As Mrs McCall told Ruth Kenway when she arrived with Luke and Cecile
at the old Corner House, the other Kenway sister and Neale O'Neil had
not started out on their hunt for the Gypsy encampment alone. Mr.
Pinkney, hearing of the absence of the smaller girls, had volunteered
to go with the searchers.
"Somehow, my wife feels that Sammy may be with Tess and Dot," he
explained to Neale and Agnes. "I never contradict her at such times.
And perhaps he is. No knowing where that boy of mine is likely to turn
up, anyway."
"But you do not suppose for one instant, Mr. Pinkney, that Sammy has
come and coaxed my sisters to run away?" cried Agnes from the tonneau,
as the car started out through Willow Street.
"I am not so sure about that. You know, he got Dot to run away with
him once," chuckled Mr. Pinkney.
"This is nothing like that, I am sure!" declared Agnes.
"I am with you there, Aggie," admitted Neale. "I guess this is a
serious affair. The Gypsies are in it."
Between the two, the boy and the girl told Mr. Pinkney all about the
silver bracelet and the events connected with it. The man listened
with appreciation.
"I don't know, of course, anything about the fight between the two
factions of Gypsies over what you call Queen Alma's bracelet--"
"If it doesn't prove to be Sarah Turner's bracelet," interjected
Agnes.
"Yes. That is possible. They may have just found it--those Gypsy women.
And the story Costello, the junkman, told us might be a fake," said
Neale.
"However," broke in Mr. Pinkney again, "there is a chance that the
bracelet was given to Tess and Dot for a different purpose from any
you have suggested."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Neale and Agnes in unison.
"It is a fact that some Gypsies do steal children. Now, don't be
startled! It isn't commonly done. They are often accused without good
reason. But Gypsies are always more or less mixed up with traveling
show people. There are many small tent shows traveling about the
country at this time of year."
"Like Twomley & Sorber's circus," burst out Agnes.
"Smaller than that. Just one-ring affairs. And the shows are regular
'fly-by-nights.' Gypsies fraternize with them of course. And often
children are trained in those shows to be acrobats who are doubtless
picked up around the country--usually children who have no guardians.
And the Gypsies sometimes pick up such."
"Oh, but, Mr. Pinkney!" cried Agnes, "we are so careful of Tess and
Dot. Usually, I mean. I don't know what Ruth will say when she gets
home to-night. It looks as though we had been very careless while she
was gone."
"I know what children have to go through in a circus," said Neale
soberly. "But why should the Gypsies have selected Tess and Dot?"
"Because, you tell me, they were playing circus, and doing stunts at
the very time the Gypsy women sold them the basket."
"Oh! So they were," agreed Agnes. "Oh, Neale!"
"Crickey! It might be, I suppose. I never thought of that," admitted
the boy.
He was carefully running the car while this talk was going on. He soon
drove past the Poole place and later stopped at a little house where
the constable lived.
Mr. Ben Stryker was at home. It was not often that automobile parties
called at his door. Usually they did not want to see Mr. Stryker, who
was a stickler for the "rules of the road."
"What's the matter?" asked the constable, coming out to the car. "Want
to pay me your fine, so as not to have to wait to see the Justice of
the Peace?"
He said it jokingly. When he heard about the missing Kenway children
and of the reason to fear Gypsies had something to do with it, he
jumped into the car, taking Mr. Pinkney's place in the front seat
beside Neale.
"I've had my eye on Big Jim Costello ever since he has been back
here," Stryker declared. "I sent him away to jail once. He is a bad
one. And if he is mixed up in any kidnapping, I'll put him into the
penitentiary for a long term."
"But of course we would not want to make them trouble if the children
went to the camp alone," ventured Agnes. "You know, they might have
been hunting for the two women who sold them the basket."
"Those Gypsies know what to do in such a case. They know where I live,
and they should have brought the two little girls to me. I certainly
have it in for Big Jim."
But as we have seen, when the party arrived at the spot where the
Gypsies had been encamped, not a trace of them was left. That is, no
trace that pointed to the time or the direction of their departure.
"Maybe these Gypsies did not have a thing to do with the absence of
Tess and Dot," whispered Agnes.
"And maybe they had everything to do with it," declared Neale, aloud.
"Looks to me as though they had turned the trick and escaped."
"And in those motor-vans they can cover a deal of ground," suggested
Mr. Pinkney.
Agnes broke down at this point and wept. The constable had got out and
with the aid of his pocket lamp searched the vicinity. He saw plainly
where the vans had turned into the dusty road and the direction they
had taken.
"The best we can do is to follow them," he advised. "If I can catch
them inside the county I'll be able to handle them. And if they go
into the next county I'll get help. Well search their vans, no matter
where we catch them. All ready?"
