Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
"You are free," said Il Duca, harshly. "Go!"
They lost no time in getting the brigands between themselves and the
mouth of the tunnel, and then Kenneth gently drew Tato to a place beside
him and assisted her to clamber down the path.
"Good bye, little one," he said, pleasantly; "you're what we call a
'brick' in our country. I like you, and I'm proud of you."
Tato did not reply. With streaming eyes she was examining her father's
shattered hand, and sobbing at sight of the blood that dripped upon the
rocks at his feet.
"Get inside!" called Beth, sharply; "and close up that rock. Lively,
now!"
The "girl who could shoot" still sat toying with her revolver, and the
mountaineers obeyed her injunction. The rock promptly closed, and the
group of Americans was left alone.
Then Beth came slowly down to where Patsy was hugging Uncle John in a
wild frenzy of delight, and Count Ferralti was shaking Kenneth's hand
with a face eloquent of emotion.
"Come," said she, her voice sounding faint and weary, "let us get away
from here. It was a pretty game, while it lasted, but I'll feel safer
when we are home again. Where's the money?"
"I've got it," said Kenneth, holding up the package.
"What! didn't you pay?" demanded Uncle John, astounded.
"Of course not, dear," said Patsy, gleefully. "Did you think your nieces
would let you be robbed by a bunch of dagoes?"
Ferralti caught hold of Beth's swaying form.
"Look after your cousin," he said, sharply. "I think she has fainted!"
CHAPTER XXVI
THE COUNT UNMASKS
"And now," said Uncle John, as he sat in their cosy sitting-room,
propped in an easy chair with his feet upon a stool, "it's about time
for you to give an account of yourselves, you young rascals."
They had eaten a late but very satisfactory dinner at the
Castello-a-Mare, where the return of the missing ones was hailed with
joy by the proprietor and his assistants. Even the little bewhiskered
head-waiter, who resembled a jack-in-the-box more than he did a man,
strove to celebrate the occasion by putting every good thing the house
afforded before the returned guests.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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