The Argosy — page 336: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

322 In Sunny Clomes. of the younger Pliny, and his devotion to his mother, whom, at the risk of his own life, he refused to abandon. Yet who would not do likewise ? It must have been a very awful moment, when the sun was sud- denly clouded and darkness fell at midday. The mother of Pliny was stout and aged, and could only move slowly. To him this delay probably meant the difference between life and death. She begged him to leave her to her fate, but he would not. The ashes rained down and the lava flowed ; they were suffocated by fumes, almost overwhelmed by cinders ; but hand in hand the mother and son went through the streets of Pompeii ; and they form one of the most devoted and pathetic pictures in history. One loves to think of the virtues of the mother who could inspire such devotion in a son, and of the worth of the son who was found true in his hour of trial. The reward came also, for whilst so many were buried in that living tomb, mother and son escaped with their lives to the little ‘City of Refuge,” where they were saved and sheltered. To thoroughly appreciate the spirit and sentiment of Pompeii, one should remain in its neighbourhood and visit it every day for a week. There are lovely resting places round about, of which Castellamare is one of the best. At Pompeii itself there is no sufficiently good inn. From Castellamare, too, you can make many excursions, taking Sorrento, Capri, and Amalfi with its lovely monastery and matchless views. But these may all be abiding places, if you like to make them so. Sorrento, with its deep ravines and fertile plains, and mountain ex- cursions ; where waterfalls ‘‘each unto the other calls.” The birds sing in the trees, and the trees are laden with fruit and blossom, and a thousand perfumes are thrown upon the air. Here Tasso was born, and here he returned to his sister after his long captivity in Ferrara, disguised as a shepherd, in order that his sudden appearance might not startle her too greatly. But no disguise could hide him from the eyes that had lingered for him for so many years, and when she saw him she knew him ; and, like:Joseph of old when before Benjamin, she probably fell upon his neck and wept. One loves to gather together all these separate and rarely recorded evidences of human constancy and devotion: the “ faithfulness unto death ;” the love that would lay down its life for another; whether it be parental or filial, the love of man for woman, or the strong love of an eternal friendship, rarest of all, and all too rare, as Shelley declares, The journey from Sorrento to Capri is only two hours by boat in fair weather ; and it is one of the loveliest sails imaginable. It is doubtful whether, after all, any view quite comes up to the view from Capri, whence you gaze upon the wonderful panorama of Naples and its bay, Pompeii and Vesuvius, the shores of Sorrento and Castellamare, the chains of hills with their varied and graceful CORNICE LOOKS (GO) i