Page:The Burton Holmes lectures; (IA burtonholmeslect04holm).pdf/234

 pipes, no conduits, and no gas-*works within five hundred miles. And then, just as the servant brings in the first course of an interminable feast, our host touches off a Swiss-music box, which rattles out rollicking measures of the Boulanger March.

IN THE DEN OF THE MARABOUT

SIDI MOHAMMED EL AID BEN SIDI ALI, ETC., ETC., ETC.

The luncheon was very palatable, although prepared in a kitchen that was, to say the least, unpretentious. No fewer than fourteen courses were served; some of them native dishes and some of them European, such as sardines, tinned meats, and English biscuits. To our surprise wine was produced, and the saintly lips were very often moistened with the forbidden nectar. It is no sin, however, for Marabouts to drink, for every faithful follower understands that wine on passing the lips of a saint instantly