The boy greeted his old friends with eager delight, not noticing for the
moment their anxious faces and perturbed demeanor. But the lawyer's
sharp eyes saw at once that something was wrong.
"Where is John Merrick?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm so glad you've come!" cried Patsy, clinging to his hand.
"We are in sore straits, indeed, Mr. Watson," said Louise.
"Uncle John is lost," explained Beth, "and we're afraid he is in the
hands of brigands."
Then she related as calmly as she could all that had happened. The
relation was clear and concise. She told of their meeting with Valdi on
the ship, of Count Ferralti's persistence in attaching himself to their
party, and of Uncle John's discovery that the young man was posing under
an assumed name. She did not fail to mention Ferralti's timely
assistance on the Amalfi drive, or his subsequent devoted attentions to
Louise; but the latter Beth considered merely as an excuse for following
them around.
"In my opinion," said she, "we have been watched ever since we left
America, by these two spies, who had resolved to get Uncle John into
some unfrequented place and then rob him. If they succeed in their vile
plot, Mr. Watson, we shall be humiliated and disgraced forever."
"Tut-tut," said he; "don't think of that. Let us consider John Merrick,
and nothing else.
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