“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!” faltered4 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 pointed5 toward the camp, over which a little haze6 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, grassy7 glade8. It looked picturesque9 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 scented10 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 decided11 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 canine12 chorus of howls and barks of protest as the party of Camp Fire Girls came into view.
A black-haired and copper-visaged man, sprawling13 under a tree, sat up suddenly at the sound made by the brutes14, 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 growls15 the dogs obeyed, slinking off to shady spots where flies would not so much trouble them.
“Shall we go on?” whispered Natalie, as they came to a halt.
“Of course,” declared Mrs. Bonnell. “That’s what we are here for. Keep your eyes open now, girls.”
Again they went on. The man under the tree had again stretched out on the grass, his slouch hat over his eyes. Several other men peered out from the interior of the wagons, or looked from between the flaps of tents. Some few, surrounding a squad16 of horses, did not even turn to look at the girls.
A woman with a dark, wrinkled face, and straggly gray hair, dressed in a red and yellow spotted17 dress, yet, withal clean as to person and raiment, came from a tent near the edge of the encampment—the tent nearest the path where the girls were walking.
“Tell your fortunes, ladies,” she began with a smirk18. “Anything you want to know—with cards, tea leaves, by the palm, or by the eyes. We use all ways. Tell your fortunes. Queen Neezar never fails—past, present and future!”
She rattled19 it off—a string of patter and jargon20 doubtless learned by heart. Yet she spoke21 English very well, not so much grammatically, as without a trace of accent.
“Perhaps we may have our fortunes told,” said Mrs. Bonnell. “Does more than one person tell the fortunes? There are five of us, and——”
“I see—you are in a hurry. Oh, yes, all Gypsy women can tell fortunes. We are the only ones who can. We tell in many ways. A look at the face is enough. I can see, lady, that you have much fortune. You are a leader—you like to help others.”
“Say, that’s just the way Mrs. Bonnell is!” exclaimed Alice, in a whisper. “Isn’t it uncanny! I’m afraid to have her tell mine!”
“Nonsense! She just guessed at it,” declared Natalie. “Any one would know Mrs. Bonnell was a leader when they saw her bring us down like a general, and then beginning the talk. It was just a shrewd guess.”
“Maybe so,” agreed Alice. “I wonder if we’ll all have our fortunes told? Or will we look for that girl——”
“Hush!” exclaimed Natalie. “Mrs. Bonnell is speaking.”
“We would like to see all who tell fortunes,” said the Guardian22 shrewdly, as she hoped. “We too, in a way, can tell fortunes, and we would like to pick out the one who will reveal the future to us.”
“That is but fair,” said Queen Neezar. “You shall see all who tell fortunes in this camp. I am the Queen of this tribe.”
“Are you, really?” asked Mabel.
“I am. We still keep up our old customs. We are real Gypsies from Romany. I will tell them all to come out and you may select whom you will.”
She passed rapidly from tent to wagon3, and soon a number of young women, and old, down to girls of fifteen and sixteen, appeared. Some were old women, one a veritable hag, but most of them were middle-aged23, their faces dark and wrinkled, yet with the healthy color of out-of-doors, and their skin was beautifully clear. They seemed quite clean, too, and the glimpses the girls had into the tents and wagons showed them much neater than one would have imagined on hearing the word Gypsies.
“Are—are these all fortune-tellers?” asked Mrs. Bonnell, after a look about the camp, as her eyes swept over the assembled group. The men did not seem to concern themselves with what was going on, and the dogs had quieted down.
“All—yes, lady.”
“And have you no more—no young girls?”
“No, lady.”
“We saw one girl—once—named Hadee—is she not with your tribe?”
For an instant the Guardian was sure there passed a look between the two older Gypsy women, and then the Queen answered:
“Hadee is no longer here.”
“Where is she?”
“We do not know, lady. Will you have your fortunes told?” and the voice was somewhat cold. Mrs. Bonnell changed her tactics at once.
“We will have our fortunes told,” she said decidedly. “A different teller24 for each one, and it will not take so long.”
“So, Hadee is missing,” whispered Natalie, as they followed the Queen toward the collection of tents. “I wonder where she can be?”
“Maybe she has been arrested,” suggested Mabel, in a whisper.
“We would have heard about it,” declared Alice. “More likely she has run off or been spirited away so she won’t be caught. Oh, dear! We seem doomed25 to failure!”
“Hush!” exclaimed Marie. “We mustn’t let them know we suspect anything.”
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1
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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8
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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9
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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10
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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11
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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12
canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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14
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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15
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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smirk
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| n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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21
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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22
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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23
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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24
teller
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| n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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