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

48 MILITARY LIFE,
tears. He read the letter very rapidly, accompanying the
movements of his eyes with a motion of his head, and muttering
the words quite hastily. When it was read he pressed
it in
his hands, and let his arms drop, raising his great eyes to
heaven ;
and the two drops, after trembling
uncertain on the
lids, fell, ran down his cheeks without breaking, and dropped
quite warm upon his hands. The letter was from his mother,
"
and said : To-morrow I shall come to town on foot. It is
four years since I have seen you. Oh, my son, I can contain
myself no longer, and I must throw my arms around your
"
neck !
That night he could not close his eyes. He dashed about
restlessly under the counterpane, and found no peace and there-
;
fore nothing but twist and turn, now upon one side, now upon
the other, now on his back, now on his face ; always quite in
vain, for the coverlid seemed so heavy, and he felt in such a
feverish state,
a great weight on his* chest, a restlessness, a desire
for motion, and a tormenting desire for fresh air. Every
moment he seized the hem of the coverlid and pushed
it down
to his knees, sighing and gasping as if he had been in front of
a furnace. From time to time he sat up in bed and looked
around at his comrades who were all sleeping quietly and
soundly as one is accustomed to sleep in spring. Then he
looked at the bit of starry sky, which appeared through the
small window on the other side, and " thought
: Oh if I were in
the country to breathe that air "
He ! glanced at the lantern
placed in a distant corner, which gave a tremulous light
that
appeared and disappeared in turn, and it seemed to him that
that light increased his anxiety and made time longer.
Then he
stretched himself out in bed again, and began thinking of the