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

$2 MILITARY LIFE.
roused himself :
" It must be time now !
" he said, and again
he went to the window, then stopped suddenly, and turned his
" "
back : No," saying to himself as he did so, you must not
look." He tapped the floor with his foot as if to repeat, No.
" "
But smiled, and the smile meant : Ah, I cannot help
it !
and in fact, a moment later he again went to the window and
looked out. Still no one in sight.
He returned to the bedside and tried to invent some methou
for passing time. He bent one arm with his forefinger against
his chin, raised the elbow of that arm with the palm of the
other, and, fastening his eyes upon the bed while resting a knee
on the edge, he ran homeward in his mind, saw his mother
make up a bundle of shirts and handkerchiefs to bring him,
saw her take leave of the family and then start, accompanied
her along the road in his mind's eye, that long, long road ! under
the burning sun, in the midst of clouds of dust raised by
carts and carriages which were passing rapidly.
He saw those
carts graze the poor woman's skirts, touch her, shake her,
She, so old, tired, and infirm had not the time to avoid them,
when another one rushes on, is near her, is about to hit her.
" Ah, move out of the way ! " the son exclaims above his breath ;
making, without being aware of it,
a motion with his hand as
if to seize her by the arm and drag her to one side. He
pointed out the curbings she was to avoid, and the bits of the
road filled with stones, and the edges
of the ditches. After
much walking he seemed to see the poor old woman totter,
bent under the weight of her bundle, quite exhausted, thirsty,
"
and he was worried, groaned, and said to himself : Oh, poor
woman, give me that bundle ;
let me carry
it for you ;
take my
arm." He moved his right elbow and seemed to feel between