an Italian island, all Italian, nothing but Italian
and evermore it will remain Italian." About a score of parishioners had
come to Cres behind their priest and his escort; they begged the
commandant to set him free. As an answer he harangued them with respect
to the Italian character of the islands, told them that they would have
to send their children to the Italian school and that the whole village
would be Italianized and that _only in their homes_ would they be
permitted to speak Croatian.... On January 8 the priest was taken from
Cres to the island of Krk, where he was informed that he would have to
leave his parish, but that he might go back there for a day or two to
fetch a few necessities. It was raining in torrents when Father
Hla['c]a, wet to the skin, arrived at his village on the 11th at seven
o'clock in the evening. As he suffers from several chronic
ailments--which was known to the lieutenant--this bad weather had a
grave effect upon him. When he reached his house he went to bed at once
with a very high temperature. After about a quarter of an hour the
lieutenant appeared with two carabinieri and shouted at him that he must
get up. This draconian injunction had to be obeyed, the more so as the
lieutenant was labouring under great excitement. He looked at the
priest's permit which allowed him to come back to the village, and said,
"If I were in your shoes I wouldn't venture to come back here." These
words gave Father Hla['c]a an impression that his life was in danger.
The lieutenant then ordered him not to go out among the people, but to
stop where he was until he was taken away. Five days after this the
priest was taken to Rieka, so that the villagers were left with nobody
to guard them against the violence and the temptations offered them by
the Italians. The Croat inscription outside the school was replaced by
one in Italian and, with the lieutenant acting as teacher, the doors
were thrown open. But the only children who went there were those of the
lieutenant himself and those of the mayor, who was a renegade in the pay
of the Italians. It was announced that heavy fines would be inflicted if
the other children did not come. The villagers were in great trouble and
in fear, with nobody to give them advice or consolation.... There may be
some who will be curious to know concerning the "Italian" population of
this island, which, according to the 1910 census, reached the large
figure of 28 per cent. At a pla