"It is welcome counsel," said he. "If I
only dared if I were but sure .... and yet,
is it not better to know the worst at once?"

"Far better," replied Saxon, drearily.

Lord Castletowers went over to the window,
and leaned out into the sunshine.

"Why should I not?" he mused, half aloud.
"If I fail, I shall be no poorer than I am now
—except in hope. Except in hope! But if I
succeed.... Ah! if I succeed!"

His face grew radiant at the thought.

"Yes, Trefalden," he exclaimed, "you are
right. Why set myself to overcome so many
obstacles if, when all is done, I am to find that
I have had my toil for nothing? I will ask her.
I will ask her this very day—this very hour, if
I can find her alone. It will be no breach of
hospitality to do so now. Thanks, my dear
fellow—thanks, a thousand times!"

Saxon shook his head.

"You have nothing to thank me for, Castletowers,"
he replied.

"For your counsel," said the Earl.

"Which may bring you sorrow, remember."

"Then for your friendship!"

"Well, yes—for my friendship. You have
that, if it is worth your thanks."

"Time will show what value I place upon
it," replied the Earl. "And now, for the
present, adieu. I know you wish me success."

With this, he grasped Saxon warmly by the
hand, and hurried from the room. When the
last echo of his foot had died away on stair and
corridor, the young man went over to the door,
locked it, and sat quietly down, alone with his
trouble.

And it was, in truth, no light or imaginary
trouble. He saw, clearly enough, that he must
accept one of two things—both equally bitter.
Either Olimpia Colonna had never loved him,
or he had supplanted his friend in her affections.
Which was it? His heart told him.

ETNA AWAKE.

TRAVELLING in Sicily not far from Catania,
and it being announced to us that lava was
issuing from Mount Etna, we started with two
guides to see the spectacle. Fortunately the
spot where the liquid rolled out was on the
verge of a piece of level ground, so that though
the quantity which came pouring out was very
great, its progress appeared to be slow; but in a
few hours it had spread so far, that, finding there
was no appearance of, a relaxation of the activity
of the mountain, the people who lived on its
sides in a line with the direction which the lava
was taking, were seized with the wildest terror.
This we found to increase as we ascended the
mountain, and was heightened by the statements
of the charcoal-burners and others who were
employed in the higher regions, and who had
been compelled to fly before the burning torrent.
It was a dreadful sight. The whole of that side
of the mountain where the lava was descending
seemed to be on fire; tremendous explosions
shook the ground, and in the villages we passed
through the people were all out of doors; some
crying and praying to the Virgin and saints of
various denominations for help in their affliction,
others blaspheming as if the vocabulary of oaths
among them were inexhaustible. To this uproar
was added the sharp clang of bells ringing from
the numerous churches and convents, under the
absurd impression that this noise would check
the progress of the eruption. Processions headed
by priests in their vestments, carrying images of
saints, on their way up the mountain, were
frequently seen. Yet the lava continued to descend
in obedience to that law which causes all fluids to
seek a level; for neither the saintly images nor
adjurations checked its progress. Still we were
told of some remarkable instances of the course
of a stream of lava having been changed by a
few trees. In one instance, some trees at the
entrance of a narrow gulley prevented the lava
from entering, and thus saved a large amount of
property which would otherwise have been
entirely at its mercy. It was not owing to the trees
being planted closely together, but is supposed
to be due to the repelling force of the vapour
which issued from them; where, however, trees
stood in such a position that the molten liquid
could reach them, it made short work of them;
it shrivelled the leaves, bit deeper and deeper
into the trunk, which its weight finally
overthrew, and what was once a flourishing orchard
of olive-trees could only be distinguished by
charred trunks.

Frequently during our ascent we met people
coming down with loads on their heads; others
not only carrying loads themselves, but bringing
down laden mules. As we ascended, the
grandeur of the spectacle increased; but to get a
full and comprehensive view of the eruption,
one ought to have been above it, or in a balloon,
the number of channels into which it was divided
rendering it impossible for a person on the side
of the mountain to see more than a portion of the
streams. According to those whose judgment
can be best relied on, the volume of lava vomited
forth during the first six days was at the rate of
eighteen thousand cubic feet per minute, and its
advance near the mouths at the rate of as many
feet in the same time. The further from the
orifice, the less the velocity; but of course this
depended principally on the slope of the ground.
In some places it moved downwards with alarming
rapidity; in others its progress was barely
perceptible. The width of the principal current
varied at one time from three hundred to five
hundred yards, and its depth was estimated at
fifteen yards. This enormous torrent of liquid
fire plunged down a precipice fifty feet in
depth in the form of a cataract, until it entirely
filled the basin into which it fell, and gradually
raised it to a level with the side of the mountain,
the surplus portion, which continued to
flow over it, running away down the bed of a
river. Fortunately lava solidifies with so much
rapidity on contact with the atmosphere, that
the further it proceeds from the place whence it
is erupted, the slower its progress becomes,