did you hit him?" "The potful of grease ducked back!" "I can tell you who is a potful of grease!" "That Pilar!" " She knows we are dying here." " What could Pilar do?" " Take these fat guts from the rear!" " There isn't any rear." "They're all around the hill." "A hundred, two hundred, maybe more now." "Bandidos!" "Cobardes!" "Can you hear me, you sons of four-legged devils?" "Surrender now, you bandits, before our planes blow you to bits!" "Will they send planes?" "With bombs or machine guns?" "Both, my son." "I'm giving you a chance to surrender before the planes come!" "Do you hear what I am saying, bandidos?" "Let's insult him." "Maybe he'll show his head." "Are you ready to surrender?" " Who has a big pistol?" " Here." "The planes are coming!" "Are you going to surrender?" "Listen." "He can't wait for the planes." "He wants to be a hero, lead us back with a rope around our necks." "Have you seen any movement since the shots?" " No, sir." " What do you think?" "I don't believe it." "Why shouldn't they do it?" "They knew they had to die." "It's better than being bombed or captured, isn't it?" "I think it's a trick." "What about the planes?" "They should have come a long time ago." " How many shots did you count?" " Five." "It's ridiculous if they are dead." "I don't want to make myself ridiculous hiding down here from dead men!" "I think we should wait for the planes, sir." "Fire, cowards, if you are alive!" "Fire on a man who has no fear of you!" "Shoot, you suffering bandits!" "Now... do you believe me?" "No one's alive up there." "You!" "Go up and see." " Don't you hear me?" " Yes, my Captain." "Then get up and go." " Do you hear me?" " Yes, my Captain." "Why don't you go then?" " I don't want to, my Captain." " You don't want to?" " You don't want to!" " I'm afraid, my Captain." " Captain Mora." " Lieutenant Berrendo?" "It is possible the soldier is right." "Right to say he's afraid?" " Right to say he doesn't want to obey an order?" " No, sir." " Right that that's a trick." " Don't you hear me say they're all dead?" "You mean Julian, our comrades on the slope?" " I agree, sir." " Very well." "The sniper stays here." "I'll take care of him later." "You and I will go to the top." " Not me." " What?" "I will go if you order me, but under protest." "No, I'll go alone." "The smell of cowardice is too strong here." "Assassins!" "Cowards!" "Shoot me!" "Kill me!" "Can you hear me coming?" "No!" "You can't hear me coming!" "You think I am a coward like others?" "Shoot me!" " Kill me!" " "Shoot me." "Kill me."" " Cowards!" "Vermin!" " Look at him coming." " Scum of the earth!" "Shoot me if you are alive!" " What an animal." " Look at him stride." " Bandidos!" " Oh, this one is for me!" " Do you hear me?" " This one we take with us." " No, you do not hear me!" " Come on, loudmouth." "Keep on walking." " Cowards!" " Look at his stars." "He's a Captain." " Have you stopped breathing yet?" "Stick out your chest, little Captain." " I will give you another bullet!" " Don't stop." "Don't be late." "It's a long trip, Captain." "A long voyage." "Fire, cowards, if you are alive!" " Scum of the earth!" " Now, comrade voyager." "Close enough, comrade voyager." "Can you hear me coming?" "No, you can't hear me coming!" " I am going to spit in that face..." " Now." "Now!" "Kill me!" "Shoot me!" "Joaquin!" "Quick!" "Aim it higher!" "Pilar?" "Pilar!" " Hola, Pilar!" " Hola." " Salud, Robert." " Salud." "Salud, Pilar." "Look at him." "Already at the wine." " Did you come back for us or the wine?" " Both." "He came back for his horses." "Much riding, Ingles." "I couldn't turn back 'til the snow has melted." "Didn't you run into the cavalry?" "But a good horse, the new one." "I took to high ground and came back through the hills." "Why is there no food, Pilar?" "Where have you been?" "Guarding the pass below." "The Ingles wouldn't leave... until he was sure there was no more cavalry." "Ingles..." "Ingles, I..." "I was with El Sordo." "You mean you were in the fight?" "No." "On my way back here." "It was dark and I went..." "I went up the hill." "Five dead at the top." "They'd taken their heads." "Joaquin too?" " No heads." " Now let the fighting come!" " No heads." " Ingles!" "Anselmo says there is much movement across the bridge!" " I was just leaving the lookout when it started." " What started?" "Oh, guns, trucks, armored cars, even tanks." " Tanks!" " Mm-hmm." "Everything moving up toward