Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/141

Rh blind man sat thinking for a moment; then, jumping up from his mat, he ran along in front of the tall, majestic Berber whose creed he had muddled and opened on the passers-by with:

"Blind moles, ungrateful ones! You remember not the name of the great Omar ben Sliman, the wise and merciful one. I beg for alms in the name of wali ben Sliman!" A silver coin shot its gleam through the air and fell in the basket of the blind meskin.

I watched these beggars in several cities and towns of Africa, but found Fez to be of paramount interest. I even went out before sunrise to see groups of them coming from their miserable lodgings and being hailed by their chiefs, or mokkhadems, as "ashab, ashab! (companions, companions!)" and assigned their places for the day in such a manner that none of the caste should suffer an injustice. With all the places taken by the hour of the morning prayer, the Faithful give the daily alms in the form of food or money, for which they receive the thanks and benedictions of the meskins in the traditional phrases of:

"A happy day be unto you! &hellip; Allah help you! &hellip; Allah, the Protector, will repay you! &hellip; The protection of Allah be upon you!"

To which the God-fearing Moslems answer:

"Peace be unto you"

These beggars are also often employed as porters or as messengers, carrying through sometimes most delicate matters in the capacity of spies or agitators. A Jew from the Mellah told me that on April 17th, 1912, when the treaty establishing the protectorate of France over