“All the more reason why she might run towards me,” insisted Tavia. “Now, Doro, we usually let you have your own way, but in this particular case you may have noticed that a reward is at stake, and I just love rewards. So I’m going.”
At this Tavia picked up a light parasol that stood in a recess of the porch, and dashing it up jauntily, started off down the path with the protesting Dorothy.
The young men waved a “good luck” to the messengers, then they made their way to the “enclosure,” to fully investigate the “carrier” that had brought the clue to the captivity of its mates.
The girls had but a short distance to walk to the camp, and before they reached the grassy sward that surrounded the home of the gypsies, they had caught sight of Urania.
“There she is,” declared Tavia, as a flash of bright skirts darted through the bushes.
“Yes,” agreed Dorothy, “that is Urania, but she has seen us and is getting away.”
“Then I’ll head her off,” said Tavia, making a sudden turn and running in the direction the gypsy girl was taking.
“But you won’t meet her that way,” called Dorothy. “You can’t cross the spring. I’ll go this way. She must either stay in the deep brush, or come out at the end of the path.”
“Oh, I see you know the trail,” answered Tavia. “Well, ‘it’s up to you then.’ I’ll stand guard. And, besides, your shoes are stronger than mine, so a dash through the spring will not give you the same brand of pneumonia that might be ‘handed out’ to me. So long!”
At this the two girls parted, Dorothy taking a roundabout path into the deep wood, while Tavia serenely sat herself down to enjoy a late picking of huckleberries, that were hiding on a bush just at her elbow.