Chapter 6 Summary

Memoir--Nick has been wounded, shot in the spine, and he is carried to the wall of a church and sits leaning against it. Rinaldi, his friend, is beside him, lying face down. Nick looks ahead and sees a house with the wall fallen away, and two dead Austrians lying in the rubble in the shade of the house. The combat unit is making progress, getting forward in the town. Nick waits for the stretcher bearers who ought to be along soon. He turns and speaks to Rinaldi, who is having trouble breathing. He tells Rindali that the two of them have made a separate peace. Nick says, "Not patriots." Then he turns away, smiling through his sweat and thinks that Rinaldi is a disappointing audience.

Story--This is the first time in the book that a story follows literally from the memoir. "A Very...