"It is like looking at the entrance to the underworld," said Edith, as they looked down into the great chasm which holds so much mystery and terror; and she was glad to take the train back to the foot of the mountain.
As they stood looking at the great beds of lava which poured down the sides of the mountain many years ago, Edith exclaimed, "How can any one dare to live near the volcano?"
Rafael turned to a peasant whose little farm was not far away, and asked him if he ever felt free from danger.
"Ah, no!" the man answered, lifting sad eyes and hands to heaven. "When I go to sleep at night I think always, before the light of the morning, the mountain, he may send his fire and stones to crush us all; who knows?"
"Why did the people of Pompeii live so near to Vesuvius, if they knew it might bury them?" Edith asked impatiently.
"They did not know it in the days when Pompeii was built," Rafael told her. "Vesuvius was supposed to be an extinct volcano then. It had not said a word for hundreds of years. Everything about it was green and beautiful, and its slopes were covered with forests and vineyards. It is not strange that people built the two cities near its base."
"What other city was built, besides Pompeii?" asked the girl.
"Herculaneum," answered Rafael. "None of the people felt any fear of danger in the two cities, although an earthquake destroyed some of the buildings in the reign of Nero.
"But in the year 79 A. D., Vesuvius suddenly woke up, and there was a fearful eruption. Ashes and rocks were thrown out of the crater with great force, and hot lava poured down the side of the mountain. The two cities at the foot were completely buried under the ashes, and thousands of people were killed."
"There was an eruption in 1906, which made many people homeless," said Mrs. Sprague, "and no one knows when there may be another.