"Is there good footing," asked Mr. George, "or are the rocks loose, or slippery?"
"It is very good footing," said Philippe. "In one sense the rocks are loose, for the whole side of the mountain where we go up is formed of slag and scoriae. But then the pieces are wedged together, so as not to move much, and the foot clings to them, so that you don"t slip. On the whole, it is good footing. The only difficulty is, it is so steep. It is a thousand feet up rough rocks, as steep as you can go."
"_I_ could not get up, I am sure," said Mrs. Gray.
"Nor I," said Rosie.
"O, you can be carried up," said Mr. George, "in a portantina."
"What kind of a thing is it?" asked Mrs. Gray.
"It is a common arm chair," said Philippe, "with two stout poles lashed to the sides of it. Two men take hold of the ends of the poles before, and two others behind, and they lift the poles,--chair, pa.s.senger, and all,--up upon their shoulders. They carry you, in this way, right up the mountain."
"I should be afraid," said Rosie.
"You would feel a little afraid at first," said Philippe, "when the men were lifting you up upon their shoulders--but afterwards, you would not be afraid at all. You ride as easy as if two persons were to take you in a chair and carry you about the room."
"But I should pity the poor men so much," said Rosie, "in having such a heavy load to carry!"
"Ah!" said Philippe, "instead of pitying them, you ought to rejoice for them. They are so glad when they get any body to carry up! They are paid about three quarters of a dollar apiece, and that is a great deal of money for them. There will be a great many of them up there to-morrow, waiting, and hoping that somebody will come for them to carry up."
"Ah, that makes it different," said Rosie.
"Besides," said Josie, "_you_ are nothing to carry, you are so little and light. Rollo and I could carry you. I suppose that they would carry Rosie for half price--would not they, Philippe?"
Rosie looked a little troubled to hear her brother speak of her in this way. She did not like to be called little and light. Philippe saw that she was troubled.
"No," said he; "they will ask the same for carrying Miss Rosie that they would for any other lady."
This answer removed in an instant the cloud which had appeared upon Rosie"s face, and replaced it with a smile which had something of the expression of triumph in it. In fact, Philippe shaped his answer as he did on purpose to please her. It was strange that a guide, whose life had been spent among the roughest of men, on the mountains, should know better how to be polite than a boy who had been brought up tenderly in the midst of refinement and elegance; but so it often is.
"How long does it take to go up the steep part?" asked Mrs. Gray.
"About an hour," said Philippe. "They stop two or three times on the way, to rest the bearers, and change them."
"Then they change the bearers," said Mrs. Gray.
"Yes, madam," replied Philippe. "We take eight bearers to each chair, and four of them carry it at a time; so we have two sets."
"I"m glad of that," said Rosie.
"And what do we see when we get to the top?" asked Mrs. Gray.
"We walk along over the sand and lava," replied Philippe, "until we come to the edge of the crater, and then we look down."
"And do we see the fire coming out?" asked Rollo.
"Yes," said Philippe, "plenty of fire."
"And lava, and red-hot stones?" asked Josie.
"Yes," said Philippe, "all the time."
"I hope you don"t go too near," said Mrs. Gray.
"No, madam," said Philippe; "we are careful not to go too near. There is a mountain guide who goes up with the party from the Hermitage, and it is his business to know all the time what the state of the mountain is, and where it is safe to go. There are two craters now. One of them they cannot go down into, for the sides have caved in all around, and formed perpendicular cliffs. But at the other crater there is on one side a slope of sand and slag, where people can go down, and walk over the lava on the floor of the crater."
"Why, I should think they would sink into it," said Rosie.
"No," said Philippe; "the lava that lies spread out over the bottom of the crater has cooled so as to be hard enough to walk upon, though you can see that it is red hot in the cracks."
"I should not dare to walk over it," said Rosie.
"Ladies go down very often," said Philippe, "and there is no danger, only the sulphurous smoke, if it happens to blow over upon you, is bad to breathe."
After some further conversation with Philippe, and some consultation with each other, the party formed the plan as follows: They were all to go together in a carriage to the Hermitage. Then Philippe was to provide chairs and bearers for Mrs. Gray and Rosie, to take them to the foot of the cone, and animals, either mules or donkeys, for "the three gentlemen," as Philippe called them. On arriving at the foot of the cone, Mrs. Gray was to decide whether she would let Rosie continue and go to the top. For herself, she concluded that she would not go, but after seeing the party commence their ascent, she would go back to the Hermitage, and wait there till they returned.
"And now, Philippe," said Mr. George, "I wish you to calculate exactly what the expense will be for the whole expedition, including carriage hire, guides, bearers, mules, _buono manos_, and every thing. Then I will give you money enough, before we set out, to pay the whole. I don"t wish to have any thing to do in the way of paying, from the time we leave the hotel until we get back again."
"Yes, sir," said Philippe; "that is the best way. If you undertake to pay the men on the mountain yourself, they will never be satisfied. They clamor continually for more, as long as the party will give any thing. I know just what is their due."
So Philippe drew his chair up to the table where Mr. George had placed a sheet of paper and a pen and ink, and began to make out his account.
After writing a few minutes, he looked up from his work, and asked if the gentlemen wished to have any a.s.sistance in going up the cone. "What a.s.sistance _can_ we have?" asked Mr. George.
"There are men who put straps over their shoulders to pull by, and let you take hold of the end of them. It helps you a great deal."
"Yes, uncle George," said Rollo, "let us have them. I should like to be pulled up in that way."
"So should I," said Josie.
"You boys may have strapmen, then," said Mr. George. "I think I can get along without one myself."
Philippe then asked if the party would stop on the way and go down into Herculaneum. Mr. George said that they would. Philippe then went on with his calculation, and when it was finished he presented it to Mr. George.
Mr. George wrote a heading to it, and then read it as follows, except that I give the amounts in American money:--
ASCENT OF VESUVIUS.
_Estimate of Expenses_--_Party of Five._
Carriage to the Hermitage, $5.00 Fees at Herculaneum, .25 Portantina to the foot of the cone for madame, 2.00 Portantina to the summit for mademoiselle, 6.00 Two mules for the young gentlemen, 2.00 Two strapmen up the cone, 1.00 Refreshments, .50 Mountain guide, 1.00 Buono manos, 1.00 Valet de place, 1.00 ______ $19.75
"Very well," said Mr. George. "That is satisfactory. Now I will give you gold enough to cover that amount. You must get it changed into such a form as you want it, and you must not call upon me or any of the party for any money whatever, from the time that we set out till we get back again to the hotel."
"Very well, sir," said Philippe; "that is much the best way. The men will gather around you from time to time on the way, and clamor for _buono manos_, but you must not pay any attention to them; say simply, "Philippe will pay.""
"And now," said Mr. George, "it is all arranged except the time for setting out. What is the best time?"
"We ought to set out at eight or nine o"clock," said Philippe. "It takes about ten hours."