Sax Rohmer

“ Sime stared.
"Eh!" The medical man had suddenly come uppermost; he recollected that this class of discussion was probably taboo.
"You may doubt the existence of Efreets," continued Cairn, "but neither you nor I can doubt the creative power of thought. If a trained hypnotist, by sheer concentration, can persuade his subject that the latter sits upon the brink of a river fishing when actually he sits upon a platform in a lecture-room, what result should you expect from a concentration of thousands of native minds upon the idea that an Efreet is visiting Egypt?" ”

“ Yesterday an Egyptian friend told me Khamsîn is in the Fayûm. Therefore he is there—the man of evil—for he bring the hot wind with him."
The Indian was growing impressive, and two American tourists stopped to listen to his words.
"To-night—to-morrow,"—he spoke now almost in a whisper, glancing about him as if apprehensive of being overheard—"he may be here, in Cairo, bringing with him the scorching breath of the desert—the scorpion wind!" ”

“ 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 ”