New York with malaria and jaundice, and a boy who tried to unscrew the fuse
cap from an explosive shell for a souvenir. Henry develops an appreciation
for Helen Ferguson, who helps him pass notes to Catherine while she is on
duty. Catherine continues to stay with Henry every night, but Henry and
Miss Gage finally convince her to take three nights off of night duty--Miss
Van Campen has commented that Henry always sleeps till noon.
Book II, Chapters 18-24
That summer Henry learns to walk on crutches, and he and Catherine
enjoy Milan. They befriend the headwaiter at a restaurant called the Gran
Italia, and Catherine continues to see Henry every night. They discuss
marriage, but Catherine remains opposed to the idea for the time being.
They pretend to be married instead. Catherine tells Henry that her love for
him has become her religion.
When not with Catherine, Henry spends time with a soldier named Ettore
Moretti, an Italian from San Francisco who is very proud of his war medals.
Ettore is extremely boastful about his military prowess, and Catherine
finds him annoying and dull. One night Henry and Catherine lie in bed
listening to the rain, and Catherine asks Henry if he will always love her.
She says she is afraid of the rain, and begins to cry.
Henry and Catherine go to the races with Helen Ferguson, whom Henry now
calls "Fergie," and the boy who tried to unscrew the nose cap on the
shrapnel shell. They bet on a horse backed by a racing expert and former
criminal named Mr. Myers; they win, but Catherine feels dissatisfied, so
they pick a horse for the next race on their own. Even though they lose,
Catherine feels much better.
By September, Henry's leg is nearly healed. He receives some leave time
from the hospital, and Catherine tells him she will arrange to go with him.
She then gives him a piece of startling news: she is six months pregnant.
Catherine worries that Henry feels trapped, and promises not to make
trouble for him, but he tells her he feels cheerful and thinks she is
wonderful. Catherine talks about the obstacles they will face, and mentions
the old quote about how the coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but
one. She says that, in reality, the brave man dies perhaps two thousand
deaths in his imagination--he simply does not mention them.
The next morning it begins to rain, and Henry is diagnosed with
jaundice. Miss Van Campen finds empty liquor bottles in Henry's room, and
accuses him of producing jaundice through alcoholism to avoid being sent
back to the front. Miss Gage helps Henry clear things up, but in the end he
loses his leave time.
Henry prepares to travel back to the front. He buys a new pistol, and
takes Catherine to a hotel. The hotel makes Catherine feel like a
prostitute, but before the night is over they feel at home there. Before
midnight, they walk downstairs and Henry calls a carriage for Catherine.
They have a brief good-bye, and Henry boards the crowded train that will
take him back to the war.
Book III, Chapters 25-28
After returning to Gorizia, Henry has a talk with the major about the
war--it was a bad year, the major says; Henry was lucky to get hit when he
did. Henry then goes to find Rinaldi; while he waits for his friend, he
thinks about Catherine. Rinaldi comes into the room and is glad to see
Henry; concerned, he examines Henry's wounded knee. He says that he has
become a skilled surgeon from the constant work with the wounded, but now
that the fighting has died down temporarily he has a frustrating lack of
work. They talk about Catherine, and at dinner the officers tease the
priest.
After dinner, Henry goes to talk with the priest. The priest thinks the
war will end soon, but Henry remains skeptical. After the priest leaves,
Henry goes to sleep; he wakes when Rinaldi comes back, but quickly falls
asleep again.
The next morning, he travels to the Bainsizza area, and sees the damage
caused by the war: the whole village is destroyed. Henry meets a man named
Gino, and they discuss the fighting. Gino says the summer's losses were not
in vain, and Henry falls silent--he says words like those embarrass him. He
says that the names of villages and the numbers of streets have more
meaning than words like sacred and glorious.That night, the rain comes down
hard, and the Croatians begin a bombardment. In the morning, the Italians
learn that the attacking forces include Germans, and they become very
afraid--they have had little contact with the Germans in the war so far,
and prefer to keep it that way. The next night, the Italian line has been
broken, and the Italian forces begin a large-scale retreat.
As the forces slowly move out, Henry returns to the villa, but finds it
empty; Rinaldi is gone with the hospital. Henry finds the drivers under his
command, including Piani, Bonello, and Aymo. Before leaving in the morning,
Henry gets a good night's sleep.
