en Mr. Cameron came, as he wished to drive the
girls over to see Tom at Seven Oaks.

This was, of course, arranged. Mr. Cameron was a very busy man, and he
could not spend much time in this visit. But he desired to speak to Ruth
regarding the mystery of the pearl necklace.

He had hired a pair of spirited horses at Lumberton, and he quite had
his hands full, as they bowled over the hilly road toward the military
academy. But he could talk to the girls.

He had Ruth give him every particular of what she had seen at night in
the Gypsy van, and when she had done so, he said:

"I have taken the pains to get from the police the description of Mrs.
Rachel Parsons' missing necklace. It fits your tale exactly, Ruth. Now,
I tell you what I shall do.

"I will set a detective agency at work. For my own part, I wish to
overtake this Queen Zelaya, as she calls herself, and punish her for
what she did to you two girls. If such people go free, it encourages
them to do worse next time.

"Now, if she has the necklace, and we can secure it, all the better. I
would be glad to see you get that reward, Ruthie. And Helen says you are
very anxious to win it."

"Who wouldn't be?" gasped Ruth. "Just think of five thousand dollars!"

They were driving through a fine piece of chestnut wood as she said
this. The blight had not struck these beautiful trees and they hung full
of the prickly burrs. The frost of the previous night had opened many of
these, and the brown nuts smiled at once through the openings.

"There's a boy knocking them down!" cried Helen. "Let's stop and get
some, Father. See them rain down!"

At that moment a shower of chestnuts fell and a prickly burr landed on
the back of one of the team. The beast rose on his hind legs and pawed
the air, snorting.

"Look out!" exclaimed the boy in the tree.

Mr. Cameron was a good horseman and he had the animals well in hand. The
boy, however, was so anxious to see what went on below, that he strained
forward too far. With a scream, and the snap of broken boughs, he
plunged forward, shot through the leafy-canopy, and landed with a
sickening thud upon the ground!

Mr. Cameron had halted the horses dead. Ruth was out of the carriage
like a flash and dropped on her knees by the boy's side. She was
horror-stricken and speechless; yet she had made a great discovery as
the boy fell.

He was Roberto, the Gypsy!

CHAPTER XX

HE CANNOT TALK

"Is he badly hurt?" cried Mr.