The Dana girls are plunged into another mystery during a visit to an old Civil War inn on a lonely country road. They hear singing in the woods, see a ghost, and discover a strange spoon with a handle in the shape of a man's head. The girls are shocked to learn from a jeweler that the spoon is cursed.

The girls visit the old inn again and meet Nura, a young gypsy who has run away to avoid marrying a man whom she does not love. Nura instead longs to marry Stivo, but Stivo has been banished from the gypsy tribe for stealing a valuable silver platter.

Back at school, the spoon disappears from the Danas' room, apparently stolen! Now the girls must find the spoon in case the story of the curse is true and must help Nura by exonerating Stivo and discovering who stole the silver platter.