; it is certain at least the shore was considerably
enlarged, and several sea animals were left upon it. On the other side a
black and dreadful cloud, broken with rapid, zigzag flashes, revealed
behind it variously shaped masses of flame; these last were like sheet
lightning, but much larger.

Upon this our Spanish friend, whom I mentioned above, addressed himself to
my mother and me with great energy and urgency. "If your brother," he
said, "if your uncle be safe, he certainly wishes you may be so, too; but
if he perished it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both survive
him; why, therefore, do you delay your escape a moment?" We could never
think of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his.

Upon this our friend left us and withdrew from the danger with the utmost
precipitation. Soon afterward the cloud began to descend and cover the
sea. It had already surrounded and concealed the island of Capri and the
promontory of Misenum.

My mother now besought, urged, even commanded me to make my escape at any
rate, which, as I was young, I might easily do; as for herself, she said,
her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that sort impossible;
however, she would willingly meet death if she could have the satisfaction
of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. But I absolutely refused
to leave her, and, taking her by the hand, compelled her to go with me.
She complied with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to
herself for retarding my flight.

The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I looked
back; a dense, dark mist seemed to be following us, spreading itself over
the country like a cloud. "Let us turn out of the highroad," I said,
"while we can still see, for fear that, should we fall in the road, we
should be pressed to death in the dark by the crowds that are following
us."

We had scarcely sat down when night came upon us, not such as we have when
the sky is cloudy, or when there is no moon, but that of a room when it is
shut up and all the lights put out.

The Terror of the People.

You might hear the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the
shouts of men; some calling for their children, others for their parents,
others for their husbands, and seeking to recognize each other by the
voices that replied; one lamenting his own fate, another that of his
family; some wishing to die, from the very fear of dying; some lifting
their h