Florence in war time—War correspondents to visit the Front—I receive a letter from Mr. Capel Cure of the Embassy—Return to Rome—Signor Barzilai, Head of Foreign Press Bureau—I am officially “accepted”—Correspondents to muster at Brescia—Rome to Brescia via Milan—The gathering of the correspondents—Names of those present—Papers represented—The correspondent’s armlet—Speech of welcome by General Porro—Plan of journey announced—Introduced to officers of Censorship—To leave war zone a conclusion of tour of Front—“Shepherding” the correspondents—Censorships established at various places—Correspondents’ motor cars—Clubbing together—Car-parties—My companions—Imposing array of correspondents’ cars—National flags—Cordiality amongst all correspondents and Censors—Good-fellowship shown by Italians—Banquet to celebrate the occasion 63 CHAPTER VII: Brescia—Rough sketch of arrangements—A printed itinerary of tour—Military passes—Rendezvous on certain dates—The “off-days”—Much latitude allowed—We make a start—Matutinal hour—First experience of freedom of action—Like schoolboys let loose—In the valley of Guidicaria—First impression of trenches on mountains—A gigantic furrow—Encampments of thousands of soldiers—Like the great wall of China—Preconceived notions of warfare upset—Trenches on summits of mountains—A vast military colony—Pride of officers and men in their work—Men on “special” work—“Grousing” unknown in Italian Army—Territorials—Middle aged men—“Full of beans”—Territorials in first line trenches—Modern warfare for three-year olds only—Hardy old mountaineers—Heart strain—The road along Lake Garda—Military preparations everywhere—War on the Lake—The flotilla of gun-boats—The Perils of the Lake—A trip on the “Mincio” gun-boat—I make a sketch of Riva—A miniature Gibraltar—Desenzano—Nocturnal activity of mosquitoes—Return to Brescia—Something wrong with the car—Jules Rateau of the _Echo de Paris_—Arrange excursion to Stelvio Pass—A wonderful motor trip—The Valley of Valtellino—The corkscrew road—Bormio—The Staff Colonel receives us—Permits our visiting positions—Village not evacuated—Hotel open—Officers’ _table d’hôte_—We create a mild surprise—Spend the night at hotel 71 CHAPTER VIII: On the summit of the Forcola—We start off in “military” time—Our guide—Hard climbing—Realize we are no longer youthful—Under fire—Necessary precautions—Our goal in sight—An awful bit of track—Vertigo—A terrifying predicament—In the Forcola position—A gigantic ant-heap—Unique position of the Forcola—A glorious panorama—The Austrian Tyrol—The three frontiers—Shown round position—Self-contained arsenal—Lunch in the mess-room—Interesting chat—The “observation post”—The goniometre—Return to Bormio—Decide to pass another night there—An invitation from the sergeants—Amusing incident 85 CHAPTER IX: