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

THE SON OF THE REGIMENT.
IOI
ing him. There was an indisputable necessity for the boy to
return home, but how was it to be managed
? But to what
home was he to return, poor fellow ? In his home he would
die of a broken heart. No, that was not to be thought of, but
where then could we send him ? We thought
it
over, held a
consultation about it, discussed it,
and did not succeed in
coming to any definite conclusion about the matter, and we were
on the point of paying no attention to the advice of the doctor,
when an officer from Padua, a young fellow who had enough
heart to give a portion to the entire regiment and still retain
sufficient for himself, came out with the following
:
" I will attend to the matter, but I must know his family
name and where he lives.
I will put him under the protection
of my family ;
I will write home to-day on the subject. If
he were protected by my friends he could return to his stepmother,
and if there were any need of it,
we would take him
into the house and keep him as long as necessary ; I give you
my word ;
will that do ? "
The proposal was received with a general
" Very good, indeed,"
and a great slapping on the back of the proposer, which
took off all the dust that had gathered on his jacket during
the manoeuvres.
"But now the difficult part comes," he added, disengaging
himself from us with a couple of well-bestowed pinches.
" What is it ? " we asked.
"To persuade him."
I resolved to assume the responsibility, and we separated.
That evening, before sunset, while ten or twelve of
us stood
chatting about trifles near the commissary's booth, the Paduan
officer raised his voice above the racket of the group, and exclaimed
: