@@@@@ But on the way over, Polack changes his
@@@@@
But on the way over, Polack changes his mind
Aaaah, t' hell wit' it, the percentages are runnin' outHe turns around and drives back calmlyBeneath his mind a wonder is working
It's a big thing, he mumbles
Only, that's not itPolack has never heard of a deus ex machina, and it's a new idea to him
You figger all the angles and then somethin' new comes upThere ain't anyplace I ain't gonna get along
His wonder is smotheredEven when the new angles come, there's always a gimmick if ya go looking hard enough for itHe bangs down his horn, whips past a truck



9

A FEW HOURS later at noontime, miles away, the litter-bearers were struggling with WilsonThey had carried him all morning under the burnished metallic heat of a tropical sun, their strength and their will coursing out of their bodies with their perspirationAlready they moved stupidly, the sweat blinding their eyes, their tongues clapped against their dry and enraged palates, their legs quivering constantlyThe heat rose from everything, shimmered over the grass, swirled about them with the languid resistance of water or oilTheir faces felt swathed in velvet, and the air they breathed was superheated, without refreshment, a combustible mixture which seemed to explode in their chestsThey shambled along, their heads lolling, sobbing loudly with rending sounds which lacerated their throatsAfter hours of this they were men walking through flame
They carted Wilson as if they were wrestling with a stone, struggling forward with agony for fifty yards or a hundred or even two hundred, with the hasty scrambling motions of laborers moving a piano, and then they would set him down, and remain swaying on their feet, their shoulders heaving for the air they could not find under the leaden arch of the skyIn a minute, afraid to rest, feeling anchored to him, they would pick up the litter and labor forward for another short increment over the endless green and yellow hillsOn the upslopes they would bog down, remain holding him for seconds, their legs incapable of climbing any farther, and then they would strain upward again, advance a few more feet, and stand watching each other
And in the places where they went downhill their thighs would quiver with the effort it took to brake themselves from dropping into a full run, and the muscles in their calves and around their shins would knot painfully, tempting them to stumble and lie motionless in the grass without moving for the rest of the day
Wilson was conscious and in painEvery time they jolted him he would groan, and he was continually thrashing about on the litter, disturbing the balance and making them stumbl