A Bell for Adano

by John Hersey

  “The police station!” Major Joppolo took Tina’s hand, and said: “Come with me.”

  They walked to the police station, and all the way the murmur seemed to grow on the night air. By the time they got close, it had clarified into the wailing and shrieking of many children.

  When the Major and Tina went in, they saw all the children weeping and shouting angrily at Gargano. He stood on the stairs to the second floor. His face was covered with sweat. He was trying, with gestures and at the top of his voice, to explain to them why there were no caramels in the police station. But the terrible guilt of his lies would not be forgiven by the children.

  Major Joppolo pushed his way through the crowd of children and went up three or four stairs. When the children saw the Mister Major, they started stamping and shouting in unison: “Caramelle! Caramelle!”

  The Major held his hand up. Gradually the noise subsided. He waited until there was silence, all except for the catching of breath that children do when they have been crying.

  And now the Major made the last public speech he would ever make in Adano. He didn’t know that it would be his last, but he made it simple and right, and if he had planned a farewell speech, he couldn’t have done better.

  “Children of Adano,” he said, “I am sorry to have to tell you that there are no caramels here.” There was a brief wail of protest.

  “I’m afraid that you have been misled. But I’m sure that Gargano didn’t mean any harm when he told you that there would be caramels here. He told you that so as to be sure that you would come, because he had something very important to tell you.

  “Gargano, may I tell them?” Gargano nodded. “Children, you know the little Calvi boy who was hit by the truck last night? Do you know why he was hit? Pasquale son of Gigante do you know why he was hit?” Pasquale son of Gigante was one of the larger boys who had teamed up to outwit the others. He shook his head.

  “Massimo son of Zupi, do you know why?”

  This boy, another of the team, also shook his head. “I know,” a small voice said, and a small hand went u.

  “Why, Marco?”

  Marco son of Manifattura, one of the smaller ones who had been cheated, said: “Because he was selfish.” “Marco is right. Marco says that the Calvi boy was killed because he was selfish. Marco, you are exactly right. That is what Gargano wanted to tell you, isn’t it, Gargano?”

  That was not just what Gargano had in mind, but he nodded absently.

  “The Calvi boy would never have been killed if he and Pasquale and Massimo and the other big ones had not been selfish. If they had not tried to get everything for themselves, no one would have been hurt, and all would have had some candies.

  “Now we don’t want any more children killed in this town. You don’t want any more of your friends to be killed, I’m sure. So from now on this is how we will handle the candies. I am going to appoint a committee, and the committee will take down the names of all the children who want caramels, and they will appoint two children to collect the candies carefully each evening as the trucks go through town. The American soldiers will go on throwing candies, of that I’m certain. The two collectors will put the candy in a box, and the committee will give out the candies in order, according to the names on the list. That means that everyone will have some, and no one will be hurt.

  “For the committee I want Marco and Pasquale -” A voice shouted: “Pasquale will be selfish, he will put some of the candies in his pocket instead of in the box.” The Major said: “I don’t think he will. Pasquale and Massimo and Eliodoro and Elisabetta.”

  And then the Major added: “I want you to be happy together. I want all of you to have as much as you can of what you want, without hurting anyone else. That is what I want in Adano.”

  The Major left and Gargano took the children home. On the way back to the party, Tina said: “Now I know why I love you.

  Major Joppolo said: “Why?”

  “Because of what you want for Adano. That’s why everyone here loves you. There is no one here who will say a bad word about you, and that’s a rare thing in Adano. “

  The Major said: “And I know why I like you.” “Why?”

  “For a very selfish reason: because you make me feel as if I were almost important.”

  “Oh, you are,” Tina said, with just enough mockery in her voice.

  When the Major and Tina got back to the party. Giuseppe met them, wringing his hands and making desperate faces. “Mister Major, where have you been? I have been looking for you on all the balconies and in all the bedrooms.

  “That was hardly necessary, Giuseppe,” the Major said. “What did you want?”

  “Fat Craxi and your Sergeant, they are misbehaving. I can’t do anything with them.”

  The Major said to Tina: “Wait here,” and he went off with Giuseppe to find Craxi and Borth.

  They were in the library. If there had been other guests in the room, they had left. Craxi and Borth were alone, and quite drunk.

  When the fat Craxi saw the Major, he said to Borth: “Shall we relieve nature on the leg of the Mister Major?” Borth said: “Have you any left?”

  Craxi said boastfully, beating himself on the chest: “If I wanted, I could relieve myself for two hours, and then I would still be able to pass wind for fifteen minutes. Shall we do it on the leg of the Mister Major?”

