Nor was amusement lacking of an evening, as there were two large Cinemas open, and at one a sort of music-hall entertainment as well; both these places were so well attended by the civilians, as well as the military element, that it was always difficult to get anything but bare standing room. Here again the proximity of the fighting would often be vividly brought home to you when the booming of the guns was audible in an interval of the performance. Of course the ordinary soldiers were only allowed out of barracks up to a certain hour—I forget for the moment what that was—so the streets looked comparatively deserted when they had gone. The principal cafés were, however, well patronised up till closing time, and “Dorta’s,” in particular, was always very crowded with officers and civilians. It was quite remarkable the number of pretty and smartly dressed women one saw about of a day—of course many of these were the wives or daughters of residents, but there were others also. On a fine Sunday morning, the Church parade on the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and along the Via Mercato Vecchio was quite one of the sights of Udine, for it was usually a galaxy of beauty and fashion. To anyone like myself, newly arrived in the town, and expecting to find himself in the midst of warlike scenes considering how close one was to the operations, this unexpected spectacle came as a positive shock. After a week or so, however, this impression of incongruity wore off, and you ended by feeling that after all these dainty apparitions in the streets or the restaurants were not so unpleasant to look on, and that they served to accentuate the grimness of the dust-covered warriors around them. With the general advance of the Army, the majority of the troops was gradually shifted nearer the new Front, but the whole district was, and still is, under the command of a military governor, who wields the power of a dictator so far as the civilian element is concerned. The streets were practically pitch dark on moonless nights, only the merest pretence of a glimmer of electric light in blue bulbs being allowed here and there, though the Stygian gloom was constantly being illumined by the powerful headlights of military cars passing through—a curious anomaly which appeared to me quite inexplicable. Of course these precautions were taken owing, as I have said, to the proximity of Udine to the enemy’s lines and the fact in consequence that neighbourly visits from “Taubes” were frequently received, though fortunately they seldom succeeded in doing any damage or causing loss of life. On several occasions, though they provided us with spectacular displays overhead, as there were always a number of our _Capronis_ in the aerodrome close by in readiness to go up and tackle these intruders as soon as they were sighted, and there are few things more exciting to witness than an aerial fight.