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'Will they hurt us, do you think?' said Harry. 'I can't help it if they do,' Hugh answered. 'We can't be more miserable than we are. Perhaps they will give us something to eat, or let us warm ourselves by their fire.'

So, although Harry was half afraid of going, they both walked out from amongst the bushes and right up to the fire; and when the gipsies saw them the woman stopped her singing and stared, and the men said, Hallo!' and most of them came and looked hard at the boys, and after a few minutes one of the men said

Well, what do you want?'

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CHAPTER XIII.

HARRY IS MADE A THIEF.

H

UGH and Harry were so frightened at so many dark faces crowding round them, and so many black eyes looking at them, that for some minutes they did

not answer, and one of the men, a very tall man, took Hugh by the shoulder, and asked again

What do you want?'

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'We have lost our way,' said Hugh; and we are cold and frightened.'

The man laughed; then said

'Well, it down by the fire and warm yourselves.'

You would hardly have known Hugh and Harry for the same boys half an hour afterwards. As soon as they got warm they became full of chatter, first with each other, then with the

woman who was boiling the pot, and at last with every one who came near them. The men seemed very good-natured, although they looked so fierce. The boys kept wondering what was in the pot upon the fire, it must be something very nice, they thought, by the smell. After a time the woman lifted the lid, and said supper was ready, and then all the rest of the gipsies came and sat upon the ground, and a number of cups and bowls was brought out of a caravan or great travelling-cart, such as you see at fairs, which was drawn up under the trees a little way from the fire.

Hugh and Harry were very much pleased that the gipsy woman gave each of them also a cup of soup. When the soup was drunk, she took out of the pot three fowls, which she tore into pieces, and divided. They made very short work of these; they were gone down the gipsies' throats in a minute or two. Then one of the other women moved to a place where there had been a fire, and where there were still some ashes smoking. Hugh followed her to see what she was going to do; he thought that perhaps she was going to light the fire up again, as one might not be enough for so many people; but instead of that, she scraped the hot ashes

away, and underneath them Hugh saw that there was a large flat stone. The woman took up the stone, and from a hole in the ground she drew out several animals. They seemed so hot that she could hardly touch them. They were covered all over with long black and white prickly things, and they had snouts like little pigs. Hugh turned one of them over and over, and said—

'He looks very nasty; his stomach is quite black.'

The woman laughed, and carried the animals to the fire where still sat the men; for they seemed quite content to sit still and let the women wait upon them.

'Will you have some?' asked Hugh's friend, after she had skinned the beasts, prickles and all they almost fell out of their skins, and smelt very nice at any rate, whatever they looked.

'No, thank you,' said Hugh. 'It looks like a rat. What is it?'

The fact was, he was no longer hungry, or he would not perhaps have been so particular.

The woman said some word that Hugh had never heard before, and he could not make out what the animal was. After a time, seeing that he did not understand, the woman said, 'Hedgehog.'

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'How can you eat a hedgehog?' asked Hugh. Hedgehogs are very good, young master,' answered the woman. The gipsies, notwithstanding that the boys were so dirty and shabby, had seen that they were gentlemen.

As soon as supper was over, the men all jumped up from the ground, and the boys saw that most of them got down guns out of the caravan, while others carried empty bags.

'Where are you going?' asked Hugh.

The men gave no answer, but spoke to each other in their own language; and then after a time one of them said

'You shall come with us; can you climb ?' 'I can climb trees.'

The man spoke to one of the women in gipsy language, and she went into the caravan and brought out some very old clothes. She then told Hugh to take off his. Though his clothes were torn, they were lovely compared to those the woman held.

'Why?' asked Hugh.

I don't choose to take off my clothes. I am not going to put on these disgusting old things, I can tell you.'

The woman very quietly began to drag off Hugh's jacket; but Hugh tried to push her away, and became very angry; so one of the men gave

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