“We’ll go to the pond,” decided Natalie when the boys had veered out of hearing. “And we’ll see whether the Gypsies are there. Maybe we can get ahead of the boys. Shall we go, girls?” “Yes!” they chorused. CHAPTER XIII LOST AT BEAR POND “Are you sure this is the road, Marie?” “The man said it was.” “That doesn’t make it so,” retorted Alice. “I never knew such poor directions as those given by persons who have lived in a place nearly all their lives. You scarcely ever can depend on them.” “That is so,” agreed Natalie. “I remember we were at Atlantic Highlands one summer, and I went for a walk. I got a little confused, and asked an old gentleman how to get on the right road. He was an old settler—he told me so—and yet he directed me a mile out of my way, and it was twice as far from where I was to our cottage as he said it was. Oh, I was so provoked!” “I do hope nothing like that occurs this time,” ventured Mrs. Bonnell. “Whom did you ask about the road, Marie?” “The boy who brings our milk.” “Not that stupid chap?” remonstrated Mabel. “He isn’t stupid,” declared Marie. “It’s only bashfulness. He’s eighteen, and he ought to know——” “Yes, he ought to know enough to be bashful with this crowd,” laughed Alice. “Oh, Marie, couldn’t you get any better guide?” “There you go!” exclaimed Jack’s sister. “You left it all to me, and when I do get directions you’re all finding fault. It isn’t fair!” and she swung ahead on the narrow path as though she wanted to have done with the argument. It was two days after Natalie had overheard what she believed was a clue to the location of the Gypsy camp, and the girls had determined, after a somewhat lengthy consultation, to at least go near enough to spy upon it, and decide later what to do—perhaps with the help of the boys. Behold them now on their way to Bear Pond, a rather lonesome bit of water about five miles back in the woods from Green Lake. They had gone in two boats to a certain cove whence ran a path, more or less well defined, to the pond, and the talk now ran on the chances of reaching their destination. “Though we may get there all right,” Natalie asserted. “The question is—can we get back again?” “I don’t see why not!” exclaimed Marie, who had assumed the post of leader. “If you get to a place you can always get back.” “This path seems to twist and turn so,” said Alice, as they went single file along the winding trail, that circled in and out among the trees, now descending into a little glade, and again ascending a slope. “If it will only stay crooked, and not straighten out when we come back, maybe we can remember it. Don’t you think we ought to make some kind of landmarks as we go along, girls?” “We could blaze a trail,” suggested Natalie, “only I don’t believe any one brought a hatchet.”