回到旅店，贝丝将自己的计划细细地说与帕齐和肯尼思……塔托第二天来听取是否同意付赎金的答复。在返回的路上，肯尼思偷偷地进行了跟踪，并清晰地将路线记了下来。接下来，这些孩子会做些什么呢？
Once back in their sitting—room behind closed doors，Beth，Patsy and Kenneth got their three heads together and began eagerly to discuss a plot which Beth had hinted of on the way home and now unfolded in detail.And while they stillwhispered together a knock at the door startled them and made them look rather guilty until the boy answered the call and admitted little Tato.
The child's beautiful face wore a smile of demure satisfactionas Tato bowed respectfully to the young Americans.
Kenneth winked ata Beth from behind the visitor's back."As you have a guest，"he remarked，with a yawn thatwas somewhat rude，"I shall now go and take my nap.""What，do you sleep so early in the day，you lazy—bones？"asked Patsy，brightly.
"Any time，my dear，is good enough for an overworked artist，"he replied."Au revoir，my cousins.See you at luncheon."With this he strolled away，and when he had gone Bethsaid to Tato：
"Won't you sit down，signorina？"
"Do you mean me？"asked the child，as if surprised."Yes；I can see plainly that you are a girl.""And a pretty one，too，my dear，"added Patsy.
Tato blushed as if embarrassed，but in a moment smiled upon the American girls.
"Do you think me immodest，then？"she asked，anxiously.
"By no means，my dear，"Beth assured her."I supposeyou have an excellent reason for wearing boys'clothes.""So I have，signorina.I live in the mountains，where dresses catch in the crags，and bother a girl.And my father has always been heart—broken because he had no son，and likes to see me in this attirea.He has many errands for me，too，where a boy may go unnoticed，yet a girl would attract too much attention.This is one of the errands，signorini.But now tell me，if you please，how have you decided to answer the letters of Signor Merrick and Signor Ferralti？""Oh，there was but one way to answer them，Tato，"replied Beth，composedly."We have sent Mr.Watson and our cousin Louise Merrick to Messina to get the money.If our friends in America act promptly Mr.Watson and Louise will return by to—morrow afternoon's train，and be prepared to make the payment.""That is well，signorina，"responded Tato.
"We are to give the money to you，I suppose？"said Patsy."Yes；I will return for it to—morrow afternoon，"answeredthe child，with business—like gravity.Then she looked earnestly from one to the other of the two girls."You must act discreetly，in the meantime，you know.You must not talk to anyone，or do anything to imperilb your uncle's safety.""Of course not，Tato.""I beg you not，signorini.The uncle is a good man，and brave.I do not wish him to be injured.""Nor do we，Tato.""And the young man is not a coward，either.He has been kind to me.But he is sad，and not so pleasant to talk with as the uncle.""True enough，Tato，"said Beth.
Patsy had been examining the child with curious intentness.The little one was so lovely and graceful，and her voice sounded so soft and womanly，that Patsy longed to take her in her arms and hug her.
"How old are you，dear？"she asked.
Tato saw the friendly look，and answered with a smile."Perhaps as old as you，signorina，although I am somuch smaller.I shall be ？fteen in a month.""So old！"Tato laughed merrily.
"Ah，you might well say 'so young，'amico mia ！To be grown up is much nicer；do you not think so？And then I shall not look such a baby as now，and have people scold me when I get in the way，as they do little bambini.""But when you are grown you cannot wear boys'clothing，either."Tato sighed.
