Rollo and his party were admitted to the ruin through a gate, kept as usual by the custodian appointed by the government; and then they walked all over the ruin upon the raised stone path. They looked down through the water, and saw the marble floor of the temple below, and the columns rising up from it with their bases submerged. There is proof that at one time these ruins were fifteen or twenty feet lower than they are now, and that they have since come up again. The next earthquake may depress the whole coast again, in which case the floor of the temple will be once more deep under water; or it may raise it so as to bring the ruins all up once more, high and dry.
Rollo wished very much to take a boat, and go out and see the ruins that lie under water along the coast; but he knew very well that Mrs. Gray would not like to go out in a boat, nor to have Rosie go, at least unless Mr. George were with them, and so he did not propose the plan. He, however, only reserved it for the time when he should come again to see the ruins, in company with his uncle.
After concluding the visit to the Temple of Serapis, Rollo paid the boy whom he had taken for the guide when he first arrived at Pozzuoli, and then the party drove home.
Mrs. Gray insisted on paying the whole expense of this excursion; and she was so much pleased with Rollo's management of it, that she said she wished that he would plan another excursion as soon as possible.
Chapter XII.
The Orange Gardens.
The last excursion which Rollo made in the environs of Naples, was to a beautiful valley which was situated some miles to the south of the city, on the shores of the bay, which was full of groves of lemons and oranges. The place was called Sorrento. The town of Sorrento and its environs occupy a broad plain, which is elevated somewhat from the sea, and yet, being surrounded, on all sides towards the land, with ranges of very elevated land, it is really a valley. The reason why the oranges and lemons grow so well there is, partly because the soil is very rich, and partly because the valley opens towards the south, and is sheltered by the mountains towards the north, and this makes the climate of the spot very warm.
Rollo himself formed the plan of this excursion. One evening his uncle came home from the museum looking very tired. He laid his note book upon the table, threw himself down upon the sofa, and said,—