"There," I said, "is the oldest patteran--first of all--which the Gipsies
use to-day in foreign lands. In Germany, when one band of Gipsies goes
by a cross road, they draw that deep in the dust, with the end of the
longest line pointing in the direction in which they have gone. Then,
the next who come by see the mark, and, if they choose, follow it."

"We make it differently," said the Gipsy. "This is our sign--the _trin
bongo drums_, or cross." And he drew his patteran thus--

[Cross: ill25.jpg]

"The long end points the way," he added; "just as in your sign."

"You call a cross," I remarked, "_trin bongo drums_, or the three crooked
roads. Do you know any such word as _trushul_ for it?"

"No; _trushilo_ is thirsty, and _trushni_ means a faggot, and also a
basket."

"I shouldn't wonder if a faggot once got the old Rommany word for cross,"
I said, "because in it every stick is crossed by the wooden _withy_ which
binds it; and in a basket, every wooden strip crosses the other."

I did not, however, think it worth while to explain to the Gipsies that
when their ancestors, centuries ago, left India, it was with the memory
that Shiva, the Destroyer, bore a trident, the tri-cula in Sanscrit, the
_trisul_ of Mahadeva in Hindustani, and that in coming to Europe the
resemblance of its shape to that of the Cross impressed them, so that
they gave to the Christian symbol the name of the sacred triple spear.