We arrived somewhat late in the afternoon, but the evenings were still long, and there was a full moon, so we knew there would be no difficulty in getting back to Udine even if we remained till after dark.
It was rumoured that the Austrians were going to make a big counter-attack on Gorizia that night, and it was with the idea of perhaps seeing something interesting and getting some good “copy” that we had come. Luckily, as will be seen, we ran across a confrère, Arnaldo Fraccaroli, of the Corriere della Sera, who had driven in earlier in the afternoon with the same idea as ourselves, and he joined us, as the man he had come with was returning to Udine at once.
But for reasons which we were unable to fathom, it was soon pretty evident that we were not wanted in Gorizia that day.
At the Headquarters of the General in a big house on the Corso, we were received by an aide-de-camp with but scant courtesy; in fact, this was my first experience of anything of the kind in Italy, and was the more surprising as we all represented important papers, and our passes were in order in every respect. We were curtly informed, after being kept waiting in the street for some time, that the General was “out”; so we decided to go for a walk and return later.
Except that more damage had been done by shells, there was little or no change in the streets, and from what we could gather there was little likelihood of the city resuming its normal aspect for a very long time; such of the inhabitants as could get away were doing so, and the Italian authorities were putting no obstacles in their way; as a matter of fact, Gorizia was not a place for non-combatants, as it was continually being bombarded.
When we got back to the General’s Headquarters we found he had returned, but it was, however, one thing finding him in, quite another matter getting him to receive us.
After again being kept waiting outside the garden gate till it was almost dark, we were coolly told by a sergeant that the General had nothing to tell us, so could not receive us. This was very disappointing, but there was no help for it. He was evidently peevish about something and did not want visitors.
We walked away slowly through the deepening gloom. There was not a light to be seen anywhere. Now and again the loud report of a big gun awakened the echoes of the empty streets.
My companions were much upset at the reception we had received, and were discussing the matter at great length as we went along; meanwhile I was gradually feeling very hungry and tired and heartily sick of this aimless wandering along in the obscurity.
Suddenly they came to a decision, and announced to me that we were going to spend the night in Gorizia, as it would be a pity to return to Udine and perhaps just miss something important, as there was no doubt, they explained to me, there was something en l’air.