Meanwhile a spectator passing along Green Lane, Tranmere, might have seen a very curious spectacle in the English Gypsies’ camp, for that was the destination of the aliens. On a bare patch of cindery earth between the dark brown tents of the Boswells and Robinsons, a piece of carpet had been spread, and on it, as advanced guard awaiting the main body, sat portly Tinka, the chief’s wife. Cross-legged, motionless, aloof, her eyes fixed on a distant infinity, quite alone yet totally unconcerned, she smoked her cigarette calmly in a long meerschaum holder. Red-robed as ever, wearing an immense weight of solid gold, brilliant as a flame, she contrasted strangely with the dingy colouring of the place: a Chinese idol in a Methodist chapel would have been less incongruous. But the English Gypsies, aping her detachment, feigned absence of interest; no one was visible—nevertheless many an eye was eagerly pressed to a hole in the tent-blanket. This invasion by foreign Gypsies was not relished by the old inhabitants of the pitch, and they threatened to drive the aliens out. But the aliens neither valued popularity nor feared the _Sinte_, as they contemptuously called their British brethren; with scarce a glance towards, or a thought of, their neighbours, they went diligently to work to make themselves comfortable. First they removed, without permission, all the carts from stables near the camp, and set them, shafts in air, to make shelters for the night, one for each family. Then, needing coke, and brooms, and water, and other necessaries, they turned to the despised _Sinte_ and borrowed what they required from them. And then the English Gypsy women fell in love with Vola’s baby, and the English Gypsy men were impressed by Kola’s size and ability, and the gorgeous display of gold touched a responsive chord in all their hearts. And so in an incredibly short space of time the strangers became completely at home. [Picture: Kola (on right). Photo, by Central News] 2. IMPERIUM IN IMPERIO. {7}