p the party in four
automobiles started out from the Tip-Top. Without exception every
guest was interested in the case, and as the motorists chugged off many
were the wishes of good luck that were wafted after them.

To find Cora! to find Leland! or----

Another disappointment would seem too cruel. Walter declared he could
pick a trail they had never yet followed. Betty said she knew a very
dark and dangerous pass, where she had lost her bracelet. Belle wanted
to go by the river road, so that when it was actually left to Bess to
decide, as she was next in authority to Cora in the Motor Girls' Club,
she spoke for the way through the woods, straight up into a rough and
shaggy pass.

"They would never dream of an automobile getting up there," she
declared, "and if she is in hiding they have taken her far away from
the good roads."

Wonderful for Bess! Wonderful, indeed, is the instinct of love!

Scarcely had they turned into the wooded way than they espied smoke
stealing up through the trees.

"There must be some one over there," declared Bess, the first to make
the discovery. "See! Yes, there is a flag!"

"Oh, maybe they are those dreadful Gypsies," murmured Belle. "Let us
wait for Mr. Rand and the others."

"I am too anxious to see," objected her sister. "The rest are all
within calling distance. See, there are the boys. Let us hurry into
the side road. Whoever they are, they have had wagons up here."

It required careful driving to cover the pass, for the roadway was
newly made, and by no means well-finished. Great stones continually
rolled out from under the big, rubber wheels, and Bess was on the alert
to use the emergency brake, although the road was somewhat up hill.
She feared the motor would stop and that they might back down.

"See!" she exclaimed, "there are children! They must be Gypsy lads and
lassies."

Over in a clump of evergreens could be seen some children, playing at a
campfire. Yes, they might be Gypsies.

"Wait! wait," called Jack and Ed, who had now observed that the place
was inhabited. "We will go in first."

"All right," called back Bess, a little sorry that she could not have
had the glory of doing the investigating alone.

By this time most of the searching party had reached the spot.

"We will get out and walk over," suggested Jack, his voice trembling
with anticipation.

It was growing dusk, and the smoke seemed to make the woods more
uncanny, and the depths