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diff --git a/18868.txt b/18868.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8c274b --- /dev/null +++ b/18868.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15054 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, With Kitchener in the Soudan, by G. A. Henty, +Illustrated by William Rainey + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: With Kitchener in the Soudan + A Story of Atbara and Omdurman + + +Author: G. A. Henty + + + +Release Date: July 19, 2006 [eBook #18868] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH KITCHENER IN THE SOUDAN*** + + +E-text prepared by Martin Robb + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 18868-h.htm or 18868-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/8/6/18868/18868-h/18868-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/8/6/18868/18868-h.zip) + + + + + +WITH KITCHENER IN THE SOUDAN: + +A Story of Atbara and Omdurman + +by + +G. A. HENTY. + + + + + + + +Contents + + Preface. +Chapter 1: Disinherited. +Chapter 2: The Rising In Alexandria. +Chapter 3: A Terrible Disaster. +Chapter 4: An Appointment. +Chapter 5: Southward. +Chapter 6: Gregory Volunteers. +Chapter 7: To Metemmeh. +Chapter 8: Among The Dervishes. +Chapter 9: Safely Back. +Chapter 10: Afloat. +Chapter 11: A Prisoner. +Chapter 12: The Battle Of Atbara. +Chapter 13: The Final Advance. +Chapter 14: Omdurman. +Chapter 15: Khartoum. +Chapter 16: A Voice From The Dead. +Chapter 17: A Fugitive. +Chapter 18: A Hakim. +Chapter 19: The Last Page. +Chapter 20: A Momentous Communication. +Chapter 21: Gedareh. +Chapter 22: The Crowning Victory. +Chapter 23: An Unexpected Discovery. + + + +Preface. + + +The reconquest of the Soudan will ever be mentioned as one of the most +difficult, and at the same time the most successful, enterprises ever +undertaken. The task of carrying an army hundreds of miles across a +waterless desert; conveying it up a great river, bristling with +obstacles; defeating an enormously superior force, unsurpassed in the +world for courage; and, finally, killing the leader of the enemy and +crushing out the last spark of opposition; was a stupendous one. + +After the death of Gordon, and the retirement of the British troops, +there was no force in existence that could have barred the advance of +the fanatical hordes of the Mahdi, had they poured down into Egypt. The +native Egyptian army was, as yet, in the earliest stage of +organization; and could not be relied upon to stand firm against the +wild rush of the Dervishes. Fortunately, time was given for that +organization to be completed; and when, at last, the Dervish forces +marched north, they were repulsed. Assouan was saved, and Wady Halfa +became the Egyptian outpost. + +Gradually, preparations were made for taking the offensive. A railway +was constructed along the banks of the Nile, and a mixed force of +British and Egyptians drove the enemy beyond Dongola; then, by +splendidly organized labour, a railroad was made from Wady Halfa, +across the desert, towards the elbow of the great bend from Dongola to +Abu Hamed. The latter place was captured, by an Egyptian brigade moving +up from the former place; and from that moment, the movement was +carried on with irresistible energy. + +The railway was pushed forward to Abu Hamed; and then southward, past +Berber, up to the Atbara river. An army of twenty thousand men, under +one of the Khalifa's sons, was attacked in a strong position and +defeated with immense loss. Fresh British troops were then brought up; +and, escorted by gunboats and steamers carrying provisions, the army +marched up the Nile, crushed the Khalifa's great host before Omdurman, +and recovered possession of Khartoum. + +Then, the moving spirit of this enterprise, the man whose marvellous +power of organization had secured its success, was called to other +work. Fortunately, he had a worthy successor in Colonel Wingate; who, +with a native force, encountered that which the Khalifa had again +gathered, near El Obeid, the scene of the total destruction of the army +under Hicks Pasha; routed it with ease, killing the Khalifa and all his +principal emirs. Thus a land that had been turned into a desert, by the +terrible tyranny of the Mahdi and his successor, was wrested from +barbarism and restored to civilization; and the stain upon British +honour, caused by the desertion of Gordon by the British ministry of +the day, was wiped out. + +It was a marvellous campaign--marvellous in the perfection of its +organization, marvellous in the completeness of its success. + +G. A. Henty. + + + +Chapter 1: Disinherited. + + +"Wanted, an active and intelligent young man, for general work, in a +commercial house having a branch at Alexandria. It is desirable that he +should be able to write a good hand; and, if necessary, to assist in +office work. Wages, 2 pounds per week. Personal application to be made +at Messieurs Partridge and Company, 453 Leadenhall Street." + +This advertisement was read by a man of five or six and twenty, in a +small room in the upper story of a house in Lupus Street, Pimlico. He +was not the only inmate of the room, for a young woman, apparently not +more than eighteen, was sitting there sewing; her work interrupted, +occasionally, by a short, hacking cough. Her husband, for this was the +relation in which he stood to her, put down the paper carelessly, and +then got up. + +"I am going out, dear, on my usual search. You know, we have agreed +that it is of no use my trying to live by my pen. I get an article +accepted, occasionally, but it's not enough to provide more than bread +and cheese. I must look for something else." + +"But you must succeed, presently, Gregory." + +"Yes, dear; but while the grass grows, the horse starves. At any rate, +I will try for something else. If I get anything, it won't prevent my +writing; and when my genius is recognized, I can drop the other thing, +and take to literature regularly, again. + +"Well, I won't be away longer than I can help. Anyhow, I will be back +to our midday banquet. I will bring a couple of rashers of bacon in +with me. We have potatoes enough, I think." + +So saying, he kissed his wife tenderly, and went out. + +Gregory Hartley belonged to a good family. He was the second son of the +Honorable James Hartley, brother of the Marquis of Langdale. He had +been educated at Harrow and Cambridge; and, after leaving the +university, had gone out to Egypt with a friend of his father's, who +was an enthusiast in the exploration of the antiquities of that +country. Gregory had originally intended to stay there a few months, at +most, but he was infected by the enthusiasm of his companion, and +remained in Egypt for two years; when the professor was taken ill and +died, and he returned home. + +A year later, he fell in love with the governess in a neighbouring +family. His feeling was reciprocated, and they became engaged. His +father was furious, when his son told him what had taken place. + +"It is monstrous," he said, "after the education that you have had, and +the place that I, if I survive him; or, if not, your brother, will take +at the death of your uncle; that you should dream of throwing yourself +away, in this manner. I have looked to your making a good marriage; +for, as you know, I am not what may be called a rich man. Your +brother's tastes are expensive; and what with his education, and yours, +and the allowances I have made you both, it is as much as I have been +able to do to keep up our position. And there are your sisters to be +provided for. The idea of your falling in love with this young woman is +monstrous." + +"Young lady, Father. She is a clergyman's daughter." + +"I won't hear of such a thing--I will not hear of it for a moment; and +if you persist in this mad folly, I tell you, fairly, that from this +moment I shall have nothing more to say to you! You have to choose +between me, and this penniless beggar." + +"I am sorry you put it in that way, sir. My choice is made. I am +engaged to this young lady, and shall certainly marry her. I trust +that, when your present anger has subsided, you will recognize that my +honour was involved in the matter; and that even if I wished it, I +could not, without showing myself to be a downright cad, draw back." + +And so, Gregory Hartley married the girl of his choice. She had, for +some time, refused to allow him to sacrifice himself; but when she +found that he was as determined as his father, and absolutely refused +to release her from the engagement, she had given way; and had, after a +quiet marriage, accompanied him to London. + +There he had endeavoured to get literary work, but had found it much +harder than he had expected. The market was overcrowded, and they had +moved from comfortable lodgings into small rooms; and so, step by step, +had come to the attic in Lupus Street. He was doing a little better +now, and had hopes that, ere long, he would begin to make his way +steadily up. + +But the anxiety had told on his wife. Never very strong, she had +developed a short, hard cough; and he had drawn upon his scanty +reserves, to consult a specialist. + +"There is undoubtedly lung trouble," the latter said. "If you can +manage it, I should say that she ought certainly to be taken to a warm +climate. The damage is not extensive, as yet; and it is probable that, +under favourable circumstances, she might shake it off; but I fear +that, if she continues to live in London, her chances are not great." + +This, Gregory felt, was almost equivalent to a death sentence; and he +had begun to consult the advertisements in the papers, for some post +abroad. He had, unknown to her, applied for several situations, but +without success. + +When he first read the advertisement that morning, he had hardly +thought of applying for the situation. His pride revolted at the idea +of becoming a mere messenger; but his wife's cough had decided him. +What did it matter, so that he could save her life? + +"I may not get it," he said to himself, as he went out; "but my +knowledge of Arabic, and the native dialect, is all in my favour. And +at least, in a year or two, she may have thoroughly shaken off the +cough, and that is everything. + +"At any rate, I have a better chance of getting this than I had of the +other places that I applied for. There can hardly be a rush of +applicants. When I am out there, I may hear of something better. + +"However, I will take another name. Fortunately I have a second one, +which will do very well. Hilliard will do as well as Hartley; and as I +never write it in full as my signature, no one would recognize it as my +name. There is nothing to be ashamed of, in accepting such a post. + +"As for the marquis, as he has never been friendly with us, it does not +matter. He is, I have heard, a very tough sort of man; and my father is +not likely to survive him. But I do not think it would be fair to +Geoffrey, when he comes into his peerage, that anyone should be able to +say that he has a brother who is porter, in a mercantile house at +Alexandria. We have never got on very well together. The fact that he +was heir to a title spoilt him. I think he would have been a very good +fellow, if it hadn't been for that." + +On arriving at the office in Leadenhall Street, he was, on saying he +wished to speak to Mr. Partridge, at once shown in. A good many of his +personal belongings had been long since pledged; but he had retained +one or two suits, so that he could make as good an appearance as +possible, when he went out. The clerk had merely said, "A gentleman +wishes to speak to you, sir," and the merchant looked up enquiringly at +him, as he entered. + +"I have come to see you, sir, with reference to that advertisement, for +a man at your establishment at Alexandria." + +A look of surprise came over the merchant's face, and he said: + +"Have you called on your own account?" + +"Yes; I am anxious to go abroad, for the sake of my wife's health, and +I am not particular as to what I do, so that I can take her to a warm +climate. I may say that I have been two years in Egypt, and speak +Arabic and Koptic fluently. I am strong and active, and am ready to +make myself useful, in any way." + +Mr. Partridge did not answer, for a minute. Certainly this applicant +was not at all the sort of man he had expected to apply for the place, +in answer to his advertisement. That he was evidently a gentleman was +far from an advantage, but the fact that he could speak the languages +would add much to his value. + +"Can you give me references?" he said, at last. + +"I cannot, sir. I should not like to apply to any of my friends, in +such a matter. I must ask you to take me on trust. Frankly, I have +quarrelled with my family, and have to strike out for myself. Were it +not for my wife's health, I could earn my living; but I am told it is +essential that she should go to a warm climate, and as I see no other +way of accomplishing this, I have applied for this situation, hoping +that my knowledge of the language, and my readiness to perform whatever +duties I may be required to do, might induce you to give me a trial." + +"And you would, if necessary--say, in the case of illness of one of my +clerks--be ready to help in the office?" + +"Certainly, sir." + +"Will you call again, in half an hour? I will give you an answer, +then." + +By the time Gregory returned, the merchant's mind was made up. He had +come to the conclusion that the story he had heard was a true one. The +way it had been told was convincing. The man was undoubtedly a +gentleman. There was no mistake in his manner and talk. He had +quarrelled with his family, probably over his marriage; and, as so many +had done, found it difficult to keep his head above water. His wife had +been ordered to a warm climate, and he was ready to do anything that +would enable him to keep her there. + +It would assuredly be a great advantage to have one who could act, in +an emergency, as a clerk; of course, his knowledge of language would +greatly add to his utility. It certainly was not business to take a man +without a reference, but the advantages more than counterbalanced the +disadvantages. It was not likely that he would stay with him long; but +at any rate, the fact that he was taking his wife with him would ensure +his staying, until he saw something a great deal better elsewhere. + +When Gregory returned, therefore, he said: + +"I have been thinking this matter over. What is your name?" + +"Gregory Hilliard, sir." + +"Well, I have been thinking it over, and I have decided to engage you. +I quite believe the story that you have told me, and your appearance +fully carries it out. You may consider the matter settled. I am willing +to pay for a second-class passage for your wife, as well as yourself; +and will give such instructions, to my agents there, as will render +your position as easy for you as possible. In the natural course of +things, your duties would have included the sweeping out of the +offices, and work of that description; but I will instruct him to +engage a native to do this, under your supervision. You will be in +charge of the warehouse, under the chief storekeeper; and, as you say, +you will, in case of pressure of work in the office, take a desk there. + +"In consideration of your knowledge of the language, which will render +you, at once, more useful than a green hand would be, I shall add ten +shillings a week to the wages named in the advertisement, which will +enable you to obtain comfortable lodgings." + +"I am heartily obliged to you, sir," Gregory said, "and will do my best +to show that your confidence in me has not been misplaced. When do you +wish me to sail? I shall only require a few hours to make my +preparations." + +"Then in that case I will take a passage, for you and your wife, in the +P. and O. that sails, next Thursday, from Southampton. I may say that it +is our custom to allow fifteen pounds, for outfit. If you will call +again in half an hour, I will hand you the ticket and a cheque for that +amount; and you can call, the day before you go, for a letter to our +agents there." + +Gregory ascended the stairs to his lodging with a far more elastic step +than usual. His wife saw at once, as he entered, that he had good news +of some sort. + +"What is it, Gregory?" + +"Thank God, darling, that I have good news to give you, at last! I have +obtained a situation, at about a hundred and thirty pounds a year, in +Alexandria." + +"Alexandria?" she repeated, in surprise. + +"Yes. It is the place of all others that I wanted to go to. You see, I +understand the language. That is one thing; and what is of infinitely +more consequence, it is a place that will suit your health; and you +will, I hope, very soon get rid of that nasty cough. I did not tell you +at the time, but the doctor I took you to said that this London air did +not suit you, but that a warm climate would soon set you up again." + +"You are going out there for my sake, Gregory! As if I hadn't brought +trouble enough on you, already!" + +"I would bear a good deal more trouble for your sake, dear. You need +not worry about that." + +"And what are you going to do?" she asked. + +"I am going to be a sort of useful man--extra clerk, assistant +storekeeper, et cetera, et cetera. I like Egypt very much. It will suit +me to a T. At any rate, it will be a vast improvement upon this. + +"Talking of that, I have forgotten the rashers. I will go and get them, +at once. We sha'n't have to depend upon them as our main staple, in +future; for fruit is dirt cheap, out there, and one does not want much +meat. We shall be able to live like princes, on two pounds ten a week; +and besides, this appointment may lead to something better, and we may +consider that there is a future before us. + +"We are to sail on Thursday. Look! Here are fifteen golden sovereigns. +That is for my outfit, and we can begin with luxuries, at once. We +shall not want much outfit: half a dozen suits of white drill for +myself, and some gowns for you." + +"Nonsense, Gregory! I sha'n't want anything. You would not let me sell +any of my dresses, and I have half a dozen light ones. I shall not want +a penny spent on me." + +"Very well; then I will begin to be extravagant, at once. In the first +place, I will go down to that confectioner's, round the corner; and we +will celebrate my appointment with a cold chicken, and a bottle of +port. I shall be back in five minutes." + +"Will it be very hot, Gregory?" she asked, as they ate their meal. "Not +that I am afraid of heat, you know. I always like summer." + +"No. At any rate, not at present. We are going out at the best time of +the year, and it will be a comfort, indeed, to change these November +fogs for the sunshine of Egypt. You will have four or five months to +get strong again, before it begins to be hot. Even in summer, there are +cool breezes morning and evening; and of course, no one thinks of going +out in the middle of the day. I feel as happy as a schoolboy, at the +thought of getting out of this den and this miserable climate, and of +basking in the sunshine. We have had a bad beginning, dear, but we have +better days before us." + +"Thank God, Gregory! I have not cared about myself. But it has been a +trial, when your manuscripts have come back, to see you sitting here +slaving away; and to know that it is I who have brought you to this." + +"I brought myself to it, you obstinate girl! I have pleased myself, +haven't I? If a man chooses a path for himself, he must not grumble +because he finds it rather rougher than he expected. I have never, for +a single moment, regretted what I have done; at any rate, as far as I, +myself, am concerned." + +"Nor I, for my own sake, dear. The life of a governess is not so +cheerful as to cause one regret, at leaving it." + +And so, Gregory Hartley and his wife went out to Alexandria, and +established themselves in three bright rooms, in the upper part of a +house that commanded a view of the port, and the sea beyond it. The +outlay required for furniture was small, indeed: some matting for the +floors, a few cushions for the divans which ran round the rooms, a bed, +a few simple cooking utensils, and a small stock of crockery sufficed. + +Mr. Ferguson, the manager of the branch, had at first read the letter +that Gregory had brought him with some doubt in his mind, as to the +wisdom of his principal, in sending out a man who was evidently a +gentleman. This feeling, however, soon wore away; and he found him +perfectly ready to undertake any work to which he was set. + +There was, indeed, nothing absolutely unpleasant about this. He was at +the office early, and saw that the native swept and dusted the offices. +The rest of the day he was either in the warehouse, or carried +messages, and generally did such odd jobs as were required. A fortnight +after his arrival, one of the clerks was kept away by a sharp attack of +fever; and as work was pressing, the agent asked Gregory to take his +place. + +"I will do my best, sir, but I know nothing of mercantile accounts." + +"The work will be in no way difficult. Mr. Hardman will take Mr. +Parrot's ledgers; and, as you will only have to copy the storekeeper's +issues into the books, five minutes will show you the form in which +they are entered." + +Gregory gave such satisfaction that he was afterwards employed at +office work, whenever there was any pressure. + +A year and a half passed comfortably. At the end of twelve months, his +pay was raised another ten shillings a week. + +He had, before leaving England, signed a contract to remain with the +firm for two years. He regretted having to do this, as it prevented his +accepting any better position, should an opening occur; but he +recognized that the condition was a fair one, after the firm paying for +his outfit and for two passages. At the end of eighteen months, Gregory +began to look about for something better. + +"I don't mind my work a bit," he said to his wife, "but, if only for +the sake of the boy" (a son had been born, a few months after their +arrival), "I must try to raise myself in the scale, a bit. I have +nothing to complain about at the office; far from it. From what the +manager said to me the other day, if a vacancy occurred in the office, +I should have the offer of the berth. Of course, it would be a step; +for I know, from the books, that Hardman gets two hundred a year, which +is forty more than I do." + +"I should like you to get something else, Gregory. It troubles me, to +think that half your time is spent packing up goods in the warehouse, +and work of that sort; and even if we got less I would much rather, +even if we had to stint ourselves, that your work was more suitable to +your past; and such that you could associate again with gentlemen, on +even terms." + +"That does not trouble me, dear, except that I wish you had some +society among ladies. However, both for your sake and the boy's, and I +own I should like it myself, I will certainly keep on the lookout for +some better position. I have often regretted, now, that I did not go in +for a commission in the army. I did want to, but my father would not +hear of it. By this time, with luck, I might have got my company; and +though the pay would not have been more than I get here, it would, with +quarters and so on, have been as much, and we should be in a very +different social position. + +"However, it is of no use talking about that now; and indeed, it is +difficult to make plans at all. Things are in such an unsettled +condition, here, that there is no saying what will happen. + +"You see, Arabi and the military party are practically masters here. +Tewfik has been obliged to make concession after concession to them, to +dismiss ministers at their orders, and to submit to a series of +humiliations. At any moment, Arabi could dethrone him, as he has the +whole army at his back, and certainly the larger portion of the +population. The revolution could be completed without trouble or +bloodshed; but you see, it is complicated by the fact that Tewfik has +the support of the English and French governments; and there can be +little doubt that the populace regard the movement as a national one, +and directed as much against foreign control and interference as +against Tewfik, against whom they have no ground of complaint, +whatever. On the part of the army and its generals, the trouble has +arisen solely on account of the favouritism shown to Circassian +officers. + +"But once a revolution has commenced, it is certain to widen out. The +peasantry are, everywhere, fanatically hostile to foreigners. Attacks +have been made upon these in various country districts; and, should +Arabi be triumphant, the position of Christians will become very +precarious. Matters are evidently seen in that light in England; for I +heard today, at the office, that the British and French squadrons are +expected here, in a day or two. + +"If there should be a row, our position here will be very unpleasant. +But I should hardly think that Arabi would venture to try his strength +against that of the fleets, and I fancy that trouble will, in the first +place, begin in Cairo; both as being the capital of the country, and +beyond the reach of armed interference by the Powers. Arabi's natural +course would be to consolidate his power throughout the whole of Egypt, +leaving Alexandria severely alone, until he had obtained absolute +authority elsewhere. + +"Anyhow, it will be a satisfaction to have the fleet up; as, at the +first rumour of an outbreak, I can get you and baby on board one of the +ships lying in harbour. As a simple measure of precaution, I would +suggest that you should go out with me, this evening, and buy one of +the costumes worn by the native women. It is only a long blue robe, +enveloping you from head to foot; and one of those hideous white cotton +veils, falling from below the eyes. I will get a bottle of iodine, and +you will then only have to darken your forehead and eyelids, and you +could pass, unsuspected, through any crowd." + +"But what are you going to do, Gregory?" + +"I will get a native dress, too; but you must remember that though, if +possible, I will come to you, I may not be able to do so; and in case +you hear of any tumult going on, you must take Baby, and go down at +once to the port. You know enough of the language, now, to be able to +tell a boatman to take you off to one of the steamers in the port. As +soon as I get away I shall go round the port, and shall find you +without difficulty. Still, I do not anticipate any trouble arising +without our having sufficient warning to allow me to come and see you +settled on board ship; and I can then keep on in the office until it +closes, when I can join you again. + +"Of course, all this is very remote, and I trust that the occasion will +never arise. Still, there is no doubt that the situation is critical, +and there is no harm in making our preparations for the worst. + +"At any rate, dear, I beg that you will not go out alone, till matters +have settled down. We will do the shopping together, when I come back +from the office. + +"There is one thing that I have reason to be grateful for. Even if the +worst comes to the worst, and all Christians have to leave the country, +the object for which I came out here has been attained. I have not +heard you cough, for months; we have laid by fifty pounds; and I have +written some forty stories, long and short, and if we go back I have a +fair hope of making my way, for I am sure that I write better than I +used to do; and as a good many of the stories are laid in Egypt, the +local colouring will give them a distinctive character, and they are +more likely to be accepted than those I wrote before. Editors of +magazines like a succession of tales of that kind. + +"For the present, there is no doubt that the arrival of the fleet will +render our position here more comfortable than it is, at present. The +mere mob of the town would hesitate to attack Europeans, when they know +that three or four thousand sailors could land in half an hour. But on +the other hand, Arabi and his generals might see that Alexandria was, +after all, the most important position, and that it was here foreign +interference must be arrested. + +"I should not be surprised if, on the arrival of the ships, Tewfik, +Arabi, and all the leaders of the movement come here at once. Tewfik +will come to get the support of the fleet. Arabi will come to oppose a +landing of troops. The war in the beginning of the century was decided +at Alexandria, and it may be so, again. If I were sure that you would +come to no harm, and I think the chances of that are very small, I own +that all this would be immensely interesting, and a break to the +monotony of one's life here. + +"One thing is fairly certain. If there is anything like a regular row, +all commercial work will come to an end until matters are settled; in +which case, even if the offices are not altogether closed, and the +whole staff recalled to England, they would be glad enough to allow me +to leave, instead of keeping me to the two years' agreement that I +signed, before starting." + +"I should hardly think that there would be a tumult here, Gregory. The +natives all seem very gentle and peaceable, and the army is composed of +the same sort of men." + +"They have been kept down for centuries, Annie; but there is a deep, +fanatical feeling in every Mussulman's nature; and, at any rate, the +great proportion of the officers of the army are Mussulmans. As for the +Kopts, there would be no danger of trouble from them; but the cry of +'death to the Christians' would excite every Mahomedan in the land, +almost to madness. + +"Unfortunately, too, there is a general belief, whether truly founded +or not, that although the French representative here is apparently +acting in concert with ours, he and all the French officials are +secretly encouraging Arabi, and will take no active steps, whatever. In +that case, it is doubtful whether England would act alone. The jealousy +between the two peoples here is intense. For years, the French have +been thwarting us at every turn; and they may very well think that, +however matters might finally go, our interference would make us so +unpopular, in Egypt, that their influence would become completely +paramount. + +"Supremacy in Egypt has always been the dream of the French. Had it not +been for our command of the sea, they would have obtained possession of +the country in Napoleon's time. Their intrigues here have, for years, +been incessant. Their newspapers in Egypt have continually maligned us, +and they believe that the time has come when they will be the real, if +not the nominal, rulers of Egypt. The making of the Suez Canal was +quite as much a political as a commercial move, and it has certainly +added largely to their influence here; though, in this respect, a check +was given to them by the purchase of the Khedive's shares in the canal +by Lord Beaconsfield; a stroke which, however, greatly increased the +enmity of the French here, and heightened their efforts to excite the +animosity of the people against us. + +"Well, I hope that whatever comes of all this, the question as to whose +influence is to be paramount in Egypt will be finally settled. Even +French domination would be better than the constant intrigues and +trouble, that keep the land in a state of agitation. However, I fancy +that it will be the other way, if an English fleet comes here and there +is trouble. I don't think we shall back down; and if we begin in +earnest, we are sure to win in the long run. France must see that, and +if she refuses to act, at the last moment, it can only be because Arabi +has it in his power to produce documents showing that he was, all +along, acting in accordance with her secret advice." + +A week later, on the 20th of May, the squadrons of England and France +anchored off Alexandria. The British fleet consisted of eight ironclads +and five gunboats, carrying three thousand five hundred and thirty-nine +men and one hundred and two guns, commanded by Sir Frederick Seymour. +Two days before the approach of the fleet was known at Cairo, the +French and English consuls proposed that the Khedive should issue a +decree, declaring a general amnesty, and that the president of the +council, the minister of war, and the three military pashas should quit +the country for a year. This request was complied with. + +The ministry resigned, in a body, on the day the fleet arrived; on the +ground that the Khedive acquiesced in foreign interference. A great +meeting was held of the chief personages of state, and the officers and +the representatives of the army at once told the Khedive that they +refused to obey his orders, and only recognized the authority of the +Porte. + +At Alexandria all trade ceased at once, when it became known that the +troops were busy strengthening the forts, mounting cannon, and +preparing for a resistance. That this was done by the orders of Arabi, +who was now practically dictator, there could be no question. The +native population became more and more excited, being firmly of belief +that no vessels could resist the fire of the heavy guns; and that any +attempt on the part of the men-of-war to reduce the place would end in +their being sunk, as soon as fighting began. + +The office and stores were still kept open, but Gregory's duties were +almost nominal; and he and Mr. Parrot, who was also married, were told +by the manager that they could spend the greater portion of their time +at their homes. Part of Gregory's duties consisted in going off to +vessels that came into the port with goods for the firm, and seeing to +their being brought on shore; and he had no difficulty in making +arrangements, with the captain of one of these ships, for his wife and +child to go on board at once, should there be any trouble in the town. + +"If you hear any sounds of tumult, Annie, you must disguise yourself at +once, and go down to the wharf. I have arranged with our boatman, +Allen, whom you know well, as we have often gone out with him for a +sail in the evening, that if he hears of an outbreak, he shall bring +the boat to the steps at the end of this street, and take you off to +the Simoon. Of course, I shall come if I can, but our house is one of +those which have been marked off as being most suitable for defence. +The men from half a dozen other establishments are to gather there and, +as belonging to the house, I must aid in the defence. Of course, if I +get sufficient warning, I shall slip on my disguise, and hurry here, +and see you down to the boat; and then make my way back to our place. +But do not wait for me. If I come here and find that you have gone, I +shall know that you have taken the alarm in time, and shall return at +once to the office. + +"Of course, if the outbreak commences near here, and you find that your +way down to the water is blocked, you will simply put on your disguise, +stain your face, and wait till I come to you, or till you see that the +way to the water is clear. Do not attempt to go out into a mob. There +are not likely to be any women among them. However, I do not anticipate +a serious riot. They may attack Europeans in the street, but with some +fourteen or fifteen men-of-war in the port, they are not likely to make +any organized assault. Arabi's agents will hardly precipitate matters +in that way. Hard as they may work, it will take a month to get the +defences into proper order, and any rising will be merely a spasmodic +outbreak of fanaticism. I don't think the danger is likely to be +pressing until, finding that all remonstrances are vain, the admiral +begins to bombard the port." + +"I will do exactly as you tell me, Gregory. If I were alone, I could +not bring myself to leave without you, but I must think of the child." + +"Quite so, dear. That is the first consideration. Certainly, if it +comes to a fight, I should be much more comfortable with the knowledge +that you and Baby were in safety." + +The Egyptian soldiers were quartered, for the most part, outside the +town; and for some days there was danger that they would enter, and +attack the European inhabitants; but Arabi's orders were strict that, +until he gave the command, they were to remain quiet. + +The British admiral sent messages to Tewfik, insisting that the work +upon the fortifications should cease, and the latter again issued +orders to that effect, but these were wholly disobeyed. He had, indeed, +no shadow of authority remaining; and the work continued, night and +day. It was, however, as much as possible concealed from observation; +but, search lights being suddenly turned upon the forts, at night, +showed them to be swarming with men. + +Things went on with comparative quiet till the 10th of June, although +the attitude of the natives was so threatening that no Europeans left +their houses, except on urgent business. On that day, a sudden uproar +was heard. Pistols were fired, and the merchants closed their stores +and barricaded their doors. + +Gregory was in the harbour at the time and, jumping into his boat, +rowed to the stairs and hurried home. He found that his wife had +already disguised herself, and was in readiness to leave. + +The street was full of excited people. He slipped on his own disguise, +darkened his face, and then, seizing a moment when the crowd had rushed +up the street at the sound of firearms at the other end, hurried down +to the boat, and rowed off to the Simoon. + +"I must return now, dear," he said. "I can get in at the back gate--I +have the key, as the stores are brought in through that way. I do not +think that you need feel any uneasiness. The row is evidently still +going on, but only a few guns are being fired now. Certainly the +rascals cannot be attacking the stores, or you would hear a steady +musketry fire. By the sound, the riot is principally in the foreign +quarter, where the Maltese, Greeks, and Italians congregate. No doubt +the police will soon put it down." + +The police, however, made no attempt to do so, and permitted the work +of massacre to take place under their eyes. Nearly two hundred +Europeans were killed. The majority of these dwelt in the foreign +quarter, but several merchants and others were set upon, while making +their way to their offices, and some seamen from the fleet were also +among the victims. The British consul was dragged out of his carriage, +and severely injured. The consulate was attacked, and several Frenchmen +were killed in the streets. + +The Khedive hurried from Cairo, on hearing the news. Arabi was now +sending some of his best regiments to Alexandria, while pretending to +be preparing for a raid upon the Suez Canal. He was receiving the +assistance of Dervish Pasha, the Sultan's representative; and had been +recognized by the Sultan, who conferred upon him the highest order of +Medjidie. + +In the meantime a conference had been held by the Powers, and it was +decided that the Sultan should be entrusted with the work of putting +down the insurrection, he being nominally lord paramount of Egypt. But +conditions were laid down, as to his army leaving the country +afterwards. + +The Sultan sent an evasive reply. The Khedive was too overwhelmed at +the situation to take any decisive course. France hesitated, and +England determined that, with or without allies, she would take the +matter in hand. + + + +Chapter 2: The Rising In Alexandria. + + +The harbour was full of merchant ships, as there were, at present, no +means of getting their cargoes unloaded. The native boatmen had, for +the most part, struck work; and had they been willing to man their +boats, they must have remained idle as, in view of the situation, the +merchants felt that their goods were much safer on board ship than they +would be in their magazines. It was settled, therefore that, for the +present, Annie and the child should remain on board the Simoon, while +Gregory should take up his residence at the office. + +The fleet in the harbour was now an imposing one. Not only were the +English and French squadrons there, but some Italian ships of war had +arrived, and a United States cruiser; and on the 7th of July, Sir +Beauchamp Seymour sent in a decisive message, that he should commence a +bombardment of the fort unless the strengthening of the fortifications +was, at once, abandoned. No heed was taken of the intimation and, three +days later, he sent an ultimatum demanding the cessation of work, and +the immediate surrender of the forts nearest to the entrance to the +harbour; stating that, if these terms were not complied with in +twenty-four hours, the bombardment would commence. + +Already the greater part of the European inhabitants had left the town, +and taken up their quarters in the merchant ships that had been engaged +for the purpose. A few, however, of the bankers and merchants +determined to remain. These gathered in the bank, and in Mr. Ferguson's +house, to which the most valuable goods in other establishments were +removed. They had an ample supply of firearms, and believed that they +could hold out for a considerable time. They were convinced that the +Egyptian troops would not, for an hour, resist the fire that would be +opened upon them, but would speedily evacuate the town; and that, +therefore, there would only be the mob to be encountered, and this but +for a short time, as the sailors would land as soon as the Egyptian +troops fled. + +The Egyptians, on the other hand, believed absolutely in their ability +to destroy the fleet. + +Both parties were wrong. The Europeans greatly undervalued the fighting +powers of the Egyptians, animated as they were by confidence in the +strength of the defences, by their number, and by their fanaticism; +while the Egyptians similarly undervalued the tremendous power of our +ships. + +That evening, and the next morning, the port presented an animated +appearance. Boats were putting off with those inhabitants who had +waited on, hoping that the Egyptians would at the last moment give in. +Many of the merchantmen had already cleared out. Others were getting up +sail. Smoke was rising from the funnels of all the men of war. + +An express boat had brought, from France, orders that the French fleet +were to take no part in the proceedings, but were to proceed at once to +Port Said. This order excited the bitterest feeling of anger and +humiliation among the French officers and sailors, who had relied +confidently in taking their part in the bombardment; and silently their +ships, one by one, left the port. The Italian and American vessels +remained for a time; and as the British ships followed, in stately +order, their crews manned the rigging and vociferously cheered our +sailors, who replied as heartily. + +All, save the British men of war, took up their stations well out at +sea, in a direction where they would be out of the fire of the Egyptian +batteries. It was not until nine o'clock in the evening that the two +last British ships, the Invincible and Monarch, steamed out of port. At +half-past four in the morning the ships got under weigh again, and +moved to the positions marked out for them. + +Fort Mex, and the batteries on the sand hills were faced by the +Penelope, the Monarch, and the Invincible; the Alexandra, the Superb, +and the Sultan faced the harbour forts, Ada, Pharos, and Ras-el-Teen; +the Temeraire and Inflexible prepared to aid the Invincible in her +attack on Fort Mex, or to support the three battleships engaged off the +port, as might be required; and the five gunboats moved away towards +Fort Marabout, which lay some distance to the west of the town. + +At seven o'clock, the Alexandra began the engagement by firing a single +gun. Then the whole fleet opened fire, the Egyptian artillerymen +replying with great steadiness and resolution. There was scarcely a +breath of wind, and the ships were, in a few instants, shrouded in +their own smoke; and were frequently obliged to cease firing until this +drifted slowly away, to enable them to aim their guns. The rattle of +the machine guns added to the din. Midshipmen were sent aloft, and +these signalled down to the deck the result of each shot, so that the +gunners were enabled to direct their fire, even when they could not see +ten yards beyond the muzzle of the guns. + +In a short time, the forts and batteries showed how terrible was the +effect of the great shells. The embrasures were torn and widened, there +were great gaps in the masonry of the buildings, and the hail of +missiles from the machine guns swept every spot near the Egyptian guns; +and yet, Arabi's soldiers did not flinch but, in spite of the number +that fell, worked their guns as fast as ever. + +Had they been accustomed to the huge Krupp guns in their batteries, the +combat would have been more equal; and although the end would have been +the same, the ships must have suffered terribly. Fortunately, the +Egyptian artillerymen had little experience in the working of these +heavy pieces, and their shot in almost every case flew high--sometimes +above the masts, sometimes between them, but in only a few instances +striking the hull. With their smaller guns they made good practice, but +though the shot from these pieces frequently struck, they dropped +harmlessly from the iron sides, and only those that entered through the +portholes effected any damage. + +The Condor, under Lord Charles Beresford, was the first to engage Fort +Marabout; and, for a time, the little gunboat was the mark of all the +guns of the fort. But the other four gunboats speedily came to her +assistance, and effectually diverted the fire of the fort from the +ships that were engaging Fort Mex. + +At eight o'clock the Monarch, having silenced the fort opposite to her, +and dismounted the guns, joined the Inflexible and Penelope in their +duel with Fort Mex; and by nine o'clock all the guns were silenced +except four, two of which were heavy rifled guns, well sheltered. In +spite of the heavy fire from the three great ships, the Egyptian +soldiers maintained their fire, the officers frequently exposing +themselves to the bullets of the machine guns by leaping upon the +parapet, to ascertain the effect of their own shot. + +The harbour forts were, by this time, crumbling under the shot of four +warships opposed to them. The Pharos suffered most heavily, and its +guns were absolutely silenced; while the fire from the other two forts +slackened, considerably. At half-past ten, it was seen that the +Ras-el-Teen Palace, which lay behind the fort, was on fire; and, half +an hour later, the fire from that fort and Fort Ada almost died out. + +The British Admiral now gave the signal to cease firing, and as the +smoke cleared away, the effects of the five hours' bombardment were +visible. The forts and batteries were mere heaps of ruins. The guns +could be made out, lying dismounted, or standing with their muzzles +pointing upwards. + +The ships had not come out scatheless, but their injuries were, for the +most part, immaterial; although rigging had been cut away, bulwarks +smashed, and sides dinted. One gun of the Penelope had been disabled, +and two of the Alexandra. Only five men had been killed, altogether, +and twenty-seven wounded. + +No sign was made of surrender, and an occasional fire was kept up on +the forts, to prevent the Egyptians from repairing damages. At one +o'clock, twelve volunteers from the Invincible started to destroy the +guns of Fort Mex. Their fire had ceased, and no men were to be seen in +the fort; but they might have been lying in wait to attack any landing +party. + +On nearing the shore, the surf was found to be too heavy for the boat +to pass through it, and Major Tulloch and six men swam ashore and +entered the fort. It was found to be deserted, and all the guns but two +ten-inch pieces dismounted. The charges of gun cotton, that the +swimmers brought ashore with them, were placed in the cannon; and their +muzzles blown off. After performing this very gallant service, the +little party swam back to their boat. + +The British admiral's position was now a difficult one. There were no +signs of surrender; for aught he could tell, fifteen thousand Egyptian +troops might be lying round the ruined forts, or in the town hard by, +in readiness to oppose a landing. That these troops were not to be +despised was evident, by the gallantry with which they had fought their +guns. This force would be aided by the mass of the population; and it +would be hazardous, indeed, to risk the loss of fifteen hundred men, +and the reversal of the success already gained. + +At the same time, it was painful to think that the Europeans on shore +might be massacred, and the whole city destroyed, by the exasperated +troops and fanatical population. It was known that the number of +Englishmen there was not large, two or three hundred at most; but there +was a much larger number of the lower class of Europeans--port +labourers, fishermen, petty shopkeepers, and others--who had preferred +taking their chance to the certainty of losing all their little +possessions, if they left them. + +Anxiously the glasses of those on board the ships were directed towards +the shore, in hopes of seeing the white flag hoisted, or a boat come +out with it flying; but there were no signs of the intentions of the +defenders, and the fleet prepared to resume the action in the morning. +Fort Marabout, and several of the batteries on the shore, were still +unsilenced; and two heavy guns, mounted on the Moncrieff system (by +which the gun rose to a level of the parapet, fired, and instantly sank +again), had continued to fire all day, in spite of the efforts of the +fleet to silence them. + +Next morning, however, there was a long heavy swell, and the ironclads +were rolling too heavily for anything like accuracy of aim; but as +parties of men could be seen, at work in the Moncrieff battery, fire +was opened upon them, and they speedily evacuated it. + +All night, the Palace of Ras-el-Teen burned fiercely. Another great +fire was raging in the heart of the town, and anxiety for those on +shore, for the time, overpowered the feeling of exultation at the +victory that had been gained. + +At half-past ten a white flag was hoisted at the Pharos battery, and +all on board watched, with deep anxiety, what was to follow. Lieutenant +Lambton at once steamed into the fort, in the Bittern, to enquire if +the government were ready to surrender. It was three o'clock before he +steamed out again, with the news that his mission was fruitless; and +that the white flag had only been hoisted, by the officer in command of +the fort, to enable himself and his men to get away unmolested. +Lieutenant Lambton had obtained an interview with the military +governor, on behalf of the government, and told him that we were not at +war with Egypt, and had simply destroyed the forts because they +threatened the fleet; that we had no conditions to impose upon the +government, but were ready to discuss any proposal; and that the troops +would be allowed to evacuate the forts, with the honour of war. + +It was most unfortunate that the fleet had not brought with them two or +three thousand troops. Had they done so they could have landed at once, +and saved a great portion of the town from destruction; but as he had +no soldiers, the admiral could not land a portion of the sailors, as +the large Egyptian force in the town, which was still protected by a +number of land batteries, might fall upon them. + +At five o'clock the Helicon was sent in to say that white flags would +not be noticed, unless hoisted by authority; and if they were again +shown, the British admiral would consider them the signs of a general +surrender. It was a long time before the Helicon returned, with news +that no communication had been received from the enemy, that the +barracks and arsenals seemed to be deserted and, as far as could be +seen, the whole town was evacuated. + +As evening wore on, fresh fires broke out in all parts of the town, and +a steam pinnace was sent ashore to ascertain, if possible, the state of +affairs. Mr. Ross, a contractor for the supply of meat to the fleet, +volunteered to accompany it. + +The harbour was dark and deserted. Not a light was to be seen in the +houses near the water. The crackling of the flames could be heard, with +an occasional crash of falling walls and roofs. On nearing the landing +place the pinnace paused, for two or three minutes, for those on board +to listen; and as all was quiet, steamed alongside. Mr. Ross jumped +ashore, and the boat backed off a few yards. + +A quarter of an hour later, he returned. That quarter of the town was +entirely deserted, and he had pushed on until arrested by a barrier of +flames. The great square was on fire, from end to end; the European +quarter generally was in flames; and he could see, by the litter that +strewed the streets, that the houses had been plundered before being +fired. + +When daylight broke, a number of Europeans could be seen, at the edge +of the water, in the harbour. Boats were at once lowered; and the +crews, armed to the teeth, rowed ashore. Here they found about a +hundred Europeans, many of them wounded. When rioting had broken out +they had, as arranged, assembled at the Anglo-Egyptian Bank. They were +taken off to the merchant steamers, lying behind the fleet, and their +information confirmed the worst forebodings of the fugitives there. + +When the first gun of the bombardment was fired, Gregory had gone up, +with the other employees, to the top of the house; where they commanded +a view over the whole scene of action. After the first few minutes' +firing they could see but little, for batteries and ships were, alike, +shrouded in smoke. At first, there had been some feeling of insecurity, +and a doubt whether a shot too highly aimed might not come into the +town; but the orders to abstain carefully from injuring the city had +been well observed, and, except to the Palace and a few houses close to +the water's edge, no damage was done. + +Towards evening, all those who had resolved to remain behind gathered +at the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, or at Mr. Ferguson's. But a consultation +was held later, and it was agreed that next morning all should go to +the bank, which was a far more massive building, with fewer entrances, +and greater facilities for defence. When the town was quiet, therefore, +all were employed in transferring valuable goods there, and the house +was then locked up and left to its fate. Against