Stallion Gate Read Free

quality that also clung to Joe. It was as if Fuchs and Anna Weiss had evolved to the next step in human development, leaving Joe and the captain behind, a pair of Stone Age predators.
    “Do you mind if I speak to the sergeant alone?” The arc of Augustino’s cigarette waved Joe out.
    “Please,” Fuchs said.
    Although the ground was frozen, Augustino was in his tunic. Joe couldn’t tell how long he had been listening.
    “Our Germans. I’ll say one thing for Fuchs, he’s scrupulous about security, unlike some people. Sergeant, are you aware of the improvement in the living standards of the people in the local pueblos since you arrived on the Hill? Cigarettes, tires from the motor pool, sugar from the commissary. Particularly disturbing is the rumor that Indians have opened some of the old turquoise mines.”
    “You don’t like Indian jewelry, sir?”
    “What I don’t like is the idea that they’re blasting open the mines with high explosive. There’s only one place in this part of the country for them to get explosives, Sergeant, and that’s the Hill. I’d hate to think any of my men were stealing Army property to sell for personal profit.”
    “Indians are pretty poor, sir. He can’t be making too much profit.”
    “Then that makes him stupid, too.”
    “If he’s that stupid, he’ll make a slip. I’ll watch for him, sir.”
    “Do that. In the meantime, General Groves has arrived at the guesthouse. Wrap up the music. Since you’ll be taking the general and Dr. Oppenheimer to see the Alamogordo range tomorrow, I want you to get a good night’s sleep. The fate of the world will be riding in thecar you’ll be driving, so it would be nice if you were bright and sober. Agreed?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Please be aware, Sergeant, that I am unhappy with the quality of information that you’ve been giving me lately. We have a deal. You’re on provisional assignment to me. That’s probation. You go back to the brig anytime I say. Now, you return inside and give them a couple more tunes and send our civilians home happy. By the way, do you know the difference between a nigger playing the piano and an Indian playing the piano?”
    “No, sir.”
    “Funny, neither do I.”
    Joe tried to get his mind on the music for the last set. He did a little serious work on “I Got It Bad,” turning the chorus into bebop flat fifths, followed with the tomtom rhythm of “Cherokee,” then moved into the placid waters of “More Than You Know.” The jitterbuggers got one last shot with “The G.I. Jive” before he U-turned through “Funny Valentine” and slid into the final tune of the night, “Every Time We Say Goodbye.” Fuchs was doing a Hapsburg ballroom number with Anna Weiss, as if he were waltzing to “The Blue Danube.” She seemed graceful enough in his arms, and smiled as if she found him either amusing or ridiculous. Across the floor, Oppy had his eye on Fuchs and the girl with a concentration that was unusual even for him. At the same time, Kitty was behind Oppy and watching him and the girl. Perhaps it was the novelty of a newface or her bizarre coveralls, but everyone seemed to watch Anna Weiss; on the dance floor she seemed to be the only one completely alive. It was a trick of the light that followed one person around. Joe had seen the quality before; it was rare, but not unknown.
    Every time we say good-bye
.… Porter had written an intimate ballad for lovers parting at train stations, troopships, bedrooms. At previous dances, Fuchs’ style had struck Joe as ludicrous; tonight it was irritating. When he saw them heading for a dip, he skipped a bar, went on four bars, inserted the missing notes and continued. Fuchs looked like a man trapped by a traffic signal. The girl looked at Joe. The other dancers didn’t notice because they were all dancing close and slow. As Fuchs stared at the piano, Joe drew the tune out. It was full of the loveliest A-minor chords. He got Harvey to sustain an E and came