ght and bring two officers with me. When we got down to the
square, the mob crowded round us and shook hands with us, and I was
afraid that some of the ladies were going to embrace us. I think
people thought we were part of the advance guard that had been sent
from France to the assistance of Italy.

That night three of us attended the dinner given by the officers of
"The society for finishing the war," in a very fine restaurant. The
Deputy for Florence, who had been one of the members of the government
which had declared war on Austria, was present and I sat by the side
of an alderman of the city. Opposite to me was an English lady who
acted as an interpreter. At the close of the dinner the Deputy rose
and made a very eloquent speech, welcoming us to Italy and saying how
much Italians appreciated the fact that England was one of her Allies.
I replied in English, which was translated by our fair interpreter,
and told them how glad we were to be with them and that we had come,
some of our men seven thousand miles, as a voluntary army to fight (p. 226)
not only for the British Empire, but for something even bigger than
that, for our common civilization, and that the war had made the
Allies one family. I said that our men were determined to fight to the
bitter end, for we could have no true peace until we had a decisive
victory. Then I added that, if our Division were sent to Italy, we
should all come with great pleasure, knowing that the Italians were
our comrades and warm friends. I thought too, during my speech, that a
dugout in Florence would be worth two in Bully-Grenay. The party
seemed very pleased with my remarks and we all exchanged visiting
cards and separated good friends. The whole affair was very amusing,
and when the Italians pushed back the enemy in 1918, I used to tell
the men, amid roars of laughter, that nothing but my modesty prevented
my saying who it was that had saved Italy, that no one would ever hear
from my lips the name of the man who, when Italy was lying prostrate
at the feet of the advancing foe, shouted into her dying ear the
startling words "Viva l'Italia" and set her on her feet.

Two days afterwards, accompanied to the station by an admiring crowd
and three ladies carrying Italian flags, we bade farewell to Florence
and started on our return journey. We spent the afternoon in Pisa,
and, after a night's journey, arrived at Turin in the morning. Our men
got out of the train and were making t