CHAPTER XVII
OFF FOR SCHOOL AGAIN
There was much bustle about the old Red Mill. The first tang of frostwas in the air, and September was lavishly painting the trees and bushesalong the banks of the Lumano with crimson and yellow.
A week had elapsed since Ruth and Helen had been prisoners in theGypsies' encampment, up in the hills. That week had been crowded withexcitement and adventure for the chums and Tom Cameron. They would allthree have much to talk about regarding the Gypsies and their ways, forweeks to come.
Uncle Ike Cameron had roused up the County Sheriff and all his minions,before Ruth appeared at Severn Corners, driven by the kindly farmer towhose door Roberto had brought her through the darkness and rain.
Constable Peck, having searched the Gypsy camp, believed that Ruth musthave escaped from the Romany people at the same time as Helen.Therefore, it was not until Ruth's complete story was told, that actualpursuit of the Gypsies by the county authorities was begun.
Then Queen Zelaya and her band were not only out of the county, but outof the state, as well. They had hurried across the border, and it wasunderstood that the tribe had gone south--as they usually did in thewinter--and would be seen no more in New York State--at least not untilthe next spring.
The three friends had much to tell wherever they went during thisintervening week. They had had a fine time at "Uncle Ike's," but everyadventure they had was tame in comparison to those they had experiencedon the road overlooking Long Lake.
They wondered what had become of Roberto--if he had returned to hispeople and risked being accused of letting Ruth escape. Ruth discussedthis point with her friends; but one thing she had never mentioned toeither Helen, or her brother Tom.
She did not speak to them of the wonderful pearl necklace she had seenin the old Gypsy queen's possession. There was a mystery about that; shebelieved Zelaya must have stolen it. The man with the wicked face hadintimated that it was part of some plunder the Gypsies had secured.
Now, Ruth and Helen--and Tom as well--were ready to start for schoolagain. This was the last morning for some time to come, that Ruth wouldlook out of her little bedroom window at the Red Mill.
She always left the beautiful place with regret. She had come to loveold Aunt Alvirah so much, and have such a deep affection and pity forthe miserly miller, that the joy of going back to Briarwood was welltempered with remorse.
The night before, Uncle Jabez had come to Ruth, when she was alone, andthrust a roll of coin in her hand. "Ye'll want some ter fritter away asus'al, Niece Ruth," he had said in his most snarling tone.
When she looked at it, her heart beat high. There were five ten-dollargold pieces!
It was given in an ungrateful way, yet the girl of the Red Mill believedher uncle meant to be kind after all. The very thought of giving uppossession of so much money made him cranky. Perhaps he was determinedto give her these fifty dollars on the very day they had been wrecked onthe Lumano. No wonder he had been so cross all this time!
It was Uncle Jabez's way. As Aunt Alvirah said, he could not help it. Atleast, he had never learned to make any effort to cure this unfortunateniggardliness that made him seem so unkind.
"I do wish I had a lot of money," she told Aunt Alvirah, with a sigh. "Iwould never have to ask him to pay out a cent again. I could refuse totake this that he has given me and then I----"
"Tut, tut, my pretty! don't say that," said the little old woman,soothingly. "It does him good to put his hand in his pocket--it does,indeed. If it is a sad wrench for him ter git it out ag'in--all thebetter!" and she chuckled a little as she lowered herself into herrocker. "Oh, my back! and oh, my bones!"
"Ye don't understand yer uncle's nater like I do, Ruthie. You bein' hischarge has been the salvation of him--yes, it has! Don't worry when hegives ye money; it's all thet keeps his old heart from freezin' right upsolid."
Now the Cameron automobile was at the gate, and Helen and Tom werecalling to Ruth to hurry. Ben had taken her trunk to the Cheslow stationthe day before. Ruth appeared with her new handbag (the Gypsies had theold one), flung her arms about Aunt Alvirah's neck as she sat on theporch, and then ran swiftly to the door of the mill.
"Uncle! I'm going!" she called into the brown dusk of the place.
He came slowly to the door. His gray, grim face was unlighted by even anattempt at a smile, as he shook hands with her.
"I know ye'll be a good gal," he said, sourly. "Ye allus be. But besavin' with--with all thet money I gave ye. It's enough to be theruination of a young gal to hev so much."
He repented of his gift, she knew. Yet she remembered what Aunt Alvirahhad said, and refrained from handing it back to him. She determined,however, if she could, to never touch the five gold pieces, and sometime, when she was self-supporting, she would hand the very same coinsback to him!
This was in her thought as she moved away. So, on this occasion, RuthFielding did not leave the Red Mill with a very happy feeling at herheart.
The automobile sped away along the shady road into Cheslow. At thestation Mercy Curtis, the lame girl, was awaiting them, although it wasstill some time before the train was due that would bear them away toLake Osago.
