|
He then tells Jordan what he was able to ascertain from
spying on the enemy troops. Jordan writes down the information and sends it with
one of Pablo's men, Andres, to General Golz at Navacerrada. But he suspects it will be too late for Golz to receive orders from Madrid to cancel the attack based on Anselmo's information.
Before he goes to sleep that night, Jordan makes sure all the preparations for the attack on the bridge the next day are complete. He thinks about his grandfather, a cavalry leader in the Civil War, and about his father, who committed suicide with his grandfather's pistol. His father was a coward, he thinks, but he would like to talk to his grandfather. He admonishes himself for being distracted and foolish and forces himself to focus on the tasks at hand.
Maria and Robert Jordan are together on the night before the attack on the bridge. Robert Jordan tells Maria what their lives will be like in Madrid, and Maria tells Robert Jordan of the day when the fascists killed her father.
That same night in Madrid, Jordan's friend Karkov talks to a General about the reports that the fascists were bombing their own troops near Segovia. Karkov says that Robert Jordan is there, and they hope to have a report from him soon. The General says the fascists were probably only conducting
maneuvers and tells Karkov that they will see if Golz can maneuver the fascists himself.
Pilar wakes Robert Jordan at two o'clock in the morning to tell him that Pablo is gone. Jordan inspects his packs in the cave and finds that Pablo has taken part of his mechanism for exploding the dynamite and also perhaps one pack of dynamite. Jordan hostilely accuses Pilar of guarding the packs poorly but quickly restrains himself in light of her obvious shame. He tells her to get some sleep and that they can explode the bridge without the things Pablo stole and tells her that they are better off without Pablo. Pilar responds bitterly that she has failed Robert Jordan and failed the Republic.
Andres travels to bring Robert Jordan's report to Golz, wondering whether he will be back for the attack in the morning. He reaches a post where he knows he will be challenged.
Robert Jordan is next to Maria, seething with anger at Pablo and self-reproach for himself for letting Pablo steal from his packs. He forces himself to let go of his anger, to think coolly and calmly of how they can blow up the bridge without enough people, horses, or weapons, and now without the mechanism for properly exploding the dynamite. He whispers to the sleeping Maria that they can do it. They will all be killed, he thinks, but they will do it, and Maria has not had to lose sleep over fear or worry. He tells her that her good night's sleep will be her wedding present.
Andres reaches a post where the guards challenge, insult, and delay him. At last, he convinces them that his mission is legitimate, and one of them takes his gun and escorts him down the hill.
Early in the morning Robert Jordan wakes up and looks at the hands moving on his watch, the seconds ticking away before the attack must begin. He wakes Maria before the attack. They discuss their good fortune in having found one another, and Robert Jordan thinks that it will be a shame to die and leave all this behind. Robert Jordan goes into the cave, examines their supplies, and feels a moment of despair that his plan will not work. He forces himself to be cold and to focus. He talks to Pilar about their chances, and she tells him that she is very fond of him.
Suddenly, Pablo returns to the cave. He says he is back and tells Robert Jordan that he is not a coward. He has brought some good, stupid men, he says, who will be ready to die at the bridge. Robert Jordan feels immeasurably cheered by Pablo's return, though he still expects Pablo to betray him during their escape.
The previous night, while Robert Jordan is asleep, Andrez and his escort, Gomez, make it to the post of a lieutenant-colonel along his journey. The lieutenant-colonel's staff is insolent and inefficient and only rouses the officer when Gomez draws his pistol. Casually, the lieutenant-colonel orders that a powerful safe-conduct paper be written for Andres that will enable him to reach General Golz. He orders Gomez to take him on a motorcycle.
Robert Jordan reviews the plans with Pablo and Pilar. He shakes Pablo's hand and suspects that Pablo plans to kill his new men for their horses. Then he says good-bye to Maria, feeling unreal, as though a train is pulling out of a station, and tells her not to cry. He and Agustin and Anselmo leave for the bridge with the tripod machine gun, and when they reach their position, Robert Jordan waits for daylight.
Andres makes it to the area of Golz's camp, but he and Gomez can find no one who will tell them where Golz's command post is located. They ask a man they know to be a distinguished French revolutionary, not knowing that he has succumbed to bitterness and political paranoia. This man, Andre Marty, orders them arrested as fascists and thinks to himself that it is surprising that Golz turns out to be a traitor. But Karkov catches wind of the arrest and uses his power as a famous journalist for Pravda to force Marty to release the men and send the dispatch to Golz. At last, the dispatch comes through, and Golz learns that the fascists will not be where he needs them to be during the planned bombing; the attack will fail. But it is too late, too much time has been lost, the attack cannot be called off and Golz thinks this is a real pity.
Robert Jordan and the guerillas begin their attack on the bridge. Jordan and Anselmo kill the sentries and affix the dynamite. Fernando is shot and killed. Jordan blows up the bridge
and Anselmo is crushed by a large stone in the blast, and killed instantly. The band waits for Pablo to emerge from where he and his men have been holding off a tank. He does come but all alone, commenting that the men are dead and now there will be plenty of horses.
The group mounts and begins to ride away. Going around a bend, Jordan realizes they will possibly be in range of the machine gun of a tank below. He sends Maria wide of the trail to protect her. While crossing, he and his horse are hit by a shell. The horse falls and rolls over him, and Robert Jordan is dying.
In his few remaining breaths, he tells Pablo to use his head. He sends Pilar away and tells Maria that she must go, for now they are one and the same and she will be all that is left of him. He tells her that wherever she goes, he will go, too. The group leaves him with a machine gun so he can hold off any
fascist cavalry that might be in pursuit.
Jordan waits until the pain becomes unbearable, then begins to think about suicide. He urges the cavalry to come in his mind. He begins to pass out and forces himself to hold on, so he can buy the others time. He thinks that if he can kill the cavalry officer, it might make all the difference. At last, a cavalry patrol appears, led by the same man responsible for cutting the heads off the bodies at El Sordo’s. Jordan takes aim and waits for him to ride closer, feeling his heart beat against the floor of the forest.
Click here for
part 1 of the summary of For Whom The Bell Tolls
|
