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Main > Fairy tale > All authors > Frank Baum > Fairy tale "Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad"

Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad

But either

the brigand wavered between his loyalty to the Duke or the Duchessa, or

he feared to injure Tato, for he hesitated to obey and the moments were

precious.

The child's fate hung in the balance when Ferralti snatched the weapon

from the brigand's hands and fired it so hastily that he scarcely seemed

to take aim.

A wild cry echoed the shot. The woman collapsed and fell, dropping Tato

at her feet, where they both tottered at the edge of the pit. The child,

however, clung desperately to the outer edge of the flat stone, while

the Duchessa's inert form seemed to hesitate for an instant and then

disappeared from view.

Tommaso ran forward and caught up the child, returning slowly along the

path to place it in the father's arms. Ferralti was looking vaguely from

the weapon he held to the pit, and then back again, as if not fully

understanding what he had done.

"Thank you, signore," said the Duke, brokenly, "for saving my precious

child."

"But I have slain your mother!" cried the young man, horrified.

"The obligation is even," replied the duke. "She was also your

grandmother."

Ferralti stood motionless, his face working convulsively, his tongue

refusing to utter a sound.

"But he did not shoot my grandmother at all," said Tato, who was sobbing

against her father's breast; "for I heard the bullet strike the rock

beside us. My grandmother's strength gave way, and she fainted. It was

that that saved me, padre mia."

CHAPTER XXII

NEWS AT LAST

Kenneth Forbes had always been an unusual boy. He had grown up in an

unfriendly atmosphere, unloved and uncared for, and resented this

neglect with all the force of his impetuous nature. He had hated Aunt

Jane, and regarded her as cruel and selfish--a fair estimate of her

character--until Aunt Jane's nieces taught him to be more considerate

and forgiving. Patricia, especially, had exercised a gentler influence

upon the arbitrary youth, and as a consequence they had become staunch

friends.

When the unexpected inheritance of a fortune changed the boy's condition

from one of dependence to one of importance he found he had no longer

any wrongs to resent; therefore his surly and brusque moods gradually

disappeared, and he became a pleasant companion to those he cared for.

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