Chapter XXIII: A Tangled Skein

Belle followed Cora's gaze.

"Sure enough," she ejaculated, "it's that man Higby!"

"What do you suppose he's doing here?" wondered Cora.

"I suppose he's off on his vacation," hazarded Bess. "Likely enough he's stopping at one of the boarding houses in Wilton."

"You girls seem to be hypnotized," laughed Jack. "We'll get jealous if you keep looking at those chaps any longer."

"Do you see that man over there?" asked Cora, indicating Higby.

"The fellow with the rainbow tie?" asked Jack. "Yes, I see him. What of him?"

"That's the man who tried to scrape acquaintance with us, and nearly got my purse later on."

"I'd like to pick a quarrel with him and punch his head," said Jack savagely.

"You won't do anything of the kind, Jack Kimball," warned Cora.

"So that's our hated rival, is it?" asked Paul, looking at the young man with some amusement.

"I'll have his heart's blood," hissed Walter tragically.

"It's very queer," mused Cora. "Don't you remember, girls, how the gypsy girl nearly fainted when Bess happened to mention Higby's name? And here he is now in the same camp with her."

"I'd like to be near by when they meet," remarked Belle.

"Still looking for a mystery," chaffed Walter. "It beats all how you girls can pounce on trifles and make a mountain out of them."

"Give them an ounce of fact and they'll get a ton of romance," agreed Paul.

"We're not asking for your approval," retorted Cora. "This is a case that requires brains and naturally you boys are all at sea."

"I don't see that you've reached harbor anywhere," drawled Jack.

"Not yet," admitted Cora, "but that doesn't say we won't. I wonder where that girl can be," she continued, as she looked searchingly around.

"Perhaps they've sent her over to Wilton to tell fortunes there," suggested Paul. "These gypsies don't wait for business to come to them. They hunt it up."

"Oh, I hope not!" exclaimed Cora. "The only reason I cared to come over here was to see her."

But although they loitered about the place for another hour or two, they saw no trace of the gypsy girl.

They were agreeably surprised, however, to run across Mr. Baxter, with whom their relations had grown cordial since he had exerted himself so strenuously in the search for Cora. But despite the pleasant footing on which they stood, there was still that baffling sense of reticence that enveloped him in everything concerning himself.

"Come over to get your fortune told?" asked Jack with a grin.

"Not exactly," smiled Mr. Baxter, "though I'm always in the market for exact information."

"I hope you don't mean to imply that there's anything phony about the dope they hand out here," laughed Walter.

"We saw your friend, Mr. Morley, yesterday," remarked Cora.

Mr. Baxter shot a sharp look at her.

"Is that so?" he inquired. "How did you happen to know we were acquainted?"

"He told me so himself," returned Cora promptly.

"Well, that ought to be pretty good authority," replied Mr. Baxter.

But he showed no disposition to pursue the subject, as Cora had wished he would, and the conversation turned into other channels.

Mr. Baxter excused himself shortly, and the party strolled on. The girls bought bits of bead and embroidered work from the women, and had their fortunes told twice, spinning out the time in the hope that they would meet the girl they sought. But she did not appear, and at last they made their way to the cars, sorely disappointed.

They had gone only a little way when Bess exclaimed:

"Look! There's some one behind those bushes."

The others looked, but could see nothing.

"You're dreaming, I guess," remarked her sister.

"Nothing of the kind!" replied Bess indignantly. "I have eyes. And it was a woman, too. I caught a glimpse of her skirts."

"Well, suppose it is," observed Jack nonchalantly. "She has a right to be there if she wants to. The woods are free."

"I wish you'd get down and see," pleaded Cora.

"Oh, very well," replied Jack resignedly. "Since you girls are determined to butt in, I suppose I'll have to be the goat."

He got down from the car, but at that moment the bushes parted, and a girl stepped out into the road. She was gaily dressed and had a tambourine in her hand.

But there was no suggestion of gaiety in her face, which was distressed and bore traces of recent tears.

Cora uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure.

"Why," she cried, "it's the gypsy girl!"

The girl looked up and tried to smile, but it was a forlorn attempt.

The girls stepped down from the car and gathered about her. The boys would have followed, but Cora interposed.

"You boys drive on a little way and wait for us," she directed. "We'll be with you in a few minutes."

The boys looked at each other and laughed, but they obeyed. Then Cora turned to the girl.

"You seem to be in trouble of some kind," she said gently. "I wonder if we couldn't help you?"

The gypsy hesitated.

"Don't be afraid," urged Cora. "We're all girls together here, and we'll do anything we can to help you if you'll only let us."

The girl started to speak in her gypsy patter, and here Cora hazarded a bold stroke.

"Don't talk that way," she said with a winning smile. "I'm sure you can use as good English as we can if you want to."

The shot went home, and the girl flushed under the tan that bronzed her cheeks.

"I don't know why you think that," she said in a low voice.

"It was from something you said the other day when you were off your guard," replied Cora. "Of course I don't want to meddle with your affairs, but I do want that we should be friends. My name is Cora and this is Bess and this Belle. What is your name?"

"They call me Nina," replied the girl, who was visibly melting under the charm of Cora's personality.

"Now won't you tell us just what the matter is?" continued Cora. "I can see that you have been crying."

"I was frightened," answered the girl.

"Do the gypsies treat you badly?" asked Cora.

"No," replied Nina. "They're rough sometimes, but they're kindly at heart. But there was some one over at the camp to-day that I haven't seen for a long time, and that I hoped I never would see. I'm afraid of him. He didn't see me, but I saw him, and I ran away to hide in the woods till he should be gone."

The girls looked at each other, and the same name came to the minds of all three.