The men were halted, and there was a hurried consultation of the map. The Colonel was evidently in a quandary. I understood he was in doubt as to which was the quickest way out of the city to get to San Marco. To my surprise, then, a young Italian girl came from one of the houses and boldly gave him the necessary information, whilst out of the windows all round one saw eyes glaring down on her with impotent fury. In the street where this took place many of the houses had been damaged by shells, and in several instances the shop fronts were so wrecked that everything that was left intact could have been easily got at through the broken windows; it only meant putting your hand in and helping yourself, since there was no one that day to stop you, and several of the shops had quite tempting displays of goods, yet I did not hear of a single case of looting; this, I fancy, was evidence of a remarkable state of affairs, and which reflected additional credit on the soldiers. A curious little scene was witnessed at the Town Hall when the representatives of the Italian Government took over the place and the municipal archives. A number of Gorizia’s civil dignitaries, together with their womenfolk, put in an appearance. Many of the people had not seen each other for days during the height of the fighting, and their joy at meeting again, though under such altered circumstances, was quite touching, and there was a lot of embracing and weeping. One or two of the younger women were smartly dressed and very good looking. They looked a bit nervous at first, but this soon wore off when they found we meant them no harm. One in particular, with whom I had a chat, as she spoke French fluently, was distinctly an attractive personality, and was dressed as daintily as any Parisienne. I asked if she and her girl friends were not horribly frightened by the noise of the battle and the arrival of the Italian troops. No, they were not, she replied emphatically, because the Austrian officers, before going away, had told them they had nothing to fear, as they would be back within a week with half a million troops and drive the Italians out again. She was so good looking, and was so confident this would really happen, that we had not the heart to try and convince her otherwise. She was beginning to tell us some of her experiences during the bombardment when one of the staff officers came up and whispered to us that it was not advisable that day to talk too much with the inhabitants. Almost needless to add we took the hint. _Carabinieri_ were already on guard here at the entrance to the building, and from their stolid, impassive demeanour one would have thought they were part and parcel of the municipality of Gorizia. Here is an example of their all-round handiness.