Adventure in Sahara Page #2

No, no! l couldn't help it. Please!

Captain Savatt!

What is it? What's wrong, Ladoux?

Get some water, quick.

Now take it easy.

You'll be all right in a minute.

No, it was horrible, horrible.

l dreamed it was Savatt.

He was strangling me.

Such dreams seem to come true

around here.

Careful. Gravet.

His big ears catch everything for Savatt.

Why do you wake us up

with these foolish nightmares?

You better get some sleep.

You'll be all right.

-You don't like Savatt?

-Do you?

Someday l'll strangle him

with my own two hands.

-Karnoldi is all talk.

-All talk, am l?

Look at this. Savatt. And this. Savatt.

There isn't a man among us

who hasn't suffered from Savatt's cruelty.

One morning, Agadez will wake up

and find a dead commandant.

Be quiet. Gravet.

-l can't see why one well ain't enough.

-Do you question the Commandant's orders?

Do like Poule. Pretend you're digging

a grave for Savatt, and it'll be fun.

-Pain again, Ladoux?

-He ought to be in bed.

You are not to rest,

but if l happen to be looking the other way...

-Thanks, Corporal.

-Slack off.

-Attention!

-At ease.

Not much better, huh?

How can a man recover when that fiend

Savatt makes him sweat until he drops?

Wilson, l must warn you

against any rash talk or acts, as your friend.

-Thank you, sir.

-Attention!

Why are you not digging?

Or is the Lieutenant already choosing

his favorite bootlickers?

Your pardon, sir. We were just discussing

the feasibility of the well.

-l ordered it dug, that's enough.

-Yes, sir. We had agreed on its value, sir.

An excellent conclusion. What is this?

Get up, you lazy slug, and get into that hole.

-He's ill.

-He is no more ill than a donkey.

-He's always shamming.

-Pardon, sir.

Silence! Get up.

Now pick up that shovel.

l'll pick up my shovel.

-l'll smash your fiendish skull!

-Ladoux!

l don't care what he does to me.

How much can a man suffer?

Hold him under arrest.

Ladoux, you will be sent to Tiente

for military trial.

For assaulting an officer with intent to kill,

the punishment is death.

He saved you the trouble.

lt has come to my ears that you are not

in sympathy with my methods of training.

You have too much time to talk and think.

That will be remedied at once.

Right shoulder, march!

Right face, forward march!

-She's lovely.

-You'd like each other.

-l wish you could meet her sometime.

-Not much chance of that.

You'd better get up, Ren. Savatt might...

The devil is asleep.

He went into his tent some time ago.

Why is he taking us on this long march?

No reason. Just Savatt.

Punishment for resenting Ladoux's death,

l suppose.

Moonlight on the desert.

ln America, they sing songs about it.

When l was a kid,

my mother used to tell me that...

There was a man in the moon,

and if you did anything wrong,

he'd see you do it and tell her.

Yes.

-How did you know?

-All mothers are alike.

l wonder what he's telling Mother now.

-You'll tell her yourself someday.

-l wonder.

lt all seems like a mirage,

and this is the only thing that's real.

Savatt, the suffering, the boiling sun,

men dying for no reason, like Ladoux.

But how can this be real?

Someday you'll look back on this

as a mirage,

and the things you love

will be the real things.

l've got to get back, Jim, for Madeline.

We were married the night before l left.

Mother and Father don't know it.

Malreaux.

You were assigned to sentry duty.

How dare you desert your post!

-But l was only...

-Silence!

-Corporal.

-Yes, sir.

Do you realize you've endangered the lives

of the entire company in case of attack?

-So, place Malreaux under arrest.

-Yes, sir.

On our return to Agadez,

carry out the punishment.

Two full days on lookout post on the wall,

without relief.

Yes, sir. Poule.

-Yes, sir.

-Take over Malreaux's watch. Come on.

What are you waiting for? Entertainment?

Go back to sleep.

There must be a better way.

Company, halt.

They're firing at Agadez.

Company, double-time, march!

-Take care of him.

-Yes, sir.

Marrant, more ammunition. Hurry!

The company, they're coming back!

Company, attention!

Poor kid's been up there for 20 hours.

lt's torture.

l'd like to give that devil

a taste of his own medicine.

No, Poule, l wouldn't let anyone

deprive me of that pleasure.

l came a long way to get it.

That's how he killed my kid brother.

Your gun.

-Attention!

-l can't see! l'm going blind!

-Help! Help! Help!

-Silence!

Wilson, come back here.

Wilson, put him down.

He's dead.

You killed him,

just as though you took your pistol

and shot him between the eyes.

-You killed him and Ladoux and...

-Silence! Place him under arrest.

Thirty days solitary confinement

for insubordination. Take him away.

Company, dismissed.

Well, didn't you hear me?

Company, dismissed!

-Mr. Wilson? Mr. Wilson?

-Yeah?

-Be careful.

-l snagged a chicken sandwich

from Savatt's kitchen for you.

l'm getting better food in here

than l got outside, thanks to you.

That's all right, boss.

l'm just being true to my name.

You certainly are.

What do you do

with the bread and water they give you?

l eat that for dessert.

The men want you to keep your strength.

They'll be waiting for you.

-Only a few days more now.

-And then?

We'll see.

Today finishes Wilson's punishment.

Arrange to release him.

Yes, sir. The American's state of mind, sir,

it worries me.

That's nothing. l am certain

that he's had time to think and regret,

and l am sure that he is quite harmless now.

Yes, sir.

Gravet?

Yes, sir.

You will keep your eye on the American.

Did l ever tell you how l broke the bank

at Monte Carlo? You see, l had a system.

Wilson.

Hello.

Smoke?

-Feel all right? You look fine.

-That black hole is no Ritz Hotel.

-l'm still a little dizzy.

-Why don't you tell him?

All right, l will.

We've been waiting for your release.

We all agree that you're the man to...

Attention!

At ease. Corporal Dronov,

pick 1 2 men for scouting duty.

Yes, sir.

How are you, Wilson?

-Good as can be expected, sir.

-You'll join the patrol.

But l've just been released from solitary.

l'm pretty weak.

Don't you think it would be better

if l stayed here, sir?

No, l think it would be better

if you came along.

-What is it?

-Nothing, sir, just a little dizzy.

Take it easy.

There are whispers

floating around the outpost, ugly whispers.

-l think you know what l mean.

-Can you blame the men?

As a man, no. As an officer...

You're intelligent, Wilson.

You must realize that the entire welfare

of the Legion depends upon discipline.

Discipline?

ls Savatt's brutality to be condoned

with the word ''discipline''? lf so...

l can understand your bitterness,

your hatred for Savatt.

But all wrongs

must right themselves, eventually.

Eventually. Meanwhile, men are beaten,

starved and tortured.

l'm trying to make you understand.

You can't fight Savatt

without fighting the Legion.

lt landed behind the dune.

Double-time, forward march.

Double-time, forward march!

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