They stopped at Milan to visit the great cathedral, and then raced through Switzerland and made a dash from Luzerne to Paris.

“Thank heaven,” said Uncle John, “there are no cathedrals in gay Paree, at any rate.”

“Oh, yes there are,” they assured him.  “We must see Notre Dame, anyway; and there are a dozen other famous cathedrals.”

Here is where Uncle John balked.

“See here, my dears,” he announced, “Not a cathedral will I visit from this time on!  You can take a guide and go by yourselves if you feel you can’t let any get away from you.  Go and find another of Mike Angelo’s last work; every church has got one.  For my part, I’ve always been religiously inclined, but I’ve been to church enough lately to last me the rest of my natural life, and I’ve fully determined not to darken the doors of another cathedral again.  They’re like circuses, anyhow; when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all.”

No argument would induce him to abandon this position; so the girls accepted his proposal and visited their beloved cathedrals in charge of a guide, whose well of information was practically inexhaustible if not remarkable for its clarity.

The opera suited Uncle John better, and he freely revelled in the shops, purchasing the most useless and preposterous things in spite of that growing bugbear of the customs duties.

But finally this joyous holiday came to an end, as all good things will, and they sailed from Cherbourg for New York.

Uncle John had six extra trunks, Patsy carried a French poodle that was as much trouble as an infant in arms, and Louise engineered several hat-boxes that could not be packed at the last minute.  But the girls embarked gay and rosy-cheeked and animated, and in spite of all the excitement and pleasure that had attended their trip, not one of the party was really sorry when the return voyage began.

CHAPTER XXXI

SAFE HOME

“To me,” said Uncle John, as he stood on the deck and pointed proudly to the statue of Liberty in New York harbor, “that is the prettiest sight I’ve seen since I left home.”

“Prettier than the old masters, Uncle?” asked Patsy, mischievously.

“Yes, or the cathedrals!” he retorted.

When they reached the dock there was the Major waiting to receive Patsy in a new checked suit with a big flower in his button-hole and a broad smile on his jolly face.

And there was Mrs. Merrick, too, with Arthur Weldon beside her, which proved to Louise that he had succeeded in making his peace with her mother.  Also there were the stern-featured custom-house officials in their uniforms, and the sight of them sent the cold chills flying down Uncle John’s spine.

There was no one present to receive Beth, but her uncle tucked her arm underneath his own with a proud gesture and kept her close beside him.  For the girl had quite won his loving old heart on this trip, and she seemed to him more mature and far sweeter than when they had left home.