И проиграли бой

           Burtonexplained,"He’salittlebitoff,Jim.Don’tworryhim.Allthisexcitementhasgonetohisheadalittlebit."

           Jimsaid,"Sure,I’llleadhimalong."Hestoodup."Say,thatfeelslotsbetter."

           "Let’sgetsomemush,"saidMac."Wewanttostartthisfuneralintimesoit’lltieupthenoontrafficintown,ifwecan."

           Docsnorted."Alwaysafriendtoman.God,you’reascorpion,Mac!IfIwerebossingtheothersideI’dtakeyououtandshootyou."

           "Well,they’lldothatsomeday,Iguess,"Macreplied."They’vedoneeverythingelsetome."

           Theyfiledoutofthetent.Outsidetheairwasfilledwithtinydropsoffallingwater,agrey,mistydrizzle.Theorchardtreesweredimbehindacurtainofgreygauze.Jimlookeddownthelineofsoddentents.Thestreetsbetweenthelineswerealreadywhippedtoslushymudbythefeetofmovingpeople,andthepeoplemovedconstantlyfortherewasnodryplacetositdown.Linesofmenwaitedtheirturnsatthetoiletsattheendsofthestreets.

           BurtonandMacandJimwalkedtowardthestoves.Thickbluesmokefromwetwoodpouredfromthechimneys.Onthestove-topsthewash-boilersofmushbubbled,andthecooksstirredwithlongsticks.Jimfeltthemistpenetratingdownhisneck.Hepulledhisjacketcloserandbuttonedthetopbutton."Ineedabath,"hesaid.

           "Well,takeaspongebath.That’stheonlykindwehave.Here,Ibroughtyourfoodcan."

           Theysteppedtotheendofthelineofmenwaitingbythestove.Thecooksfilledthecontainerswithmushasthelinefiledby.