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

THE SON OF THE REGIMENT. 1
09
We were all motionless for a
long time, without exchanging
one word, our hearts oppressed at the sound of that sad and
inimical music, which seemed to relate to us, derisively, the
sorrows of the saddened city, for which we had offered up our
lives in vain. -
It would be quite useless to try and tell of the weeping fits
of despair and prayers of Carluccio suffice it to ; say that more
than once our pity was so aroused that we were on the point of
abandoning our project. But it was a question of his health,
and we did not yield. The idea, however, of a good family
that would protect him, put him to school, and send him out
every day to walk with the small brothers of the officer, and
which, if necessary, would take him into the house like
a son,
and already looked upon him as such, mitigated his grief, especially
after we had read to him an affectionate letter from
the mother of his host, in which there were a thousand promises
and assurances that Carluccio would be the dearest object
of her care and affection, and which produced
such an effect
upon him, that after having tried again and again to turn
us from our resolution, he resigned himself to the bitter necessity,
sighing "Well! : . . . then, I will return home !"
After a few days we broke up camp and set out en route
Padua. We arrived there one beautiful morning at sunrise.
We entered by the Portello and passed through nearly the same
streets we had traversed the first time.
Upon reaching a certain
point we saw the
for
Paduan officer leave the ranks and start
in the direction of the entrance of a fine house, holding by the
hand Carluccio, who was pressing his handkerchief to his eyes.
When they were at the door the boy stopped, turned toward us