the front." "I marked it all down on the paper." "I waited 'til the second column had crossed the bridge." "Anything more coming?" "Yes." "I could hear another column as I came up through the pass." "You want me to go back and watch?" "Not now." "Were these trucks full of soldiers?" "Oh, yes, Roberto." "What does it mean?" "It means they know the Republic is going to attack when the sun rises." "Yes, now they know." "They move up to meet our offensive." "Who knows the way through the lines to the side of the Republic?" " I do." " I need you at the bridge." " Who else?" " I know it." " Have you been through before?" " Yes, twice." "Eight hours." "Nearly nine hours." " Can you make it to Navacerrada?" " I can try." " I don't mean try." "Can you do it?" " I could do it in less time..." " with luck and carrying no pack." " I need you here." "We came by a longer route because we carried explosive." "It was safer." "I will get there as well as another." "And if anything happens, it could happen to anyone." "This dispatch is for General Golz." "Remember the name." " Golz." " Where will I find him?" "Ask when you get to our lines." "They'll tell you." "This seal ought to get you through our lines." "If you have any trouble, just show them what I've written." "Now try to make it in six hours, seven at the most." "Remember, the attack is set for sunrise." "I would rather be with you at the bridge." "Get this information to General Golz, and we won't have to blow any bridge." "He'll call off the bombardment, and we'll all escape to safety." "Only one thing is certain." "The bridge has got to go if the attack starts." "Pablo!" "Pablo!" "Come back!" "Pilar!" "Pilar!" "Pablo has gone!" "Didn't I tell you he was a coward?" "You and your confidence!" "If it wasn't for you, I would have killed him!" " I told you what he was!" " I tell you, I have been betrayed!" "Betrayed!" "Listen to him!" "He has been betrayed!" "You fool!" "No slanders, please!" "Forget it." "I'm the one to blame." "Andres, you better get going." "And good luck." "Should I..." "Should I go back and guard the horses?" " Fool!" " No." " I'll look after them." " Who will lead the retreat now?" "Shut up, Gypsy." "Andres will get to the general." "Get back in the cave." "Pilar, get everything ready for the bridge one hour before daylight... and get what sleep you can." "I'll look after the horses." "Look after my things." "Salud!" " Don't shoot, comrades!" "Don't shoot!" " Who are you?" "A comrade, Andres Lopez, with a dispatch for General Golz!" "Why didn't you call the password if you're a comrade?" "I don't know any password!" " Spy!" "Toss a bomb at him!" " No!" " That would be a great mistake!" " He's not alone, Pedro!" "Toss a bomb!" "No!" "Please!" "I'm alone!" "I'm completely by myself!" " Allow me to show you my papers." " Are you sure you're alone?" "How many times must I tell you?" "I am alone!" "Stand up!" "Put your hands above your head!" "Come on!" "Listen, I am in a great hurry." "I have a dispatch... for General Golz at Navacerrada." " Where is it?" " Inside my shirt." "How can I show you with my hands up?" "You're a long way from Navacerrada." "Come on." "I will take you to Captain Gomez." "Spy!" "I brought your robe." "I'll fix it for you." "Was this your idea or Pilar's?" "It was my idea, but Pilar told me to come." "Even if she'd told me not to come, I would have come." "Will there be fighting tomorrow?" "Are you afraid?" "I am afraid for you so much, I do not think of me." "Pilar told me I am to go with you after the bridge, that you'll take me to the Republic." "You and Pilar will each have a horse." "You'll be safe with Pilar." "That will leave three horses for the others." "But I go with you, not Pilar." "I came on foot with the old man and I shall go the same way." "No!" "No, Pilar says no one will get out alive without a horse." "If Andres gets through to your general, there will be no bridge, will there?" "Will there, Roberto?" "No." "Maybe I should have sent word sooner... about the movements here to meet the attack." "How much time have we left?" "A lifetime, Maria." "I mean until daylight." "Five, six hours." "Pilar told me that time is not important." "Maybe Pilar is right." "Three days and three nights, yet they're everything;" "longer than the months in prison, longer than the years I've lived." "She told me something else when I left the cave." "She said we must live all our life in the