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

98 MILITARY LIFE.
plied a compassionate voice at the end of the shop ;
'
I am
sorry, boys, but there is nothing.' To another shop, then ;
nothing here either ; nothing anywhere, in fact. In passing
before certain dens of cafe's, they saw the officers sleeping
with their arms crossed on the table and their heads resting
on their arms ;
there were three or four heads on every table,
and in the centre glasses, bottles, and bits of nibbled bread.
Some with their heads on their hands looked out into the
street with their eyes fixed and staring they were all sad,
:
pallid, distorted faces like those of people after an illness ;
and the waiters, erect at the end of the establishment, their
arms crossed over their breasts, stood looking at the scene
with an air of sadness. The openings of the side streets were
filled with carts and horses, around which people were silently
employed, the soldiers of the train and the common wagoners.
Meanwhile several batteries of artillery passed through the
principal street, and that grave and slow passage, the dull,
monotonous noise of the wagons which made the window
panes rattle, those robust artillery men so pensive, and serious,
enveloped in their great gray cloaks, filled one's heart with a
profound sadness. Many carriages containing wounded officers,
came slowly behind the artillery, stopping every time the
column did. . . . But aside from the noise of the wagons
and carriages, over all Goito reigned a mortal silence like that
of
an uninhabited city.
"The corps of my division had encamped
on the left of
the road leading from Goito to Cerlungo, and which goes
on along the right bank of the Mincio. The camp had a
melancholy air. Nothing was to be seen but a few groups
of soldiers scattered here and there, who were unfolding their