Among the Brigands Read online

  CHAPTER XIX.

  _Lofty classical enthusiasm of David, and painful Lack of feelingon the Part of Frank.--David, red hot with the Flow of the Past,is suddenly confronted with the Present.--The Present dashes ColdWater upon his glowing Enthusiasm.--The Gates.--Minor, Aeacus, andRhadamanthus.--The Culprits._

  As they thus rested on the seats of the Amphitheatre, the classicalenthusiasm of David rose superior to fatigue, and his enthusiasticfeelings burst forth without restraint, in a long and somewhatincoherent rhapsody about the fell of Pompeii. Full before them,as they sat, rose Vesuvius; and they saw that which helped them toreproduce the past more vividly, for even now the dense, dark cloudof the volcano was gathering, and the thick smoke-volumes wererolling forth from the crater. Far into the heavens the smoke cloudsarose, ascending in a dark pillar till they reached the upper strataof the atmosphere, where they unfolded themselves, and spread outafar--to the east, and the west, and the north, and the south. Somesuch appearance as this the mountain may have had, as it toweredgloomily before the Pompeians on that day of days. Some such sceneas this may have appeared, only deepened into terrors a thousandfold more gloomy, to the population of the doomed city, as theygathered here on these seats for the last time.

  Such were the ideas of David Clark; and these ideas he pouredforth in a long rhapsody, full of wild enthusiasm. At length,however, that enthusiasm flagged, and he was compelled to stopfor want of breath.

  "O, that's all very fine," said Frank, suddenly, as David stopped,and breaking the silence which had followed his eloquentoutburst,--"that's all very fine, of course. You have a habit,David, my son, of going into raptures over old bones and old stones,but after all, I'd just like to ask you one question."

  "What's that?" asked David, a little sharply.

  "Why, this. Has this place, after all, come up to your idea?" AndFrank looked at him with very anxious eyes.

  "This place?" said David. "What, Pompeii? Come up to my idea? Why,of course it has. What makes you ask such a question as that? Inever spent such a day in all my life."

  "Well, for my part," said Frank, in a very candid tone, "I'll behonest. I confess I'm disappointed."

  And saying this, Frank shook his head defiantly, and looked at allthe other boys, with the air of one who was ready and willing tomaintain his position.

  "Disappointed!" exclaimed David, in an indescribable tone, in whichreproach, astonishment, and disgust were all blended together.

  "Yes," said Frank, firmly, "disappointed--utterly, completely, andtee-totally. I'll tell you what my idea was. My idea was, that thestreets would be streets, in the first place. Well, they're not_streets_ at all. They're mere _lanes_. They're nothing more than_foot-paths_. Secondly, my idea was, that the houses would be_houses_. Well, they're not. They're old ruins; heaps of dust andbricks--"

  "Nonsense!" interrupted David, in indignant tones. "How could thehouses be standing after being buried for so many centuries? Youforget what a tremendous weight of ashes, and stones, and earth,lay upon their roofs. Houses! Why, did you expect to find couchesto lie on? or chairs--"

  "Well," said Frank, "my quarrel with Pompeii doesn't end here.For, you see, even if the houses were whole and uninjured,what would they be? Poor affairs enough. Just think how smallthey are. Rooms ten by twelve. Narrow passage-ways for halls,that'll scarcely allow two people to pass each other. Therooms are closets. The ceilings were all low. And then lookat the temples. I expected to find stone walls and marblecolumns. But what have I found? Nothing but shams--pillarsbuilt of bricks, and plastered over to resemble marble. Doyou call that the right style of thing? Why, at home we sneerat lath-and-plaster Gothic. Why should we admire lath-and-plasterGreek because it's in Pompeii? Then, again, look at the Forums--miserable little places that'll only hold about fifty people."

  "Pooh!" said David; "as if they didn't know what was large enough!"

  "I don't doubt that they knew it," said Frank. "But what I sayis, that if these were large enough for them, what a poor lot theymust have, been!"

  "After all," said David, "Pompeii was not a great city. It was onlya small city. You expect to find here the magnificence of Rome."