The party went on. To catch the moving Gypsies was no easy matter.
Frequently Mr. Stryker got down to look at the tracks. This was at
every cross road.
Fortunately the wheels of one of the Gypsy vans had a peculiar tread.
It was easy to see the marks of these wheels in the dust. Therefore,
although the pursuit was slow, they managed to be sure they were going
right.
From eleven o'clock until three in the morning the motor-car was
driven over the circuitous route the nomad procession had taken
earlier in the night. Then they came to the new encampment.
Their approach was announced by the barking of the mongrel dogs that
guarded the camp. Half the tribe seemed to be awake when the car
slowed down and stopped on the roadway. Mr. Stryker got out and
shouted for Big Jim.
"Come out here!" said the constable threateningly. "I know you are
here, and I want to talk with you, Jim Costello."
"Well, whose chicken roost has been raided now?" demanded Big Jim,
approaching with his smile and his impudence both in evidence.
"No chicken thievery," snapped Stryker, flashing his electric light
into the big Gypsy's face. "Where are those kids?"
"What kids? I got my own--and there's a raft of them. I'll give you a
couple if you want."
Big Jim seemed perfectly calm and the other Gypsies were like him.
They routed out every family in the camp. The constable and Neale
searched the tents and the vans. No trace of Tess and Dot was to be
found.
"Everything you lay to the poor Gypsy," said Big Jim complainingly.
"Now it is not chickens--it is kids. Bah!"
He slouched away. Stryker called after him:
"Never mind, Jim. We'll get you yet! You watch your step."
He came back to the Kenway car shaking his head. "I guess they have
not been here. I'll come back to-morrow when the Gypsies don't expect
me and look again if your little sisters do not turn up elsewhere.
What shall we do now?"
Agnes was weeping so that she could not speak. Neale shook his head
gloomily. Mr. Pinkney sighed.
"Well," the latter said, "we might as well start for home. No good
staying here."
"I'll get you to Milton in much shorter time than it took to get
here," said the constable. "Keep right ahead, Mr. O'Neil. We'll take
the first turn to the right and run on till we come to Hampton Mills.
It's pretty near a straight road from there to Milton. And I can get a
ride from the Mills to my place with a fellow I know who passes my
house every morning."
Neale started the car and they left the buzzing camp behind them. They
had no idea that the moment the sound of the car died away the Gypsies
leaped to action, packed their goods and chattels again, and the tribe
started swiftly for the State line. Big Jim did not mean to be caught
if he could help it by Constable Stryker, who knew his record.
The Corner House car whirred over the rather good roads to Hampton
Mills and there the constable parted from them. He promised to report
any news he might get of the absent children, and they were to send
him word if Tess and Dot were found.
The car rounded the pond where Sammy had had his adventure at the
ice-house and had ruined his knickerbockers. It was a straight road
from that point to Milton. Going up the hill beside the pond in the
gray light of dawn, they saw ahead of them a man laboring on in the
middle of the road with a child upon his shoulders, while two other
small figures walked beside him, clinging to his coat.
"There's somebody else moving," said Mr. Pinkney to Agnes. "What do
you know about little children being abroad at this time of the
morning?"
"Shall we give them a lift?" asked Neale. "Only I don't want to stop
on this hill."
But he did. He stopped in another minute because Agnes uttered a
piercing scream.
"Oh, Tessie! Oh, Dot! It's them! It's the children!"
"Great Moses!" ejaculated Mr. Pinkney, forced likewise into
excitement, "is that Sammy Pinkney?"
The man carrying Dot turned quickly. Tess and Sammy both uttered eager
yelps of recognition. Dot bobbed sleepily above the head of the man
who carried her pickaback.
"Oh, Agnes! isn't this my day for wearing that bracelet? Say, isn't
it?" she demanded.
The dark man came forward, speaking very politely and swiftly.
"It is the honest Kenway--yes? You remember Costello? I am he. I find
your sisters with the bad Gypsies--yes. Then you will give me Queen
Alma's bracelet--the great heirloom of our family? I am friend--I bring
children back for you. You give me bracelet?"
Tess and Dot were tumbled into their sister's arms. Mr. Pinkney jumped
out of the car and grabbed Sammy before he could run.
Costello, the junkman, repeated his request over and over while Agnes
was greeting the two little girls as they deserved to be greeted.
Finally he made some impression upon her mind.
"Oh, dear me!" Agnes cried in exasperation, "how can I give it you? I
don't know where it is. It's been stolen."
"Stolen? That Beeg Jeem!" Again Costello exploded in his native
tongue.
Tess nestled close to Agnes. She lifted her lips and whispered in her
sister's ear:
"Don't tell him. He's a Gypsy, too, though I guess he is a good one. I
have got that bracelet inside my dress. It's safe."
