Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-03

As tried to imagine that strange. awful las,
day. tried also to make quite real my httIt
| slender shadow with the blue black hair.
wanted to know what she had thought and felt
Poor little shadow with the innocent face smil-
ing under her light wreath Of flowers.
And there was no warning" kept think.
ing. And this b what my imaginations made
her tell me:
mo, there was no warning. At least there
was none We could understand and feel real
fear Of We were so sure of our vesuvius.
We had never doubted it. For some days be-
fore the weather was very hot-but it was often
hot. And there we're heavy, curious clouds
lowering about the mountain top-but though
we watched them and spoke to each other
about them VIC were not afraid. Clouds always
gathered there when there were storms. But
il was very hot and the air seemed SO close and
heavy. The morning Of that last day felt
languid when awoke and went into the per
istyle to see il il would be cooler. But IL
seemed even hotter there. Tho garlands were
dropping and the flowers hung their heads.
They looked 80 tired and thirsty that gave
them some water. And as went from one to
the other saw that the gold fish in the piscina
looked tired too. I went and looked at them.
They were SO still that at first was almost
afraid they might be dead. They scarcely
moved at all and seemed sometimes to gasp for
breath. While l was watching them some
thing few past me and alighted at my
feet. 1t came SO close that I could
scarcely believe IL was Q bird. But II
was one-a pretty little bird which seemed to
have fallen frightened and exhausted. Its
feathers were ruffied and it was painting for
breath and held its tiny beak open. 1t looked
at me with such timid bright eyes as il il
wanted me to be kind and protect it. / think
it must have flown from the mountain and felt
the first sitting yapors. But did not think
in my hand gently. It nestled down in my
palm as If it felt comforted little. smoothed
its feathers softly and gave it some water. II
drank, but it would not eat, and all the time il
looked at me with its timid bright eyes as if il
were asking me question. did not try to
keep 1t prisoner, but 1t would not leave me. II
seemed to like best to be in my hand. 1t was
with me to the last I think all the animals
were frightened and felt that something terri
BILE was near: My little dog was restless and
turned round and rornd on his bed as if he
we're afraid to lie down, and again and again he
lifted his head and gave long, doleful howls
The day got hotter and hotter. l tried to
sleep in the shade Of the colonnade and the
little bird nestled in the folds of my tunic on
my breast. But we neither Of US slept and it
kept ruffiing its feathers and opening its beak
as If to get the air.
'And the flowers dropped 80 that at last
thought would give them more water to drink.
gave them all some and went to look at the
gold fish again: was standing near them
when suddenly heard strange rumbling
were trembling, the fish were darting to and
fro, the water in their basin was agitated my
little dog ran covering to me and the bird hut-
tered wildly about my head. 1 knew what
earthquakes were and / guessed this was one
and turned to run to find my mother But in
a moment there were awful sounds on every
side There was the crash of falling halls and
roofs and pillars, and great darkness seemed to
come from the mOuntain--a blackness lighted
with deep burning red. looked up where
the strange cloud had been lowering. and there
was great tree Of fire flaming to the skies. Its
trunk was blackness, but its branches were
flame. Then an awful volume Of the blackness
rollec over US and seemed to swallow the city
up. ran screaming to my mothers rooms She
met me before reached them and caugh. my
hand In the darkness, and we ran through the
falling yestibulum into the street. 1t was filled
with shrieking, flying peoples on all sides
things were falling, the air was thick with stiff
ling vapors, and We we're smothered with heavy
showers OF hot ashes and scorched with burn
ling fragments of pumice stone. We could not
see and we could not breathe; could scarcely
cry out when house or q temple crumbled
near me, or a huge red-hot boulder came flying
from the awful mountain and fell ut my feet.
1--WE ran hither and thither il tho darkness,
not knowing where to go; we stumbled over
crushed and dead bodies, the ashes and rapilli
came thicker and thicker And in the midst of
it had a strange thought Of the beautiful per-
stulium, with the garlands and statues and
flowers and the gold fish in the little crystal
pool.
Il do not know how long we ran and strug-
gled over the ruins in our way. It could not
have been long, because the ashes came SO
thlckly and there was no air to breathe, but it
seemed as if we ran to and fro for hours. Then
there came more awful sounds from the noun
tain, more flames, more ashes, more stone and
was spouting forth with all the rest and mixed
with the ashes and molten stones IL fell upou