Like all other Arabs, the robber believes that Allah does not disdain to give him warnings—whence superstitious hopes and fears. If, on leaving the _douar_, he meets a black mare, dirty, lean, and altogether in bad condition, it is an evil omen and he goes back again. Another bad sign is to hear yourself called by people who know not whither you are going. To see two partridges is an auspicious augury, but one by itself portends calamity. To find yourself, on starting, confronted by a cheerful, courageous person, well dressed, and well mounted, infallibly betokens success. An old woman, blind or maimed, and covered with rags, will certainly prevent you from succeeding. Start, however, with perfect confidence, if you have met a beautiful woman, richly dressed, to whom you have said: "Open thy girdle, Fatma, for that will bring us good fortune." She will not refuse to open to you the door to riches. It is equally desirable to see on one's road a woman carrying milk, and to drink a mouthful of it. On their return, the robbers divide their spoils. The vow made to the marabouts who were invoked is scrupulously fulfilled. The chief of the _douar_, and the woman who opened her girdle, each receives a present. The share that falls to the lot of the _hammaze_ is the largest; for it is he who has played the most important part, and incurred the greatest risks. CAMEL-STEALING. Camel-stealing is practised in the same manner as horse-stealing. They choose full grown camels,—or, at least, such as no longer cry—or she-camels with foal. Having removed the clogs, the robbers prick the animal with a poniard or knife to make it go off, and get on its back as soon as they are far enough away from the tents. All that night they travel on, and if at daybreak they do not feel that they have gone sufficiently far to escape the pursuit of horsemen, they halt and conceal themselves in a spot the soil of which does not retain foot-marks. The pursuers give up the chace if they find no traces of the fugitives. In the other event they often recover what they have lost; and, unless the robbers let go their prize and hide themselves, they may pay for their daring with their life.[77] This is the supreme moment for invocations and vows. "O Sidi Abd-el-Kader," cries the robber, on seeing the enemy close at hand, and in dread of discovery, "if thou wilt save us yet this one time, we will make in thy honour an _ouadâa_ for the poor." In the Sahara, Sidi Abd-el-Kader-el-Djilaly is the patron of robbers. This very undesirable patronage is due to the charity of the holy marabout, who shrinks from leaving in trouble those who invoke his name. SHEEP-STEALING.