CHAPTER XII
A BREAK FOR LIBERTY
Ruth finally slept in the Gypsy van as sweetly as though she were in herown little bed in the gable room at the Red Mill. She was bodilywearied, and she had lost herself while yet she was watching the GypsyQueen worshipping the pearl necklace, and fearing that the man with theevil eyes was peering into the interior of the van.
A hundred noises of the Gypsy camp awakened her when the sun wasscarcely showing his face. Dogs barked and scampered about; horsesneighed and stamped; roosters crowed and hens cackled. The children werecrying, or laughing, and the women chattering as they went about thegetting of breakfast at the fires.
The fires crackled; the men sat upon the van tongues cleaning harnessafter the rain and mud of the afternoon before. The boys were polishingthe coats of the beautiful horses, till they shone again.
All these activities Ruth Fielding could see through the tiny windows ofthe queen's van, in which she and Helen Cameron were imprisoned. Herchum roused, too, but was half tempted to cry, when she remembered theircircumstances. Queen Zelaya had gone out.
"Come on!" exclaimed Ruth. "We've got to make the best of it. Get onyour dress and shoes, and perhaps they will let us out, too."
"Let's run away, Ruthie," whispered Helen.
"The very first chance we get--sure we will!" agreed her chum.
They found the door unlocked, and, as nobody stayed them, the two girlsdescended the steps to the ground. A cross-looking dog came and smelledof them, but the bold-looking girl who had brought the supper the nightbefore drove him away.
Ruth essayed to speak to her, but she shook her head and laughed.Perhaps she did not understand much English.
Ruth was looking around eagerly for Roberto. Had she seen the Gypsy boy,she would certainly have thrown herself--and Helen--upon him forprotection. But although not many of the Gypsies looked unkindly towardthe girls, none appeared really friendly.
The woman who had aided in their capture the night before took them downto the water, where they might wash their faces and hands and comb theirhair, using the toilet requisites from their bags. Nobody had offeredto interfere with them in any manner, or touch their belongings. Thewoman waited patiently until they were ready, and took them back to thecamping ground for breakfast.
But Ruth had seen something. At first she dared not whisper it to herchum. After they had eaten (and a very good breakfast it was that theGypsies gave them), she managed to get Helen out of earshot of thewatchers.
Everybody in the camp watched the prisoners. The girls were not drivenback into the van again at once, but Ruth saw that even the childrencircled about her and Helen, at a little distance, so that the girlswere continuously guarded.
They sat down upon an old stump, in an open space, where nobody couldcreep near enough to hear what Ruth said to Helen without one or theother of the captives seeing the eavesdropper.
"What is it?" asked Helen, anxiously. "Oh, Ruth! where do you supposeTom is? What can he think of us?"
"I only hope Tom won't come along here alone and fall into trouble,too," said the girl of the Red Mill, in return. "But I believe there isa chance for us to get away without his help, dear."
"Oh, how?" demanded her chum.
"Did you look along the shore when we were down there to the lake justnow?"
"Yes. In both directions. There wasn't a soul in sight but you andmyself and that woman," returned Helen, showing that she had beenobservant to a degree, at least.
"You are right. It is a lonely spot. I saw nobody. But I saw a fishingpunt."
"A fishing punt?"
"Yes. Pulled up on the shore a little way. There is a pole in it, too.It can be pushed off into the water easily, and I did not see anotherboat of any kind in either direction."
"Oh, Ruth! Neither did I. I didn't even see the boat you speak of."
"It is there just the same. We can reach it in one minute from here--byrunning."
"Let's run, then!" whispered Helen, energetically.
"We'll wait our chance. They are watching too closely now. By and bythey must get more careless. Then we'll try it."
"But I don't just see what we can do in that boat," queried Helen, aftera moment's thought.
"Push out into the lake, so that they can't reach us. Then risk beingseen by Tom or somebody else who will help us escape the Gypsies."
"But these men will follow us," said Helen, with a shudder. "They canswim--some of them--surely."
"And if they try it, we'll beat them off with the push-pole," declaredRuth. "Keep up your pluck, Helen. They will not really dare hurtus--especially if they expect to get money for our release. And I'd liketo know," added Ruth, with rather a bitter little laugh, "who will pay_my_ ransom?"
"I'll make father pay whatever they ask," whispered Helen. "Oh, dear!won't he be just _mad_ when he hears about it?"
Soon the activities of the camp changed. It was plain to the two girlsthat their captors had no intention of spending the day in this dell bythe lake side.
A number of the men and boys had gone off with some of the horses early.Now they returned, and it was evident that the men were angry, if not alittle frightened. They talked loudly with Zelaya, and the Queen of theGypsies seemed to be scolding them soundly.
It was surprising to the visitors at the camp that the old woman shouldhave such influence over these black-browed ruffians. But she _did_possess a power; it was self-evident!
Soon preparations were begun for shifting camp. The tents were struckand all the paraphernalia of the camp was returned to the three vans.
"Something has happened," whispered Ruth to Helen. "Perhaps Tom hasraised the hue and cry for us, and they are afraid of being caught herewith us in their possession."
"Mean old things!" snapped Helen. "I wish they would all be caught andput into jail."
"The little children, too?"
"The little ones will grow up to be big ones--and they are all bad,"declared Helen, with confidence.
"I can't believe that Roberto is bad," said Ruth, thoughtfully. "I wishhe was with them now. I believe he would help us get away."
"Maybe these are not his people."
"I think they are," returned Ruth. But she did not say anything then toHelen about the pearl necklace, and the cashbox of Queen Zelaya.
The necklace was never out of Ruth's thought, however, for she was sureit had been stolen. The girl of the Red Mill would know the necklaceagain; wherever she might see it.
In the first place it was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen.But there was a peculiar pendant attached to it--in the shape of afleur-de-lis--of larger pearls, that would distinguish it among anynumber of such articles of adornment.
Ruth kept in mind the chance she hoped would arise for their escape.Helen was hopeless; but she had agreed to make the attempt, if Ruthdid.
The whole camp was busy in preparing for departure. There were not somany eyes now upon the girls. And--therefore--there being no regularguard set over them, the opportunity Ruth hoped for arose.
In harnessing one of the horses to a van, something happened to callmost of the excited crowd together. The horse kicked, and one of the menwas hurt.
The moment the shouting over this incident arose, Ruth pinched Helen andthey both got up and slipped into the wood. They were out of sight in amoment, and having chosen the side toward the lake, they set off at topspeed through the underbrush for the spot where Ruth had seen thefishing punt.
"Suppose it leaks?" gasped Helen, running hard beside her friend.
"Well! we'll know it when we're in deep water," grimly returned Ruth.
At that moment they heard a great hullabaloo at the camp behind them.
"They've discovered we're missing," gasped Helen.
"Come on, then!" cried Ruth. "Let's see if we can outwit them. We've gota chance for liberty, my dear. Don't lose heart."
Ruth Fielding and the Gypsies; Or, The Missing Pearl Necklace Page 12
