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

THE DISABLED SOLDIER. 241
should reach them in a few minutes. Then his parents,
relatives, and friends would gather around the cart, and he
would have to get down, and how should he do it ! And
he pictured
it to himself, and seemed to see all those dear
people, who would certainly be gathered in a group
at that
hour on the street, at the doors of their houses, or in the yards,
waiting for him. He seemed to hear the gay voices come
faintly to his ear, and among those voices he distinguished one
dearer and sweeter than all. His heart-strings tightened, and
he wished those houses farther away, so far that he could not
see them yet. On the other hand, they were right there, and
seemed to be approaching him more rapidly than he did them,
so he closed his eyes and dropped
them.
his head in order not to see
Yet this was a worse torture, for in opening his eyes a
moment, and raising them, he seemed to have got over a great
deal of the road, a hundred times more than he had done in
reality. Then he thought of turning his back to the horse,
and, moving the stump slowly, he turned. But he could not
remain in this position long, for at every instant he felt an
irresistible desire to turn his head back, greatly to the discomfort
of his entire body. He then assumed his first position
again. And, glancing to the right and left of the road, he discovered,
at a short distance, a large oak with its trunk split
through the middle, and the thick, leafy branches, under which
there was a board, upheld by two stones, which served as a seat.
He looked at the seat, touched his forehead with one hand, as
if just becoming aware of the sudden outbreak of a recollection
; his eyes glistened, his cheeks reddened, he clasped his
hands violently, and keeping his eyes
fixed motionless on the
spot, went on raising and dropping his head, as if to say yes to