  "No, I don't. I merely expect to find something that'll carry outthe promise of those pictures that they make of scenes in Pompeii.Why, there isn't anything in the whole town, except, perhaps, thisplace, that looks large enough for an ordinary person to move aboutin. Look at the walls--miserable things twenty feet high. Look atthe streets--only wide enough for a single cart. Look at thesidewalks--only wide enough for a single man. The only thing inthe whole town that comes up to my idea is the Amphitheatre. Thisis respectable. It corresponds with the pictures, and the descriptionsof travellers. But as to all the rest, I have only to remark thatthey are, first, mean; secondly, small; and thirdly, in outrageouslybad taste."

  Frank ceased, and looked steadfastly at David.

  David looked at Frank, but his feelings were too strong for utterance.His indignation at this desecration of a place that was so hallowedin his eyes could not be expressed. He turned his face away insilent scorn, and fixed his gaze on Vesuvius.

  They waited a long time, and when at length they prepared to leavePompeii, it was late in the day. All the other visitors had leftlong before, and they were the last in the city. They walked alonglooking round them till the last, and at length reached the entrance.Michael Angelo went off to get the carriage. They waited a littlewhile to take a last look, and then passed through the gate. Herethey found themselves confronted by three officials, the custodiansof the place.

  One of these addressed them in very fair English.

  "Messieurs," said he, "before you leave, I haf to inquire--Deedyou take anyting out from Pompeii?"

  "Take anything?" said Uncle Moses, in an indignant voice. "Whatdo you mean?"

  "A tousand pardons, sare," said the other, politely. "It ees aformaletee. I mean de leetle stones, de pieces of steek, wood,plastair. Ha! De reliques, de souvenirs."

  He was rather an unpleasant looking man, with a very sallow face,high cheek-bones, and a heavy goatee on the tip of his chin, whichwagged up and down as he talked in quite a wonderful way.

  "Stones, sticks, plaster?" said Uncle Moses. "Course not."

  The official looked intently at him, and then at the boys. Afterthis he conversed with his companion in Italian. These companionswere quite as unprepossessing in their appearance as himself. Thenthe first speaker turned to the boys.

  "You, sare," said he to Frank, in rather an unpleasant tone, "hafyou de stones or de bones?"

  "Not a stone, not a bone," said Frank, smilingly. "I did take afew at first, but I pitched them away."

  "And you, sare?" said he to Bob.

  "Don't deal in such articles," said Bob, with a grin--"not in myline--not my style."

  "Pardon," said the official, with a sickly smile, "but I must putde usual interrogatoree. You, sare?" and he addressed himself toDavid.

  David turned pale.

  He hesitated for a moment.

  "Well," said he, "I believe I _have_ got a few little stones, justtwo or three, you know; little relics, you know."

  "Ah! ver good, ver nais," said the official, with the sunshine ofperfect content illuminating his sallow features. "And you, sare?"he continued, turning to Clive.

  "Well, yes," said Clive, "I've got a few, I believe; but they reallydon't amount to anything in particular."

  "O, no, not at all," said the Italian; "dey don't amount to notin;but look you, de govairement haf made de law dat no pairson willtake no stone, nor steek, nor relique, nor bone, nor souvenir, fromPompeii. You mus geef dem all oop."

  "Why? They're only two or three," pleaded David, in a heartbrokenvoice.

  "So, dat is eet. Look you. Eet ees de law. O, yais. I cannot help.Everybody will take two or tree. Very well. Ten tousand, twentytousand, hundred tousand come here every year, and all take awayhundred tousand pocket full. Ah, ha! See you? What den? Why, denall Pompeii be carried away. Aha! dat great
shame. Too bad, hey?ha? You ondstand. So you sall gif dem all oop into my hand."

  David and Clive remonstrated most vehemently, but the official wasobdurate. He pleaded the law. He insisted on the full restorationof everything.

  So the two lads began to disgorge, with the following result:--

  1 piece of brick from the Sidewalk. 1 bit of stone, Street. 1 stucco, Basilica. 1 do. Temple Venus. 1 do. Forum. 1 do. Temple Jupiter. 1 bit of stone, Public Bakery. 1 do. Sentry box. 1 do. Wall. 1 do. Gateway. 1 do. Street Tombs. 1 do. Villa Diomede. 1 do. do. 1 bone, Sepulchre. 1 do. do. 1 package dust, do. 1 do. Villa Sallust. 1 do. do. 1 pebble, Eating House. 1 do. House of Dioscuri. 1 bit of plaster, Pantheon. 1 do. Temple Mercury. 1 do. do. Isis. 1 brick, Tragic Theatre. 1 do. Comic Theatre. 1 stone, Amphitheatre. 1 do. do.

