THE camp was not near the village. It was near the woods. The Gypsies
chose the place because they could get plenty of dry brush to burn. And
there was a brook near by where they could get good water. Some of the
village children thought at first that it would be fine sport to live
so: never to go to school--never to learn lessons--never to dress up
clean--always run about as they pleased and where they pleased.
But after the Gypsies had been there a long time, they thought
differently. They saw the dirty, ragged children carrying big kettles of
water from the brook, or large bundles of brush from the woods. They
learned that the women and children did all the work. Perhaps the men
stole many of the things they had to eat. And one day when two or three
boys ventured into the camp, they saw, in one of the tents, a poor, sick
child lying on the bare ground. No one was near it.
They went to their pleasant, comfortable homes, feeling that it was
better to have a good father and mother to care for them, even if they
did send them to school and require them to learn lessons.
[Illustration: THE GIPSY]