The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1917-11-24

in South France, on the Mediter.
ranean.
There they chose the gypsy king.
Why there? Because Il servant won.
an Of Jud"a, in the days IF our Lord
Jesus lived the last yenrS of her life
in this French fishing vilIagc-and be.
came the patron saint of all the gyp.
sizes.
Alone. among the lagoons, with the
antique village grown round 1t, rises
the venerable cditice which has exist.
ed In some form, since the dawn of
Christianity. Good Old King Rene of
Provence gave it its present aspect in
1449.
History and legend tell how two OF
the Marys of the Gospels We're cast on
this shore by tempest. The Gentiles
of Antioch had put them in a boat with.
out sail or oars. They were women
who had wept ut the foot Of the cross J.,
and visited the tomb and found the
Lord had risen. Mary Snlome and
Mary the mother of james lived on this
spot with their Egyptian servant, whl
was wrecked with them and whose
name was Sarah. Here they built ths
church, died and We're buried In l..
And because Of Sarah (she who be-
came the gypsies' patron), these sands
each year, and greatly every fifth year, Z
were strangely peopled. D..
Over the roads came professions y.
,-n1 fo1. iSfn
coaches, prairie schooners, gypsy vars
and rich house wagons mounted ali
surrounded by dusky people. Some 4
had dragged for months. and some for j
years!
Three times May has slipped round
since the war;" said minor official
land no gypsies have appeared at the
SITS. Maries. In May, 1914, there were
three thousand in the German-Aus'
trian-Danubian camp, while the ltal'
numerous but richer. Without quar-
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 rulnor,
l asked, that the GitanoS had made
find of some great treasure about
eight years ago, which all the gypsles
had been seeking for three hundred
years."
The French official professcd isno-
rance.
Did they really elect a king?
They elect Il queen said NJ. Sc
billie. Local opinion judges the cleo
ton to be kind of play, as on Holy
Innocents' Day or Twelfth Night 80.
but as no order was given To penetrate
to the crypt, Of which the Komanlch-
els are very jealous, exactly what mp
pors 10 not known There i
no complaint. The pilgrimage alllise'
the peasants and brings sightseers ar
money. The crypt is turned over 10
the gypsies on the night OF May no
What can we know? When TN
chiefs go down the winding stairs L
the suhterranean arched hall, VIVA
signs from Memphis and 1hebeS %
they mark on the wall? What sudden
CLEAN of light (pcrhaps) Joins the seal
tered descendants of the maghlllce.
nccursed race which pretends TO KhoH
the future Of the world?
Not so united as all that
murmured an official.
do not bring the eeier"l.
into this romantic part OF 1t. But .
have come across queer mentions VI
THE Song of Pharaoh" which 'ies
sing down in the crypt, the reading o'
the gypsy gospel. and the oldest mag
ician" who, each time, "foretells lhe
future of the world for the next h'e
years"
Ibid he foretell it In May, IVA!
suggested.
One of the French officials equiVo'
Gated politely.
"They got away from the war ne
said. 1.-The gypsles disappeared
Most people will tell yo1 they went u
Spain.