The Jolliest School of All

by Angela Brazil

  CHAPTER XI

  Up Vesuvius

  On a certain day towards the end of March, Miss Morley, who usuallyacted as cicerone and general guide, arranged to take a select littleparty up Vesuvius. Irene, Lorna, Peachy, and Delia were among thefavored few, and congratulated themselves exceedingly. It is certainlynot an every-day occurrence for schoolgirls to view a volcano, and thisparticular excursion, being long and difficult, was kept as a specialtreat, and was regarded as the titbit of the various expeditions fromthe Villa Camellia. Many of the girls had, of course, made it on formeroccasions, but to those whom Miss Morley was escorting to-day it was allnew.

  "I was to have gone last autumn," confided Peachy, "but the fact is Igot into a little fix with Miss Rodgers, and she started on the rampageand canceled my exeat. I cried till I was simply a sopping sponge, butshe was a perfect crab that day. Lorna, weren't you to have gone tooonce before?"

  "Yes, and got toothache. Just like my luck. There the others werestarting off, and I was sitting by the stove with a swollen face,dabbing on belladonna, and Miss Rodgers careering round telling me Imust have it out. Ugh! My ailments always turn up when I'm goinganywhere."

  "Well, you're all right to-day at any rate," consoled Delia, ratherunsympathetically.

  "If I don't get seasick on the boat."

  "Oh, buck up! You mustn't. We'll throw you overboard to the fishes ifyou do anything so silly. For goodness' sake don't any one startsymptoms and spoil the fun. Where's Miss Morley? I'm just aching to beoff."

  The party left Fossato by the early morning steamer and went straightto Naples. They drove from the quay to the station, then took the littlelocal train for Vesuvius. Italian railways generally provide scantaccommodation for the number of passengers, so there ensued a wildscramble for seats, and it was only by the help of the conductor, whomshe had judiciously tipped, that Miss Morley managed to keep her flocktogether, and settle them in one of the small saloon carriages. Herethey were wedged pretty tightly among native Italians, and tourists ofvarious nations, including some voluble Swedes and a company of dapperJapanese gentlemen, who were seeing Europe. After much pushing,crowding, shouting, and gesticulation on the part of both the public andofficials, the train at last started and pursued its jolting and jerkyway. It ran first through the poorer district of Naples, wheredilapidated houses, whose faded walls showed traces of former gay pink,blue, or yellow color-wash, stood in the midst of vegetable gardens;then, the slums left behind, the line passed a long way among vineyardsand orchards of almond, peach, and cherry that were just bursting intoglorious lacy blossom. The railway banks were gay with the flowers whichMarch scatters in Southern Italy, red poppies, orange marigolds, lupins,campanulas, purple snapdragons, and wild mignonette, growing anywhereamong stones and rocks, with the luxuriance that in northern countriesis reserved for June.

  At Torre Annunziata the party from the Villa Camellia all crowded to thecarriage window, for Miss Morley had something to point out to them.

  "We're passing over the lava formed by the great eruption in 1906. Thewhole of the railway line and ever so many houses were buried then.Don't you see bits of them peeping out over there?"

  "Why, yes, it looks like cinders," commented Lorna.

  "They're great masses of crumbling lava turning into soil. Wait till weget farther on, then you'll see lava more in its raw stage. Very soon weshall be passing over the top of Herculaneum. The ancient city liesburied thirty feet below the surface."

  "Aren't they ever going to excavate it like they did Pompeii?"

  "The trouble is that the modern town of Pugliano is built over the top,and naturally the owners don't want their houses pulled down, whatevertreasures in the way of Greek or Roman antiquities may lie buriedunderneath. Isn't the view of the Bay of Naples beautiful from here?"

  "Yes, and the flowers. It's like fairyland."

  At Pugliano the party left the train, and after a long and tiresome waitat the station changed to the light electric railway that was to takethem up Vesuvius. The little carriage resembled a tramcar, and its wideglass windows afforded excellent views of the scenery _en route_.Up--up--up they went, gradually getting higher and higher. It wasmarvelous how the vegetation altered as they ascended. The cactuses,olives, almonds, and peach orchards gave way to hillsides covered withsmall chestnut, oak, or poplar trees, and the poppies and daisies weresucceeded by broom bushes and clumps of rosemary. They were getting onto the region of the lava, and all the ground was brown, like newlyturned peat. Men were busy digging terraces in the volcanic earth, toplant vines, working calmly as if the great cone above them had neverbelched forth fire and ashes.