a mere rising of the +rabble the latter might have been successfully defended; but there was +little doubt that, before leaving the town, the troops would join the +fanatics; and in that case, a house not built with a special eye for +defence could hardly hope to hold out, against persistent attack. + +The bank, however, might hope to make a stout defence. It was built of +massive stone, the lower windows were barred, and a strong barricade +was built against the massive doors. A hundred and twenty resolute men, +all well armed, could hold it against even a persistent attack, if +unsupported by artillery. + +Early in the afternoon, all felt that the critical moment had +approached. Throughout the night a fire had raged, from the opposite +side of the great square; where several deserted houses had been broken +into, and plundered, by the mob; but the soldiers stationed in the +square had prevented any further disorder. + +Now, however, parties of troops from the forts began to pour in. It was +already known that their losses had been very heavy, and that many of +the forts had been destroyed. Soon they broke up and, joining the mob, +commenced the work of pillage. Doors were blown in, shutters torn off +and, with wild yells and shouts, the native population poured in. The +work of destruction had begun. + +The garrison of the bank saw many Europeans, hurrying, too late, to +reach that shelter, murdered before their eyes. In the Levantine +quarter, the cracking of pistols and the shouts of men showed that the +work of massacre was proceeding there. Soon every door of the houses in +the great square was forced in, and ere long great numbers of men, +loaded with spoil of all kinds, staggered out. + +So far the bank had been left alone; but it was now its turn, and the +mob poured down upon it. As they came up, a sharp fire broke out from +every window, answered by a discharge of muskets and pistols from the +crowd. Here men fell fast, but they had been worked up to such a pitch +of excitement, and fanaticism, that the gaps were more than filled by +fresh comers. + +All the afternoon and evening the fight continued. In vain the mob +endeavoured to break down the massive iron bars of the windows, and +batter in the doors. Although many of the defenders were wounded, and +several killed; by the fire from the windows of the neighbouring +houses, and from the road; their steady fire, at the points most hotly +attacked, drove their assailants back again and again. + +At twelve o'clock the assault slackened. The soldiers had long left +and, so far as could be seen from the roof of the house, had entirely +evacuated the town; and as this fact became known to the mob, the +thought of the consequences of their action cooled their fury; for they +knew that, probably, the troops would land from the British ships next +day. Each man had his plunder to secure, and gradually the crowd melted +away. + +By two o'clock all was quiet; and although, occasionally, fresh fires +burst out in various quarters of the town, there could be little doubt +that the great bulk of the population had followed the example of the +army, and had left the city. + +Then the besieged gathered in the great office on the ground floor; +and, as it was agreed that there would be probably no renewal of the +attack, they quietly left the house, locking the doors after them, and +made their way down to the shore. They believed that they were the only +survivors, but when they reached the end of the town, they found that +the building of the Credit Lyonnais had also been successfully +defended, though the Ottoman Bank had been overpowered, and all within +it, upwards of a hundred in number, killed. + +Gregory had done his full share in the defence, and received a musket +ball in the shoulder. His wife had passed a terrible time, while the +conflagration was raging, and it was evident that the populace had +risen, and were undoubtedly murdering as well as burning and +plundering; and her delight was indeed great when she saw her husband, +with others, approaching in a man-of-war's boat. The fact that one arm +was in a sling was scarcely noticed, in her joy at his return, alive. + +"Thank God, you are safe!" she said, as he came up the gangway. "It has +been an awful time, and I had almost given up hope of ever seeing you +alive, again." + +"I told you, dear, that I felt confident we could beat off the scum of +the town. Of course it was a sharp fight, but there was never any real +danger of their breaking in. We only lost about half a dozen, out of +nearly a hundred and twenty, and some twenty of us were wounded. My +injury is not at all serious, and I shall soon be all right again. It +is only a broken collarbone. + +"However, it has been a terrible time. The great square, and almost all +the European quarter, have been entirely destroyed. The destruction of +property is something frightful, and most of the merchants will be +absolutely ruined. Fortunately, our firm were insured, pretty well up +to the full value." + +"But I thought that they could not break in there?" + +"We all moved out, the evening before, to the Anglo-Egyptian Bank. The +town was full of troops, and we doubted whether we could hold the +place. As the bank was much stronger, we agreed that it was better to +join the two garrisons and fight it out there; and I am very glad we +did so, for I doubt whether we could have defended our place, +successfully." + +Mr. Ferguson and the clerks had all come off with Gregory to the +Simoon, on board which there was plenty of accommodation for them, as +it was not one of the ships that had been taken up for the +accommodation of the fugitives. Among the party who came on board was a +doctor, who had taken part in the defence of the bank, and had attended +to the wounded as the fight went on. He did so again that evening, and +told Gregory that in a month he would, if he took care of himself, be +able to use his arm again. + +The next morning there was a consultation in the cabin. Mr. Ferguson +had gone on shore, late the previous afternoon; as five hundred sailors +had been landed, and had returned in the evening. + +"It is certain," he said, "that nothing can be done until the place is +rebuilt. The sailors are busy at work, fighting the fire, but there are +continued fresh outbreaks. The bulk of the natives have left; but +Arabi, before marching out, opened the prisons and released the +convicts; and these and the scum of the town are still there, and +continue the destruction whenever they get a chance. A score or two +have been caught red handed and shot down, and a number of others have +been flogged. + +"Another batch of sailors will land this morning, and order will soon +be restored; unless Arabi, who is encamped, with some ten thousand men, +two miles outside the town, makes an effort to recover the place. I +don't think he is likely to do so, for now that the European houses +have all been destroyed, there would be no longer any reluctance to +bombard the town itself; and even if Arabi did recover it, he would +very soon be shelled out. + +"By the way, a larger number of people have been saved than was +imagined. Several of the streets in the poor European quarters have +escaped. The people barricaded the ends, and fought so desperately that +their assailants drew off, finding it easier to plunder the better +quarters. Even if the mob had overcome the resistance of the defenders +of the lanes, they would have found little worth taking there; so some +five hundred Europeans have escaped, and these will be very useful. + +"Charley Beresford has charge of the police arrangements on shore, and +he has gangs of them at work fighting the fire, and all the natives are +forced to assist. The wires will be restored in a day or two, when I +shall, of course, telegraph for instructions; and have no doubt that +Mr. Partridge will send out orders to rebuild as soon as order is +completely restored. + +"I imagine that most of us will be recalled home, until that is done. +Even if the place were intact, no business would be done, as our goods +would be of little use to the navy or army; for no doubt an army will +be sent. Arabi is as powerful as ever, but now that we have taken the +matter in hand, it must be carried through. + +"At any rate, there will be no clerks' work to be done here. The plans +for a new building will naturally be prepared at home, and a foreman of +works sent out. It is a bad job for us all, but as it is we must not +complain; for we have escaped with our lives, and I hope that, in six +months, we may open again. However, we can form no plans, until I +receive instructions from home." + +Gregory did not go ashore for the next week, by which time order had +been completely restored, the fires extinguished, and the streets made, +at least, passable. The sailors had been aided by a battalion of +marines, which had been telegraphed for from Malta by the admiral, +before the bombardment began. The Khedive had returned to Has-el-Teen, +which had only been partly destroyed, as soon as the blue-jackets +entered. His arrival put an end to all difficulties, as henceforward +our operations were carried on, nominally, by his orders. + +The American ships entered the harbour the next day and the naval +officer in command landed one hundred and twenty-five men, to assist +our blue-jackets; and, two days later, the 38th Regiment and a +battalion of the 60th Rifles arrived. + +The shops in the streets that escaped destruction gradually reopened, +and country people began to bring in supplies. Many of the refugees on +board the ships sailed for home, while those who found their houses +still standing, although everything in them was smashed and destroyed, +set to work to make them habitable. Soon temporary sheds were erected, +and such portions of the cargoes on board the merchantmen as would be +likely to find a sale, were landed. + +Before the end of the week, Mr. Ferguson had received an answer to his +telegram. Three days previously he had received a wire: "Have written +fully." The letter came via Marseilles. After congratulations at the +escape of himself and the staff, Mr. Partridge wrote: + +"As you say that the house and warehouse are entirely destroyed, with +all contents, there can be nothing for you and the clerks to do; and +you had best return, at once, to England. I will make the best +arrangements that I can for you all. + +"As I have a plan of the ground, I have already instructed an architect +to prepare a sketch for rebuilding, on a larger scale than before. The +insurance companies are sending out agents to verify claims. Looking at +your last report, it seems to me that the loss of goods, as well as +that of buildings, will be fully covered. Should any of the staff +determine to remain in Alexandria, and to take their chance of finding +something to do, you are authorized to pay them three months' salary, +and to promise to reinstate them, as soon as we reopen. + +"I anticipate no further disturbances, whatever. A strong force is +being sent out, and there can be no doubt that Arabi will be crushed, +as soon as it is ready to take the field." + +Other directions followed, but these were only amplifications of those +mentioned. + +"What do you think, Annie?" Gregory said, when Ferguson had read to his +staff that portion of the letter that concerned them. "Shall we take +the three months' pay and remain here, or shall we go back to England?" + +"What do you think, yourself?" + +"There are two lights in which to look at it, Annie. First, which would +be best for us? And secondly, which shall we like best? Of course, the +first is the more difficult point to decide. You see, Partridge doesn't +say that we shall be kept on; he only says that he will do his best for +us. I don't think that there is any chance of his keeping us on at full +pay. If he intended to do so, it would have been cheaper for him to +give us our pay here, in which case he would save our passages back to +England and out again. I think we could not reckon on getting anything +like full pay, while we were in England, and you know I have lost faith +in my literary powers. I think I have improved, but I certainly should +not like, after our last experience, to trust to that for keeping us, +in England. + +"The question is, what should I do here? There will be plenty of +openings, for men who can speak the native language, as labour +overseers. The contractors for food for the army will want men of that +sort; and as I know several of them, through my work in the port and +being in Partridge's house, I have no doubt I could get employment that +way, and carry on very well till trade is open again, and obtain then a +good deal better berth than they would offer me. No doubt, one could +get employment in the transport or commissariat of the army, when it +comes out. That will be a thing to think seriously of. + +"My objections to that are personal ones. In the first place, it would +lead to nothing when the affair is over. In the second place, I should +be certain to meet men I knew at Harrow, or at the University, or since +then; and I own that I should shrink from that. As Gregory Hilliard, I +don't mind carrying a parcel or helping to load a dray; but I should +not like, as Gregory Hartley, to be known to be doing that sort of +thing. Personally I feel not the smallest humiliation in doing so, but +I don't think it would be fair to Geoffrey. I should not like it +myself, if I were an earl, for fellows who knew him to be able to say +that my brother was knocking about in Egypt as an interpreter, or mule +driver, or something of that sort. That certainly has to be taken into +consideration. + +"It is not likely that I should get any sort of berth that an officer +would be appointed to, for every officer in the army, whose regiment is +not coming out here, will be rushing to the War Office to apply for any +sort of appointment that would enable him to come out to the war. + +"Again, it is almost certain that, when this business is over--and I +don't suppose it will last long, after we get an army out here--a fresh +Egyptian force will be raised. You may be sure that the greater portion +of our troops will be hurried back, as soon as it is over; and that, as +the present Egyptian army will be altogether smashed up, it will be +absolutely necessary that there should be a force, of some kind or +other, that can put a stop to this Mahdi fellow's doings. He has +overrun half the Soudan, and inflicted serious defeats on the Egyptian +troops there. He has captured a considerable portion of Kordofan; and, +of course, it is owing to his insurrection that those rows have +occurred down at the Red Sea, where our men have been fighting. + +"It is likely enough that they may appoint some British officers to the +new force, and I might get a fair position on it. They will want +interpreters there. Promotion will be sure to be rapid, and I might +have opportunities of distinguishing myself, and get an appointment +where I could, without discrediting it, take my own name again. + +"These are only among the things that might be; but at the worst, I am +certain to get some sort of post, at Alexandria, which would enable us +to live without trenching upon the three months' pay that is offered +me; and then, if I could see nothing better, I could return to +Partridge's employment when they reopen here, and I have no doubt that +they would improve my position. + +"I don't think that Parrott is likely to come back again. The climate +did not suit him, and he is always having attacks of fever. Ferguson +has, I know, for he told me so, reported very favourably about my work +to headquarters; and, as I have been wounded in defence of the house, I +have an additional claim. The others will, of course, be moved up, and +I should get the junior clerkship--no advance in the way of +remuneration, but a great improvement in position. + +"So I think we had better accept the three months' pay, and take our +chances. At any rate, there will be no fear of another disturbance at +Alexandria. The mob have had a lesson here that they are not likely to +forget, and I should fancy that, although we may withdraw the army, two +or three regiments will be left here, and at Cairo, for a long time to +come. We should be fools, indeed, if we threw away the money that this +business will cost, before it is over, and let Egypt slip altogether +out of our fingers again. France has forfeited her right to have +anything to say in the matter. In our hands it will be a very valuable +possession, and certainly our stay here would be of inestimable +advantage to the natives, as we should govern Egypt as we govern India, +and do away with the tyranny, oppression, and extortion of the native +officials." + +Mrs. Hilliard quite agreed with her husband; and accordingly, the next +day, Gregory informed Mr. Ferguson that he would accept the three +months' pay, and his discharge; and should, at any rate for a time, +remain in Alexandria. + +"I think you are right, Hilliard. There will be lots of opportunities +here for a man who knows the language as you do. If you like, I will +speak to Mr. Ross. I saw him yesterday, in the town, and he said that +two of his assistants had been killed. He has already obtained a fresh +contract, and a very heavy one, for the supply of meat for the troops +as they arrive; and I have no doubt he would be very glad to engage +you, on good terms, though the engagement could only be made during the +stay of the army here." + +"Thank you, sir. I shall be much obliged to you if you will do so; and +I would rather that the engagement should be a temporary one, on both +sides, so that I should be free to leave, at a few days' notice." + +The contractor, after a chat with Gregory Hilliard, was glad to secure +his services. He saw the advantage that it would be to have a gentleman +to represent him, with the army, instead of an agent of a very +different kind. Other men would do to purchase animals from the Arabs, +or to receive them at the ports when they were brought over from Spain +and Italy; but it required a variety of qualities, difficult to obtain +in the same person, to act as agent with the army. Gregory was exactly +the man required, and he was soon on excellent terms, both with the +officers of the quartermaster's department, and the contractors who +brought in the cargoes of cattle. + +As soon as the bulk of the army sailed from Alexandria to Ismailia, he +made the latter town his headquarters; and by his power of work, his +tact and good temper, he smoothed away all the difficulties that so +often arise between contractors and army officials, and won the +goodwill of all with whom he came in contact. When the army removed to +Cairo, after the defeat and dispersal of Arabi's force at Tel-el-Kebir, +Gregory established himself there, and was joined by his wife and +child. + +As soon as matters settled down, and a considerable portion of the +troops had left Egypt, Mr. Ross said to him: + +"Of course, our operations in the future will be comparatively small, +Mr. Hilliard, and I must reduce my staff." + +"I quite understand that," Gregory replied, "and I knew that I should +have to look out for something else." + +"I shall be very sorry to lose your services, which have indeed been +invaluable, and I am sure have been appreciated, by the army men as +much as by myself. I certainly should not think of your leaving me, +until you get another berth; and it is only because I see an opening, +if you like to take it, that might lead to something better, in the +future, than anything I can offer you. + +"You know that Colonel Hicks arrived here, a fortnight since, and is to +take command of the Egyptian army, and to have the rank of pasha. +Several officers have received appointments on his staff. He will +shortly be going up to Khartoum. I was speaking to him yesterday, and +as I was doing so, two of the officers of Wolseley's staff came in. A +question of supplies came up, and I mentioned your name, and said that +I thought that you were the very man for him, that you were master of +Arabic, and an excellent organizer; and, a very important matter where +there were so few English officers together, a gentleman. + +"One of the officers, who knew the work that you had done, at once +confirmed what I had said, and declared that Wolseley's quartermaster +general would speak as warmly in your favour. Hicks told me that, until +he got up to Khartoum, he could not say what arrangements would be made +for the supplies; but that he would, at any rate, be very glad to have +you with him, in the capacity of a first-class interpreter, and for +general service with the staff, with the temporary rank of captain; +with the special view of your services in organizing a supply train, +when he moved forward. I said that I should speak to you, and ascertain +your views." + +"I am very much obliged to you, indeed. I must take twenty-four hours +to think it over. Of course I shall be guided, to some extent, by the +question whether the appointment would be likely to be a permanent +one." + +"That I have no doubt. Indeed, Hicks said as much. I asked him the +question, and he replied, 'I can hardly make a permanent appointment +now, as I am not quite in the saddle; but I have no doubt, from what +you say, that Mr. Hilliard will make a valuable officer; and after our +first campaign I shall, without difficulty, be able to obtain him a +permanent appointment in the Egyptian army.'" + +"I thank you, most heartily, Mr. Ross. It seems to me a grand opening. +There is no doubt that, as our troops leave, the Egyptian army will be +thoroughly reorganized; and there will be many openings for a man who +knows the language, and is ready to work hard; and, no doubt, the +regiments will be largely officered by Englishmen." + +That evening, Gregory had a long talk with his wife. + +"I don't like the thought of leaving you, even for a time; but no +doubt, when the Mahdi is settled with, you will be able to join me at +Khartoum; which, I believe, is by no means an unpleasant place to live +in. Of course, I shall come down and take you up. It is a splendid +chance, and will really be my reinstatement. Once holding a commission +in the Egyptian army, I should resume my own name, and have the future +to look forward to. Entering the service as the army is being +reorganized, I should have a great pull, and should be sure to get on, +and be able to write to my father and brother, without its appearing +that I wanted help of any kind." + +There were tears in Mrs. Hilliard's eyes, but she said bravely: + +"I quite agree with you, Gregory. Of course, I shall be sorry that you +should leave me, even for a time; but it seems to me, too, that it is a +grand opportunity. You know what a pain it was to me, all the time that +we were at Alexandria, that you should be working in such a subordinate +position. Now there is an opening by which you will be in a position, +ere long, more worthy of your birth and education. I have no doubt I +shall get on very well, here. I believe that Hicks Pasha has brought +his wife out with him here; and some of his officers will, no doubt, be +married men also; and as the wife of one of his officers I shall, of +course, get to know them. I should be selfish, indeed, to say a word to +keep you back, and shall be delighted to think of you associating with +other English gentlemen, as one of themselves." + +And so it was settled. The next day, Gregory called on Hicks Pasha. The +latter had made some more enquiries respecting him, and was well +pleased with his appearance. + +"I have already a gentleman named as staff interpreter, Mr. Hilliard, +but I can appoint you, at once, interpreter to the quartermaster's +department, attached to my personal staff for the present. I can tell +you that the Egyptian army will be largely increased, and I shall be +able, after a time, to procure you a better appointment. When we have +once defeated the Mahdi, and restored order, there will be many +appointments open for the reorganization of the Soudan. There are a +good many preparations to be made, before I leave, which I expect to do +in the course of three or four weeks; and I shall be glad of your +assistance, as soon as you can join us." + +"I shall be glad to do so, at once. Mr. Ross has kindly told me that I +am at liberty to resign my post, under him, as soon as I like." + +"Very well, then. You may consider yourself appointed, today. My +intention is to go first to Suakim, and thence up to Berber, and so by +water to Khartoum." + +The next three weeks passed rapidly. Gregory was, on the following day, +introduced to the various officers of Hicks Pasha's staff; and, on +learning that he was married, the general asked him and his wife to +dinner, to make the acquaintance of Lady Hicks, and the wives of three +of his fellow officers. + +At last, the time came for parting. Annie bore up well; and although, +when alone, she had many a cry, she was always cheerful, and went with +her husband and saw him off, at the station of the railway for +Ismailia, without breaking down badly. + + + +Chapter 3: A Terrible Disaster. + + +It was an anxious time for his wife, after Gregory started. He, and +those with him, had left with a feeling of confidence that the +insurrection would speedily be put down. The garrison of Khartoum had +inflicted several severe defeats upon the Mahdi, but had also suffered +some reverses. This, however, was only to be expected, when the troops +under him were scarcely more disciplined than those of the Dervishes, +who had always been greatly superior in numbers, and inspired with a +fanatical belief in their prophet. But with British officers to +command, and British officers to drill and discipline the troops, there +could be no fear of a recurrence of these disasters. + +Before they started, Mrs. Hilliard had become intimate with the wife of +Hicks Pasha, and those of the other married officers, and had paid +visits with them to the harems of high Turkish officials. Visits were +frequently exchanged, and what with these, and the care of the boy, her +time was constantly occupied. She received letters from Gregory, as +frequently as possible, after his arrival at Omdurman, and until he set +out with the main body, under the general, on the way to El Obeid. + +Before starting, he said he hoped that, in another two months, the +campaign would be over, El Obeid recovered, and the Mahdi smashed up; +and that, as soon as they returned to Khartoum, Hicks Pasha would send +for his wife and daughters, and the other married officers for their +wives; and, of course, she would accompany them. + +"I cannot say much for Omdurman," he wrote; "but Khartoum is a nice +place. Many of the houses there have shady gardens. Hicks has promised +to recommend me for a majority, in one of the Turkish regiments. In the +intervals of my own work, I have got up drill. I shall, of course, tell +him then what my real name is, so that I can be gazetted in it. It is +likely enough that, even after we defeat the Mahdi, this war may go on +for some time before it is stamped out; and in another year I may be a +full-blown colonel, if only an Egyptian one; and as the pay of the +English officers is good, I shall be able to have a very comfortable +home for you. + +"I need not repeat my instructions, darling, as to what you must do in +the event, improbable as it is, of disaster. When absolutely assured of +my death, but not until then, you will go back to England with the boy, +and see my father. He is not a man to change his mind, unless I were to +humble myself before him; but I think he would do the right thing for +you. If he will not, there is the letter for Geoffrey. He has no +settled income at present, but when he comes into the title he will, I +feel quite certain, make you an allowance. I know that you would, for +yourself, shrink from doing this; but, for the boy's sake, you will not +hesitate to carry out my instructions. I should say you had better +write to my father, for the interview might be an unpleasant one; but +if you have to appeal to Geoffrey, you had better call upon him and +show him this letter. I feel sure that he will do what he can. + +"Gregory." + +A month later, a messenger came up from Suakim with a despatch, dated +October 3rd. The force was then within a few days' march of El Obeid. +The news was not altogether cheering. Hordes of the enemy hovered about +their rear. Communication was already difficult, and they had to depend +upon the stores they carried, and cut themselves off altogether from +the base. He brought some private letters from the officers, and among +them one for Mrs. Hilliard. It was short, and written in pencil: + +"In a few days, Dear, the decisive battle will take place; and although +it will be a tough fight, none of us have any fear of the result. In +the very improbable event of a defeat, I shall, if I have time, slip on +the Arab dress I have with me, and may hope to escape. However, I have +little fear that it will come to that. God bless and protect you, and +the boy! + +"Gregory." + +A month passed away. No news came from Hicks Pasha, or any of his +officers. Then there were rumours current in the bazaars, of disaster; +and one morning, when Annie called upon Lady Hicks, she found several +of the ladies there with pale and anxious faces. She paused at the +door. + +"Do not be alarmed, Mrs. Hilliard," Lady Hicks said. "Nizim Pasha has +been here this morning. He thought that I might have heard the rumours +that are current in the bazaar, that there has been a disaster, but he +says there is no confirmation whatever of these reports. He does not +deny, however, that they have caused anxiety among the authorities; for +sometimes these rumours, whose origin no one knows, do turn out to be +correct. He said that enquiries have been made, but no foundation for +the stories can be got at. I questioned him closely, and he says that +he can only account for them on the ground that, if a victory had been +won, an official account from government should have been here before +this; and that it is solely on this account that these rumours have got +about. He said there was no reason for supposing that this silence +meant disaster. A complete victory might have been won; and yet the +messenger with the despatches might have been captured, and killed, by +the parties of tribesmen hanging behind the army, or wandering about +the country between the army and Khartoum. Still, of course, this is +making us all very anxious." + +The party soon broke up, none having any reassuring suggestions to +offer; and Annie returned to her lodging, to weep over her boy, and +pray for the safety of his father. Days and weeks passed, and still no +word came to Cairo. At Khartoum there was a ferment among the native +population. No secret was made of the fact that the tribesmen who came +and went all declared that Hicks Pasha's army was utterly destroyed. At +length, the Egyptian government announced to the wives of the officers +that pensions would be given to them, according to the rank of their +husbands. As captain and interpreter, Gregory's wife had but a small +one, but it was sufficient for her to live upon. + +One by one, the other ladies gave up hope and returned to England, but +Annie stayed on. Misfortune might have befallen the army, but Gregory +might have escaped in disguise. She had, like the other ladies, put on +mourning for him; for had she declared her belief that he might still +be alive, she could not have applied for the pension, and this was +necessary for the child's sake. Of one thing she was determined. She +would not go with him, as beggars, to the father who had cast Gregory +off; until, as he had said, she received absolute news of his death. +She was not in want; but as her pension was a small one, and she felt +that it would be well for her to be employed, she asked Lady Hicks, +before she left, to mention at the houses of the Egyptian ladies to +whom she went to say goodbye, that Mrs. Hilliard would be glad to give +lessons in English, French, or music. + +The idea pleased them, and she obtained several pupils. Some of these +were the ladies themselves, and the lessons generally consisted in +sitting for an hour with them, two or three times a week, and talking +to them; the conversation being in short sentences, of which she gave +them the English translation, which they repeated over and over again, +until they knew them by heart. This caused great amusement, and was +accompanied by much laughter, on the part of the ladies and their +attendants. + +Several of her pupils, however, were young boys and girls, and the +teaching here was of a more serious kind. The lessons to the boys were +given the first thing in the morning, and the pupils were brought to +her house by attendants. At eleven o'clock she taught the girls, and +returned at one, and had two hours more teaching in the afternoon. She +could have obtained more pupils, had she wished to; but the pay she +received, added to her income, enabled her to live very comfortably, +and to save up money. She had a Negro servant, who was very fond of the +boy, and she could leave him in her charge with perfect confidence, +while she was teaching. + +In the latter part of 1884, she ventured to hope that some news might +yet come to her, for a British expedition had started for the relief of +General Gordon, who had gone up early in the year to Khartoum; where it +was hoped that the influence he had gained among the natives, at the +time he was in command of the Egyptian forces in the Soudan, would +enable him to make head against the insurrection. His arrival had been +hailed by the population, but it was soon evident to him that, unless +aided by England with something more than words, Khartoum must finally +fall. + +But his requests for aid were slighted. He had asked that two regiments +should be sent from Suakim, to keep open the route to Berber, but Mr. +Gladstone's government refused even this slight assistance to the man +they had sent out, and it was not until May that public indignation, at +this base desertion of one of the noblest spirits that Britain ever +produced, caused preparations for his rescue to be made; and it was +December before the leading regiment arrived at Korti, far up the Nile. + +After fighting two hard battles, a force that had marched across the +loop of the Nile came down upon it above Metemmeh. A party started up +the river at once, in two steamers which Gordon had sent down to meet +them, but only arrived near the town to hear that they were too late, +that Khartoum had fallen, and that Gordon had been murdered. The army +was at once hurried back to the coast, leaving it to the Mahdists--more +triumphant than ever--to occupy Dongola; and to push down, and +possibly, as they were confident they should do, to capture Egypt +itself. + +The news of the failure was a terrible blow to Mrs. Hilliard. She had +hoped that, when Khartoum was relieved, some information at least might +be obtained, from prisoners, as to the fate of the British officers at +El Obeid. That most of them had been killed was certain, but she still +clung to the hope that her husband might have escaped from the general +massacre, thanks to his knowledge of the language, and the disguise he +had with him; and even that if captured later on he might be a +prisoner; or that he might have escaped detection altogether, and be +still living among friendly tribesmen. It was a heavy blow to her, +therefore, when she heard that the troops were being hurried down to +the coast, and that the Mahdi would be uncontested master of Egypt, as +far as Assouan. + +She did, however, receive news when the force returned to Cairo, which, +although depressing, did not extinguish all hope. Lieutenant Colonel +Colborne, by good luck, had ascertained that a native boy in the +service of General Buller claimed to have been at El Obeid. Upon +questioning him closely, he found out that he had unquestionably been +there, for he described accurately the position Colonel Colborne--who +had started with Hicks Pasha, but had been forced by illness to +return--had occupied in one of the engagements. The boy was then the +slave of an Egyptian officer of the expedition. + +The army had suffered much from want of water, but they had obtained +plenty from a lake within three days' march from El Obeid. From this +point they were incessantly fired at, by the enemy. On the second day +they were attacked, but beat off the enemy, though with heavy loss to +themselves. The next day they pressed forward, as it was necessary to +get to water; but they were misled by their guide, and at noon the +Arabs burst down upon them, the square in which the force was marching +was broken, and a terrible slaughter took place. Then Hicks Pasha, with +his officers, seeing that all was lost, gathered together and kept the +enemy at bay with their revolvers, till their ammunition was exhausted. +After that they fought with their swords till all were killed, Hicks +Pasha being the last to fall. The lad himself hid among the dead and +was not discovered until the next morning, when he was made a slave by +the man who found him. + +This was terrible! But there was still hope. If this boy had concealed +himself among the dead, her husband might have done the same. Not being +a combatant officer, he might not have been near the others when the +affair took place; and moreover, the lad had said that the black +regiment in the rear of the square had kept together and marched away; +he believed all had been afterwards killed, but this he did not know. +If Gregory had been there when the square was broken, he might well +have kept with them, and at nightfall slipped on his disguise and made +his escape. It was at least possible--she would not give up all hope. + +So years went on. Things were quiet in Egypt. A native army had been +raised there, under the command of British officers, and these had +checked the northern progress of the Mahdists and restored confidence +in Egypt. Gregory--for the boy had been named after his father--grew up +strong and hearty. His mother devoted her evenings to his education. +From the Negress, who was his nurse and the general servant of the +house, he had learnt to talk her native language. She had been carried +off, when ten years old, by a slave-raiding party, and sold to an +Egyptian trader at Khartoum; been given by him to an Atbara chief, with +whom he had dealings; and, five years later, had been captured in a +tribal war by the Jaalin. Two or three times she had changed masters, +and finally had been purchased by an Egyptian officer, and brought down +by him to Cairo. At his death, four years afterwards, she had been +given her freedom, being now past fifty, and had taken service with +Gregory Hilliard and his wife. Her vocabulary was a large one, and she +was acquainted with most of the dialects of the Soudan tribes. + +From the time when her husband was first missing, Mrs. Hilliard +cherished the idea that, some day, the child might grow up and search +for his father; and, perhaps, ascertain his fate beyond all doubt. She +was a very conscientious woman, and was resolved that, at whatever pain +to herself, she would, when once certain of her husband's death, go to +England and obtain recognition of his boy by his family. But it was +pleasant to think that the day was far distant when she could give up +hope. She saw, too, that if the Soudan was ever reconquered, the +knowledge of the tribal languages must be of immense benefit to her +son; and she therefore insisted, from the first, that the woman should +always talk to him in one or other of the languages that she knew. + +Thus Gregory, almost unconsciously, acquired several of the dialects +used in the Soudan. Arabic formed the basis of them all, except the +Negro tongue. At first he mixed them up, but as he grew, Mrs. Hilliard +insisted that his nurse should speak one for a month, and then use +another; so that, by the time he was twelve years old, the boy could +speak in the Negro tongue, and half a dozen dialects, with equal +facility. + +His mother had, years before, engaged a teacher of Arabic for him. This +he learned readily, as it was the root of the Egyptian and the other +languages he had picked up. Of a morning, he sat in the school and +learned pure Arabic and Turkish, while the boys learned English; and +therefore, without an effort, when he was twelve years old he talked +these languages as well as English; and had, moreover, a smattering of +Italian and French, picked up from boys of his own age, for his mother +had now many acquaintances among the European community. + +While she was occupied in the afternoon, with her pupils, the boy had +liberty to go about as he pleased; and indeed she encouraged him to +take long walks, to swim, and to join in all games and exercises. + +"English boys at home," she said, "have many games, and it is owing to +these that they grow up so strong and active. They have more +opportunities than you, but you must make the most of those that you +have. We may go back to England some day, and I should not at all like +you to be less strong than others." + +As, however, such opportunities were very small, she had an apparatus +of poles, horizontal bars, and ropes set up, such as those she had +seen, in England, in use by the boys of one of the families where she +had taught, before her marriage; and insisted upon Gregory's exercising +himself upon it for an hour every morning, soon after sunrise. As she +had heard her husband once say that fencing was a splendid exercise, +not only for developing the figure, but for giving a good carriage as +well as activity and alertness, she arranged with a Frenchman who had +served in the army, and had gained a prize as a swordsman in the +regiment, to give the boy lessons two mornings in the week. + +Thus, at fifteen, Gregory was well grown and athletic, and had much of +the bearing and appearance of an English public-school boy. His mother +had been very particular in seeing that his manners were those of an +Englishman. + +"I hope the time will come when you will associate with English +gentlemen, and I should wish you, in all respects, to be like them. You +belong to a good family; and should you, by any chance, some day go +home, you must do credit to your dear father." + +The boy had, for some years, been acquainted with the family story, +except that he did not know the name he bore was his father's Christian +name, and not that of his family. + +"My grandfather must have been a very bad man, Mother, to have +quarreled with my father for marrying you." + +"Well, my boy, you hardly understand the extent of the exclusiveness of +some Englishmen. Of course, it is not always so, but to some people, +the idea of their sons or daughters marrying into a family of less rank +than themselves appears to be an almost terrible thing. As I have told +you, although the daughter of a clergyman, I was, when I became an +orphan, obliged to go out as a governess." + +"But there was no harm in that, Mother?" + +"No harm, dear; but a certain loss of position. Had my father been +alive, and had I been living with him in a country rectory, your +grandfather might not have been pleased at your father's falling in +love with me, because he would probably have considered that, being, as +you know by his photograph, a fine, tall, handsome man, and having the +best education money could give him, he might have married very much +better; that is to say, the heiress of a property, or into a family of +influence, through which he might have been pushed on; but he would not +have thought of opposing the marriage on the ground of my family. But a +governess is a different thing. She is, in many cases, a lady in every +respect, but her position is a doubtful one. + +"In some families she is treated as one of themselves. In others, her +position is very little different from that of an upper servant. Your +grandfather was a passionate man, and a very proud man. Your father's +elder brother was well provided for, but there were two sisters, and +these and your father he hoped would make good marriages. He lived in +very good style, but your uncle was extravagant, and your grandfather +was over indulgent, and crippled himself a good deal in paying the +debts that he incurred. It was natural, therefore, that he should have +objected to your father's engagement to what he called a penniless +governess. It was only what was to be expected. If he had stated his +objections to the marriage calmly, there need have been no quarrel. +Your father would assuredly have married me, in any case; and your +grandfather might have refused to assist him, if he did so, but there +need have been no breakup in the family, such as took place. + +"However, as it was, your father resented his tone, and what had been +merely a difference of opinion became a serious quarrel, and they never +saw each other, afterwards. It was a great grief to me, and it was +owing to that, and his being unable to earn his living in England, that +your father brought me out here. I believe he would have done well at +home, though it would have been a hard struggle. At that time I was +very delicate, and was ordered by the doctors to go to a warm climate, +and therefore your father accepted a position of a kind which, at +least, enabled us to live, and obtained for me the benefit of a warm +climate. + +"Then the chance came of his going up to the Soudan, and there was a +certainty that, if the expedition succeeded, as everyone believed it +would, he would have obtained permanent rank in the Egyptian army, and +so recovered the position in life that he had voluntarily given up, for +my sake." + +"And what was the illness you had, Mother?" + +"It was an affection of the lungs, dear. It was a constant cough, that +threatened to turn to consumption, which is one of the most fatal +diseases we have in England." + +"But it hasn't cured you, Mother, for I often hear you coughing, at +night." + +"Yes, my cough has been a little troublesome of late, Gregory." + +Indeed, from the time of the disaster to the expedition of Hicks Pasha, +Annie Hilliard had lost ground. She herself was conscious of it; but, +except for the sake of the boy, she had not troubled over it. She had +not altogether given up hope, but the hope grew fainter and fainter, as +the years went on. Had it not been for the promise to her husband, not +to mention his real name or to make any application to his father +unless absolutely assured of his death, she would, for Gregory's sake, +have written to Mr. Hartley, and asked for help that would have enabled +her to take the boy home to England, and have him properly educated +there. But she had an implicit faith in the binding of a promise so +made, and as long as she was not driven, by absolute want, to apply to +Mr. Hartley, was determined to keep to it. + +A year after this conversation, Gregory was sixteen. Now tall and +strong, he had, for some time past, been anxious to obtain some +employment that would enable his mother to give up her teaching. Some +of this, indeed, she had been obliged to relinquish. During the past +few months her cheeks had become hollow, and her cough was now frequent +by day, as well as by night. She had consulted an English doctor, who, +she saw by the paper, was staying at Shepherd's Hotel. He had hesitated +before giving a direct opinion, but on her imploring him to tell her +the exact state of her health, said gently: + +"I am afraid, madam, that I can give you no hope of recovery. One lung +has already gone, the other is very seriously diseased. Were you living +in England, I should say that your life might be prolonged by taking +you to a warm climate; but as it is, no change could be made for the +better." + +"Thank you, Doctor. I wanted to know the exact truth, and be able to +make my arrangements accordingly. I was quite convinced that my +condition was hopeless, but I thought it right to consult a physician, +and to know how much time I could reckon on. Can you tell me that?" + +"That is always difficult, Mrs. Hilliard. It may be three months hence. +It might be more speedily--a vessel might give way in the lungs, +suddenly. On the other hand, you might live six months. Of course, I +cannot say how rapid the progress of the disease has been." + +"It may not be a week, doctor. I am not at all afraid of hearing your +sentence--indeed, I can see it in your eyes." + +"It may be within a week"--the doctor bowed his head gravely--"it may +be at any time." + +"Thank you!" she said, quietly. "I was sure it could not be long. I +have been teaching, but three weeks ago I had to give up my last pupil. +My breath is so short that the slightest exertion brings on a fit of +coughing." + +On her return home she said to Gregory: + +"My dear boy, you must have seen--you cannot have helped seeing--that +my time is not long here. I have seen an English doctor today, and he +says the end may come at any moment." + +"Oh, Mother, Mother!" the lad cried, throwing himself on his knees, and +burying his face in her lap, "don't say so!" + +The news, indeed, did not come as a surprise to him. He had, for +months, noticed the steady change in her: how her face had fallen away, +how her hands seemed nerveless, her flesh transparent, and her eyes +grew larger and larger. Many times he had walked far up among the hills +and, when beyond the reach of human eye, thrown himself down and cried +unrestrainedly, until his strength seemed utterly exhausted, and yet +the verdict now given seemed to come as a sudden blow. + +"You must not break down, dear," she said quietly. "For months I have +felt that it was so; and, but for your sake, I did not care to live. I +thank God that I have been spared to see you growing up all that I +could wish; and though I should have liked to see you fairly started in +life, I feel that you may now make your way, unaided. + +"Now I want, before it is too late, to give you instructions. In my +desk you will find a sealed envelope. It contains a copy of the +registers of my marriage, and of your birth. These will prove that your +father married, and had a son. You can get plenty of witnesses who can +prove that you were the child mentioned. I promised your father that I +would not mention our real name to anyone, until it was necessary for +me to write to your grandfather. I have kept that promise. His name was +Gregory Hilliard, so we have not taken false names. They were his +Christian names. The third name, his family name, you will find when +you open that envelope. + +"I have been thinking, for months past, what you had best do; and this +is my advice, but do not look upon it as an order. You are old enough +to think for yourself. You know that Sir Herbert Kitchener, the Sirdar, +is pushing his way up the Nile. I have no doubt that, with your +knowledge of Arabic, and of the language used by the black race in the +Soudan, you will be able to obtain some sort of post in the army, +perhaps as an interpreter to one of the officers commanding a +brigade--the same position, in fact, as your father had, except that +the army is now virtually British, whereas that he went with was +Egyptian. + +"I have two reasons for desiring this. I do not wish you to go home, +until you are in a position to dispense with all aid from your family. +I have done without it, and I trust that you will be able to do the +same. I should like you to be able to go home at one-and-twenty, and to +say to your grandfather, 'I have not come home to ask for money or +assistance of any kind. I am earning my living honourably. I only ask +recognition, by my family, as my father's son.' + +"It is probable that this expedition will last fully two years. It must +be a gradual advance, and even then, if the Khalifa is beaten, it must +be a considerable time before matters are thoroughly settled. There +will be many civil posts open to those who, like yourself, are well +acquainted with the language of the country; and if you can obtain one +of these, you may well remain there until you come of age. You can then +obtain a few months' leave of absence and go to England. + +"My second reason is that, although my hope that your father is still +alive has almost died out, it is just possible that he is, like Neufeld +and some others, a prisoner in the Khalifa's hands; or possibly living +as an Arab cultivator near El Obeid. Many prisoners will be taken, and +from some of these we may learn such details, of the battle, as may +clear us of the darkness that hangs over your father's fate. + +"When you do go home, Gregory, you had best go first to your father's +brother. His address is on a paper in the envelope. He was heir to a +peerage, and has, perhaps, now come into it. I have no reasons for +supposing that he sided with his father against yours. The brothers +were not bad friends, although they saw little of each other; for your +father, after he left Oxford, was for the most part away from England, +until a year before his marriage; and at that time your uncle was in +America, having gone out with two or three others on a hunting +expedition among the Rocky Mountains. There is, therefore, no reason +for supposing that he will receive you otherwise than kindly, when once +he is sure that you are his nephew. He may, indeed, for aught I know, +have made efforts to discover your father, after he returned from +abroad." + +"I would rather leave them alone altogether, Mother," Gregory said +passionately. + +"That you cannot do, my boy. Your father was anxious that you should be +at least recognized, and afterwards bear your proper name. You will not +be going as a beggar, and there will be nothing humiliating. As to your +grandfather, he may not even be alive. It is seldom that I see an +English newspaper, and even had his death been advertised in one of the +papers, I should hardly have noticed it, as I never did more than just +glance at the principal items of news. + +"In my desk you will also see my bank book. It is in your name. I have +thought it better that it should stand so, as it will save a great deal +of trouble, should anything happen to me. Happily, I have never had any +reasons to draw upon it, and there are now about five hundred and fifty +pounds standing to your credit. Of late you have generally paid in the +money, and you are personally known to the manager. Should there be any +difficulty, I have made a will leaving everything to you. That sum will +keep