"Rather a poser," he said. "I have a glimmer of a notion what you mean." "Don't you think--" "If you mean don't I think the result would be the creation of an Efreet, no, I don't!" "I hardly mean that, either," replied Cairn, "but this wave of superstition cannot be entirely unproductive; all that thought energy directed to one point--" Sime stood up. "We shall get out of our depth," he replied conclusively. He considered the ground of discussion an unhealthy one; this was the territory adjoining that of insanity. A fortune-teller from India proffered his services incessantly. "_Imshi_! _imshi_!" growled Sime. "Hold on," said Cairn smiling; "this chap is not an Egyptian; let us ask him if he has heard the rumour respecting the Efreet!" Sime reseated himself rather unwillingly. The fortune-teller spread his little carpet and knelt down in order to read the palm of his hypothetical client, but Cairn waved him aside. "I don't want my fortune told!" he said; "but I will give you your fee,"--with a smile at Sime--"for a few minutes' conversation." "Yes, sir, yes, sir!" The Indian was all attention. "Why"--Cairn pointed forensically at the fortune-teller--"why is _Khamsin_ come so early this year?" The Indian spread his hands, palms upward. "How should I know?" he replied in his soft, melodious voice. "I am not of Egypt; I can only say what is told to me by the Egyptians." "And what is told to you?" Sime rested his hands upon his knees, bending forward curiously. He was palpably anxious that Cairn should have confirmation of the Efreet story from the Indian. "They tell me, sir,"--the man's voice sank musically low--"that a thing very evil"--he tapped a long brown finger upon his breast--"not as I am"--he tapped Sime upon the knee--"not as he, your friend"--he thrust the long finger at Cairn--"not as you, sir; not a man at all, though something like a man! not having any father and mother--" "You mean," suggested Sime, "a spirit?" The fortune-teller shook his head. "They tell me, sir, not a spirit--a man, but not as other men; a very, very bad man; one that the great king, long, long ago, the king you call Wise ----" "Solomon?" suggested Cairn. "Yes, yes, Suleyman!--one that he, when he banish all the tribe of the demons from earth--one that he not found." "One he overlooked?" jerked Sime. "Yes, yes, overlook! A very evil man, my gentlemen. They tell me he has come to Egypt. He come not from the sea, but across the great desert--" "The Libyan Desert?" suggested Sime. The man shook, his head, seeking for words. "The Arabian Desert?" "No, no! Away beyond, far up in Africa"--he waved his long arms dramatically--"far, far up beyond the Sudan." "The Sahara Desert?" proposed Sime. "Yes, yes! it is Sahara Desert!--come across the Sahara Desert, and is come to Khartum." "How did he get there?" asked Cairn. The Indian shrugged his shoulders.