reath while the gypsies
entered, silent now. In the dim light of the cave their features could
not be seen, but there was something about the bent old figure of the
foremost gypsy that proclaimed the leader of that other day. They were
as velvet-footed as cats, and as the girls' eyes became more accustomed
to the gloom they discovered that the gypsies were not hunch-backed, as
had first appeared, but merely carried upon their backs packs like those
others scattered about the cave. These they deposited on the floor
without much ceremony and were gone before the girls and boys had fairly
realized it.

The watchers stood motionless even after the footsteps had died away in
the distance. It seemed as though a mystic spell had been woven about
them, which, for the time, they were powerless to break.

It was Roy who first "came to life," as Mollie expressed it. "I say,
what's the use of standing here?" he inquired. "Let's have a look."

"Oh, hush, please!" begged Grace, alarmed at the unrestraint of his
tone. "They might come back."

"No, they won't," Will asserted, for he had suddenly acquired great
dignity. "They have probably gone for another haul. In the meantime it
is up to us to inform the authorities, and mighty quick, too."

"But we don't even know that it _is_ loot, Will," Betty protested. "We
ought to make sure first."

"That's easy enough," Allen commented. "Besides I've been anxious to
examine the contents of that bag for a long time. Now, I'd like to see
anybody keep me from it!" and he rushed over to the other side of the
cave and was opening one of the bags even as he spoke.

The others crowded close beside him as he knelt on the ground, taking
advantage of the meager light from the cave mouth to examine its
contents. What they did see literally made them gasp. Gold and silver
and strings upon strings of beads--some very valuable, others less
so--and trinkets of all sorts and descriptions.

"Say, those gypsies are experts!" Frank exclaimed, awe in his tone. "I
think I'll go into the business."

The girls didn't even pretend to be shocked at this--they were too taken
up with their own emotions--too excited to notice such trivial remarks.

"Oh, aren't they wonderful?" cried Amy, down on her knees before the
bag, and running her fingers through the brilliant mass delightedly.
"How do they ever get such things?"

"That's a funny question to ask," Grace remarked. "They steal them, of
course."

"But wh