Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/322

306 shouted in retort, while laughing inwardly at the emptiness of his threat.

"Insh Allah," was again all the cadi replied, as he left the house to go directly to the Marabout to warn him that the Frenchman had threatened the village with djinns.

"Woe unto us," wailed the Marabout, "for, if he threatens with djinns, it means that he is a sorcerer and has dominion over djinns. We must have prayers and exorcisms to ward off misfortune."

The whole night passed in deliberations with the old men and women of the village as to what must be done against the evil spirits of the Frenchman. The following morning the foreigner discovered magic signs to counteract the machinations of the djinns drawn large with charcoal on all the houses and likewise found that the natives shunned him as something tainted and pestiferous—also that the Arab merchant was meanwhile buying up the wool.

This is an instance from the personal experiences of individuals. When, however, some political action is initiated against the sultan or the foreign authorities, then the sorcerers and prophets set to work to fan the fanaticism of the population into a raging flame. The words of the kahinas are read over in secret; all sorts of visions that had come to the saints are whispered in the mountain caves and out on the broad desert; unknown persons pass among the populace and suggestively present to the men of the tribes talismans engendering courage and amulets affording protection from bullets.

Usually at such times a Marabout enters upon a period