塔托带着赎金原路返回，帕齐征得塔托同意，伴她走一段路。一路上，帕齐真诚地传递了她想与塔托成为朋友的想法。她们走着走着，最后一同来到了山谷入口前。塔托让帕齐在一块石头处等候约翰叔叔，随后开始向内清唱起了开门的曲子……
"I must say that I don't like the job，"said Patsy，the next morning，as she stood by the window and faced Beth and Kenneth."Suppose we fail ？""In the bright lexicona of youth—""Shut up，Ken.If we fail，"said Beth，"we will be no worse off than before.""And if we win，"added the boy，"they'll think twice beforethey try to rob Americans again.""Well，I'm with you，anyhow，"declared Patricia."I can see it's risky，all right；but as you say，no great harm will be done if we slip upb.""You，"announced Beth，gravely，"must be the captain.""It isn't in me，dear.You ？gured the thing out，and Ken and I will follow your lead.""No，"said Beth，decidedly；"I'm not quick enough，either in thought or action，to be a leader，Patsy.And there's a bit of deception required that I couldn't manage.That clever little thing，Tato，would know at once I was up to some mischief；but she would never suspect you.""I like that compliment，"replied Patricia."I may deserve it，of course；but it strikes me Louise is the one best ？tted for such work.""We can't let Louise into this plot，"said the boy，positively；"she'd spoil it all.""Don't be silly，Patsy，"said Beth."You're genuine andfrank，and the child likes you.I could see that yesterday.All you have to do is to be nice to her and win her con？dence；and then，when the climax comes，you must be the spokesman and talk straight out from the shoulder.You can do that all right.""I'll bet on her，"cried Kenneth，with an admiring look atthe girl.
"Then，"said Patsy，"it is all arranged，and I'm the captain.And is it agreed that we won't lisp a word to Mr.Watson or Louise？""Not a word.""Here，"said Kenneth，drawing a revolver from his pocket，"is Uncle John's pop—gun.It's the only one I could find in his room，so he must have taken the other with him.Be careful of it，Patsy，for it's loaded all 'round.Can you shoot？""No；but I suppose the pistol can.I know enough to pull the trigger.""And when you do，remember to point it away from yourfriends.Now hide it，my dear，and be careful of it."Patsy concealed the weapon in the bosom of her dress，not without making a wry face and shivering a bit.
"Have you got your revolver，Beth？"asked the boy.
"Yes."
"And she can shoot just wonderfully！"exclaimed Patsy."Yesterday she picked an orange off a tree with a bullet.Youshould have seen her.""I know，"said Ken，nodding."I've seen Beth shoot before，and she's our main reliance in this conspiracya.For my part，I can hit a mark sometimes，and sometimes I can't.See here."He exhibited a beautiful pearl and silver—mounted weapon which he drew from his pocket."Mr.Watson and I have carried revolvers ever since we came to Sicily，but we've never had occasion to use them.I can hardly believe，even now，that this beautiful place harbors brigands.It's such a romantic incident in our prosaicb world of to—day.And now，young ladies，we are armed to the teethc and can defy an army.Eh，Captain Pat？""If you're not more respectful，"said the girl，"I'll have you court—marshalledd and drummed out of e camp."On the afternoon train came Louise and Mr.Watson from Messina.The American agents had responded promptly，and the bank had honored the orders and delivered the money without delay.
"It is all safe in my satchel，"said the lawyer，as theyrode together to the hotel；"and our dear friends are as good as rescued already.It's pretty bulky，Kenneth—four hundred thousand lira—but it is all in notes on the Banca d'Italia，for we couldn't manage gold.""Quite a haul for the brigand，"observed Kenneth，thoughtfully.
"True；but little enough for the lives of two men.Thatis the way I look at the transaction.And，since our friends can afford the loss，we must be as cheerful over the thing as possible.It might have been a tragedy，you know."Louise shivered.
"I'm glad it is all over，"she said，gratefully.
The conspirators looked at one another and smiled，but held their peace.
Arriving at the hotel，Beth and Kenneth at oncedisappeared，saying they were going to town，as they would not be needed longer.Patsy accompanied their cousin and the lawyer to the sitting—room，where presently Tato came to them.
"Well，little one，"said the lawyer，pleasantly，"Wehave secured the money required to enable Mr.Merrick to purchase the ring，and Mr.—er—Count Ferralti to buy his bracelet.Will you count it ？""Yes，signore，if you please，"replied Tato，with a sober face.
Mr.Watson drew out two packages of bank notes and placed them upon the table.The child，realizing the importance of the occasion，carefully counted each bundle，and then replaced the wrappers.