time that remains." " She said..." " What?" "What did she tell you?" "She said we would all die tomorrow;" "that you know it as well as she does, but you give it no importance." "She's crazy!" "That's just more of her gypsy superstition." " You don't believe it?" " Of course not." "She had a reason for telling me." "She said I must tell you everything that happened to me... when they shot my mother and my father." " You've told me." " No." "No..." "I didn't tell you what happened when they herded us up the hill..." " and across the square to the barbershop." " I don't want to hear it." "Then two men looked at me and one said, "Oh, that's the daughter of the mayor,"" "and the other said, "Commence with her."" "They cut the rope and they took me to the barbershop... and they put me in the chair and held me." "I looked at my face in the mirror, but all I could see was my mother and my father at the moment of the shooting." "And my mother's words were in my head like a scream that went on and on." "And... then I could feel a pain, and they were pulling at my hair and cutting it off with a razor and... and then they... they put the braids in my mouth... and tied them around my neck to make a gag." "Then they ran clippers across my head." "It was..." "It was then I commenced to cry, because until then I'd been too frozen to feel anything." "And in the mirror I could see the men laugh, and I couldn't look away from the horror my face made with the braids tied... in my mouth." "Oh!" "When they took me out the door, I stumbled over the dead barber." "They had shot him because he belonged to a union." "Then I saw my best friend, Concepcion Garcia, being dragged in by two more men." "When she saw me, she screamed." "I could hear her screaming... all the time they were shoving me across the square... and into the doorway and up the stairs of the city hall..." " to the office of my father..." "where they put me on the couch." " Maria." "It was there the worst things were done." "Don't talk about it." "Don't think about it anymore." "Oh, I was going to tell you on the way back from El Sordo, but I was glad when you wouldn't let me." "Then I was happy." "I felt as if it had never happened." "No." "Oh!" "Pilar said I must tell you everything." "Now you won't love me." "Tomorrow you'll take me through the lines... and I'll never see you again, never." "You won't want me." "No, Roberto, we can't change things." "But it's true, I never kissed any man until you." " When things were done to me I fought until they tied me!" " No one's touched you." " No one." " You believe that?" "I know that." "And you can love me?" "I can love you more." "I could see your headlight for a mile coming down the road!" " You want to bring on a shelling?" " Where is the Lieutenant Colonel?" "He's asleep." "Who is the bandit?" "No bandit." "He bears a dispatch for General Golz who commands the attack." "You're crazy, Gomez." "I know of no General Golz nor of no attack." "Take this sportsman and get back to your battalion." " Call the Lieutenant Colonel." " Go away." "Call him." "All you barbers are emotional." "Orderly." "Call the Lieutenant Colonel." "Don't forget, I'm your superior officer." "I'm not afraid of your threats." "It's cynics like you who will be eliminated." ""Purged" is the word you want." "Any word will do so long as men like you are liquidated!" ""Liquidated." Another word foreign to Spain." "Shot then!" "That's Spanish!" "Can you understand it?" "Yes, man." "But don't talk so loud." "Your emotions bore me." " Hello, Gomez." " Colonel." "What brings you?" "Ah!" " Why didn't this get here sooner?" " Stupidity, my Colonel." "I'm not at all sure you can get through now with all the movements on the road." "Write them a very strong safe-conduct." "You'll need something strong tonight." "We're careful before an offensive." "You know what I've been thinking about?" "What I should do to take care of you well." "I'll learn from Pilar, and then I'll discover things for myself;" " and other things you can tell me." " What about me taking care of myself?" "No, but you don't." "This morning your robe should have been shaken and aired and hung in the sun." "And before the dew comes, it should have been taken into shelter." "Go on." "Your socks should be washed and dried," " and I would see that you had two pair." " What else?" "This." "I would learn how to fire it." "That's easy." "I'll teach you." "Then if