"Where's that girl?" she demanded, sharply.
"What girl?"
"Tato."
"Tato, my dear coz, is a boy," answered Kenneth; "and he disappeared
ages ago."
"You must be blind," said Beth, scornfully, "not to recognize a girl
when you see one. A boy, indeed!"
"Why, he dressed like a boy," replied Kenneth, hesitatingly.
"So much the more disgraceful," sniffed Beth. "She belongs to those
brigands, I suppose."
"Looks something like Victor Valdi," said Patsy, thoughtfully.
"Il Duca? Of course! I see it myself, now. Patricia, it is that wicked
duke who has captured Uncle John."
"I had guessed that," declared Patsy, smiling.
"He must be a handsome rascal," observed Kenneth, "for the child is
pretty as a picture."
"He isn't handsome at all," replied Beth; "but there is a look about the
child's eyes that reminds me of him."
"That's it, exactly," agreed Patsy.
Louise now approached them with a white, frightened face.
"Isn't it dreadful!" she moaned. "They are going to kill Ferralti unless
he gives them thirty thousand dollars."
"And I don't believe he can raise thirty cents," said Patsy, calmly.
"Oh, yes, he can," answered Louise, beginning to cry. "Hi--his--father
is d--dead, and has left him--a--fortune."
"Don't blubber, Lou," said the boy, chidingly; "in that case your dago
friend is as well off as need be.
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