They hesitated for a moment in the shrubbery, before going forward. They had come upon the camp before they had quite expected to, and, truth to tell, they had formed no definite plan of action. Their chief desire had been to find the place where the wanderers had set up their tents and gaudy wagons, and, now that it lay almost at their feet, they were unprepared.

“What are we going to do?” asked Mabel.

“Let’s go up, and pretend we want our fortunes told,” suggested Alice. “Then we can look about, and see if there is a girl there, like the one who was at Mabel’s house.”

“And if there is?” asked Natalie. “If Hadee is there?”

“Then we can go back and tell the constable,” put in Marie. “It does seem a shame to have her—or any one arrested, but then they mustn’t go about taking pocket-books—and—rings!”

“Suppose it isn’t the same one?” suggested Mabel.

“Well, that’s what we have to learn,” answered Alice. “I say let’s walk right in, as though we had come here by accident and wanted to have our palms read.”

“I never can act that way,” declared Natalie. “I’ll be sure to laugh—or something.”

“And then there are—the dogs!” faltered Marie. “They may bite us.”

“They’re barking loudly enough, anyhow,” declared Mrs. Bonnell. “Perhaps if we each carry part of a sandwich they’ll accept that as a peace offering and let us alone.”

“I have it!” exclaimed Natalie. “We’ll have our dinner here in the woods, first. Then maybe we’ll think of a different plan. Anyhow, if we go in and have our fortunes told now, it will be so late that we’ll be starved before we can eat. Besides it looks as though they were cooking their dinner.”

She pointed toward the camp, over which a little haze of smoke hung.

“I believe Natalie is right,” declared Mrs. Bonnell. “It will be better to eat now. We can go back a way in the woods and have our lunch. They haven’t discovered us. The wind is blowing away from the camp, and the dogs haven’t detected us.”

“It’s just like some of Jack’s books!” exclaimed Marie. “The enemy hasn’t winded us yet.”

“Well, there’s no reason why Camp Fire Girls can’t have as many adventures as boys have,” insisted Alice.

Screened by the bushes they peered down on the Gypsy camp that lay a little below them in a small, grassy glade. It looked picturesque enough in the sunlight, and, as Mrs. Bonnell had said, their presence was not yet discovered. The dogs appeared to be at the far side of the camp, barking among themselves or perhaps at some wild animal they had treed. Until the beasts scented them they were not likely to come that way.

“And, anyhow,” observed Mabel, “there must be lots of people who go to the camp to have their fortunes told. The dogs must be used to them. I don’t believe they’ll harm us.”

“After all, though, it will be safer to save a part of a sandwich each, for the dogs,” insisted Mrs. Bonnell. “That will take their attention if they come out at us by mistake.”

They laughed at her, but decided to do as she had suggested. Then they cautiously made their way back into a thicker part of the forest, and, sitting about a little spring, that bubbled from the side of a hill, they ate part of their lunch, saving some for late afternoon, in case they lost their way again, which did not seem likely, however.

Then came a little period of rest, and Marie proposed:

“Let’s go down now, and have it over with.”

“You’d think she was going to the dentist,” suggested Alice.

“Oh, my dear! Don’t mention dentist to me!” cried Mrs. Bonnell. “I have one that needs filling, and I’ve been putting it off as long as possible. But I really must go—some day.”

Again they approached the camp. This time they did not halt, but went boldly on, seeing a path that led into the midst of the circle of wagons and tents.

The wind must have changed, or else the noses of the dogs had become keener, for there arose a canine chorus of howls and barks of protest as the party of Camp Fire Girls came into view.

A black-haired and copper-visaged man, sprawling under a tree, sat up suddenly at the sound made by the brutes, and, quickly surveying the approaching party he called out in harsh tones:

“Quiet there, or I’ll stone you out of camp! Lie down!”

With muttered growls the dogs obeyed, slinking off to shady spots where flies would not so much tro............