will happen to you both. You would not like to go to prison, would you,
and stay there all through this summer, and the next winter, and the
summer of next year, when you might be traveling the road with your
brothers?"

"Make them keep quiet, Peter," cried Lolla, furiously. "She is quite
right There is danger here, but it comes from her friends. She thinks
that if she can fool us into letting her talk, they may pass by and hear
her voice."

"You keep quiet," said Peter, doggedly, evidently deciding that, this
time, he could safely obey Lolla's orders, and quite ready to do so. "If
you make any more noise I will--"

He left the sentence uncompleted, but a savage gesture showed what he
meant. He had a stout stick, and this he now swung with a threatening
air.

Bessie had hoped to work on the superstitious nature of the gypsy man,
and to frighten him, perhaps, if she had good luck, into letting her go
off with Dolly. But Lolla's interference had put that out of the
question. She turned sadly to Dolly, to see her companion's eyes
twinkling.

"Never you mind, Bessie," she said. "They're stupid, anyhow. And as long
as they don't tie us up we're all right. I'd just as soon be here as
anywhere. Someone will go along that trail presently looking for us, and
when they do we can shout. They'll probably make a noise themselves, so
as to let us know they are near. And I'm not frightened any more; really
I'm not."