  Borth said: “No, only on the enemies of Adano. He is a friend.” Suddenly Borth began to cry.

  Major Joppolo said sharply: “Borth, behave yourself.” When the Major spoke so angrily, fat Craxi tiptoed out of the room, and Giuseppe followed him to keep an eye on him.

  The Major and Borth were alone. The Major spoke -again: “Behave yourself or go home.”

  Borth was drunk because of the Major. He had never been drunk in uniform before. But when the Major spoke so angrily, that streak of contrariness in Borth which made him tease people so much, which made him always laugh at serious people and deflate pompous ones, came out in him. He said thickly: “You can’t boss me around.”

  “Sergeant Borth,” the Major said, with obvious emphasis on the word Sergeant.

  “Don’t Sergeant me,” Borth said; “you have no ‘thority to boss me.”

  I have just as much authority as I ever had, and if you don’t behave -”

  “Oh no you haven’t,” Borth said. “You can’t boss anybody, not in Adano ..”

  “Borth, you’re drunk. Now behave.”

  “Joppolo, you’re fired. You been relieved. You’re nobody round here.” And Borth began to cry again. “Borth, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but

  I-„

  The Major broke off and went over to Borth and took him by the arm, to try to lead him out.

  “Take your hands off me,” Borth said. He reached in his pocket and said: “Here, read that.”

  Major Joppolo read the order recalling him from Adano.

  “Where did you get this?” he asked.

  Borth was crying again. “Your desk. I wanted to keep you from seeing it until after the party.”

  The Major walked out of the room.

  Victor Joppolo put up a beautiful front for the rest of the evening, until the very moment when he was saying good night to Tina just inside her front door. Then he put his arms around her and said miserably: “I’m so unhappy.”

  Tina pushed back and looked at his face. She put her hands on his shoulders and said: “But I thought you were so happy?”

  The Major was in control of himself again. “I am,” he said, “I’m sorry.”

  “Is it because of your wife?” Tina asked.

  “No, Tina, it’s nothing.” Then, in the shadow of the stairway of her house, he kissed her tenderly and said: “Till I see you again.”

  She was frightened and she said: “What is the matter? Why did you say good-bye instead of good night? What is the matter?”

  “Nothing, Tina. Good night, Tina.”

  Chapter 37

  IT was the middle
of the morning before Major Joppolo could get his papers straightened up and his last-minute directions given. Sergeant Borth was the one who helped him get everything arranged. Captain Purvis did not have the courage to show himself all morning.

  The Major called the motor pool and asked for a jeep to take him to Vicinamare.

  Then he told Borth: “I don’t want to say good-bye to anyone, Borth. I don’t know whether I could.”

  Borth did not mock this morning. He said: “I am sorry about last night, Major. My intentions were good. I wanted you to have a good time at the party.”

  “I know.”

  The Major thought a minute and then said: “Borth, try to help whoever takes my place to try to do a good job in Adano.”

  Borth said: “I’m afraid it will be that awful dope from Pontebasso.” “

  The Major said: “I hope not. Adano needs an understanding man.”

  Borth said. “Adano needs you, Major.”

  The Major said: “Too late to talk about that. I wondef how Marvin ever found out about the carts.”

  Borth suspected Captain Purvis, but he said: “One of his staff must have driven through or something.”

  The Major said: “Yes, I guess so.”

  The jeep came. So as not to arouse suspicion, Borth went with the driver to the Major’s house and got his baggage. His entire possessions consisted of a bedroll, with his clothes rolled into it.

  When the jeep got back to the Palazzo, Major Joppolo took his portrait under his arm and went downstairs and got in.

  He shook Borth’s hand but he did not say good-bye. The lazy Fatta, standing on the sidewalk, said by way of making conversation: “Going somewhere?”

  Major Joppolo tried to sound cheerful as he said. “Not far. How is Carmelina this morning?”

  The lazy Fatta said: “She is making a rabbit stew.” The driver said: “Where to, Major?”

  The Major did not want to say Vicinamare so that Fatta or anyone else could hear it. Perhaps he could not say it. Anyhow, he just said: “This way,” and he pointed out the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

  About four miles outside the town the Major said to the driver: “Stop a minute, would you, please?”

  The driver stopped the jeep.

  “Listen,” the Major said. “Do you hear something?” It was a fine sound on the summer air. The tone was good and it must have been loud to hear it as far as this. “Just a bell,” the driver said. “Must be eleven o’clock.” “Yes,” the Major said. He looked over the hills across the sea, and the day was as clear as the sound of the bell itself, but the Major could not see or think very clearly. “Yes,” he said, “eleven o’clock.”