The San Francisco call., 1909-03-06

came IN troops and bands. waving their
banners with the bright red orihamme
and singing their songs OF -sv they
intended 10 make conquest Of the
Holy Land and convert the infidels by
means OF their persuatiOns. Down from
the hills they came, some IN silks and
Velvets and others IN rags. some rosy
and well fed and others white and
thin from hunger Down they came
in crowds. filling the roads and scat
tering far and wide over the fields,
until IL seemed TO the citizens OF Mar
settles who stood watching them from
the walls OF the town that there was
no end Of them. And in advance Of
them all rode stephen Of Cloyes, or
Stephen the Prophet, as he was now
called sitting on his chariot under
silken canopy and surrounded by his
guard Of honor composed Of youths
who bore some OF the proudest names
Of France,
There had been doubts in the minds
of many OF the followers Of the Il
year old leader of the army, but when
they actually saw the blue eXpanse
OF the sea before them. just as Ste
phen had said they would see ii, some
how IL seemed to them that ii proved
him TO be true prophet and ali their
confidence in him revived They fancied
in their ignorance s.lat the hardest
part Of their crusade was ended with
their arrival al the city. and thar only
a day or two would be required TO COM
plete the glorious task Of redeeming
Palestine and setting free the Chris
tian captives there. So when stephen
halted his chariot under the walls OF
the city before the principal gate the
10000 children who had managed TO
complete the first stage OF their jour
ney gazed at him with much respect
regarding him who few months be-
known shepherd boy $ "A superior
being.
What in the world shall we do with
all these children" the chief men of
Msrseilles asked each other as they
looked down upon the throngs. IF
we admit them TO the city they will
certainly remain here, and as we shall
have 10 feed them there viii soon be
nothing left for us.
They deliberated among themselves
and decided that IL would never do to
let the children come inside the walls
So they went solemnly out Of the great
gate TO inform stephen Of their de-
cision. II was a great disappointment
10 the young leader.
We ask to be admitted" he said
to the chiefs Of the city, and in return
we promise that we shall remain with
you for this night only
Where viii you go tomorrow the
chief men asked.
we go that way" stephen replied,
waving his hand toward the sea.
But you have no ships" the chief
men said
we shall not need them" Stephen
replied with a smile. The waves that
you fear so much have no terrors for
US. They viii open and roll back be-
fore Us as they opened before the
children Of Israel in olden times and
we shall walk through them without
wetting our feet until we reach the
land where our journey ends"
All the men of Marseilles were sea-
men and none Of them really believed
that the sea would roll back as Stephen
had said. but as he promised to remain
in the city for that one night only
they consulted again and finally decid-
ed that it would be best TO let the chill
dren come in. To tell the truth. their
wives urged them strongly to do this.
for they were sorry for the boys and
girls who had come so far from their
homes. and they could not help think
ing how cruel il would be If their own
children should wander into a strange
country and fail TO find food and shell
ter there.
So the gates were opened and the
children trooped into the city. march
ing along the streets in rank after
rank. holding their banners proudly
aloft and singing their songs as loudly
as they could. Never had such a sight
been seen before All the houses were
filled 10 overflowing with children, and
still there was not room for them all.
Many slept in the streets as best they
could. but at least there was food for
every one, and some OF them had
enough TO eat that night for the first
time since they left their homes. They
told the good people Of Marseilles won
derful stories Of their march and they
were happy when they closed their
eyes IA the thought that in the morn
ing they were TO walk dry footed
through the sea.
They were astir again you may be
sure, s soon as the sun rose, hocking
to the wharyes to see the waves roll
back. stephen had promised. But,
strange to say. the sea gave no sign Of
opening TO let them through. II looked
exactly as it had looked the night be-
the other side. The children did not
know what to think until Stephen ex-
planned to them that there must have
been mistake in the day.
We must wait until tomorrow" he
said. The sea viii surely divide then
and we can continue on our way"
Permission was given to them to re-
main for another day in the city. but
the. next morning brought only another
disappointment Still Stephen asked
for delay, insisting that sooner or later
the sea would surely. open. So the
army fingered from day to day until
the patience of the citizens was worn
out They quickly made the children
understand that they were no longer
welcome. To be sure. a few of the
crusaders, who preferred to remain
where they were rather than TO return
home. were adopted and thus found
new homes in the city. Others set out
10 retrace their steps to their own
fathers and mothers, giving up hope
that they would ever reach the Holy
Land. The parents Of still. others came
10 take them away.
From these causes the army lost
much of its strength in numbers, but
still 5000 Of them clung to the prom
Use given by Stephen and refused to
abandon the crusade. They insisted
something would certainly happen that
would permit them TO press on to the
victory that they expected to win.
In this they were not disappointed.
for after a delay of several days il
became known throughout the city that
two of the leading merchants of Mar
seilles. Hugo Ferrous and William Por-
Gus, had offered to provide seven ships
in which the army Of children might
sail over the sea to the Holy Land
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