The firing still continued in a desultory manner, shells dropping aimlessly here and there, with no particular object so far as one could judge, but probably with the idea of hampering any movements of troops on the mountain. Meanwhile there was no response whatever from the Italian batteries. They were letting the Austrians waste their ammunition since they were so minded.
Our goal at last came into view high above on the summit of a cyclopean wall of rock and seemingly an inaccessible point to reach. It looked an awful place to climb up to and only to be tackled by mountaineers, yet somewhere on that precipitous height there was surely a means of ascent indistinguishable from below; and so it proved.
The track now became more and more steep and zig-zag, till at length the windings terminated, and there appeared a long straight stretch, going without a break along the face of the bluff, up to the summit at an angle of at least 60 degrees. Even now when I recall it, it makes me shudder.
It was certainly not more than a couple of feet in width, and overhung an abyss hundreds of feet deep. The mere aspect of it almost gave me vertigo.
Hesitation, however, was out of the question after coming so far; moreover, I was now quite alone, as my companions had already reached our destination; I had to go on.
Within a few yards of the top I happened unconsciously to look down. The effect produced by the sight of the yawning gulf beneath me was terrifying: a giddiness came over me, my knees began to tremble, and had I not managed to turn and clutch frantically at a projecting piece of rock I should have lost my balance and fallen over.
I shut my eyes and held on for a few minutes, not daring to stir; then, with a strong effort of will, I pulled myself together sufficiently to edge along with my face to the rock and grasp hold of some barbed wire outside the opening leading into the fort; then, of course, I was safe.
Almost needless to add that when I got inside I did not relate my perilous experience. You are not supposed to be subject to vertigo when you tackle mountain climbing; it might prove awkward for your comrades.
A wonderful spectacle confronted me as I looked round. The Forcola is nearly 10,000 feet high, and here, right on the summit, was a veritable citadel in course of construction, with armoured trenches, sandbag emplacements for big guns, barbed-wire entanglements; in fact, everything that modern military science can contrive to insure impregnability.
The whole place was teeming with activity, and looked like a gigantic ant-heap; on all sides soldiers were to be seen at work, and it was evident that those in charge of this important position were determined to leave nothing to luck. The little that nature had left unprotected was being made good by the untiring efforts and genius of the Italians, and the Austrian chances of ever capturing the place are practically nil. Its curious configuration largely contributes to its impregnability and power of resistance if ever besieged.