Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad

  CHAPTER XV

  DAYS OF ANXIETY

  Uncle John's nieces passed a miserable night. Patsy stole into his roomand prayed fervently beside his bed that her dear uncle might bepreserved and restored to them in health and safety. Beth, meantime,paced the room she shared with Patsy with knitted brows and flashingeyes, the flush in her cheeks growing deeper as her anger increased. Anungovernable temper was the girl's worst failing; the abductors of heruncle were arousing in her the most violent passions of which she wascapable, and might lead her to adopt desperate measures. She was only acountry girl, and little experienced in life, yet Beth might be expectedto undertake extraordinary things if, as she expressed it, if she "gotgood and mad!"

  No sound was heard during the night from the room occupied by Louise,but the morning disclosed a white, drawn face and reddened eyelids asproof that she had rested as little as her cousins.

  Yet, singularly enough, Louise was the most composed of the three whenthey gathered in the little sitting room at daybreak, and triedearnestly to cheer the spirits of her cousins. Louise never conveyed theimpression of being especially sincere, but the pleasant words andmanners she habitually assumed rendered her an agreeable companion, andthis faculty of masking her real feelings now stood her in good steadand served to relieve the weight of anxiety that oppressed them all.

  Frascatti came limping back with his tired followers in the early dawn,and reported that no trace of the missing man had been observed. Therewere no brigands and no Mafia; on that point all his fellow townsmenagreed with him fully. But it was barely possible some lawless ones whowere all unknown to the honest Taorminians had made the rich American aprisoner.

  Il Duca? Oh, no, signorini! A thousand times, no. Il Duca was queer andunsociable, but not lawless. He was of noble family and a native of thedistrict. It would be very wrong and foolish to question Il Duca'sintegrity.

  With this assertion Frascatti went to bed. He had not shirked thesearch, because he was paid for it, and he and his men had tramped themountains faithfully all night, well knowing it would result in nothingbut earning their money.

  On the morning train from Catania arrived Silas Watson and his youngward Kenneth Forbes, the boy who had so unexpectedly inherited AuntJane's fine estate of Elmhurst on her death. The discovery of a willwhich gave to Kenneth all the property their aunt had intended for hernieces had not caused the slightest estrangement between the youngfolks, then or afterward. On the contrary, the girls were all glad thatthe gloomy, neglected boy, with his artistic, high-strung temperament,would be so well provided for. Without the inheritance he would havebeen an outcast; now he was able to travel with his guardian, the kindlyold Elmhurst lawyer, and fit himself for his future important positionin the world. More than all this, however, Kenneth had resolved to be agreat landscape painter, and Italy and Sicily had done much, in the pastyear, to prepare him for this career.

  The boy greeted his old friends with eager delight, not noticing for themoment their anxious faces and perturbed demeanor. But the lawyer'ssharp 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 thehands of brigands."

  Then she related as calmly as she could all that had happened. Therelation was clear and concise. She told of their meeting with Valdi onthe ship, of Count Ferralti's persistence in attaching himself to theirparty, and of Uncle John's discovery that the young man was posing underan assumed name. She did not fail to mention Ferralti's timelyassistance on the Amalfi drive, or his subsequent devoted attentions toLouise; but the latter Beth considered merely as an excuse for followingthem around.

  "In my opinion," said she, "we have been watched ever since we leftAmerica, by these two spies, who had resolved to get Uncle John intosome unfrequented place and then rob him. If they succeed in their vileplot, 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."

  Louise protested that Beth had not been fair in her conclusions. TheCount was an honorable man; she would vouch for his character herself.

  But Mr. Watson did not heed this defense. The matter was veryserious--how serious he alone realized--and his face was grave indeed ashe listened to the descriptions of that terrible Il Duca whom thenatives all shrank from and refused to discuss.

  When he had learned all the nieces had to tell he hastened into the townand telegraphed the American consul at Messina. Then he found thequestura, or police office, and was assured by the officer in attendancethat the disappearance of Mr. Merrick was already known to theauthorities and every effort was being made to find him.

