Chapter VII

Brescia—Rough sketch of arrangements—A printed itinerary
of tour—Military passes—Rendezvous on certain dates—The
“off-days”—Much latitude allowed—We make a start—Matutinal
hour—First experience of freedom of action—Like schoolboys let
loose—In the valley of Guidicaria—First impression of trenches
on mountains—A gigantic furrow—Encampments of thousands of
soldiers—Like the great wall of China—Preconceived notions of
warfare upset—Trenches on summits of mountains—A vast military
colony—Pride of officers and men in their work—Men on “special”
work—“Grousing” unknown in Italian Army—Territorials—Middle aged
men—“Full of beans”—Territorials in first line trenches—Modern
warfare for three-year olds only—Hardy old mountaineers—Heart
strain—The road along Lake Garda—Military preparations
everywhere—War on the Lake—The flotilla of gun-boats—The Perils
of the Lake—A trip on the “Mincio” gun-boat—I make a sketch
of Riva—A miniature Gibraltar—Desenzano—Nocturnal activity of
mosquitoes—Return to Brescia—Something wrong with the car—Jules
Rateau of the _Echo de Paris_—Arrange excursion to Stelvio Pass—A
wonderful motor trip—The Valley of Valtellino—The corkscrew
road—Bormio—The Staff Colonel receives us—Permits our visiting
positions—Village not evacuated—Hotel open—Officers’ _table
d’hôte_—We create a mild surprise—Spend the night at hotel 71

CHAPTER VIII:

On the summit of the Forcola—We start off in “military” time—Our
guide—Hard climbing—Realize we are no longer youthful—Under
fire—Necessary precautions—Our goal in sight—An awful bit of
track—Vertigo—A terrifying predicament—In the Forcola position—A
gigantic ant-heap—Unique position of the Forcola—A glorious
panorama—The Austrian Tyrol—The three frontiers—Shown round
position—Self-contained arsenal—Lunch in the mess-room—Interesting
chat—The “observation post”—The goniometre—Return to
Bormio—Decide to pass another night there—An invitation from the
sergeants—Amusing incident 85