The other woman had been stirring the great pot of stew. It certainly
_did_ throw off a delicious odor. Each girl carried a lunch box and they
had been about to hunt a pretty spot, near a spring, and satisfy their
appetites. Now the woman at the cauldron, who looked a deal like an old
witch, turned and waved her spoon, grinned, and said something to the
half-frightened visitors.
The younger Gypsy woman interpreted:
"She says you can have some dinner, if you will stay."
"My goodness!" whispered Dora. "I could not eat any of that stuff."
"Some of the Gypsies are good cooks--and that smells delicious," Eve
said.
Laura shook her head, but tried to speak kindly. "We could not stop long
enough to eat with you," she said. "We must go just as soon as the other
girl comes out."
"Better think twice of it, little lady," said the Gypsy woman. "When you
eat the bread and salt of the Romany folk they remain your friends."
"And chase you with bloodhounds if you try to get away," spoke Nellie,
unguardedly.
It was an unfortunate remark. The woman must have heard it. She turned
and spoke to the men again. They rose and stood ready to oppose the
departure of the girls of Central High.
Even Laura and Eve felt their courage waver at this. The latter knew
that there were no farms near--no inhabited dwellings. The nearest
family must be at least two miles away. And this road was lonely at
best--and this time of year, when the farmers were just beginning to get
their plows into the ground, everybody was busy and there would not be
much driving on any of the ridge roads.
"What can we do?" moaned Dorothy Lockwood.
"Will they dare keep us here, Eve?" demanded her twin.
At this strained point in the proceedings there was a sudden excitement
among the Gypsies. One of the men started up the road in an easterly
direction. The girls looked in some worriment of mind to see what was to
happen.
"They've caught the girl!" muttered Jess.
"No, But the dog's coming back," said Laura.
There appeared almost at once the three men who had hunted with the
bloodhound--and the hound himself. He was more ferocious-looking close
to than at a distance. The six girls shrank together when he passed
them, his great dewlaps slobbering and dripping, and his red eyes
glancing sullenly from side to side.
The Gypsies laughed when they saw fear so plainly displayed in the
countenances of the six girls. The bloodhound was fastened to one of the
wagon wheels, and then the Romany folk paid no particular attention to
their visitors.
It was plain that they considered the girls would not go far when they
saw that the dog could be unleashed and set upon their trail. Nellie
Agnew began to cry, but Laura was growing angry.
"Just wait till Bobby comes out of that tent. I'm going to start right
off along the road----"
"You won't ever dare to!" gasped Dora.
"Yes, I will. They won't dare set a dog like that on us----"
Just then the little boy they had first seen ran out of the other tent.
He was evidently aiming for his father, who was a low-browed man with
huge hoops of gold in his ears, and a ferocious mustache.
But the little one had to pass the dog. He saw him, gave a shriek of
delight, and ran straight at the huge and savage-looking creature!
The girls were, for an instant, greatly startled. Then they were amazed
to see the little fellow roll the bloodhound over and laugh and shriek
in delight--while the dog nuzzled the baby and seemed to like the play.
"My goodness!" cried Jess. "That dog's nothing but a bluff!"
"I believe you," said Laura. "I've heard of a dog's bark being worse
than his bite; but in this case his appearance is a whole lot worse than
his real nature. I guess they just keep him for his fearful looks and
his ability to trail anything."
"Girls included," murmured Dora. "I don't want him trailing me."
The Gypsies had tried to call the little boy away from the huge dog. But
they knew that the appearance of the hound would no longer strike terror
to the hearts of their visitors.
Indeed, Laura, who was naturally unafraid of dogs, as she was of horses,
went over to the big, ugly-looking brute, and patted his head. He raised
up and looked at her, and his bloodshot eyes _did_ have a fearful
appearance; but he lapped her hand with his soft tongue--and _that_
bogey was laid!
"Just as soon as Bobby comes out, we'll go, girls," said Laura,
confidently. "They won't dare lay a finger on us."
At that moment Bobby burst from the fortune-teller's tent. She presented
a wonderful and a shocking sight to her friends, for usually they saw
her laughing. She was in tears and she ran to Laura and clung to her in
a frightened way.
"Oh! oh!" she cried. "I want to get away from this horrid place. Do
let's go, Mother Wit! Please do!"
"What's the matter with you, Bobby?" demanded Jess, nervously. "You give
me the creeps."
"These hateful people----" began Dora Lockwood, when the Gypsy queen
appeared at the tent entrance. Her eyes sparkled and her handsome face
was flushed. She called something in a low, clear voice, and the men,
who had gathered in a knot at one side, started toward her.
One of them unfastened the dog again and held the end of the chain. The
queen was talking excitedly in their own tongue to the others.
Laura shook Bobby a little and said, shrewdly:
"I guess she got out of you what she wanted to know, eh?"
Bobby only sobbed.
"Did you tell her what direction that girl was going--that she was
wading up stream?"
"Oh, yes! I did!" gasped Bobby. "She made me."
"Well, it can't be helped. It's really none of our business," said
Laura. "But if they try to stop us from going away now, we've got to
scatter and run. They can't hold us all very well, and one of us will
surely find some house----"
"They won't dare stop us," said Eve, decidedly.
At that moment Nell held up her hand. "Hark!" she exclaimed. "What is
that?"
The rattling of a heavy wagon coming down the road from the east was
audible. Eve instantly ran out to the edge of the road. One of the
Gypsies uttered a shrill, warning cry, and the men turned to intercept
the girls.
But into view came the heads of a team of bay horses, and then a
farm-wagon, with a bewhiskered man in high boots on the seat, driving
the team.
"Hullo! Whoa!" exclaimed the farmer, when he saw Eve. "I declare I Is
that you, Evie?"
"Why, Mr. Crook! how glad I am to see you," said the Swiss girl. "What
have you got in the wagon? Just a few bags? Then you can give us a lift,
can't you? We are tired walking."
"Sure I can, Miss Evie," replied the farmer. "What are you girls doin'
with these 'Gyptians? Gettin' your fortunes told?"
"Oh, we just stopped here for a minute," said Eve, carelessly.
The Gypsies had hesitated to approach closer. The men began to slip
away, one after the other.
"Pile in, girls," said the farmer, hospitably. "I'm going five or six
miles on this road. Bound for Fielding?"
"Yes, we are," replied Eve, as her friends gratefully clambered into the
end of the wagon.
"Oh, dear me!" whispered Jess. "What luck this is! I believe those folks
would have tried to keep us."
"I don't know about that," returned her chum. "But the woman certainly
managed to frighten Bobby most thoroughly."
Bobby had hushed her sobs. But even when the wagon had started again and
the Gypsy camp was out of sight, she was not willing to talk about what
the Varey woman had told her.