tiles of a very pretty pattern, where there was a door leading
out to a balcony. From this balcony there was a narrow iron stair which
led up on the outside of the house to the roof. Rollo led the way up
this stair, and Rosie followed him, though somewhat timidly. They landed
at length on a sort of platform among the chimneys, from which another
stair led up to another platform, higher still, where Josie was.

"There!" said Rollo, as soon as he reached the first platform, "don't
you think your mother would like to be here?"

Rosie looked around, and saw that a magnificent panorama presented
itself to her view.

"She would like to _be_ here very much, if she only dared to come," said
Rosie.

On looking towards the east, Rosie could survey the whole shore of the
bay in that direction, with the continuous line of towns and villages
along the margin of the water, and the immense green slopes of Vesuvius
rising beyond. Among the green fields and groves, far up these slopes,
white hamlets and villas were scattered, and above, the double summit of
Vesuvius was seen, with dense volumes of white smoke ascending from one
of the peaks. The children, too, could look from where they stood far
out over the bay, and see the ships and steamers in the offing, and
great numbers of small boats plying to and fro nearer the shore.

Rollo had an opera glass in his hand, which he used as a spy-glass. He
let Rosie look through this glass at the mountain, so that she might see
the smoke coming out more distinctly. With the glass, besides the
general column of vapor, she could discern several places, near the
summit, where small, separate puffs of smoke were issuing.

Farther down the mountain, Rollo directed her attention to a white
building, which was seen very distinctly in the rays of the setting
sun. This building, he said, must be the Hermitage.

"How do you know it is the Hermitage?" asked Rosie.

[Illustration: VIEW THROUGH THE GLASS.]

"I know by the situation of it," said Rollo. "Look through the glass and
you will see that it is the highest house on the mountain side. Besides,
it stands on the end of a ridge or spur, projecting from the mountain,
just as I know the Hermitage does, with a deep valley on each side of
it."

"I should have thought that they would have built it in one of the
valleys," said Rosie. "It would have been more sheltered then from the
wind."

"No," said Rollo. "That would not have been a good plan a