"We looked at each other, and back across the river. There were explosions in the town itself now; the first Fascist shells were landing in the city and there was the smoke of fires. From directly over our heads, on the crest of the hill, there came swift, violent reply that deafened us and we dropped onto the ground. Our own artillery was answering. "Nice to know we got a couple pop-guns of our own," I said. "This is no place to be," said Luke. "They'll be throwing the stuff over here in a minute.""