Rollo in Naples Part 10

"Let us set out at eight, then," said Mrs. Gray. "We can have breakfast at seven, I suppose."

"Certainly," said Philippe. "And will you have it in your own room?"

"No," said Mrs. Gray; "let us all breakfast together in the dining room.

That will be more interesting. We may meet some other parties there who are going to the mountain."

"Then I will order breakfast for you at seven o'clock," said Philippe.

"Provided you find, to-morrow morning, that the weather is going to be good," said Mr. George. "We won't go unless you are convinced that it is going to be a fine day."

"Yes, sir," said Philippe; "we judge a great deal by the smoke on the mountain. If it comes down the mountain on this side, then the weather is going to be bad. But if it goes away on the other side, off towards the sea, then we can generally depend upon a fine day."

So it was agreed that Philippe should make an observation early in the morning, and if he concluded that the day would be a good one for the excursion, he was to come to Mr. George's room and let him know the decision. He was then to order the breakfast for seven o'clock, and the carriage for eight, while Mr. George was to call the rest of the party.

The plan being thus formed, the party separated for the night. Rollo said that he meant to get up at half past five; or as soon as it was light, and go up to the top of the house, and see which way the smoke of Vesuvius was going.

"Call for me, and I will go with you," said Josie.

"I will," said Rollo.

CHAPTER VI.

GOING UP.

Rollo slept in the same room with Mr. George. He got up as soon as it was light, dressed himself in a hurried manner, and went out. In about ten minutes he returned.

"Well, Rollo," said Mr. George, "what is the report?"

"The smoke is not going either way," said Rollo. "It mounts right straight up into the air; but Philippe says he thinks it is going to be a fine day, and he has ordered breakfast. So I think you had better get up."

At seven o'clock precisely the whole party were a.s.sembled in the dining room for breakfast. They ate their breakfast together at the end of one of the long tables. There were already two other parties in the room.

There was one consisting of two gentlemen that were going to Vesuvius.

There was another larger party that were about setting out for Rome.

Their carriage was at the door, and the vetturino and his men were at work putting on the trunks and baggage.

At eight o'clock precisely, the carriage for Mr. George's party came to the door. All were ready, and they all immediately got in. Philippe put in a basket containing provisions. Mrs. Gray had a small book, formed with leaves of blotting paper, to press the flowers in, which she meant to gather around the Hermitage while the rest of the party were gone up the mountain. Mr. George took his knapsack, though there seemed to be nothing in it.

"What are you carrying up an empty knapsack for, uncle George?" asked Rollo.

"To bring down specimens in," said Mr. George.

"Ah," said Rollo, "I wish I had thought to take mine."

"I'll let you have part of mine," said Mr. George. "It is big enough to hold the specimens for all of us."

Philippe, when he found that the company were well seated in the carriage, shut the door, mounted the box with the coachman, and gave the order to drive on.

The carriage was entirely open, and the party, as they drove along, enjoyed an uninterrupted view of every thing around them. They pa.s.sed through one or two beautiful public squares, with palaces and churches on either hand, and lines of troops parading before them. Then they came to a long and exceedingly busy street, with the port and the shipping on one side, and stores, shops, hotels, and establishments of every kind, on the other. The street was crowded with people going to and fro, some on foot and some in carriages. A great many persons were carrying burdens on their heads. Some had jars, or pails, or little tubs of water; some had baskets heaped up with oranges, or other fruit. Some had long boards with a row of loaves of dough upon them, which they were taking to the bakers to be baked.

The sidewalks, especially on the side towards the harbor, were thronged with people living in the open air, and practising their various trades there. There were cooks, cooking all sorts of provisions; and blacksmiths, working with hammers and anvils; and cabinet makers, sawing or planing, or gluing together the parts of tables or chairs. Then there were a great many family groups, some sitting in the sun around a boat drawn up, or upon and around a great chain cable, or an anchor; and others gathering about a fire made in a brazier, for the morning was cool. These families were engaged in all the usual domestic avocations of a household. The mothers were dressing the children, or getting the breakfast, while the grandmothers and aunts were knitting, or spinning thread with a distaff and spindle. The men were often employed in making nets.

The carriage, which was drawn by three horses abreast, went on very rapidly through these scenes--so rapidly, in fact, that Mrs. Gray had not time to look at the various groups as much as she wished.

