Page:In Desert and Wilderness (Sienkiewicz, tr. Drezmal).djvu/162

 154 "Therefore I, the Redeemer and servant of God, bless this holy war and you warriors. I bless your toils, wounds, death; I bless victory, and weep over you like a father who has conceived an affection for you."

And he burst into a flood of tears. When he descended from the pulpit a roar and a clamor resounded. Weeping became general. Below, the two caliphs Abdullahi and Ali Uled Helu took the prophet under the arms and escorted him to the sheep hide on which he knelt. During this brief moment Idris asked Stas feverishly whether Smain was not among the emirs.

"No!" replied the boy, who vainly sought the familiar face with his eyes. "I do not see him anywhere. Perhaps he fell at the capture of Khartûm."

The prayers lasted long. During these the Mahdi threw his arms and legs about like a buffoon or raised his eyes in rapture, repeating "Lo! It is he!" "Lo! It is he!" and the sun began to decline towards the west, when he rose and left for his home. The children now could be convinced with what reverence the dervishes surrounded their prophet, for crowds eagerly followed him and scratched up the places which his feet touched. They even quarreled and came to blows for they believed that such earth protected the healthy and healed the sick.

The place of prayer was vacated gradually. Idris himself did not know what to do and was about to return with the children and his whole party to the huts and to Chamis for the night, when unexpectedly there stood before them that same Greek who in the morning had given Stas and Nell each a dollar and a handful of wild figs.

"I spoke with the Mahdi about you," he said in Arabian, "and the prophet desires to see you."