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

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THAT DAY.
IQI
among the vines, in the ditches, everywhere, in fact, there were
soldiers, standing, seated, lying down, some with bare heads,
some with coats unbuttoned, some with their muskets on the
ground, others with theirs across their knees, all grave and
thoughtful. Although divided and scattered, there was still
some appearance of order in the column. The officers were
standing in groups, and talked in an undertone among themselves,
in few words, monosyllables and gestures, raising
their eyes, from time to time, to look around and back of them.
But the majority looked up, and seemed to be waiting for
something from that quarter ;
the summit, as
every glance was directed toward
if something would appear from one moment to
the other. And, in fact, at a certain point, where there was a
thick clump of cypresses, a long black spot appeared, moving
slowly, slowly forward, so that it seemed like one of those broad
shadows that isolated cloudlets cast in passing
before the sun.
As it
advanced, it broadened out and moved more quickly. It
was a column of soldiers, all bristling with bayonets, which sent
an undulating flash from one end to the other, like a black torrent
covered with silver spangles. We were all silent and motionless,
our mouths half open, our eyes fixed on that line,
watching its steps, noting all the undulations ;
not a breath was
heard in the whole battalion, not a gesture was seen ;
the soldiers
all seemed statues. Suddenly a voice shouted '
There,
:
'
look on the other side ! We all turned the other way. And,
in fact, on the right, on the summit, where there was a hovel,
another troop, broader, deeper, and gleaming too with bayonets,
advanced rapidly, resolutely, and with serrated ranks in an
opposite
direction from the first. Then an excited murmur
rose: 'How many are there?' 'A regiment?' 'No, two