get
a stone and knock up some of the bricks, if I can, and see."

"No," said Mr. George; "that won't do."

"Yes, uncle George," said Rollo; "I want to see very much. And besides,
I want to get a piece of a brick with the letters on it, to carry home
as a specimen."

"A specimen of what?" asked Mr. George.

"A specimen of the Coliseum," said Rollo.

"No," said Mr. George; "I don't think that will do. They don't want to
have the Coliseum knocked to pieces, and carried off any more."

"Who don't?" asked Rollo.

"The government," said Mr. George; "the pope."

"But it's very hard," said Rollo, "if the popes, after plundering the
Coliseum themselves for hundreds of years, and carrying off all the
beautiful marbles, and columns, and statues, to build their palaces
with, can't let an American boy like me take away a little bit of a
brick to put into my museum for a specimen."

Mr. George laughed and walked on. Rollo, who never persisted in desiring
to do any thing which his uncle disapproved of, quietly followed him.

"Uncle George," said Rollo, "how do you suppose we can get up into the
upper part, among the tiers of seats?"

"I think there must be a staircase somewhere," said Mr. George. "We will
ramble about, and see if we do not find one."

So they walked on. They went sometimes along the margin of the arena,
and then at other times they turned in under immense openings in
masonry, and walked along the vaulted corridors, which were built in the
thickness of the walls. There were several of these corridors side by
side, each going entirely round the arena. They were surmounted by
stupendous arches, which were built to sustain the upper portions of the
building, which contained the seats for the spectators, and the passages
on the upper floors leading to them.

[Illustration: VIEW OF THE LOWER CORRIDOR.]

After rambling on through and among the corridors for some time, Mr.
George and Rollo, on emerging again into the arena, came to a wooden
gate at the foot of a broad flight of stone steps, which seemed to lead
up into the higher stories of the ruin.

"Ah!" exclaimed Rollo, as soon as he saw this gateway and the flight of
steps beyond it, "this is the gate that leads up to the upper tiers."

"Yes," replied Mr. George, "only it is shut and locked."

Rollo went to the gate and took hold of it, but found, as Mr. George had
said, that it was locked.

"But here comes the custodian," said Mr. George.

Rollo