“Oh, could we go with you?” cried Ted, almost before he knew what he was saying.
“Go with me? Why do you want to go to the Gypsy camp?” asked the farmer storekeeper, in surprise.
“Because maybe the Gypsies have our dog Skyrocket,” answered Ted.
“Oh, maybe they have!” cried Janet, clapping her hands excitedly.
“Why, I thought you said your dog ran away,” went on Mr. Blake. And he looked first at Uncle Ben and then at the children.
“But I saw Skyrocket in a Gypsy wagon!” cried Tom. “And maybe these Gypsies have him. Oh, I hope they have!”
“Hum!” said Mr. Blake, as he got up from his seat on a nail keg to weigh out a pound of sugar for a barefooted boy who came into the store. “Hum! Let me hear the whole story, children. There may be more out at this Gypsy camp than we think there is.”
So Janet and Ted told how Skyrocket had been lost, and Tom told how, later on, he had seen one of the Gypsy wagons going along with a black dog in it, that looked just like the Curlytops’ pet.
“And if these Gypsies are the same ones, maybe they have Skyrocket out at their camp now,” finished Tom.
“They surely have a lot of dogs out there—I saw ’em,” said Mr. Addison, the farmer who had first mentioned the Gypsies. “And that big, yellow one looked as savage as a wolf. I’m sure he’s a bad sheep dog. I think he took some of my sheep and chickens, too.”