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

THE WOUNDED SENTINEL.
IT was growing dark. The streets of the city were full of
people. Those shops which are generally open during the
evening were in great part closed, and the remainder were being
shut one by one. Here and there, at the corners, on the
squares, in front of the cafe's, on the steps of the churches,
were groups of men and boys, who were talking in low and
excited voices, turning from time to time to look around them
in order to see that no suspicious person was listening. There
was a continuous descent of people
from the houses to the
street ; they stopped a moment on the door-way, looked to the
right and left as if uncertain which way to go, and then mingled
in the crowd. In the whispering of the crowd, although
it was
much denser and more noisy than usual, there was perceptible a
suppressed and almost timid tone. Now and then a knot of
people crossed the street hurriedly, and behind them a long
train of gamins who made way for- themselves between the
legs of the people with their elbows and shoulders, whistling
and shrieking as they did so. At the sound of any voice
which made itself heard above the general murmur, many
stopped and turned back to ask what was the matter. It was
only some one who had made use of an expression a little
stronger than the others that was all. After the people had
looked at him a moment and he at the people, every one went
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