It's a Puzzlement!

"Five letter word for caterwaul? What is caterwaul?" Karl Langenscheidt chewed on his pencil as he contemplated the next word in the crossword puzzle given to him by the men in Barracks 2.

The corporal had acquired an audience. The entire barracks was gathered around the common room table, watching over the guard's shoulder as he scrunched up his face in concentration.

"It's…"

"No. No, Carter. Don't tell me!" Karl turned and looked at the men. "You're making me nervous," he said politely. He waved them away. "I can't concentrate with you all staring at me."

Hogan grinned and walked away from the table. "C'mon, fellas. Scram. Give the man room to breathe."

"Thank you, Colonel Hogan." Langenscheidt stretched and then went back to his puzzle. "Here is a blank puzzle you said. Great way to practice your English," he muttered. "I thought my English was good." He turned and stared at the men, who were now busy doing other things. "Fine. I'll try the next clue."

"This is a scintillating conversation." Kinch chuckled.

"Yeah. I could just scream in excitement," Newkirk commented as he sat on his bunk and picked up an unfinished scarf.

The German guard didn't get the hint.

"We've got scads of puzzles. The Red Cross screwed up. I can give you another one, Karl."

"No, thank you, Carter. I started this one. I will finish." Langenscheidt gave up on the other clue and tried another. "Ah. I think I got this one." He grinned. "Four letter word meaning con. You are all prisoners."

"That's true." Hogan picked up the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. Taking a sip, he spit the coffee back into his mug. "Geez, LeBeau! What happened to the coffee? It's scalding!"

LeBeau hurried over. "I don't know, Colonel." He opened the pot. "It's almost empty! And the stove is too hot. I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I'll survive."

"No, it's not. I once served a scampi that was much too hot, and I thought the customer was going to sue me. It was a scandal for weeks." LeBeau pouted. "Shall I make another pot?"

Everyone, Karl included, yelled out a no.

"So, a four letter word meaning con. I would call you all scallywags," Karl said. He then let out a chuckle.

"But we're the best kind, aren't we, Karl?" Olsen had only just arrived back from being outside the wire a few minutes before Karl entered the hut. He had not had the chance to report to Hogan. "Colonel, do you remember that Scandinavian girl I met in London before the war?"

The room went silent. Hogan raised an eyebrow. "Yes," he said, although he didn't. "Is there a problem? I know she been writing you."

Olsen looked crestfallen. "Um, can I talk to you, sir? In your office?"

Hogan nodded. "Come on." He and Olsen headed into the office and shut the door.

"Problem?" Langenscheidt asked with concern.

"Could be a Dear John," Garlotti noted. "That's going to leave a mark."

"A mark?" Karl asked. "Or a scar?"

"Karl! Who knew you were a walking thesaurus!" Kinch began clapping and the other men joined in. The applause made the guard blush.

"Don't embarrass him, guys." Carter walked back over to the table. "Karl, you were on, let's see, clue four. Con. I'll forgive your name-calling if you get this."

"It's easy," Langenscheidt replied. "It's scam." What you boys constantly do in this prison camp, he thought to himself. He knew they all knew that he knew, but no one would take it any further than that. And he definitely wouldn't say anything to anyone, aside from Schultz of course. He hated the war as much as anyone.

He continued working until he got to the last clue. "Caterwaul. Begins with the letter s and the letter c. Ah. That's it," he said excitedly. "Scream!" He stood up and tossed his pencil on the table just as Hogan and Olsen came out of the office. "It's almost time for roll call. I have to be going. I hope everything is all right with your girl, Sergeant Olsen."

"He'll be fine," Hogan noted. "We just need to continue our talk." That was the sign that a possible mission was afoot or a problem had arisen. The group began to hustle the guard outside. "Thanks for coming by, Langenscheidt. We can give you more puzzles tomorrow."

With that, the guard's face brightened. "I'll see you scallywags later then. The guard winked and then left the hut.

a/n: The Langenscheidt Publishing Group was founded on 1 October 1856 by Gustav Langenscheidt. They are known for publishing language reference works.