you, if you cannot obtain the employment we speak of, until you +come of age; and will, at any rate, facilitate your getting employment +with the army, as you will not be obliged to demand much pay, and can +take anything that offers. + +"Another reason for your going to England is that your grandfather may, +if he is dead, have relented at last towards your father, and may have +left him some share in his fortune; and although you might well refuse +to accept any help from him, if he is alive, you can have no hesitation +in taking that which should be yours by right. I think sometimes now, +my boy, that I have been wrong in not accepting the fact of your +father's death as proved, and taking you home to England; but you will +believe that I acted for the best, and I shrank from the thought of +going home as a beggar, while I could maintain you and myself +comfortably, here." + +"You were quite right, Mother dear. We have been very happy, and I have +been looking forward to the time when I might work for you, as you have +worked for me. It has been a thousand times better, so, than living on +the charity of a man who looked down upon you, and who cast off my +father." + +"Well, you will believe at least that I acted for the best, dear, and I +am not sure that it has not been for the best. At any rate I, too, have +been far happier than I could have been, if living in England on an +allowance begrudged to me." + +A week later, Gregory was awakened by the cries of the Negro servant; +and, running to Mrs. Hilliard's bedroom, found that his mother had +passed away during the night. Burial speedily follows death in Egypt; +and on the following day Gregory returned, heartbroken, to his lonely +house, after seeing her laid in her grave. + +For a week, he did nothing but wander about the house, listlessly. +Then, with a great effort, he roused himself. He had his work before +him--had his mother's wishes to carry out. His first step was to go to +the bank, and ask to see the manager. + +"You may have heard of my mother's death, Mr. Murray?" he said. + +"Yes, my lad, and sorry, indeed, I was to hear of it. She was greatly +liked and respected, by all who knew her." + +"She told me," Gregory went on, trying to steady his voice, "a week +before her death, that she had money here deposited in my name." + +"That is so." + +"Is there anything to be done about it, sir?" + +"Not unless you wish to draw it out. She told me, some time ago, why +she placed it in your name; and I told her that there would be no +difficulty." + +"I do not want to draw any of it out, sir, as there were fifty pounds +in the house. She was aware that she had not long to live, and no doubt +kept it by her, on purpose." + +"Then all you have to do is to write your signature on this piece of +paper. I will hand you a cheque book, and you will only have to fill up +a cheque and sign it, and draw out any amount you please." + +"I have never seen a cheque book, sir. Will you kindly tell me what I +should have to do?" + +Mr. Murray took out a cheque book, and explained its use. Then he asked +what Gregory thought of doing. + +"I wish to go up with the Nile expedition, sir. It was my mother's +wish, also, that I should do so. My main object is to endeavour to +obtain particulars of my father's death, and to assure myself that he +was one of those who fell at El Obeid. I do not care in what capacity I +go up; but as I speak Arabic and Soudanese, as well as English, my +mother thought that I might get employment as interpreter, either under +an officer engaged on making the railway, or in some capacity under an +officer in one of the Egyptian regiments." + +"I have no doubt that I can help you there, lad. I know the Sirdar, and +a good many of the British officers, for whom I act as agent. Of +course, I don't know in what capacity they could employ you, but surely +some post or other could be found for you, where your knowledge of the +language would render you very useful. Naturally, the officers in the +Egyptian service all understand enough of the language to get on with, +but few of the officers in the British regiments do. + +"It is fortunate that you came today. I have an appointment with Lord +Cromer tomorrow morning, so I will take the opportunity of speaking to +him. As it is an army affair, and as your father was in the Egyptian +service, and your mother had a pension from it, I may get him to +interest himself in the matter. Kitchener is down here at present, and +if Cromer would speak to him, I should think you would certainly be +able to get up, though I cannot say in what position. The fact that you +are familiar with the Negro language, which differs very widely from +that of the Arab Soudan tribes, who all speak Arabic, is strongly in +your favour; and may give you an advantage over applicants who can only +speak Arabic. + +"I shall see Lord Cromer at ten, and shall probably be with him for an +hour. You may as well be outside his house, at half-past ten; possibly +he may like to see you. At any rate, when I come down, I can tell you +what he says." + +With grateful thanks, Gregory returned home. + + + +Chapter 4: An Appointment. + + +Soon after ten, next morning, Gregory took up his place near the +entrance to Lord Cromer's house. It was just eleven when Mr. Murray +came down. + +"Come in with me," he said. "Lord Cromer will see you. He acknowledged +at once, when I told him your story, that you had a strong claim for +employment. The only point was as to your age. I told him that you were +past sixteen, and a strong, active fellow, and that you had had a good +physical training." + +They had now entered the house. + +"Don't be nervous, Hilliard; just talk to him as you would to me. Many +a good man has lost an appointment, from being nervous and embarrassed +when he applied for it." + +"You want to go up to the Soudan?" Lord Cromer said. "Mr. Murray has +told me your reasons for wanting to go. Though I fear it is hardly +likely that any new light can be thrown upon the fate of Hicks Pasha, +and his officers, I feel that it is a natural desire on your part." + +"It was my mother's last wish, sir, and she took particular pains in my +training, and education, to fit me for the work." + +"You speak Arabic, and the tongue of the Negro blacks, almost as well +as English?" + +"Yes, sir. Arabic quite as well, and the other nearly as well, I +think." + +"What sort of post did you hope to get, Mr. Hilliard?" + +"Any post for which I may be thought fit, sir. I do not care at all +about pay. My mother saved sufficient to keep me for two or three +years. I would rather enlist than not go up at all, though I fear I am +too young to be accepted; but I am quite ready to turn my hand to +anything." + +"If it concerned the Egyptian government, or a civil appointment, I +would certainly exert my influence in your favour; but this expedition +is in the hands of the military. However, if you will take a seat in +the anteroom, and do not mind waiting there for an hour or two, I will +see what can be done." + +"Thank you very much indeed, sir." + +Mr. Murray, as they went out together, said: + +"I think that you have made a good impression. He told me, before, that +it was a matter for Sir Herbert Kitchener, and that he was expecting +him in a quarter of an hour. Come and tell me the result, when you +leave." + +Ten minutes later, a tall man, whom Gregory recognized at once as Sir +Herbert Kitchener, whose figure was well known in Cairo, passed through +the room; all who were sitting there rising to their feet, as he did +so. He acknowledged the salute mechanically, as if scarcely conscious +of it. An hour later a bell was rung, and an attendant went into the +room. He returned directly. + +"Mr. Hilliard," he said. + +Gregory rose, and passed through the door held open. Kitchener was +sitting at the table with Lord Cromer. His keen glance seemed, to +Gregory, to take him in from head to foot, and then to look at +something far beyond him. + +"This is Mr. Hilliard," Lord Cromer said, "the young gentleman I have +spoken of." + +"You want to go up?" the general said shortly, in Arabic. + +"Yes, sir." + +"You do not mind in what capacity you go?" + +"No, sir; I am ready to do anything." + +"To work on the railway, or in the transport?" + +"Yes, sir. Though I would rather not be on the railway, for the railway +cannot get on as fast as the troops; but I would enlist in one of the +English regiments, if they would take me." + +"And you speak the language of the Nubian blacks?" + +The question was put in that language. + +"Yes; I do not think I speak it quite as well as Arabic, but I speak it +fairly." + +"Do you think that you could stand the fatigue?--no child's play, you +know." + +"I can only say that I hope I can, sir. I have been accustomed to take +long walks, and spend an hour a day in gymnastic exercises, and I have +had lessons in fencing." + +"Can you use a pistol?" + +"Yes, fairly; I have practised a good deal with it." + +"You are most fitted for an interpreter," the general said, speaking +this time in English. "Now the North Staffordshire have come down, +there are no British regiments up there, and of course the British +officers in the Egyptian army all speak Arabic, to some extent. +However, I will send you up to Dongola. Either General Hunter, or +Colonel Wingate, of the Intelligence Department, may be able to find +some use for you; and when the British troops go up, you can be +attached to one of their regiments as their interpreter. You will have +temporary rank of lieutenant, with, of course, the pay of that rank. + +"Captain Ewart came with me, Lord Cromer. I left him in the anteroom. +If you will allow me, I will call him in. + +"Captain Ewart," he said, as that officer entered, "Mr. Hilliard here +has just received the temporary rank of lieutenant, in the Egyptian +army, and is going up to join General Hunter, at Dongola. You are +starting in three days, are you not? + +"I shall be glad if you will take him under your wing, as far as you +go. He speaks the languages, Negro as well as Arabic. You can tell him +what kit he had better take, and generally mother him. + +"That is all, Mr. Hilliard. Call at my quarters, the day after +tomorrow, for the letters for General Hunter and Colonel Wingate." + +"I thank you most deeply, sir," Gregory began, but the Sirdar gave a +little impatient wave with his hand. + +"Thank you most deeply also, Lord Cromer!" Gregory said with a bow, and +then left the room. + +Captain Ewart remained there for another ten minutes. When he came out, +he nodded to Gregory. + +"Will you come with me?" he said. "I am going to the bank. I shall not +be there many minutes, and we can then have a talk together." + +"Thank you, sir! I am going to the bank too. It was Mr. Murray who +first spoke to Lord Cromer about me." + +"You could not have had a better introduction. Well, you won't have +very long to get ready for the start--that is, if you have not begun to +prepare for it. However, there is no rush at present, therefore I have +no doubt you will be able to get your khaki uniforms in time. As for +other things, there will be no difficulty about them." + +"You have been up at the front before, sir?" + +"Yes, my work is on the railway. I had a touch of fever, and got leave +to come down and recruit, before the hot weather came in. I dare say +you think it hot here, sometimes, but this is an ice house in +comparison with the desert." + +They talked until they arrived at the bank. + +"You may as well go in first, and see Murray. I suppose you won't be +above two or three minutes. I shall be longer, perhaps a quarter of an +hour; so if you wait for me, we will go to Shepherd's, and talk your +business over in some sort of comfort." + +"I am pleased, indeed," Mr. Murray said, when Gregory told him of his +appointment. "It is better than I even hoped. It is bad enough there, +in the position of an officer, but it would be infinitely worse in any +other capacity. Do you want to draw any money?" + +"No, sir; I have fifty pounds by me, and that will be enough, I should +think, for everything." + +"More than ample. Of course, you have plenty of light underclothing of +all sorts, and a couple of suits of khaki will not cost you anything +like so much as they would, if you got them at a military tailor's in +London. However, if you want more, you will be able to draw it." + +"Thank you very much, sir! I will not detain you any longer, now; but +will, if you will allow me, come in to say goodbye before I start. +Captain Ewart is waiting to speak to you. He came with me from Lord +Cromer's." + +Captain Ewart then went in, and after settling the business on which he +had come, asked Mr. Murray questions about Gregory, and received a +sketch of his story. + +"He seems to be a fine young fellow," he said, "well grown and active, +not at all what one would expect from a product of Cairo." + +"No, indeed. Of course, you have not seen him to advantage, in that +black suit, but in his ordinary clothes I should certainly take him, if +I had not seen him before, to be a young lieutenant freshly come out to +join." + +"Did you know the father?" + +"No, I was not here at that time; but the mother was a lady, every +inch. It is strange that neither of them should have friends in +England. It may be that she preferred to earn her living here, and be +altogether independent." + +"She had a pension, hadn't she?" + +"A small one, but she really earned her living by teaching. She gave +lessons to the ladies in English, French, and music, and had classes +for young boys and girls. I once asked her if she did not intend to go +back and settle in England, and she said 'Possibly, some day.' + +"I fancy that there must have been some mystery about the affair--what, +I can't say; but at any rate, we may take it that such a woman would +not have married a man who was not a gentleman." + +"Certainly the boy looks a well-bred one," Captain Ewart said, "and I +am sure that the Sirdar must have been taken with him. You don't know +any more about his father than you have told me?" + +"Very little. Once, in talking with his wife, she told me that her +husband had been in a commercial house, in Alexandria, for a year; but +the place was burned down at the time of the bombardment. Being thus +out of harness, he became an assistant to one of the army contractors +and, when things settled down at Cairo, obtained a berth as +interpreter, with the temporary rank of captain, on Hicks Pasha's +staff, as he also spoke Arabic fluently. I can tell you no more about +him than that, as I never saw him; though no doubt he came here with +his wife, when her account was opened. + +"I was interested in her. I looked up the old books, and found that two +hundred pounds was paid into her account, before he left. I may say +that she steadily increased that amount, ever since; but a few years +ago she had the sum then standing transferred to the boy's name, +telling me frankly, at the time, that she did so to save trouble, in +case anything happened to her. I fancy, from what she said, that for +the last year or two she had been going downhill. I had a chat with +her, the last time she came in. She told me that she had been +consumptive, and that it was for the sake of her health they came out +here." + +"That accounts for it, Murray. By the date, they were probably only +married a year or so before they came out; and a man who loved a young +wife, and saw no other way of saving her, would throw up any berth at +home, in order to give her the benefit of a warm climate. Still, it is +a little curious that, if he had only been out here a year or so before +Hicks started, he should have learned Arabic sufficiently well to get a +post as interpreter. I have been in the country about three years, and +can get on fairly well with the natives, in matters concerning my own +work; but I certainly could not act as general interpreter. + +"Well, I am glad to have heard this, for you know the sort of men +interpreters generally are. From the lad's appearance and manner, there +is no shadow of doubt that his mother was a lady. I thought it more +than probable that she had married beneath her, and that her husband +was of the ordinary interpreter class. Now, from what you have said, I +see that it is probable he came of a much better family. Well, you may +be sure that I shall do what I can for the lad." + +Gregory joined him, as he left the bank. + +"I think, Hilliard, we had best go to the tailor, first. His shop is +not far from here. As you want to get your things in three days, it is +as well to have that matter settled, at once." + +The two suits, each consisting of khaki tunic, breeches, and putties, +were ordered. + +"You had better have breeches," he said. "It is likely you will have to +ride, and knickerbockers look baggy." + +This done, they went to Shepherd's Hotel. + +"Sit down in the verandah," Captain Ewart said, "until I get rid of my +regimentals. Even a khaki tunic is not an admirable garment, when one +wants to be cool and comfortable." + +In a few minutes he came down again, in a light tweed suit; and, +seating himself in another lounging chair, two cooling drinks were +brought in; then he said: + +"Now we will talk about your outfit, and what you had best take up. Of +course, you have got light underclothing, so you need not bother about +that. You want ankle boots--and high ones--to keep out the sand. You +had better take a couple of pairs of slippers, they are of immense +comfort at the end of the day; also a light cap, to slip on when you +are going from one tent to another, after dark. A helmet is a good +thing in many ways, but it is cumbrous; and if there are four or five +men in a tent, and they all take off their helmets, it is difficult to +know where to stow them away. + +"Most likely you will get a tent at Dongola, but you can't always +reckon upon that, and you may find it very useful to have a light tente +d'abri made. It should have a fly, which is useful in two ways. In the +first place, it adds to the height and so enlarges the space inside; +and in the next place, you can tie it up in the daytime, and allow +whatever air there is to pass through. Then, with a blanket thrown over +the top, you will find it cooler than a regimental tent. + +"Of course, you will want a sword and a revolver, with a case and belt. +Get the regulation size, and a hundred rounds of cartridges; you are +not likely ever to use a quarter of that number, but they will come in +for practice. + +"Now, as to food. Of course you get beef, biscuit, or bread, and there +is a certain amount of tea, but nothing like enough for a thirsty +climate, especially when--which is sometimes the case--the water is so +bad that it is not safe to drink, unless it has been boiled; so you had +better take up four or five pounds of tea." + +"I don't take sugar, sir." + +"All the better. There is no better drink than tea, poured out and left +to cool, and drunk without sugar. You might take a dozen tins of +preserved milk, as many of condensed cocoa and milk, and a couple of +dozen pots of jam. Of course, you could not take all these things on if +you were likely to move, but you may be at Dongola some time, before +there is another advance, and you may as well make yourself as +comfortable as you can; and if, as is probable, you cannot take the +pots up with you, you can hand them over to those who are left behind. +You will have no trouble in getting a fair-sized case taken up, as +there will be water carriage nearly all the way. + +"A good many fellows have aerated waters sent up, but hot soda water is +by no means a desirable drink--not to be compared with tea kept in +porous jars; so I should not advise you to bother about it. You will +want a water bottle. Get the largest you can find. It is astonishing +how much water a fellow can get down, in a long day's march. + +"Oh! As to your boots, get the uppers as light as you can--the lighter +the better; but you must have strong soles--there are rocks in some +places, and they cut the soles to pieces, in no time. The sand is bad +enough. Your foot sinks in it, and it seems to have a sort of sucking +action, and very often takes the sole right off in a very short time. + +"I suppose you smoke?" + +"Cigarettes, sir." + +"I should advise you to get a pipe, in addition, or rather two or three +of them. If they get broken, or lost in the sand, there is no replacing +them; and if you don't take to them, yourself, you will find them the +most welcome present you can give, to a man who has lost his. + +"I should advise you to get a lens. You don't want a valuable one, but +the larger the better, and the cheapest that you can buy; it will be +quite as good as the best, to use as a burning glass. Matches are +precious things out there and, with a burning glass, you will only have +to draw upon your stock in the evening. + +"Now, do you ride? Because all the white officers with the Egyptian +troops do so." + +"I am sorry to say that I don't, sir. I have ridden donkeys, but anyone +can sit upon a donkey." + +"Yes; that won't help you much. Then I should advise you to use all the +time that you can spare, after ordering your outfit, in riding. No +doubt you could hire a horse." + +"Yes; there is no difficulty about that." + +"Well, if you will hire one, and come round here at six o'clock +tomorrow morning, I will ride out for a couple of hours with you, and +give you your first lesson. I can borrow a horse from one of the staff. +If you once get to sit your horse, in a workman-like fashion, and to +carry yourself well, you will soon pick up the rest; and if you go out, +morning and evening, for three hours each time, you won't be quite +abroad, when you start to keep up with a column of men on foot. + +"As to a horse, it would be hardly worth your while to bother about +taking one with you. You will be able to pick one up at Dongola. I hear +that fugitives are constantly coming in there, and some of them are +sure to be mounted. However, you had better take up a saddle and bridle +with you. You might as well get an Egyptian one; in the first place +because it is a good deal cheaper, and in the second because our +English saddles are made for bigger horses. You need not mind much +about the appearance of your animal. Anything will do for riding about +at Dongola, and learning to keep your seat. In the first fight you have +with Dervish horsemen, there are sure to be some riderless horses, and +you may then get a good one, for a pound or two, from some Tommy who +has captured one." + +"I am sure I am immensely obliged to you, Captain Ewart. That will +indeed be an advantage to me." + +On leaving the hotel Gregory at once made all his purchases, so as to +get them off his mind; and then arranged for the horse in the morning. +Then he went home, and told the old servant the change that had taken +place in his position. + +"And now, what about yourself, what would you like to do?" + +"I am too old to go up with you, and cook for you." + +"Yes, indeed," he laughed; "we shall be doing long marches. But it is +not your age, so much. As an officer, it would be impossible for me to +have a female servant. Besides, you want quiet and rest. I have been +round to the landlord, to tell him that I am going away, and to pay him +a month's rent, instead of notice. I should think the best way would be +for you to take a large room for yourself, or two rooms not so +large--one of them for you to live in, and the other to store +everything there is here. I know that you will look after them, and +keep them well. Of course, you will pick out all the things that you +can use in your room. It will be very lonely for you, living all by +yourself, but you know numbers of people here; and you might engage a +girl to stay with you, for some small wages and her food. Now, you must +think over what your food and hers will cost, and the rent. Of course, +I want you to live comfortably; you have always been a friend rather +than a servant, and my mother had the greatest trust in you." + +"You are very good, Master Gregory. While you have been away, today, I +have been thinking over what I should do, when you went away. I have a +friend who comes in, once a week, with fruit and vegetables. Last year, +you know, I went out with her and stayed a day. She has two boys who +work in the garden, and a girl. She came in today, and I said to her: + +"'My young master is going away to the Soudan. What do you say to my +coming and living with you, when he has gone? I can cook, and do all +about the house, and help a little in the garden; and I have saved +enough money to pay for my share of food.' + +"She said, 'I should like that, very well. You could help the boys, in +the field.' + +"So we agreed that, if you were willing, I should go. I thought of the +furniture; but if you do not come back here to live, it would be no use +to keep the chairs, and tables, and beds, and things. We can put all +Missy's things, and everything you like to keep, into a great box, and +I could take them with me; or you could have them placed with some +honest man, who would only charge very little, for storage." + +"Well, I do think that would be a good plan, if you like these people. +It would be far better than living by yourself. However, of course I +shall pay for your board, and I shall leave money with you; so that, if +you are not comfortable there, you can do as I said, take a room here. + +"I think you are right about the furniture. How would you sell it?" + +"There are plenty of Greek shops. They would buy it all. They would not +give as much as you gave for it. Most of them are great rascals." + +"We cannot help that," he said. "I should have to sell them when I come +back and, at any rate, we save the rent for housing them. They are not +worth much. You may take anything you like, a comfortable chair and a +bed, some cooking things, and so on, and sell the rest for anything you +can get, after I have gone. I will pack my dear mother's things, this +evening." + +For the next two days, Gregory almost lived on horseback; arranging, +with the man from whom he hired the animals, that he should change them +three times a day. He laid aside his black clothes, and took to a white +flannel suit, with a black ribbon round his straw hat; as deep mourning +would be terribly hot, and altogether unsuited for riding. + +"You will do, lad," Captain Ewart said to him, after giving him his +first lesson. "Your fencing has done much for you, and has given you an +easy poise of body and head. Always remember that it is upon balancing +the body that you should depend for your seat; although, of course, the +grip of the knees does a good deal. Also remember, always, to keep your +feet straight; nothing is so awkward as turned-out toes. Besides, in +that position, if the horse starts you are very likely to dig your +spurs into him. + +"Hold the reins firmly, but don't pull at his head. Give him enough +scope to toss his head if he wants to, but be in readiness to tighten +the reins in an instant, if necessary." + +Each day, Gregory returned home so stiff, and tired, that he could +scarcely crawl along. Still, he felt that he had made a good deal of +progress; and that, when he got up to Dongola, he would be able to +mount and ride out without exciting derision. On the morning of the day +on which he was to start, he went to say goodbye to Mr. Murray. + +"Have you everything ready, Hilliard?" the banker asked. + +"Yes, sir. The uniform and the tent are both ready. I have a cork bed, +and waterproof sheet to lay under it; and, I think, everything that I +can possibly require. I am to meet Captain Ewart at the railway, this +afternoon at five o'clock. The train starts at half past. + +"I will draw another twenty-five pounds, sir. I have not spent more +than half what I had, but I must leave some money with our old servant. +I shall have to buy a horse, too, when I get up to Dongola, and I may +have other expenses, that I cannot foresee." + +"I think that is a wise plan," the banker said. "It is always well to +have money with you, for no one can say what may happen. Your horse may +get shot or founder, and you may have to buy another. Well, I wish you +every luck, lad, and a safe return." + +"Thank you very much, Mr. Murray! All this good fortune has come to me, +entirely through your kindness. I cannot say how grateful I feel to +you." + + + +Chapter 5: Southward. + + +At the hour named, Gregory met Captain Ewart at the station. He was now +dressed in uniform, and carried a revolver in his waist belt, and a +sword in its case. His luggage was not extensive. He had one large +bundle; it contained a roll-up cork bed, in a waterproof casing. At one +end was a loose bag; which contained a spare suit of clothes, three +flannel shirts, and his underclothing. This formed the pillow. A +blanket and a waterproof sheet were rolled up with it. In a small sack +was the tente d'abri, made of waterproof sheeting, with its two little +poles. It only weighed some fifteen pounds. His only other luggage +consisted of a large case, with six bottles of brandy, and the +provisions he had been recommended to take. + +"Is that all your kit?" Captain Ewart said, as he joined him. + +"Yes, sir. I hope you don't think it is too much." + +"No; I think it is very moderate, though if you move forward, you will +not be able to take the case with you, The others are light enough, and +you can always get a native boy to carry them. Of course, you have your +pass?" + +"Yes, sir. I received it yesterday, when I went to headquarters for the +letter to General Hunter." + +"Then we may as well take our places, at once. We have nearly an hour +before the train starts; but it is worth waiting, in order to get two +seats next the window, on the river side. We need not sit there till +the train starts, if we put our traps in to keep our places. I know +four or five other officers coming up, so we will spread our things +about, and keep the whole carriage to ourselves, if we can." + +In an hour, the train started. Every place was occupied. Ewart had +spoken to his friends, as they arrived, and they had all taken places +in the same compartment. The journey lasted forty hours, and Gregory +admitted that the description Captain Ewart had given him, of the dust, +was by no means exaggerated. He had brought, as had been suggested, a +water skin and a porous earthenware bottle; together with a roll of +cotton-wool to serve as a stopper to the latter, to keep out the dust. +In a tightly fitting handbag he had an ample supply of food for three +days. Along the opening of this he had pasted a strip of paper. + +"That will do very well for your first meal, Hilliard, but it will be +of no good afterwards." + +"I have prepared for that," Gregory said. "I have bought a gum bottle, +and as I have a newspaper in my pocket, I can seal it up after each +meal." + +"By Jove, that is a good idea, one I never thought of!" + +"The gum will be quite sufficient for us all, up to Assouan. I have two +more bottles in my box. That should be sufficient to last me for a long +time, when I am in the desert; and as it won't take half a minute to +put a fresh paper on, after each meal, I shall have the satisfaction of +eating my food without its being mixed with the dust." + +There was a general chorus of approval, and all declared that they +would search every shop in Assouan, and endeavour to find gum. + +"Paste will do as well," Ewart said, "and as we can always get flour, +we shall be able to defy the dust fiend as far as our food goes. + +"I certainly did not expect that old campaigners would learn a lesson +from you, Hilliard, as soon as you started." + +"It was just an idea that occurred to me," Gregory said. + +The gum bottle was handed round, and although nothing could be done for +those who had brought their provisions in hampers, three of them who +had, like Gregory, put their food in bags, were able to seal them up +tightly. + +It was now May, and the heat was becoming intolerable, especially as +the windows were closed to keep out the dust. In spite of this, +however, it found its way in. It settled everywhere. Clothes and hair +became white with it. It worked its way down the neck, where the +perspiration changed it into mud. It covered the face, as if with a +cake of flour. + +At first Gregory attempted to brush it off his clothes, as it settled +upon them, but he soon found that there was no advantage in this. So he +sat quietly in his corner and, like the rest, looked like a dirty white +statue. There were occasional stops, when they all got out, shook +themselves, and took a few mouthfuls of fresh air. + +Gregory's plan, for keeping out the dust from the food, turned out a +great success; and the meals were eaten in the open air, during the +stoppages. + +On arriving at Assouan, they all went to the transport department, to +get their passes for the journey up the Nile, as far as Wady Halfa. The +next step was to go down to the river for a swim and, by dint of +shaking and beating, to get rid of the accumulated dust. + +Assouan was not a pleasant place to linger in and, as soon as they had +completed their purchases, Captain Ewart and Gregory climbed on to the +loaded railway train, and were carried by the short line to the spot +where, above the cataract, the steamer that was to carry them was +lying. She was to tow up a large barge, and two native craft. They took +their places in the steamer, with a number of other officers--some +newcomers from England, others men who had been down to Cairo, to +recruit. They belonged to all branches of the service, and included +half a dozen of the medical staff, three of the transport corps, +gunners, engineers, cavalry, and infantry. The barges were deep in the +water, with their cargoes of stores of all kinds, and rails and +sleepers for the railway, and the steamer was also deeply loaded. + +The passage was a delightful one, to Gregory. Everything was new to +him. The cheery talk and jokes of the officers, the graver discussion +of the work before them, the calculations as to time and distance, the +stories told of what had taken place during the previous campaign, by +those who shared in it, were all so different from anything he had ever +before experienced, that the hours passed almost unnoticed. It was +glorious to think that, in whatever humble capacity, he was yet one of +the band who were on their way up to meet the hordes of the Khalifa, to +rescue the Soudan from the tyranny under which it had groaned, to +avenge Gordon and Hicks and the gallant men who had died with them! + +Occasionally, Captain Ewart came up and talked to him, but he was well +content to sit on one of the bales, and listen to the conversation +without joining in it. In another couple of years he, too, would have +had his experiences, and would be able to take his part. At present, he +preferred to be a listener. + +The distance to Wady Halfa was some three hundred miles; but the +current was strong, and the steamer could not tow the boats more than +five miles an hour, against it. It was sixty hours, from the start, +before they arrived. + +Gregory was astonished at the stir and life in the place. Great numbers +of native labourers were at work, unloading barges and native craft; +and a line of railway ran down to the wharves, where the work of +loading the trucks went on briskly. Smoke pouring out from many +chimneys, and the clang of hammers, told that the railway engineering +work was in full swing. Vast piles of boxes, cases, and bales were +accumulated on the wharf, and showed that there would be no loss of +time in pushing forward supplies to Abu Hamed, as soon as the railway +was completed to that point. + +Wady Halfa had been the starting point of a railway, commenced years +before. A few miles have been constructed, and several buildings +erected for the functionaries, military and civil; but Gordon, when +Governor of the Soudan, had refused to allow the province to be saddled +with the expenses of the construction, or to undertake the +responsibility of carrying it out. + +In 1884 there was some renewal of work and, had Gordon been rescued, +and Khartoum permanently occupied, the line would no doubt have been +carried on; but with the retirement of the British troops, work ceased, +and the great stores of material that had been gathered there remained, +for years, half covered with the sand. In any other climate this would +have been destructive, but in the dry air of Upper Egypt they remained +almost uninjured, and proved very useful, when the work was again taken +up. + +It was a wonderful undertaking, for along the two hundred and +thirty-four miles of desert, food, water, and every necessary had to be +carried, together with all materials for its construction. Not only had +an army of workmen to be fed, but a body of troops to guard them; for +Abu Hamed, at the other end of the line, for which they were making, +was occupied by a large body of Dervishes; who might, at any moment, +swoop down across the plain. + +Had the Sirdar had the resources of England at his back, the work would +have been easier, for he could have ordered from home new engines, and +plant of every description; but it was an Egyptian work, and had to be +done in the cheapest possible way. Old engines had to be patched up, +and makeshifts of all kinds employed. Fortunately he had, in the chief +engineer of the line, a man whose energy, determination, and resource +were equal to his own. Major Girouard was a young officer of the Royal +Engineers and, like all white officers in the Egyptian service, held +the rank of major. He was a Canadian by birth, and proved, in every +respect, equal to the onerous and responsible work to which he was +appointed. + +However, labour was cheap, and railway battalions were raised among the +Egyptian peasants, their pay being the same as that of the soldiers. +Strong, hearty, and accustomed to labour and a scanty diet, no men +could have been more fitted for the work. They preferred it to +soldiering; for although, as they had already shown, and were still +further to prove, the Egyptian can fight, and fight bravely; he is, by +nature, peaceable, and prefers work, however hard. In addition to these +battalions, natives of the country and of the Soudan, fugitives from +ruined villages and desolated plains, were largely employed. + +The line had now been carried three-quarters of the distance to Abu +Hamed, which was still in the hands of the Dervishes. It had been +constructed with extraordinary rapidity, for the ground was so level +that only occasional cuttings were needed. The organization of labour +was perfect. The men were divided into gangs, each under a head man, +and each having its own special work to do. There were the men who +unloaded the trucks, the labourers who did the earth work, and the more +skilled hands who levelled it. As fast as the trucks were emptied, +gangs of men carried the sleepers forward, and laid them down roughly +in position; others followed, and corrected the distance between each. +The rails were then brought along and laid down, with the fish plates, +in the proper places; men put these on, and boys screwed up the nuts. +Then plate layers followed and lined the rails accurately; and, when +this was done, sand was thrown in and packed down between the sleepers. + +By this division of labour, the line was pushed on from one to two +miles a day, the camp moving forward with the line. Six tank trucks +brought up the water for the use of the labourers, daily, and +everything worked with as much regularity as in a great factory at +home. Troops of friendly tribesmen, in our pay, scoured the country and +watched the wells along the road, farther to the east, so as to prevent +any bands of Dervishes from dashing suddenly down upon the workers. + +At Wady Halfa, Captain Ewart and two or three other officers left the +steamer, to proceed up the line. Gregory was very sorry to lose him. + +"I cannot tell you, Captain Ewart," he said, "how deeply grateful I +feel to you, for the immense kindness you have shown me. I don't know +what I should have done, had I been left without your advice and +assistance in getting my outfit, and making my arrangements to come up +here." + +"My dear lad," the latter said, "don't say anything more. In any case, +I should naturally be glad to do what I could, for the son of a man who +died fighting in the same cause as we are now engaged in. But in your +case it has been a pleasure, for I am sure you will do credit to +yourself, and to the mother who has taken such pains in preparing you +for the work you are going to do, and in fitting you for the position +that you now occupy." + +As the officers who had come up with them in the train from Cairo were +all going on, and had been told by Ewart something of Gregory's story, +they had aided that officer in making Gregory feel at home in his new +circumstances; and in the two days they had been on board the boat, he +had made the acquaintance of several others. + +The river railway had now been carried from Wady Halfa to Kerma, above +the third cataract. The heavy stores were towed up by steamers and +native craft. Most of the engines and trucks had been transferred to +the desert line; but a few were still retained, to carry up troops if +necessary, and aid the craft in accumulating stores. + +One of these trains started a few hours after the arrival of the +steamer at Wady Halfa. Gregory, with the officers going up, occupied +two horse boxes. Several of them had been engaged in the last campaign, +and pointed out the places of interest. + +At Sarras, some thirty miles up the road, there had been a fight on the +29th of April, 1887; when the Dervish host, advancing strong in the +belief that they could carry all before them down to the sea, were +defeated by the Egyptian force under the Sirdar and General Chermside. + +The next stop of the train was at Akasheh. This had been a very +important station, before the last advance, as all the stores had been +accumulated here when the army advanced. Here had been a strongly +entrenched camp, for the Dervishes were in force, fifteen miles away, +at Ferket. + +"It was a busy time we had here," said one of the officers, who had +taken a part in the expedition. "A fortnight before, we had no idea +that an early move was contemplated; and indeed, it was only on the +14th of March that the excitement began. That day, Kitchener received a +telegram ordering an immediate advance on Dongola. We had expected it +would take place soon; but there is no doubt that the sudden order was +the result of an arrangement, on the part of our government with Italy, +that we should relieve her from the pressure of the Dervishes round +Kassala by effecting a diversion, and obliging the enemy to send a +large force down to Dongola to resist our advance. + +"It was a busy time. The Sirdar came up to Wady Halfa, and the Egyptian +troops were divided between that place, Sarras, and Akasheh. The 9th +Soudanese were marched up from Suakim, and they did the distance to the +Nile (one hundred and twenty miles) in four days. That was something +like marching. + +"Well, you saw Wady Halfa. For a month, this place was quite as busy. +Now, its glories are gone. Two or three huts for the railway men, and +the shelters for a company of Egyptians, represent the whole camp." + +As they neared Ferket the officer said: + +"There was a sharp fight out there on the desert. A large body of +Dervishes advanced, from Ferket. They were seen to leave by a cavalry +patrol. As soon as the patrol reached camp, all the available horse, +two hundred and forty in number, started under Major Murdoch. Four +miles out, they came in sight of three hundred mounted Dervishes, with +a thousand spearmen on foot. + +"The ground was rough, and unfavourable for a cavalry charge; so the +cavalry retired to a valley, between two hills, in order to get better +ground. While they were doing so, however, the Dervishes charged down +upon them. Murdoch rode at them at once, and there was a hand-to-hand +fight that lasted for twenty minutes. Then the enemy turned, and +galloped off to the shelter of the spearmen. The troopers dismounted +and opened fire; and, on a regiment of Soudanese coming up, the enemy +drew off. + +"Eighteen of the Dervishes were killed, and eighty wounded. Our loss +was very slight; but the fight was a most satisfactory one, for it +showed that the Egyptian cavalry had, now, sufficient confidence in +themselves to face the Baggara. + +"Headquarters came up to Akasheh on the 1st of June. The spies had kept +the Intelligence Department well informed as to the state of things at +Ferket. It was known that three thousand troops were there, led by +fifty-seven Emirs. The ground was carefully reconnoitred, and all +preparation made for an attack. It was certain that the Dervishes also +had spies, among the camel drivers and camp followers, but the Sirdar +kept his intentions secret, and on the evening of June 5th it was not +known to any, save three or four of the principal officers, that he +intended to attack on the following morning. It was because he was +anxious to effect a complete surprise that he did not even bring up the +North Staffordshires. + +"There were two roads to Ferket--one by the river, the other through +the desert. The river column was the strongest, and consisted of an +infantry division, with two field batteries and two Maxims. The total +strength of the desert column, consisting of the cavalry brigade, camel +corps, a regiment of infantry, a battery of horse artillery, and two +Maxims--in all, two thousand one hundred men--were to make a detour, +and come down upon the Nile to the south of Ferket, thereby cutting off +the retreat of the enemy. + +"Carrying two days' rations, the troops started late in the afternoon +of the 6th, and halted at nine in the evening, three miles from Ferket. +At half-past two they moved forward again, marching quietly and +silently; and, at half-past four, deployed into line close to the +enemy's position. A few minutes later the alarm was given; and the +Dervishes, leaping to arms, discovered this formidable force in front +of them; and at the same time found that their retreat was cut off, by +another large body of troops in their rear; while, on the opposite bank +of the river, was a force of our Arab allies. + +"Though they must have seen that their position was hopeless, the +Dervishes showed no signs of fear. They fought with the desperation of +rats in a trap. The Egyptians advanced with steady volleys. The Baggara +horsemen attacked them furiously, but were repulsed with heavy loss. +There was hand-to-hand fighting among their huts; and the second +brigade carried, with the bayonet, that rough hill that you see over +there. + +"It was all over, by seven o'clock. Our loss was only twenty killed, +and eighty wounded. About one thousand of the Dervishes were killed, +including their chief Emir and some forty of the others, while five +hundred were taken prisoners. It was a great victory, and a very +important one; but it can hardly be said that it was glorious, as we +outnumbered them by three to one. Still, it was a heavy blow to the +Dervishes, and the fact that the Khalifa was obliged to send troops +down to the Nile, to check an advance that had proved so formidable, +must have greatly relieved the pressure on the Italians at Kassala. + +"There was a pause, here. It was certain that we should have to meet a +much stronger force before we got to Dongola. Well as the Egyptian +troops had fought, it was thought advisable to give them a stronger +backing. + +"The heat was now tremendous, and cholera had broken out. We moved to +Koshyeh, and there encamped. The only change we had was a terrific +storm, which almost washed us away. In the middle of August, we managed +to get the gunboats up through the cataract, and were in hopes of +advancing, when another storm carried away twenty miles of the railway, +which by this time had come up as far as the cataract." + +At Ginnis, twenty miles from Ferket, they passed the ground where, on +the 31st of December, 1885, on the retirement of General Wolseley's +expedition, Generals Grenfel and Stevenson, with a force of Egyptian +troops and three British regiments, encountered the Dervish army which +the Khalifa had despatched under the Emir Nejumi, and defeated it. It +was notable as being the first battle in which the newly raised +Egyptian army met the Mahdists, and showed that, trained and +disciplined by British officers, the Egyptian fellah was capable of +standing against the Dervish of the desert. + +From this point the railway left the Nile and, for thirty miles, +crossed the desert. Another twenty miles, and they reached Fareeg. + +"It was here," the officer said, "that the North Staffordshires came up +and joined the Egyptians. The Dervishes had fallen back before we +advanced, after a halt at Sadeah, which we sha'n't see, as the railway +cuts across, to Abu Fetmeh. We bivouacked five miles from their camp, +and turned out at three next morning. The orders were passed by mouth, +and we got off as silently as an army of ghosts. + +"I shall never forget our disgust when a small cavalry force, sent on +ahead to reconnoitre, reported that the Dervishes had abandoned the +place during the night, and had crossed the river in native boats. It +was a very clever move, at any rate, on the part of fellows who did not +want to fight. There were we facing them, with our whole infantry and +cavalry useless, and we had nothing available to damage the enemy +except our artillery and the gunboats. + +"These opened fire, and the Dervishes replied heavily. They had +earthworks, but the boats kept on, pluckily, till they got to a narrow +point in the stream; when a couple of guns, which had hitherto been +hidden, opened upon them at close range; while a strong force of +Dervish infantry poured in such a hot fire that the boats had to fall +back. + +"After our field guns had peppered the enemy for a bit, the gunboats +tried again, but the fire was too hot for them, and the leading boat +had to retire. + +"Things did not look very bright, till nine o'clock; when we found +that, at one point, the river was fordable to a small island, opposite +the enemy's lines. Four batteries, and the Maxims, at once moved over, +with two companies of Soudanese, and opened fire. The distance across +was but six hundred yards, and the fire was tremendous--shell, +shrapnel, and rockets--while the Soudanese fired volleys, and the +Maxims maintained a shower of bullets. + +"It seemed that nothing could stand against it, but the Dervishes stuck +to their guns with great pluck. However, their fire was so far kept +down, that the three gunboats succeeded in forcing their way up; and, +passing the Dervish works, sank a steamer and a number of native boats. + +"The Dervishes now began to give way, and the gunboats steamed up the +river, making for Dongola. The Dervishes, as soon as they had gone, +reopened fire, and the duel continued all day; but the great mass of +the enemy soon left, and also made their way towards Dongola. + +"It was awfully annoying being obliged to remain inactive, on our side, +and it was especially hard for the cavalry; who, if they could have got +over, would have been able to cut up and disperse the enemy. + +"The next morning the Dervishes were all gone, and that was practically +the end of the fighting. The gunboats went up and shelled Dongola; and +when we got there, two days later, the Dervishes had had enough of it. +Of course, there was a little fighting, but it was the effort of a +party of fanatics, rather than of an enemy who considered resistance +possible. + +"We were greeted with enthusiasm by the unfortunate inhabitants, who +had been subject to the Dervish tyranny. As a whole, however, they had +not been badly treated here, and had been allowed to continue to +cultivate their land, subject only to about the same taxation as they +had paid to Egypt. Of course, from what they have done elsewhere, the +comparative mildness of the conduct of the Dervishes was not due to any +feeling of mercy, but to policy. As the most advanced position, with +the exception of scattered and temporary posts lower down the river, it +was necessary that there should be food for the considerable body of +tribesmen encamped at Dongola; especially as an army invading Egypt +would provide itself, there, with stores for the journey. It was +therefore good policy to encourage the cultivators of land to stay +there." + +"Thank you very much!" Gregory said, when the officer had concluded his +sketch of the previous campaign. "Of course, I heard that we had beaten +the Khalifa's men, and had taken Dongola, but the papers at Cairo gave +no details. The Staffordshire regiment went down, directly the place +was taken, did they not?" + +"Yes. They had suffered heavily from cholera; and as there was now no +fear that the Egyptians and Soudanese would prove unequal to +withstanding a Dervish rush, there was no necessity for keeping them +here." + +At Abu Fetmeh they left the train, and embarked in a steamer. Of the +party that had left Assouan, only four or five remained. The rest had +been dropped at other stations on the road. + +The boat stopped but a few hours at Dongola, which had for a time been +the headquarters of the advanced force. Great changes had been made, +since the place was captured from the Dervishes. At that time the +population had been reduced to a handful, and the natives who remained +tilled but enough ground for their own necessities; for they knew that, +at any time, a Dervish force might come along and sweep everything +clear. But with the advent of the British, the fugitives who had +scattered among the villages along the river soon poured in. + +Numbers of Greek traders arrived, with camels and goods, and the town +assumed an aspect of life and business. The General established a court +of justice, and appointed authorities for the proper regulation of +affairs; and by the time Gregory came up, the town was showing signs of +renewed prosperity. + +But the steamer stopped at Dongola only to land stores needed for the +regiment stationed there. The headquarters had, months before, been +moved to Merawi, some eighty miles higher up, situated at the foot of +the fourth cataract. + +Although he had enjoyed the journey, Gregory was glad when the steamer +drew up against a newly constructed wharf at Merawi. Now he was to +begin his duties, whatever they might