Part 12 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Darn it!--Don't.]

”Follow!”

This was all that he condescended to say, after lighting his torches and distributing them to his visitors. He stalked off, and stooping down, darted into the low pa.s.sage-way. The cicerone followed, then b.u.t.tons, then d.i.c.k, then the Senator, then the Doctor, then Mr. Figgs.

The air was intensely hot, and the pa.s.sage-way grew lower. Moreover, the smoke from the torches filled the air, blinding and choking them.

Mr. Figgs faltered. Fat, and not by any means nimble, he came to a pause about twenty feet from the entrance, and, making a sudden turn, darted out. The Doctor was tall and unaccustomed to bend his perpendicular form. Half choked and panting heavily he too gave up, and turning about rushed out after Mr. Figgs.

The other three went on bravely. b.u.t.tons and d.i.c.k, because they had long since made up their minds to see every thing that presented itself, and the Senator, because when he started on an enterprise he was incapable of turning back.

After a time the pa.s.sage went sloping steeply down. At the bottom of the declivity was a pond of water bubbling and steaming. Down this they ran. Now the stone was extremely slippery, and the subterranean chamber was but faintly illuminated by the torches. And so it came to pa.s.s that, as the Senator ran down after the others, they had barely reached the bottom when

_Thump_!

At once all turned round with a start.

Not too quickly; for there lay the Senator, on his back, sliding, in an oblique direction, straight toward the pool. His booted feet were already in the seething waves; his nails were dug into the slippery soil; he was shouting for help.

To grasp his hand, his collar, his leg--to jerk him away and place him upright, was the work of a shorter time than is taken to tell it.

The guide now wanted them to wait till he boiled an egg. The Senator remonstrated, stating that he had already nearly boiled a leg. The Senator's opposition overpowered the wishes of the others, and the party proceeded to return. Pale, grimy with soot, panting, covered with huge drops of perspiration, they burst into the chamber where the others were waiting--first b.u.t.tons, then d.i.c.k, then the Senator covered with mud and slime.

The latter gentleman did not answer much to the eager inquiries of his friends, but maintained a solemn silence. The two former loudly and volubly descanted on the acc.u.mulated horrors of the subterranean way, the narrow pa.s.sage, the sulphurous air, the lake of boiling floods.

In this outer chamber their attention was directed to a number of ancient relics. These are offered for sale in such abundance that they may be considered stable articles of commerce in this country.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Thump!]

So skillful are the manufacturers that they can produce unlimited supplies of the following articles, and many others too numerous to mention:

c.u.maean and Oscan coins; Ditto and ditto statuettes; Ditto and ditto rings; Ditto and ditto bracelets; Ditto and ditto images; Ditto and ditto toilet articles; Ditto and ditto vases; Ditto and ditto flasks; Relics of Parthenope; Ditto of Baiae; Ditto of Misenum; Ditto of Paestum; Ditto of Herculaneum; Ditto of Pompeii; Ditto of Capraea; Ditto of Capua; Ditto of c.u.mae--

And other places too numerous to mention; all supplied to order; all of which are eaten by rust, and warranted to be covered by the canker and the mould of antiquity.

The good guide earnestly pressed some interesting relics upon their attention, but without marked success. And now, as the hour of dinner approached, they made the best of their way to a neighboring inn, which commanded a fine view of the bay. Emerging from the chamber the guide followed them, offering his wares.

”Tell me,” he cried, in a sonorous voice, ”oh most n.o.ble Americans!

how much will you give for this most ancient vase?”

”Un' mezzo carlino,” said d.i.c.k,

”Un' mezzo carlino!!!”

The man's hand, which had been uplifted to display the vase, fell downward as he said this. His tall figure grew less and less distinct as they went further away; but long after he was out of sight the phantom of his reproachful face haunted their minds.