and we went to the big ossario. But we returned by Feltre. I could see it was a fine timber country on the other side as you came down the mountains into the valley. We came down that military road, and they were hauling lots of wood.”
“In what year was your brother killed on Grappa?”
“In nineteen-eighteen. He was a patriot and inflamed by hearing d’Annunzio talk, and he volunteered before his class was called. We never knew him very well because he went so quickly.”
“How many were you in the family?”
“We were six. We lost two beyond the Isonzo, one on the Bainsizza and one on the Carso. Then we lost this brother I speak of on the Grappa and I remained.”
“I’ll get you the God-damned jeep complete with handles,” the Colonel said. “Now let’s not be morbid and look for all the places where my friends live.”
They were moving up the Grand Canal now and it was easy to see where your friends lived.
“That’s the house of the Contessa Dandolo,” the Colonel said.
He did not say, but thought, she is over eighty, and she is as gay as a girl and does not have any fear of dying. She dyes her hair red and it looks very well. She is a good companion and an admirable woman.
Her palazzo was pleasant looking, set well back from the Canal with a garden in front and a landing place of its own where many gondolas had come, in their various times, bringing hearty, cheerful, sad and disillusioned people. But
