“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.”