'He was warning me when we were knocked down together.

Make haste, but for goodness' sake be careful!' They were trained men and they did their work quickly and well.

What had happened was this.

The heavy and irregular mass of masonry that had pinned Giovanni to the ground by his arm had helped to make a sort of shelter, across which a piece of the outer wall had fallen without breaking, followed by a mass of rubbish.

By what seemed almost a miracle to the soldiers, their companion was entirely unhurt, and no part of the officer's body had been touched except the arm that lay crushed beneath the stones.
They cleared away the rubbish and looked at him as he lay on his back pale and motionless under the light of their lanterns.