"You read it，Uncle John，"she said."There can't beanything private in Tato's letter，and perhaps she has explainedeverything."He put on his glasses and then took the missive and deliberately opened it.Tato wrote a ?ne，delicate hand，and although the English words were badly spelled she expressed herself quite well in the foreign tongue.With the spelling and lack of punctuation corrected，her letter was as follows：
"Dear，innocent，foolish Patsy：How astonished youwill be to find I have vanished from your life forever；and what angry and indignant words you will hurl after poor Tato！But they will not reach me，because you will not know in which direction to send them，and I will not care whether you are angry or not.
"You have been good to me，Patsy，and I really love you—fully as much as I have fear of that shrewd and pretty cousin of yours，whose cold eyes have made me tremble more than once.But tell Beth I forgive her，because she is the only clever one of the lot of you.Louise thinks she is clever，but her actions remind me of the juggler who explained his tricks before he did them，so that the audience would know how skillful he was.""But oh，Patsy，what simpletons you all are ！And because you have been too stupid to guess the truth I must bother to write it all down.For it would spoil much of my satisfaction and enjoyment if you did not know how completely I have fooled you.
"You tricked us that day in the mountain glen，and for the?rst time an Alcanta brigand lost his prisoners and his ransom money through being outwitteda.But did you think that was the end？If so you failed to appreciate us.
"Look you，my dear，we could have done without themoney，for our family has been robbing and accumulating for ages，with little need to expend much from year to year.It is all in the Bank of Italy，too，and drawing the interest，for my father is a wise man of business.That four hundred thousand lira was to have been our last ransom，and after we had fairly earned it you tricked us and did not pay.
"So my father and I determined to get even withb you，as much through revenge as cupidity.We were obliged to desert the valley at once，because we were getting so rich that the government officials became uneasy and warned us to go or be arrested.So we consulted together and decided upon our little plot，which was so simple that it has worked perfectly.We came to you with our sad story，and you thought we had reformed，and kindly adopted me as one of your party.It was so easy that I almost laughed in your foolish faces.But I didn't，for I can act.I played the child very nicely，I think，and you quite forgot I was a brigand's daughter，with the wild，free blood of many brave outlaws coursing in my veins.Ah，I am more proud of that than of my acting.
"Innocent as I seemed，I watched you all carefully，and knew from almost the first hour where the money had beenput.I stole the key to Uncle John's trunk on the train，while we were going from Taormina to Syracuse；but I did not take the money from it because I had no better place to keep it，and the only danger was that he would force the lock some day.But Ferralti's money—I call him Ferralti because it is a prettier name than Weldon—bothered me for a long time.At the ?rst he would not let that little satchel out of his sight，and when he ?nally did he had removed the money to some other place.I searched his room many times，but could not ?nd his hiding place until last night.While he was at dinner I discovered thebills in one of the drawers of his dresser.
"But for this difficulty I should have left your charming society before，as my father has been secretly waiting for me for three days.Having located Ferralti's money I waited until this morning and when you had all left me I signalled to my father from my window and prepared to disappear.It took but a few minutes to get the money from Uncle John's trunk and Arthur's trouser—leg.Much obliged for it，I'm sure.Then I packed up all my pretty dresses in my new trunk—for part of our plot was to use your good taste in ?tting me out properly—and now I am writing this loving epistlea before I leave.
"We shall go to Paris or Vienna or Cairo or London—guesswhich！We shall have other names—very beautiful ones—and be rich and digni?ed and respected.When I grow older I think I shall marry a prince and become a princess；but that willnot interest you much，for you will not know that the great princess is your own little Tato.
"Tell Uncle John I have left the key to his trunk on the mantel，behind the picture of the madonna.I stuffed papers into Arthur's trouser leg to deceive him if he came back before I had a chance to escape.But I hoped you would discover nothing until you read this letter，for I wanted to surprise you.Have I？Then I am content.You tricked me once；but I havetricked you at the last，and the ?nal triumph is mine.
"In spite of all，Patsy dear，I love you；for you are sweet and good，and although I would not be like you for the world I can appreciate your excellent qualities.Remember this when your anger is gone.I won't be able to visit you in America，but I shall always think of you in a more kindly way than I fear you will think of the Sicilian tomboy，Tato."
