Madam How and Lady Why; or, First lessons in earth lore for children . r a while. But still that is merely foolish specula-tion on chance. Volcanos can never be trusted. Noone knows when one will break out, or what it willdo; and those who live close to them—as the city ofNaples is close to Mount Vesuvius—must not beastonished if they are blown up or swallowed up, asthat great and beautiful city of Naples may be with-out a warning, any day. For what happened to that same Mount Vesuviusnearly 1800 years ago, in the old Eoman times?For ages and ages it had been lying quiet, like any 52 MADAM HOW
Madam How and Lady Why; or, First lessons in earth lore for children . r a while. But still that is merely foolish specula-tion on chance. Volcanos can never be trusted. Noone knows when one will break out, or what it willdo; and those who live close to them—as the city ofNaples is close to Mount Vesuvius—must not beastonished if they are blown up or swallowed up, asthat great and beautiful city of Naples may be with-out a warning, any day. For what happened to that same Mount Vesuviusnearly 1800 years ago, in the old Eoman times?For ages and ages it had been lying quiet, like any 52 MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY chap. other hill. Beautiful cities were built at its foot,iiUed with people. who were^ as handsome, and ascomfortable, and (I am afraid) as wicked, as peopleever were on earth. Fair gardens, vineyards, olive-yards, covered the mountain slopes. It was heldto be one of the Paradises of the world. As forthe mountains being a burning mountain, who everthought of that ? To be sure, on the top of it wasa great round crater, or cup, a mile or more and a few hundred yards deep. But that was allovergrown with bushes and wild vines, full of boarsand deer. What sign of iire was there in that ? Tobe sure, also, there was an ugly place below by thesea-shore, called the Phlegrsen fields, where smoke andbrimstone came out of the ground, and a lake calledAvernus, over which poisonous gases hung, and which(old stories told) was one of the mouths of the NetherPit. But what of that ? It had never harmed anyone, and how could it harm them ? Ill VOLCANOS 53 So they all lived on, merrily and happily enough,tni, in the year 79 (that was eight years, youknow, after the Emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem),there was stationed in the Bay of Naples a Eomanadmiral, called Pliny, who was also a very studiousand learned man, and author of a famous old bookon natural history. He was staying on shore withhis sister; and as he sat in his study she called himout to see a strange cl
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