Signor Sbrancagna asked him whether they ought to take Concettina away to have her baby in some quiet country place, which the war could never reach. Ippolito shrugged his shoulders slightly, he looked at the window and the mountains, they all looked at the mountains and thought of what was going on behind them, women and children running away, tanks advancing and taking the whole of France. It was Danilo who answered Signor Sbrancagna, saying that in a short time there would not be a single quiet place on earth in which to have babies, unless you went to Madagascar. Probably the Germans did not calculate on getting to Madagascar. Then Signora Maria cried that this was not a moment for joking, it had got to be decided where Concettina could go to have her baby, Ippolito must decide, he was the head of the family and he was responsible for Concettina and for the others. Ippolito sat there a little longer with the twisted smile on his face, and then suddenly he got up and they saw him go out of the gate and walk away with the dog on a lead, a cigarette between his lips and his small head bent sideways on to his shoulder.