“Say, you’ve got her on the brain!” complained Phil. “Well, she had a pretty face—for a Gypsy,” declared his chum. “I don’t hear any dogs barking,” said Jack a little later. “No, and I don’t see any lights of their encampment,” added Blake. “Fellows, I guess it’s farther than we thought it was.” “No it isn’t!” cried Phil. “It was right near the bridge we just crossed. But I can tell you what has happened!” he exclaimed, coming to a halt in the dark road. “What?” asked his chums. “What’s happened?” “Those Gypsies have skipped. See, there are the embers of one of their camp fires, though they use stoves when they want to do any real cooking. Boys, they’ve skipped. We’re just too late. That Gypsy girl, and her tribe, have vanished with mother’s diamond ring!” CHAPTER IV THE CALL OF THE CAMP “How long the boys are.” “Yes, it seems an hour since they rushed out, but it isn’t really more than half that.” “Oh, I do hope nothing has happened.” Thus spoke Marie, Alice and Natalie in turn, as they sat with Mabel and her mother, anxiously waiting. “I—I suppose you’ll have to tell father,” ventured Mabel, after a pause, a catch manifesting itself in her voice. “Yes, dear,” replied Mrs. Anderson. “But don’t distress yourself. It is no one’s fault. Father would want to know.” “Perhaps he can do something,” suggested Natalie. “The police ought to be able to,” asserted Mabel with rather fierce energy. “Oh, if I were a man I’d get right after those thieving Gypsies, and make them give up the ring! Why weren’t we boys?” “It’s so much nicer to be girls,” murmured Natalie. “I don’t see why, even if we are girls, that we can’t do something,” declared Alice with conviction. Alice always loved to undertake strenuous matters, though not always carrying them out. Still, she meant well. “What do you mean?” asked Marie. “I mean why can’t we get on the trail of those Gypsies, providing they have gone and left a trail. I think trail is the right word,” she added, doubtfully. “Very proper,” admitted Natalie. “One always has a ‘trail’ to camp.” “What is this I hear about you girls going camping?” asked Mrs. Anderson, probably to furnish a new topic of conversation, and relieve the strain of waiting. “Oh, it’s just a notion,” answered Natalie. “The boys laughed at our Camp Fire Association, and we vowed that we could live in a tent in the woods as well as they. It sounds nice, but—I don’t know,” and she leaned dreamily back in her chair. “Oh, Natalie!” exclaimed Marie. “And you were so anxious to go!” “Well, I am yet. Only I don’t know whether my people will consent. It’s delightful to think about, anyhow.” “It’s this way, mother,” began Mabel, and she briefly explained how the camping idea had germinated. Then, probably to forget the unpleasant episode of the ring, they all talked woodland lore.