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"Viva l'Italia!" he shouted in his boyish voice, while his heart beat fast with the enthusiasm of the moment. It seemed to his imagination that the singers were repeating the words of the stranger; that they were telling of the glory of battle, and of a life of service for one's country. It was of Italy they sang not of Venice of Italy, and of Italy's king. "Viva l'Italia!
And he gave him some messages for me and Teresa some directions about his affairs. Then he asked: "It is victory isn't it? We have won, after all?" And the other who knew couldn't bear to tell him the truth. He said, "Yes." And Emilio said, "You swear it?" "I swear." And the boy made the sign of the cross said again, Viva l'Italia! and died.... They buried him that night under a little thicket.
I only got the full account last week from a brother-officer, who was a prisoner till the end of June. Emilio, like all the rest, thought the position was carried that it was a victory. He raised his helmet and shouted, Viva il Re! Viva l'Italia! And then all in a moment the Scioans were on them like a flood. They were all carried away.
De Amici, also of the Cacciatori and Guides, was another who fell at the beginning of the battle. Not a few of the chosen band of the Thousand fell at Calatafimi as our Roman forefathers fell rushing on the enemy with cold steel, cut down in front without a complaint, without a cry, except that of "Viva L'Italia!"
Then, when they had all spoken, the chief rose serenely and said that, if annexation were the will of the people, he would have annexation; si faccia l'Italia! He decreed the plebiscite, but, having made up his mind, he did not wait for its verdict.
"Yes, health!" said Agostino. "Is it health, do you think? It's the heart of the man! and a heart with a mill-stone about it a heart to breed a country from! There stands the man who has faith in Italy, though she has been lying like a corpse for centuries. God bless him! He has no other comfort. Viva l'Italia!"
He could speak no English, but Edith showed him a tiny American flag which she carried in her purse. "Viva America!" she said, waving the flag with one hand. Then she waved the empty hand, saying, "Viva l'Italia!" and asked very loudly, as if he might be deaf, "Where to buy?" pointing to the flag.
But one does not expect an Italian in like circumstances to cry "Viva l'Italia!" In general, the French are the more tenacious and clear-visioned in adversity, but none are more irresistible in success, nor more conscious of its drama, than the Italians. The low birth-rate of France, as compared with Italy, is a fact of deep and permanent importance.
We all sat freely at a long table, whilst the red-haired girl brought a quart of red wine. At other tables men were playing cards, with the odd Neapolitan cards. They too were talking Italian. It was a warm, ruddy bit of Italy within the cold darkness of Switzerland. 'When you come to Italy, they said to me, 'salute it from us, salute the sun, and the earth, l'Italia.
The question, whether the French troops could remain in Rome, or in other words, whether the Pope must retire from Rome, was still undecided; the streets of the city were thronged with Pontifical Sbirri and French patrols, to suppress the excitement caused by a score of lads, who raised a shout of Viva l'Italia a week before.
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