Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary

In the officers' mess Lieutenant Colonel Conn is conducting a tirade against labor unions, which is annoying Lieutenant Hearn, aide to General Cummings. Hearn is a man who never tries to make friends, and is the kind of man others like to see humiliated. The mess tent is crowded and uncomfortable, and the food is poor although the officers pay for it from their allowance. Hearn tries to stop himself from picking a fight with Conn and his friends Hobart and Dalleson. He dislikes them all because they all have red faces, like Hearn's successful capitalist father; they all have tight thin little mouths, a personal prejudice of his, and none of them doubt that whatever they think and do, they are always right. Finally unable to contain himself, Hearn insults and provokes Conn and risks a fight, until General Cummings...