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

THE CHOLERA OF 1867. 395
their hearts dictate. But before consenting
each man must
measure the strength of his soul, and reflect that the office of
nurse is a very noble but a grave one, and one not without
danger and that he must lend his assistance with great courage
and great affection or refuse Those who it. are ready
"
to offer their services, kneel !
Almost in one instant the whole battalion knelt, as if at a
shout of command, and above all those heads appeared,
straight and distinct, their four hundred muskets.
But the place where the soldiers exercised their charity
most admirably was in the help of the poor.
" When I went in to the barracks," said an officer of the 54th,
who had been commanding for
some time a detachment at St.
Cataldo, " I was accompanied every day by a troop of poor
people : the women behind with children hanging
to their
necks ;
before and at my side boys with outstretched hands,
complaining and crying. Another body of beggars was waiting
for me at the door, and all surrounded, pressed about, and
seized me by my jacket, and deafened me with groans and
supplicating cries. I had all I could do to free myself,
and generally, I should not have succeeded if the soldiers
of the guard had not come to my assistance, by breaking
through the crowd by blows and threats. Many
times the
mere empty threats did not suffice, they had to seize their bayonets
and pretend to charge, and then only did the crowd begin
to move away from me, but only for a little while, for if I had
not been quick in getting through the door, they would have
returned again. Many of those unfortunates were seated on
the doorstep all day long ;
some slept there at night ;
no one
was lacking at the hour of the rations, when the soldiers carried