安杰利上校的船离约翰叔叔住的旅店不远，他建议约翰带着三个孩子随他的船去索伦托，从那里观看火山效果更好。一行人又上路了……
Tom Horton called an hour later.He was in despair because his party had decided to leave Naples for Rome，and he feared Beth would be engulfeda by the volcano unless he was present to protect her.
"Mr.Merrick，"said the boy，earnestly，"you'll take goodcare of Miss De Graf，sir，won't you？We both live in Ohio，you know，and we've just got acquainted；and—and I'd like to see her again，some time，if she escapes."Uncle John's eyes twinkled，but he drew a long faceb."My dear Tom，"he said，"don't ask me to take care ofanyone—please don't！I brought these girls along to take care of me—three of 'em，sir—and they've got to do their duty.Don't you worry about the girls；just you worry about me."That was not much consolation for the poor fellow，but he could do nothing more than wring their hands—Beth's twice，by mistake—and wish them good luck before he hurried away to rejoin his family.
"I'm sorry to see him go，"said Beth，honestly."Tom is a nice boy.""Quite right，"agreed Uncle John."I hope we shall meetno worse fellows than Tom Horton."At noon they were served a modest luncheon in their rooms，for Signor Floriano，having sent his important papers to a place of safety，had resolved to stick to his hotel and do his dutyby any guests that chose to remain with him in defiance of a the existent conditions.He had succeeded in retaining a few servants who had more courage than those that had stampededb at the ？rst alarm，and while the hotel service for the next few days was very inadequate，no one was liable to suffer any great privation.
During the afternoon the gloom grew denser than before，while thicker than ever fell the rain of ashes.This was the worst day Naples experienced during the great eruption，and Uncle John and his nieces were content to keep their rooms and live in the glare of electric lights.Owing to their wise precautions to keep out the heavily laden air they breathed as little lava dust into their lungs as any people，perhaps，in the city；but to escape all was impossible.Their eyes and throats became more or less in？amedc by the ？oating atoms，and the girls declared they felt as if they were sealed up in a tomb.
"Well，my chickens，how do you like being abroad，andactually in Europe？"enquired Uncle John，cheerfully.
Beth and Patsy smiled at him，but Louise looked up from the Baedeker she was studying and replied：
"It's simply delightful，Uncle，and I'm glad we happened here during this splendid eruption of Vesuvius.Only—only—""Only what，my dear？""Only it is such hard work to keep clean，"answered hisdainty niece."Even the water is full of lava，and I'm sure my face looks like a chimney—sweep's.""And you，Beth？""I don't like it，Uncle.I'm sure I'd prefer Naples in sunshine，although this is an experience we can brag about when we get home.""That is the idea，exactly，"said Louise，"and the only thingthat reconciles me to the discomforts.Thousands see Naples in sunshine，but few can boast seeing Vesuvius in eruption.It will give us considerable prestige when we return home.""Ah，that is why I selected this time to bring you here，"declared Uncle John，with a comical wink."I ordered the eruption before I left home，and I must say they've been very prompt about it，and done the thing up brown.Eh，Patsy？""Right you are，Uncle.But you might tell 'em to turn off the eruption now，because we've had enough.""Don't like Eu—rope，eh？""Why，if I thought all Europe was surrounded by volcanoes，I'd go home at once，if I had to walk.But the geographies don't mention many of these spouters，so we may as well stick out our present experience and hope the rest of the continent will behave better.The Major'll be worried to death when he hears of this.""I've sent him a cable，"said Uncle John.