  "How _dare_ they live here?" shuddered Peachy, pointing to the tinydwellings which had been reared here and there. "When they see all theruin round them, aren't they afraid? What makes them go back?"

  "The ground is so rich," explained Miss Morley. "Nothing grows vines sosplendidly as volcanic earth. The people get fatalistic, and think itworth risking their lives to have these fruitful little farms. They saythe mountain may not be angry again for years, and they will take theirchance."

  "It's smoking now," said Lorna.

  "I suppose it's safe?" asked Delia anxiously.

  "Perfectly safe to-day or we shouldn't have been allowed to go up in theelectric railway. Do you see that big building--the observatory? Carefulinvestigations are made every day of the crater, and the resultstelegraphed down to Naples. If there were the slightest hint of dangerthe trains would be stopped and tourists turned back."

  The journey was ever upwards, over great wastes of rough brown lava,which looked as if some giant, in play, had squeezed out the contents ofenormous tubes of oil paint on to the mighty palette of the mountainside. The air had grown fresh and cold, for they were at an altitudeapproaching 4000 feet, and, but for the scenery, might have imaginedthemselves in Wales or Scotland.

  The light railway ended at a small station, where there was theobservatory and a hotel. All round were masses of enormous cinders, andabove, a grim sight, towered the immense cone of Vesuvius. To scale thetremendous incline to the summit there was a funicular railway, to whichour party now transferred themselves, sitting on seats raised one aboveanother as in the gallery of a theater. It was here that, if the eventsof the day are to be truly chronicled, we must record a scrimmagebetween Irene and her chum, Peachy. The conductor of the light railwayhad gathered a bunch of rosemary _en route_, and he now approached thefunicular and bestowed his offering upon Peachy, who happened to besitting nearest to the end. She was immensely gratified at theattention, sniffed the fragrant nosegay, and handed it on for admirationto Lorna, who, after also burying her nose in it, passed it to Irene.The latter ought to have realized it was not her own property, butunfortunately didn't. She calmly appropriated the bunch, and distributedit in portions to those nearest her. Peachy's cheeks flamed. She was ahot-tempered little soul underneath her gay banter.

  "Well! Of all cool cheek," she exploded. "That was _my_ bouquet. It wasgiven to _me_, not to you, Renie Beverley. Next time you start beingcharitable use your own flowers, not mine. You haven't left me a singlepiece."

  "I'm sorry," blushed Irene, trying to collect some portion at least ofher offerings to hand back to the lawful owner. "I thought they weregiven to me."

  "No, you didn't, you simply bagged them," snapped Peachy. "I'm notfriends with you, so don't talk to me any more," and Peachy turned a redoffended face out of the carriage window.

  Irene might have apologized further, but the funicular gave a mightyjerk at that moment, and the carriage started. Up--up went the littletrain, working on wire ropes like a bucket coming out of a well. Higherand higher and higher it rose up the terrific incline, over masses ofcinders, towards the thick cloud of smoke that loomed above. It stoppedat last at a big iron gate, which opened to admit the passengers on tothe summit. Here the guides were waiting, and after some parleying inItalian, Miss Morley engaged a couple of them to escort her party. Ledby these men, who knew every inch o
f the way, they started to walk tothe crater of the volcano. A cinder path had been made along the edge ofthe cone, having on the left side a steep ridge of ashes, and on theright a sheer drop of many thousand feet. From this strange road therewere weird and beautiful effects--for it was above the region of theclouds, which floated below, sometimes hiding the landscape, andsometimes revealing glorious stretches of country, with gleams ofsunshine falling on the white houses of towns miles below, and bluereaches of sea with mountains beyond. Great volumes of smoke kept comingdown from the summit, and blowing in a dense cloud, then clearing for afew minutes and forming again. There were booming sounds like the firingof cannons that seemed to issue from the smoke.

  Very much awed by these impressive surroundings the party kept closetogether. The guides, in their gray uniforms and caps with red bands,were a comforting feature of the excursion. But for their encouragementthe girls would have been too much scared to proceed. Delia was clingingto Peachy, and Lorna held Irene's arm tightly. Miss Morley, who had beenbefore, kept assuring everybody that there was no danger, and after afew minutes they grew sufficiently accustomed to the scene to thoroughlyenjoy the magnificent effects of the clouds circling below them. But theguides were calling "Haste," for the mist was clearing, and it would bepossible to get a view of the crater. They all scurried along the path,and suddenly to the left, instead of the high ridge of cinders, theycould look down into a deep rocky ravine. From this hollow vapors wererising as from a witch's cauldron, but every now and then the winddispersed them as if lifting a veil, revealing a glimpse of the crater.At the bottom of the ravine stood a great cone, from the mouth of whichpoured dense clouds of smoke, and between the smoke could be seen fire,as if the interior of the cone were a red-hot furnace. Sometimes thevapors were shadowy as gray phantoms, sometimes glowing red with thereflection of the fire within, and as they whirled round the dim ravineloud explosions broke the silence. The view was as fleeting andevanescent as a landscape in a dream; one minute there would be nothingbut a bank of mist and deadly stillness, the next a vision of fire andsounds that rent the mountain air.

