@@@@@ Afraid to listen any longer, he stood up,
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Afraid to listen any longer, he stood up, went to the head of the litter, rearranged the blanket over Wilson's feet, and then worked the strap over his neck and under his armpitsIn a moment, after Goldstein was ready, they moved on
They reached the jungle after an hour's march, and Ridges left Goldstein with the stretcher, and explored to his right until he found the trail the platoon had cut four days earlierIt was only a few hundred yards awayRidges felt a feeble glow of pleasure that he had been so accurateActually he had done it almost instinctivelyPermanent bivouacs, roads through the jungle, stretches of beach always confused him; they always looked the same, but in the hills he could travel with a sure and easy sense
He returned to Goldstein, and they set out again, reaching the trail in a few minutesThe foliage had sprung up again considerably since it had been cut, and the floor of the path was muddy from the rainsThey blundered along, slipping frequently, their thickened feet finding no hold in the slick mudIf they had been less tired, they might have noticed the difference; the fact that the sun no longer beat on them would have been noted with pleasure, and conversely the uncertain footing, the sluggish resistance of the bushes and vines and thorns would have angered themBut they hardly detected all thatBy now they knew there was no way to carry the stretcher without travail, and the individual circumstances that obstructed them had no force
Still they progressed even more slowlyThe trail had been cut no wider than the breadth of a man's shoulders, and the litter became lodged in several placesOnce or twice there was no way at all to carry Wilson through, and Ridges would lift him off, drape him over his shoulder and lumber forward until the trail widenedGoldstein would follow with the stretcher
At the point where the trail reached the river they took a long breakIt came about through no decision on their part; they had halted to rest for a moment, and the minute passed, stretched out to half an hourToward the end, Wilson became restless and began to thrash about on the litterThey crawled over to him, attempted to quiet his movements, but he seemed absorbed in something and waved his big arms, cuffing them feverishly
"Rest a little," Goldstein said
"They're gonna kill me," Wilson wailed
"No one's gonna touch ya Ridges tried to restrain his arms but Wilson wrestled f