女孩们和约翰叔叔在索伦托偶然遇到露易丝认识的一个自称“费雷尔伯爵”的朋友，约翰叔叔感觉费雷尔的身份有诈，经过一番打听，其猜测是否会得到证实呢？露易丝得知此事将作何反应？
At dinner it was announced that the famous Tarantella would be danced in the lower hall of the hotel at nine o'clock，and the girls told Uncle John that they must not miss this famous sight，which is one of the most unique in Sorrento，or indeed in all Italy.
As they entered the pretty，circular hall devoted to thedance Louise gave a start of surprise.A goodly audience had already assembled in the room，and among them the girl seemed to recognize an acquaintance，for after a brief hesitation she advanced and placed her hand in that of a gentleman who had risen on her entrance and hastened toward her.
He was a nice looking young fellow，Beth thought，and had a foreign and quite distinguished air.
Presently Louise turned with cheeks somewhat ？ushed and brought the gentleman to her party，introducing him to Uncle John and her cousins as Count Ferralti，whom she had once met in New York while he was on a visit to America.
The Count twirled his small and slender moustaches in a way that Patsy thought affected，and said in excellent English：
"It delights me to meet Mr.Merrick and the young ladies.May I express a hope that you are pleased with my beautiful country？""Are you Italian？"asked Uncle John，regarding the youngman critically.
"Surely，Mr.Merrick.But I have resided much in New York，and may well claim to be an adopted son of your great city.""New York adopts a good many，"said Uncle John，drily.
"It has even been thoughtless enough to adopt me."The dancers entered at that moment and the Americans were forced to seat themselves hastily so as not to obstruct the view of others.Count Ferralti found a place beside Louise，but seemed to have little to say to her during the course of the entertainment.
The dances were unique and graceful，being executed bya troop of laughing peasants dressed in native costume，who seemed very proud of their accomplishment and anxious to please the throng of tourists present.The Tarantella originated in Ischia，but Sorrento and Capri have the best dancers.
Afterward Uncle John and his nieces stood upon the terrace and watched the volcano rolling its dense clouds，mingled with sparks of red—hot scoria，toward the sky.The Count clung to Louise's side，but also tried to make himself agreeable to her cousins.In their rooms that night Patsy told Beth that the young foreigner was "too highfalutina to suit her，"and Beth replied that his manners were so like those of their CousinLouise that the two ought to get along nicely together.
Uncle John liked his nieces to make friends，and encouraged young men generally to meet them；but there wassomething in the appearance of this callowa Italian nobleman that stamped his character as artificial and insincere.He resolved to ？nd out something about his antecedents before he permitted the young fellow to establish friendly relations with his girls.
Next morning after breakfast he wandered through the lobby and paused at the little office，where he discovered that the proprietor of this hotel was a brother of that Floriano who managed the Hotel du Vesuve.That gave him an excuse to talk with the man，who spoke very good English and was exceedingly courteous to his guests—especially when they were American.
"I see you have Count Ferralti with you，"remarked UncleJohn.
"Whom，sir ？"
"Ferralti—Count Ferralti.The young man standing by the window，yonder.""I—I did not know，"he said，hesitatingly."The gentleman arrived last evening，and I had not yet learned his name.Let me see，"he turned to his list of guests，who register by card and not in a book，and continued："Ah，yes；he has given his name as Ferralti，but added no title.A count，did you say？""Yes，"replied Uncle John.
The proprietor looked curiously toward the young man，whose back only was visible.Then he remarked that the eruption of Vesuvius was waning and the trouble nearly over for this time.