Tommy found her voice at this juncture and raised it in a piercing scream. A moment later a blanket was twisted about her head and she was flung into a corner, clawing and kicking. Margery cowered at one side of the tent, too frightened to move.
Just then a new note was sounded. From behind the tent rose a shrill cry in a voice unfamiliar to either the girls or to the thieving tramps, a voice that caused the tramps to release their prisoners and turn to face the owner of the voice prepared for trouble.
CHAPTER XVIII—THE QUEEN TAKES A HAND
A strange figure stepped into the light of the campfire. It was the figure of an old woman, bent with age. Her face was yellow and wrinkled, her eyes, black and piercing. She hobbled a few steps toward them, using a long stick as though for support.
“Out with you, villains!” she screamed, brandishing the stick threateningly. “My curses be upon your vile heads! Rob, would you? You shall burn in the fire from the clouds,” she hissed, pointing to the spokesman. “And you,” pointing to another, “shall wither in the pit with the iron doors, where all evil doers shall come sooner or later. You shall perish as you deserve. Sybarina says it. So it shall be. Out with you!”
“It’s the Gipsy Queen,” screamed Hazel.
For a moment the tramps stood utterly dumbfounded. They realized that the old Gipsy was laying a curse upon them. More or less superstitious, they stood in considerable awe of Sybarina and her supposedly supernatural powers. The tramp who had pinioned Harriet’s arms behind her back involuntarily relaxed his hold. Harriet made a dash for freedom. In an instant her captor was at her heels.
“Don’t pay any attention to that old lunatic,” he shouted to his companions. “She can’t hurt you. Get the stuff and be quick about it.”
But he had reckoned without his host. Raising her head, Sybarina sent a long shrill call echoing across the fields. Even in the excitement of the moment Harriet realized that it was a signal. A second later the call was answered.
“Skip!” warned the leader of the tramps. “It’s Gipsies. We’ll have the whole lot to fight if we don’t light out!”