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

$8 MILITARY LIFE.
for men, we will call up your holy, benign, and peace-giving
image ;
we shall feel that we hear your dear voice, which chided
us when children, calling us by name ;
and we will bend our
knees irresistibly and clasp our hands before your image, asking
your pardon ! "
At that moment the major comes grumbling into the barracks :
"Where is the officer of the guard ? " he asks of some one outside
the door. I here started to go out, and planting myself
" "
Present !
pale before him, with my hand at my cap, and cry
:
He looks at me fixedly and makes a sort of face, as if to say :
"What the devil is the matter with you ?"