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

224 MILITARY LIFE.
ters " ?
they ask, running around and glancing here and there.
"Where is he? where is he?" " He went this way." "No,
that." "Ah, here he is !" All dash in that direction. Mean-,
while the news has flown to the last boundaries of the camp ;
two, three, or four soldiers break from every circle, and away
they run, who will arrive first and get hold of the fust letter !
. . .
Ah, the poor carrier is already surrounded, enveloped,
squeezed, and suffocated by a restless, impatient crowd, who
have their arms in the air, stretch out their hands, and deafen
him with a hum of supplicating and persistent voices, and swaying
about they bear him here and there just as it happens, until,
from all those outstretched arms, two, three,
or four hands
holding convulsively the wished-for letter, detach themselves,
and off go the men, into their tents, to read them in peace and
quiet. Little by little the press diminishes, and the crowd is
reduced to a group ;
some disappointed, headstrong creatures
still stand there persisting in a lamentable tone of voice :
" But really is there nothing for me ? It is impossible ;
look
"
again do me that favor."
; But if I tell you that there is
" " "
nothing ! Oh, for heaven's sake give me time to breathe !
The few who remain scatter slowly, their chins on their breasts,
their arms hanging ;
and the poor letter-carrier breathes,
draws in a long breath, and wiping his forehead with his hand,
" "
exclaims : Heaven be praised that is over !
Along the edge of the road, toward the camp, there is a long
line of inquisitive people, most of them peasants, men, women,
and boys, who have come from the village to contemplate this
spectacle, to them so novel and curious. The children sitting
on the banks of the ditch, the fathers and mothers standing on
the roadside, the grown-up girls a step behind them. All point-