There is a superstition among our gypsies that if the shadow of a cross on a grave falls on a woman with child she will have a miscarriage, and this seems to be peculiarly appropriate to girls who have "anticipated the privileges of matrimony." The following rhyme seems to describe the hesitation of a girl who has gone to a cross to produce the result alluded to, but who is withheld by love for her unborn infant:-- "Cigno trussul pal handako Hin ada usalinako; The ziav me pro usalin, Ajt' mange lasavo na kin. Sar e praytin kad' chasarel, Save sile barval marel, Pal basavo te prasape, Mre cajori mojd kamale." "Cross upon a grave so small Here I see thy shadow fall, If it fall on me they say All my shame will pass away. As the autumn leaf is blown, By the wind to die alone, Yet in shame and misery, My baby will be dear to me!" There is a belief allied to this of the power of the dead in graves to work wonders, to the effect that if any one plucks a rose from a grave, he or she will soon die. In the following song a gypsy picks a rose from the grave of the one he loved, hoping that it will cause his death:-- "Cignoro hrobosa Hin sukares rosa Mange la pchagavas, Doi me na kamavas. Bes'las piranake, Hrobas hin joy mange, Pchgavas, choc zanav Pal lele avava Te me ne brinzinav. The me pocivinav." "On her little tomb there grows By itself a lovely rose, All alone the rose I break, And I do it for her sake. I sat by her I held so dear, Now her grave and mine are near, I break the rose because I know That to her I soon must go, Grief cannot my spirit stir, Since I know I go to her!" M. Kounavine (contribution by Dr. A. Elysseeff, Gypsy-Lore Journal, July, 1890), gives the following as a Russian gypsy spell against barrenness:-- "Laki, thou destroyest and dost make everything on earth; thou canst see nothing old, for death lives in thee, thou givest birth to all upon the earth for thou thyself art life. By thy might cause me ---- to bear good fruit, I who am deprived of the joy of motherhood, and barren as a rock." According to Dr. Elysseeff, Laki is related to the Indian goddess Lakshmi, although differing from her in character. Another incantation of the same nature is as follows:-- "Thou art the mother of every living creature and the distributor of good: thou doest according to thy wisdom in destroying what is useless or what has lived its destined time; by thy wisdom thou makest the earth to regenerate all that is new.... Thou dost not seek the death of any one, for thou art the benefactress of mankind." CHAPTER VII. THE RECOVERY OF STOLEN PROPERTY--LOVE-CHARMS--SHOES AND LOVE-POTIONS, OR PHILTRES.