be. + +At the wharf were a large number of Soudanese soldiers. A telegram, +from the last station they touched at, had given notice of the hour at +which the boat would arrive; and a battalion of native troops had +marched down, to assist in unloading the stores. A white officer had +come down with them, to superintend the operation, and the other +officers at once went on shore to speak to him. + +Gregory had got all his traps together and, as the Soudanese poured on +board, he thought it better to remain with them; as, if his belongings +once got scattered, there would be little chance of his being able to +collect them again. After a short time, he went up to one of the native +officers. + +"This is my first visit here," he said in Arabic, "and as I have not +brought up a servant with me, I do not like to leave my baggage here, +while I go and report myself to General Hunter. Will you kindly tell me +what I had better do?" + +"Certainly. I will place one of my corporals in charge of your things. +It would be as well to get them ashore at once, as we shall want the +decks clear, in order that the men may work freely in getting the +stores up from below. The corporal will see that your baggage is +carried to the bank, to a spot where it will be out of the way, and +will remain with it until you know where it is to be taken." + +Thanking him for his civility, Gregory went on shore. The officer who +had told him the story of the campaign was still talking, to the Major +who had come down with the blacks. As Gregory came up, he said: + +"I wondered what had become of you, Hilliard. I have been telling Major +Sidney that a young lieutenant had come up, to report himself to the +General for service." + +"I am glad to see you, sir," the Major said, holding out his hand. +"Every additional white officer is a material gain, and I have no doubt +that General Hunter will find plenty for you to do. I hear you can +speak the Negro language, as well as Arabic. That will be specially +useful here, for the natives are principally Negro, and speak very +little Arabic. + +"How about your baggage?" + +"One of the native officers has undertaken to get it ashore, and to put +a corporal in charge of it, until I know where it is to go." + +"Well, Fladgate, as you are going to the General's, perhaps you will +take Mr. Hilliard with you, and introduce him." + +"With pleasure. + +"Now, Mr. Hilliard, let us be off, at once. The sun is getting hot, and +the sooner we are under shelter, the better." + +Ten minutes' walk took them to the house formerly occupied by the +Egyptian Governor of the town, where General Hunter now had his +headquarters. The General, who was a brevet colonel in the British +Army, had joined the Egyptian Army in 1888. He had, as a captain in the +Lancashire regiment, taken part in the Nile Expedition, 1884-85; had +been severely wounded at the battle of Ginnis; and again at Toski, +where he commanded a brigade. He was still a comparatively young man. +He had a broad forehead, and an intellectual face, that might have +betokened a student rather than a soldier; but he was celebrated, in +the army, for his personal courage and disregard of danger, and was +adored by his black soldiers. + +He rose from the table at which he was sitting, as Captain Fladgate +came in. + +"I am glad to see you back again," he said. "I hope you have quite +shaken off the fever?" + +"Quite, General. I feel thoroughly fit for work again. Allow me to +present to you Mr. Hilliard, who has just received a commission as +lieutenant in the Egyptian Army. He has a letter from the Sirdar, to +you." + +"Well, I will not detain you now, Captain Fladgate. You will find your +former quarters in readiness for you. Dinner at the usual time; then +you shall tell me the news of Cairo. + +"Now, Mr. Hilliard," and he turned to Gregory, "pray take a seat. This +is your first experience in soldiering, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I think you are the first white officer who has been appointed, who +has not had experience in our own army first. You have not been +appointed to any particular battalion, have you?" + +"No, sir. I think I have come out to make myself generally useful. +These are the letters that I was to hand to you--one is from the Sirdar +himself, the other is from his chief of the staff, and this letter is +from Captain Ewart." + +The General read the Sirdar's letter first. He then opened that from +the chief of the staff. This was the more bulky of the two, and +contained several enclosures. + +"Ah! this relates to you," the General said as, after glancing over the +two official despatches, he read through the letter of Captain Ewart, +who was a personal friend of his. + +The latter had given a full account of Gregory's history, and said that +the Sirdar had especially asked him to put him in the way of things; +that he had seen a great deal of him on the journey up, and was very +greatly pleased with him. + +"The lad is a perfect gentleman," he said, "which is certainly +astonishing, he being a product of Cairo. I consider him in all +respects--except, of course, a classical education--fully equal to the +average young officer, on first joining. He is very modest and +unassuming; and will, I feel sure, perform with credit any work that +you may give him to do." + +"I see," he said, laying it down, "you have only joined the army +temporarily, and with a special purpose, and I am told to utilize your +services as I think best. You have a perfect knowledge of Arabic, and +of the Negro dialect. That will be very useful, for though we all speak +Arabic, few speak the Negro language, which is more commonly used here. + +"Your father fell with Hicks Pasha, I am told, and you have joined us +with the object of obtaining news as to the manner in which he met his +death?" + +"That is so, sir. It was always my mother's wish that I should, when I +was old enough, come up to the Soudan to make enquiries. As my father +was a good Arabic scholar, my mother always entertained a faint hope +that he might have escaped; especially as we know that a good many of +the Egyptian soldiers were not killed, but were taken prisoners, and +made to serve in the Mahdi's army." + +"Yes, there are several of them among the Khalifa's artillerymen, but I +am very much afraid that none of the officers were spared. You see, +they kept together in a body, and died fighting to the last." + +"I have hardly any hopes myself, sir. Still, as my father was +interpreter, he might not have been with the others, but in some other +part of the square that was attacked." + +"That is possible; but he was a white man, and in the heat of the +battle I don't think that the Dervishes would have made any exception. +You see, there were two correspondents with Hicks, and neither of them +has ever been heard of; and they must, I should think, have joined in +that last desperate charge of his. + +"Well, for the present I must make you a sort of extra aide-de-camp, +and what with one thing and another, I have no doubt that I shall find +plenty for you to do. As such, you will of course be a member of +headquarters mess, and therefore escape the trouble of providing for +yourself. You have not brought a servant up with you, I suppose?" + +"No, sir. Captain Ewart, who most kindly advised me as to my outfit, +said that, if I could find an intelligent native here, it would be +better than taking a man from Cairo." + +"Quite right; and the fellows one picks up at Cairo are generally lazy, +and almost always dishonest. The men you get here may not know much, +but are ready enough to learn; and, if well treated, will go through +fire and water for their master. + +"Go down to the stores, and tell the officer in charge there that I +shall be glad if he will pick out two or three fellows, from whom you +may choose a servant." + +When Gregory had given his message, the officer said: + +"You had better pick out one for yourself, Mr. Hilliard. Strength and +willingness to work are the points I keep my eye upon; and, except for +the foremen of the gangs, their intelligence does not interest me. You +had better take a turn among the parties at work, and pick out a man +for yourself." + +Gregory was not long in making his choice. He selected a young fellow +who, although evidently exerting himself to the utmost, was clearly +incapable of doing his share in carrying the heavy bales and boxes, +that were easily handled by older men. He had a pleasant face, and +looked more intelligent than most of the others. + +"To what tribe do you belong?" Gregory asked him. + +"The Jaalin. I come from near Metemmeh." + +"I want a servant. You do not seem to be strong enough for this work, +but if you will be faithful, and do what I tell you, I will try you." + +The young fellow's face lit up. + +"I will be faithful, bey. It would be kind of you to take me. I am not +at my full strength yet and, although I try my hardest, I cannot do as +much as strong men, and then I am abused. I will be very faithful, and +if you do not find me willing to do all that you tell me, you can send +me back to work here." + +"Well, come along with me, then." + +He took him to the officer. + +"I have chosen this man, sir. Can I take him away at once?" + +"Certainly. He has been paid up to last night." + +"Thank you very much! I will settle with him for today." + +And, followed by the young tribesman, he went to the headquarters camp, +near which an empty hut was assigned to him. + + + +Chapter 6: Gregory Volunteers. + + +The hut of which Gregory took possession was constructed of dry mud. +The roof was of poles, on which were thickly laid boughs and palm +leaves; and on these a layer of clay, a foot thick. An opening in the +wall, eighteen inches square, served as a window. Near the door the +floor was littered with rubbish of all kinds. + +"What is your name?" + +"Zaki." + +"Well, Zaki, the first thing is to clear out all this rubbish, and +sweep the floor as clean as you can. I am going down to the river to +get my baggage up. Can you borrow a shovel, or something of that sort, +from one of the natives here? Or, if he will sell it, buy one. I will +pay when I return. It will always come in useful. If you cannot get a +shovel, a hoe will do. Ah! I had better give you a dollar, the man +might not trust you." + +He then walked down to the river, and found the black corporal sitting +tranquilly by the side of his baggage. The man stood up and saluted, +and on Gregory saying that he had now a house, at once told off two +soldiers to carry the things. + +Arriving at the hut, he found Zaki hard at work, shovelling the rubbish +through the doorway. Just as he came up, the boy brought down his tool, +with a crash, upon a little brown creature that was scuttling away. + +"What is that, Zaki?" + +"That is a scorpion, bey; I have killed four of them." + +"That is not at all pleasant," Gregory said. "There may be plenty of +them, up among the boughs overhead." + +Zaki nodded. + +"Plenty of creatures," he said, "some snakes." + +"Then we will smoke them out, before I go in. When you have got the +rubbish out, make a fire in the middle, wet some leaves and things and +put them on, and we will hang a blanket over the window and shut the +door. I will moisten some powder and scatter it among the leaves, and +the sulphur will help the smoke to bring them down." + +This was done, the door closed and, as it did not fit at all tightly, +the cracks were filled with some damp earth from the watercourse. + +"What did you pay for the shovel, Zaki?" + +"Half a dollar, bey. Here is the other half." + +"Well, you had better go and buy some things for yourself. Tomorrow I +will make other arrangements. Get a fire going out here. There is a +sauce pan and a kettle, so you can boil some rice or fry some meat." + +Gregory then went again to the officer who was acting as quartermaster. + +"I have been speaking to the General," the latter said. "You will mess +with the staff. The dinner hour is seven o'clock. I am sure you will +soon feel at home." + +Gregory now strolled through the camp. The troops were in little mud +huts, of their own construction; as these, in the heat of the day, were +much cooler than tents. The sun was getting low, and the Soudanese +troops were all occupied in cooking, mending their clothes, sweeping +the streets between the rows of huts, and other light duties. They +seemed, to Gregory, as full of fun and life as a party of +schoolboys--laughing, joking, and playing practical tricks on each +other. + +The physique of some of the regiments was splendid, the men averaging +over six feet in height, and being splendidly built. Other regiments, +recruited among different tribes, were not so tall, but their sturdy +figures showed them to be capable of any effort they might be called +upon to make. + +One of the officers came out of his tent, as he passed. + +"You are a new arrival, I think, sir?" he said. "We have so few white +officers, here, that one spots a fresh face at once." + +"Yes, I only arrived two or three hours ago. My name is Hilliard. I am +not attached to any regiment; but, as I speak the languages well, +General Hunter is going, so he said, to make me generally useful. I +only received my commission a few days before leaving Cairo." + +"Well, come in and have a soda and whisky. The heat out here is +frightful. You can tell me the last news from Cairo, and when we are +going to move." + +"I shall be happy to come in and have a chat," Gregory said, "but I do +not drink anything. I have been brought up in Cairo, and am accustomed +to heat, and I find that drinking only makes one more thirsty." + +"I believe it does," the other said, "especially when the liquid is +almost as hot as one is, one's self. Will you sit down on that box? +Chairs are luxuries that we do not indulge in here. Well, have you +heard anything about a move?" + +"Nothing; but the officers I have spoken to all seem to think that it +will soon begin. A good many came up with me, to Wady Halfa and the +stations on the river; and I heard that all who had sufficiently +recovered were under orders to rejoin, very shortly." + +"Yes, I suppose it won't be long. Of course we know nothing here, and I +don't expect we shall, till the order comes for us to start. This is +not the time of year when one expects to be on the move; and if we do +go, it is pretty certain that it is because Kitchener has made up his +mind for a dash forward. You see, if we take Abu Hamed and drive the +Dervishes away, we can, at once, push the railway on to that place; +and, as soon as it is done, the troops can be brought up and an advance +made to Berber, if not farther, during the cool season--if you can ever +call it a cool season, here." + +"Is there any great force at Abu Hamed?" + +"No; nothing that could stand against this for a moment. Their chief +force, outside Omdurman, is at Metemmeh under Mahmud, the Khalifa's +favourite son. You see, the Jaalin made fools of themselves. Instead of +waiting until we could lend them a hand, they revolted as soon as we +took Dongola, and the result was that Mahmud came down and pretty well +wiped them out. They defended themselves stoutly, at Metemmeh, but had +no chance against such a host as he brought with him. The town was +taken, and its defenders, between two and three thousand fighting men, +were all massacred, together with most of the women and children. + +"By the accounts brought down to us, by men who got away, it must have +been an even more horrible business than usual; and the Dervishes are +past masters in the art of massacre. However, I think that their course +is nearly up. Of late, a good many fugitives from Kordofan have arrived +here, and they say that there will be a general revolt there, when they +hear that we have given the Dervishes a heavy thrashing." + +"And where do you think the great fight is likely to take place?" +Gregory asked. + +"Not this side of Metemmeh. Except at Abu Hamed, we hear of no other +strong Dervish force between this and Omdurman. If Mahmud thinks +himself strong enough, no doubt he will fight; but if he and the +Khalifa know their business, he will fall back and, with the forces at +Omdurman, fight one big battle. The two armies together will, from what +we hear, amount to sixty or seventy thousand; and there is no doubt +whatever that, with all their faults, the beggars can fight. It will be +a tough affair, but I believe we shall have some British troops here to +help, before the final advance. We can depend now on both the Soudanese +and the Egyptians to fight hard, but there are not enough of them. The +odds would be too heavy, and the Sirdar is not a man to risk failure. +But with a couple of brigades of British infantry, there can be no +doubt what the result will be; and I fancy that, if we beat them in one +big fight, it will be all up with Mahdism. + +"It is only because the poor beggars of tribesmen regard the Dervishes +as invincible, that they have put up so long with their tyranny. But +the rising of the Jaalin, and the news we get from Kordofan, show that +the moment they hear the Dervishes are beaten, and Khartoum is in our +hands, there will be a general rising, and the Dervishes will be pretty +well exterminated. We all hope that Mahmud won't fight, for if he does, +and we beat him, the Khalifa and his lot may lose heart and retire +before we get to Omdurman; and, once away, the tremendous business of +trying to follow him will confront us. Here we have got the river and +the railway, but we have no land carriage for an army, and he might +keep on falling back to the great lakes, for anything that we could do +to overtake him. So we all hope that Mahmud will retire to Omdurman +without fighting, and with such a host as the Khalifa would then have, +he would be certain to give battle before abandoning his capital." + +"They are fine-looking fellows, these blacks," Gregory said. + +"They are splendid fellows--they love fighting for fighting's sake. It +is, in their opinion, the only worthy occupation for a man, and they +have shown themselves worthy to fight by the side of our men. They have +a perfect confidence in us, and would, I believe, go anywhere we led +them. They say themselves, 'We are never afraid--just like English.'" + +"There seem to be a good many women about the camps." + +"Yes, their women follow them wherever they go. They cook for them, and +generally look after them. They are as warlike as their husbands, and +encourage them, when they go out to battle, with their applause and +curious quavering cries. The men get very little pay; but as they are +provided with rations, and draw a certain amount for the women, it +costs next to nothing, and I fancy that having the wives with them pays +well. I believe they would rather be killed than come back and face +their reproaches. + +"I could not wish to have more cheery or better fellows with me. They +never grumble, they are always merry, and really they seem to be +tireless. They practically give no trouble whatever, and it is good to +see how they brighten up, when there is a chance of a fight." + +"I hope I shall see them at it, before long," Gregory said. "Now I must +be going, for I have to change, and put on my mess uniform before +dinner. I am rather nervous about that, for I am not accustomed to dine +with generals." + +"You will find it all very pleasant," the other said. "Hunter is a +splendid fellow, and is adored by his men. His staff are all +comparatively young men, with none of the stiffness of the British +staff officer about them. We are all young--there is scarcely a man +with the rank of captain in the British Army out here. We are all +majors or colonels in the Egyptian Army, but most of us are subalterns +in our own regiments. It is good training for us. At home a subaltern +is merely a machine to carry out orders; he is told to do this, and he +does it; for him to think for himself would be a heinous offence. He is +altogether without responsibility, and without initiative and, by the +time he becomes a field officer, he is hidebound. He has never thought +for himself, and he can't be expected to begin to do so, after working +for twenty years like a machine. + +"You will see, if we ever have a big war, that will be our weak point. +If it wasn't for wars like this, and our little wars in India, where +men do learn to think and take responsibility, I don't know where our +general officers would get their training. + +"Well, you must be going. Goodbye! We shall often meet. There are so +few of us here, that we are always running against each other. I won't +ask you to dine with us, for a few days. No doubt you would like to get +accustomed to headquarters mess first. Of course, Hunter and the +brigade staff dine together; while we have little regimental messes +among ourselves, which I prefer. When there are only three or four of +us, one can sit down in one's shirt sleeves, whereas at the brigade +mess one must, of course, turn up in uniform, which in this climate is +stifling." + +The meal was a more pleasant one than Gregory had anticipated. On board +the steamer he had, of course, dined with the other officers; and he +found little difference here. Ten sat down, including the principal +medical officer and a captain--the head of the station intelligence +department, Major Wingate, being at present at Wady Halfa. Except for +the roughness of the surroundings, it was like a regimental mess, and +the presence of the General commanding in no way acted as a damper to +the conversation. + +General Hunter had, before sitting down, introduced him to all the +members with a few pleasant words, which had put him at his ease. +Gregory had, on his way up, learned a good deal as to the officers who +were down at Cairo for their health; and he was able to say who were +convalescent, and who had sailed, or were on the point of sailing, for +England. + +The table was formed of two long benches, and had been constructed by +the engineers. It was laid under a large tent, of which the walls had +been removed to give a free passage of air. + +Although scarcely up to the standard of a mess dinner at home, it was +by no means a bad one; consisting of soup, fish from the river, a joint +of beef at one end and of mutton at the other, curried kidneys, sweet +omelettes and cheese, whisky with water or soda to drink at dinner; +and, after the meal, four bottles of claret were placed on the table, +and cigars or pipes lit. Half an hour later four of the party sat down +to whist, and the rest, going outside the tent, sat or threw themselves +down on the sand, and smoked or chatted till it was time to turn in. + +Gregory's first step, next morning, was to buy a horse. This he +purchased from some fugitives, who had come down from Kordofan. It was +a good animal, though in poor condition, and would soon pick up flesh, +when well attended and fed. To accustom himself to riding, Gregory went +out on it for a couple of hours every morning; getting up before +daybreak, so as to take exercise before the work of the day began. He +also followed the example of the officers of the Egyptian regiments, +and purchased a camel for the conveyance of his own baggage. + +"You will find it a great advantage," one of them said to him. "Of +course, times may arrive when you will have to leave it behind; but, as +a rule, there is no trouble about it at all. You hire a native driver, +who costs practically nothing, and he keeps with the baggage. No one +asks any questions, and when you halt for a day or two, you have +comforts. Of course, with a British regiment you are cut down to the +last ounce, but with us it is altogether different. There being only +three or four white officers to each regiment, the few extra camels in +the train make no appreciable difference. Besides, these black fellows +consider it quite natural and proper that their white officers should +fare in a very different way from themselves; whereas a British Tommy +would be inclined to grumble if he saw his officers enjoying luxuries, +while he himself had to rough it." + +As the horse only cost three pounds, and the camel only five, Gregory's +store of money was not seriously affected by the purchases. For both +animals, although in poor condition from their journey from Kordofan, a +fortnight's rest and good feeding did wonders. + +Zaki had not much to do, but Gregory was well satisfied with the +selection he had made. He looked after and groomed the horse, saw that +the native with the camel took care of it, and went down regularly to +the river to water it every evening, while he himself did the same with +the horse. He always had a jug of cold tea ready for Gregory, whenever +he came in, and the floor of the tent was kept scrupulously clean. +Zaki's only regret was that he could not do more for his master, but he +was consoled by being told that the time would soon come when he would +be more actively engaged. + +From the first day of his arrival, Gregory was kept fully employed. +Sometimes he assisted the officer of the Intelligence Department, in +interviewing fugitives who had arrived from Berber and other points on +the river, from Kordofan, or from villages on the White Nile. Sometimes +he carried messages from the General to the officers in command of the +two Egyptian brigades. He had to listen to disputes between natives +returning to their homes, from which they had been driven by the +Dervishes, and those they found in possession of their land. He took +notes of the arguments on both sides, and submitted them to the General +for his decision. + +The work would have been trifling in any other climate, but was +exhausting in the sweltering heat of the day, and he was not sorry when +the sun sank, and he could take off his khaki tunic and go down to the +river for a swim. + +One evening, as they were sitting after dinner, General Hunter said: + +"It is very annoying that, while these natives making their way down +the country are able to tell us a good deal of what is taking place on +the Nile, from Omdurman down to Metemmeh; and while we also get news of +the state of things at Berber and Abu Hamed; we know nothing whatever +of Mahmud's intentions, nor indeed anything of what is doing at +Metemmeh, itself, since it was captured by the Dervishes and, as we +heard, the whole population destroyed. + +"Of course, Mahmud has the choice of three courses. He can stay where +he is, he can march his whole force to Berber, or he can advance +against us here. I don't suppose that he has any idea of the progress +the railway is making from Wady Halfa. He may have heard, and no doubt +he has heard, that we are making a road of some sort across the desert +in the direction of Abu Hamed; but of the capabilities of the railway +he can form no idea, and may well believe that the march of an army, +across what is practically a waterless desert, is a matter of +impossibility. + +"On the other hand, he knows that we are gathering a considerable force +here; and, with his limited knowledge, doubtless supposes that we are +going to cross the Bayuda desert, to Metemmeh, as the Gordon relief +column did; or that, if we are not coming that way, we intend to follow +the river bank up to Berber. Unquestionably his best course, if he +considers, as we may be sure he does, that the force under his command +is strong enough to crush us here, would be to push across the desert, +and fall upon us before reinforcements arrive. But it is reported, and +I believe truly, that the Khalifa, his father, has positively refused +to let him do so; still, sons have disobeyed their fathers before now. + +"There is, it is true, the difficulty of water; but that is not so +serious, in the case of a Dervish force, as it is with us. In the first +place, they can march twice as far as we can. In the second place, they +are accustomed to go a long time without water, and are but little +affected by the heat. Lastly, they have nothing to carry except their +weapons, a few handfuls of dates, and their water gourds. Still, we +know that the forces that have, one after another, arrived here have +been greatly weakened by the journey. However, Mahmud may attempt it, +for he must know, from his spies here, that we have at present no such +land transport as would be required, were we intending to advance +across the desert. He may, therefore, move at least a portion of his +force to Berber; trusting to the fact that, even did we make an advance +south from here, with the intention of cutting off his retreat to +Khartoum, he would be able to reach Metemmeh before we could get there. + +"Undoubtedly, a British general, if commanding a force constituted as +Mahmud's is, would make a dash across the desert and fall upon us; +unless, indeed, he felt certain that, after the difficulties we +encountered last time we attempted to take the desert route, we should +be certain to advance by the river, step by step, continuing the policy +that we have followed since we began to push forward from Assouan. + +"Mahmud is in a very difficult position. He is controlled by his father +at Khartoum. Among those with him are many important Emirs, men of +almost equal rank with himself; and he could hardly hope that whatever +decision he might personally arrive at would be generally accepted by +all; and those who opposed him would do so with all the more force, as +they could declare that, in making any movement, he was acting in +opposition to his father's orders. + +"However, our total ignorance as to Mahmud's plans and intentions is +most unfortunate; but it can hardly be helped, for naturally the +natives coming down from Kordofan give Metemmeh a very wide berth. As +to sending up any of the natives here, to find out what is going on, it +is out of the question, for they would be detected at once, as their +language is so different from that of the Baggara." + +Later on, the General retired to his quarters. Gregory went there. + +"Can I speak to you for a few minutes, sir?" he asked. + +"Certainly, Mr. Hilliard. What can I do for you?" + +"I have been thinking over what you were saying, regarding information +as to Mahmud's intentions. With your permission, I am ready to +undertake to go into his camp, and to find out what the general opinion +is as to his plans." + +"Impossible, Mr. Hilliard! I admire your courage in making the offer, +but it would be going to certain death." + +"I do not think so, sir. I talk Baggara better than the Negro dialect +that passes here. It is among the Baggara that I am likely to learn +something of my father's fate; and, as the old nurse from whom I learnt +these languages had been for a long time among that tribe, she devoted, +at my mother's request, more time to teaching me their Arab dialect +than any other, and I am convinced that I could pass unsuspected among +them, as far as language is concerned. There is no great difference +between Arab features and European, and I think that, when I am stained +brown and have my head partly shaved, according to their fashion, there +will be little fear of my being detected. + +"As to costume, that is easy enough. I have not seen any of the +Dervishes yet, but the natives who have come in from El Obeid, or any +other neighbourhood where they are masters, could give me an account of +their dress, and the way in which they wear the patches on their +clothes, which are the distinguishing mark of the Mahdists." + +"I could tell you that. So could any of the officers. Their dress +differs very little from the ordinary Arab costume. Nearly all wear +loose white trousers, coming down to the ankles. In some cases these +are the usual baggy Eastern articles, in others the legs are separate. +They almost all wear the white garment coming down to the knee, with of +course a sash round the waist, and sleeves reaching down to the elbow +or an inch or two below it. Some wear turbans, but the majority simply +skullcaps. I could get the dress made up in three or four hours. But +the risk is altogether too great, and I do not think that I should be +justified in allowing you to undertake it." + +"I really do not think that there will be any great danger, sir. If +there were no great object to be gained, it would be different; but in +view of the great importance, as you said this evening, of learning +Mahmud's intentions, the risk of one life being lost, even were it +great, is nothing. As you say, the Sirdar's plans might be greatly +affected by the course Mahmud adopts; and in such a case, the life of a +subaltern like myself is a matter scarcely to be considered. + +"From childhood I have been preparing to go among the Dervishes, and +this is what I propose doing, as soon as Khartoum is recaptured. +Therefore sir if, by anticipating my work by a few months, or possibly +a year, I can render a service to the army, I would gladly undertake +it, if you will give me permission to do so." + +The General was, for a minute or two, silent. + +"Well, Hilliard," he said at last, "on thinking it over as you put it, +I do not know that I should be justified in refusing your offer. It is +a very gallant one, and may possibly meet with success." + +"Thank you, sir! I shall be really glad to enter upon the work I have +looked forward to. Although it may have no direct bearing upon the +discovery of my father's fate, it will be a start in that direction. Do +you think that I had better go mounted, or on foot?" + +"I should say certainly on horseback, but there is no occasion for any +hasty determination. Every step should be carefully considered, and we +should, as far as possible, foresee and provide for every emergency +that may arise. Think it over well, yourself. Some time tomorrow I will +discuss it again with you." + +Gregory went straight back to his hut. + +"Come in, Zaki, I want to speak to you. + +"Light the lamp, and shut the door. Now sit down there. Do you know the +country between this and Metemmeh?" + +"Yes, master; I travelled there with my father, six years ago." + +"Is it difficult to find the way?" + +"It is not difficult. There are many signs of the passage of caravans. +There are skeletons of the camels of the English expedition; there are +very many of them. It would not be difficult, even for one who has +never passed them, to find the way." + +"And there are wells?" + +"There are wells at Howeyat and Abu Halfa, at Gakdul and Abu Klea, also +at Gubat." + +"That is to say, water will be found nearly every day?" + +"Quite every day, to one on horseback. The longest distance is from +Gakdul to Abu Klea, but that would not be too long for mounted men, and +could even be done by a native on foot, in a long day's march." + +"Do you know whether Mahmud's army is in Metemmeh, or outside the +town?" + +"From what I have heard, most of the Dervish force is on the hills +behind the town. They say Metemmeh is full of dead, and that even the +Dervishes do not care to live there." + +"The Baggara are mostly mounted, are they not?" + +"Most of them are so, though there are some on foot. The leaders of the +tribesmen who fight for the Khalifa are all on horseback, but most of +the army are on foot." + +"You do not speak the Baggara language, I suppose?" + +Zaki shook his head. + +"I know a little Arabic, but not much." + +"I suppose most of the Arab tribes in the Soudan speak a dialect very +much like the Baggara?" + +"Yes; it is everywhere Arabic, and there is but little difference. They +can all understand each other, and talk together. May your servant ask +why you put these questions?" + +"Yes, Zaki, but you must not mention what I tell you to a soul." + +"Zaki will be as silent as the grave." + +"Well, I am going up dressed as a Mahdist. I can speak the Baggara +tongue well. I am going to try and find out what they are going to do: +whether they will march to Berber, or come here, or remain at +Metemmeh." + +Zaki stared at his master, in speechless amazement. Gregory could not +help smiling at the expression of his face. + +"There does not seem much difficulty in it," he said. "I can speak with +you in the dialect of Dongola, but the Baggara language is much easier +to me, because I have been accustomed to speak Arabic since I was a +child. Of course my skin will be dyed, and I shall wear the Dervish +dress. There is no difficulty in this matter." + +"But they would cut you in pieces, my lord, if they found out that you +were a white." + +"No doubt they would, but there is no reason why they should find that +out. It would be much more dangerous for you to go into their camp than +it would be for me. In the first place, you can scarcely speak any +Arabic; and in the second, they would see by your features that you are +one of the Jaalin. Whereas my features, when stained, would be much +more like those of the Arabs than yours would. + +"Where should I be most likely to meet the Dervishes first?" + +"I do not think any of them are much this side of Metemmeh, at present. +Sometimes parties ride down to Gakdul, and they have even passed on +till they are within sight of this camp; but when they have found out +that the wells are still unoccupied, and the army here quiet, they go +back again." + +"If I go on horseback, Zaki, I shall want someone with me who will act +as a guide; and who will look after his horse and mine at some place +near the river, where he can find a hiding place while I am away in the +Dervish camp." + +"Would you take me, my lord?" Zaki said quickly. + +"I would much rather take you than anyone else, if you are willing to +go, Zaki." + +"Surely I will go with my lord," the native said. "No one has ever been +so good to me as he has. If my lord is killed, I am ready to die with +him. He may count on me to do anything that he requires, even to go +with him into the Dervish camp. I might go as a slave, my lord." + +"That would not do, Zaki. I do not wish to travel as a person who could +ride attended by a slave. People might say, 'Who is this man? Where +does he come from? How is it that no one knows a man who rides with a +slave?' + +"My great object will be to enter the camp quietly, as one who has but +left half an hour before. When I have once entered it, and they ask +whence I came, I must tell them some likely story that I have made up: +as, for example, that I have come from El Obeid, and that I am an +officer of the governor there; that, finding he could not get away +himself, he yielded to my request that I might come, and help to drive +the infidels into the sea." + +Zaki nodded. + +"That would be a good tale, my lord, for men who have escaped from El +Obeid, and have come here, have said that the Khalifa's troops there +have not been called to join him at Omdurman; for it is necessary to +keep a strong force there, as many of the tribes of the province would +rise in rebellion, if they had the chance. Therefore you would not be +likely to meet anyone from El Obeid in Mahmud's camp." + +"How is it, Zaki, that when so many in the Soudan have suffered at the +hands of the Dervishes, they not only remain quiet, but supply the +largest part of the Khalifa's army?" + +"Because, my lord, none of them can trust the others. It is madness for +one tribe to rise, as the Jaalin did at Metemmeh. The Dervishes wiped +them out from the face of the earth. Many follow him because they see +that Allah has always given victory to the Mahdists; therefore the +Mahdi must be his prophet. Others join his army because their villages +have been destroyed, and their fields wasted, and they see no other way +of saving themselves from starvation. + +"There are many who fight because they are fond of fighting. You see +how gladly they take service with you, and fight against their own +countrymen, although you are Christians. Suppose you were to conquer +the Khalifa tomorrow, half his army would enlist in your service, if +you would take them. A man who would be contented to till his fields, +if he could do so in peace and quiet, fears that he may see his produce +eaten by others and his house set on fire; and would rather leave his +home and fight--he cares not against whom. + +"The Mahdist army are badly fed and badly paid. They can scarce keep +life together. But in the Egyptian Army the men are well taken care of. +They have their rations, and their pay. They say that if they are +wounded, or lose a limb, and are no more able to fight, they receive a +pension. Is it wonderful that they should come to you and be faithful?" + +"Well, Zaki, we won't talk any longer, now. It is agreed, then, that if +I go on this expedition, you will accompany me?" + +"Certainly, master. Wherever you go I am ready to go. Whatever happens +to you will, I hope, happen to me." + +On the following afternoon, Gregory was sent for. + +"I have given the matter a good deal of thought, Mr. Hilliard," the +General said, "and have decided to accept your offer. I suppose that +you have been thinking the matter over. Do you decide to go on foot, or +mounted?" + +"On horseback, sir. My boy is perfectly willing to go with me. He knows +the way, and the position of the wells on the road. My plan is that, +when we get near Metemmeh, he shall remain with the horses somewhere +near the river; and I shall enter the camp on foot. I am less likely to +be noticed that way. If questioned, my story will be that my father was +at El Obeid, and that the Governor there is, by the Khalifa's orders, +holding his force in hand to put down any outbreaks there may be in the +province; and that, wishing to fight against the infidel, I have come +on my own account. If I am asked why I had not come on horseback, I +shall say that I had ridden to within the last two or three miles, and +that the horse had then died. + +"But I do not expect to be questioned at all, as one man on foot is as +nothing, in an army of twenty or thirty thousand, gathered from all +over the Soudan." + +"You quite understand, Mr. Hilliard, that you are taking your life in +your hands? And that there is no possibility, whatever, of our doing +anything for you, if you get into trouble?" + +"Quite, sir. If I am detected, I shall probably be killed at once. I do +not think that there is more risk in it than in going into battle. As I +have told you, I have, so far as I know, no relatives in the world; and +there will be no one to grieve, if I never come back again. + +"As to the clothes, I can easily buy them from one of the natives here. +Many of them are dressed in the garments of the Dervishes who were +killed when we came up here; except, of course, that the patches were +taken off. I will get my man to buy a suit for himself, and one for me. +It would be better than having new clothes made; for, even if these +were dirtied, they would not look old. When he has bought the clothes, +he can give them a good washing, and then get a piece of stuff to sew +on as patches. + +"I am afraid, sir, that there will be little chance of my being able to +obtain any absolute news of Mahmud's intentions; but only to glean +general opinion, in the camp. It is not likely that the news of any +intended departure would be kept a secret up till the last moment, +among the Dervishes, as it would be here." + +"Quite so," the General agreed. "We may take it as certain that the +matter would be one of common talk. Of course, Mahmud and his principal +advisers might change their minds, at any moment. Still I think that, +were it intended to make a move against us, or to Berber, it would be +generally known. + +"I may tell you that we do not intend to cross the Bayuda desert. We +shall go up the river, but this is a secret that will be kept till the +last moment. And before we start, we shall do all in our power to +spread a belief that we are going to advance to Metemmeh. We know that +they are well informed, by their spies here, of our movements. We shall +send a strong force to make a reconnaissance, as far as Gakdul. This +will appear to be a preliminary step to our advance, and should keep +Mahmud inactive, till too late. He will not dare advance to Berber, +because he will be afraid of our cutting him off from Omdurman. + +"You are satisfied with your horse? It is advisable that you should +have a good one, and yet not so good as to attract attention." + +"Yes; I could not want a better horse, General. He is not handsome, but +I have ridden him a great deal, and he is certainly fast; and, being +desert bred, I have no doubt has plenty of endurance. I shall, of +course, get one for my boy." + +"There are plenty in the transport yard. They have been bought up from +fugitives who have come in here. I will write you an order to select +any one you choose; and if you see one you think better than your own, +you can take it also; and hand yours over to the transport, to keep +until you return. + +"You should take a Martini-Henri with you. I will give you an order for +one, on one of the native regiments. They are, as you know, armed with +them; and have, of course, a few cases of spare rifles. A good many +have fallen into the hands of the Dervishes, at one time or another, so +that your carrying such a weapon will not excite any remark. It would +not do to take a revolver, but no doubt you will be able to buy pistols +that have been brought down by the fugitives. You will certainly be +able to get them at some of those Greek shops. They buy up all that +kind of thing. Of course, you will carry one of the Dervish long +knives. + +"Is there anything else that you can think of?" + +"Nothing, sir." + +"When will you be ready, do you suppose?" + +"By the day after tomorrow, sir. I shall start after dark, so that no +one will notice my going. With your permission, I will come round +before I set off, so that you can see whether the disguise is good +enough to pass." + + + +Chapter 7: To Metemmeh. + + +Zaki at once set to work to collect the articles needed for the +journey; and Gregory obtained, from the transport, another horse and +two native saddles. He was well satisfied with his own animal; and, +even had he found in the transport yard a better horse, he would still +have preferred his own, as they were accustomed to each other. He +bought pistols for himself and Zaki, and a matchlock for the latter. + +Everything was ready by the time Gregory went to the mess to lunch, on +the day fixed for his departure. Nothing whatever had been said as to +his leaving, as it was possible that some of the native servants, who +waited upon them, might have picked up sufficient English to gather +that something important was about to take place. When, however, the +meal was over and he said carelessly, "I shall not be at mess this +evening;" he saw, by the expression of the officers' faces, that they +all were aware of the reason for his absence. One after another they +either shook hands with him, or gave him a quiet pat on the shoulder, +with the words "Take care of yourself, lad," or "A safe journey and a +speedy return," or some other kind wish. + +Going to his hut, he was shaved by Zaki at the back of the neck, up to +his ears; so that the white, closely-fitting cap would completely cover +the hair. Outside the tent a sauce pan was boiling with herbs and +berries, which the lad had procured from an old woman who was +considered to have a great knowledge of simples. At four in the +afternoon, Gregory was stained from head to foot, two coats of the dye +being applied. This used but a small quantity of the liquor, and the +rest was poured into a gourd, for future use. The dresses were ready, +with the exception of the Mahdi patches, which were to be sewn on at +their first halting place. + +Before it was dark, Gregory went across to the General's quarters. The +black sentry stopped him. + +"The General wants to speak to me," Gregory said, in Arabic. + +The man called up the native sergeant from the guard tent, who asked +what he wanted. + +"I am here by the orders of the General." + +The sergeant looked doubtful, but went in. He returned in a minute, and +motioned to Gregory to follow him in. The General looked at him, from +head to foot. + +"I suppose it is you, Hilliard," he said, "but I certainly should not +have recognized you. With that yellowish-brown skin, you could pass +anywhere as a Soudan Arab. Will the colour last?" + +"I am assured that it will last for some days, but I am taking enough +with me to renew it, four or five times." + +"Well, unless some unexpected obstacle occurs, I think you are safe +from detection. Mind you avoid men from El Obeid; if you do not fall in +with them, you should be safe. Of course, when you have sewn on those +patches, your disguise will be complete. + +"I suppose you have no idea how long you will be away?" + +"It will take me five days to go there, and five days to come back. I +should think that if I am three days in the camp, I ought to get all +the information required. In a fortnight I should be here; though, of +course, I may be longer. If I am not back within a few days of that +time, you will know that it is because I have stayed there, in the +hopes of getting more certain news. If I don't return in three weeks, +it will be because something has gone wrong." + +"I hope it will not be so, lad. As regards appearance and language, I +have no fear of your being detected; but you must always bear in mind +that there are other points. You have had the advantage of seeing the +camps of the native regiments, when the men are out of uniform--how +they walk, laugh uproariously, play tricks with each other, and +generally behave. These are all natives of the Soudan, and no small +proportion of them have been followers of the Mahdi, and have fought +against us, so they may be taken as typical of the men you are going +among. It is in all these little matters that you will have to be +careful. + +"Now, I will not detain you longer. I suppose your horses are on +board?" + +It had been arranged that Gregory should be taken down to Korti, in a +native craft that was carrying some stores required at that camp. + +"Yes, sir. My boy put them on board, two hours ago." + +"Here is the pass by which you can enter or leave the British lines, at +any time. The boat will be there before daylight, but the landing of +the stores will not, of course, take place until later. Show this pass +to the first officer who comes down. It contains an order for you to be +allowed to start on your journey, at once. + +"This other pass is for your return. You had better, at your first +halt, sew it under one of your patches. It is, as you see, written on a +piece of linen, so that however closely you may be examined, there will +be no stiffness or crackling, as would be the case with paper. + +"Now goodbye, Hilliard! It is a satisfaction to me that you have +undertaken this journey on your own initiative, and on your own +request. I believe that you have a fair chance of carrying it +through--more so than men with wider shoulders and bigger limbs would +have. If you come to grief, I shall blame myself for having accepted +your offer; but I shall at least know that I thought it over seriously, +and that, seeing the importance of the object in view, I did not feel +myself justified in refusing." + +With a cordial shake of the hand, he said goodbye to Gregory. The +latter went off to his hut. He did not leave it until dusk, and then +went down to the boat, where Zaki had remained with the horses. + +As soon as it started they lay down alongside some bales, on the deck +of the native craft, and were soon asleep. They did not wake until a +slight bump told them they were alongside the wharf, at Korti. + +Day was just breaking, so no move was made until an hour later. An +officer came down, with the fatigue party, to unload the stores that +she had brought down. When the horses were ashore, Gregory handed the +pass to the officer, who was standing on the bank. He looked at it, +with some surprise. + +"Going to do some scouting," he muttered, and then called to a native +officer, "Pass these two men beyond the outposts. They have an order +from General Hunter." + +"Will you be away long?" he asked Gregory, in Arabic. + +"A week or more, my lord," the latter replied. + +"Ah! I suppose you are going to Gakdul. As far as we have heard, there +are no Dervishes there. Well, you must keep a sharp lookout. They may +be in hiding anywhere about there, and your heads won't be worth much, +if they lay hands on you." + +"We intend to do so, sir;" and then, mounting, they rode on, the native +officer walking beside them. + +"You know the country, I suppose?" he said. "The Dervishes are bad, but +I would rather fall into their hands than lose my way in the desert. +The one is a musket ball or a quick chop with a knife, the other an +agony for two or three days." + +"I have been along the road before," Zaki said. "There is no fear of my +losing my way; and, even if I did so, I could travel by the stars." + +"I wish we were all moving," the native said. "It is dull work staying +here, month after month." + +As soon as they were beyond the lines, they thanked the officer and +went off, at a pace native horses are capable of keeping up for hours. + +"Korti is a much pleasanter camp to stay in than Merawi," Gregory said. +"It really looks a delightful place. It is quite evident that the +Mahdists have never made a raid here." + +The camp stood on a high bank above the river. There were spreading +groves of trees, and the broad avenues, that had been constructed when +the Gordon relief expedition was encamped there, could still be seen. +Beyond it was a stretch of land which had been partly cultivated. Sevas +grass grew plentifully, and acacia and mimosa shrubs in patches. + +They rode to the wells of Hambok, a distance of some five-and-thirty +miles, which they covered in five hours. There they halted, watered +their horses and, after giving them a good feed, turned them out to +munch the shrubs or graze on the grass, as they chose. They then had a +meal from the food they had brought with them, made a shelter of +bushes, for the heat was intense, and afterwards sewed the Mahdi +patches upon their clothes. + +When the sun went down they fetched the horses in, gave them a small +feed, and then fastened them to some bushes near. As there was plenty +of water in the wells, they took an empty gourd down and, stripping, +poured water over their heads and bodies; then, feeling greatly +refreshed, dressed and lay down to sleep. + +The moon rose between twelve and one; and, after giving the horses a +drink, they mounted and rode to Gakdul, which they reached soon after +daybreak. They had stopped a mile away, and Zaki went forward on foot, +hiding himself as much as possible from