Page:The crater; or, Vulcan's peak.djvu/115

OR, VULCAN S PEAK. 109 CHAPTER VIII. "Now, from the full-grown day a beamy shower Gleams on the lake, and gilds each glossy flower, Gay insects sparkle in the genial blaze, Various as light, and countless as its rays Now, from yon range of rocks, strong rays rebound, Doubling the day on flow iy plains around." SAVAOE. AFTER the tent on the Summit was erected, Mark passed much of his leisure time there. Thither he conveyed many of his books, of which he had a very respectable col lection, his flute, and a portion of his writing materials. There he could sit and watch the growth of the different vegetables he was cultivating. As for Bob, he fished a good deal, both in the way of supplies and for his amuse ment. The pigs and poultry fared well, and everything seemed to thrive but poor Kitty. She loved to follow Mark, and cast many a longing look up at the Summit, whenever she saw him strolling about among his plants. The vegetables on the Summit, or those first put into the ground, flourished surprisingly. Loam had been added repeatedly, and they wanted for nothing that could bring forward vegetation. The melons soon began to run, as did the cucumbers, squashes, and pumpkins; and by the end of the next month, there were a dozen large patches on the mount that were covered by a dense verdure. Nor was this all ; Mark making a discovery about this time, that afforded him almost as much happiness as when he first saw his melons in leaf. He was seated one day, with the walls of his tent brailed up, in order to allow the wind to blow through, when something dark on the rock caught his eye. This spot was some little distance from him, and going to it, he found that large quantities of his grass-seed had actually taken ! Now he might hope to convert that barren-looking, and often glaring rock, into a beautiful grassy hill, and render that which was sometimes painful VOL. I. 10