you are wounded, we won't be captured." "I could kill you before I kill myself." "Do you have many ideas like that?" "No." "No, not many." "But it's a good one in this war." "Pilar gave me this one and showed me how to use it." " I always keep it with me." " Razor blade?" "She says there's no pain." "It's nothing if you press quickly and firmly." "And that they can't stop it if it's done." "Not if you cut the artery." "How long have you been carrying this around?" "Ever since I was rescued." "But I'd rather have you shoot me." "Promise me if there's ever any need that you will shoot me." "Sure." "I promise." "Thank you very much." "I know it's not easy to do." "But there are other things I can do for you." " Besides shoot me?" " Yes." "I can roll cigarettes for you when you have no more in the box." " Without spilling tobacco?" " Yes." "And if you are wounded, I'll take care of you... and dress your wound, and I'll wash you and feed you." "Maybe I won't be wounded." "Then if you're sick, I'll take care of you." "I'll make soup for you and read to you." " Maybe I won't get sick." " I'll bring you coffee when you wake up." " Maybe I don't like coffee." " But you do!" "This morning you had two cups!" "Suppose I get tired of coffee... and I'm not wounded or sick and I give up smoking... and I have only one pair of socks and roll up my robe myself?" "What then?" "Then I'll borrow the scissors of Pilar and cut your hair." " But I don't like having my hair cut." " Neither do I." "I like your hair the way it is." "So if there's nothing to do for you," "I'll sit by you and watch you, and in the nights we'll make love." "You are shameless." "If you don't love me, I love you enough for both." "I was asleep." "Oh, I'm sorry I woke up." "I didn't know I was sleeping." "It was so beautiful to be there in your house." " My house?" " Yes." "Yes, in America." "The one you told me about, where you were a little boy." "Does the stairway turn at the top like this?" " Mm-hmm." " And there's the door to your mother's room?" "Yes, that's the way it was." "And you mother was there, and your grandfather too... your grandfather who fought in the American civil war." " He's dead." " He was there just as you described him, and I liked him very much." "And I loved your mother." "She came out of her room holding a child who looked exactly like my Roberto, and when I asked her whose son it was, she said," ""Why, it's yours, Maria."" "That's why I have to look at you." "Maybe you weren't dreaming." "No, I was there, just as real as I'm here now." "Can't you wait 'til I take you there?" "Oh, Roberto, that, too, is like a dream, like a wonderful dream." "Oh, my hair amuses you because it's odd, but every day it's growing." "It will be long, and I will not look ugly, and perhaps you will love me very much." "All the things you've told me tonight... it's as if you've already taken me to Madrid and to America." "That's just the beginning of our travels." "Wait 'til this war is over." "Do I please you?" "Will you always take me with you?" "Unless you run away from me." "No, I'll never go away from you." "I loved you when I first saw you." "I've always loved you, but I never saw you before." "Now I'm your woman." "I'll always be your woman." "Always!" "Can you tell me where is the headquarters of General Golz," " commanding the 35th Division?" " Not here." "I was told he was in this vicinity." "What is here?" " The comandancia." " Comandancia of what?" "Who are you to ask so many questions?" "I am Captain Gomez of the 65th Brigade, and I asked where is the headquarters of General Golz!" "Listen, I can hear the wind in the trees." "Now it will soon be light." "It's so beautiful here." "Will we ever come back?" "Some day, Maria." "And stay here again?" "Some day." "Do you think Andres got through?" "We can't tell until sunrise." "Are you afraid?" "Not now." "I love you, Roberto." "Always remember." "I love you as I loved my father and mother, as I love our unborn children, as I love what I love most in the world." "And I love you more." "Always remember." "I'll remember." "Nothing can ever part us now, can it?" "Nothing, Maria." "Ingles!" "Ingles!" "What is it, Pilar?" "What's wrong?" " It must have been Pablo!" " Pablo is gone." "What do you mean?" "Your exploder, the box that explodes the dynamite!" "When I stirred up the fire to make coffee for the men, I found it." " What?" " It was under the ashes." " I