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

THE DISABLED SOLDIER.
IN the evening, at a certain hour, the aspect of the country
produces upon the soul a vague feeling of melancholy, which
resembles that oppression of the heart experienced by children
who, having escaped from the house to wander about
through the fields, from path to path, farm to farm, go on and
on until they suddenly discover that they are alone ; they
look around them, the place
is dark and gloomy ; they glance
back, they have lost their way ; they raise their eyes to heaven,
the sun has disappeared ;
the mother, poor woman is !
waiting
" "
for them. Oh, dear me, what have I done ? they exclaim,
and there they stand quite dazed, with a lump in their throats
and their little hearts all in a tumult. This is the nature of
the melancholy which gradually takes possession of. our souls
in the country, when the sun has set, every thing
is
becoming
one hue, and along the mountain tops there is nothing to be
seen but a slender streak of sky, pale gold in color, above
which the stars are rapidly beginning to appear. It is a sad
hour, one which is made sadder still
by the monotonous
croaking of the frogs and the distant barking of dogs, which
break from time to time the deep and solemn silence of the
country. Who, walking at that hour through a solitary
lane, in the direction of the city, but still far from it, not. seeing
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