one of the sentry-boxes which here along the ridge mark the limits
of Neapolitan excise; a boy-soldier, musket in hand, cast curious
glances at them. After walking in silence for a few minutes, they
began to descend the eastern face of the hill, and before them lay
that portion of the great gulf which pictures have made so familiar.
The landscape was still visible in all its main details, still
softly suffused with warm colours from the west. About the cone of
Vesuvius a darkly purple cloud was gathering; the twin height of
Somma stood clear and of a rich brown. Naples, the many-coloured,
was seen in profile, climbing from the Castel dell' Ovo, around
which the sea slept, to the rock of Sant' Elmo; along the curve of
the Chiaia lights had begun to glimmer. Far withdrawn, the craggy
promontory of Sorrento darkened to profoundest blue; and Capri
veiled itself in mist.





CHAPTER II

CECILY DORAN




Villa Sannazaro had no architectural beauty; it was a building of
considerable size, irregular, in need of external repair. Through
the middle of it ran a great archway, guarded by copies of the two
Molossian hounds which stand before the Hall of Animals in the