"But, Bessie, what would he do with her if he did carry her off? Those
people travel along the roads, and they travel slowly. He must know that
if anything happened to Dolly, or if she disappeared, he'd be suspected
right away, and he'd be chased everywhere he went."

"I think it would be easy to hide someone in their caravans, though,
Miss Eleanor. And those people stick together, so that no one would
betray him if he did anything like that. We might be perfectly sure that
he had done it, but we wouldn't be able to prove it."

"I'll speak to the guides and have them keep a good watch in the
direction of Loon Pond, Bessie. There, will that make you feel any
better? And those gypsies won't stay over there very long. They never
do."

"Have they been here before, Miss Eleanor?"

"Oh, yes; every year when I've been here."

"Well, I'll feel better when they've gone, Miss Eleanor."

"So will I. You've made me quite nervous, Bessie. I think you'd better
tell Dolly, and be careful yourself, not to tell the other girls
anything about this. There's no use in scaring them, and making them
feel nervous, too."

"No. I thought of that, too. Some of them would be frightened, I'm sure.
I think Zara would be. She's been very nervous, anyhow, ever since we
got her away from that awful house where Mr. Holmes had hidden her away