The Heart of Pinocchio

ds and F

Fatina, by a curious coincidence, was his careful and affectionate nurse, and that Ciampanella, playing the part of a good friend, did not fail to make him frequent visits, bringing with him certain samples of camp cookery which enraptured

ahead. I've got accustomed to such tri

me he

nt it to be longer than usual and that n

hy

lts and it would amuse me to death to

legs that he was almost as tall as Ciampanella, who to

g! I haven't done anything, but if I were the one I have in mind I would bestow on you the med

satisfied all the same. All I ask is for

hand we will live on the fat of the land and will make meat-balls with our leavings for the general, and when we don't know wh

you had offered to lend me a hundred lire w

hy

stove. I am half wooden and run the risk of catching on fire. I should have to decide to take out insurance against fire. Moreover, let's consider. To-day I have other views.

most made Ciampanella roll under the table, like an an

again and kept him with him several days for company. From him h

war in which you, too, have played your small part an

on't know? It is to

ems a just r

hat every

our fathers, because our Italian tongue is spoken in them, were until to-day exploited by the enemy, who sought in every way to embitter the existence of our brothers, paying with contempt and scorn, with persecution and oppression, their loyalty and love for the mother-country. Italian unity, begun in the revolutionary movement of 1811, was not completed in 1870 with the taking of Rome. The jealousy of other nations halted

co, and the coast of Dalmatia, which for so many centuries displayed the glorious insignia of the Lion of St. Mark, are longing impatiently for the moment which shall reunite them to the mother-country, that for them and with them will grow ever greater. War is a curse; this one which is being fought to-day all over the civilized world is perhaps the most

his country. He put him in the care of a captain of the commissary department, a good friend of his who had the unlucky idea of making him a baker in a camp bakery. He stayed there only two days, astounded at the enormous quantity of bread which was kneaded and baked all the time. All he did was to give a hand in filling the baskets which were loaded on automobiles that carried the bread to the front. The third day he made a figure of dough that looked like the twin brother of the captain, put it in the o

l work which was being done side by side with the army which was fighting for the defense of its country. What profound respect for discipline, what order, what spirit of self-sacrifice in those brave soldiers (almost all fathers of families), continually exposed to bad weather, to the hardest fatigues, to the most complete privations! Rain, snow, ice, tornadoes of wind and of shot and shell, nothing succeeded in interrupting for a single minute the

would have to have a license and that, in order to get one, he would have to take a regular examinatio

re doling the soldi from his purse. When he had finished distributing the mail he would let them pay him to read their letters. I can tell you it was not an easy matter. Often he had hieroglyphics to decipher which would have given trouble to a professor of paleontology. But Pinocchio had such a quick mind that when he found he couldn't puzzle it out he invented a letter and did it so well that he earned a soldo by it and the deep gratit

etters? Do you know what you ought to do? Go and get them, becau

but he didn't play postman any more. He was wondering to what new ser

that he can tell you for me that I have a great longing to see you, because I

pane

ook in the s

der-in

riend. He found him in full performance of his noble functions, white, red, and flo

astonishment, after

here and I am not here

trul

lla is no longer himself. They have given me only a few months more to live. I don't mind for myself, yo

a little less

humanity can never be happy, because with it men will eat and laugh, and when you

't you w

that it would be the liver that would bring me to my grave if I didn't stop immediately living on the fat of the land and drink quantities of water. Listen, youngster, I have always had a great antipathy for liver, so much so that I never even put it in patties called Strasburg and which in my Manual

I wanted to call you to my presence to tell you that as I have no one in the world I have been thinking of leaving you everything I possess: ten ladles, a carver, the change-purse, and the

d a crowd of majors and captains of the General Staff. All these were men who had need of good eating that wouldn't cause indigestion. Pinocchio served ... as director of the mess. When he saw some saucepan boiling over, a pot too full, he quickly reduced them by tasting their contents generously. Sau

etter to stay in the trenches and die with a ball in the head than in the rear when you come and ruin my comfort with your inspection

ed a wonderful improvement, and he kept a big bottle full of medicine among his cans of pepper and spices. This fact had several times started an idea in Pinocchio's whimsical pate, and several times he had been on the point of exchanging this medicine for the kitchen salt, but the thought of the serious consequences which might result had kept him from doing it. Moreover, Pinocchio was called more and more often to serve the mess-table and spent less time in the kitchen. The famous captain of the inspection h

lessed are those

e could give him a reprimand. He thought the time h

, you litt

at your o

the plate of stew two

e insect out ... "a fly indeed! But you may consider yourself lucky because in the rations of your men there will be at least twen

d heartily. The captain, as green as a newl

d he, too, wished to do himself honor. He set the table in a grassy spot surrounded by high trees and thick hedges. It wasn't possible to find a more picturesque spot, shady and safe from curious eyes, from reporters, and-spies. It was a little distance from the kitchen, but distances didn't bother Pinocchio, wh

ms, starred with crosses and ribbons, shining with gold and silver, were all

hearts of green lettuce which appeared on the menu under the name "William's Wishes, with Evasions of German Financiers," he was struck by a strange sight. All the diners had fled from th

lla! Ciam

s the

medic

dicine got to

you put in

gster? Be quiet and

e you perfectly

k me if I am s

the officers

re they

because I don't unde

ane burst a few feet from them. They were hit in the chest by a column of air which turn

hastily to the nearest ambulance station and fell into the hands of a splendid surgeon, who, after having set a slender fracture of the arm and of the breastbone, swore to save him

er him they found themselves face to face with a poor creature who, with

that Fatina was looking at him with her big blue eyes full of tears and pity, he s

ent. In order to become a real boy I coul