observation. On his return he +reported that no one was at the wells, and they therefore rode on, +taking every precaution against surprise. + +The character of the scenery had completely changed; and they had, for +some miles, been winding along at the foot of the Jebel-el-Jilif hills. +These were steep and precipitous, with spurs and intermediate valleys. +The wells differed entirely from those at Hambok, which were merely +holes dug in the sand, the water being brought up in one of the skin +bags they had brought with them, and poured into shallow cisterns made +in the surface. At Gakdul the wells were large pools in the rock, at +the foot of one of the spurs of the hill, two miles from the line of +the caravan route. Here the water was beautifully clear, and abundant +enough for the wants of a large force. + +"It is lucky I had you with me, Zaki, for I should certainly have gone +straight on past the wells, without knowing where they were; and as +there are no others this side of Abu Klea, I should have had rather a +bad day." + +The three forts which the Guards had built, when they came on in +advance of General Stewart's column, were still standing; as well as a +number of smaller ones, which had been afterwards added. + +"It is rather a bad place for being caught, Zaki, for the ground is so +broken, and rocky, that the Dervishes might creep up without being +seen." + +"Yes, sir, it is a bad place," Zaki agreed. "I am glad that none of the +Dervishes were here, for we should not have seen them, until we were +quite close." + +Zaki had, on the road, cut a large faggot of dried sticks, and a fire +was soon lighted. + +"You must give the horses a good allowance of grain," Gregory said, +"for they will be able to pick up nothing here, and it is a long ride +to Abu Klea." + +"We shall have to be very careful there, my lord. It is not so very far +from Metemmeh, and we are very likely to find Baggaras at the wells. It +was there they met the English force that went through to Metemmeh. + +"I think it would be better for us to halt early, this evening, and +camp at the foot of Jebel Sergain. The English halted there, before +advancing to Abu Klea. We can take plenty of water in the two skins, to +give the horses a drink and leave enough for tomorrow. There is grass +in abundance there. + +"When the moon rises, we can make our way round to avoid Abu Klea, and +halt in the middle of the day for some hours. We could then ride on as +soon as the sun is low, halt when it becomes too dark to ride, and then +start again when the moon rises. In that way we shall reach the river, +before it is light." + +"I think that would be a very good plan, Zaki. We should find it very +difficult to explain who we were, if we met any Dervishes at Abu Klea. +I will have a look at my sketch map; we have found it very good and +accurate, so far; and with that, and the compass the General gave me +before starting, we ought to have no difficulty in striking the river, +as the direction is only a little to the east of south." + +He opened a tin of preserved meat, of which he had four with him, and +placed it to warm near the fire. + +"We should have had to throw the other tins away, if we had gone on to +Abu Klea," he said. "It would never have done for them to be found upon +us, if we were searched." + +When the meat was hot they ate it, using some biscuits as plates. +Afterwards they feasted on a melon they had brought with them, and were +glad to hear their horses munching the leaves of some shrubs near. + +When the moon rose, they started. It was slow work at first, as they +had some difficulty in passing the rough country lying behind the hill. +Once past it, they came upon a level plain, and rode fast for some +hours. At ten o'clock they halted, and lay down under the shelter of +the shrubs; mounting again at four, and riding for another three hours. + +"How far do you think we are from the river now? By the map, I should +think we cannot be much more than twenty miles from it." + +"I don't know, my lord. I have never been along here before; but it +certainly ought not to be farther than that." + +"We have ridden nine hours. We travelled slowly for the first four or +five, but we have come fast, since then. We must give the horses a good +rest, so we will not move on till the moon rises, which will be about a +quarter to two. It does not give a great deal of light, now, and we +shall have to make our way through the scrub; but, at any rate, we +ought to be close to the river, before morning." + +When the sun was low they again lit a fire, and had another good meal, +giving the greater portion of their stock of biscuits to the horses, +and a good drink of water. + +"We must use up all we can eat before tomorrow, Zaki, and betake +ourselves to a diet of dried dates. There is enough water left to give +the horses a drink before we start, then we shall start as genuine +Dervishes." + +They found that the calculation they had made as to distance was +correct and, before daybreak, arrived on the bank of the Nile, and at +once encamped in a grove. In the morning they could see the houses of +Metemmeh, rising from the line of sandy soil, some five miles away. + +"There seems to be plenty of bush and cover, all along the bank, Zaki. +We will stay here till the evening, and then move three miles farther +down; so that you may be handy, if I have to leave the Dervishes in a +hurry." + +"Could we not go into the camp, my lord?" + +"It would be much better, in some respects, if we could; but, you see, +you do not speak Arabic." + +"No, master; but you could say I was carried off as a slave, when I was +a boy. You see, I do speak a little Arabic, and could understand simple +orders; just as any slave boy would, if he had been eight or ten years +among the Arabs." + +"It would certainly be a great advantage to have you and the horses +handy. However, at first I will go in and join the Dervishes, and see +how they encamp. They are, no doubt, a good deal scattered; and if we +could find a quiet spot, where a few mounted men have taken up their +station, we would join them. But before we did that, it would be +necessary to find out whether they came from Kordofan, or from some of +the villages on the White Nile. It would never do to stumble into a +party from El Obeid." + +They remained quiet all day. The wood extended a hundred and fifty +yards back from the river, and there was little fear that anyone coming +down from Omdurman would enter it, when within sight of Metemmeh. At +dusk they rode on again, until they judged that they were within two +miles of the town; and then, entering a clump of high bushes by the +river, halted for the night. + + + +Chapter 8: Among The Dervishes. + + +In the morning Gregory started alone, as soon as it was light. As he +neared the town, he saw that there were several native craft on the +river; and that boats were passing to and fro between the town and +Shendy, on the opposite bank. From the water side a number of men were +carrying what appeared to be bags of grain towards the hills behind the +town, while others were straggling down towards the river. + +Without being questioned, Gregory entered Metemmeh, but stopped there +for a very few minutes. Everywhere were the bodies of men, women, and +children, of donkeys and other animals. All were now shrivelled and +dried by the sun, but the stench was almost unbearable, and he was glad +to hurry away. + +Once beyond the walls he made for the hill. Many tents could be seen +there, and great numbers of men moving about. He felt sure that, among +so many, no one would notice that he was a newcomer; and after moving +among the throng, he soon sat down among a number of Dervishes who were +eating their morning meal. Taking some dates out of his bag, he munched +them quietly. + +From the talk going on, he soon perceived that there was a considerable +amount of discontent at the long delay. Some of the men were in favour +of moving to Berber, on the ground that they would at least fare better +there; but the majority were eager to march north, to drive the +infidels from Merawi and Dongola. + +"Mahmud would do that, I am sure," one of them said, "if he had but his +will; but how could we march without provisions? It is said that Mahmud +has asked for a sufficient supply to cross the Bayuda, and has promised +to drive the infidels before him to Assouan; but the Khalifa says no, +it would be better to wait till they come in a strong body, and then to +exterminate them. If we are not to fight, why were we sent here? It +would have been better to stay at Omdurman, because there we had plenty +of food; or, if it ran short, could march to the villages and take what +we wanted. Of course the Khalifa knows best, but to us it seems +strange, indeed." + +There was a general chorus of assent. After listening for some time +Gregory rose and, passing over the ridge, came upon the main camp. Here +were a number of emirs and sheiks, with their banners flying before the +entrance of their tents. The whole ground was thickly dotted with +little shelters, formed of bushes, over which dark blankets were thrown +to keep out the rays of the sun. Everywhere women were seated or +standing--some talking to each other, others engaged in cooking. +Children played about; boys came in loaded with faggots, which they had +gone long distances to cut. In some places numbers of horses were +picketed, showing where the Baggara cavalry were stationed. + +In the neighbourhood of the emirs' tents there was some sort of attempt +at order, in the arrangement of the little shelters, showing where the +men of their tribes were encamped. Beyond, straggling out for some +distance, were small encampments, in some of which the men were still +erecting shelters, with the bushes the women and boys brought in. Most +of these were evidently fresh arrivals, who had squatted down as soon +as they came up; either from ignorance as to where their friends had +encamped, or from a preference for a quiet situation. This fringe of +new arrivals extended along the whole semicircle of the camp; and as +several small parties came up while Gregory wandered about, and he saw +that no notice was taken of them by those already established, he +thought that he could bring Zaki, and the horses up without any fear of +close questioning. He therefore walked down again to the spot where he +had left them; and, mounting, they rode to the camp, making a wide +sweep so as to avoid the front facing Metemmeh. + +"We could camp equally well, anywhere here, Zaki, but we may as well go +round to the extreme left; as, if we have to ride off suddenly, we +shall at least start from the nearest point to the line by which we +came." + +There was a small clump of bushes, a hundred yards or so from the +nearest of the little shelters. Here they dismounted, and at once +began, with their knives, to cut down some of the bushes to form a +screen from the sun. They had watered the horses before they left the +river, and had also filled their water skins. + +"I don't think we could find a better place, Zaki," Gregory said, when, +having completed their shelter and thrown their blankets over it, they +lay down in the shade. "No doubt we shall soon be joined by others; but +as we are the first comers on this spot, it will be for us to ask +questions of them, and, after, for them to make enquiries of us. + +"I shall go into the camp as soon as the heat abates, and people begin +to move about again. Remember our story--You were carried off from a +Jaalin village, in a raid. Your master was a small sheik, and is now +with the force at El Obeid. You had been the companion of his son, and +when the latter made up his mind to come and fight here your master +gave you your freedom, so that you might fight by his son's side. You +might say that I have not yet settled under whose banner I shall fight. +All I wish is to be in the front of the battle, when we meet the +infidels. That will be quite sufficient. There are men here from almost +every village in the Soudan, and no one will care much where his +neighbours come from. + +"Mention that we intend to fight as matchlock men, not on horseback, as +the animals are greatly fatigued from their long journey, and will +require rest for some time; and, being so far from home, I fear that we +might lose them if we went into the fight with them; and in that case +might have to journey on foot, for a long time, before we could get +others. + +"I don't at all suppose that it will be necessary for you to say all +this. People will be too much occupied with their own affairs to care +much about others; still, it is well not to hesitate, if questioned." + +Talk and laughter in the great camp ceased now, and it was not until +the sun lost its power that it again began. Gregory did not move, till +it began to get dusk. + +"I shall be away some time," he said, "so don't be at all uneasy about +me. I shall take my black blanket, so that I can cover myself with it +and lie down, as if asleep, close to any of the emirs' tents where I +hear talk going on; and so may be able to gather some idea as to their +views. I have already learned that the tribesmen have not heard of any +immediate move, and are discontented at being kept inactive so long. +The leaders, however, may have their plans, but will not make them +known to the men, until it is time for action." + +The camp was thoroughly alive when he entered it. Men were sitting +about in groups; the women, as before, keeping near their little +shelters, laughing and chatting together, and sometimes quarrelling. +From the manner of the men, who either sat or walked about, it was not +difficult for Gregory to distinguish between the villagers, who had +been dragged away from their homes and forced to enter the service of +the Khalifa, and the Baggara and kindred tribes, who had so long held +the Soudan in subjection. The former were quiet in their demeanour, and +sometimes sullen in their looks. He had no doubt that, when the +fighting came, these would face death at the hands of the infidels as +bravely as their oppressors, for the belief in Mahdism was now +universal. His followers had proved themselves invincible; they had no +doubt that they would destroy the armies of Egypt, but they resented +being dragged away from their quiet homes, their families, and their +fields. + +Among these the Baggara strode haughtily. Splendid men, for the most +part, tall, lithe, and muscular; men with the supreme belief in +themselves, and in their cause, carrying themselves as the Norman +barons might have done among a crowd of Saxons; the conquerors of the +land, the most trusted followers of the successor of the Mahdi, men who +felt themselves invincible. It was true that they had, so far, failed +to overrun Egypt, and had even suffered reverses, but these the Khalifa +had taught them to consider were due to disobedience of his orders, or +the result of their fighting upon unlucky days. All this was soon to be +reversed. The prophecies had told that the infidels were about to be +annihilated, and that then they would sweep down without opposition, +and possess themselves of the plunder of Egypt. + +Gregory passed wholly unnoticed among the crowd. There was nothing to +distinguish him from others, and the thought that an Egyptian spy, +still less one of the infidels, should venture into their camp had +never occurred to one of that multitude. Occasionally, he sat down near +a group of the Baggara, listening to their talk. They were impatient, +too, but they were convinced that all was for the best; and that, when +it was the will of Allah, they would destroy their enemy. Still, there +were expressions of impatience that Mahmud was not allowed to advance. + +"We know," one said, "that it is at Kirkeban that the last great +destruction of the infidel is to take place, and that these madmen are +coming to their fate; still, we might move down and destroy those at +Dongola and along the river, and possess ourselves of their arms and +stores. Why should we come thus far from Omdurman, if we are to go no +farther?" + +"Why ask questions?" another said contemptuously. "Enough that it is +the command of the Khalifa, to whom power and knowledge has been given +by the Mahdi, until he himself returns to earth. To the Khalifa will be +revealed the day and the hour on which we are to smite the infidel. If +Mahmud and the great emirs are all content to wait, why should we be +impatient?" + +Everywhere Gregory went, he heard the same feelings expressed. The men +were impatient to be up and doing, but they must wait the appointed +hour. + +It was late before he ventured to approach the tents of the leaders. He +knew that it was impossible to get near Mahmud himself, for he had his +own bodyguard of picked men. The night, however, was dark and, +enveloping himself from head to foot in his black blanket, he crawled +out until well beyond the line of tents, and then very cautiously made +his way towards them again. He knew that he should see the white +figures of the Dervishes before they could make him out; and he +managed, unnoticed, to crawl up to one of the largest tents, and lie +down against it. He heard the chatter of the women in an adjoining +tent, but there was no sound in that against which he lay. + +For an hour all was quiet. Then he saw two white figures coming from +Mahmud's camp, which lay some fifty yards away. To his delight, they +stopped at the entrance of the tent by which he was concealed, and one +said: + +"I can well understand, Ibrahim Khalim, that your brother Mahmud is +sorely vexed that your father will not let him advance against the +Egyptians, at Merawi. I fully share his feelings; for could I not, with +my cavalry, sweep them before me into the river, even though no footmen +came with me? According to accounts they are but two or three thousand +strong, and I have as many horsemen under my command." + +"That is so, Osman Azrakyet. But methinks my father is right. If we +were to march across the desert, we would lose very many men and great +numbers of animals, and we should arrive weakened and dispirited. If we +remain here, it is the Egyptians who will have to bear the hardships of +the march across the desert. Great numbers of the animals that carry +the baggage and food, without which the poor infidels are unable to +march, would die, and the weakened force would be an easy prey for us." + +"That is true," the other said, "but they may come now, as they came to +Dongola, in their boats." + +"They have the cataracts to ascend, and the rapid currents of the Nile +at its full to struggle against. There is a strong force at Abu Hamed, +and our Governor at Berber will move down there, with all his force, +when he hears that the Egyptians are coming up the cataracts. Should it +be the will of Allah that they should pass them, and reach Berber, we +shall know how to meet them. Mahmud has settled this evening that many +strong forts are to be built on the river bank here, and if the +infidels try to advance farther by water, they will be all sunk. + +"I agree with you and Mahmud, and wish that it had been otherwise, and +that we could hurl ourselves at once upon the Egyptians and prevent +their coming farther--but that would be but a partial success. If we +wait, they will gather all their forces before they come, and we shall +destroy them at one blow. Then we shall seize all their stores and +animals, cross the desert to Dongola, march forward to Assouan, and +there wait till the Khalifa brings his own army; and then who is to +oppose us? We will conquer the land of the infidel. I am as eager for +the day of battle as you are, but it seems to me that it is best to +wait here, until the infidels come; and I feel that it is wise of the +Khalifa thus to order. Now I will to my tent." + +As soon as Ibrahim Khalim had entered his tent, Gregory crawled away, +well satisfied that he had gained exactly the information he had come +to gather. He had gone but a few paces when he saw a white figure +striding along, in front of the tents. He stopped, and threw himself +down. + +Unfortunately, the path taken by the sheik was directly towards him. He +heard the footsteps advancing, in hopes that the man would pass either +in front or behind him. Then he felt a sudden kick, an exclamation, and +a heavy fall. He leapt to his feet, but the Arab sheik was as quick +and, springing up, also seized him, at the same time drawing his knife +and uttering a loud shout. + +Gregory grasped the Arab's wrist, and without hesitation snatched his +own knife from the sash, and drove it deep into his assailant's body. +The latter uttered another loud cry for help, and a score of men rushed +from behind the tents. + +Gregory set off at the top of his speed, dashed over the brow of the +bridge, and then, without entering the camp there, he kept along close +to the crest, running at the top of his speed and wrapping his blanket +as much as possible round him. He heard an outburst of yells behind, +and felt sure that the sheik he had wounded had told those who had +rushed up which way he had fled. With loud shouts they poured over the +crest, and there were joined by others running up from the camp. + +When Gregory paused for a moment, after running for three or four +hundred yards, he could hear no sound of footsteps behind him. Glancing +round, he could not see white dresses in the darkness. Turning sharply +off, he recrossed the crest of the hill and, keeping close to it, +continued his flight until well past the end of the camp. + +The alarm had by this time spread everywhere, and a wild medley of +shouts rose throughout the whole area of the encampment. He turned now, +and made for the spot where he had left Zaki and the horses. In five +minutes he reached it. + +"Is that you, my lord?" Zaki asked, as he came up. + +"Yes, we must fly at once! I was discovered, and had to kill--or at +least badly wound--a sheik, and they are searching for me everywhere." + +"I have saddled the horses, and put the water skins on them." + +"That is well done, Zaki. Let us mount and be off, at once. We will +lead the horses. It is too dark to gallop among these bushes, and the +sound of the hoofs might be heard. We will go quietly, till we are well +away." + +Not another word was spoken, till they had gone half a mile. + +"We will mount now, Zaki. The horses can see better than we. We will go +at a walk. I dare not strike a light to look at the compass, but there +are the stars. I do not see the north star, it must be hidden by the +mist, lower down; but the others give us the direction, quite near +enough to go by. + +"It is most unfortunate that the fellow who rushed against me was a +sheik. I could see that, by the outline of his robe. If it had been a +common man, there would not have been any fuss over it. As it is, they +will search for us high and low. I know he wasn't killed on the spot, +for he shouted after I had left him; and they are likely to guess, from +his account, that I had been down at one of the emirs' tents, and was +probably a spy. + +"I know that I ought to have paused a moment, and given him another +stab, but I could not bring myself to do it. It is one thing to stab a +man who is trying to take one's life, but it is quite another when he +has fallen, and is helpless." + +Zaki had made no reply. He could scarcely understand his master's +repugnance to making matters safe, when another blow would have done +so, but it was not for him to blame. + +They travelled all night and, when the moon rose, were able to get +along somewhat faster; but its light was now feeble and uncertain. As +soon as day broke, they rode fast, and at ten o'clock had left behind +the range of hills, stretching between the wells of Abu Klea and Jebel +Sergain. + +"We ought to be safe now," Gregory said, as they dismounted. "At any +rate, the horses must have a rest. We have done over forty miles." + +"We are safe for the present, my lord. It all depends whether or not +they think you are a spy. If they come to that conclusion, they will +send at once to Abu Klea; and if a strong body is stationed there, they +may have sent a party on to Gakdul, or even to El Howeyat, for they +will feel sure that we shall make for one of the wells." + +"How much water have you got in the bags?" + +Zaki examined them. + +"Enough for ourselves for five or six days; but only enough for two +drinks each, for the horses and for ourselves, for a couple of days." + +"That is bad. If we had had any idea of coming away so soon, we would +have filled the large bags yesterday. I had intended to send down the +horses in the morning, therefore left them only half full, and they +must have leaked a good deal to get so low. See if one leaks more than +the other." + +It was found that one held the water well, but from the other there was +a steady drip. They transferred the water from this to the sound bag. + +"We must drink as little as we can, Zaki, and give the horses only a +mouthful, now and then, and let them munch the shrubs and get a little +moisture from them. Do you think there is any fear of the Dervishes +following our tracks?" + +"No, my lord. In the first place, they do not know that there are two +of us, or that we are mounted. When those who camped near us notice, +when they get up this morning, that we have moved; they will only think +that we have shifted our camp, as there was no talk of horsemen being +concerned in this affair. No, I do not think they will attempt to +follow us, except along the caravan road, but I feel sure they will +pursue us on that line." + +They rested for some hours, in the shade of a high rock, leaving the +horses to pick what herbage they could find. At four o'clock they +started again. They had ridden two hours, when Zaki said: + +"See, my lord, there are two men on the top of Jebel Sergain!" + +Gregory gazed in that direction. + +"Yes, I can notice them now, but I should not have done so, if you had +not seen them." + +"They are on watch, my lord." + +"Well, they can hardly see us, at this distance." + +"You may be sure that they see us," Zaki said; "the eyes of an Arab are +very keen, and could not fail to catch two moving objects--especially +horsemen." + +"If they are looking for us, and have seen us, Zaki, they would not be +standing stationary there." + +"Not if they were alone. But others may have been with them. When they +first caught sight of us, which may have been half an hour ago, the +others may have gone down to Abu Klea, while those two remained to +watch which course we took. The Arabs can signal with their lances, or +with their horses, and from there they would be able to direct any +party in pursuit of us." + +"Well, we must keep on as hard as we can, till dark; after that, we can +take it quietly. You see, the difficulty with us will be water. Now +that they have once made out two horsemen riding north, they must know +that we have some special object in avoiding them; and will, no doubt, +send a party to Gakdul, if not farther." + +They crossed the rough country as quickly as they could, and then again +broke into a canter. An hour later, as they crossed a slight rise, Zaki +looked back. + +"There are some horsemen in pursuit, my lord. They have evidently come +from Abu Klea." + +Gregory looked round. + +"There are about fifteen of them," he said. "However, they are a good +three miles behind, and it will be dark in another half hour. As soon +as it is so, we will turn off to the right or left, and so throw them +off our track. Don't hurry your horse. The animals have made a very +long journey, since we started, and we shall want them badly tomorrow." + +In another half hour the sun went down. Darkness comes on quickly in +the Soudan, and in another quarter of an hour they had lost sight of +their pursuers, who had gained about a mile upon them. + +"Another five minutes, Zaki, to allow for their eyes being better than +ours. Which way do you think we had better turn?" + +"I should say to the left, my lord. There is another caravan route from +Metemmeh to Ambukol. It cannot be more than fifteen miles to the west." + +"Do you know anything about it?" + +"I have never been along there. It is a shorter route than the one to +Korti, but not so much used, I believe, because the wells cannot be +relied upon." + +"Well, I feel sure we shall not be able to get at the wells on the +other line, so we had better take that. As we shall be fairly safe from +pursuit, we may as well bear towards the northwest. By doing so we +shall be longer in striking the track, but the journey will be a good +bit shorter than if we were to ride due west. + +"Now we can safely dismount. It is getting pitch dark, and we will lead +our horses. I can feel that mine is nearly dead beat. In a few minutes +we will halt, and give them half a gourd full of water, each. After +that, we had better go on for another six or seven miles, so as to be +well out of sight of anyone on the hills." + +Ten minutes later they heard the dull sound of horses' hoofs on the +sand. They waited five minutes, until it died away in the distance, and +then continued their course. It was slow work, as they had to avoid +every bush carefully; lest, if their pursuers halted, they should hear +the crackling of a dry stick in the still air. Zaki, who could see much +better in the dark than his master, went on ahead; while Gregory led +the two horses. + +A good hour passed before they stopped. They gave the horses a scanty +drink, and took a mouthful or two each; and then, throwing themselves +down, allowed the horses to crop the scanty herbage. + +After four hours' halt they pursued their way on foot for three hours, +laying their course by the stars. They calculated that they must have +gone a good fifteen miles from the point where they turned off, and +feared that they might miss the caravan track, if they went on before +daybreak. + + + +Chapter 9: Safely Back. + + +As soon as the sun was up they pursued their journey, Gregory's compass +being now available. + +In half an hour, Zaki said, "There is a sign of the track, my lord," +and he pointed to the skeleton of a camel. + +"How many more miles do you think we have to go, Zaki?" + +"We must be a good half way, my lord." + +"Yes, quite that, I should think. Looking at the map, I should say that +we must be about abreast of the line of Gakdul. This route is only just +indicated, and there are no halting places marked upon it. Still, there +must be water, otherwise caravans could not use it. We have about sixty +miles farther to go, so that if the horses were fresh we might be there +this evening; but as it is, we have still two, if not three days' +journey before us. + +"Well, we must hope that we shall find some water. Just let the horses +wet their mouths; we can keep on for a bit, before we have a drink. + +"How much more is there left?" he asked, after the lad had given a +little water to each horse. + +"Not above two gourdfuls." + +"Well, we must ride as far as we can and, at any rate, must keep one +gourdful for tomorrow. If we cover twenty-five miles today--and I don't +think the horses can do more--we can manage, if they are entirely done +up, to walk the other thirty-five miles. However, as I said, there must +be wells, and even if they are dry, we may be able to scratch the sand +out and find a little water. What food have we got?" + +"Only about two pounds of dates." + +"That is a poor supply for two days, Zaki, but we must make the best of +them. We will only eat a few today, so as to have a fair meal in the +morning. We shall want it, if we have to walk thirty-five miles over +the sand." + +"It will not be all sand," Zaki said; "there is grass for the last +fifteen miles, near the river; and there were cultivated fields about +ten miles out, before the Dervishes came." + +"That is better. Now we will be moving." + +The herbage the horses had cropped during the halt had served, to a +certain degree, to supply the place of water; and they proceeded at a +brisker pace than Gregory had expected. + +"Keep a sharp lookout for water. Even if the wells are dry, you will +see a difference in the growth of the bushes round them; and as it is +certain that this route has not been used for some time, there may even +be grass." + +They rode on at an easy canter, and avoided pressing the horses in the +slightest degree, allowing them to walk whenever they chose. The heat +was very great, and after four hours' riding Gregory called a halt. + +"We must have done twenty miles," he said. "The bushes look green about +here, and the horses have got something of a feed." + +"I think this must be one of the old halting places," Zaki said, +looking round as they dismounted. "See, my lord, there are some broken +gourds, and some rags scattered about." + +"So there are," Gregory said. "We will take the bridles out of the +horses' mouths, so that they can chew the leaves up better; and then we +will see if we can find where the wells were." + +Twenty yards farther away they found a deep hole. + +"This was one of them," the lad said, "but it is quite dry. See, there +is an old bucket lying at the bottom. I will look about; there may be +some more of them." + +Two others were discovered, and the sand at the bottom of one of them +looked a somewhat darker colour than the others. + +"Well, we will dig here," Gregory said. "Bring down those two half +gourds; they will help us to shovel the sand aside." + +The bottom of the hole was some six feet across, and they set to work +in the middle of it. By the time they had got down two feet, the sand +was soft and clammy. + +"We will get to water, Zaki, if we have to stay here all day!" said +Gregory. + +It was hard work, and it was not until after four hours' toil that, to +their delight, they found the sand wet under their feet. They had taken +it by turns to use the scoop, for the labour of making the hole large +enough for them both to work at once would have been excessive. + +In another hour there was half an inch of water in the hole. Gregory +took a gourd, and buried it in the soft soil until the water flowed in +over the brim. + +"Give me the other one down, Zaki. I will fill that, too, and then we +will both start drinking together." + +Five minutes later, the two took a long draught. The scoops were then +refilled and carried to the horses, who drank with an eagerness that +showed how great was their thirst. Three times the gourds were filled, +and emptied. + +"Now hand me down that water bag." + +This was half filled, and then, exhausted with their work, they threw +themselves down and slept for some hours. When they awoke, the sun was +setting. + +"Bring up the horses, Zaki. Let them drink as much as they like." + +The gourds had each to be filled six times, before the animals were +satisfied. The riders then took another deep drink, ate a handful of +dates, and mounted. + +"We are safe now, and only have to fear a band of marauding Arabs; and +it would be hard luck, were we to fall in with them. We had better ride +slowly for the first hour or so. We must not press the horses, after +they have had such a drink." + +"Very well, master." + +"There is no particular reason for hurry, and even if we miss the trail +we know that, by keeping straight on, we shall strike the river +somewhere near Korti or Ambukol." + +For an hour they went at a walk, and then the horses broke into their +usual pace, of their own accord. It was getting dark, now, and soon +even Zaki could not make out the track. + +"The horses will keep to it, my lord," he said; "their sight is a great +deal better than ours, and I dare say their smell may have something to +do with it. Besides, the track is clear of bushes, so we should know at +once, if they strayed from it." + +They rode for five hours, and then felt that the horses were beginning +to fag. + +"We will halt here," Gregory said. "We certainly cannot be more than +five-and-twenty miles from the river; and, if we start at dawn, shall +be there before the heat of the day begins. We can have another handful +of dates, and give the horses a handful each, and that will leave us a +few for the morning." + +The horses, after being given the dates, were again turned loose; and +it was not long before they were heard pulling the leaves off bushes. + +"Our case is a good deal better this evening than it was yesterday," +Gregory said. "Then it looked as if it would be rather a close thing, +for I am sure the horses could not have gone much farther, if we had +not found the water. I wish we had a good feed to give them." + +"They will do very well on the bushes, my lord. They get little else, +when they are with the Arabs; a handful of durra, occasionally, when +they are at work; but at other times they only get what they can pick +up. If their master is a good one, they may get a few dates. They will +carry us briskly enough to the river, tomorrow." + +They did not talk long, and were soon sound asleep. Zaki was the first +to wake. + +"Day is just breaking, master." + +"You don't say so!" Gregory grumbled, sleepily. "It seems to me that we +have only just lain down." + +They ate the remainder of their dates, took a drink of water, and gave +two gourdfuls to the horses; and, in a quarter of an hour, were on +their way again. They had ridden but two or three miles, when Zaki +exclaimed: + +"There are some horsemen!" + +"Eight of them, Zaki, and they are evidently riding to cut us off! As +far as I can see, only four of them have guns; the others have spears. + +"I think we can manage them. With my breech-loader I can fire two shots +to their one, and we have pistols, as well." + +The Arabs drew up ahead of them, and remained quiet there until the +others came to within fifty yards, and checked their horses. A man who +appeared to be the leader of the party shouted the usual salutation, to +which Gregory replied. + +The leader said, "Where are my friends going and why do they halt?" + +"We are on a mission. We wish to see if the infidels are still at +Ambukol." + +"For that you will not want guns," the man said, "and we need them +badly. I beg of you to give them to us." + +"They may be of use to us. We may come upon infidel scouts." + +"Nevertheless, my friends, you must hand them over to us. We are, as +you see, eight, and you are only two. The law of the desert is that the +stronger take, and the weaker lose." + +"It may be so, sometimes," Gregory said quietly, "but not in this case. +I advise you to ride your way, and we will ride ours." + +Then he said to Zaki, "Dismount and stand behind your horse, and fire +over the saddle; but don't fire the first shot now." + +He threw himself from his saddle. Scarcely had he done so when four +shots were fired, and Gregory took a steady aim at the chief. The +latter threw up his arms, and fell. With a yell of fury, the others +dashed forward. Zaki did not fire until they were within twenty yards, +and directly afterwards Gregory fired again. There were now but five +assailants. + +"Now for your pistols, Zaki!" he cried, glancing round for the first +time. + +He then saw why Zaki had not fired when he first did so--his horse was +lying dead in front of him, shot through the head. + +"Stand by me! Don't throw away a shot! You take the man on the other +side of the horse. I will take the others." + +Steadily the four pistols were fired. As the Arabs rode up, two of them +fell, and another was wounded. Dismayed at the loss of so many of their +number, the three survivors rode off at full speed. + +"Are you hurt, Zaki?" + +"A spear grazed my cheek, my lord; that is all. It was my own fault. I +kept my last barrel too long. However, it tumbled him over. + +"Are you hurt, master?" + +"I have got a ball in the shoulder. That fellow without a spear has got +pistols, and fired just as I did; or rather, an instant before. That +shook my aim, but he has a ball in him, somewhere. + +"Just see if they have got some dates on their saddles," for the horses +of the fallen men had remained by the side of their masters' bodies. + +"Yes, my lord," Zaki said, examining them. "Two bags, nearly full." + +"That is satisfactory. Pick out the best horse for yourself, and then +we will ride on. But before we go, we will break the stocks of these +four guns, and carry the barrels off, and throw them into the bushes, a +mile or two away." + +As soon as this was done, they mounted and rode on. They halted in a +quarter of an hour and, after Gregory's arm had been bound tightly to +his side with his sash, both they and their horses had a good meal of +dates. Then they rode on again, and in three hours saw some white tents +ahead. + +There was a slight stir as they were seen coming, and a dozen black +soldiers sprang up and ran forward, fixing bayonets as they did so. + +"We are friends!" Gregory shouted, in Arabic; and Zaki repeated the +shout in his own language. + +The soldiers looked doubtful, and stood together in a group. They knew +that the Dervishes were sometimes ready to throw away their own lives, +if they could but kill some of their enemy. + +One of them shouted back, "Stay where you are until I call an officer!" + +He went back to the tents, and returned with a white officer, whom +Gregory at once recognized as one of those who had come up with him +from Wady Halfa. + +"Leslie," he shouted in English, "will you kindly call off your +soldiers? One of their muskets might go off, accidentally. I suppose +you don't remember me. I am Hilliard, who came up with you in the +steamer." + +The officer had stopped in astonishment, at hearing this seeming +Dervish address him, by name, in English. He then advanced, giving an +order to his men to fall back. + +"Is it really you, Hilliard?" he said, as he approached the horsemen, +who were coming forward at a walk. "Which of you is it? For I don't see +any resemblance, in either of you." + +"It is I, Leslie. I am not surprised that you don't know me." + +"But what are you masquerading for, in this dress; and where have you +come from?" + +"Perhaps I had better not say, Leslie. I have been doing some scouting +across the desert, with my boy here. We have had a long ride. In the +first place, my arm wants attending to. I have a bullet in the +shoulder. The next thing we need is something to eat; for the last +three days we have had nothing but dates, and not too many of them. + +"Is there any chance of getting taken up to Merawi? We came down from +there to Korti, in a native vessel." + +"Yes; a gunboat with some native craft will be going up this afternoon. +I will give orders, at once, that your horses shall be put on board." + +When the ball had been extracted from his shoulder, and the wound +dressed and bandaged by the surgeon in charge, Gregory went up to the +tents again, where he was warmly received by the three white officers +of the Negro regiment. Breakfast already had been prepared, Zaki being +handed over to the native officers. After having made a hearty meal, +Gregory related the adventure with the Arabs in the desert, merely +saying that they had found there were no Dervishes at Gakdul. + +"But why didn't you go straight back, instead of coming down here?" + +"I wanted to see whether this line was open, and whether there were any +wells on it. We only found one, and it took us four or five hours' hard +work to get at the water. It is lucky, indeed, that we did so; for our +horses were getting very done up, and I had begun to think that they +would not reach our destination alive." + +In the afternoon, the adventurers started with the boats going up to +Merawi and, the next morning, arrived at the camp. The Dervish patches +had been removed from their clothes, as soon as they arrived at +Ambukol. Gregory could have borrowed a white suit there; but as the +stain on his skin, although somewhat lighter than when first put on, +was too dark, he declined the offer. + +"No one may notice me as I land, now," he said, "but everyone would +stare at a man with a brown face and white uniform." + +Leaving Zaki to get the horses on shore, Gregory went straight to the +General's quarters. He told the sentry that he wished to see the +General, on business. + +"You cannot go in," the man said. "The General is engaged." + +"If you send in word to him that his messenger has returned, I am sure +he will see me." + +"You can sit down here, then," the sentry said. "When the officer with +him comes out, I will give your message to his orderly." + +Gregory, however, was in no humour to be stopped; and in an +authoritative voice called, "Orderly!" + +A soldier came down directly from the guard room. + +"Tell the General, at once, that Mr. Hilliard has returned." + +With a look of wonder, the orderly went into the tent. Half a minute +later, he returned. + +"You are to come in," he said. + +As the General had seen Gregory in his disguise, before starting, he of +course recognized him. + +"My dear Hilliard," he said, getting up and shaking him cordially by +the hand, "I am heartily glad to see you back. You have been frequently +in my thoughts; and though I had every confidence in your sharpness, I +have regretted, more than once, that I allowed you to go. + +"I suppose you failed to get there. It is hardly possible that you +should have done so, in the time. I suppose, when you got to Gakdul, +you learned that the Dervishes were at Abu Klea." + +"They were at Abu Klea, General; but I made a detour, and got into +their camp at Metemmeh." + +"You did, and have returned safely! I congratulate you, most warmly. + +"I told you, Macdonald," he said, turning to the officer with whom he +had been engaged, "that I had the greatest hope that Mr. Hilliard would +get through. He felt so confident in himself that I could scarce help +feeling confidence in him, too." + +"He has done well, indeed!" Colonel Macdonald said. "I should not have +liked to send any of my officers on such an adventure, though they have +been here for years." + +"Well, will you sit down, Mr. Hilliard," the General said, "and give us +a full account? In the first place, what you have learned? And in the +second, how you have learned it?" + +Gregory related the conversations he had heard among the soldiers; and +then that of Mahmud's brother and the commander of the Dervish cavalry. +Then he described the events of his journey there, his narrow escape +from capture, and the pursuit by the Dervishes at Abu Klea; how he gave +them the slip, struck the Ambukol caravan road, had a fight with a band +of robber Arabs, and finally reached the Egyptian camp. + +"An excellently managed business!" the General said, warmly. "You have +certainly had some narrow escapes, and seem to have adopted the only +course by which you could have got off safely. The information you have +brought is of the highest importance. I shall telegraph, at once, to +the Sirdar that there will assuredly be no advance on the part of +Mahmud from Metemmeh; which will leave him free to carry out the plans +he has formed. I shall of course, in my written despatch, give him full +particulars of the manner in which I have obtained that information." + +"It was a very fine action," Macdonald agreed. "The lad has shown that +he has a good head, as well as great courage. + +"You will make your way, Mr. Hilliard--that is, if you don't try this +sort of thing again. A man may get through it once, but it would be +just tempting providence to try it a second time." + +"Now, Mr. Hilliard," the General said, "you had best go to your +quarters. I will ask the surgeon to attend to you, at once. You must +keep quiet, and do no more duty until you are discharged from the sick +list." + +Ten days later, orders were issued that the brigade under Macdonald; +consisting of the 3rd Egyptians, and the 9th, 10th, and 11th Soudanese, +together with a mule battery; were to move forward the next day to +Kassinger, the advanced post some ten miles higher up the river. This +seemed only a preliminary step, and the general opinion was that +another fortnight would elapse before there would be a general +movement. + +A reconnaissance with friendly Arabs had, however, been made ahead +towards Abu Hamed, and had obtained certain information that the +garrison at that place was by no means a strong one. The information +Gregory had gathered had shown that Mahmud had no intention of +advancing against Merawi; and that no reinforcements had, as yet, +started to join the force at Abu Hamed; the Dervish leader being +convinced that the Nile was not yet high enough to admit of boats going +up the cataract. + +Thus, everything favoured the Sirdar's plan to capture Abu Hamed, and +enable the railway to be constructed to that place before Mahmud could +receive the news that the troops were in motion. He therefore directed +General Hunter to push forward, with only one brigade, leaving the rest +to hold Merawi; and ordered the camel corps, and the friendly Arabs, to +advance across the desert as far as the Gakdul wells, where their +appearance would lead Mahmud to believe that they were the advance +guard of the coming army. + +Two days later Gregory, on going to the headquarters tent, was told +that General Hunter and his staff would start, in an hour's time, to +inspect the camp at Kassinger. + +"Do you think you are fit to ride?" the chief of the staff asked him. + +"Perfectly, sir. The doctor discharged me yesterday as fit for duty, +but advised me to keep my arm in a sling, for a time." + +"In that case, you may accompany us. + +"It is a little uncertain when we shall return," the officer said, with +a smile; "therefore I advise you to take all your belongings with you. +Have them packed up quietly. We do not wish any suspicions to arise +that we are not returning this evening." + +"Thank you, sir!" Gregory said, gratefully. "I shall be ready to start +in an hour." + +He returned in high glee to his hut, for he felt certain that an +immediate advance was about to take place. + +"Zaki," he said, "I am going to ride with the General; and, as it is +possible I may be stationed at Kassinger for a short time, you had +better get the camel brought up, and start as soon as you have packed +the things on it. I am going to ride over with the staff, in an hour, +and shall overtake you by the way. How long will you be?" + +"Half an hour, bey." + +"I will be there by that time, and will take my horse; then you can go +on with the camel." + +Behind the headquarter camp the work of packing up was also going on; +the camels being sent off in threes and fours, as they were laden, so +as to attract no attention. Half an hour later the General came out, +and without delay started with the staff, Captain Fitton remaining +behind to see that the rest of the stores were sent off, and a small +tent for the use of the General. All heavy packages were to be taken up +by water. + +The arrival of the General at Kassinger excited no surprise, as he had +ridden over the day before; but when, in the afternoon, orders were +issued that the camels should all be laden, in preparation for a march +that evening; the Soudanese could with difficulty be restrained from +giving vent to their exuberant joy that, at length, their long halt was +at an end, and they were to have another chance of getting at the +enemy. + +A large train of camels had been quietly collected at Kassinger, +sufficient to carry the necessary supplies for the use of the column, +for some three weeks' time; and it was hoped that, before long, the +gunboats and many of the native craft, with stores, would join them at +Abu Hamed. + +The force started at sunset. The distance to be travelled was a hundred +and eighteen miles, and the road was a very difficult one. The ground +rose steeply, almost from the edge of the river; and at times had to be +traversed in single file. + +As night came on, the scene was a weird one. On one side the rocky +ascent rose, black and threatening. On the other, the river rushed +foaming, only broken by the rocks and little islands of the cataract. + +Gregory had been ordered to remain with the camel train; to keep them, +as much as possible, together, and prevent wide gaps from occurring in +the ranks. It was tedious work; and the end of the train did not +arrive, until broad daylight, at the spot where the infantry halted. He +at once told Zaki to pitch his little tent, which he had already shown +him how to do, while he went to see if there were any orders at +headquarters. + +He found the staff were just sitting down to a rough breakfast. Being +told, after the meal, that he would not be wanted during the day; but +that at night he was to continue his work with the camels; he went back +to his tent, and threw himself on his bed. But, in spite of the fly +being fastened up, and a blanket thrown over the tent, the heat was so +great that he was only able to doze off occasionally. + +He observed that even the black troops suffered from the heat. They had +erected screens, with their blankets placed end to end, supported by +their guns; and lay there, getting what air there was, and sheltered +from the direct rays of the sun. Few slept. Most of them talked, or +smoked. + +There was some argument, among the officers, as to the relative +advantages of night and day marches. All agreed that, if only one march +had to be done, it was better to do it at night; but when, as in the +present case, it would last for seven or eight days, many thought that, +terrible as would be the heat, it would be better to march in the day, +and permit the troops to sleep at night. This opinion certainly seemed +to be justified; for, at the end of the third day, the men were so +completely worn out from want of sleep that they stumbled as they +marched; and were with difficulty restrained from throwing themselves +down, to get the much-needed rest. + +Gregory always went down, as soon as the column arrived at its halting +place, as he did before starting in the evening, to bathe in some quiet +pool or backwater; and, much as he had set himself against taking +spirits, he found that he was unable to eat his meals, unless he took a +spoonful or two with his water, or cold tea. + +On the evening of the third day, they passed the battlefield of +Kirkeban, where General Earle fell when the River Expedition was +attacked by the Dervishes. Next day they halted at Hebbeh, where +Colonel Stewart, on his way down with a number of refugees from +Khartoum, was treacherously murdered. A portion of the steamer was +still visible in the river. + +Day after day the column plodded on, for the most part strung out in +single file, the line extending over many miles; and, late on