The band swung into the "Marseillaise" and the master of ceremonies bellowed: "Now we come to that great patriot of France!" Across the stage marched a slightly nervous miss wearing a plumed helmet and a cuirass above a skimpy bath-suit, carrying a sword and shield. The band played "Onward, Christian Soldiers." The young lady, a 17-year-old Manhattanite named Mary Louise Peck, was supposed to represent St. Joan of Arc, patroness of France, who was canonized in 1920 as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mary Louise...
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