"I mean to come and take a walk here some day," said Mrs. Gray, "and then I can look at all these things at my leisure."

"O mother," said Josie, "you can't do that very well, on account of the beggars. If a gentleman and lady attempt to walk together in any of these streets of Naples, the beggars come and gather around them at every step."

"Then I'll come some day in a carriage, and tell the coachman to drive slowly."

"That will be just as bad," said Josie. "They'll come then around the carriage. The only way is to drive so fast that they cannot keep up."

The carriage went on. It followed the road which led along the sh.o.r.e, as shown in the map given in a former chapter to ill.u.s.trate the situation of Naples; but the sh.o.r.e was occupied with such a succession of hamlets and villages that the road seemed to form a continued street all the way. After getting a little beyond the confines of Naples, the road was thronged with people coming into town, some on foot, with loads of produce on their heads, some driving donkeys, with immense burdens of vegetables loaded in panniers on their backs, or drawn in carts behind them. There were omnibuses too, of a peculiar kind, filled with people, and a kind of carriage called a _calash_, which consisted of a sort of chaise, with an extended frame for people to stand upon all around it.

The first cla.s.s pa.s.sengers in these calashes had seats in the chaise itself. The others stood up all around, and clung on as best they could to the back of the seat before them.

Our party met a great many of these calashes coming into town, and bringing in loads of country people.

"It is astonishing," said Rollo, "that one horse can draw so many people."

"It is because the road is so level and smooth," said Mr. George. "The wheels run almost as easy upon it as they would upon a railroad."

[Ill.u.s.tration: CALASH COMING INTO NAPLES.]

After going on in this manner for about an hour,--all the time gently ascending, and pa.s.sing through what seemed to be a continued succession of villages and towns,--the carriage stopped before the door of a kind of inn in the midst of a crowded street. The moment that the carriage stopped, it seemed to be surrounded by a crowd of ostlers, donkeys and donkey drivers, ragged boys and beggars; and such a clamor arose from the crowd as was quite appalling to hear, the more so as nothing could be understood of what was said, since it was all in Italian.

"What is here?" said Mr. George to Philippe, when he saw that Philippe was getting down from the box.

"This is Herculaneum," said Philippe, quietly.

"Herculaneum!" repeated Rosie, amazed. "Why, I thought Herculaneum was all under ground."

"Yes," said Mr. George, "it is. He means that this is where we go down."

By this time Philippe had opened the carriage door. Mr. George got out, and then helped Mrs. Gray to descend. A half a dozen beggars, some lame, some blind, some old and paralytic, hovered about the steps, and held out tattered hats to Mrs. Gray, moaning all the time in piteous tones, and begging for alms. Mrs. Gray and Mr. George paid no attention to them, but pa.s.sed directly on, followed by the children, through a door in a high wall, which led into a little court, and thence they pa.s.sed into a sort of entrance hall, leading into a building. Philippe, who had preceded them, opened a closet, and took out some small candles. He lighted these candles by means of a lamp hanging against the wall, and gave one to each of the party. There was an open door near, with a broad flight of stone steps leading down, like stairs going down cellar. As soon as the candles were all lighted, the children heard somebody coming up these stairs. It was a party of visitors that had been down, and were now coming up. There were eight or ten of them, and the appearance of them as they came up, following each other in a long line, each carrying his candle in his hand, produced a very strange and picturesque effect.

The guide who came up at the head of them exchanged a few words with Philippe in Italian, and then Philippe went on, leading his own party down the stairs. The stairs were wide, so that there was abundant room for the two parties to pa.s.s each other.

After going down some way, and making one or two turnings, suddenly a light began to appear. It was a light like the light of day. It grew brighter and brighter, until at length Mr. George and Rollo, who were at the head of the party, after Philippe, came out under a large circular opening cut in the rock, through which they could look up to the open air, and to the sky.

"This is the well," said Philippe; "the well that they were digging when they first came upon the ruins."

The sides of the well were of solid lava, smooth and hard, just as they had been left by the workmen in digging down.

The light which came down through the well shone upon a sort of platform, which, as well as the walls around it, was covered with moss and other green plants, which had been induced to vegetate there by the rain and the sunlight that had come down through the well. Mrs. Gray gathered some of these plants, and put them into her book.