hat gypsy off."

"That proves that he hired him, too, I should think," said Bessie.

"It seems to, certainly, but I'm afraid it isn't legal proof, even
though it satisfies us. But the chief point is that Mr. Jamieson is
worried about you two when you have to testify."

CHAPTER III

A NEW PLAN

"Why, there couldn't be anything they could do to us then, I should
think!" exclaimed Dolly.

"I hope not," said Miss Mercer. "But, well, we've had reason to learn
to be careful when we're dealing with these people. And Mr. Jamieson
seems to think that the thing to fear most is the other gypsies."

"I thought of that, too," said Bessie, gravely. "They stick to one
another, don't they?"

"Yes, they certainly do. They're very clannish. And Mr. Holmes, I'm
afraid, is clever enough and unscrupulous enough to be willing to use
them for his own purposes. He wouldn't tell them directly what he
wanted, you see. He'd just hire someone who was clever enough to get
them inflamed and worked up to the point of being willing to hurt you
two, and, if they could get at her, Zara, too, by way of revenge."

"We can't help going down there if they send for us, I suppose, Miss
Eleanor?"

"No. There's no way out of it. You see, if someone does you an
injury--borrows money from you and doesn't pay it back, say--the law
will help you get it, if you want to be helped. You can decide whether
you want to do anything or not. But if a crime is committed, then it's
a different matter, and you've got to get the law's help, whether you
want to or not.

"For instance, if someone robs your house, you might be willing to
forgive the robber, but the law has to be satisfied, because that's the
sort of crime that affects everyone, and not just you alone."

"I see. And I suppose that this time the law feels that if they are
not punished, those gypsies might try to kidnap someone else?"

"Yes. The idea isn't just punishment. It's the way people who live
together in towns and countries have to protect themselves. In the
early days there wasn't any law. If a man was robbed, and he was
strong enough, he protected himself by going out and fighting the
robber. But that wouldn't work very well, because if a man was very
strong, and wicked as well, he could rob his neighbors, and no one of
them was strong enough to protect himself.

"So it wasn't very long before people began to find out that, while no
one of them was strong enough to