  "Do you think he has been abducted by brigands?" asked the lawyer.

  "Brigands, signore?" was the astonished reply. "There are no brigands inthis district at all. We drove them out many years ago."

  "How about Il Duca?"

  "And who is that, signore?"

  "Don't you know?"

  "I assure you we have no official knowledge of such a person. There aredukes in Sicily, to be sure; but 'Il Duca' means nothing. Perhaps youcan tell me to whom you refer?"

  "See here," said the lawyer, brusquely; "I know your methods, _questoremia_, but they won't prove effective in this case. If you think anAmerican is helpless in this country you are very much mistaken. But, tosave time, I am willing to submit to your official requirements. I willpay you well for the rescue of my friend."

  "All shall be done that is possible."

  "But if you do not find him at once, and return him to us unharmed, Iwill have a regiment of soldiers in Taormina to search your mountainsand break up the bands of brigands that infest them. When I prove thatbrigands are here and that you were not aware of them, you will bedisgraced and deposed from your office."

  The official shrugged his shoulders, a gesture in which the Sicilian isas expert as the Frenchman.

  "I will welcome the soldiery," said he; "but you will be able to provenothing. The offer of a reward may accomplish more--if it is greatenough to be interesting."

  "How great is that?"

  "Can I value your friend? You must name the reward yourself. But eventhen I can promise nothing. In the course of our duty every effort isnow being made to find the missing American. But we work in the dark, asyou know. Your friend may be a suicide; he may have lost his mind andwandered into the wilderness; he may have committed some crime andabsconded. How do I know? You say he is missing, but that is no reasonthe brigands have him, even did brigands exist, which I doubt. Restassured, signore, that rigid search will be made. It is my boast that Ileave no duty unfulfilled."

  Mr. Watson walked back to the telegraph office and found an answer tohis message. The American consul was ill and had gone to Naples fortreatment. When he returned, his clerk stated, the matter of thedisappearance of John Merrick would immediately be investigated.

  Feeling extremely helpless and more fearful for his friend than before,the lawyer returned to the hotel for a conference with the nieces.

  "How much of a reward shall I offer?" he asked. "That seems to be theonly thing that can be depended upon to secure results."

  "Give them a million--Uncle John won't mind," cried Patsy, earnestly.

  "Don't give them a penny, sir," said Beth. "If they are holding him fora ransom Uncle is in no personal danger, and we have no right to assistin robbing him."

  "But you don't understand, my dear," asserted the lawyer. "Thesebrigands never let a victim go free unless they are well paid. That iswhy they are so often successful. If John Merrick is not ransomed hewill never again be heard of."

  "But this is not a ransom, sir. You propose to offer a reward to thepolice."

  "Let me explain. The ways of the Italian police are very intricate. Theyknow of n
o brigandage here, and cannot find a brigand. But if the rewardis great enough to divide, they know where to offer a share of it, inlieu of a ransom, and will force the brigands to accept it. In that waythe police gets the glory of a rescue and a share of the spoils. If weoffer no reward, or an insignificant one, the brigands will be allowedto act as they please."

  "That is outrageous!" exclaimed Beth.

  "Yes. The Italian government deplores it. It is trying hard to break upa system that has existed for centuries, but has not yet succeeded."

  "Then I'd prefer to deal directly with the brigands."

  "So would I, if--"

  "If what, sir?"

  "If we were sure your uncle is in their hands. Do you think the partyyou sent out last night searched thoroughly?"

  "I hope so."

  "I will send out more men at once. They shall search the hills in everydirection. Should they find nothing our worst fears will be confirmed,and then--"

  "Well, Mr. Watson?"

  "Then we must wait for the brigands to dictate the terms of a ransom,and make the best bargain we can."

  "That seems sensible," said Kenneth, and both Patsy and Louise agreedwith him, although it would be tedious waiting.

  But Beth only bit her lip and frowned.

  Mr. Watson's searching party was maintained all day--for two days, andthree; but without result. Then they waited for the brigands to act.But a week dragged painfully by and no word of John Merrick'swhereabouts reached the ears of the weary watchers.