They moved silently, strung out in a long column,...
They moved silently, strung out in a long column, each man ten yards apartThe sun was moving toward the west, and it glared in their eyesThey were a little reluctant now They followed in reverse the route of their retreat, moving quickly without any attempt at concealment except when they crossed a ridgeThe country was dotted with groves of bushes and trees, but they gave them only a cursory examinationCroft was certain Wilson had been wounded in the ambush, and hadn't left the field It took them less than half an hour to reach the ledge, and they advanced toward it stealthily, crouching close to the groundThere seemed no one about, no sound at 925 tiffany's necklace allCroft bellied forward over the rock slab, raised his head slowly, and searched the fieldHe could see nothing, and in the grove at the other end of the field, nothing seemed to be stirring "Goddam, goddam sonofabitching belly The men stiffened at the soundSomeone was moaning only ten or twenty yards away Croft stared into the grass"Ohhhh, that mother-fuggin The voice trailed off in a babble of curses He slid down from the ledge, and joined the others, who waited for him nervously, their rifles unslung"I think it's Wilson He worked over to the left, slid up the broad flat slab of the ledge again, and dropped from it into the grassIn a few seconds he roxanne mulberry bag found Wilson, turned him over gently"He's hit, all right Croft stared at him with a mild pity, mixed with a trace of disgustIf a man gets wounded, it's his own goddam fault, Croft thought They knelt in the grass around him, careful to keep their heads lowWilson had become unconscious again"How're we going to get him back?" Goldstein asked in a whisper "Let me worry about that," Croft murmured coldlyHe was concerned with something else for the momentWilson had been groaning loudly, and if the Japs were still in the grove they must have heard himIt was inconceivable that they wouldn't have come out to kill him, and therefore the only answer was that they chanel cambon fake had retreatedTheir fire had been too sporadic, too small in volume, to have come from more than a squad of menUndoubtedly it had been only an outpost with orders to retreat if any patrols were sighted Then the entrance to the pass was no longer guardedHe wondered if he should leave Wilson, and take the others with him on a reconnaissanceBut it seemed pointless; there would certainly be more Japs deeper in the pass, and they would never get throughTheir only chance was to go over the mountainHe stared up at it again, and the sight roused a delicate shiver of anticipation There was Wilson to be taken care ofAnd he had to face something elseWhen the gucci faux ambush had started, he had been paralyzed for a few secondsIt had not been fear, he had merely been unable to moveIn remembering this he felt a little balked, almost teased, as if he had missed an opportunity He was uncertain, but the emotion was similar to the one he felt now because he could not reconnoiter the passThere had been a gap before he fired, and in thatSomething he had wantedI fugged up, he told himself bitterly, not quite certain of what he meant And here was WilsonProperly, it would take six men to carry him back to the beachCroft felt like swearing "All right, let's drag him through the grass until we get to the ledge and then we can cambon chanel carry