It was not long before Bessie was as thoroughly lost as if she had been in a maze.  Lolla, however, seemed to know just where she was going.  She left one trail to turn into another without ever showing the slightest doubt of her direction, and, at times, when the woods were thin, she would take short cuts, leading the way through entirely pathless portions of the forest with as much assurance as if she had been walking through the streets of a city where she had lived all her life.  Even Bessie, used to long walks around Hedgeville, in which she had learned the country thoroughly, was surprised.

“I don’t believe I’d ever get to know these woods as well as you do,” she said admiringly.  “Why, you never seem even to hesitate.”

“I’ve been here every summer since I was born,” said Lolla, in a laughing tone.  “I ought to know these woods pretty well, I think.”

“I hope no one sees us now,” said Bessie, nervously.  “I really do feel as if it were wrong for me to keep away.  Miss Mercer must be as anxious about me as she is about Dolly.”

“Is she the lady who is with you girls?”

“Yes.  You see, she probably thinks that was carried off, as well as Dolly.”

“She will stop being anxious all the sooner for not knowing where you are.  I think it will not be long now before we get your friend away from that place where she is hidden.”

“Well, I certainly hope so.  Listen!  I think I can hear voices in front of us.”

“I heard them two or three minutes ago,” said Lolla, with a smile.  “Stay here, now; hide behind that clump of bushes.  I will go ahead and see what I can find.  Even if it is some of your friends they would not suspect me; they would think I was just out for a walk.”

So Bessie waited for perhaps ten minutes, while Lolla crept forward alone.  But the gypsy was back soon, smiling.

“All is safe now,” she said.  “Come quickly, though, so we shall get behind them and be able to get near the camp.  There is a place there where you may hide while I find out what is going on.”

They reached the spot Lolla meant in a few minutes more, and again Bessie had to play the inactive part and wait while Lolla went on to gain the information she needed.  When she came back she was smiling happily.

“That John is stupid, though he is so brave,” she said to Bessie.  “He went back there to the camp, and he is sitting in front of his wagon.  There is a guide with a gun sitting near him, and my sister tells me that the guide says he will follow him and shoot him if he tries to get away.

“There are many people there, and the whole camp is angry and frightened.  The king says he will punish John, but John will not admit that he knows where your friend is.  We are safe from him.  They will not let him get away for a long time.”

Bessie was comforted by the news.  With her captor under guard, Dolly had nothing to fear from him, and, though Peter might be a sullen and dangerous man, Bessie felt that Lolla was right, and that he was too thick witted to be greatly feared.