, mother," said Rosie; "and I wish you would go up too."

"No," replied Mrs. Gray; "I will go back to the Hermitage, and wait
there until you come down. But you may go up if you wish, and if Mr.
George is willing to take you."

Mr. George said that he should like to have Rosie go very much, and he
promised to take special care of her. So the new bearers lifted her up
upon their shoulders again, and the strapmen that Philippe had provided
came with their straps to Rollo and Josie. Mr. George took a cane which
one of the boys provided him with, and thus the party began the ascent
of the cone.

[Illustration: THE ASCENT.]

Rollo found, after a while, that he did not need the strapmen; so he let
Josie have them both. Josie put his staff through the loops of the
straps, and took hold of the ends of it, while the men walked before
him, and pulled him up the rocks.

Rollo kept ahead. He climbed faster than the rest of the train, but he
stopped now and then on some projecting mass of lava to wait for them to
come up. Next to Rollo came Josie, with the two strapmen pulling him up
by their straps. Then the refreshment man, with his basket of provisions
on his head. Last of all came the bearers of the portantina, with Rosie
in the chair. Mr. George followed immediately after. He kept close to
Rosie all the way, for he thought she would be afraid to be left alone
with such wild and rough-looking men.

Indeed, she doubtless would have been afraid, for the men were rough and
wild in their demeanor, as well as in their looks. They made a great
deal of noise, shouting and scolding all the way. Every now and then
they would stop to rest, and then they would clamor for _buono manos_,
sometimes begging for the money in very earnest and noisy, but suppliant
tones, and sometimes demanding it in a very loud and threatening manner.
Mr. George, however, paid no heed to these requests, but steadily
refused to give the men any money, saying simply that Philippe would
pay. At length the men, finding that Mr. George was cool and collected,
and that he did not seem to be at all intimidated by their violent and
boisterous demeanor, became quiet, and performed their duty in a more
steady and orderly manner.

The party went on climbing in this way for nearly an hour, and finally
reached the summit.

CHAPTER VII.

THE SUMMIT.

On coming out upon the brow of the mountain, Rollo saw at a short
distance before him an immense column of