When it _did_ steam into view and come to a slow stop beside theplatform, there was Heavy Stone and The Fox with their hands out of thewindows, shouting to them. They had secured two seats facing each other,and Ruth and Mercy joined them, while Tom and Helen took the seatbehind.
Such a chattering as there was! The fleshy girl and Mary Cox had notseen Ruth and Helen and Mercy since they had all returned from theSteeles' summer home at Sunrise Farm, and you may believe there wasplenty to talk about.
"Who else is here?" demanded Ruth, standing up to search the length ofthe car for familiar faces.
"Look out, Miss!" cried Heavy, producing her first joke of the fallterm. "Remember Lot's wife!"
"Why so?" asked Helen.
"Goodness me! how ignorant you are--and you took chemistry last year,too," declared Jennie Stone.
"I--don't--just--see," admitted Helen.
"You mean to say you don't know what two-fold chemical change Lot's wifeunderwent?"
"Give it up!"
"Why," giggled Heavy, "first she turned to rubber, and then she turnedto salt!"
When the crowd had shown their appreciation, The Fox said:
"We're going to pick up an Infant at Maxwell. Heard about her?"
"No. Who is she?" asked Helen. "Not that Infants interest me much now.We can let the juniors take them in hand. Remember, girls, we arefull-fledged seniors this year."
"You'll have an interest in this new girl," said Miss Cox, withassurance.
"Why?"
"She is Nettie Parsons. You know her father is the big sugar man. He hasoodles of money!"
"Lot's of sugar, eh?" chuckled Heavy. "Hope she'll bring some to schoolwith her. I have a sweet tooth, I hope you know."
"A tooth! a whole set of sweet teeth, you mean!" cried Ruth.
"I only hope she is nice. I don't care how much money she has," saidHelen, smiling. "We won't hold her wealth up against her, if she's theright sort."
"Oh, I'm not fooling," said The Fox, rather sharply, for she had a shorttemper, "to match her red hair," as Heavy said. "She'll probably bringtrunks full of nice dresses to school and loads of jewelry----"
"Won't that be silly? For Mrs. Tellingham won't let her wear them."
"Only on state and date occasions," put in Mercy.
"At any rate, her folks have splendid things. Why! don't you rememberabout her aunt losing that be-a-utiful necklace last spring?"
"Necklace?" repeated Ruth. "What sort of a necklace?"
"One of the finest pearl collars in the world, they say. Worth maybefifty thousand dollars. Wonderful!"
"A pearl necklace?" queried the girl from the Red Mill, her interestgrowing.
"Yes, indeed."
"How careless of her!" said Heavy, with a yawn.
"Silly!" exclaimed The Fox. "It
was stolen, of course."
"By whom?" demanded Ruth.
"Why, if the police knew that, they'd get back the necklace, wouldn'tthey?" demanded Mary Cox, with scorn.
"But I didn't know--they might suspect?" suggested Ruth, meekly.
"They do. Gypsies."
"Gypsies!" cried Ruth and Helen together. And then the latter began:"Oh, girls! listen to what happened to Ruth and me only a week ago!"
"Wait a bit, dear," broke in Ruth. "Let us know a little more about thelost necklace. Why do they think the Gypsies took it?"
"I'll tell you," said The Fox. "You see, this aunt of Nettie's is very,very rich. She comes from California, and she was on to visit theParsons last spring.
"There was a tribe of Gypsies camping near the Parsons estate. They allwent over to have their fortunes told--just for a lark, you know. It wasafter dinner one evening, and there was company. Nettie's Aunt Rachelhad dressed her best, and she wore the necklace to the Gypsy camp.
"That very night the Parsons' house was robbed. Not much was takenexcept the aunt's jewel-box and some money she had in her desk. Therobbers were frightened away before they could go to any of the othersuites.
"The next day the Gypsies had left their encampment, too. Of course,there was nothing to connect the robbery with the Gyps., savecircumstantial evidence. The police didn't find either the Gypsies orthe necklace. But Aunt Rachel offered five thousand dollars' reward forthe return of the pearls."
"Just think of that!" gasped Helen. "Five thousand dollars. My, Ruthie!wouldn't you like to win _that_?"
"Indeed I would," returned her chum, with longing.
"But I guess the Gypsies _we_ were mixed up with never owned a pearlnecklace like that. They didn't look as though they had anything but thegaily colored rags they stood in--and their horses."
"What do you know about Gypsies?" asked The Fox.
"A whole lot," cried Helen. "Let me tell you," and she proceeded torepeat the story of their adventure with Queen Zelaya and her tribe.Ruth said nothing during the story; her mind was busy with the mysteryof the missing necklace.