the +evening of the 6th of August, they reached a spot within a mile and a +half of Abu Hamed, the hundred and eighteen miles having been +accomplished in seven days and a half. + +So far as they knew, the enemy had, as yet, received no news of their +approach. Three hours' rest was given the troops, and then they marched +out, in order of battle. + +A fair idea of the position had been obtained from the friendly +natives. Abu Hamed lay on the river. The desert sloped gradually down +to it, on all sides; with a sharp, deep descent within two hundred +yards of the town. The houses were all loopholed, for defence. + +When within a mile of the town, they must have been sighted by the +Dervish sentries on a lofty watchtower. No movement, however, was +visible, and there was a general feeling of disappointment, as the +impression gained ground that the enemy had retreated. The 9th and 10th +Soudanese made a sweep round, to attack from the desert side. The 11th, +and half of the Egyptian battalion--the other half having been left to +guard the baggage--followed the course of the river. + +Major Kincaid rode forward, to the edge of the steep slope that looked +down to the town. He could see no one moving about. The Dervish +trenches, about eighty yards away, appeared empty; and he was about to +write a message to the General, saying that the place was deserted, +when a sharp fire suddenly opened upon him. He turned to ride back to +warn the General, but he was too late; for, at the same moment, Hunter +with his staff galloped up to the edge of the slope, and was +immediately saluted by a heavy volley; which, however, was fired so +wildly that none of the party was hit. + +The artillery were now ordered to bombard the place. At first, they +could only fire at the tops of the houses; but, changing their +position, they found a spot where they could command the town. For half +an hour this continued. The infantry were drawn up just beyond the +brow, where they could not be seen by the defenders. The Dervishes gave +no signs of life, and as the artillery could not depress their guns +sufficiently to enable them to rake the trenches, the infantry were +ordered to charge. + +As soon as they reached the edge of the dip, a storm of musketry broke +out from the Dervish trenches, but, fortunately, the greater portion of +the bullets flew overhead. Macdonald had intended to carry the place at +the point of the bayonet, without firing; but the troops, suddenly +exposed to such a storm of musketry, halted and opened fire without +orders; the result being that they suffered a great deal more than they +would have done, had they crossed the eighty yards, which divided them +from the trench, by a rush. Standing, as they did, against the skyline, +the Dervishes were able to pick them off; they themselves showing only +their heads above the trenches. Two of the mounted officers of the 10th +were killed, and two had their horses shot under them. + +Macdonald and his officers rushed along in front of the line, knocking +up the men's muskets; and abusing them, in the strongest terms, for +their disobedience to orders. The moment the fire ceased, the troops +rushed forward; and the Dervishes at once abandoned their trenches, and +ran back to the line of houses. These were crowded together, divided by +narrow winding lanes, and here a desperate struggle took place. + +The Dervishes defended themselves with the greatest tenacity, sometimes +rushing out and hurling themselves upon their assailants, and defending +the houses to the last, making a stand when the doors were burst open, +until the last of the inmates were either shot or bayoneted. So +determined was the defense of some of the larger houses, that it was +necessary to bring up the guns and batter an entrance. Many of the +houses were found, when the troops burst in, to be tenanted only by +dead; for the Soudanese always heralded their attack by firing several +volleys, and the bullets made their way through and through the mud +walls, as if they had been paper. + +About seventy or eighty horsemen and a hundred Dervish infantry +escaped, but the rest were either killed or made prisoners, together +with Mahomed Zein, the governor. A quantity of arms, camels, and horses +were also captured. The loss on our side was two British officers +killed, and twenty-one of the black troops; and three Egyptian +officers, and sixty-one men wounded. + +When the convoy halted, previous to the troops marching to the attack, +Gregory, whose duties with the baggage had now ended, joined the +General's staff and rode forward with them. Hunter had glanced round, +as he rode up, and answered with a nod when he saluted, and asked if he +could come. + +He felt rather scared on the Dervishes opening fire so suddenly, when +the General's impatience had led him to ride forward, without waiting +for Major Kincaid's report. After the troops rushed into the town, the +General maintained his position at the edge of the dip, for the narrow +streets were so crowded with men that a group of horsemen could hardly +have forced their way in, and it would be impossible to see what was +going on, and to issue orders. + +Mahomed Zein had not followed the example of some of his followers, and +died fighting to the last. He was found hiding under a bed, and was +brought before General Hunter; who asked him why he fought, when he +must have known that it was useless; to which he replied: + +"I knew that you had only three times as many as I had, and every one +of my men is worth four of yours. You could not fire till you were +quite close up, and at that range our rifles are as good as yours." + +The General asked what he thought Mahmud would do, to which he replied: + +"He will be down here in five days, and wipe you out!" + +It was necessary to halt at Abu Hamed, until stores came up. Captain +Keppel, Royal Navy, and the officers commanding the gunboats were +toiling at the cataracts to bring them up. Nevertheless one of these +was capsized, and only three got through safely. Major Pink, with a +large number of troops from Merawi, succeeded in hauling the sailing +boats through. + +A large column of laden camels was, at the same time, being pushed +forward by the caravan route from Korosko. It was a time of much +anxiety, till stores began to arrive; for, had Mahmud advanced at once, +the passage up the river would have been arrested, and the land column +cut off; in which case the little force would have been reduced to sore +straits, as they must have stood on the defensive until reinforcements +reached them. + +There was, too, some anxiety as to the safety of the forces at Ambukol +and Korti; for Mahmud, on learning that the garrisons had been weakened +by the despatch of troops to Abu Hamed, might have crossed the desert +with all his force and fallen upon them. Mahmud had indeed, as it +turned out, believed that the expedition to Abu Hamed was only +undertaken to cover the flank of the Egyptian army from attack, from +that quarter; and still believed that it was from Merawi that the main +British force would advance against him. + +Before the supplies had all arrived, the position changed; as news came +that Berber was being evacuated by the Dervishes. The information was +telegraphed to the Sirdar, who at once ordered that a force of the +friendly Arabs, escorted by a gunboat, should go up to Berber to find +if the news was true. One gunboat had already arrived, and General +Hunter decided on going up in her himself. Two hundred of the Arabs, +under Ahmed Bey, were to ride along the bank. They were to be mounted +on the fastest camels that could be picked out; so that, if they +encountered the Dervishes, they would have a fair chance of escaping, +and getting under cover of the gunboat's fire. + +"Mr. Hilliard," the General said, "I shall be obliged if you will +accompany Ahmed Bey. The Arabs are always more steady, if they have an +English officer with them. They will be ready to start in an hour. A +signaller from the 11th Soudanese shall go with you; and you can +notify, to us, the approach of any strong party of the enemy, and their +direction; so that the gunboat can send a shell or two among them, as a +hint that they had better keep out of range." + +As his baggage camel was by no means a fast one, Gregory at first +decided to leave it behind in charge of Zaki; but on going across to +the Arab camp, Ahmed Bey at once offered to place a fast one at his +disposal. He accordingly sent his own animal into the transport yard, +committed the heavy wooden case, with the greater portion of his +remaining stores, to the charge of the sergeant of the mess, retaining +only three or four tins of preserved milk, some tea, four or five tins +of meat, a bottle of brandy, and a few other necessaries. To these were +added half a sheep and a few pounds of rice. These, with his tent and +other belongings, were packed on the Arab camel; and Zaki rode beside +it with great satisfaction, for he had been greatly cast down when his +master first told him that he would have to remain behind. All the +preparations were made in great haste, but they were completed just as +Ahmed Bey moved out of his camp, with his two hundred picked men and +camels. + +Five minutes later, a whistle from the steamer told them that General +Hunter, and the party with him, were also on the point of starting. The +distance to be traversed to Berber was a hundred and thirty miles, and +the expedition was undoubtedly a hazardous one. Even if the news was +true, that the five thousand Dervishes who had been holding Berber had +evacuated the town, it was quite possible that a part of the force had +been sent down the river, to oppose any advance that might be made; or, +if unable to do this, to carry the news of the advance to Mahmud. The +Arabs were to keep abreast of the gunboat; and would, where the shores +were flat, be covered by its guns. But at spots where the ground was +high and precipitous, this assistance could scarcely avail them in case +of an attack, unless the hundred soldiers on board the steamer could be +landed. + +As they rode along, Ahmed Bey explained to Gregory the plan that he +should adopt, if they were attacked in such a position, and found their +retreat cut off. + +"The camels will all be made to lie down, and we shall fight behind +them, as in an entrenchment. My men are all armed with rifles the +government has given them, and we could beat off an attack by a great +number; while, if we were on our camels and pursued, we should soon +lose all order, and our shooting would be bad." + +"I think that would be by far the best plan, sheik. Your two hundred +men, and the hundred the gunboat could land, ought to be able to make a +tough fight of it, against any number of the enemy. + +"How long do you think we shall be, on the way?" + +"About four days. The camels can easily travel thirty-five miles a day. +We have six days' provisions with us, in case the gunboat cannot make +its way up. Fortunately we have not to carry water, so that each camel +only takes twenty pounds of food, for its rider; and forty pounds of +grain, for itself. If we were pursued, we could throw that away, as we +should only have to ride to some point where the gunboat could protect +us. We could not hope to escape by speed, for the Dervishes could ride +and run quite as fast as the camels could go." + + + +Chapter 10: Afloat. + + +The first three days' journey passed without any adventure. From the +natives who still remained in the little villages they passed, they +learned that the report that the Dervishes had left Berber was +generally believed; but whether they had marched for Metemmeh, or for +some other point, was unknown. The people were delighted to see the +gunboat; as, until its arrival, they had been in hourly fear of raiding +parties. They had heard of the capture of Abu Hamed, by the British, +from horsemen who had escaped; but all these had said, confidently, +that Mahmud would speedily drive them out again; and they had been in +hourly fear that the Dervishes would swoop down upon them, and carry +off the few possessions still remaining to them. + +When within thirty miles of Berber the Arabs had halted on the bank, +watching the gunboat as, with great difficulty, it made its way up a +cataract. Suddenly it was seen to stop, and a great bustle was observed +on board. An exclamation of grief burst from the Arabs. + +"She has struck on a rock!" Ahmed Bey exclaimed. + +"I am afraid she has," said Gregory; who had, all along, ridden by his +side at the head of the party. "I am afraid so. I hope she is not +injured." + +Unfortunately, the damage was serious. A hole had been knocked through +her side, under water, and the water poured in, in volumes. A rush was +made by those on board; and beds, pillows, and blankets were stuffed +into the hole. This succeeded, to some extent, and she was brought +alongside the bank. + +The sheik and Gregory went down to meet her. General Hunter came to the +side. + +"A large hole has been knocked in her," he said, to the sheik. "We +shall have to get the guns and stores on shore, to lighten her; and +then heel her over, to get at the hole. It will certainly take two or +three days; by that time, I hope, the other gunboat will be up. + +"In the meantime, you must go on to Berber. I think there can be no +doubt that the Dervishes have all left, but it is most important that +we should know it, for certain. You must push straight on, and as soon +as you arrive there, send word on to me by the fastest camel you have. +If you are attacked, you will, of course, defend yourselves. Take up a +position close to the river, and hold it until you are relieved. If you +can send off news to me by a camel, do so; if not, seize a boat--there +are some at every village--and send the news down by water. I will come +on at once, with everyone here, to assist you." + +"I will do as you order," the sheik said; "and if you see us no more, +you will know that we died as brave men." + +"I hope there is no fear of that," the General said, cheerfully. "You +will defend yourselves as brave men if you are attacked, I am sure; but +as I am convinced that the Dervishes have left Berber, I think there is +little fear of your falling in with them." + +Then he went on, in English, to Gregory. + +"Keep them moving, Mr. Hilliard. Let them go as fast as they can. They +are less likely to get nervous, if they are riding hard, than they +would be if they dawdled along. If they press their camels, they will +be in Berber this afternoon. See that a man starts at once, to bring me +the news." + +"Very well, sir. I will keep them at it, if I can." + +The sheik rejoined his band, which gathered round to hear the result of +his interview with the white general. + +"The steamer is injured," he said, "but she will soon be made right, +and will follow us. We are to have the honour of going on and occupying +Berber, and will show ourselves worthy of it. There is little chance of +our meeting the Dervishes. Had they been in Berber, we should have +heard of them before this. If we meet them we will fight; and you, Abu, +who have the fastest camel among us, will ride back here at all speed, +and the General and his soldiers will come up to help us. + +"Now, let us not waste a moment, but push forward. In five hours we +shall be at Berber; and throughout your lives, you will be proud to say +that you were the first to enter the town that the Dervishes have so +long held." + +A few of the men waved their guns, and shouted. The rest looked grave. +However, they obeyed their chief's orders, and the cavalcade at once +started. As they did so, Gregory drew his horse up alongside Zaki. + +"Look here," he said, "if we see the Dervishes coming in force, I shall +come to you, at once. You shall take my horse, it is faster than yours. +I shall give you a note for the General, and you will ride back at full +gallop, and give it to him. The horse is fast, and there will be no +fear of their catching you, even if they chase; which they will not be +likely to do, as they will be thinking of attacking us." + +"Very well, master. I will do as you order me, but I would rather stop +and fight, by your side." + +"That you may be able to do some other time, Zaki. This time, you have +got to fetch aid." + +Then he rode on to join the chief. There was no talking along the line, +every man had his rifle unslung and in his hand, every eye scanned the +country. Hitherto, they had had unlimited faith in the power of the +gunboat to protect them; now that they might have to face the Dervishes +unaided, they felt the danger a serious one. They had come to fight the +Dervishes, and were ready to do so, in anything like equal numbers; but +the force they might meet would possibly be greatly stronger than their +own--so strong that, although they might sell their lives dearly; they +would, in the end, be overpowered. + +For the first three hours, the camels were kept going at the top of +their speed; but as they neared Berber, there was a perceptible +slackness. Ahmed Bey and Gregory rode backwards and forwards along the +line, keeping them together, and encouraging them. + +"We shall get in without fighting," the Bey said. "We should have heard +before this, had they been there. Do you think that they would have +remained so long in the town, if they had learned that there are but +two hundred of us, and one steamer? Mahmud would never have forgiven +them, had they not fallen upon us and annihilated us. I only hope that +two hundred will have been left there. It will add to our glory, to +have won a battle, as well as taken the town. Your children will talk +of it in their tents. Your women will be proud of you, and the men of +the black regiments will say that we have shown ourselves to be as +brave as they are. + +"We will halt for half an hour, rest the camels, and then push on at +full speed again; but mind, you have my orders: if you should see the +enemy coming in force, you are to ride at once to the river bank, +dismount, and make the camels lie down in a semicircle; then we have +but to keep calm, and shoot straight, and we need not fear the +Dervishes, however many of them there may be." + +After the halt they again pushed forward. Gregory saw, with pleasure, +that the Arabs were now thoroughly wound up to fighting point. The same +vigilant watch was kept up as before; but the air of gloom that had +hung over them, when they first started, had now disappeared; each man +was ready to fight to the last. As the town was seen, the tension was +at its highest; but the pace quickened, rather than relaxed. + +"Now is the moment!" the Bey shouted. "If they are there, they will +come out to fight us. If, in five minutes, they do not appear; it will +be because they have all gone." + +But there were no signs of the enemy, no clouds of dust rising in the +town, that would tell of a hasty gathering. At last, they entered a +straggling street. The women looked timidly from the windows; and then, +on seeing that their robes did not bear the black patches worn by the +Dervishes, they broke into loud cries of welcome. + +"Are the Dervishes all gone?" Ahmed Bey asked, reining in his camel. + +"They are all gone. The last left four days ago." + +The sheik waved his rifle over his head; and his followers burst into +loud shouts of triumph, and pressed on, firing their muskets in the +air. As they proceeded, the natives poured out from their houses in +wild delight. The Arabs kept on, till they reached the house formerly +occupied by the Egyptian governor. + +"I should say that you had better take possession of this, Bey. There +seems to be a large courtyard, where you can put your camels. It is not +likely that the Dervishes will return, but it is as well to be +prepared. The house is strong, and we could hold out here against a +host, unless they were provided with cannon. + +"I have money, and you had better buy up as much food as possible, so +that we could stand a siege for some time. I shall give my horse a good +feed and an hour's rest, and then send my man down to the General, +telling him that the Dervishes have deserted the town, and that we have +taken possession of the place, and can defend it for a long time should +they return." + +An hour later, Zaki started with Gregory's report. The inhabitants, +finding that they would be paid, brought out their hidden stores; and +by evening, enough was collected to last the garrison ten days. + +Zaki returned at noon next day, with a letter from General Hunter to +the sheik, praising him highly for the energy and courage of his men +and himself. He also brought a note for Gregory, saying that he hoped +to get the repairs finished the next day; and that he expected, by that +time, the other two steamers would be up, when he should at once +advance to Berber. + +On the third day the smoke of the steamers was seen in the distance; +and an hour later the gunboats arrived, and were greeted with cries of +welcome by the natives, who thronged the bank. The three boats carried +between three and four hundred men. These were disembarked on an +island, opposite the town, and the gunboats moored alongside. + +General Hunter at once landed, with those of his staff who had +accompanied him. He shook hands, very cordially, with the sheik. + +"You have done well, indeed!" he said. "It was a dangerous enterprise +and, had I not known your courage, and that of your men, I should not +have ventured to send you forward. You have fully justified my +confidence in you. + +"In the first place, I will go and see the house you have occupied. I +shall leave you still in possession of it, but I do not intend that you +should hold it. In case Mahmud comes down upon you, at once embark in +boats, and cross to the islands. It will be some time before I can +gather, here, a force strong enough to hold the town against attack. +Indeed, it will probably be some weeks; for, until the railway is +finished to Abu Hamed, I can only get up stores sufficient for the men +here; certainly we have no transport that could keep up the supply for +the whole force. However, all this will be settled by the Sirdar, who +will very shortly be with us." + +It was now the 6th of September and, the same afternoon, two gunboats +were sent up to Ed Damer, an important position lying a mile or two +beyond the junction of Atbara river with the Nile. On the opposite bank +of the Nile, they found encamped the Dervishes who had retired from +Berber. The guns opened fire upon them, and they retired inland; +leaving behind them fourteen large boats, laden with grain. These were +at once sent down to Berber, where they were most welcome; and a +portion of the grain was distributed among the almost starving +population, nearly five thousand in number, principally women and +children. + +Supplies soon began to arrive from below, being brought up in native +craft, from Abu Hamed, as far as the cataract; then unloaded and +carried up past the rapids on camels; then again placed in boats, and +so brought to Berber. Macdonald's brigade started a fortnight after the +occupation, their place at Abu Hamed having been taken by a brigade +from Kassinger, each battalion having towed up boats carrying two +months' supply of provisions. + +A fort was now erected at the junction of the two rivers, and occupied +by a small force, under an English officer. Two small steamers were +employed in towing the native craft from Abu Hamed to Berber. Still, it +was evident that it would be impossible to accumulate the necessary +stores for the whole force that would take the field; accordingly, as +soon as the railway reached Abu Hamed, the Sirdar ordered it to be +carried on as far as Berber. He himself came up with Colonel Wingate, +the head of the Intelligence Department; and, diligently as all had +worked before, their exertions were now redoubled. + +On the morning after the Sirdar's arrival, an orderly came across to +General Hunter's quarters, with a request that Mr. Hilliard should at +once be sent to headquarters. Gregory had to wait nearly half an hour, +until the officers who had been there before him had had their +audience, and received their orders. He was then shown in. + +"You have done very valuable service, Mr. Hilliard," the Sirdar said. +"Exceptionally valuable, and obtained at extraordinary risk. I +certainly did not expect, when I saw you a few months ago in Cairo, +that you would so speedily distinguish yourself. I was then struck with +your manner, and thought that you would do well, and you have much more +than fulfilled my expectations. I shall keep my eye upon you, and shall +see that you have every opportunity of continuing as you have begun." + +That evening, General Hunter suggested to Colonel Wingate that Gregory +should be handed over to him. + +"There will be nothing for him to do with me, at present," he said; +"and I am sure that you will find him very useful. Putting aside the +expedition he undertook to Metemmeh, he is a most zealous young +officer. Although his wound was scarcely healed, he took charge of the +baggage animals on the way up from Merawi to Abu Hamed, and came +forward here with Ahmed Bey and his followers, and in both cases he was +most useful. But at the present, I cannot find any employment for him." + +"I will have a talk with him," Colonel Wingate said. "I think I can +make good use of him. Captain Keppel asked me, this morning, if I could +furnish him with a good interpreter. He is going up the river in a day +or two, and as neither he nor the other naval officers know much +Arabic, Mr. Hilliard would be of considerable service to them, in +questioning any prisoners who may be captured as to hidden guns, or +other matters. I should think, from what you tell me, Mr. Hilliard will +be very suitable for the post." + +"The very man for it. He is a very pleasant lad--for he is not more +than that--quiet and gentlemanly, and yet full of life and go, and will +be certain to get on well with a naval man." + +On returning to his quarters, General Hunter sent for Gregory. + +"You will please go to Colonel Wingate, Mr. Hilliard. I have been +speaking to him about you; and, as it may be months before things are +ready for the final advance, and I am sure you would prefer to be +actively employed, I proposed to him that he should utilize your +services; and it happens, fortunately, that he is able to do so. The +gunboats will be running up and down the river, stirring up the +Dervishes at Metemmeh and other places; and as neither Keppel, nor the +commanders of the other two boats can speak Arabic with anything like +fluency, it is important that he should have an interpreter. + +"I think you will find the berth a pleasant one. Of course, I don't +know what arrangements will be made, or whether you would permanently +live on board one of the boats. If so, I think you would be envied by +all of us, as you would get away from the dust, and all the discomforts +of the encampment." + +"Thank you very much, sir! It would indeed be pleasant, and I was +beginning to feel that I was very useless here." + +"You have not been useless at all, Mr. Hilliard. The Sirdar asked me +about you, and I was able to give him a very favourable report of your +readiness to be of service, for whatever work I have found for you to +do. I have told him that I had great doubts whether Ahmed Bey would +have pushed forward to this place, after he had lost the protection of +the gunboats, if you had not been with him." + +Gregory at once went to the quarters of Colonel Wingate, and sent in +his name. In two or three minutes he was shown in. A naval officer was +in the room with the colonel. + +"You have come at the right time, Mr. Hilliard. I was just speaking of +you to Captain Keppel. I suppose General Hunter has told you how I +proposed utilizing your services?" + +"Yes, sir, he was good enough to tell me." + +"You speak both Arabic and the Negro dialect perfectly, I am told?" + +"I speak them very fluently, almost as well as English." + +"Just at present, you could not be of much use to me, Mr. Hilliard. Of +course, I get all my intelligence from natives, and have no occasion to +send white officers out as scouts. Otherwise, from the very favourable +report that I have received from General Hunter, I should have been +glad to have you with me; but I have no doubt that you would prefer to +be in one of the gunboats. They are certain to have a more stirring +time of it, for the next few weeks, than we shall have here." + +"I should like it greatly, sir, if Captain Keppel thinks I shall do." + +"I have no doubt about that," the officer said, with a smile. "I shall +rate you as a first lieutenant and midshipman, all in one; and I may +say that I shall be very glad to have a white officer with me. There +are one or two spare cabins, aft, and you had better have your traps +moved in, at once. I may be starting tomorrow." + +"Shall I take my servant with me, sir?" + +"Yes, you may take him if you like. I suppose you have a horse?" + +"Yes, sir, a horse and a camel; but I shall have no difficulty in +managing about them. Excuse my asking, sir, but I have a few stores. +Shall I bring them on board?" + +"No, there is no occasion for that. You will mess with me. Thank +goodness, we left naval etiquette behind us when we came up the Nile, +and it is not imperative that I should dine in solitary state. Besides, +you have been on Hunter's staff, have you not?" + +"Yes." + +"I know his staff all mess together. I shall be very glad to have you +with me. It is lonely work, always messing alone. + +"My boat is the Zafir, you know. You had better come on board before +eight o'clock, tomorrow morning. That is my breakfast hour." + +Gregory needed but little time to make his arrangements. The transport +department took over Zaki's horse and camel, and gave him a receipt for +them; so that, when he returned, those or others could be handed over +to him. One of the staff, who wanted a second horse, was glad to take +charge of his mount. The tent, and the big case, and his other +belongings were handed over to the stores. + +Zaki was delighted, when he heard that he was going up in a gunboat +that would probably shell Metemmeh, and knock some of the Dervish +fortifications to pieces. + +"What shall I have to do, master?" he asked. + +"Not much, Zaki. You will brush my clothes, and make my bed, and do +anything that I want done; but beyond that I cannot tell you. I am +really taking you, not because I think you will be of much use, but +because I like to have you with me. Besides, I sha'n't have much to do, +and the English officer who commands will have plenty to look after, so +that I shall be glad to talk, occasionally, with you. + +"However, as I know the gunboats carry Maxim guns, and each have two +sergeants of the marine artillery, I will hand you over to them, and +ask them to put you in the Maxim crew. Then you will have the +satisfaction of helping to fire at your old enemies." + +Zaki's eyes glistened at the prospect. + +"They killed my mother," he said, "and carried off my sisters, and +burned our house. It will be good to fire at them. Much better this, +bey, than to load stores at Merawi." + +Gregory was much gratified, that evening after mess, at the kindly +manner in which the members of the staff all shook hands with him, and +said that they were sorry that he was going to leave them. General +Hunter was dining with the Sirdar. The next morning, when Gregory went +to say "Goodbye" to him, he said: + +"I was telling Sir Herbert Kitchener, yesterday evening, that you were +transferred to the naval branch. He said: + +"'The gunboats will all take up troops, and there will be native +officers on board. It is a rule in our army, you know, that all white +officers have the honorary rank of major, so as to make them senior to +all Egyptian officers. Will you tell Mr. Hilliard that I authorize him +to call himself Bimbashi? There is no occasion to put it in orders. My +authorization is sufficient. As long as he was on your staff it did not +matter; but as, presently, he may be attached to an Egyptian regiment, +it is as well that he should bear the usual rank, and it may save +misunderstanding in communicating with the natives. He will be much +more respected, as Bimbashi, than he would be as lieutenant, a title +that they would not understand.' + +"A good many lieutenants in the British Army are Bimbashis, here, so +that there is nothing unusual in your holding that honorary rank." + +"I would just as soon be lieutenant, sir, so far as I am concerned +myself; but of course, I feel honoured at receiving the title. No doubt +it would be much more pleasant, if I were attached to an Egyptian +regiment. I do not know whether it is the proper thing to thank the +Sirdar. If it is, I shall be greatly obliged if you will convey my +thanks to him." + +"I will tell him that you are greatly gratified, Hilliard. I have no +doubt you owe it, not only to your ride to Metemmeh, but to my report +that I did not think Ahmed Bey would have ventured to ride on into +Berber, had you not been with him; and that you advised him as to the +defensive position he took up here, and prepared for a stout defence, +until the boats could come up to his assistance. He said as much to +me." + +At the hour named, Gregory went on board the Zafir; Zaki accompanying +him, with his small portmanteau and blanket. + +"I see you are punctual, Mr. Hilliard," the commander said, cheerily; +"a great virtue everywhere, but especially on board ship, where +everything goes by clockwork. Eight bells will sound in two minutes, +and as they do so, my black fellow will come up and announce the meal. +It is your breakfast, as much as mine; for I have shipped you on the +books this morning, and of course you will be rationed. Happily, we are +not confined to that fare. I knew what it was going to be, and laid in +a good stock of stores. Fortunately, we have the advantage over the +military, that we are not limited as to baggage." + +The breakfast was an excellent one. After it was over, Commander Keppel +asked Gregory how it was that he had--while still so young--obtained a +commission, and expressed much interest when he had heard his story. + +"Then you do not intend to remain in the Egyptian Army?" he said. "If +you have not any fixed career before you, I should have thought that +you could not do better. The Sirdar and General Hunter have both taken +a great interest in you. It might be necessary, perhaps, for you to +enter the British Army and serve for two or three years, so as to get a +knowledge of drill and discipline; then, from your acquaintance with +the languages here you could, of course, get transferred to the +Egyptian Army, where you would rank as a major, at once." + +"I have hardly thought of the future yet, sir; but of course, I shall +have to do so, as soon as I am absolutely convinced of my father's +death. Really, I have no hope now; but I promised my mother to do +everything in my power to ascertain it, for a certainty. She placed a +packet in my hands, which was not to be opened until I had so satisfied +myself. I do not know what it contains, but I believe it relates to my +father's family. + +"I do not see that that can make any difference to me, for I certainly +should not care to go home to see relations to whom my coming might be +unwelcome. I should greatly prefer to stay out here, for a few years, +until I had obtained such a position as would make me absolutely +independent of them." + +"I can quite understand that," Captain Keppel said. "Poor relations +seldom get a warm welcome, and as you were born in Alexandria, they may +be altogether unaware of your existence. You have certainly been +extremely fortunate, so far; and if you preferred a civil appointment, +you would be pretty certain of getting one when the war is over. + +"There will be a big job in organizing this country, after the +Dervishes are smashed up; and a biggish staff of officials will be +wanted. No doubt most of these will be Egyptians, but Egyptian +officials want looking after, so that a good many berths must be filled +by Englishmen; and Englishmen with a knowledge of Arabic and the Negro +dialect are not very easily found. I should say that there will be +excellent openings, for young men of capacity." + +"I have no doubt there will," Gregory said. "I have really never +thought much about the future. My attention, from childhood, has been +fixed upon this journey to the Soudan; and I never looked beyond it, +nor did my mother discuss the future with me. Doubtless she would have +done so, had she lived; and these papers I have may give me her advice +and opinion about it." + +"Well, I must be going on deck," Captain Keppel said. "We shall start +in half an hour." + +The three gunboats were all of the same design. They were flat +bottomed, so as to draw as little water as possible; and had been built +and sent out, in sections, from England. They were constructed entirely +of steel, and had three decks, the lower one having loophole shutters +for infantry fire. On the upper deck, which was extended over the whole +length of the boat, was a conning tower. In the after portion of the +boat, and beneath the upper deck, were cabins for officers. Each boat +carried a twelve-pounder quick-firing gun forward, a howitzer, and four +Maxims. The craft were a hundred and thirty-five feet long, with a beam +of twenty-four feet, and drew only three feet and a half of water. They +were propelled by a stern wheel. + +At half-past nine the Zafir's whistle gave the signal, and she and her +consorts--the Nazie and Fatteh--cast off their warps, and steamed out +into the river. Each boat had on board two European engineers, fifty +men of the 9th Soudanese, two sergeants of royal marine artillery, and +a small native crew. + +"I expect that we shall not make many more trips down to Berber," the +Commander said, when they were once fairly off. "The camp at Atbara +will be our headquarters, unless indeed Mahmud advances; in which case, +of course, we shall be recalled. Until then we shall be patrolling the +river up to Metemmeh; and making, I hope, an occasional rush as far as +the next cataract." + +When evening came on, the steamer tied up to an island, a few miles +north of Shendy. So far they had seen no hostile parties--indeed, the +country was wholly deserted. + +Next morning they started before daybreak. Shendy seemed to be in +ruins. Two Arabs, only, were seen on the bank. A few shots were fired +into the town, but there was no reply. + +Half an hour later, Metemmeh was seen. It stood half a mile from the +river. Along the bank were seven mud forts, with extremely thick and +solid walls. Keeping near the opposite bank, the gunboats, led by the +Zafir, made their way up the river. Dervish horsemen could be seen, +riding from fort to fort, doubtless carrying orders. + +The river was some four thousand yards wide and, at this distance, the +gunboats opened fire at the two nearest forts. The range was soon +obtained to a nicety, and the white sergeants and native gunners made +splendid practice, every shell bursting upon the forts, while the +Maxims speedily sent the Dervish horsemen galloping off to the distant +hills, on which could be made out a large camp. + +The Dervish gunners replied promptly, but the range was too great for +their old brass guns. Most of the shot fell short, though a few, fired +at a great elevation, fell beyond the boats. One shell, however, struck +the Zafir, passing through the deck and killing a Soudanese; and a +shrapnel shell burst over the Fatteh. + +After an hour's fire, at this range, the gunboats moved up opposite the +position; and again opened fire with shell and shrapnel, committing +terrible havoc on the forts, whose fire presently slackened suddenly. +This was explained by the fact that, as the gunboats passed up, they +saw that the embrasures of the forts only commanded the approach from +the north; and that, once past them, the enemy were unable to bring a +gun to bear upon the boats. Doubtless the Dervishes had considered it +was impossible for any steamer to pass up, under their fire; and that +it was therefore unnecessary to widen the embrasures, so that the guns +could fire upon them when facing the forts, or going beyond them. + +Suddenly, as all on board were watching the effect of their fire, an +outburst of musketry broke out from the bushes that lined the eastern +bank, a hundred yards away. Fortunately, the greater part of the +bullets flew overhead, but many rattled against the side. The Maxims +were instantly turned upon the unseen enemy, the Soudanese fired +volleys, and their rash assailants went at once into the thicker bush, +many dropping before they gained it. + +The gunboats now steamed slowly up the river; and then, turning, +retired downstream again, shelling the enemy's position as they passed. +As they were going down they came upon a number of Dervishes, who were +busy unloading half a dozen native craft. The Maxim soon sent them +flying; and the boats, which contained horses, donkeys, grain, and +other goods, were taken in tow by the gunboats, which anchored at the +same island as on the previous night. + +"Well, Bimbashi," Captain Keppel said, when the work for the day was +over, "so you have had your first brush with the enemy. What do you +think of it?" + +"I would rather that you did not call me Bimbashi, Captain Keppel. The +title is ridiculous for me, and it was only given me that it might be +useful when with Egyptian or Soudanese soldiers. I should feel really +obliged, if you would simply call me Hilliard. + +"I felt all right, sir, during the fight; except that I envied the +gunners, who were doing something, while I had nothing to do but look +on. It certainly made me jump, when that shell struck the boat, because +I had quite made up my mind that their guns would not carry so far, and +so it was a complete surprise to me." + +"Yes, it was a very harmless affair. Still, it was good as a +preparation for something more severe. You have got accustomed to the +noise, now, and that is always as great a trial to the nerves as actual +danger." + +"I wish I could be doing something, sir. Everyone else had some duty, +from yourself down to the black firemen--even my servant made himself +useful, in carrying up shot." + +"I tell you what I will do, Mr. Hilliard. I will get those marine +sergeants to instruct you in the working of the Maxim, and in the +duties of the men attending on it. Then next time we come up, I will +put you in command of one of them. Your duties will not be severe, as +you would simply direct the men as to the object at which they are to +aim, watch the effect and direction of the bullets, and see that they +change their aim, as circumstances may direct. The black gunners are +well trained, and know their work; still, if by any chance the gun +jams, it will be useful for you to be able to show them what to do; +even though they know it as well as, or better than, you do yourself. +The blacks like being commanded by a white officer, and will feel +pleased, rather than otherwise, at your being appointed to command +their gun. Your lessons cannot begin for a day or two, for I have not +done with Metemmeh, yet." + +"I am very much obliged to you, indeed," Gregory said warmly. "I will +take care not to interfere with the men's working of the gun." + +"No, you will not have to do that; but a word or two of commendation, +when they make good practice, pleases them immensely; and they will +work all the better, and faster, for your standing by them." + +At daybreak next morning the gunboats went up again, and engaged the +forts, as before. The Dervishes had placed more guns in position, but +again the shells fell short, while those of the boats played havoc with +the enemy's defences. Some ten thousand of the Dervish horse and foot +came down near the town, in readiness to repel any attempt at a +landing. + +After some hours' bombardment, the gunboats retired. As they steamed +away, the Dervish host were shouting and waving their banners, +evidently considering that they had won a great victory. + +Having fulfilled their object, which was to retain Mahmud at Metemmeh +by showing him that, if he advanced against Merawi and Dongola, we had +it in our power to occupy the town; and so cut off his retreat, and +prevent reinforcements or stores from reaching him from Omdurman, the +gunboats returned to Berber. + +So far, Gregory had had no duties to perform in his capacity of +interpreter, for no prisoners had been taken. On the way down the +river, one of the artillery sergeants explained the working of the +Maxim to him, taking the weapon to pieces, and explaining to him how +each part acted, and then showing him how to put it together again. The +sergeant having done this several times, Gregory was then told to +perform the operation himself, and the lessons continued after their +arrival at Berber. + +In the course of a week he was able to do this smartly; and had +learned, in case of a breakdown, which parts of the mechanism would +most probably have given way, and how to replace broken parts by spare +ones, carried up for the purpose. + +There was no long rest at Berber, and on the 1st of November the +gunboats again went up the river, reinforced by the Metemmeh, which had +now arrived. Each boat, as before, carried fifty soldiers; and Major +Stuart-Wortley went up, as staff officer. The evening before starting, +they received the welcome news that the railway line had, that day, +reached Abu Hamed. + +This time there was but a short pause made opposite Metemmeh, and after +shelling the forts, which had been added to since the last visit, they +proceeded up the river. Shortly after passing the town, a large Dervish +camp was seen in a valley, and this, they afterwards found, was +occupied by the force that had returned from Berber. A heavy fire of +shell and shrapnel was opened upon it, and it was speedily destroyed. + +The gunboats then went up as high as the sixth cataract. The country +was found to be absolutely deserted, neither a peasant nor a Dervish +being visible. Having thus accomplished the object of their +reconnaissance, the flotilla returned, exchanged fire with the Metemmeh +batteries, and then kept on their way down to Berber. + + + +Chapter 11: A Prisoner. + + +Rather than remain unoccupied on board the gunboat, Gregory went to +Colonel Wingate's headquarters and said that he should be very glad if +he would allow him, while the flotilla remained at Berber, to assist in +interrogating the fugitives who arrived from the south, and the spies +employed to gain early information of the intentions and movements of +the enemy. The position of the Dervishes at Metemmeh was becoming +critical. The Khalifa was desirous that Mahmud should return with his +force to Omdurman, there to take part in the battle in which, as he was +convinced, the invaders would be annihilated. Mahmud, who was of an +eager and impetuous disposition, was anxious to take the offensive at +once, and either to march upon Merawi and Dongola, or to drive the +British out of Berber. + +There could be no doubt that his view was a more sagacious one than +that of his father; and that the best tactics to be adopted were to +harass the British advance, fall upon their convoys, cut their +communications, and so oblige them to fall back for want of supplies. +The Khalifa's mistake was similar to that made by Theodore in +Abyssinia, and Koffee Kalkalli in Ashanti. Had either of these leaders +adopted the system of harassing the invaders, from the moment they left +the coast, it would have been next to impossible for the latter to +arrive at their destination. But each allowed them to march on, +unmolested, until within striking distance; then hazarded everything on +the fortune of a single battle, and lost. + +Mahmud made no movement in obedience to the Khalifa's orders to retire +to Omdurman, and the latter thereupon refused to send any further +supplies to him, and Mahmud's army was therefore obliged to rely upon +raids and plunder for subsistence. These raids were carried out with +great boldness, and villages situated within a few miles of Berber were +attacked. The Dervishes, however, met with a much warmer reception than +they had expected, for rifles and ammunition had been served out freely +to the villagers; and these, knowing the fate that awaited them were +the Dervishes victorious, offered so obstinate a resistance that the +latter fell back, discomfited. + +Early in January, the Sirdar learned that the Khalifa had changed his +mind, and had sent peremptory orders to Mahmud to advance and drive the +British out of Berber, and destroy the railway. Mahmud had now been +joined by Osman Digna, with five thousand men; and as the Egyptian +troops, well as they had fought, had never yet been opposed to so +formidable a force as that which Mahmud commanded, the Sirdar +telegraphed to England for white troops. + +His request was at once complied with. The Warwickshires, +Lincolnshires, and Cameron Highlanders were ordered to proceed from +Cairo and Alexandria to the front; and the Seaforth Highlanders at +Malta, and the Northumberland Fusiliers at Gibraltar were also +despatched, without delay. Major General Gatacre was appointed to the +command of the brigade. + +At the end of the third week in January, the three regiments from Lower +Egypt had arrived at Wady Halfa, and the Seaforths at Assouan. At the +beginning of February the British brigade was carried, by railway, to +Abu Dis. Here they remained until the 26th, when they marched to +Berber, and then to a camp ten miles north of the Atbara, where they +arrived on the 4th of March, having covered a hundred and forty-four +miles in six days and a half, a great feat in such a climate. + +Mahmud had made no movement until the 10th of February, when he began +to cross the Nile to Shendy. This movement had not been expected by the +Sirdar, and was hailed by him with satisfaction. Had Mahmud remained at +Metemmeh he could, aided by the forts, his artillery, and the walled +town, have offered a very formidable resistance. Had he marched along +the banks of the Nile, he would have been exposed to the fire of the +gunboats, but these could not have arrested his course. The country +round Berber was favourable to the action of his cavalry, and if +defeated he could have fallen back, unmolested, through Metemmeh on +Omdurman; but by crossing the river he practically cut himself off from +the Dervish base, and now had only a desert behind him; for we had +taken over Kassala from the Italians, and the Egyptian battalion there, +and a large force of friendly Arabs, would prevent him from retiring up +the banks of the Atbara. + +Mahmud's plan was to march along the Nile to Ahab, then to cross the +desert to Hudi, at an angle of the river; whence a direct march, of +twenty-five miles, would take him to Berber, and in this way he would +avoid our strong position at the junction of the Atbara and the Nile. +It would have been easy for the gunboats to prevent Mahmud from +crossing the Nile, but the Sirdar was glad to allow him to do so. The +movement afforded him time to concentrate his force, and to get up +large supplies. For, each day, the distance that these could be +transported by the railway had increased; and he saw that, when the +time for fighting came, the victory would be a decisive one; and that +few, indeed, of Mahmud's men would ever be able to make their way to +Omdurman, and swell the Khalifa's force there. + +On one occasion, however, the gunboats went up to watch what was going +on, and take advantage of any opportunity that might offer to destroy +some of Mahmud's boats, and thus render the work of his getting his +force over slower and more difficult. An entrenchment had been thrown +up at the point where the Dervishes crossed, and this had been manned +by two hundred and fifty riflemen. The Zafir steamed up close to the +bank and opened fire with her Maxims. Another gunboat sank one large +craft and captured two others, and the troops landed and, covered by +the fire of the guns, captured a fourth which had grounded in shallow +water. + +A smaller boat was halfway across the river when the gunboats arrived. +It was seen that there were several women on board, and as the capture +would have been of no value, no regard was paid to it. As it would have +been as dangerous to return as to keep on, the boatmen plied their +hardest to get across, but the stream carried them down near the Zafir. +The boat was quite unnoticed, all eyes being intent upon the shore. She +was passing about thirty yards astern of the gunboat, when a badly +aimed shell from a Dervish battery struck her, and she sank almost +instantly. + +Gregory, who was superintending the working of the Maxim nearest the +stern, looked round at the sound of the explosion. Several of the +occupants had evidently been killed, but two or three of the boatmen +started to swim to shore. Only two of the women came to the surface, +struggling wildly and screaming for help. With scarcely a thought of +what he was doing, Gregory unclasped his sword belt, dropped his +pistol, and sprang overboard. + +One of the women had sunk before he reached them, the other was on the +point of doing so, when he caught her by the arm. She at once clung to +him, and he had hard work to disengage her arm from his neck; then, +after turning her so that her face was above water, he looked round. +The gunboat was already a hundred yards away. Her wheel was revolving, +so as to keep her in her place facing the redoubt, and the stream was +driving him fast away from her. + +Within ten yards of him was a black head, and a moment later Zaki was +beside him. He had been working at Gregory's Maxim, and had suddenly +missed his master. Looking round, he had seen him struggling with the +woman in the stream, and without hesitation had leapt overboard. + +"I am sorry you came," Gregory said, "for it is only throwing away your +life. It is of no use shouting, for they could not hear us in that din; +and if they happened to catch sight of us, would take us for two of the +black boatmen. I see the stream is taking us nearer to the bank." + +Zaki had taken hold of the woman while he was speaking. + +"We might swim a long way down, master, if we let go of her." + +"I won't do that, Zaki. I know now that I was a fool to jump overboard; +but now that I have done so, I will save her life. Besides, I could not +swim very far even without her. I am