Recruits for the U.S. Army have just been assigned their tents when two Mexicans, Francisco and Juan, pick up a guitar and begin to sing. Nobody stops them because their sad songs aptly express the sudden loneliness that all the new recruits are feeling. Sometimes they play late into the night, Francisco playing the guitar and Juan singing in accompaniment - the rest of the recruits grow irritated, but all their efforts to steal the guitar are foiled. Eventually they give up and get used to it. One of the recruits, as he lies in the sickbed, thinks about his wife back home. He is reminded of her by the music that Francisco and Juan make, and it becomes a lullaby to him. Then Juan comes running to the others, saying that Francisco is sick. As he is carried away by medical officers, Juan confesses that Francisco has been ill for a while, but that they conspired to hide his sickness because the sergeant would think it was simply an excuse to avoid the drills. He is desperate to see his friend restored to health, and even tries to send the guitar with the ambulance, but is unsuccessful. The recruits go to sleep that night without any music. Then Juan learns that Francisco has succumbed to his illness. He is inconsolable - he tries to play his friend's guitar and sings, even though his voice is choked by sobs. The recruit who saw this transpire does not hear the rest of the story until much later in his deployment: Juan set fire to the guitar and tried to leave the camp, and was struck on the head for his trouble. He thinks about writing home to his wife about this, but decides not to worry her and sends a bottle of wine instead.