MABSH 17 
S 
TAKING THE END OF THE SEAT. 
'Twas a morning clear, in the new-born year, 
When the frost was bolding revel; 
The church hells’ call, from the belfries tall. 
Pealed forth o'er the town so level. 
Then the people, drest. in their extra best. 
Went to church on this Sabbath morning 
With thoughts fully bent on pious content, 
And the Spirits’ meek adorning. 
The church doors wide, for the coming tide. 
Said plainly aa words could say, 
" You're welcome all, who hear this call. 
Come worship in here to-day." 
The coming throng, as they press along, 
Feel the Joy of the sacred place, 
Till down the aisle thpy walk ere while 
And search with wistful face— 
And search again ’mid the selfMi train 
Who have taken the. end of euch seat; 
“ Just one in a pow, no room lor you, 
Unless you vault over our feet." 
Will you leave the church, he left in the lurch. 
Or try the gauntlet of thorns; 
Tread over the feet. t.o get In the seal 
And crush their numberless corns? 
If you are (dim, your sails in trim, 
Your success may be complete; 
But if you are large. *tls a desperate charge. 
The attempt to get Into the seat 
’Tis a terrible plight to be fastened tight, 
Your sleeves in some one’s bonnet; 
But one more lunge, one vaulting plunge, 
At last you’ve surely done it. 
One good you get of this needless fret— 
And you know revenge is sweet— 
You've battered the nose and crushed the toes 
Of tho one in the end of the. seat. 
But should thero come a more timid one ** 
Who shrinks such notice to meet. 
Or a stranger attend, then heaven defend 
From the one Inrthe end of the seat. 
O what is the reason that every season 
These folks with stupor replete. 
Will compel such search for a seat in church 
While they sit In t he end of the seat '! 
[Aftvi. J. if'. 1{. in HVstrni Recorder. 
®k Stoni-Crllfr. 
THE GULF OF FIRE. 
“You are wrong, captain, wrong l Old women 
yonder,” and as the crone spoke, casting out her 
wrinkled forefinger in token of disdain, towards 
the lowland country at the busc of tlip great spurs 
of Etna, she looked weird and wild enough, w ith 
her ragged gray hair and fiery eyes, for the Sibyl 
of Cuma; “old women yonder, 1 say, may not be 
worth listening to. But I was cradled up here In 
the very lap or fire.” 
“Well, well, mother 1” I answered, soothingly, 
“ 1 am far from doubting your skill. In the three 
months of my stay T have learned something of 
the uncertain humors of the burning mountain 
and, trust tile. I'll not venture too far from the 
safe track." 
" Ah, Inglese! You are Just like the rest of the 
young men,” said old Assunta, with somewhat of 
a rude pity In her tone; " won't be warned ! Had 
I not three bold sons': Two were Coral-Ushers, 
one followed Garibaldi to Naples and Gaeta. He, 
at anj r rate, is laid In dry earth, as a Christian 
should he—not like Beppo ttnJl Tott.l. Have a care 
lest your grave be not a hot one! ” And with a 
nod of her head and a wave of her hand she was 
gone. 
The old woman’s words made an Impression on 
me which I vainly tried to shake off. Let me ex¬ 
plain how matters stood, In the Unit place, It 
was only under the pressure of misfortune that I, 
Oeorge Clements, lately second omr<?r of a first- 
rate clipper ship, had become a sub-inspector, or 
more correctly, an acting sub Inspector, lu the 
Royal Sulphur Works on Mount Etna. My 111-lUCk 
had brought me there. In an evil hour I had been 
talked Into Investing my saving,s-some two hun¬ 
dred pounds—In becoming part owner of a Malt¬ 
ese coasting vessel, on board or which I was mate, 
the skipper being a Maltese named Antonia, a 
worthy old reuow in ms way, hut obstinate as a 
mule and niggardly to a degree. 
So long as we met with average weather our 
voyages were prosperous and we netted dollars. 
But a three days' storm—a rartty In the Mediter¬ 
ranean-sent us staggering, dismasted, leaky and 
with a frightened crew, under the cliffs of Sicily, 
I was the one Englishman on board, and It was 
only by the utmost exertions that I could force 
the ollve-sklnned Southerners to leave off telling 
their heads and Invoking the saints, and keep the 
pumps going, As it was, the schooner laid her 
bones on the beach near Catania, and though no 
lives were lost, the wreck of property was com¬ 
plete. The skipper had relations In Malta who 
would take him in: but I, the English mate, who 
now owned nothing but the sailor's suit I came 
ashore In, might have starved had not the British 
Vice-Consul kindly recommended me for the petty 
post I now filled and which insured me a bare 
subsistence and no more. 
