Again the man muttered something in the gypsy-tongue, but under his breath.  When he spoke aloud to Lolla it was in English.

“They are Barlomengri; they will support me.  They will never let the policemen take me away.  They are my brothers—­”

“Do you think you can jilt their sister, the girl you asked for as your wife before all the tribe, and escape their vengeance?  Do you think they will not punish you, even by seeing that you die in a prison, in a cell?”

And now John, beside himself with anger, fulfilled the threat of his uplifted hand, and struck Lolla sharply.

“Strike me again!” cried Lolla, furiously.  “I have done no wrong!  I am trying only to save you from your own folly.  Tell me, at least, where you have hidden the girl?  Would you have her starve?  You will be watched, so that you may not bring her food.  Had you thought of that?”

“Will you betray me?  If you do not I shall not be watched!  They will know as soon as they look for me that I was in the camp all through the night.  Lolla, you fool, I love you, only you.  I want her to win a ransom.  They will pay to have her back, those Americans.”

Lolla had guessed right when she had said that this would be his plea.  But Bessie was surprised, and thought Lolla must also wonder at his telling her such a story.  Lolla looked scornfully at John.

“I am no baby that I should believe such a tale as that,” she said witheringly.  “I give you your chance, John, your last chance.  Will you take this girl back to her people, or set her free and show her the road?  Or must I bear witness against you, and tell the tribe that you would shame me by forsaking me even before I am your wife?”

“Let me go,” said John furiously.  “We shall see if a woman’s talk is to be taken before mine.  You fool!  Even your brothers will laugh at your Jealousy, and rejoice with me over the money this girl will bring us.  Let me pass—­”

“Tell me, at least, where you have hidden her!  She will starve, I tell you—­”

“She will not starve.  Think you I know no more than that of doing such a piece of work!  It is not the first time we have made anxious fathers pay to win their children back!  Ha-ha!  Peter, my friend, comes to take my watch.  He will see to it that she does not suffer for food.  And he will keep her safe for me.  Out of my way!”

He brushed Lolla aside roughly, and strode off down the trail that Bessie had followed.  For a moment, while she could hear the sound of his retreating footsteps, Lolla did not move.  But then she raised herself, a smile in her eyes, and beckoned to Bessie.

“Go up that path, quickly,” she whispered.  “Somewhere up there, hidden, you will find your friend.  Comfort her, but do not let her move.  If she is tied up, leave her so.  Tell her that help is near.  I will free her.”

“But why—­why not come with me, and free her now!” protested Bessie, eagerly.  “We can find her, for he came down that path, so he must have left her somewhere up there.  Oh, come, Lolla, you will never regret it!”