Tombstone epitaph., 1917-12-09

rapean.
 There they chose the gypsy king.
 Why there? Because a servant wom- an of Judea. in the days of our Lord Jesus lived the last years of her life in this French fishing village-and be- came the patron saint of all the gyp- sies.
 Alone. among the lagoOns, with the antique village grown round it. rises the venerable edlfice which has exist ed. in some form. since the dawn of Christianity. Good old King Rene of Provence gave 1t its present aspect In 1i4S.
 History and legend tell how two of the Marys of the uospels were cast on this shore by tempest. The Gentiles of Antioch had put them In boat with out sail or oars. They were women who had wept at the foot of the cross and visited the tomb and found the Lord had risen. Mary Salome and Mary the mother of James lived on this spot with their Egyptian servant. who was wrecked with them and whose name was Sarah. Here they built the church. died and were buried in it. And because of Sarah (she who be- came the gypsies' patron). these sands, each year. and greatly every fifth year, were strangely peopled. Over the roads came prOcessions o. bizarre vehicles. prehistoric stage coaches. prairie schooners. gypsy vans and rich house wagons mounted and surrounded by dusky people. Some had dragged for months, and some fos years,
 Three times May has slipped round since the war;" said a minor official. and no gypsies have appeared at the Sts. Maries. In May, 1914. there were three thousand in the German-Aus- trian-Danubian camp. while the Ital- ian-Spanish-Greek GItanos were less reling they met In not very good friend ship. the Germanos being jealous of the Gitanos' newer. finer wagons" Was there any truth in the ruInor." asked. that the GitanOs had made a find of some great treasure about eight years ago, which all the gypsies had been seeking for three hundred years1"
 The French official professed igno- rance.
 Did they really elect king? They elect queen." said NJ. Sc billie. Local opirion judges the cleo lion to be a kind of play. as on Holy Innocents' Day or Twelfth Night .. |. but as no order was given to penetrate to the crypt, of which the ROmanich- els are very jealous, exactly what hap pens Is not known. There ts no complaint. The pilgrimage amuses the peasants and brings sightseers and money. The crypt is turned over to the gypsies on the night of May 24-2o." What can we knOwf When the chiefs go down the winding stairs tc | the subterranean arched hall. what signs from Memphis and Thebes do they mark on the wall? What sudden gleam of light (perhaps) joins the scat tered descendants of the magnificent, accursed race which pretends to know the future of the world?
 Not so united as all that :" murmured an official. do not bring the controleur general into this romantic part of it. But l have come across queer mentions of ''The Song of Pharaoh" which they sing down in the crypt. the reading of the gypsy gospel. and the oldest mag ician" who. each time, ''foreteIls the future of the world for the next i've | years"
 Did he foretell it in May. 1914?" I suggested.
 One of the French officials equivo- cafed politely.
 They got away from the war;" he said. ''The gypsies disappeared! '" Most people will tell you they went to Spain.