the blue and
sulphurous flashes which darted from the pitchy cloud. Soon the thick
rain of thin, light ashes, almost imperceptible to the touch, fell
upon the land. Then quickly succeeded shower of small pumice stones
and heavier ashes, and emitting stifling eruptic fumes. After a time
the sounds of approaching torrent were heard, and soon streaming
rivers of dense black mud poured slowly but irresistibly down the
mountain sides, and circled through the streets, insidiously creeping
into such recesses as even the subtle ashes had failed to penetrate.
There was now no place of shelter left. No man could defend himself
against this double enemy. It was too late for flight for such as had
remained behind. Those who had taken refuge in the innermost parts of
the houses, or in the subterranean passages, were closed up forever.
Those who sought to flee through the streets were clogged by the
small, loose pumice stones, which lay many feet deep, or were
entangled and overwhelmed in the mud-streams, or were struck down by
the rocks which fell from the heavens. If they escaped these dangers,
blinded by the drifting ashes and groping in the dark, not knowing
which way to go, they were overcome by the sulphurous vapors, and
sinking on the highway were soon buried beneath the volcanic matter.
Even many who had gained the open country, at the beginning of the
eruption, were overtaken by the darkness and falling cinders, and
perished miserably in the field or on the sea-shore, where they had
vainly sought the means of flight.

In three days the doomed city had disappeared. It lay buried beneath a
vast mass of ashes, pumice stone and hardened mud, from twenty to
seventy feet deep. Those of its terror-stricken inhabitants who
escaped destruction, abandoned forever its desolate site. Years,
generations, centuries went by, and the existence of Pompeii--yea,
even its very name--had ceased to be remembered. The rich volcanic
soil became covered with a profusion of vegetation. Vineyards
flourished and houses were built on the site of the buried city.

Nearly eighteen hundred years had elapsed since the thunderer Vesuvius
had thrown the black mantle of ashes over the fair city before the
resuscitation arrived. Some antique bronzes and utensils, discovered
by a peasant, excited universal attention. Excavations were begun,
and Pompeii, shaking off as it were her musty grave clothes, stared
from the classic and poetical age of the first into