Andersonville Page #4

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- We'll get it. Martin, we'll get it back.

- Where's Josie?

Dick's dead!

Dick Potter. He's dead.

Dickie.

No!

Ninth Michigan.

Nineteenth Detachment Indiana.

Well, now, you been taking Dick

to the dead house?

Who's the Secesh?

Well, now, that is a very

important government colonel...

...the government sent down here

to inspect us.

Ain't it nice to know they care?

Got it coming from the dead house.

- Good to brace the tunnel with that.

- That's what I figured.

What are we doing here, boys?

Is that your banjo, Martin?

Was.

- Sarge, how's the arm?

- All right. How are you?

- How's the eye?

- Buggered my knee.

Billy, get some rainwater,

clean up the sarge.

- Trade for it if you have to.

- Yes, sir.

He's a good, good lad.

You know how many they got lying

in the dead house from today?

Forty-six.

Sweet Jesus.

That's two by the Raiders, one shot at

the deadline. The rest of them... Starved?

I don't know. They look water-bloated.

They're tying nametags around

the big toes of most of them.

So when they bury them,

there'll be some kind of record.

- You do that for Dickie?

- Yeah.

Good.

He told me again about the water.

We can't drink from the swamp.

It'll kill you.

- We have to tell the men.

- Right.

Tuck! Thomas!

- Boys!

- Wisconsin, Ohio, over here.

How's your sergeant?

He don't look so good.

Took a crack in the eye.

I can still see good enough...

...to see you're no prettier

than you were yesterday, Tyce.

Now, listen. Go ahead, Josie.

Last night, Dick was telling me

about the water here.

You can't drink from the swamp.

It'll kill you.

Tuck.

We need some shelter.

Sew us up something.

They got my kit last night,

my needles, thread, my shears.

Somebody'll have some.

Got some buttons?

Some brass buttons,

trade them to the Rebs.

Okay, Tuck, we'll get you

a needle and thread.

You call that music?

I've heard better noise come

out of dried chicken guts.

Here! Give us something

a man can dance to.

Dance, Collins!

Jig it up!

Anybody got $2?

I need $2 to give to a guard

to send a letter to Dick's father.

God bless you.

All right. Now, Thomas.

- We'll get it back.

- Don't do it.

- Thomas.

- That's foolish.

There's 10 of them for every one of...

I need you here!

Get these rations out of the road.

Jesus.

That belongs to him.

And we want it back.

You do, do you?

Who's your best man?

He is.

That's the best you got? He's a baby.

Runt of the litter.

All right, boys, make the ring.

Draw the mark here.

Georgie!

Three cheers for Georgie!

Hip, hip, hurrah! Hip, hip, hurrah!

Hip, hip, hurrah!

Any of you wants to come in and get

a better look, you step right up.

- The bet is Georgie, under three minutes.

- I'll take some.

Thomas, you look out for this one.

He's a bad one.

He's killed men in here before.

Don't turn your back on him.

He don't fight fair.

All right. All right.

Get up!

This time, we'll get you three of them.

We'll make it a fair fight.

Come on!

Take his jacket off.

There you go, Thomas.

All right!

Hit him!

Come on, Tommy!

Yeah!

You dirty coward, that's enough!

Okay, okay.

That's enough.

- He said, that's enough.

- All right, boys! All right.

We've had our fun for the day.

We want to leave something...

...for tomorrow, now, don't we?

Next time, it'll be me and you, Limber Jim.

Yes. One fine day.

Easy, boys. Watch his head.

- Easy.

- Patrick.

Here's some water, Tom.

Easy.

- Watch his bleeding.

- All right.

- We didn't get it back, did we?

- No, sir.

- I'm sorry, Martin.

- Next time.

There won't be a next time.

There will be no more fighting.

There will be no more worrying

about the Raiders. You're wasting our time.

You're wasting our strength,

and that's the end of it.

You wanna live?

You wanna get out of here?

Then we gotta tunnel.

"Tunnels are useless.

But why bother anyway?

No."

Oh, boy.

Wait a minute, Massachusetts brother.

Wait a minute.

That's enough for you today.

You've been down three times.

The quicker we get it dug,

the quicker we get out.

All right, then. Go ahead.

Where's my shovel?

Hey.

You have any troubles down there,

you just pull on this rope three times.

Martin?

How do you stay

under the ground digging without...

A few minutes and I...

I just get...

It's what I do.

- It doesn't scare you, being down there?

- No.

Was it hard the first time?

My father took me.

All his friends worked the mine.

Yeah, Sgt. Gleason's father

works the mine. Tobias' father.

Everybody worked the mines.

I look forward to it.

- How did you learn to play the banjo?

- My father taught me that too.

- You really think I can learn?

- Yes, sir.

Yes, I do.

I could tell the other night.

I could tell you were...

You're gonna be good.

Real good.

We'll keep watch with you.

Long overdue, I say.

Why just a watch?

Why not wade into them

and start breaking heads?

- That's what we should be talking about!

- Keep your voice down.

You can't just wade into them.

There's too many of them.

We'll get every man here.

Should have done it two months ago.

It's just that everyone thought

we was gonna be exchanged.

Sure we will. Any year now.

Did it when we should've,

my brother would be alive.

- Maybe we ought to take them on, huh?

- Come on, what are we feared of?

We're not a bunch

of little girls, you know.

You can't keep a secret in a place like this.

You try and get together 1000 men

to take them on...

...because that's what it'll take...

...and they'll get you first.

They will.

There's a reason I don't want

to do anything just now.

- Some of us are working on a tunnel.

- Yeah? well, so are we, but...

Well, what do you think?

Well, for now we just keep a watch.

Not go after them.

But any of the Raiders come fore,

the others will help out.

We'll all stand up for each other.

All right?

Nobody say yes if you don't mean it.

You shouldn't have told

about us working on a tunnel.

I know. As soon as I said it, l...

Tunnel traitors turn you in

for half an apple.

They were making all these excuses.

- We gotta tell Gleason.

- Yep.

Tunnel has to be rushed now,

whether we're tired or hungry or sick.

- We don't have a month anymore.

- Sergeant, I'm sorry.

- I know I made a mistake...

- The three of you. Get outside.

Watch whoever heard you.

Any of them is a traitor, goes near a Reb,

you know what the hell to do.

Grundy.

There.

Tobias. I'll tell Gleason.

Sergeant.

It's Grundy.

All right, boys. We've got a tunnel traitor.

Quickly, now. Quickly.

Lieutenant.

Lieutenant.

Hey, lieutenant.

I've got something for you.

- What do you got for me, Yankee?

- I'll meet you by the gate.

- Right now. All right?

- Tell me what you got now.

- I've got informa...

- I've got a letter to be mailed, sir.

I'm told it takes 2 greenbacks.

Can you help me out?

Is it unsealed?

I'm gonna read it, now.

- Yes, sir. It is.

- You're a dead man.

Hey.

- Hey, now!

- What are you looking for, lieutenant?

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