These sulphur mines, whence comes by far the 
greater proportion of the raw sulphur of com¬ 
merce, have always been a Governmant. monopo- ! 
ly, like the salt works or the tobacco factories. 
Indeed, I had heard that King Bomba, at a erlti- I 
eal point of the Crimean war, had thoughts or 
prohibiting the export ol the -Sicilian sulphur, 
without which the powder mills of England could 
not furnish ammunition, and the present rulers 
of the island could not neglect such a source or ! 
revenue. The collection of the sulphur naturally 
deposited by the volcanic forces, ever restless be¬ 
neath the soil, docs not require much skill; hut 
the occupation Is a toilsome and unhealthy one, 
poorly remunerated, and not, always exempt from 
peril. 
Sulphur gatlievers are not, as a rule, native Sic¬ 
ilians. The majority were, at the time of mysub- 
inspectorsUlp, Immigrants from the mainland, 
whose antecedents It was, perhaps, quite as well 
not to pry into. A tlerce-looklng set ot sallow, 
ragged rumans they were, with unkempt Imlr 
and beards and haggard faces Innocent, of the 
touch of soap and water, always gambling, now 
with a pack of greasy cards; now, in Neapolitan 
fashion, with dirty Angers uplifted, and quarrel- 
of some ancient, lava stream long cold. Here were 
many small apertures, whence a rose Jots of steam 
and puffs of smoke, and around which hissed and 
simmered a crust of sulphur, heaving, crackling 
and glowing, of every color from pule yellow to 
ruby red. From these soltataras, as they were 
locally called, we gleaned the chief porttou ot tho 
mineral tor ihc sake of which wo passed our time 
m such elevated regions. 
Now It was only for some tour or live days that 
the old charcoal-burner’s widow had taken to lit¬ 
tering her half-mystic predictions or coming evil, 
and during that space I had myself observed 
signs or a greater activity than usual In the vol¬ 
cano. The smoke was blacker and more frequent. 
Hissing columns ol steam rose often Into the air, 
FIRST LESSON IN MUSIC.-A PICTURE THAT NEEDS NO EXPLANATION. 
ing as savagely over infinitesimal stakes as though 
a fortune had been In Jeopardy. As for old As¬ 
sunta) she was the widow ot a charcoal-burner, 
and still, with tho help of her grand-children, 
managed to sell a few ass-loads of fuel In the city 
below. The family, however, bore an Ill-repute 
for poaching, pilfering and, I believe, sorcery, 
and I am afraid that Assunta herself encouraged 
this last report as a source of profit- Her regard 
for me was merely duo to the fact that I had pre¬ 
vented some of our rough workmen, who Insisted 
that ahe was a witch and had the evil eye, from 
flinging her, body and bones, into the wintry tor¬ 
rent. that, rushed roaring past our Huts: and over 
since that day she had been patronizingly polite 
to “II Capltan,” as she called me. 
Mine was not, as sub-inspector, a very desirable 
position. The inspector, save on pay-day. did not 
often show himself, and when he did visit tho 
scene of his nominal duties, would have been 
powerless to enforce aqy sort ol discipline among 
our black sheep but for me. By the combined 
effects of coaxing, good-humored banter, ami (lie 
occasional argument of a knock-down blow. I had 
contrived to establish some ascendancy over the 
wild spirits around me and was rather popular 
than otherwise, although at first my orders had 
been met with scowling glances and fingering of 
knives. The work to be done was none of the 
pleasantest. The crude sulphur, seldom quite 
cold, and often glowing hot, had to bo raked with 
hoes and iron hooks from the brink of some ot the 
numerous small craters on the, crest of the vol- 
eauo. In the midst of poisonous lumes and eddy¬ 
ing clouds of smoke, showers or red-hot ashes, and 
even of stones. 
It was uecessary to convey the sulphur, when a 
sufficient quantity had been gathered, to the 
plains, along tracks only fit for the goat or the 
hill-fox, by the aid ot rude hand-barrows or 
sledges constructed of boughs, through dense for¬ 
ests and over broken and Jagged rocks. 
Our huts were mere booths, hastily built of logs 
and branches, and Ul-fltted to keep out the rough 
weather, the snow, hall and wind, which lash the 
bleak hlghts ot Etna when the lower country 
soems still to bask in Its golden sunshine. The 
pay of t he workmen wa.-> small; enough to pro¬ 
vide them with the black bread, garlic and chest¬ 
nuts, with perhaps a Sunday repast or stock-fish 
or eels, on which the poor of the fur .South con¬ 
trive to exist- Frugal as were their meals, how¬ 
ever, coarse wlue and coarser spirits were some¬ 
how afforded by them; and, as I lmve said, of 
gambling for" grard,” or perhaps for a pannikin 
of fiery “aguardiente,' there was no stmt. 
