ction in Mutton 43
VII. Fellow Travelers 53
VIII. What Was It All About? 61
IX. Queen Zelaya 69
X. In the Gypsy Camp 80
XI. Tom on the Trail 91
XII. A Break for Liberty 104
XIII. Ruth in the Toils 111
XIV. Roberto Again 116
XV. Helen's Escape 124
XVI. Through the Night and the Storm 133
XVII. Off for School Again 140
XVIII. Getting Into Harness 149
XIX. Can It Be Possible? 156
XX. He Cannot Talk 164
XXI. Ruth Intercedes 169
XXII. A Great Temptation 175
XXIII. Nettie Parsons' Feast 182
XXIV. Roberto Finds His Voice 190
XXV. Five Thousand Dollars 198

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES

CHAPTER I

ON THE LUMANO RIVER

The steady turning of the grinding-stones set the old Red Mill a-quiver
in every board and beam. The air within was full of dust--dust of the
grain, and fine, fine dust from the stones themselves.

Uncle Jabez Potter, the miller, came to the door and looked across the
grassy yard that separated the mill and the farmhouse attached from the
highroad. Under a broad-spreading tree sat two girls, busy with their
needles.

One, a sharp-faced, light-haired girl, who somehow carried a look of
endured pain in her eyes in spite of the smile she flung at the old man,
cried:

"Hello, Dusty Miller! come out and fly about a little. It will do you
good."

The grim face of the miller lightened perceptibly. "How do you reckon a
man like me kin fly, Mercy child?" he croaked.

"I'll lend you my aeroplanes, if you like," she returned, gaily, and
held up the two ebony canes which had been hidden by the tall grass.
_They_ told the story of Mercy Curtis' look of pain, but once she had
had to hobble on crutches and, as she pluckily