“I have here,” he went on to say, pompously, never noticing the slur in her language when she addressed him; “a legally sworn warrant, charging you with having in your wagon a small child--yes, a girl at that--which it is claimed you have abducted, kidnapped, carried away from its proper parents or guardians. And by virtue of my office, and this document, I am directed by the justice to bring both woman and child before him at once. So produce the child, and prepare to accompany us back to town.” He made a motion, and his men closed in. The old queen looked as though she might defy the authorities of Columbia; but a glance around showed that not a single one of her men was within call. So she knew she must give up. “I have a child, I confess,” she said, scornfully, addressing Frank rather than the big policeman; “and it does not belong to my tribe, but I expected to adopt it after a while, if no one claimed it. A woman came to us several months ago, when, we were camped far away from here. She seemed to be out of her mind, and we took her in. The little girl was with her. She died soon afterwards, and the child was left with us. All this can be proved. What have I to fear?” Turning, she spoke to someone behind her, when the girl the boys had seen before, and whom the queen had called her granddaughter, Mena, shoved forward. She, too, looked scornfully at the big policeman, and undoubtedly the defiant nature of the old queen had descended to the child. She was leading a small girl, whose hair seemed to be black enough, and her skin as dusky as that of the genuine gypsy, but whose eyes were a bonny blue. She looked eagerly at the boys, and seeing Lanky, held out her hands toward him. “What is your name, little girl?” Lanky asked, ready to give a shout, so filled with excitement did he seem. “Effie!” was the quick reply, in a childish voice, as the little one shrank from the old queen, who must have been very cruel to her, Frank thought. “That settles it!” yelled Lanky, as he turned on Frank, the light of a second great victory in one day filling his dancing eyes. The Chief would take no delay. He realized that should the gypsy men return and find him arresting their queen, trouble of some sort was apt to ensue. And while Chief Hogg could look very imposing in his fine uniform, and possibly frighten boys, and hungry hoboes, everyone knew he did not particularly like a rough-and-tumble fight. And so they all climbed up into the wagon, when the return journey to town was begun. Fortunately they happened to meet none of the gypsies on the way. And the old queen seemed to be sure that she could prove her statement, so that she would be held guiltless. If anyone was guilty of abduction it must have been the half-crazed woman who came with the child. And she had long since passed to a land where human laws could never reach her.