thought you were guarding my things." " I slept with them!" " You slept well." " He must have done it last night... before we got back from the pass." "Maybe it will work again." "Is there no other way to explode the charges?" "Yes." "Sure." "It's a bad way, but I can do it." " That swine!" " What is the way, Ingles?" "Get me your hand grenades." "Do these grenades always explode?" "Yes, but not strong enough to blow a bridge." " I didn't ask that." "Have they always exploded?" " Always." "I've brought three more men from the band of Elias." "Traitor!" "I've come back, Pilar, and I've brought more men for the bridge." "Did you do that?" "I had a moment of weakness." "Kill him, Ingles!" "Yes, I meant to leave." "Having seen what happened to El Sordo," "I was afraid to die." "But having done such a thing," "I was lonely." "Do you understand..." "Ioneliness?" "I understand cowardice!" "Don't mock me, woman." "Don't you see I've come back?" "L..." "I've thought of a way to explode the dynamite." "So have I." "The only reason I don't shoot you is because we need you." "I brought more men for the bridge, Ingles." "They don't know you command here, Pilar." "They think I'm still the leader here, or they wouldn't have followed me." "You are if you wish, for the fighting, yes." "I suppose when a man has something once, always something remains." " Our men are waiting below." "Tell them we're coming." " Uh-huh." "And don't worry about the retreat, Ingles." " Now we have three more horses." " And three more men." "Maybe they won't need their horses." "You have much control, Ingles." "I'm glad he's back." "No matter what he is, we need him." "One last thing I must tell you." " In that thing of the hand..." " What thing of the hand?" "No, listen." "Don't be angry." "When I looked in your hand, it was just gypsy humbug." "Gypsies do such tricks to make themselves important." "Sure, sure." "Forget it." " I don't want you to worry." " Who's worrying?" "The truth is, I saw nothing but happiness;" "happiness for you and the cropped head." "I know that." "And I don't need a nurse." "I care for you very much, Ingles." "Remember that and don't worry." "Everything will go well at the bridge." "Sure." "Everything's all right." "Let's go." "Get your things together." " Are the orders clear now?" " Yes." "Take the road mender's hut." "Destroy the post." "Stop anything from getting through to the bridge as long as possible." " Right, but not a move unless you hear the falling of bombs." " Yeah." "Clear?" "Pilar, the same with the sawmill post." "Not a shot to be fired unless we hear the bombardment." "Be careful not to alarm the sentries unless you hear the bombs." "Don't worry about the retreat, Ingles." "We'll have plenty of horses." "Get along, Ingles, before he steals the rest of your things." "You don't understand me, woman." "We understand each other." "Nobody understands you; neither God nor your mother nor I nor you, either." "Come." "Good-bye." "See you soon." "Good-bye, Roberto." "Take much care." "Of course." "Don't cry." " No, I don't, but come back to me." " I will." "Don't worry if you hear firing;" "there's bound to be much firing." "Only come back quickly." "Bye, Maria." "Salud, Roberto." "Get across the gorge now." "Don't fire unless I do." "When the sentry is eliminated, come to the middle of the bridge and help me." "It is all clear to me." "I will do as you order." "Listen, old one, when you fire, don't think of it as a man but as a target." "And remember, if anything happens to me, you'll have to finish the job as I showed you." "Go now." " Until soon, Roberto." " Until soon, Anselmo." "Captain Gomez, 65th Brigade." "We have an urgent dispatch for General Golz." " Why didn't this get here sooner?" " Stupidity, Colonel Duval!" "Ignorance and stupidity and crazy suspicion!" "General Golz!" "Urgent!" "But I just spoke to him." "Huh?" "Position Segovia?" "I try there." "No, no, no!" "Get me position Avila!" "Where's General Golz?" "Planes one?" " Get me planes one." " Can't you call the airfield?" "General Golz?" "Not there?" "I called Segovia!" "Get me Segovia again!" "Quick, man!" "Call the airfield." "Stop the bombardment." "You think I want to get shot?" "Yes, Golz, Golz!" "General Golz?" "From Jordan?" "Yes, read it." "What?" "Too late, Duval." "That means we're done for." "This time we fail." "Too bad." "Yes... too bad." "Rope." "Hand grenade." "Other side." "Please have him