Tramp in Armour Read Online Free PDF

think so? That wall could be twenty feet thick. I imagine the Germans blew in the entrance.'
    'It looks like it - or they might have been bombing the railway and dropped one which started a landslide. It doesn't make much difference now - we've just got to get far enough through to be able to use the two-pounder.'
    'The two-pounder?' Penn stopped in the middle of the rail track. 'You're joking, of course?'
    'Look, Penn, by the time we see daylight we're going to be pretty tired. And in any case we've been away from the troop for well over twenty-four hours. God knows what's been happening on the outside but our job is to get back as fast as we can - and the way to do that is to shoot our way but when we can. We'll wait until we have a hole big enough for me to crawl through and do a recce. Then Davis can take his mind off things by shelling the rest out of the way.'
    'Just so long as Davis lasts out the course - and always assuming we ever reach your little hole.'
    'Now you're beginning to talk like Davis. It doesn't seem to have struck any of you that being cooped up inside here is a damned sight safer than being bombed by Stukas.'
    Penn glanced at Barnes in amazement. He had really meant what he had said, Penn felt sure of it. The idea that they might be trapped inside this tunnel until they were out of water, out of food, out of lighting when the batteries ran down - none of this seemed to have crossed Barnes' mind. In his usual way he just assumed that they would make it, that it was only a matter of time before they broke through that terrible wall. Well, if faith moved mountains, Barnes was likely to move that wall, and their tank commander had a habit of backing up bis faith with planning and forethought: they were still enjoying meals of bully beef and biscuits because of Barnes' insistence that they should always carry provisions for one" week. He turned and followed Barnes back to the rock face, sensing trouble as soon as they arrived. Davis had apparently been waiting for their return and now the burly gunner was glaring at his sergeant, his voice an insubordinate growl.
    'We'll never get through this bloody wall.'
    'No, we won't - not if you just stand there,' Barnes agreed mildly. 'So get on with it.'
    'We're wasting our time.,.'
    'No, Davis - we aren't. At the moment you are the one who is wasting time, so get on with it.'
    Barnes' voice was still very mild. He stood close to his large gunner with a relaxed air, his eyes never leaving Davis'.
    'We're going to die down here - die, did you hear me? And one day they'll open up this bleedin' tunnel and find four corpses - four skeletons.' His voice was close to hysteria now, his mouth and hands working as though on the edge of a complete breakdown. 'I'm a miner - I know what this means. I've...'
    'Davis!' Barnes' tone was sharper now. 'You haven't by any chance thought yourself into thinking that this is a mine shaft, have you?'
    'No, but...'
    'So, instead of being hundreds of feet below the surface we're actually at ground level - right? The fact is, Davis, that your being a miner is just about as relevant as the fact that Penn was once a draughtsman. Now, do you expect Reynolds to shift that boulder all by himself or are you going to give him a hand?'
    'It may take a fortnight to shift that lot,' Davis persisted stubbornly. 'There could be hundreds of...'
    'Davis, I'm beginning to lose patience with you. It's just possible that it will take all four of us to break through, so we can't afford any spare wheels round here, and that's what you are at the moment. For the third time, I'm ordering you to get on with it.'
    'Why not have a go at the other end - the wall may be thinner there.'
    Barnes' face tightened. He prodded a stiff finger hard into Davis' chest, punctuating his words with prods.
    'You have been given an order three times and three times you have refused to carry it out. As soon as we get back you're on a charge. In the meantime you will do your bit with