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

THA T DA Y.
197
street, then to church, then have finished their work, just as on
any other day, quietly and contentedly.' Then breaking away
from this fancy,
I saw all those women on their knees in
church, absorbed in their prayers, and I watched their faces
and said :
'
That one, yes, that one there is the mother of a
soldier ' ;
and at every roar of the cannon I saw her grow pale
and tremble.
"
Suddenly, a sergeant who was seated near me, rose to his
feet, took two or three steps with his head raised, a smile on
his face, and his eyes fixed on the distance, toward the mountains
;
then he stretched out his arm, pointed his forefinger in
that direction, stopped an instant, looked at his comrades, and
Many
'
shouted in a high, clear voice :
Boys come here '
! !
rose and gathered around him. Look ! he added, keeping
'
'
his arm stretched out and his finger still pointing in the same
direction. Do you see that distant tower down there, and
'
that house ? ' ' Where ? where ?
hurried toward
him.
'
'
many others asked as they
There, there, look where I am pointing.'
'I see,' said one. 'I too.' 'I too.' 'We all see.'
"'Well?'
" '
Well !
is Verona !
'
'
he exclaimed in a deep and trembling voice, 'that
" '
Verona ! Verona !
'
they all shouted, clapping their hands ;
the rumor spread ;
in a moment the entire battalion was there,
every face turned in that direction, every arm stretched toward
that tower, their mouths open for that shout, looking, as one
looks . . . Have you ever been a long
time without seeing
your mother? If you had been waiting for her arrival,
you would have fixed your eyes anxiously along the road by
which she was to arrive, and when far away in the distance