feeling the weight of my boots and +clothes. + +"Will you swim with us till I can touch the ground, and then leave us? +Strike right into the river again--I know that you are a good +swimmer--and drop down the stream until you reach one of the islands, +and then you can land and hail the gunboats as they come down. Tell +Captain Keppel why I jumped over." + +"I am not going to leave you, master. No doubt the Dervishes will shoot +me, but my life is of no consequence, and I shall be glad to die by the +side of so good a master." + +The woman, who had ceased to struggle when Gregory shook off her grasp, +was now conscious; as, with one of them supporting her on each side, +her head was above water. + +"They will not kill you," she said. "You have saved me, and they will +be grateful." + +Gregory had no faith whatever in Dervish gratitude. + +"Well, Zaki," he said, "if you will not leave us, we will strike at +once for the shore. The gunboats are nearly half a mile away now. There +is just a chance that we may not have been noticed by the Dervishes, +and may be able to hide in the bushes till the gunboats return. When +they see me, they will at once send a boat ashore, under cover of their +fire, and take us off." + +"There is a good chance of that, master," Zaki said cheerfully, "and +the Dervishes are busy up there fighting, and will not think much of a +little boat." + +Three or four minutes later they were in shallow water. As soon as they +landed, Gregory threw himself down, utterly exhausted; and the woman +sank down beside him, but not before hastily rearranging her veil. In a +couple of minutes, Gregory roused himself. + +"I can climb the bank, now," he said, "and the sooner we are hidden +among the bushes, the better." + +But as he spoke he heard the sound of galloping horsemen, and almost +immediately an Emir, on a magnificent animal, followed by a dozen +Dervishes, dashed up. + +"Mahmud!" the woman cried, as she rose to her feet; "it is I, Fatma!" + +Mahmud gave a cry of joy, and waved his hand to his followers, who had +already pointed their rifles at Gregory. + +"These have saved me, my lord," the woman went on. "They jumped from +their boat, and reached me just as I was sinking, and have borne me up. +For my sake you must spare their lives." + +Mahmud frowned. He dismounted and went up to his wife. + +"Have I not sworn, Fatma," he said, "that I would slay every unbeliever +who falls into my hands? How, then, can I spare even one who has saved +your life?" + +"Others have been spared who have been of service, my lord," she said. +"There are Greeks and Egyptians who work your guns, and they were +spared because they were useful. There is Neufeld, who lives under the +protection of the Khalifa. Surely these men have done far more to +deserve, not only life, but honour at your hands. They risked their +lives to save mine. What follower of the Prophet could do more? They +could not have known who I was, a woman they saw drowning. Are there +any among the bravest of the tribes who would have done the same?" + +"I have sworn an oath," Mahmud said, gloomily. + +"But you have not sworn to slay instantly. You can keep them, at least, +until you can take them before the Khalifa, and say to him: + +"'Father, I have sworn to kill unbelievers, but these men have saved +Fatma's life; and I pray you to absolve me from the oath, or order them +to be taken from me, and then do you yourself pardon them and set them +free for the service that they have rendered me.' + +"If he refuses, if these men are killed, I also swear that, as my life +is due to them, I myself will perish by my own hands, if they die for +saving it!" + +"It needs not that, Fatma. You think that I am ungrateful, that I do +not feel that these men have acted nobly, thus to risk their lives to +save a strange woman whose face they have never seen. It is my oath +that lies heavily upon me. I have never been false to an oath." + +"Nor need you be now," Fatma said earnestly. "You swore to slay any +unbeliever that fell into your hands. This man has not fallen into your +hands. I have a previous claim to him. He is under my protection. I +cover him with my robe"--and she swept a portion of her garment round +Gregory--"and as long as he is under it he is, according to tribal +laws, safe even from the vengeance of my husband! + +"As to the other, he is not an unbeliever. Your oath concerns him not. +Him you can honour and reward, according to the value you place upon my +life." + +The Arab's face cleared. + +"Truly you have discovered a way out of it, Fatma, at any rate for the +present." + +He turned to Gregory for the first time. + +"Do you speak our tongue?" he asked. + +"Yes, Emir, as well as my own." + +"Then you understand what we have said. Had I not been bound by my +oath, I would have embraced you as a brother. We Arabs can appreciate a +brave deed, even when it is done by an enemy. When one of the boatmen +ran into the battery where I was directing the guns against your boat, +and said that the boat in which my wife, with other women, were +crossing had been sunk, by a shell from our batteries on the other +side, I felt that my blood was turned to water. He said he believed +that all had been killed or drowned, but that he looked back as he +swam, and saw a white man jump overboard, and a short time after +another followed him; and that, when he reached the shore, they were +supporting a woman in the water. + +"I rode hither, having but small hope indeed that it was my wife, but +marvelling much that a white officer should thus risk his life to save +a drowning woman. My oath pressed heavily upon me, as I rode. Even had +it been but a slave girl whom you rescued, I should no less have +admired your courage. I myself am said to be brave, but it would never +have entered my mind thus to risk my life for a stranger. When I found +that it was my wife who was saved, I still more bitterly regretted the +oath that stood between me and her preserver, and truly glad am I that +she has herself shown me how I can escape from its consequences. + +"Now I see you, I wonder even more than before at what you have done; +for indeed, in years, you are little more than a boy." + +"What I did, Emir, I believe any white officer who was a good swimmer +would have done. No Englishman would see a woman drowning without +making an effort to save her, if he had it in his power. As to the fact +that she was not of the same race or religion, he would never give it a +thought. It would be quite enough for him that she was a woman." + +"And you," Mahmud said, turning to Zaki, "you are a Jaalin, are you +not?" + +"I am." + +"Jaalin or Baggara, you are my friend," Mahmud said, placing his hand +on Zaki's shoulders. "And so you, too, leapt overboard to save a +woman?" + +"No, Emir," he replied, "I jumped over because my master jumped over. I +had not thought about the woman. I jumped over to aid him, and it was +to give him my help that I took my share in supporting the woman. The +Bimbashi is a good master, and I would die for him." + +Mahmud smiled at this frank answer. + +"Nevertheless, whatever may have been your motive, you were enabled to +save the life of my wife, and henceforth you are my friend." + +Then he turned to the horsemen, who were still grouped on the bank +above. + +"You have heard what has been said? The white man is under the +protection of my harem; the Jaalin is henceforth my friend." + +Mahmud was a fine specimen of the tribesmen of the Soudan--tall, well +built, and with pure Arab features. He was the Khalifa's favourite son; +and was generous, with kindly impulses, but impatient of control. Of +late, he had given way to outbursts of passion, feeling acutely the +position in which he was placed. He had advanced from Omdurman +confident that he should be able to drive the infidels before him, and +carry his arms far into Egypt. His aspirations had been thwarted by the +Khalifa. His requests for stores and camels that would have enabled him +to advance had been refused, and he had been ordered to fall back. His +troops had been rendered almost mutinous, from the want of supplies. + +He had seen the invaders growing stronger and stronger, and +accomplishing what had seemed an impossibility--the bringing up of +stores sufficient for their sustenance--by pushing the railroad forward +towards Berber. Now that their forces had been very greatly increased, +and the issue of the struggle had become doubtful, he had received the +order for which he had been craving for months; and had been directed +to march down and attack the Egyptian army, drive them across the Nile, +and destroy the railway. + +By means of spies he had heard that, ere long, a large force of British +soldiers would come up to reinforce the Egyptians; so that what might +have been easy work, two months before, had now become a difficult and +dangerous enterprise. The manner in which the Dervishes had been +defeated in their attacks upon Wolseley's desert column, and in the +engagements that had since taken place, showed how formidable was the +fighting power, not only of the British troops, but of the native army +they had organized; and his confidence in the power of the tribesmen to +sweep all before them had been shaken. + +The Dervishes scowled, when they heard that they were not to have the +satisfaction of massacring this Englishman, whose countrymen were still +keeping up a terrible fire on their redoubt. It was not one of their +wives who had been rescued, and Gregory's act of jumping overboard +seemed to them to savour of madness; and if that plea had been +advanced, they would have recognized it as rendering the person of the +man who had performed it inviolable. However, as he was under the +protection of their leader's harem, there was nothing more to be said; +and at an order from Mahmud all but four of them rode off, while the +others fell in behind him. + +Mahmud did not mount again, but walked with his wife to a deserted mud +hut, two hundred yards away. There he left her, telling Gregory and +Zaki to sit down outside, and placing the four men on guard. + +"I must rejoin my men," he said, as he mounted. "When your vessels have +gone, I will return." + +Half an hour later, the fire ceased. Soon afterwards Mahmud rode up +with a score of men, followed by some dozen women, and a slave leading +a donkey. On this Fatma took her seat, and the women surrounded her. +Gregory and Zaki walked close behind them. Mahmud, with his horsemen, +rode in front. + +After proceeding for a mile, they came upon a group of tents. Mahmud's +banner was flying on a pole in front of the largest of these. Behind, +and touching it, was another almost as large. This was the abode of the +ladies of Mahmud's harem. The other tents were occupied by his +principal Emirs. A hundred yards away was the encampment of the army, +which was sheltered in hastily constructed huts, or arbours, made of +bushes. + +By Mahmud's order, a small tent was erected, with blankets, close to +the after entrance into the harem tent, for Gregory's use; so that, +should he be attacked by fanatics, he could at once take refuge in the +harem, whose sanctity not even the most daring would dare to violate. + +A handsome robe was brought for Zaki; and as Mahmud presented it to +him, he said: + +"You are my friend, but you must now go back to your vessels, or to +Berber. My orders were to kill all the Jaalin, and we have spared none +who fell into our hands, at Metemmeh or since. I cannot keep you here. +As long as you stay by my side, you will be safe; but you could not +leave me for a moment. It is as much as I can do to save the life of +this infidel officer, and it is to him that I owe most, for it was he +who first leapt into the river. + +"The white men's boats have already fastened up, behind the island +where they before stationed themselves. Make your way down there, at +daybreak, and wave a white cloth. Doubtless they will send a boat +ashore, thinking that you bear a message from me; or if you see they do +not do this, you can swim out to them." + +"I would rather stay with my master. Cannot you let him go, too?" + +"That is impossible," Mahmud said shortly. "It is known throughout the +camp that I have a white man here. The news will travel fast to the +Khalifa. My actions have already been misrepresented to him, and were I +to let this officer go, my father might recall me to Omdurman and send +another to command here. + +"He must stay, but you may go without harm. You can scarcely have been +noticed yet, and I can well declare, should the Khalifa hear of you, +that you have escaped." + +"May I speak with my master?" Zaki said. "If he says stay, I shall +stay, though it might cost me my life. If he says go, I must go." + +"You may speak to him," Mahmud said. + +Zaki went round to Gregory's tent, and told him what Mahmud had said. + +"Go, certainly, Zaki. You can do me no good by remaining here, and +might even do me harm; for if you were killed I also might be murdered. +Moreover, I wish to send the news of my capture, and how it occurred. I +do not think any, save yourself, noticed that I was missing; and when +the fight was over, and they found that I was absent, they might +suppose that I had been shot and had fallen overboard. + +"I will write a note for you to carry. It is, in all respects, better +that you should go. Were we to be seen talking together, it might be +supposed that we were planning some way of escape, and I should be more +closely watched. As it is, I see that Mahmud will have difficulty in +protecting me. Were you to ride about with him, as he says, your +presence would remind his followers that he has a white man a captive +here; whereas, if I remain almost in concealment near the harem, the +fact that there is a white man here will pass out of the minds of those +who know it, and will not become the common talk of the camp. + +"Mahmud is running some risk in having spared my life, and I do not +wish to make it harder for him. Go, therefore, and tell him that you +will leave tonight. I cannot write now; my pocketbook is soaked +through. But I will tear out some leaves and dry them in the sun; and +write what I have to say, before you start. I shall speak highly of you +in my letter, and recommend you to Colonel Wingate; who will, I have no +doubt, give you employment. + +"I hope I shall see you again, before long. I am very sorry that we +must part, but it is best for us both." + +Very reluctantly, Zaki returned to Mahmud. + +"My master says I must go, Emir; and I must obey his orders, though I +would rather stay with him. Tonight, I will leave." + +"It is well. I would that I could let him go, also, but my oath +prevents me from giving him his freedom. I trust, however, that when +the Khalifa hears of his noble action, and how he has made me his +debtor, he will say that Allah himself would not blame me for that. +Gratitude is even more binding than an oath. + +"Still, until I hear from him, I can do nothing. We have not seen +matters in the same light, for some time. When I wanted to strike, he +was unwilling that I should do so. Now, when it seems to me that the +time for that has passed, and that I had best retire on Omdurman, he +says go forward and fight. It is not for me to question his commands, +or his wisdom. But I may not give him cause for anger. + +"My advice to you is, when you get to Berber, do not stay there. We +shall assuredly be there before long, and as none would know that you +were under my protection, you would be slain. Go straight to Abu Hamed; +and when you hear that we have defeated the infidels, and have entered +Berber, leave by this road they have made, upon which, as they tell me, +carriages run without horses, and stay not until you reach Cairo. + +"There you can live quietly, until you hear that the Khalifa's army is +approaching. After that, fly. I cannot say whither, but seek a shelter +until the black flag waves over the whole of the land. When there is no +more fighting, then come to me and I will give you a post of honour." + +"I will do so, Emir. When the time comes, I will remind you of your +promise." + +"I have neither silver nor gold with which I can reward you, now; but +we shall gather these things in Egypt, and I will make you wealthy." + +Zaki thought that it would be unwise to wander from Mahmud's +encampment, and he accordingly sat down by his tent. Presently, one of +the slaves came out, with a large dish of food that Mahmud had sent +him. As evening approached, he went round to Gregory's little tent, +with the intention of trying to persuade him to attempt to escape with +him; but two of the tribesmen, with rifles in their hands, were +stationed there. They offered no opposition to his entry, but their +presence showed that Mahmud was determined that his master should +appear to be a close prisoner; as, indeed, his escape might well +jeopardize the Emir's position, even among his followers. + +Gregory had a letter ready for him to carry to Captain Keppel. It ran +as follows: + +"Dear Captain Keppel, + +"I am a prisoner in Mahmud's hands. This is the result of my own +impetuosity--I will not say folly, for I cannot regret that I yielded +to the sudden impulse that seized me. A boat containing some women was +sunk by a shell, when but a few yards astern of the gunboat. Most of +its occupants were killed, but I saw a woman struggling in the water +and, without thinking of the consequences, jumped overboard to save +her, my servant following me. When we reached her, we found that the +current was too strong to regain the gunboat, and so landed about half +a mile down, hoping to find shelter in the bushes until the boat came +down the stream. What I did, however, had been observed by the +Dervishes; and as soon as I landed a party rode up, headed by Mahmud +himself, who was aware that his favourite wife was in the boat that had +sunk. + +"Most fortunately, it turned out that she was the woman I had saved. +Upon her appeal Mahmud spared our lives. He has released my man, who +will carry this to you; but, having sworn that he would spare no white +man, he retains me in his hands as a prisoner, until he can lay the +facts before the Khalifa and obtain his permission to let me go. I +trust that all will be well, and that some day I may rejoin the army. +However, there is no saying how matters may turn out. + +"I am happy in knowing that there is no one who, if the worst comes to +the worst, will grieve over my loss. I recommend my faithful servant to +you. I should wish the balance of pay coming to me to be handed to him, +as well as my camel and horse, and all other belongings. By the sale of +these he would be able, at the end of the war, to buy a piece of land +and settle down among his own people. + +"Will you kindly report my capture to Colonel Wingate or General +Hunter? Thanking you for your kindness to me, I remain, + +"Yours faithfully, + +"Gregory Hilliard. + +"P. S. In my cabin is a tin box containing documents of importance to +me. I shall be greatly obliged if you will take charge of these, +until--as I hope will be the case--I rejoin you." + +He handed the paper to Zaki, who took his hand and raised it to his +forehead, with tears in his eyes. + +"I go because you order me, master," he said, in a broken voice; "but I +would a thousand times rather remain, and share your fate, whatever it +might be." + +Then he turned, and abruptly left the tent. + +Twice that day, Gregory had received food from a female slave of the +harem. Although he knew that he should miss Zaki greatly, he was very +glad that he had been sent away; for he felt that, although for the +time he had been reprieved, his position was very precarious, and that +his servant's would have been still more so. A white prisoner was a +personage of some consequence, but the death of a Jaalin was a matter +that would disturb no one. Thousands of them had been massacred; and +one, more or less, could not matter at all. But, however much the +Dervishes might hate a white infidel, it would be a serious matter for +even the most powerful Emir to harm a prisoner under the protection of +the harem of the Khalifa's son. + +Mahmud had been very popular among them, but his position had been +gravely shaken by the events of the last six months. Having unlimited +confidence in themselves; the Baggara had seen, with increasing fury, +the unopposed advance of the Egyptians. They could not understand why +they should not have been allowed, after the capture of Metemmeh, to +march across the desert to Merawi, and annihilate the infidels +assembled there. It was true that these had repulsed the force +defending Dongola, but this was a comparatively small body; and it was +the gunboats, and not the Egyptian troops, who had forced them to +evacuate the town. + +The fall of Abu Hamed had added to their discontent, and they were +eager to march with all speed to Berber, to join the five thousand men +comprising its garrison, and to drive the invaders back across the +Nile. + +But they had been kept inactive, by the orders of the Khalifa and by +the want of stores. They had, for months, been suffering great +privations; and while remaining in enforced inactivity, they had known +that their enemy's strength was daily increasing; and that what could +have been accomplished with the greatest of ease, in August, had now +become a very serious business. + +Mahmud had chafed at the situation in which he found himself placed, by +his father's refusal to support him or to allow him to take any action. +This had soured his temper, and he had taken to drinking heavily. He +had become more harsh with his men, more severe in the punishment +inflicted for any trifling disobedience of orders. Although no thought +that the rule of the Khalifa could be seriously threatened entered +their minds, fanatical as they were, they could not but feel some +uneasiness at the prospect. + +A great army was gathering at Berber. Kassala was in the hands of the +British, and the forces that had been beleaguering it had been +defeated, with heavy loss. Abyssinia had leagued itself against them. +The insurrection of the Jaalin had been crushed, but there were signs +of unrest in Kordofan, and other parts. + +Of course, all this would be put right. An army of sixty thousand men +was at Omdurman; and this, with Mahmud's command, would suffice to +sweep away all their enemies. Their enthusiasm would never have +wavered, had they been called upon for action; but these months of +weary waiting, and of semi-starvation, without the acquisition of any +booty or plunder--for little, indeed, had been obtained at the capture +of Metemmeh--sapped their energy; and the force that crossed the Nile +for an advance upon Berber was far less formidable than it would have +been, had it been led forward against Merawi and Dongola directly after +the capture of Metemmeh. Still, it needed only the prospect of a battle +to restore its spirits. + +A fortnight after Gregory's capture, the Dervish army was set in +motion. A few thousand men had already been sent forward, along the +banks of the river, to check any advance that might be made from Fort +Atbara. Had it not been for this, Gregory might have attempted to +escape. It would not have been very difficult for him to creep out at +the back of his little tent, unperceived by his guards; but the dangers +to be encountered in making his way to the British fort would have been +immense. + +It would have been necessary for him to keep by the river, for from +this source alone could water be obtained. The country had been +stripped of its crops, of all kinds, by the Dervishes; the villages had +been razed to the ground; and the last head of maize, and other grain, +gleaned by the starving people who had taken refuge in the bush and +jungle. + +Therefore, although by keeping near the river he could quench his +thirst at will, he would assuredly have to face starvation. Moreover, +he would have no chance of searching for any ears of corn which might +have escaped the eyes of the searchers, for he must travel only by +night and lie up by day, to avoid capture by one or other of the bands +that had gone on; in which case he would at once be killed, being +beyond the influence of Mahmud, and the protection of the harem. + +On the other hand, he had nothing to complain of, except the monotony +and uncertainty of his position. Fatma kept him well supplied with +food; and, from the gossip of the slaves who brought this to him, he +learnt how matters were progressing. He was longing for the Dervish +army to make a move, for he felt that when they neared the British +position, the greater would be the chance of escape; and none among the +followers of Mahmud rejoiced more than he did, when he knew that the +long-expected advance was about to take place. + +Once in motion, the spirits of the Dervishes revived. At last they were +going to meet these insolent invaders, and none doubted that they would +easily defeat them. The greater portion of the harem and attendants +were left behind, at Shendy, for but few camels were available. Fatma +and another of Mahmud's wives rode on one. A tent was carried by +another. Half a dozen slaves followed, and Gregory walked with these. + +He could not help admiring the attitude of the tribesmen--tall, +powerful men, inured to hardship, and walking or riding with an air of +fierce independence, which showed their pride in themselves, and their +confidence in their prowess. + +The party always started early in the morning, so as to get the tents +erected at the halting place before the main body of the Dervishes came +up. On the march, they kept some distance from the river and, being but +a small group, the gunboats did not waste their shot upon them; but +each day there was a sharp exchange of fire between them and Mahmud's +force. + +Gregory supposed that Mahmud's plan was to cross the Atbara, which was +fordable at several points, and to attack the fort there; in which +case, he had no doubt the Arabs would be driven off, with much loss. +The Sirdar was of the same opinion, and in order to tempt them to do +so, he maintained only one Egyptian brigade in the fort, the remainder +of the force being concentrated at Kennur, four miles away. From this +point they would be able to advance and take the Dervishes in flank, +while they were engaged in the attack of the fort. + +Mahmud, however, was kept well informed of the movements of the troops, +and instead of continuing his course down the river bank when he +reached Gabati, he struck across the desert; and, after two days' +march, crossed the Atbara at Nakheila. From this point, owing to the +bend in the river, he would be able to march direct to Berber, avoiding +the Atbara fort and the force gathered round it. + +Altogether the desert march, although only lasting two days, was a +trying one. The heat was overpowering, and even the ladies of the harem +had the scantiest supply of water. They had, at starting, given Gregory +a gourd of water for his own use. This he had taken sparingly, and it +lasted him until they reached the Atbara. + +It was now dead low water, and the river offered no obstacle to +crossing, as the bed was for the most part dry, with pools here and +there. The Arab encampment was formed in a thick grove of trees, which +afforded some shelter from the sun. + +Day after day passed. Mahmud was now informed as to the strength of the +force he should have to encounter, and for the first time felt some +doubt as to the issue of the fight. He determined, therefore, to stand +on the defensive. This decision, however, he kept to himself. The +Dervishes were burning to be led to the assault, and became almost +mutinous, on account of the delay. Mahmud was obliged to take the +strongest measures, and several of those who were loudest in their +dissatisfaction were summarily executed. The rest were pacified with +the assurance that he was only waiting for a fortunate day. + +In the meantime, the men were employed in fortifying the position. Deep +holes were dug along the edge of the wood, and behind these were +trenches and pitfalls. Mahmud's own temper grew daily more sullen and +fierce. His own fighting instinct was in favour of the attack his +followers longed to deliver, but in his heart he was afraid that the +result might be fatal. It was not the rifles of the infantry that he +feared--of these he had no experience--but the artillery, which he had +learned, already, could be used with terrible effect. + +As Mahmud was drinking heavily, and as the fact that the white soldiers +were near at hand added to the fanatical hatred of the emirs and +tribesmen, Fatma sent a message by a slave to Gregory, warning him not +to show himself outside the little shelter tent, composed of a single +blanket, in which he now lived. + +At length it became known that the English host was approaching. As +soon as the gunboats brought down news that the Dervishes were no +longer following the river bank, but were disappearing into the desert, +the Sirdar guessed their intentions. Nothing could have suited him +better. A battle now must be a decisive one. There was no way of +retreat open to the Dervishes, except to cross the waterless desert; or +to fly south, keeping to the course of the Atbara, which would take +them farther and farther from the Nile with every mile they marched. + +Bringing up all his force, therefore, from Kennur and the Atbara fort, +which one battalion was left to guard, the Sirdar took up his post at +Hudi. The position was well chosen. It lay halfway between Mahmud's +camp at Nakheila and the Atbara fort, and left Mahmud only the option +of attacking him; or of making a long detour, through the desert to the +east, in order to reach Berber. The British, on the other hand, could +receive their supplies by camels from the Atbara fort. + +The cavalry went out to reconnoitre, and had constant skirmishes with +the enemy's horse; but when day after day passed, and Mahmud did not +come, as the Sirdar had expected, to attack him, it was determined to +take the offensive. General Hunter was ordered to move forward, with +the whole of the cavalry and a Maxim-gun battery, to discover the exact +position of the enemy. + +The camp had been well chosen; for, like Abu Hamed, it lay in a +depression, and could not be seen until an enemy came within six +hundred yards of it. Thus the superiority of range of the British +rifles was neutralized, and their guns could not be brought into play +until within reach of the Dervish muskets. The wood was surrounded by a +high zareba, behind which a crowd of Dervishes were assembled. They had +anticipated an attack, and held their fire until the cavalry should +come nearer. This, however, General Hunter had no intention of doing, +and he retired with the information he had gained. His account of the +strength of the position showed the difficulty of taking it by assault. + +Next day he again went out with the same force, but this time the +Dervishes were prepared. Their mounted men dashed out from the wood, +and galloped round to cut off the cavalry; while the footmen crowded +out to attack them in front. The cavalry fell back in perfect order, +and one squadron charged forty of the Dervish cavalry, who barred the +line of retreat. These they drove off, but the main body still pressed +forward, and the Maxims opened upon them. The hail of bullets was too +much for the horsemen, and they drew off. Several times they gathered +again for a charge, but on each occasion the Maxims dispersed them. The +unmounted Dervishes were soon left behind, but the horsemen, in spite +of the lesson they had received, followed almost to the camp. + +On the afternoon of the 7th of April, the Anglo-Egyptian force marched +out. They started at five in the afternoon, and halted at seven. The +horses were first taken down to water, the infantry by half battalions; +all then lay down to sleep. At one o'clock the word to advance was +passed round quietly. The moon was full and high overhead, so there was +no difficulty in avoiding obstacles. Each brigade marched in square, +accompanied by the guns and the Maxims, and the camels with provisions +and spare ammunition. + +At four o'clock they halted again. They had been well guided, and were +now but a short distance from the enemy's position. At sunrise the men +were again on their feet, and advanced to within two hundred yards of +the position from which they were to deliver their attack. The British +brigade--the Camerons, Warwicks, Seaforths, and Lincolns--were on the +left. Next to them came Macdonald's brigade--the three Soudanese +regiments in front, the 2nd Egyptian in support. Farther still to the +right, and touching the river, was Maxwell's brigade, comprising also +three Soudanese regiments and an Egyptian one. Two of the three +Egyptian battalions of Lewis's brigade were placed on the left rear of +the British brigade, the third battalion was in square round the +camels. Two field batteries were in front of the infantry, and two to +the right of Maxwell's brigade. + +Half a mile from the zareba the infantry halted, and the artillery and +Maxims opened fire. For an hour a tremendous fire was poured into the +enemy's position, but not a shot was fired in reply, although the +Dervishes could be seen moving among the trees, apparently unconcerned +at the storm of shell and bullets. + +Gregory's position had been growing more critical every day. Food was +extremely short; the scanty supplies that the force had brought with +them had been long since exhausted, and they were now subsisting upon +palm nuts. Of these, two were served out daily to each man, a quantity +barely sufficient to keep life together. In spite of the vigilant watch +kept by the more fanatical of Mahmud's followers, desertions had become +frequent, notwithstanding the certain death that awaited those who were +overtaken. + +The evening after the cavalry made their first reconnaissance, the +slave who brought Gregory's food told him that Fatma wished to speak to +him. It was but three paces to the entrance of the tent, and his guards +made no objection. The entrance was closed as the slave entered, but +half a minute later it was opened an inch or two, and, without showing +herself, Fatma said: + +"Listen to me." + +"I am listening," Gregory replied. + +"I am in great fear for you. You are in much danger. The Emirs say to +Mahmud that you ought to be killed; their followers are well-nigh +starving--why should an infidel prisoner be eating? His friends are now +close to us, and there will be a battle. None will be spared on either +side--why should this man be spared? + +"Mahmud has many cares. The men are furious because he will not lead +them out to fight. Even the emirs are sullen; and Osman Digna, who was +on bad terms with him a short time ago, and who, Mahmud suspects, is +intriguing with them against him, is foremost in urging that an attack +should take place; though everyone knows he is a coward, and never +shows himself in battle, always running away directly he sees that +things are going against him. Still, he has five thousand followers of +his own. + +"Mahmud told me today that he had done all in his power but, placed as +he was, he could not withstand the words of the emirs, and the +complaints of the tribesmen. When the battle comes--as it must come in +a day or two--it will need all his influence and the faith of the men +with him to win; and with so much at stake, how can he risk everything +for the sake of a single life, and that the life of an infidel? If you +would agree to aid in working his guns, as the Greeks and Egyptians do, +it would content the emirs." + +"That I cannot do," Gregory said. "If I am to be killed, it is the will +of God; but better that, a thousand times, than turn traitor!" + +"I knew that it would be so," Fatma said sorrowfully. "What can we do? +At other times, the protection of the harem would cover even one who +had slain a chief; but now that the Baggara are half starving, and mad +with anger and disappointment, even that no longer avails. If they +would brave the anger of the son of the Khalifa, they would not regard +the sanctity of the harem. I wish now that I had advised you to try and +escape when we left Shendy, or even when we first came here. It would +have been difficult, but not impossible; but now I can see no chance. +There is the thorn hedge round the wood, with few openings, and with +men on watch all round to prevent desertion. Several tried to escape +last night--all were caught and killed this morning. Even if it were +possible to pass through, there are bands of horsemen everywhere out on +the plain, keeping watch alike against the approach of the enemy and +the desertion of cowards. + +"I have been in despair, all day, that I cannot save the life of one +who saved mine. I have told Mahmud that my honour is concerned, and +that I would give my life for yours. Months ago, he would have braved +the anger of all his army for me, but he has changed much of late. It +is not that he loves me less, but that he has been worried beyond +bearing, and in his troubles he drinks until he forgets them. + +"My only hope is that your people will attack tomorrow. Mahmud says +that they will assuredly be beaten; they will be shot down as they +approach, and none will ever be able to get through the hedge. Then, +when they fall back, the Baggara will pour out, horse and foot, and +destroy them. They will then see how right he has been in not letting +them go out into the plain to fight. His influence will be restored, +and your life will be safe. + +"We are to be removed to the farther side of the wood, when the +fighting begins; and there all the women are to be gathered, and wait, +till the infidels are utterly destroyed. + +"If your people come tomorrow morning, you may be saved. Otherwise I +fear the worst." + +"I thank you for what you have done for me," replied Gregory, "and +whatever comes of it, be sure that I shall feel grateful to you, and +shall not blame you for not having been able to do what was impossible. +I hope my friends may come tomorrow, for, whatever my fate may be, +anything is better than uncertainty." + +"May Allah protect you!" the woman said, with a sob; "and go now. I +hear Mahmud calling me." + + + +Chapter 12: The Battle Of Atbara. + + +Gregory had little sleep that night. It was clear to him that there was +absolutely no chance of making his escape. Even were his two guards +withdrawn, it would not improve his position. He had no means of +disguise, and even if he had an Arab dress and could stain his face, he +could not hope to make his way through the crowds of sleeping men, the +pitfalls and trenches, and pass out through the jealously guarded +zareba. There was nothing, for him, but to wait till the end. + +He could not blame Mahmud. A leader on the eve of a great battle could +not, for the sake of a single captive, risk his influence and oppose +the wishes of his followers. It was much that he had, for his wife's +sake, postponed the fulfilment of his oath; and had so long withstood +the wishes of his most influential emirs. More could not be expected. +At any rate, he was better off than others who had been in the same +position. He had not, so far as he knew, a relation in the world--no +one who would be anywise affected by his death; and at least he would +have the satisfaction of knowing that it was a kind action which had +brought him to his end. He prayed earnestly, not that his life might be +spared, but that his death might be a painless one; and that he might +meet it as an English officer should, without showing signs of fear. + +The next day he heard orders given, and a great stir in camp; and he +gathered, from those who passed near the tent, that the enemy's cavalry +were again approaching; and that the mounted men were to ride out and +cut them off from retreating, while the dismounted men were to pour out +and annihilate them. Then, for a time, all was silence in the camp. + +Suddenly an outburst of shouts and cries broke out and, almost +simultaneously, he heard the rattle of Maxim guns--the fight had begun. +Would the Egyptian horsemen stand firm, or would they give way to +panic? If they broke and fled, none whatever would return to their camp +through the host of Baggara horsemen. + +For a time, the roll of the fire from the machine guns was incessant. +Then there was a pause. Two or three minutes later it broke out again, +but it was evidently somewhat farther off; and so it went on, with +intervals of silence, but ever getting farther away. It was clear that +the horsemen had not been able to bring the cavalry to a standstill, +and that these were steadily falling back, covered by the fire of the +Maxims. At last the sound grew faint in the distance and, soon +afterwards, the noise in the camp showed that the infantry were +returning. + +It was not till two hours later that he heard the mounted men ride in; +and gathered, from the talk outside, that they had lost nearly two +hundred men, and had been unable to prevent the Egyptian cavalry from +returning to camp. Towards evening he heard angry talking, and could +distinguish Mahmud's voice. Then the blanket was pulled off its +supports, and two men ordered him to follow them. + +This was doubtless the end, and he nerved himself for what was to come; +and, with head erect and a steady face, he accompanied the men to the +front of Mahmud's tent. The chief was standing, with frowning face; and +several Emirs were gathered in front of him, while a number of +tribesmen stood a short distance away. + +"Now," Mahmud said, "let one of you speak." + +One of the Emirs stepped forward. + +"I, Osman Digna, demand that this infidel be put to death. His +countrymen have slain many of my men, and yours." + +Feeling now that Mahmud, after doing his best, had ceased to struggle +for him, and that his death was certain, Gregory took a step forward +towards the speaker, and said scornfully: + +"So you are Osman Digna! I am one of the first of my countrymen to see +your face, though many have seen your back, at a distance." + +Instead of provoking a pistol shot, as he had intended, his remark was +followed by a roar of laughter from the emirs; for Osman's cowardice +was a byword among them, and his nickname was "One who always runs." + +Osman, indeed, had put his hand on the stock of one of the pistols in +his belt, but Mahmud said imperiously: + +"The man's life is mine, not yours, Osman Digna. If you shoot him, I +shoot you!" + +The fearlessness of the lad had pleased the other emirs; for, +recklessly brave themselves, the Baggara appreciated and esteemed +courage and honour. One of the others said: + +"This is a brave young fellow and, infidels as his people are, we admit +that they are brave. Were it for ourselves only, we would say let him +live, until we see what comes of it. But our people complain. They say +his folk, with whom we had no quarrel, come here and aid the Egyptians +against us. They slew many yesterday. It is not right that this man +should be living among us, when his countrymen are fighting against +us." + +There was a murmur of assent among the others, then Mahmud spoke. + +"I have promised that he should not be killed, unless by order of the +Khalifa. But this I will do: he shall be placed in the front rank. If +Allah wills it, he will be killed by the bullets of his countrymen. If, +when the fight is over, he is unharmed, you shall all agree that the +matter be left for the Khalifa to decide. But, mind, I wash my hands of +his death. On the eve of a battle, it is not for me to set my wishes +above those of my emirs and my tribesmen; and I yield to your demands, +because it is necessary that all be of one mind. If he is killed, which +surely he will be, unless Allah protects him, his blood be upon your +heads!" + +He waved his hand, and the men came forward and again took Gregory to +his tent. + +The latter was well contented with the decision that he should be +killed. He had no doubt that, at least, his death would be swift and +sudden; he would not be speared, or cut to pieces with knives. He would +see his countrymen advancing. He would know that he would be speedily +avenged. + +Two days passed, when the news came that the Egyptians had advanced to +Umdabieh, seven miles nearer; and, on the following morning, the +Dervish camp was disturbed early. There was joy in every face, and +renewed vigour in the bearing of the men. Scouting Dervishes had +brought in word that the infidels had marched, during the night, and +were now halting but a mile and a half away. + +The hour had come, at last. They were confident in themselves, and +their trust in their leader was renewed. The fight, two days before, +had shown them that the guns of the white men were terrible on the +plain; and that it was, after all, wise to await them in the position +which had been made impregnable, and against which the foe would hurl +themselves in vain; then they were to pour out, and annihilate them. + +The slave came to Gregory's tent, at daybreak. + +"Fatma is praying to Allah for your safety," he said. + +There was no time for more, for already the tents were being pulled +down, and soon the women were hurried away to the rear. Four men +surrounded Gregory, and led him to the edge of the camp, and there +fastened him to the stump of a tree that had been cut off six feet from +the ground, the upper portion being used in the construction of the +zareba. Ten or twelve men were similarly fastened, in a line with him. +These had been detected in trying to sneak away. + +Gregory had not seen anything of the camp before and, as he was taken +along, he was astounded at the amount of work that had been done. +Everywhere the ground was pitted with deep holes, capable of sheltering +from fifteen to twenty men. The hedge was a high one, and was formed +for the most part of prickly bushes. The position was, indeed, a +formidable one; manned, as it was, by nearly twenty thousand desperate +fighters. + +At six o'clock the first gun was fired; and, for an hour and a half, +the camp was swept with shell, shrapnel, and Maxim bullets. Most of the +Baggara were lying in the pits. Many, however, walked about calmly, as +if in contempt of the fire. More than half of the wretched men bound to +the trees were killed. + +At last the fire of the guns slackened and, on the crest of the +position, in a semicircle round the wood, a long line of steadily +marching men appeared. The assault was about to begin. + +The Dervishes sprang from their hiding places, and lined the trenches +behind the zareba. The troops halted, and waited. The Maxims moved in +front of the British brigade, and then opened fire. A bugle sounded, +and the whole line, black and white, advanced like a wall. When within +three hundred yards, the men knelt down and opened fire, in volleys of +sections. At the same instant the Dervishes, with difficulty restrained +until now, opened fire in return. + +The Maxims, and the storm of British bullets swept the wood, filling +the air with a shower of falling leaves. Gregory murmured a prayer, +shut his eyes, and awaited death. + +Suddenly he felt his ropes slacken and fall from him, and a voice said, +"Drop on your face, master!" + +Almost mechanically he obeyed, too astonished even to think what was +happening; then a body fell across him. + +"Lie still and don't move, master. They must think you are dead." + +"Is it you, Zaki?" Gregory said, scarcely able, even now, to believe +that it was his faithful follower. + +"It is I, master. I have been in the camp three days, and have never +had a chance of getting near you, before." + +"Brave fellow! good friend!" Gregory said, and then was silent. + +Speech was almost inaudible, amid the roar of battle. The pipes of the +Camerons could, however, be heard above the din. The men advanced +steadily, in line, maintaining their excellent volley firing. The three +other regiments, in close order, followed; bearing away farther to the +right, so as to be able to open fire and advance. On that side the +black regiments were advancing no less steadily, and the half brigade +of Egyptians were as eager as any. Steadily and well under control, all +pushed forward at a run; firing occasionally, but thirsting to get hand +to hand with those who had desolated their land, destroyed their +villages, and slain their friends. + +The British were suffering, but the blacks suffered more; for the +volleys of the Camerons kept down the fire of those opposed to them, +better than the irregular fire of the Soudanese. The latter, however, +first reached the zareba; and, regardless of thorns or of fire, dashed +through it with triumphant shouts, and fell upon the defenders. + +It was but a minute or two later that the Camerons reached the hedge. +Formidable as it looked, it took them but a short time to tear down +gaps, through which they rushed; while close behind them the Seaforths, +the Lincolns, and the Warwicks were all in, bursting through the low +stockade and trenches behind it, and cheering madly. + +Now, from their holes and shelters, the Dervishes started up. Brave +though they were, the storm that had burst upon them with such +suddenness scared them, and none attempted to arrest the course of the +Highlanders and red coats. Firing as they ran, the Dervishes made for +the river. Many remained in their pits till the last, firing at the +soldiers as they rushed past, and meeting their death at the point of +the bayonet. + +Hotly the troops pursued, often falling into the pits, which were half +hidden by thorns and long grass. There was no attempt at regularity in +these holes--nothing to show where they were. It was a wild and +confused combat. The officers kept their men as well together as it was +possible, on such ground; but it was sharp work, for from flank and +rear, as well as in front, the shots rang out from their hidden foes, +and these had to be despatched as they pushed forward. + +As the troops burst through, Gregory sprang to his feet, seized a rifle +that had dropped from the hands of a Dervish who had fallen close by +and--shouting to Zaki "Lie still as if dead!"