Military life in Italy : sketches - Societa italiana di storia militare

82 MILITARY LIFE.
V.
Toward daybreak, before the bugle sounded the reveille, we
were waked by the sound of a heavy rain and a violent clap of
thunder. I was the first to put my head out of the tent. Not
a soul was to be seen in the camp, except the sentinels but
;
almost all the soldiers were awake. In fact, at every flash
there came from all sides of the encampment a sharp b-r-r-r,
such as the puppet-man makes to announce the appearance or
disappearance of the devil and at ; every clap of thunder there
was a noisy and prolonged shout in imitation of the burst. A
short time thereafter the reveille was sounded, and the captain
of the guard called the officer of the week to announce that we
were to continue our march in three hours. The announcement
set me instantly thinking of Carluccio. I had not yet
asked myself what was to become of the boy in the end. The
son of the regiment Beautiful words, quickly said but had
! ;
we the right to keep him from home ? Who would shoulder
this responsibility ? I spoke of this to my friends, and they
all
agreed that it was necessary to provide
for the return of
Carluccio, by writing to the Syndic of Padua and having recourse
to the authorities of the neighboring village. It was a
most displeasing decision, but there was nothing else to be
done. The duty of writing to Padua I assumed myself, and I
did so ;
but the other duty of taking Carluccio to the village and
giving
him into the care of the authorities I would not under-
" " Let the others think of that," I said to myself. I
take.
have done my part," and I begged one of my
friends to assume
the rest of the responsibility "What have I to do with it?"
one after the other replied. " And I ? " I asked in my turn.