  The above is by no means a complete inventory of, the articlesproduced by Clive and David, but will serve to give an idea of thenature of that heap which was spread upon the table before thestern officials. One by one they were turned out from the well-filledpockets of David and Clive. Slowly and reluctantly, the two boysturned out those precious treasures. Sadly and mournfully they laidthem on the table, under the stern, the inflexible, the relentlessgaze of the three inexorable custodians, who, to David's mind,seemed the impersonations of Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. Yea,all these, and many more,--fragments from houses, bits of mosaicstone, little chips,--all were seized, and all were confiscated.Not a word was spoken. It was a sorrow too strong for words; andMinos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus stood, individually and collectively,inflexible and inexorable. The rueful countenances of the twoculprits excited the sympathy and pity of their companions; but itseemed a case where no help could avail them. Frank and Bob lookedupon the scene with a strong desire to interfere in some way, andUncle Moses looked quite as distressed as either David or Clive.Suddenly a new actor entered upon the scene.

  It was Michael Angelo.

  He came in with a quick step, started as he noticed the sadness onthe faces of his party, and then threw a rapid glance around. Oneglance was sufficient to show plainly enough what had happened. Hesaw the table covered with the stones and bones already described.He saw the heart-broken expression that was stamped upon the facesof David and Clive as they gazed upon their parting treasures. Hesaw the attitude and the expression of Uncle Moses, and Frank, andBob, as they watched their friends.

  That one glance not only explained all to Michael Angelo, butsuggested to him a course of conduct upon which he instantlyproceeded to act.

  He stepped up to the aide of Rhadamanthus, and accosting him inItalian; he spoke a few words in a low voice. What he said was, ofcourse, unintelligible to the boys. After these few words, MichaelAngelo then slipped something into the hand of the inexorable one.

  Then he turned to the despairing boys.

  "It's all right," said Michael Angelo, cheerily. "I haf explained.You may keep de tings."

  David and Clive looked up, and stared at Michael Angelo in wonder,not fully comprehending him.

  "It's all right," said Michael Angelo. "Dey onderstand. I hafexplained. You put dem back into your pocket. You sall keep detings. It's all right. Dey are yours now. It's all r-r-r-r-right.All r-r-r-r-right, I say."

  David and Clive still hesitated, and looked at Rhadamanthus.

  Rhadamanthus gazed benignantly at them, smiled a gracious smile,and waved his hands with the air of a judge dismissing a case.

  "All r-r-right," said Rhadamanthus; "he haf explained."

  This language was somewhat unintelligible. What there was to beexplained they could not imagine. If the law prohibited the carryingoff of relics from Pompeii, no amount of "explanation" could givethem a claim to their unlawful possessions. But neither David norClive was at all inclined to hesitate about the legality of theirpossessions, or to make any inquiries about the nature of theexplanation which had been made by Michael Angelo. It was joy enoughfor them to know that the difficulty was over, and that the relicswere theirs once more.

  So the pile of relics went back from that table into the pocketsof David and Clive with a rapidity that is inconceivable. Away fromtheir faces passed that heart-broken expression which had been uponthem; the shadows passed away from their brows, the sunshine ofjoy and exultation overspread them, and they looked at MichaelAngelo in silent gratitude.

  A few minutes more and they were-in the carriage.

  Then David asked Michael Angelo how it was that he had changed thestern resolve of the inexorable Rhadamanthus into such easy,gracious, and good-tempered indulgence.

  Michael Angelo laughed.

  "I gif him," said he, "just one half dollar. Dat was what he wantedall de time. Aftaire dees you know what to do. All r-r-right. Ha,ha, ha, ha, ha!"

  And Michael Angelo burst into a peal of laughter.

  Upon this Uncle Moses began to moralize about the corrupt moralsof the Italian race, and went on to speak of tyranny, priestcraft,slavery, aristocracy, monarchy, primogeniture, brigandage, and tenthousand other things.

  And the carriage rolled back to Naples.