But she screamed before he could touch her, and darted past
him. And in a moment both girls, running hard, were out of sight.
CHAPTER VI
A SERIOUS JOKE
Bessie, seriously alarmed, led the race through the woods and they had
gone for nearly a quarter of a mile before she would even stop to
listen. When she felt that if the gypsy were going to overtake them he
would have done it, she stopped, and, breathing hard, listened eagerly
for some sign that he was still behind them. But only the noises of the
forest came to their ears, the rustling of the leaves in the trees, the
call of a bird, the sudden sharp chattering of a squirrel or a chipmunk,
and, of course, their own breathing.
"I guess we got away from him all right," she said. "Oh, Dolly, I was
frightened!"
"What?" cried Dolly, amazed. "Do you mean to say that you let that silly
gypsy frighten you? I thought you were braver than that, Bessie!"
"You don't know anything about it, Dolly," said Bessie, a little
irritated. "It really wasn't your fault, but those people aren't like
our men.
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