In this particular instance there was no doubt that the “hit” was signalled to the Austrian batteries by a Taube which was flying overhead at a great height at the moment, for the gunners redoubled their efforts, and it was only sheer luck that helped the Italians out. Time to make good their retreat was what the Austrians wanted: they knew perfectly well that with Monte Santo, Monte San Daniele, and Monte San Gabriele still in their possession they could yet give a lot of trouble. Fortunately, however, for the Italians, as it turned out, they had not sufficient guns on these heights to endanger the position at Gorizia. The soldiers round us now began to move forward, and we were practically carried up the gully with them. At the top was level ground, with grass and bushes and some cottages mostly in ruins. We were in the outskirts of Gorizia. Another large body of troops was apparently resting here, and the soldiers were snatching a hasty meal before advancing into the city, though there was probably some other reason beyond giving the men a “rest,” for keeping them back for the moment. There had been some desperate fighting round these cottages, judging from the broken rifles and splashes of blood amongst the ruins. Now and then, also, one caught glimpses of the now familiar bundles of grey rags in human form. A few hundred yards farther on, across the fields, the faubourgs of the city commenced, and one found oneself in deserted streets. There were numbers of fine villas, many of considerable architectural pretention and artistic taste, standing in pleasant gardens. These were evidently the residences of Gorizia’s “Kroner” millionaires. Most of these villas were considerably damaged by shells and fire—some, in fact, were quite gutted. Nearly all the street fighting took place in this particular quarter, and along the Via Leoni especially all the houses were abandoned. Inside these deserted homes were doubtless many gruesome tragedies. One we discovered ourselves. Our young soldier friend, out of boyish curiosity, went into one of the houses to see what it looked like inside. He came out very quickly, and looking as white as a ghost. I went to see what had scared him. Just behind the door was a dead Austrian officer lying in a most natural position; he had evidently crawled in here to die. The guns were booming all around, and we could see the shells bursting among the houses a short distance from where we were, yet we had not met a soul since we had left the river banks. This seemed so strange that we were almost beginning to think that the troops must have passed straight through without stopping when we saw a soldier coming towards us.