| "I'm a poor history student, I'm no thinker, I just think it's bad sense to have men hating you
"Again I say it's not important if they're afraid of youRobert, stop and think, with all the hate there's been in the world, there have been surprisingly few revolutions He ticked his chin softly with his fingernail, a little sensuously, as if he were absorbed in the scraping sound of his beard"You can even see the Russian revolution as a space-organization progressThe machine techniques of this century demand consolidation, and with that you've got to have fear, because the majority of men must be subservient to the machine, and it's not a business they instinctively enjoy
Hearn shrugged againThis discussion had taken the form it invariably assumedThe more intangible and inchoate criteria he tried to use still had value, but to someone who thought like the General, his ideas omega seamaster watch would appear no more than sentiment, false sentiment, as Cummings had told him so many timesStill he made an effort"There are other things," he said quietly"I don't see where you can dismiss the continual occurrence and re-forming of certain great ethical ideas
The General smiled slightly"Robert, politics have no more relation to history than moral codes have to the needs of any particular man
Epigrams and more epigramsHe felt a certain revulsion"General, by the time you get done after this war, working out the next bigger consolidation, the American in the 'forties is going to have the same kind of anxiety that the Europeans had in the 'thirties when they knew the next war would finish themThe natural role of twentieth-century man is anxiety Hearn lit a cigarette, and found with surprise that his hands were shakingThe General was transparent for this single momentCummings omega seamaster de ville had begun this argument purposely, had re-established the poise, the unique superior adaptation he had been lacking, for whatever reason, when they had entered the tent
"You're too stubborn ever to give in, Robert The General stood up and walked over to his foot locker"To tell you the truthI didn't ask you over here for a discussionI thought perhaps we might have a game of chess together Hearn was surprised, a little uneasy"I don't think I'll give you much of a battle The General set up a small folding table between them, and began placing the pieces on the boardHearn had talked to him about chess once or twice, and the General had spoken vaguely of playing, but Hearn had discounted it"You really want to play?" he asked
"If someone walks in, it'll be a pretty sight
The General grinned"Clandestine, eh?" He had finished arranging the pieces, and he picked up a red and a knock off chanel white pawn, hid one in each of his fists and then extended them for Hearn to choose"I'm rather fond of this set," the General said genially"It's hand-carved ivory, not really so dear as you'd think, but the man who made it is a pretty indisputably a craftsman
Hearn, without comment, picked the red pawn, and after replacing them the General made the opening moveHearn gave a conventional response, settled his head comfortably in his large hands, and tried to study the boardBut he found himself nervousHe was feeling both excited and depressed; the conversation had troubled him, and he was bothered by the fact that he was playing chess with the GeneralIt made everything between them more overtThere seemed something vaguely indecent about it, and he entered the game with a feeling that it would be disastrous for him to win
He played through the first few moves rather carelesslyHe was chanel earrings really not thinking at all, listening instead to the occasional muted rumble of the artillery, the steady absorbed flickering of the Coleman lanternOnce or twice he thought he heard the foliage soughing in the bivouac outside, and the sound made him gloomyHe caught himself staring at the rapt simple concentration on the General's faceHis expression was similar to the one he had assumed on the beach invasion day, or on the night they had driven in the jeep, and again it was impressive in its force and direction
Hearn woke up to realize he was in trouble after only six movesSloppily, without any real consideration, he had violated a principle by moving his knight twice before his development was completedHis position was not yet dangerous, the knight was only in the fourth rank, and its squares of retreat could be opened easily enough, but the General was opening with an odd dolce and gabbana bags att |
| 