But that did not stop Sammy’s teasing. “Say, us men ought to go, anyway,” he said. “Come on! Lemme go, Neale. I won’t be in the way. Tom Jonah’s going.”
So in the car that had passed so near the two little lost girls as they picked berries, were Neale and Sammy, as well as Tom Jonah and the constable, Mr. Munro. Tess and Dot were too greatly interested just then, however, in that vivid petticoat and in the strange looking woman who wore it to think about anything else.
CHAPTER XIV—WITH THE ROMANY FOLK
The woman had a very brown face and wore great hoops of gold in her ears, while on her head was a sort of turban with a fringed end hanging down behind. She certainly was dressed in very gay colors.
She had bright, beady black eyes, and when she saw Tess and Dot Kenway she looked at them very kindly indeed. At least, her smile was broad and her voice, when she spoke, was pleasant. She carried a heaping basket of berries.
“You leetle children out early to pick the berry, eh?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Tess, gravely.
But Dot was more communicative. She said promptly: “We’ve been out all night.”
“Picking berries?” queried the woman. “Not alone, eh?”
“We only just found the berries,” declared Dot, the chatterbox. “And, oh! we were so hungry.”