@@@@@He wanted to be able to tell Wyman something more comforting than the fact that it didn’t matterBut he could think of nothing, and he settled back in his blankets”Aaah, you better try to sleep it off, kid,” he said
“Yeah, okay,” Wyman murmured
Like a relapsing fever, Red had again the familiar ache of age and sadness and wisdom
Croft and Martinez had not received any mail either; they never got any
Ridges was given a letter from his fatherIt was written laboriously on coarse ruled paper into which the pencil lines had cut deeplyRidges gave it to Goldstein to read for him
It went: Dere Son, we one and al of us miss you, the crop was harvest, and we made som little money, enuff to kepe us, Thank the LordSim grew prette near haff a foot and your other brothers and sisters are kepeing him compeny, ma is felling pretty goodOld man Henry lost his 3 acres, it is a shaim, but the company will not take a no for a answerWe appreshate the monee you sent, you are a gud son, we al saye that
“That’s a mighty fine letter,” Ridges said when Goldstein had finished”Pa writes a nice hand
“It’s a very nice letter,” Goldstein saidHe read over again the last lines of one of the letters his wife had sent him”Danny asked about you yesterday, I’ve been telling him all the time that daddy is in the Army, and he hasn’t forgotten you one bitHe’s so cute, oh, Joey, I wish you could see him growing up, there’s nothing like itHe said yesterday, ‘When does Daddy come back from going boom-boom?’ I didn’t know whether to laugh or cryManny Straus promised he’d take some pictures of him
Goldstein sipped his beer and felt an awful longing
Wilson had Gallagher reread one of the letters from Wilson’s wife next morningHe laughed angrily several times as Gallagher read
“I am not going to stand for this I hav been a gud wife to you and you no that, I hav alwaze giv you all the monie you want, and I am entitel now to one hunedird and twentie dollar everie monthe I was tawking to Wes Hopekinds down at the cowntie clerke offis and he saiy that you hav to giv me the monie the armie take care of it thair is no thing you can do abowt
