We reached several armed naval pontoons on which were anti-aircraft batteries. The sailors spoke in the Venetian dialect with the soft accent of the Istrians and the Dalmatians. We passed a boat manned by soldiers and entered a courtyard which was full of Hungarians. Here too, rested an officer dressed in white who was enjoying the cool breeze under a little tent pitched near the water. A peasant to whom the priest had entrusted us led us to the house of the Mayor. This house was in the open country in the midst of the drainage works. As we entered, the atmosphere seemed very luxurious to us, after having seen so many bare homes. The daughter of the Mayor, a pretty dark girl, came towards us. On her work table was a large Italian flag which she was preparing for the day when the Italians should return. I looked about and asked myself whether I was dreaming for everything seemed so cheerful, everything so simple and easy, everything was proceeding with far more facility than I ever could have hoped for. In the room in which we stood conversing there was a photograph of our King, and when the Mayor joined us I asked him how he succeeded in keeping it there. He answered that from the very beginning the Austrians did their utmost to remove it, that they returned again and again to seize it, but he defended it with all his power, as he had defended the honor of his daughters, and when the Austrians asked him why he gave so much importance to that image he answered, “That is my King and shall always be my King.” The enemy, who feels so strongly the sense of dynasty, submitted before such great loyalty and the photograph of the King of Italy was (and is) still in its place. “So you are an Italian officer and you need the use of a boat? I do not think it will be difficult to get one for you because our fishermen have many and, that the Austrians may not seize them, they have filled them with stones and sunk them in the low canals. We shall have to float one of them and see that it does not leak. Then you will have to try to leave at once because in these days the moon sets early and so, without light, it will be easier for you to succeed in your attempt.” The next day the Mayor gave us the good news that the boat was ready and that it would be waiting for us in the marshes not far from the beach. As soon as night fell, with a fisherman as our guide, we walked east for several miles to find the spot where the boat awaited us. The fisherman told us that we had better keep about half a mile from shore without ever losing sight of it, and that after about two hours of rowing we should reach the mouth of the Piave on the other side of which are our lines. The fisherman assured us that no motor-boats cruise at night but they usually wait until dawn before they go out, and that the nights in general pass tranquilly.