, the bill paid; the gentlemen mounted, the
landlord bowed, and they bent their way, in the cool of the delightful
evening, towards Resina.

The wine, perhaps the excitement of his thoughts, animated Glyndon,
whose unequal spirits were, at times, high and brilliant as those of a
schoolboy released; and the laughter of the Northern tourists sounded
oft and merrily along the melancholy domains of buried cities.

Hesperus had lighted his lamp amidst the rosy skies as they arrived at
Resina. Here they quitted their horses, and took mules and a guide.
As the sky grew darker and more dark, the mountain fire burned with an
intense lustre. In various streaks and streamlets, the fountain of flame
rolled down the dark summit, and the Englishmen began to feel increase
upon them, as they ascended, that sensation of solemnity and awe which
makes the very atmosphere that surrounds the Giant of the Plains of the
Antique Hades.

It was night, when, leaving the mules, they ascended on foot,
accompanied by their guide, and a peasant who bore a rude torch. The
guide was a conversable, garrulous fellow, like most of his country
and his calling; and Mervale, who possessed a sociable temper, loved to
amuse or to instruct himself on every incidental occasion.

"Ah, Excellency," said the guide, "your countrymen have a strong passion
for the volcano. Long life to them, they bring us plenty of money! If
our fortunes depended on the Neapolitans, we should starve."

"True, they have no curiosity," said Mervale. "Do you remember, Glyndon,
the contempt with which that old count said to us, 'You will go to
Vesuvius, I suppose? I have never been; why should I go? You have cold,
you have hunger, you have fatigue, you have danger, and all for
nothing but to see fire, which looks just as well in a brazier as on a
mountain.' Ha! ha! the old fellow was right."

"But, Excellency," said the guide, "that is not all: some cavaliers
think to ascend the mountain without our help. I am sure they deserve to
tumble into the crater."

"They must be bold fellows to go alone; you don't often find such."

"Sometimes among the French, signor. But the other night--I never was
so frightened--I had been with an English party, and a lady had left a
pocket-book on the mountain, where she had been sketching. She offered
me a handsome sum to return for it, and bring it to her at Naples. So I
went in the evening. I found it, sure enough, and was about to return,
when I