slapped my arms to keep the circulation going。 I had woven underwear and I did not think I would catch cold if I kept moving。 They had taken my pistol at the road and I put the holster under my coat。 I had no cape and it was cold in the rain。 I started up the bank of the canal。 It was daylight and the country was wet； low and dismal looking。 The fields were bare and wet； a long way away I could see a campanile rising out of the plain。 I came up onto a road。 Ahead I saw some troops ing down the road。 I limped along the side of the road and they passed me and paid no attention to me。 They were a machine…gun detachment going up toward the river。 I went on down the road。
That day I crossed the Venetian plain。 It is a low level country and under the rain it is even flatter。 Toward the sea there are salt marshes and very few roads。 The roads all go along the river mouths to the sea and to cross the country you must go along the paths beside the canals。 I was working across the country from the north to the south and had crossed two railway lines and many roads and finally I came out at the end of a path onto a railway line where it ran beside a marsh。 It was the main line from Venice to Trieste； with a high solid embankment； a solid roadbed and double track。 Down the tracks a way was a flag…station and I could see soldiers on guard。 Up the line there was a bridge over a stream that flowed into the marsh。 I could see a guard too at the bridge。 Crossing the fields to the n