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

240 MILITARY LIFE.
Passing for several miles along the road down in the valley,
the cart did not begin to climb the hill until some hours
after their departure.
During that time, the poor soldier, who
had not been able to close his eyes during the night, oppressed
by a rapid and troubled succession of thoughts, imageries,
and painful presentiments, had sunk into a species of lethargy,
induced by the monotony
of the road and the slowness of
their pace, and only interrupted now and then by the jolting
of the cart over the uneven road. But when, on feeling
a stronger light in
his eyes and a sharper wind on his face,
he became aware that the cart had come out from among the
trees and begun to ascend, then he waked quickly, saw that hill,
that road, those houses, instantly closed his eyes again, turned
away his head as if seized by a sudden fright, and threw himself
face downward on the sacks with his face in his hands.
His heart
beat violently ;
his blood was in a tumult ;
his brain became
stunned as if he had received a great blow on bis head. And
he remained a long time in that position.
He changed
it little by little, first lifting his head, placing his
hands on the sacks to raise himself to a sitting posture, then
getting up entirely, but always with his back to the hills, and
finally turning his head in that direction, but without glancing
upward. Shortly thereafter he began to look at the horse ;
then a little farther along, on the road, to the right and left
and ahead " "
: Ah ! There are those blessed houses ! And his
heart gave a bound as if he had got there by accident, and
the houses had appeared before him involuntarily. They
were still
very far away, quite indistinct ; they hardly looked
as large as white specks half hidden among the trees ;
yet they seemed quite near to him, and he felt as if he