"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."