I hud been made somewhat uncomfortable by 
the half-enigmatical words of AssimUv's warning. 
The part of the mountain on which we were en¬ 
camped was clothed with thick forestaof chestnut 
and live oak, with here and there a barren track 
of scorhe, spanned iu places by what might have 
been mistaken for a snlld causeway, the remains 
and w ere not seldom followed by a volley of red- 
hot stones. The earth was in many places so 
warm as to cause pain to the Hand that touched 
It, and In two Instances the brushwood near our 
camp caught fire from the falling of heated ashes 
amid the parched grass, and the fire was with 
difficulty extinguished. 
Without reposing unlimited faith In Assupta’s 
•'makings, I was still or opinion that we should do 
better to remove our temporary dwellings before 
tho mountain plateau grow literally too hot to 
hold us, and accordingly 1 only awaited tho In¬ 
spector’s arrival with the monthly pay to mention 
to tuy superior officer the condition pf affairs and 
to obtain his permission for a change of quarters. 
Pay-day arrived and with It, t he Inspettoro, but 
i not alone. With him came a party or travelers, 
most Of whom rode mules, while iheir guides, 
porters, servants, and interpreter made up quite 
an imposing cortege. None but the wealthy cm* 
afford to bring with them much paraphernalia, 
and I could easily believe the Inspector that the 
new-comers were, as he Bftld, “IUustrlssJmi Hi¬ 
gh l," who hod been especially recommended to 
Ills good offices by the Governor or the Province. 
There were several 1 ail lea of the party, which 
consisted, as I afterwards learned, of more than 
one family, and 1 think It. was the sight ot their 
plumed hats and fluttering dross and the sound of 
their merry laughter, that made me hang hack 
and keep aloof, ashamed of my rough garb and 
weather-beaten aspect, while my chief, nothing 
loath, did the honors of the sulphur mine, about 
which he practically knew so little, descanting 
glibly to his fair listeners on the marvels of the 
place and smirking as they grew enthusiastic con¬ 
cerning the lovely tints of the glowing sqlphur. 
The weather was of the finest, the spring sky 
was of the purest blue, and the balmy air seemed 
to caress the cheek it fanned. I overheard one of 
the English ladles say to another that Ihe climate 
seemed perfection. I wondered how she would 
have enjoyed the whistling wind and rattling hall 
of t he storms ! 
Then came the dinner—a sort ot plo-nlc on a 
splendid scale, /or the cooks from the Hotel Reale 
at Catania, had been busy In their Improvised 
kitchen, and the hampers had been unpacked and 
fare viands and good wine were handed round in 
lavish profusion. Even our tatterdemalion sul¬ 
phur-workers were not forgotten, and the poor 
fellows got choicer food and daintier liquor from 
the superfluity of the banquot, than had ever 
gladdened their palates. 
1—perhaps from a sentiment of false pride—had 
held myself aloof and had declined a good-natured 
invitation on the part of the traveling “excellen¬ 
cies" to be a partaker of the banquet,. But, I 
scarcely know why, I hovered around tho blithe 
party aDd, myself unseen, gazed upon them irom 
amidst the. evergreen oaks and matted brushwood. 
There were present two or three j-oung ladles I 
who were pretty and attractive; but the face that ! 
riveted my attention was that of a Utile child—a 
girl sir or seven years old, with loose curls ot pale 
gold and a complexion of delicate pink and white 
—merely a plump, little smiling baby-face, but so 
very, very like a little sister of my own, long since 
laid to rest, beneath tho daisied turf, that I felt It 
halt painful to look at, her. 
“Hist, Captain!—how I’ve run! Well, I’ve 
found you,” said a husky voice In the Sicilian pa~ 
tolse, as a hand plucked at my sleeve. 
I turned, and saw beside mo a ragged Imp of a 
girl of some twelve or thirteen years, with bare 
feet and uncombed black hair, like the mane of a 
horse, whom 1 knew to be agrauddaughter of the 
reputed witch, Assunta, and who seemed to own 
no Christian name, since she was always spoken 
of as the “Gazza." 
“Tho grandmother sent me. How I’ve run!” 
and the quick panting of her young lungs con¬ 
firmed this; “make tho best of your way to Ca¬ 
tania before It catches you.” 
'• Before what catches me ?" asked 1, astonished. 
