LIST OF CHAPTERSCHAPTER PAGE I. THE DOYLES ARE ASTONISHED 1 II. UNCLE JOHN MAKES PLANS 12 III. "ALL ASHORE!" 24 IV. SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES AND A WARNING 36 V. VESUVIUS RAMPANT 54 VI. UNDER A CLOUD 57 VII. A FRIEND IN NEED 69 VIII. ACROSS THE BAY 76 IX. COUNT FERRALTI 85 X. THE ROAD TO AMALFI 94 XI. THE EAGLE SCREAMS 110 XII. MOVING ON 120 XIII. "IL DUCA" 137 XIV. UNCLE JOHN DISAPPEARS 153 XV. DAYS OF ANXIETY 169 XVI. TATO 180 XVII. THE HIDDEN VALLEY 189 XVIII. THE GUESTS OF THE BRIGAND 202 XIX. A DIFFICULT POSITION 217 XX. UNCLE JOHN PLAYS EAVESDROPPER 228 XXI. THE PIT 241 XXII. NEWS AT LAST 250 XXIII. BETH BEGINS TO PLOT 263 XXIV. PATSY'S NEW FRIEND 272 XXV. TURNING THE TABLES 283 XXVI. THE COUNT UNMASKS 292 XXVII. TATO IS ADOPTED 304XXVIII. DREAMS AND DRESS-MAKING 312 XXIX. TATO WINS 326 XXX. A WAY TO FORGET 337 XXXI. SAFE HOME 345[Illustration]PREFATORY:The author is pleased to be able to present a sequel to "Aunt Jane'sNieces," the book which was received with so much favor last year. Yetit is not necessary one should have read the first book to fullyunderstand the present volume, the characters being taken to entirelynew scenes.The various foreign localities are accurately described, so that thosewho have visited them will recognize them at once, while those who havenot been so fortunate may acquire a clear conception of them. It was mygood fortune to be an eye witness of the recent great eruption ofVesuvius.Lest I be accused of undue sensationalism in relating the somewhatdramatic Sicilian incident, I will assure my reader that the story doesnot exaggerate present conditions in various parts of the island. Infact, Il Duca and Tato are drawn from life, although they did not havetheir mountain lair so near to Taormina as I have ventured to locateit. Except that I have adapted their clever system of brigandage to theexigencies of this story, their history is truly related. Many who havetravelled somewhat outside the beaten tracks in Sicily will franklyvouch for this statement.Italy is doing its best to suppress the Mafia and to eliminatebrigandage from the beautiful islands it controls, but so few of theinhabitants are Italians or in sympathy with the government that thework of reformation is necessarily slow. Americans, especially, mustexercise caution in travelling in any part of Sicily; yet with propercare not to tempt the irresponsible natives, they are as safe in Sicilyas they are at home.Aunt Jane's nieces are shown to be as frankly adventurous as the averageclear headed American girl, but their experiences amid the environmentsof an ancient and still primitive civilization are in no wiseextraordinary.