I knew by the look of things that it was
not a very pleasant place to go to. But of course they could not be
supposed to know any thing of the kind, and their very ignorance made
them rash.
"Well, I walked along after them, not knowing what might turn up, but
determined to keep them in sight. Those beggars with chairs were not
to be trusted, and the ladies had gold enough about them to tempt
violence. What a reckless old devil of a chaperon she was, to let
those young girls go! So I walked on, cursing all the time the
conventionalities of civilization that prevented me from giving them
warning. They were rushing straight on into danger, and I had to keep
silent.
"On reaching the foot of the cone a lot of fellows came up to them,
with chairs and straps, and that sort of thing. They employed some of
them, and, mounting the chairs, they were carried up, while I walked
up by myself at a distance from which I could observe all that was
going on. The girls were quite merry, appeared to be enchanted with
their ride up the cone, enjoyed the novelty of the sensation, and I
heard their lively chatter and their loud peals of ringing laughter,
and longed more than ever to be able to speak to them.
"Now the little girl that I had first seen--the child-angel, you
know--seemed, to my amazement, to be more adventurous than the other.
By her face you would suppose her to be as timid as a dove, and yet on
this occasion she was the one who proposed the ascent, urged on her
companion, and answered all her objections.
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