" The guir—the gulf of fire!” returned the girl, 
impatiently. “ She wishes you naught but good, 
i signor, so she sent me; but don'Hull those hounds 
I with the beads of swineand she shook her fist, 
with a stealthy hate, at a carousing group of our 
sulphur-seekers; nfid then before 1 could demand 
a« explanation, was gone. 
What did this portend 
I turned my eyes toward the barren track that 
lay. cinder-strewn, beyond tho greenery of the 
forest,, and something like a fiery soi pent come 
slowly crawling along the ground, In an irregular 
course, tho black and gray ash-heaps reddening 
as It advanced. 
slow arid silent, on It crept, and presently I saw 
the dry nios3 and a* nd leaves on the outskirts of 
tho wood suddenly take Tire, as though the fliun- 
iug breath or tho giant, serpent had kindled them. 
An 1 then I felt that the mischief was Indeed at 
hand, and uplifted my voice to the utmost to give 
tho alarm. 
A mightier voice than mine drowned my feeble 
accents. There was a roar aa If a thousand can¬ 
non had been fired at onco, and then there soared 
up to I,lie sky a cloud of red-hot ashes, falling In 
a fiery rain on lawn and wood, while moss, grass 
and brush, and even entire trees, began t,o blaze 
and crackle. Nor was this all; for the treacher¬ 
ous crust,ortho volcanic mountain heaved and 
cracked, opening out Into flaming fissures which, 
In the form of a circle rudely traced, seemed 
threatening to surround us. 
An indescribable period ot panic ensued. The 
gay pic nlc party broke up and Its members, mix¬ 
ed pell-mell with the terrified sulphur-workers, 
hurried lieadlong down the hillside, some on 
mules but most on foot, abandoning the late scene 
or restlvlty and absorbed In the one impulse of 
self-preservation. It. was to no purpose that. I 
endeavored to preserve something like dlselpllne 
among our own men. Fear wa« too strong for my 
efforts to be availing, and Inspector and visitors, 
guides, servants and miners, seemed to contend 
In the frantic race for safety. 
“The gulf the gulf or lire!” such were the 
words that repeatedly reached me as the crowd 
hurried down tne steep and winding road, and I 
knew the phrase to Indicate one of those occasion¬ 
al outbreaks of t ho volcanic forces below by which 
a fresh crater Is established. 
My first Intention had been to take the money 
and stores which belonged to the Government; 
but already these were burning, and the disorder 
so genera!, that, none heeded my summons. X 
should have followed the retreating mob when, 
turning my head, l beheld a spectacle which 
caused rny very heart to cease beating, so great 
was tho horror of It. Some fifty yards off, on the 
other side of a fiery chasm, that seamed the earth 
like the gaping mouth of some monstrous beast 
Of prey, stood alone the pretty English child, with 
golden hair hanging In wavy ringlets, who had 
previously attracted my notice. She had strayed, 
doubtless, from her friends Ju the contusion, and 
now stood to ail appearance aroused, but not 
alarmed, as she gazed at. the bright hues of the 
Incandescent sulphur, now cherry-red, now saf¬ 
fron, then palest pink or darkening amethyst, 
that bubbled at her feet, it was fearful to see 
tho Innocent young thing, so unconscious of her 
danger, smiling as It were, tn the very Jaws of 
death. 
Had the risk been a greater one, I could not 
have resisted the impulse which prompted me; 
and almost before 1 had time to realize what 1 
was doing, I hud bounded across t,be glowing fis¬ 
sure and snatched up the child in my arms. 
Then for the first time she began to cry aloud, 
“Oh, mamma, mamma, help me!" 
Hastily I did my best to soothe her, and the 
sound or the familiar English words and voice, 
and my assurance that 1 had come to take her to 
her mother, quieted her; but as I turned to re¬ 
trace my steps, a dense cloud ol suffocating smoke 
arose, cutting off all view of the plateau; and 
when it dispersed, Ifouud theehasm had widened 
to an extent such as precluded all hope or striding 
or leaping across It; while another roar and a 
shower of hot ashes mixed with blocks of pumice- 
stone, warned me that to linger was as perilous 
aa to fly. Only one mode of escape seemed prac¬ 
ticable; and accordingly I skirted the chasm, 
making for a spot some three. hundred yards 
away, where a rock appeared to form a natural 
bridge over the red-hoL fissure. Wrapping my 
shaggy sailor’s Jacket, around the child, to screen 
her aa far as possible from the hot. ashes that fell 
at Intervals, 1 pushed resolutely on. 
I shall never, to my dying day, forget what I 
underwent. In the passage of those three hundred 
yards. Gasping and half suffocated by the pesti¬ 
lential vapors, blinded by the smoke and with 
eyes seared by the glare and feet scorched by the 
