But where to dig?"
Their question was answered by accident. At that time certain men were
making a tunnel to carry spring water from the hills across the country
to a little town near Naples. The tunnel happened to pass over buried
Pompeii. They dug up some blocks of stone with Latin inscriptions carved
on them. After that other people found little ancient relics near the
same place.
"This must be where Pompeii lies buried," the wise men said.
They began to excavate. That was about two hundred years ago. Ever since
that time the work has gone on. Sometimes people have been discouraged
and have given up. At other times six hundred men have been working
busily. Kings have given money. Emperors and princes and queens have
visited the excavations. Artists have made pictures of the ruins, and
scholars have written books about them. But it is a great task to
uncover a whole city that is buried ten or twelve feet deep. The
excavation is not yet finished. Perhaps when you are old men and women
the work will be completed, and a whole Roman city will be open to your
eyes.
But even as it is to-day, that ghost of a city is among the world's
wonders. There is the thick stone wall that goes all about the town. On
its wide top the soldiers used to stand to fight in ancient days.
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