294 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
How Carl and Walter got the Best of the 
Gypsies. 
BY AGNES CARR. 
There was mourning in the white cottage under 
the hill! Mrs. Breeze sat with her apron over her 
head, in an attitude of despair; Rosie was in tears, 
and regardless, even, of the two gray kittens 
whirling merrily round after their tails, on the 
floor: even Carl and little Walter looked grave, as 
they glanced through the window, at the small 
patch of ground in the rpar of the house, set out 
with cabbages, and in one corner of which stood 
their young faces; and so fast did Carl speed over 
the ground, that Walter’s short little legs had hard 
work to keep up with him. “ Don’t go so quick, 
brother,” he gasped, “and, oh! do look at that 
big sign on the fence ! What does it say ? ” 
This brought Carl to a halt, and he read aloud 
the announcement on .the wall; 
“ Five dollars reward ! Strayed or stolen ! 
A black and white milch cow ! The above reward 
will be paid to any one returning her to A. F. 
Dunham, at Crescent Farm.” 
“Why, it must be Farmer Dunham’s ‘Sally’ !” 
exclaimed Walter. “She gave more milk than any 
cow round here.” 
“This, too, is some of those rascally gypsies’ 
work,” said Carl; “ and he will never see any more 
of ‘Sally’ than we shall of ‘Grunter.’ But we 
must hurry along. ” 
Under the hot sun and up a long, dusty hill, the 
boys trudged, and were very glad when they 
got within the shade of Wilder’s wood, on the ex¬ 
treme edge of which a sluggish little stream made 
its way through a sort of marsh. It was a wild, 
lonely spot, the cry of a bird overhead, and the 
monotonous “ker-chunk! ker-chunk I ” of the 
green bull frogs being the only sounds to break the 
hastening up, flushed and panting. “Oh! Carl, 
Carl ! what do you think ! ” he cried, “ I have seen 
‘Grunter.’” — “Where? where?” asked Carl, 
catching him by the arm. — Then Walter ex¬ 
plained : “ I was walking along, tilling my hat 
with berries for you, when suddenly I heard low 
voices, and peeping through the trees, found my¬ 
self almost upon the gypsy camp. And there was 
an old woman sitting round a fire over which a 
pot was boiling; while the funniest looking chil¬ 
dren were looking out of a tent. I was so fright¬ 
ened, and was just going to run away, when I 
spied a pig, hanging to the limb of a tree ; but his 
throat was cut, and he had a com cob in his mouth, 
and—and I’m sure it was our dear old ‘ Grunter.’ ” 
And Walter burst out crying at the fearful re¬ 
membrance. 
Carl was almost as much affected, but he tried to 
console his little brother, and finally said that he, 
too, would like to have a peep at the ghastly sight. 
Shouldering the bag of frogs, they stole softly 
through the dusky woods,crushing the strawberries 
beneath their heedless feet, and had almost reached 
the place, when a low noise brought them to a 
standstill. “Oh! what can that be?’ exclaimed 
Walter, in an agony of terror, “are the gypsies 
a roughly-made pig-sty, built by the boys in 
their leisure moments. Some of the cabbage 
plants were badly trampled, and the sty was empty, 
for all this grief in the family was over the loss of 
“ Grunter,” the fat porker, which had been carried 
off in the night, probably by a band of Gypsies, 
encamped somewhere in the neighborhood, who 
helped themselves quite freely from the gardens 
and hen-roosts, of the village. 
“Oh, dear! oh, dear!” exclaimed Mrs. Breeze, 
between her sobs, “ all our meat for the winter is 
gone, and we shall have nothing to live on but cab¬ 
bage soup; while Rosie will have to go without 
the new shoes I promised her.” 
At this, Rosie cried harder than ever, but Carl 
said, manfully: “Never mind, mother, perhaps 
something good will turn up before long ; Walter 
and I are going off to Wilder’s brook after frogs, 
and if we catch enough, sister shall have her 
shoes.” So saying, the two lads fastened bent 
pins, baited with bits of red flannel to their fish¬ 
lines, aud started out, with a determined look on 
stillness. Walter, who was rather timid, crept 
close to Carl’s side, and started at every rustle of 
the wind among the trees. But Carl whistled 
gaily, and set to work with pole aud net to capture 
the solemn croakers, whose legs bring a high price 
and are considered a great delicacy in city markets. 
They had very good luck, and soon a dozen frogs 
were safely deposited in a canvas bag; when 
Walter, growing weary of the sport, wandered off 
in search of wild strawberries, staining his chubby 
little face with the juice. “ I will bring you back 
a great double handful,” he said to Carl, who, 
warning him not to venture too far, went steadily 
on with his work. Half an hour passed away, and 
still Walter did not return. The sun rose higher 
aud higher, and shed his beams so fiercely upon the 
young frogman’s head, that at length he, too, was 
obliged to stop and rest beneath a tree. He 
stretched himself out on the grass and was idly 
watching the fleecy clouds floating overhead, when 
hurried footsteps, and the crackling of the under¬ 
brush, started him to his feet, just as Walter came 
after us?” But Carl laid his hand on his mouth 
and bade him “ be quiet.” 
A soft moo-o-o ! now fell on their ears, and 
though Walter would have turned and fled, Carl 
cautiously approached the spot from whence the 
sound came, and parting the boughs, perceived, in 
a secluded little dell, no more terrible sight than 
Farmer Dunham’s old “ Sally,” tethered to a tree, 
and eagerly cropping all the tender grass within 
her reach. The gypsies had evidently' tied her 
here, thinking her quite concealed from all search¬ 
ing eyes ; and indeed it was a place rarely visited 
by the village people—there having been many 
stories abroad of rattlesnakes being seen in that 
vicinity. “What shall we do?” asked little Wal¬ 
ter, who had crept after his brother. But he stood 
aghast as Carl, without a word, plunged down the 
slight incline, with his knife cut the rope that 
bound the cow, and led her quickly into a deeper 
recess of the woods. This, however, was not done 
without some noise, and they had hardly stopped 
for breath, when loud shouts were heard behind 
them, and they knew the camp was aroused. “ We 
must go down by the short cut,” whispered Carl, 
hastening into a side path which led to a steep 
cliff. This was a very rough descent leading di¬ 
rectly to the village, but so dangerous that few 
ventured to make use of it. But there was now no 
alternative, for already the gypsies were in pur¬ 
suit through the wood, and would have seen them, 
but for a high rock that concealed them from view. 
“ I don’t dare to go down there,” sobbed Walter; 
but Carl had already started, leading the cow, 
who, like all animals, knew how to pick her way, 
aud they were running, slipping, sliding down the 
