Part 15 (2/2)
When Pinocchio felt Draghetta's nose tickle him he began to kick like a donkey stung by a gadfly.
”Hold him tight; tie him. We've taken the Col di Lana! The Col di Lana is ours!”
”Really?”
”Is it true?”
”Read it, Draghetta ... don't be afraid ... I'll hold him for you.”
Scotimondo sat astride Pinocchio's back and squeezed him with his knees so hard that he took his breath away.
”'Yesterday our brave Alpine troops, supported by infantry regiments, by means of a brilliant attack gained the highest summit of the Col di Lana, which is now safely in our possession.' ... Hurrah!”
”Hurrah for Italy!”
”Hurrah for the King!”
They were crazy with joy and danced about on the snow like fiends, throwing their plumed hats up into the air, waving their guns above their heads. Suddenly, just as if they had risen from the ground, a hundred soldiers appeared and surrounded them.
”What is it?”
”What has happened?”
”The Col di Lana is ours!”
”Hurrah for Italy!”
”Who told you so?”
”Where did you hear it?”
”In the latest news of the _Corriere_.”
”Are you certain?”
”Where did you find it?”
”If you don't believe it, ask Draghetta.”
All this noise, this rus.h.i.+ng out of the trenches and the soldiers staying in the open, was against regulations, so that Lieutenant Sfrizzoli couldn't let it pa.s.s without giving vent to one of his usual fits of rage. Red as a radish, he rushed toward Draghetta, shoving apart the group of rejoicing Alpine soldiers, and stopped in front of him, legs wide apart, and with fists clenched.
”Is it you, Draghetta, who have set the camp in such an uproar?”
”Not I, sir; it is the Col di Lana.”
”What? What? What?”
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