They drive out slowly through the town, in an endless line of soldiers
and vehicles. Henry takes a turn sleeping, and shortly after he wakes, the
column stalls. He finds that Bonello has given two engineer sergeants a
ride, and Aymo has two girls in his car. Exhausted, Henry falls asleep
again, and dreams of Catherine.That night, columns of peasants join the
retreating army. In the early morning Henry and his men stop briefly at a
farmhouse, eating a large breakfast. Soon, they continue slowly on their
way, rejoining the line of trucks and soldiers.
Book III, Chapters 29-32
Aymo's car gets stuck in the soft ground; the men are forced to cut
brush hurriedly to place under the tires for traction. Henry orders the two
engineer sergeants riding with Bonello to help; afraid of being overtaken
by the enemy, they refuse, and try to leave. Henry draws his gun and shoots
one of them, but the other escapes. Bonello takes Henry's pistol and kills
the wounded sergeant.
They begin to cut branches and twigs; in the end, they are unable to
save the car. Henry gives some money to the two girls travelling with Aymo
and encourages them to go down to a nearby village, Aymo gets in Henry's
vehicle, and they set out, now cut off from the main column.
Crossing a bridge, Henry sees a nearby car full of German soldiers. As
they travel, they begin to notice more and more signs of German occupation,
and they worry that they have been completely cut off from Italian-
controlled land. They proceed with caution; a sudden burst of gunfire kills
Aymo. They realize he was shot by the Italian rear guard--the Italians are
ahead, but because the rear guard is afraid, they are almost as dangerous
as the Germans.
Fearing death, Bonello leaves in hopes of being taken prisoner. The men
hide in a barn that night, and in the morning they rejoin the Italians. The
enlisted men become furious with the officers, and Piani is afraid they
will try to kill Henry. Suddenly, two men (battle police) seize hold of
Henry. They seize Henry because he is a foreigner, and in the chaos of the
retreat they intend to shoot him for a spy. When they look away for a
moment, Henry dives into the river and swims away.
After floating in the river for what seems like a very long time, Henry
climbs out, removes the stars from his shirt, and counts his money. He
crosses the Venetian plain that day, then jumps aboard a military train
that evening, hiding under a canvas with guns.
Lying under the canvas, Henry thinks about the army, about the war, and
about Catherine. He realizes that he will be pronounced dead, and assumes
he will never see Rinaldi again. Rinaldi has been concerned he will die of
syphilis, and Henry worries for him. Exhausted and hungry, he imagines
finding Catherine and going away with her to a safe place.
Book V, Chapters 38-41
That fall, Henry and Catherine live in a brown wooden house on the side
of a mountain. They enjoy the company of Mr. and Mrs. Guttingen, who live
downstairs, and they remain very happy together; sometimes they walk down
the mountain path in Montreux. One day Catherine gets her hair done in
Montreux, and afterwards they go to have a beer--Catherine thinks beer is
good for the baby, because it will keep it small; she is worried about the
baby's size because the doctor has said she has a narrow pelvis. They talk
again about getting married, but Catherine wants to wait until after the
baby is born when she will be thin again.
Three days before Christmas, the snow comes. Catherine asks Henry if he
feels restless, and he says no, though he does wonder about his friends on
the front, such as Rinaldi and the priest.
Henry decides to grow a beard and by mid-January, he has one. Through
January and February he and Catherine remain very happy; in March they move
into town to be near the hospital. They stay in a hotel there for three
weeks; Catherine buys baby clothes, Henry works out in the gym, and they
both feel that the baby will arrive soon.
Finally, around three o'clock one morning, Catherine goes into labor.
They go to the hospital, where Catherine is given a nightgown and a room.
She encourages Henry to go out for breakfast, and he does, talking to the
old man who serves him. When he returns to the hospital, he finds that
Catherine has been taken to the delivery room. He goes in to see her; the
doctor stands by, and Catherine takes an anaesthetic gas when her
contractions become very painful. At two o'clock in the afternoon, Henry
goes out for lunch.
He goes back to the hospital; Catherine is now intoxicated from the
gas. The doctor thinks her pelvis is too narrow to allow the baby to pass
through, and advises a Caesarian section. Catherine suffers unbearable pain
and pleads for more gas. Finally they wheel her out on a stretcher to
perform the operation. Henry watches the rain outside.
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