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

3$8 MILITARY LIFE.
" "
would never have supposed himself capable. So great
!
he repeated to himself, and then in a low, but firm voice he
said :
"
Speak, captain."
The captain sat down as near the bed as possible, and, play-
^ng with the fringe of the counterpane, tried to find some way
to begin. He did not succeed immediately, nor would he have
found it
easy to do so, had not the elder brother come to his
assistance.
" Did your battery have much to do, captain ? "
" At the battle of Novara ?
No, not much. That is,
as far
as firing goes, very little, really ;
but it had to work as much
as if it had done a great deal ;
for it was running for three or
four hours without a moment's rest ;
backward and forward ;
almost always on the same road.
me, ' go and occupy that height ! '
'
Captain
!
And away I
'
they shouted to
went on a
gallop. But hardly was I up there, when a counter order arrived,
and down we went to our first place. This happened
three or four times without stopping. Poor horses, how hard
they worked that morning ! They really
fate."
" Were they killed ? "
"
A great part of them."
deserved a better
"And where did you finally stop ?"
" I cannot tell you exactly the point ;
that is, I could
not call it
by name ;
but I remember the aspect of the place
perfectly. We were half way down the side of a hill ;
between
that point and the top, the ground caved in so deeply as to
hide completely a couple of battalions from the eyes of any
coming from the enemy's direction. When I reached it,