  "It's like looking into the bottomless pit," shivered Delia.

  "Oh, but it's magnificent!" gasped Peachy.

  "I'd no idea it would be so grand as this," said Irene. "I wouldn'thave missed it for worlds."

  "Come along, girls. The guides can take us farther," said Miss Morley."Don't be frightened, for it's perfectly safe, and they won't let us gointo any danger."

  So they went some way along the mountain and turned down a side pathtowards the crater. It was difficult walking, for they were all amonglava and sliding cinders, but the guides kept close by them, and helpedthem over difficult places. When they had descended perhaps a hundredfeet or so, the ground became percolated with steam, jets of it pouredfrom holes among the rocks, and the cinders upon which they stood feltwarm to their boots. The guides brought the party to a halt upon a ledgeof volcanic rock, from below which ran a sheer slide of hot cinders intothe ravine. From here there was a splendid near view of the cone, itstop yellow with sulphur, and at its base a lake of molten lava. One ofthe guides, a venturesome fellow, climbed down by another path andfetched lumps of sulphur as souvenirs for the girls, and the other guidepressed upon them pieces of lava into which, while hot, he had insertedcoins, so that they had set into the mass when cool. They were naturallyimmensely delighted with these mementoes, and put them in their pockets,quite unsuspecting of the sequel that was to ensue.

  It was a fearful scramble back up the steep path over the slidingcinders. The guides held out a stick or a hand to help at awkwardcorners, and being young and active the party managed to scale the sideof the ravine and regain the summit of the mountain without anyaccidents, though Delia confessed afterwards that she had fully expectedto tumble backwards and roll into the lava, a fear which Miss Morleypooh-poohed entirely.

  "There was no danger unless you fainted, and the guides were close atyour elbow the whole time," she declared.

  The smiling officials in the gray uniforms and red-banded caps hadindeed seemed the good geniuses of the excursion, but alack! theyexhibited a different aspect when they had conducted their party back tothe entrance of the funicular railway. Not satisfied with the paymentwhich the government tariff allowed them to charge, they demanded fromeach of the visitors exorbitant tips in consideration of the littlelumps of sulphur and lava which they had given them from the crater. Thegirls, who had supposed these to be presents, were most indignant.

  "Five francs for a scrap of sulphur!"

  "And we'd just called him such a kind man!"

  "Let him keep his wretched souvenirs!"

  "No, no! I want mine!"

  "It's too bad!"

  "I want my money to buy post-cards!"

  "It's absolute blackmail!"

  The guides, no longer smiling and obliging, but clamoring loudly forextra money, were finally settled with by Miss Morley, who knew thecustoms of the country, and was aware that they would be quite contentwith less than half of what they had asked.

  "It's always the way in Naples," she said philosophically, as shethankfully bundled her flock into the funicular. "You can't get alonganywhere without tipping. The government may try its best to arrangefixed prices, but every one who goes sightseeing must be prepared topart with a good deal in the way of small change. The guides are notsuch brigands as they used to be, thank goodness. Thirty or forty yearsago I suppose it was hopeless to come unless you brought a courier withyou from Naples to keep the others off. Well, you have your littlesouvenirs of Vesuvius at any rate, even if they've turned out ratherexpensive ones. They're something to keep, aren't they?"

  "I wouldn't have given up mine if they'd asked me twenty dollars forit," declared Peachy, fondling the nickel coin set in the lump of lava.

  "I don't understand the Neapolitans," frowned Irene. "One minute they'reso charming and persuasive and winning and gay, and the next they'reabsolute bandits."

  "They're a mixed race, with a good deal of the Spaniard in them,"explained Miss Morley. "We must make certain allowances for theirsouthern temperaments and customs. They're very poor, and they look uponAmerican and British tourists as made of money, and therefore fair gameto be fleeced. The best plan is to take them quite calmly, and neverlose your temper however excited they may get. When you've lived herefor a time you learn how to treat them."