be all right because all my heart and all of me is at the bridge." "Please bring him back to me, and I'll do anything You say ever." "'Cause there isn't any me." "I'm not here anymore." "I'm only with him." "Please!" "Please take care of him for me!" "Take care of him!" "Oh, forgive me, for I'm very confused." "I'm too confused now, but if You take care of him for me, I'll do whatever is right." "But this not knowing I cannot endure!" "I cannot!" "He..." "Pablo, I got me a... a tank!" " One." " Two." " Three." "Four!" "All right." "Now take the wire back as far as it'll reach... before I connect it." "Roberto!" "Roberto!" "Hurry!" "Roberto!" "Hurry!" " Blow it, Anselmo!" "Blow it!" " No, I can't!" " You'll be..." " Pull it, I tell you!" "Pull it!" "No, no, Roberto!" "Maria!" "Maria!" "Your Ingles is all right." " Hear me?" "He's all right." " Yes." "Yes, thank you." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "Roberto!" " The old one?" " Dead." "We lost Fernando." "If I'd had the exploder, the old man would be alive." "What passes below?" "Doesn't Pablo know that the bridge is gone?" " Maybe he can't leave." " Then let us leave." "The devil with him!" "Wait!" "He'll be back if he's able." "Machine gun." "Here comes the..." "Plenty of horses now, Ingles." "Where's Fernando?" "And the old man?" "Where are the three men from the band of Elias?" "What were you shooting in the gorge?" " Why don't you say you shot them?" " Shut up." " Answer me!" " I look after my own people." " And the men of Elias?" " They were not our people!" " I provide horses for my people!" " We have horses to spare." "Yeah?" "How did I know we would have three killed?" "Now shut up." "I lead the retreat." " No." " Don't be stubborn, woman." " Watch the Maria." " Watch yourself." "Miran!" "Wait for the next shot, then go hard before they can reload." "No." " Now!" " No!" "Aah!" "Roberto!" "Robert..." "Let me go!" "Roberto!" "What is it?" "Is it..." " It's broken." " Can you ride?" "Get me a strip of canvas." "Tear it from one of the packs." "Get me the machine gun." "You can make it all right to the Gredos if I hold 'em here." " No, Ingles." "We'll carry you." " Don't argue." "I can't ride." "I couldn't even sit on a horse." "I'd... pass out." "Pablo knows I'm right." "I wanna talk to Maria alone." "But when I tell you to take her, take her." "She'll want to stay, but take her." "Talk fast, Ingles." "The soldiers will soon be coming through the gorge." "Maria, listen." "Don't..." "Don't say anything." "We won't be going to America this time." "But always I go with you wherever you go." "Understand?" " You go now, Maria." " No." "No, I stay with you, Roberto." "No, Maria." "What I do now, I do alone." "I couldn't do it if you were here." "If you go, then I go too." "Don't you see how it is?" " Whichever one there is, is both." " No!" "No!" "I stay with you." "No." "Each of us must do this thing alone." " Must do alone." "Do it for each other." " No!" "But if you go, then I go with you." "That way, I go too." "I know you'll go now, Maria, for both of us, because we love each other always." "It's easier for me to stay with you, Roberto." "I know it's harder for you, but now I am you also." "If you go, I go too." "That's the only way I can go." "You're me now." "Surely you must feel that, Maria." "Remember last night?" "Our time is now..." "and it'll never end." " No." " You're me now and I am you." "Now you understand." "Now you're going." "And you're going well and fast and far... and we'll go to America another time, Maria." "Stand up now and go and we both go." "Stand up, Maria." "Remember, you're me too." "You're all there will ever be of me." "Stand up." " I wan..." " No, stand up." "There's no good-bye, Maria, because we're not apart." "Pilar." "No, don't turn around." "Go now." "Be strong." "Take care of our life." "No!" "No, Pilar, I can't go!" "No!" "Oh, Roberto!" "Roberto, let me stay!" "Please!" "Please don't make me go!" "No, let me go!" "No!" "Roberto!" "Roberto!" "God, that was lucky I could make her go." "I don't mind this at all now." "They're away." "Think how it would be if they'd got Maria instead of you." "Don't pass out, Jordan." "Think about America." "I can't." "Think about Madrid." "I can't." "Think about..." "Maria." "I can do that, all right." "No, you fool!" "You weren't kidding Maria about that talk of now." "Now they can't stop us ever!" "She's going on with me!" "Yes!"