Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/193

Rh noticed, when driving, beyond the cross-roads, two small tents and two or three vehicles drawn up beside them. There were horses tethered near, and some strange-looking men and women sitting on the grass in front of the tents.

Brenda’s curiosity was stirred by what she had seen, and a glimpse of a young girl in a scarlet dress, with bare feet  and long, dark hair hanging down her back, completed the  work. She felt that she must know more about the gypsies, for the answers which her father gave to her questions only increased her curiosity. To think that there were people who passed all the year in this roving fashion! Who had no homes of their own! For, of course, you can hardly call a tent and a cart a home. Brenda made up her mind that she must know more about these people, and, as she rather  feared a refusal if she should ask permission, she decided to  interest Nora in her scheme of visiting.

The little that Mr. Barlow had been able to tell Brenda about the gypsies had only increased her interest. “They come every summer,” he had said, “and, in my opinion, they  are very good people to keep away from.”

“But where are they in the winter, papa; do they live in tents?”

“I’m sure I hope not, unless they go to some warmer climate than ours. ”

“I wonder why nobody knows more about gypsies! I don’t suppose it would be so very hard to find out.”

“Perhaps not, if any one thought it worth while to try. But I rather imagine that the gypsies themselves prefer to