  By this time they had reached the bottom of the funicular, and were backin the little station near the observatory. A picturesque woman, with ayellow shawl round her shoulders, and long gold earrings in her ears,came hurrying up to sell post-cards, and offered to show the party thequickest way into the hotel. As every one was very tired and hungry MissMorley succumbed to the voice of this siren, and permitted her to escortthem by what she assured them would be a short cut and would save manysteps. But alas for Italian veracity! Their suave and smiling guide ledthem down a path at the back of the hotel to a shabby and dirty littlerestaurant of her own, where she vehemently assured them she wouldprovide them with a far cheaper meal, an offer which, at the sight ofthe crumby table-cloth, they resolutely refused.

  "The old humbug! I'd no idea she was decoying us away from the hotel.Really nobody can be trusted up here," fumed Miss Morley. "Come along,girls. I told the conductor to reserve a table for us, and there won'tbe time to have lunch before the train starts unless we're quick."

  So they all hurried back again up the path--much to the chagrin of thesiren--and found their own way into the hotel, where seats had been keptfor them in the restaurant, and dishes of macaroni and vegetables andcups of hot coffee were in readiness.

  The great attraction to the girls was the fact that if they boughtpost-cards at the hotel these could be stamped by the conductor of thetrain with the Vesuvius postmark, and posted in a special pillar-box atthe station. The idea of sending cards to their friends actually fromthe volcano itself was most fascinating, and they scribbled away tillthe last available moment.

  "I gu
ess some homes in America will be startled when they see these,"purred Peachy, addressing flaming representations of an eruption. "Itought just to make Nell Condy's eyes pop out."

  "I'm only afraid they won't believe we've really been," sighed Delia,skeptically.

  "They'll have to, with the Vesuvius postmark. The post-office can't tellfibs at any rate. I call these cards a bit of luck. Be a sport,somebody, and lend me an extra stamp. I'm cleared out, and haven't somuch as a nickel left."

  "Hurry, girls, or we shan't get places in the train," urged Miss Morley,sweeping her party from the hotel into the station, where other touristswere beginning to crowd into the carriages.

  The platform was a characteristic Italian scene; a blind man with aguitar was singing gay Neapolitan songs in a beautiful tenor voice, awoman with a lovely brown-eyed baby was calling oranges, an old man witha red cap and a faded blue umbrella under his arm offered specimens ofhand-made lace, while a roguish-looking girl tried to sell cameos carvedin lava, throwing them on to the laps of the passengers as they sat inthe train. Irene, who was beginning to learn Italian methods ofpurchase, commenced to bargain with her for a quaintly cut mascot,reducing the price asked lira by lira till at length, when the conductorblew his brass horn, she finally got it for exactly half of what was atfirst demanded.

  "And quite enough too," said Miss Morley, who had watched the businesswith amusement. "She's probably more than satisfied, and will go dancinghome to her mother. Let me look, Irene? This funny little hunchback isalways considered the 'luck' of Vesuvius. I believe he's copied from amodel found in Pompeii. He's the true mascot of the mountain. Yes, he'squite a pretty little curio and well worth having."

  "I wish I'd had any money left to buy one with," sighed Peachy.

  The train was speeding downhill now, leaving ashes and lava behind, andheading for the bright bay where the sun was shining on the sea. Seenfrom above against a gray background of olives and other trees not yetin leaf, the blossoming peaches and apricots had a filmy fairy look mostbeautiful to behold. Behind frowned the great volcano still belching outclouds of smoke.

  "I've a different impression of old Vesuvius now I've seen his heart,"said Peachy, looking back for a last farewell view.

  "He still seems full of mischief, but I'm glad he played no tricks whilewe were up there," commented Delia.

  "It's certainly one of the sights of the world, and I'm glad I've seenit," said Lorna. "Yes, I don't mind telling you I was scared when theseexplosions kept popping off. I thought it was going to erupt and give usthe benefit."

  Irene, when they were back at the Villa Camellia, patched up hersquabble with Peachy, whom she had offended over the rosemary incident,and pressed the Vesuvius mascot upon her as a peace offering.

  "I didn't mean to grab your flowers," she assured her. "Really, honestInjun, I didn't."

  "Why, I'd forgotten all about it," declared her light-hearted chum. "Ididn't mind a bit after my 'first mad' cooled off. Sorry if I was abear. No, I won't take your lucky hunchback. _Must_ I? Well, you're adear! I'd adore to have it. I felt absolutely green when I saw you buyit. I'll hang him on a chain and wear him round my neck, and I expectI'll just be a whiz at tennis to-morrow. Oh, isn't he funny? Thanks_ever_ so! I shall keep him eternally as a memory of this ripping day upold Vesuvius."