They did not tell Costello, the junkman, that at this time. In fact,
it was some months before Mr. Howbridge, by direction of the Court,
gave Queen Alma's bracelet into the hands of Miguel Costello, who
really proved in the end that he had the better right to the bracelet
that undoubtedly had once belonged to the Queen of the Spanish
Gypsies.
It had not been merely by chance that the young Gypsy woman who had
sold the green and yellow basket to Tess and Dot had dropped that
ornament into the basket. She had worn the bracelet, for she was Big
Jim's daughter.
Without doubt it was the intention of the Gypsies to engage the little
girls' interest through this bracelet and get their confidence, to
bring about the very situation which they finally consummated. One of
the women confessed in court that they could sell Tess and Dot for
acrobats. Or they thought they could.
The appearance of Miguel Costello in Milton, claiming the rightful
ownership of the silver bracelet, made the matter unexpectedly
difficult for Big Jim and his clan. Indeed, the Kenways had much to
thank Miguel Costello for.
However, these mysteries were explained long after this particular
morning on which the children were recovered. No such home-coming had
ever been imagined, and the old Corner House and vicinity staged a
celebration that will long be remembered.
Luke Shepard had been put to bed soon after his arrival. But he would
not be content until he got up again and came downstairs in his
bathrobe to greet the returned wanderers.
Agnes just threw herself into Ruth's arms when she first saw her elder
sister, crying:
"Oh! don't you _dare_ ever go away again, Ruth Kenway, without taking
the rest of us with you. We're not fit to be left alone."
"I am afraid some day, Agnes, you will have to get along without me,"
said Ruth placidly, but smiling into Luke's eyes as she said it. "You
know, we are growing up."
"Aggie isn't ever going to grow up," grumbled Neale. "She is just a
kid."
"Oh, is _that_ so, Mr. Smartie?" cried Agnes, suddenly drying her
eyes. "I'd have you know I am just as much grown up as you are."
"Oh, dear, me, I'm so sleepy," moaned Dot. "I--I didn't sleep very well
at all last night."
"Goodness! I should think Sammy and I ought to be the ones to be
sleepy. We didn't have any chance at all!" Tess exclaimed.
As for Sammy, he was taken home by an apparently very stern father to
meet a wildly grateful mother. Mrs. Pinkney drew the sting from all
verbal punishment Mr. Pinkney might have given his son.
"And the dear boy! I knew he had not forgotten us when I found he had
taken that picture with him. Did you, Sammy?"
"Did I what, Mom?" asked Sammy, his mouth comfortably filled with
cake.
"That picture. You know, the one we all had taken down at Pleasant
Cove that time. The one of your father and you and me that you kept on
your bureau. When I saw that you had taken that with you to remember
us by----"
"Oh, crickey, Mom! Buster, the bull pup, ate that old picture up a
month ago," said the nonsentimental Sammy.
THE END
Charming Stories for Girls
THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS SERIES
By Grace Brooks Hill
Four girls from eight to fourteen years of age receive word that a
rich bachelor uncle has died, leaving them the old Corner House he
occupied. They move into it and then the fun begins. What they find
and do will provoke many a hearty laugh. Later, they enter school and
make many friends. One of these invites the girls to spend a few weeks
at a bungalow owned by her parents, and the adventures they meet with
make very interesting reading. Clean, wholesome stories of humor and
adventure, sure to appeal to all young girls.
1 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS.
2 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS AT SCHOOL.
3 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS UNDER CANVAS.
4 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS IN A PLAY.
5 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS' ODD FIND.
6 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS ON A TOUR.
7 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS GROWING UP.
8 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS SNOWBOUND.
9 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS ON A HOUSEBOAT.
10 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS AMONG THE GYPSIES.
11 CORNER HOUSE GIRLS ON PALM ISLAND.
12 THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS SOLVE A MYSTERY.
BARSE & HOPKINS
New York, N.Y., Newark, N.J.
"THE POLLY" SERIES
By Dorothy Whitehill
Polly Pendleton is a resourceful, wide-awake American girl who goes to
a boarding school on the Hudson River some miles above New York. By
her pluck and resourcefulness, she soon makes a place for herself and
this she holds right through the course. The account of boarding
school life is faithful and pleasing and will attract every girl in
her teens.
Cloth, large 12 mo. Illustrated
1 POLLY'S FIRST SUMMER YEAR AT BOARDING SCHOOL
2 POLLY'S SUMMER VACATION
3 POLLY'S SENIOR YEAR AT BOARDING SCHOOL
4 POLLY SEES THE WORLD AT WAR
5 POLLY AND LOIS
6 POLLY AND BOB
7 POLLY'S RE-UNION
8 POLLY'S POLLY
BARSE & HOPKINS
Publishers
New York, N.Y., Newark, N.J.