to come when
Bert found him outside the Porter house, telling over and over again to
a crowd of boys what he had seen, or what he thought he had seen.

"Now tell us just what happened," said Mr. Bobbsey, when the small boy
was seated in a chair in the Porter parlor.

"Well, I was coming from the store for my mother," said Johnnie, "and I
saw the gypsy wagons. I thought it was a circus."

"That's what Flossie and Freddie thought," said Bert to his father.

"But it wasn't," went on Johnnie. "Then I saw Helen playing in Grace
Lavine's yard down the street when I came past. And a little while after
that, when I had to go to the store for my mother again, 'cause I forgot
a yeast cake, I saw a gypsy man running along the street and he had
Helen in his arms and she was crying."

"What made you think it was Helen?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.

"'Cause I saw her light hair. Helen's got fluffy hair like your
Flossie's."

"Yes, I know she has," said Mr. Bobbsey. "What did you do when you
thought you saw the gypsy man carrying Helen away?" and they all waited
anxiously for Johnnie's answer.

"I ran home," said Johnnie. "I didn't want to be carried off in one of
those looking-glass wagons."

"Quite right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Then you really didn't see the gypsy
man pick Helen up in his arms?"

"No," slowly answered the little boy, "he only just ran past me. But he
must have picked her up in Grace's yard, for that's where Helen was
playing."

"Then we'd better go down to where Grace Lavine lives and see what she
can tell us," said Mr. Bobbsey.

"You don't need to," put in Bert. "I see Grace out in front now with
some other girls. Shall I call her in?"

"Oh, please do!" exclaimed Mrs. Porter. "My poor Helen! Oh, what has
happened to her?"

"We'll get your little girl back, even if the gypsies have her," said
Mr. Bobbsey. "But I don't believe they have taken her away. Call in
Grace, Bert."

Grace was not as excited as Johnnie, and told what she knew.

"Helen and Mary Benson and I were playing in my yard," said Grace. "We
had our dolls and were having a tea party. Mary and I went into the
house to get some sugar cookies, to play they were strawberry shortcake,
and we left Helen out under the trees with her doll. When we came back
she wasn't there, nor her doll either, and down the street we saw the
gypsy wagons."

"Did you see any gypsy man come into the yard and get Helen?" asked Mr.
Bobbsey.

"No," said Grace, shaking