--joined the first line of +troops. No questions were asked. Every man's attention was fixed on the +work before him, and no thought was given to this white officer, who +sprang from they knew not where. He had no cartridges, and the +Dervishes did not carry bayonets; but, holding the rifle club-wise, he +kept in the front line, falling into pits and climbing out again, +engaged more than once with desperate foemen. + +Striking and shouting, he fought on until the troops reached the river +bank; and, having cleared all before them, poured volleys into the mass +of fugitives crossing its dry bed. Other hordes were seen away to the +left, similarly driven out by Lewis's Egyptians, by whom a terrible +fire was kept up until the last of the fugitives disappeared in the +scrub on the opposite bank, leaving the river bed thickly dotted with +dead bodies; while, on the right, Macdonald's and Maxwell's blacks +similarly cleared the wood. + +Then the Soudanese and whites alike burst into cheers. Men shook each +other by the hand, while they waved their helmets over their heads. The +Soudanese leapt and danced like delighted children. Presently an +officer left a group of others, who had been congratulating each other +on their glorious victory, and came up to Gregory. + +"May I ask who you are, sir?" he said, courteously but coldly. + +"Certainly, sir. My name is Hilliard. I have been a captive in the +hands of the Dervishes; who, when you attacked, tied me to the stump of +a tree as a target for your bullets; and I should certainly have been +killed, had not a faithful servant of mine, a black, taken the +opportunity, when the Dervishes rushed into the trenches and opened +fire upon you, to cut my ropes. + +"I have no doubt, sir," he went on, as he saw the officer look somewhat +doubtful, "that General Hunter is here. I am known personally to him, +and served for a time on his staff." + +"That is quite sufficient," the officer said, more cordially. "I +congratulate you on your escape. I confess it astonished us all, when a +strange white officer, whom none of us knew, suddenly joined us. You +will find General Hunter somewhere over on the left. He is certain to +have led the charge of the Soudanese." + +"Thank you! I will go and find him; but first, I must return to where I +left my man. He had, of course, the Mahdist's patch on his clothes; and +I told him to lie still, as if dead, till I came for him; as, in the +melee, it would have been impossible for me to have protected him." + +Gregory found Zaki still lying where he left him, head downward and +arms thrown forward; in so good an imitation of death that he feared, +for a moment, the lad had been shot after he left him. At the sound of +his master's voice, however, the native sprang to his feet. + +"You have saved my life, Zaki," Gregory said, taking his hand. "I must +have fallen--every man tied to a tree is, as you see, dead; but before +we say anything else, cut that patch off your clothes, or you might be +shot as a Dervish by the first man you come across. + +"Keep close to me. I am going to General Hunter. At present, I know +none of the officers of the white regiments. When I get among the +Soudanese, I shall be more at home." + +In ten minutes, he came to where General Hunter was speaking to the +Sirdar. Gregory stopped at a short distance, before the general's eyes +fell upon him, and he gave an exclamation of pleasure. + +"That is Hilliard, General; the young fellow who jumped from one of the +gunboats, off Metemmeh, to rescue the woman. The act was unnoticed at +the time, but a black he had with him was released, and brought word +that his master was a prisoner in their camp." + +"I heard of it, at the time," the Sirdar said, and motioned to Gregory +to come up. "I am glad to find that you have escaped the fate we feared +had befallen you, but your action was altogether wrong. An officer's +life is no longer his own, but belongs to the country he serves; and +you had no right whatever to risk it when on duty, even in an action +which, at any other time, would do you great credit." + +He spoke sharply and sternly. Gregory again saluted. + +"I knew afterwards that I had done wrong, sir; but I did not stop to +think, and acted on the impulse of the moment." + +"That may be," the Sirdar said; "but officers should think, and not act +on the impulse of the moment." + +Gregory again saluted, and fell back. Three or four minutes later, the +two generals separated. General Hunter came up to him, and shook him +warmly by the hand. + +"You must not mind what the Sirdar said, Hilliard. It was a very noble +action, and did you credit, and I can assure you that that was the +opinion of all who knew you; but to the Sirdar, you know, duty is +everything, and I think you are lucky in not being sent down, at once, +to the base. However, he said to me, after you had left him: + +"'I shall be too busy this evening, but bring the young fellow with +you, tomorrow evening. I must hear how it was that Mahmud spared him.' + +"I told him that I understood, from your black, that the woman was +Mahmud's favourite wife, and that she took you under her care. + +"By the way, have you heard that Mahmud is captured? Yes, he is caught, +which is a great satisfaction to us; for his being sent down, a +prisoner, will convince the tribesmen that we have gained a victory, as +to which they would otherwise be incredulous. I hear that the Egyptian +brigade, which was to the extreme left, has captured Mahmud's wife, and +a great number of women." + +"With your permission, sir, I will go over there at once, and ask +Colonel Lewis that she may receive specially good treatment. She has +been extremely kind to me, and it is to her influence over Mahmud that +I owe my life. Up to this morning Mahmud would have spared me, but +Osman Digna insisted that I should be killed, and he was obliged to +give way. They fastened me to a tree behind the trench, just inside the +zareba, and I should certainly have been killed by our own musketry +fire, had not my boy, who had come into the camp in disguise, cut my +cords. I fell as if shot, and he threw himself down on me; until the +Camerons burst in, when I at once joined them, and did what little I +could in the fight." + +"I will give you a line to Colonel Lewis, to tell him that Mahmud's +wife, whom you will point out, is to be treated with respect; and that +her people may be allowed to make her an arbour of some sort, until the +Sirdar decides what is to be done with her. Probably she will be sent +down to Berber. No doubt we shall all fall back." + +"Then you will not pursue, sir?" + +"No. The cavalry have already gone off in pursuit of their horsemen, +but they are not likely to catch them; for we hear that Osman Digna is +with them, and he seems to enjoy a special immunity from capture. As +for the other poor beggars, we could not do it if we wanted to. I +expect the campaign is over, for the present. Certainly, nothing can be +done till the railway is completed; then the gunboats can tow the +native craft, abreast of us, as we march along the river bank. + +"Shendy has been captured, and we found twelve thousand Jaalin +prisoners there, women and children, and a large quantity of stores. +That is what makes the position of the Dervish fugitives so hopeless. +There is nothing before them but to find their way across the desert to +Omdurman, and I fancy that few of them will get there alive. + +"No doubt some will keep along by the Atbara, and others by the Nile. +The latter will have the best chance, for the friendlies at Kassala +will be on the lookout for fugitives. I am sorry for the poor wretches, +though they richly deserve the worst that can befall them. They have +never shown mercy. For twenty years they have murdered, plundered, and +desolated the whole land, and have shown themselves more ferocious and +merciless than wild beasts." + +He took out his pocketbook, wrote the order to Colonel Lewis; and then, +tearing the leaf out, handed it to Gregory, who at once made his way, +followed closely by Zaki, to the spot where two Egyptian battalions had +halted. They had no difficulty in finding Colonel Lewis, who was +receiving a report, from the officers of the two battalions, of the +casualties they had sustained. Gregory had met the Colonel several +times, at Berber, and the latter recognized him at once. + +"Ah! Major Hilliard," that officer said, as he came up; "I am glad to +see you. I heard that you had been captured by the Dervishes, and +killed; but I suppose, as I see you here, that it was only the usual +canard." + +"No, sir. I was captured; but, as you see, not killed, though it has +been a pretty close thing. This is a note, sir, that General Hunter +requested me to give you." + +Colonel Lewis read the order. + +"The women are down over there, a couple of hundred yards away," he +said. "I will send a sergeant and four men with you. If you will point +out Mahmud's wife, I will see that she is made as comfortable as +possible." + +"Thank you, sir! It is to her I owe my life, and I am most anxious to +do all I can to repay the debt." + +"You came along through the other brigades. Do you know what their +losses have been?" + +"The British losses are not heavy, sir, considering the fire they have +been exposed to. Macdonald's brigade suffered most, I believe." + +"Yes; I saw one of the officers just now. It seems they came down upon +Mahmud's picked bodyguard, and these fought desperately. They found +Mahmud in the usual attitude in which the Dervish emirs await death, +when they are conquered. He was sitting quietly on his mat, with his +arms laid down beside him; and was, I should imagine, somewhat +surprised at finding that he was not cut to pieces, at once." + +"I am glad he was not, sir, for he certainly behaved well to me. It was +through the influence of his wife, I admit; but in sparing me he really +risked serious disaffection among his followers, and at last gave way +only to coercion." + +The sergeant and men had now come up, and Gregory went off with them. +Three or four hundred women were seated on the ground together, with +half a dozen Egyptian soldiers standing as sentry over them. More or +less closely veiled as they were, Gregory could not distinguish Fatma +among them; and indeed, except when he first reached her in the water, +he had not got a glimpse of her features. The question, however, was +speedily settled when a woman rose, in the middle of the group, with a +cry of gladness. + +"So you are saved!" she exclaimed, "I have feared so that you were +killed. Have you news of Mahmud?" + +"Yes, lady. He is a prisoner, but well and unharmed. I have obtained an +order, from the General, that you are to be treated with honours, as +his wife. We cannot do much for you, at present, but all that is +possible will be done. I have represented your kindness to me, and +these soldiers will at once erect an arbour for you, and food will be +brought for you all, as soon as matters have settled down a little." + +The Egyptian soldiers had already begun to cut down saplings. +Accustomed as they were to the work, in half an hour they had erected +an arbour. Fatma was then assisted into it, with the other women of the +harem. The sergeant gave orders, to the sentries, that no one was to be +allowed to interfere in any way with them; and then Gregory took his +leave, saying that he would return, later on. + +He again joined General Hunter, who seemed to be his natural chief, now +that his service in the gunboat was over. + +The list of casualties was now being brought in. The Camerons, who had +led the attack in line, had lost most heavily. They had fifteen killed +and forty-six wounded, among them being two officers killed, and one +mortally wounded. The Seaforths had one officer killed and one mortally +wounded, and four others less severely; in all, six killed and +twenty-seven wounded. The Lincolns had one killed and eighteen wounded; +the Warwicks two killed and eighteen wounded. Many of the wounded +afterwards died. + +The Egyptians had lost more heavily. The casualties among them were +fifty-seven killed; and four British and sixteen native officers, and +three hundred and sixty-seven non-commissioned officers and men, +wounded. + +The Dervish loss was terrible. Three thousand men were killed, among +whom were nearly all the emirs; and two thousand were taken prisoners. +The rest were hopeless fugitives, and a vast number of these must have +been wounded. + +There was but a short rest for the troops. When the wounded had been +collected, and carried to a neighbouring palm grove, where the surgeons +did all that could then be done for them; and the trophies of the +fight--banners and spears, guns of all sorts, swords and knives--had +been gathered, principally by the exultant Soudanese and Egyptians, the +force prepared for a start. + +"May I ask, General, what is to be done with the women?" Gregory said. + +"I have been speaking to the Sirdar about them, and I was just going to +ask you to go with me to them. They are, of course, not to be +considered as prisoners. They cannot stay here, for they would die of +hunger. Therefore they had best follow the troops, at any rate as far +as the Atbara camp. They will have food given them, and must then +decide for themselves what they are to do. It is a difficult question, +altogether. The only thing that can, at present, be settled is that +they mustn't be allowed to die of hunger, and they must be protected +against molestation. + +"The troops will march at four o'clock. The Egyptian brigade have +volunteered to carry the wounded. They will start later. The women had +better follow them. No doubt, some of them will find their husbands +among the prisoners, so that there will be no trouble about them." + +"What will be done with the men, sir?" + +The General smiled. + +"Tomorrow they will probably enlist in our service, to a man, and will +fight just as sturdily as the other Soudanese battalions, against their +brethren in Khartoum. All the prisoners we have hitherto taken who are +fit for the work have done so; and, as has been shown today, are just +as ready to fight on our side as they were against us. They are a +fighting people, and it is curious how they become attached to their +white officers, whom formerly they hated as infidels." + +When the matter was explained to them, the women accepted the situation +with the resignation that is natural to the Mahometan woman. Gregory +was able to assure Fatma that, in a short time, she would undoubtedly +be allowed to join Mahmud, and accompany him wherever he was sent. + +"But will they not kill him?" she said. + +"We never kill prisoners. Even the bitterest enemy that may fall into +our hands is well treated. Mahmud will doubtless be sent down to Cairo, +and it will then be settled where he is to be taken to; but you may be +sure that, wherever it may be, he will be well treated and cared for." + +"In that case, I shall be happy," she said. "When you saved me, I saw +that the ways of you Christians were better than our ways. Now I see it +still more. To be always raiding, and plundering, and killing cannot be +good. It used to seem to me natural and right, but I have come to think +differently." + +At four o'clock the troops marched. At Gregory's request, he was +allowed to remain behind and accompany the Egyptians. He had bought for +a few shillings, from the soldiers, a dozen donkeys that had been found +alive in some of the pits. These he handed over to Fatma, for her +conveyance and that of the wives of some of the emirs, who were of the +party. + +The Egyptians started at half-past eight, carrying their own wounded +and those of the British. By the route by which the army had marched, +the night before, the distance was but nine miles; but there had been +some rough places to pass, and to avoid these, where the wounded might +have suffered from jolting, they made a circuit, thereby adding three +miles to the length of the march; and did not reach Umdabieh camp until +two o'clock in the morning. General Hunter, who never spared himself, +rode with them and acted as guide. + +During the fight he, Colonel Macdonald, and Colonel Maxwell had ridden +at the head of their brigades, the white regimental officers being on +foot with the men, as was their custom; and it was surprising that the +three conspicuous figures had all come through the storm of fire +unscathed. + +The next morning was a quiet one, and in the afternoon all marched off +to the old camp, at Abadar. On Sunday they rested, and on Monday the +British brigade marched to Hudi, and then across the desert to Hermali, +where they were to spend the summer. The Sirdar rode, with the Egyptian +brigades, to Fort Atbara. Macdonald's brigade was to go on to garrison +Berber, Maxwell's to Assillem, and that of Lewis to remain at Atbara. + +The question of the prisoners was already half solved. Almost all of +them willingly embraced the offer to enlist in the Egyptian army. Many +of the women found their husbands among the prisoners. Others agreed, +at once, to marry men of the Soudanese battalion. The rest, pending +such offers as they might receive in the future, decided to remain at +Atbara. At Berber their lot would have been a hard one, for they would +have been exposed to the hatred and spite of the Jaalin women there, +whose husbands had been massacred at Metemmeh. + +Fatma, with two attendants only, accompanied Macdonald's brigade to +Berber. On arriving outside the town, the force encamped. Next day the +Sirdar, with his staff and General Hunter, came up; and, on the +following morning, made a triumphant entry into the town, followed by +the Soudanese brigade. + +Berber was prepared to do honour to the occasion. Flags waved, coloured +cloths and women's garments hung from the windows, and the whole +population lined the streets, and received the conquerors with cries of +welcome and triumph. They had anticipated a very different result, and +had fully expected that the army would have been well-nigh annihilated; +and that, again, the triumphant Dervishes would become their masters. +But the sight of Mahmud walking, a prisoner, with two guards on each +side of him, convinced them that the reports that had reached them were +true, that the Dervishes had been signally defeated, and that there was +no fear of their ever again becoming lords of Berber. + +The Sirdar, by whose side General Hunter rode, headed the procession, +followed by his staff. Then, leading his brigade, came Macdonald--stern +and hard of face, burnt almost black with years of campaigning in the +desert--and his staff, followed by the black battalions, erect and +proud, maintaining their soldierly bearing amid the loud quavering +cries of welcome from the women. + +Gregory had, on his arrival with the brigade the day before, gone into +the town; and engaged a small house, in its outskirts, as the abode of +Fatma and her two attendants, purchased suitable provisions, and made +what arrangements he could for her comfort. Late in the evening he had +escorted her there, and left Zaki to sleep in an outhouse attached to +it, to secure them from all intrusion. + +Then he went down to the river and, finding the Zafir lying there, went +on board. He was received as one returned from the dead by Captain +Keppel, Lieutenant Beatty, and Lieutenant Hood--the commanders of the +other gunboats--who had been dining on board. He had become a general +favourite, during the time he had spent with them, and their +congratulations on his safe return were warm and hearty. + +"You may imagine our surprise when, after the fight was over," said +Captain Keppel, "it was discovered that you were missing. No one could +imagine what had become of you. One of the blacks who had been working +your Maxim said they had not noticed your leaving them; and that, when +they found you were not there, they supposed you had come to confer +with me. Then I sent for your man; but he, too, was missing. We +searched everywhere, but no signs of you, dead or alive, and no marks +of blood were to be found. So it seemed that the matter must remain a +mystery. Early the next morning, however, we saw a white rag waving on +the bank, and then a black entered the water and swam out towards us. I +sent the boat to meet him, and when he came on board I found that he +was your man, and the mystery was explained. I fancy I used some strong +language; for I never before heard of a man being so hare-brained as to +spring overboard, in the middle of a battle, and pick up a woman, +without saying a word to anyone of what he was doing, and that with the +boat still steaming ahead. Of course, your man told us that it was +Mahmud's wife you had saved, and that she had taken you under her +protection; but I did not expect that, among those fanatics, your life +would be spared. + +"Now, tell us all about your adventures, and how you got down here just +in time to see our fellows enter, in triumph. I suppose you managed to +give them the slip, somehow?" + +Gregory then told his story. When he had concluded, Captain Keppel +said: + +"Well, you have the luck of the old one! First, you have got hold of as +faithful a fellow as is to be found in all Egypt, or anywhere else; +and, in the second place, you have been in the battle of Atbara, while +we have been kicking our heels here, and fuming at being out of it +altogether, except for our bloodless capture of Shendy. + +"So you say the Sirdar blew you up? I am not surprised at that. You +know the story of the man who fell overboard, in the old flogging days, +and the captain sentenced him to two dozen lashes, for leaving the ship +without orders." + +"I don't think he was really angry; for when I went to him, the next +evening, he was a good deal milder. Of course, he did say again that I +had done wrong, but not in the same tone as before; and he seemed a +good deal interested in what I told him about Mahmud, and how my boy +had risked his life to rescue me, and had succeeded almost by a +miracle. He said there is a lot of good in these black fellows, if one +could but get at it. They have never had a chance yet; but, given good +administration, and the suppression of all tribal feuds with a stern +hand, they might be moulded into anything." + +"And are you coming back to us now, Mr. Hilliard?" + +"I have no idea. I don't suppose anything will be settled, for a time. +There is not likely to be much doing, anyway, except on the railway; +and even your gunboats will have an easy time of it, as there is not an +enemy left on this side of the sixth cataract. + +"The Dervishes who escaped are pretty sure to cross the Atbara. There +are enough of them still, when they rally, to beat off any attacks that +might be made by our tribesmen from Kassala." + + + +Chapter 13: The Final Advance. + + +A few days after the return of headquarters to Berber, Mahmud was sent +down country, and Fatma was permitted to accompany him. She expressed +to Gregory, in touching terms, her gratitude for what he had done for +her. + +"We have been of mutual assistance," said Gregory. "I have the same +reason to be grateful to you, as you have to thank me. I saved your +life, and you saved mine. You were very kind to me, when I was a +captive--I have done as much as I could for you, since you have been +with us. So we are quits. I hope you will be happy with Mahmud. We do +not treat our prisoners badly, and except that he will be away from the +Soudan, he will probably be more comfortable than he has ever been in +his life." + +Gregory was now employed in the transport department, and journeyed +backwards and forwards, with large convoys of camels, to the head of +the railway. The line was completed to Berber, but the officers charged +with its construction were indefatigable; and, as fast as the materials +came up, it was pushed on towards the Atbara. Complete as had been the +victory on that river, the Sirdar saw that the force which had been +sufficient to defeat the twenty thousand men, under Mahmud, was not +sufficiently strong for the more onerous task of coping with three +times that number, fighting under the eye of the Khalifa, and certain +to consist of his best and bravest troops. He therefore telegraphed +home for another British brigade, and additional artillery, with at +least one regiment of cavalry--an arm in which the Egyptian Army was +weak. + +Preparations were at once made for complying with the request. The 21st +Lancers, 1st battalion of Grenadier Guards, 2nd battalion of the Rifle +Brigade, 2nd battalion of the 5th Lancashire Fusiliers, a field +battery, a howitzer battery, and two forty-pounders, to batter the +defences of Omdurman, should the Khalifa take his stand, were sent. A +strong detachment of the Army Service Corps and the Royal Army Medical +Corps was to accompany them, but they had yet some months to wait, for +the advance would not be made until the Nile was full, and the gunboats +could ascend the cataract. + +However, there was much to be done, and the troops did not pass the +time in idleness. Atbara Fort was to be the base, and here the Egyptian +battalions built huts and storehouses. The Soudanese brigades returned +to Berber, and the transport of provisions and stores for them was thus +saved. The British at Darmali were made as comfortable as possible, and +no effort was spared to keep them in good health, during the ensuing +hot weather. A small theatre was constructed, and here smoking concerts +were held. There was also a race meeting, and one of the steamers took +parties, of the men who were most affected by the heat, for a trip down +the Nile. They were practised in long marches early in the morning, and +although, of course, there was some illness, the troops on the whole +bore the heat well. + +Had there been a prospect of an indefinitely long stay, the result +might have been otherwise; but they knew that, in a few months, they +would be engaged in even sterner work than the last battle, that +Khartoum was their goal, and with its capture the power of the Khalifa +would be broken for ever, and Gordon avenged. + +Early in April the railway reached Abadia, a few miles from Berber, and +in a short time a wonderful transformation took place here. From a +sandy desert, with scarce a human being in sight, it became the scene +of a busy industry. Stores were sorted and piled as they came up by +rail. + +Three gunboats arrived in sections, and these were put together. They +were stronger, and much better defended by steel plates than the first +gunboats; and each of them carried two six-pounder quick-firing guns, a +small howitzer, four Maxims, and a searchlight. They were, however, +much slower than the old boats, and could do very little in the way of +towing. + +Besides these, eight steel double-deck troop barges were brought up, in +sections, and put together. Three Egyptian battalions came up from +Merawi to aid in the work, which not only included building the +gunboats and barges, but executing the repairs to all the native craft, +and putting them in a thoroughly serviceable state. + +In June the railway reached the Atbara, and for the first time for two +years and a half, the officers who had superintended its construction +had a temporary rest. The stores were now transferred from Abadia to +the Atbara, and two trains ran every day, each bringing up something +like two hundred tons of stores. + +In the middle of July two Egyptian battalions left Atbara and proceeded +up the Nile, one on each bank, cutting down trees and piling them for +fuel for the steamers. As the river rose, four steamers came up from +Dongola, together with a number of sailing boats; and in the beginning +of August the whole flotilla, consisting of ten gunboats, five unarmed +steamers, eight troop barges, and three or four hundred sailing boats, +were all assembled. + +By this time the reinforcements from home were all at Cairo, and their +stores had already been sent up. It was arranged that they were to come +by half battalions, by squadrons, and by batteries, each one day behind +the other. To make room for them, two Egyptian battalions were sent up +to the foot of the Shabluka cataract. + +The six black battalions left Berber on July 30th, and arrived at +Atbara the next day. There were now four brigades in the infantry +divisions instead of three, two battalions having been raised from the +Dervishes taken at the battle of Atbara. These were as eager as any to +join in the fight against their late comrades. + +This was scarcely surprising. The Baggara, the tyrants of the desert, +are horsemen. The infantry were, for the most part, drawn from the +conquered tribes. They had enlisted in the Khalifa's force partly +because they had no other means of subsistence, partly from their +innate love of fighting. They had, in fact, been little better than +slaves; and their condition, as soldiers in the Egyptian Army, was +immeasurably superior to that which they had before occupied. + +Broadwood, with nine squadrons of Egyptian cavalry, was already on the +western bank of the river opposite Atbara; and was to be joined at +Metemmeh by the camel corps, and another squadron of horse from Merawi. + +On the 3rd of August the six Soudanese battalions left Fort Atbara for +the point of concentration, a few miles below the cataract. To the +sides of each gunboat were attached two of the steel barges; behind +each were two native craft. All were filled as tightly as they could be +crammed with troops. They were packed as in slavers, squatting by the +side of each other as closely as sardines in a box. The seven steamers +and the craft they took with them contained six thousand men, so +crowded that a spectator remarked that planks might have been laid on +their heads, and that you could have walked about on them; while +another testified that he could not have shoved a walking stick between +them anywhere. White men could not have supported it for an hour, but +these blacks and Egyptians had a hundred miles to go, and the steamers +could not make more than a knot an hour against the rapid stream, now +swollen to its fullest. + +While they were leaving, the first four companies of the Rifle Brigade +arrived. Every day boats laden with stores went forward, every day +white troops came up. Vast as was the quantity of stores sent off, the +piles at Atbara did not seem to diminish. Ninety days' provisions, +forage, and necessaries for the whole force had been accumulated there, +and as fast as these were taken away they were replaced by others from +Berber. + +Like everyone connected with the transport or store department, Gregory +had to work from daybreak till dark. Accustomed to a warm climate, +light in figure, without an ounce of spare flesh, he was able to +support the heat, dust, and fatigue better than most; and, as he +himself said, it was less trying to be at work, even in the blazing +sun, than to lie listless and sweating under the shade of a blanket. +There was no necessity, now, to go down the line to make enquiries as +to the progress of the stores, or of the laden craft on their way up. +the telegraph was established, and the Sirdar, at Atbara, knew the +exact position of every one of the units between Cairo and himself; and +from every station he received messages constantly, and despatched his +orders as frequently. + +There was no hitch, whatever. The arrangements were all so perfect that +the vast machine, with its numerous parts, moved with the precision of +clockwork. Everything was up to time. For a train or steamer, or even a +native boat, to arrive half an hour after the time calculated for it, +was almost unheard of. + +The Sirdar's force of will seemed to communicate itself to every +officer under him, and it is safe to say that never before was an +expedition so perfectly organized, and so marvellously carried out. At +Atbara the Sirdar saw to everything himself. A brief word of +commendation, to those working under him, cheered them through long +days of toil--an equally curt reproof depressed them to the depths. + +Twice, when Gregory was directing some of the blacks piling large +cases, as they were emptied from the train; anathematizing the stupid, +urging on the willing, and himself occasionally lending a hand in order +to show how it should be done; the Sirdar, who, unknown to him, had +been looking on, rode up and said shortly, "You are doing well, Mr. +Hilliard!"--and he felt that his offence of jumping overboard had been +condoned. + +General Hunter, himself indefatigable, had more occasion to notice +Gregory's work; and his commendations were frequent, and warm. + +The lad had not forgotten the object with which he had come to the +front. After Atbara, he had questioned many of the prisoners who, from +their age, might have fought at El Obeid; but none of these had done +so. The forces of the Khalifa came and went, as there was occasion for +them. The Baggara were always under arms, but only when danger +threatened were the great levies of foot assembled; for it would have +been impossible, in the now desolate state of the Soudan, to find food +for an army of a hundred thousand men. + +All agreed, however, that, with the exception of the Egyptian +artillerymen, they heard that no single white man had escaped. Numbers +of the black soldiers had been made slaves. The whites had +perished--all save one had fallen on the field. That one had +accompanied a black battalion, who had held together and, repulsing all +attacks, had marched away. They had been followed, however, and after +repeated attacks had dwindled away, until they had finally been broken +and massacred. + +With the Khalifa's army were several emirs who had fought at El Obeid; +and these would, no doubt, be able to tell him more; but none of those +who were taken prisoners, at the Atbara, had heard of any white man +having escaped the slaughter of Hicks's army. + +Just as the general movement began, the force was joined by three +companies of Soudanese. These had marched from Suakim to Berber, two +hundred and eighty-eight miles, in fifteen days, an average of nineteen +miles a day--a record for such a march, and one that no European force +could have performed. One day, after marching thirty miles, they came +to a well and found it dry, and had to march thirty miles farther to +another water hole, a feat probably altogether without precedent. + +"You had better fall back upon your old work, Hilliard," the General +said, the day before they started. "As my aide I shall find plenty for +you to do, now that I command the whole division." + +"Thank you very much, sir! I don't think that I shall find any work +hard, after what I have been doing for the past four months." + +"You have got your horse?" + +"Yes; he is in good condition, for I have had no riding to do, for some +time." + +"Well, you had better get him on board one of the gyasses we shall tow +up, tomorrow. All our horses will embark this evening. We shall be on +board at daybreak. Our private camels are going with the marching +column; you had better put yours with them. No doubt they will join us +somewhere. Of course, your kit will be carried with us." + +It was a delight to Gregory to be on the water again. There was +generally a cool breeze on the river, and always an absence of dust. He +was now halfway between seventeen and eighteen, but the sun had tanned +him to a deep brown, and had parched his face; thus adding some years +to his appearance, so that the subalterns of the newly-arrived +regiments looked boyish beside him. The responsibilities of his work +had steadied him, and though he retained his good spirits, his laugh +had lost the old boyish ring. The title of Bimbashi, which had seemed +absurd to him seven months before, was now nothing out of the way, for +he looked as old as many of the British subalterns serving with that +rank in the Egyptian army. + +Returning to the little hut that Zaki, with the aid of some of the +blacks, had built for him; he gave his orders, and in a short time the +camel--a very good one, which he had obtained in exchange for that +which he had handed over to the transport--started, with its driver, to +join those that were to carry up the baggage and stores of General +Hunter, and his staff. These were in charge of a sergeant and three +privates, of one of the Soudanese battalions. Gregory had got up a case +of whisky, one of bottled fruit, and a stock of tea and sugar from +Berber. No tents could be carried, and he left his tente d'abri at the +stores with his canteen; taking on board, in his own luggage, a plate, +knife, fork, and spoon, and a couple of tumblers. When the camels had +started, he saw his horse put on board, and then took a final stroll +round the encampment. + +The change that had occurred there, during the past fortnight, was +striking. Then none but black faces could be seen. Now it was the +encampment of a British force, with its white tents and all their +belongings. + +The contrast between the newly-arrived brigade, and the hardy veterans +who had fought at the Atbara, was striking. Bronzed and hearty, inured +to heat and fatigue, the latter looked fit to go anywhere and do +anything, and there was hardly a sick man in the four regiments. On the +other hand, the newcomers looked white and exhausted with the heat. +Numbers had already broken down, and the doctors at the hospital had +their hands full of fever patients. They had scarcely marched a mile +since they landed in Egypt, and were so palpably unfit for hard work +that they were, if possible, to proceed the whole way in boats, in +order to be in fighting condition when the hour of battle arrived. + +The voyage up the river was an uneventful one. It seemed all too short +to Gregory, who enjoyed immensely the rest, quiet, and comparative +coolness. The Sirdar had gone up a week before they landed at Wady +Hamed. Here the whole Egyptian portion of the army, with the exception +of the brigade that was to arrive the next day, was assembled. The +blacks had constructed straw huts; the Egyptians erected shelters, +extemporized from their blankets; while the British were to be +installed in tents, which had been brought up in sailing boats. The +camp was two miles in length and half a mile wide, surrounded by a +strong zareba. + +The Egyptian cavalry and the camel corps had arrived. On the opposite +side of the river was a strong body of friendly Arabs, nominally under +the Abadar sheik, but in reality commanded by Major Montague +Stuart-Wortley. By the 23rd of August the whole force had arrived; and +the Sirdar reviewed them, drawn up in battle array, and put them +through a few manoeuvres, as if in action. General Gatacre commanded +the British division--Colonel Wauchope the first brigade, and Lyttleton +the second. As before, Macdonald, Maxwell, and Lewis commanded the +first three Egyptian brigades, and Collinson that newly raised, General +Hunter being in command of the division. + +The force numbered, in all, about twenty thousand; and although +destitute of the glitter and colour of a British army, under ordinary +circumstances, were as fine a body of men as a British general could +wish to command; and all, alike, eager to meet the foe. The British +division had with them two batteries and ten Maxims, and the Egyptian +division five batteries and ten Maxims. + +As Gregory was strolling through the camp, he passed where the officers +of one of the British regiments were seated on boxes, round a rough +table, over which a sort of awning had been erected. + +"Come and join us, Hilliard. We are having our last feast on our last +stores, which we got smuggled up in one of the gunboats," the Major +called out. + +"With pleasure, sir." + +The officer who was sitting at the head of the table made room beside +him. + +"You men of the Egyptian Army fare a good deal better than we do, I +think," the Major went on. "That institution of private camels is an +excellent one. We did not know that they would be allowed. But, after +all, it is not a bad thing that we did not have them, for there is no +doubt it is as well that the soldiers should not see us faring better +than they. There is bother enough with the baggage, as it is. Of +course, it is different in your case. There are only two or three white +officers with each battalion, and it would not strike your black troops +as a hardship that you should have different food from themselves. They +are living as well as, or better than, they ever did in their lives. +Three camels make no material addition to your baggage train, while, as +there are thirty or forty of us, it would make a serious item in ours, +and the General's keen eyes would spot them at once." + +"Our camels are no burden to the army," Gregory said. "They only have a +few pounds of grain a day, and get their living principally on what +they can pick up. When they go on now, they will each carry fifty +pounds of private grain. They get five pounds when there are no bushes +or grass, so that the grain will last them for a fortnight." + +"I suppose you think that the Dervishes mean fighting?" + +"I think there is no doubt about it. All the fugitives that come in say +that the Khalifa will fight, but whether it will be in the defence of +Omdurman, or whether he will come out and attack us at Kerreri, none +can say. The Khalifa keeps his intentions to himself." + +"By the bye, Hilliard, I don't think you know my right-hand neighbour; +he only joined us an hour before we started, having been left behind at +Cairo, sick. + +"Mr. Hartley, let me introduce you to Mr. Hilliard--I should say +Bimbashi Hilliard. He is on General Hunter's staff." + +The young lieutenant placed an eyeglass in his eye, and bowed to +Gregory. + +"Have you been in this beastly country long?" he asked. + +"If you include Lower Egypt, I have been here eighteen years." + +"Dear me!" the other drawled; "the climate seems to have agreed with +you." + +"Fairly well," Gregory replied. "I don't mind the heat much, and one +doesn't feel it, while one is at work." + +"Hartley has not tried that, yet," one of the others laughed. "Work is +not in his line. This most unfortunate illness of his kept him back at +Cairo, and he brought such a supply of ice with him, when he came up, +that he was able to hand over a hundredweight of it to us when he +arrived. I don't think, Major, that in introducing him you should have +omitted to mention that, but for a temporary misfortune, he would be +the Marquis of Langdale; but in another two years he will blossom out +into his full title, and then I suppose we shall lose him." + +Gregory, whose knowledge of the English peerage was extremely limited, +looked puzzled. + +"May I ask how that is?" he said. "I always thought that the next heir +to a title succeeded to it, as soon as his father died." + +"As a rule that is the case," the Major said, "but the present is an +exceptional one. At the death of the late marquis, the heir to the +title was missing. I may say that the late marquis only enjoyed the +title for two years. The next of kin, a brother of his, had +disappeared, and up to the present no news has been obtained of him. Of +course he has been advertised for, and so on, but without success. It +is known that he married, but as he did so against the wish of his +father, he broke off all communication with his family; and it is +generally supposed that he emigrated. Pending any news of him, the +title is held in abeyance. + +"He may have died. It is probable that he has done so, for he could +hardly have escaped seeing the advertisements that were inserted in +every paper. Of course, if he has left children, they inherit the +title. + +"After a lapse of five years Mr. Hartley's father, who was the next +heir, and who died five years ago, applied to be declared the inheritor +of the title; but the peers, or judges, or someone decided that +twenty-one years must elapse before such an application could be even +considered. The income has been accumulating ever since, so that at the +end of that time, it is probable that Mr. Hartley will be allowed to +assume the title. + +"Will the estates go with the title, Hartley?" + +"Oh, I should say so, of course!" the other drawled. "The title would +not be of much use, without them." + +"Nonsense, my dear fellow!" another said. "Why, a fellow with your +personal advantage, and a title, would be able to command the American +market, and to pick up an heiress with millions." + +The general laugh that followed showed that Hartley was, by no means, a +popular character in the regiment. + +"The fellow is a consummate ass," the man on Gregory's left whispered. +"He only got into the service as a Queen's cadet. He could no more have +got in, by marks, than he could have flown. No one believes that he had +anything the matter with him, at Cairo; but he preferred stopping +behind and coming up by himself, without any duties, to taking any +share in the work. He is always talking about his earldom--that is why +the Major mentioned it, so as to draw him out." + +"But I suppose he is really heir to it?" + +"Yes, if no one else claims it. For aught that is known, there may be +half a dozen children of the man that is missing, knocking about +somewhere in Canada or Australia. If so, they are safe to turn up, +sooner or later. You see, as the man had an elder brother, he would not +have counted at all upon coming to the title. He may be in some +out-of-the-way place, where even a colonial newspaper would never reach +him; but, sooner or later, he or some of his sons will be coming home, +and will hear of the last earl's death, and then this fellow's nose +will be put out of joint. + +"I am sure everyone in the regiment would be glad, for he is an +insufferable ass. I suppose, when he comes into the title, he will +either cut the army altogether, or exchange into the Guards." + +The party presently broke up, having finished the last bottle of wine +they had brought up. Gregory remained seated by the Major, discussing +the chances of the campaign, and the points where resistance might be +expected. The other officers stood talking, a short distance off. +Presently Gregory caught the words: + +"How is it that this young fellow calls himself Bimbashi, which, I +believe, means major?" + +"He does not call himself that, although that is his rank. All the +white officers in the Egyptian Army have that rank, though they may +only be lieutenants, in ours." + +"I call it a monstrous thing," the drawling voice then said, "that a +young fellow like this, who seems to be an Egyptian by birth, should +have a higher rank than men here, who have served fifteen or twenty +years." + +The Major got up, and walked across to the group. + +"I will tell you why, Mr. Hartley," he said, in a loud voice. "It is +because, for the purpose of the war in this country, they know +infinitely more than the officers of our army. They talk the languages, +they know the men. These blacks will follow them anywhere, to the +death. As for Mr. Hilliard, he has performed feats that any officer in +the army, whatever his rank, would be proud to have done. He went in +disguise into the Dervish camp at Metemmeh, before Hunter's advance +began, and obtained invaluable information. He jumped overboard from a +gunboat to save a drowning Dervish woman, although to do so involved +almost certain capture and death at the hands of the Dervishes. In +point of fact, his escape was a remarkable one, for he was tied to a +tree in the first line of the Dervish defences at Atbara, and was only +saved by what was almost a miracle. He may not be heir to an earldom, +Mr. Hartley, but he would do more credit to the title than many I could +name. I hear him well spoken of, by everyone, as an indefatigable +worker, and as having performed the most valuable services. Captain +Keppel, on whose gunboat he served for two or three months, spoke to me +of him in the highest terms; and General Hunter has done the same. + +"I fancy, sir, that it will be some years before you are likely to +distinguish yourself so highly. His father was an officer, who fell in +battle; and if he happened to be born in Egypt, as you sneeringly said +just now, all I can say is that, in my opinion, had you been born in +Egypt, you would not occupy the position which he now does." + +Gregory had walked away when the Major rose, and he did not return to +the party. It was the first time that he had run across a bad specimen +of the British officer, and his words had stung him. But, as he said to +himself, he need not mind them, as the fellow's own comrades regarded +him, as one of them said, as "an insufferable ass." Still, he could not +help wishing, to himself, that the missing heir might turn up in time +to disappoint him. + +General Hunter started next day, at noon, with two of his brigades and +the mounted troops; the other two brigades following, at nightfall. The +previous night had been one of the most unpleasant Gregory had ever +spent. The long-expected rain had come at last. It began suddenly; +there was a flash of lightning, and then came a violent burst of wind, +which tore down the tents and the flimsy shelters of the Egyptians and +Soudanese. Before this had ceased, the rain poured down in a torrent; +lightning, wind, and rain kept on till morning, and when the start was +made, everyone was soaked to the skin. The Egyptian baggage left at the +same time, in native craft. + +That evening they arrived at the mouth of the Shabluka Cataract. Here +it had been expected that the advance would be opposed, as strong forts +had been erected by the enemy, the river narrowed greatly, and +precipitous rocks rose on either side. Through these the course was +winding, and the current ran with great strength, the eddies and sharp +bends making it extremely difficult for the gunboats to keep their +course. Indeed, it would have been impossible for them to get up, had +the forts been manned; as they would have had to pass within two +hundred yards of the guns. But although the forts could hardly have +been attacked by the gunboats, they were commanded by a lofty hill +behind them; and the scouts had discovered, some weeks before, that the +Dervishes had retired from the position, and that the passage would be +unopposed. + +Maxwell's and Colville's brigades started at four that afternoon, and +the next day the whole division was established at El Hejir, above the +cataracts. + +Lyttleton's brigade started, at five o'clock A.M. on the 25th, the +gunboats and other steamers moving parallel with them along the river. +At five in the afternoon the first brigade followed and, two days +afterwards, the camp was entirely evacuated, and the whole of the +stores well on their way towards El Hejir. On the previous day, two +regiments of Wortley's column of friendly natives also marched south. +The Sirdar and headquarters, after having seen everything off, went up +in a gunboat, starting at nine in the morning. + +As usual, the Soudanese troops had been accompanied by a considerable +number of their wives, who were heavily laden with their little +household goods, and in many cases babies. They trudged patiently along +in the rear of the columns, and formed an encampment of their own, half +a mile away from the men's, generally selecting a piece of ground +surrounded by thick bush, into which they could escape, should Dervish +raiders come down upon them. + +The stores arrived in due course. One of the gunboats, however, was +missing--the Zafir, with three gyasses in tow, having suddenly sunk, +ten miles north of Shendy, owing to being so deeply loaded that the +water got into the hold. Those on board had just time to scramble into +the boats, or swim to shore. No lives were lost, though there were many +narrow escapes. Among these were Commander Keppel and Prince Christian +Victor, who were on board. Fortunately, another steamer soon came along +and took the gyasses, with the ship-wrecked officers and crew on board, +and towed them up to El Hejir. + +It had been intended to stay here some little time, but the Nile +continued to rise to an altogether exceptional height, and part of the +camp was flooded. At five o'clock, therefore, the Egyptian brigades +started, with the guns on their right and the steamers covering their +left, while the cavalry and camel corps were spread widely out, in +advance to give notice of any approaching Dervish force. As usual the +soldiers' wives turned out, and as the battalions marched past, shouted +encouragement to their husbands; calling upon them to behave like men, +and not to turn back in battle. The presence of the women had an +excellent effect on the soldiers, and in addition to their assistance +in carrying their effects, they cooked their rations, and looked after +them generally. The Sirdar, therefore, did not discourage their +presence in the field, and even supplied them with rations, when it was +impossible for them to obtain them elsewhere. + +In the afternoon the two white brigades also moved forward. At nine +o'clock they arrived at their camping ground, and the whole army was +again collected together. Next morning the four squadrons of Egyptian +horse, with a portion of the cavalry, went forward to reconnoitre, and +one of the gunboats proceeded a few miles up the river. Neither saw +anything of the enemy. + +There had been heavy rain during the night. This had ceased at +daybreak, and a strong wind speedily dried the sands, raising such +clouds of dust that it was difficult to see above a few yards. The +storm had also the effect of hindering the flotilla. + +On the other side of the river, Stuart-Wortley's friendlies had a sharp +brush with some Dervishes, whom they had come upon raiding a village, +whose inhabitants had not obeyed the Khalifa's orders to move into +Omdurman. + +As the rainstorms continued, it was decided, by a council of war, that +the health of the troops would suffer by a longer stay. On the 29th, +therefore, the army set out in order of battle, ready to encounter the +Khalifa's attack, but arrived without molestation at Um Teref, a short +distance from Kerreri, where it was expected the enemy would give +battle. + +The camp was smaller than those hitherto made, and was protected by a +strong zareba. The sentries were doubled, and patrols thrown out. Heavy +rain set in after sunset, and almost a deluge poured down. The tents +had been left behind, and as the little blanket shelters were soon +soaked through, their occupants were speedily wet to the skin. + +It was still raining when, at half-past five, the force again started. +As before, the army was marching in fighting order. The day was cool +and cloudy, and at one o'clock they halted at a village called Merreh, +or Seg. The cavalry had come into touch with the Dervish patrols, but +the latter, although numerous, avoided combat. + +In one of the deserted villages was found one of Wingate's spies, in +Dervish attire. He had left Omdurman thirty hours before, and brought +the news that the Khalifa intended to attack at Kerreri. This place had +been chosen because there was current an old prophecy, by a Persian +sheik, to the effect that English soldiers would one day fight at +Kerreri, and be destroyed there. It had, therefore, become an almost +holy place to the Mahdists, and was called the death place of all the +infidels; and, once a year, the Khalifa and his followers made a +pilgrimage to it. + +A few shots were fired during the night, and fires blazed on the hills +to notify, to Omdurman, our precise position. The troops started again +soon after daylight, facing now to the right and marching westward, to +leave the bush and broken ground, and get out in the open desert, +stretching away to Omdurman. The cavalry were widely spread out, and +the Lancers ascended to the top of the hill of El Teb, from which a +view of the Dervish camp was obtained. + +It lay some ten miles due south. The Dervishes were disposed in three +long lines, stretching from within two thousand yards of the Nile out +into the desert, being careful to get, as they believed, beyond the +range of the four gunboats that steamed quietly up. + +After a short march the force halted near the river, two miles north of +Kerreri. The place was convenient for camping, but the banks of the +river were steep, and there was much difficulty in watering the horses +and transport animals. + +"We are in for another bad night," one of the General's staff said to +Gregory, as the evening approached. + +"It looks like it. Clouds are banking up fast. If the rain would but +come in the daytime, instead of at night, one would not object to it +much. It would lay the dust and cool the air. Besides, on the march we +have other things to think of; and though, of course, we should be +drenched to the skin, we should not mind it. But it is very unpleasant +lying in a pool of water, with streams running in at one's neck." + +"As to one's blanket, it is like a sponge, five minutes after the rain +begins," the officer said. + +"I am better off in that respect," Gregory remarked; "for, when I left +my little tent behind, I kept a waterproof sheet instead of my second +blanket. I had intended to use it tent fashion, but it was blown down +in a minute, after the first storm burst. Now I stand up, wrap my +blanket tightly round me, while my boy does the same with the +waterproof sheet; and I keep moderately dry, except that the water will +trickle in at the end, near my neck. But, on the other hand, the +wrapping keeps me so hot that I might almost as well lie uncovered in +the rain." + +The staff had intended taking a few tents with them, but these were +practically of no use at all, as all canvas had to be lowered by the +time that "lights out" sounded, and after that hour no loud talking was +permitted in the camp. This might have been a privation, had the +weather been fine, but even the most joyous spirit had little desire +for conversation, when the rain was falling in bucketfuls over him. + +The officers of the white division lay down by their men, in the +position they would occupy if an attack by the enemy took place. The +officers of the Egyptian regiments lay together, just in rear of their +men. As soon as the "last post" sounded, absolute silence reigned. The +sentries, placed a very short distance out, kept their senses of sight +and hearing on the alert; and with eye and ear strove to detect the +approach of a lurking foe. Jaalin scouts were stationed outside the +zareba, so as to give an early warning of the approach of the enemy; +but no reliance could be placed upon them; for, altogether without +discipline, they would probably creep under bushes, and endeavour to +find some shelter from the pitiless downpour. + +Had the Khalifa known his business, he would have taken advantage of +the tempestuous night, and launched his warriors at the camp. Confident +as the officers of the expedition were, in the ability of their men to +repulse any assault that might be made in the daylight, it was felt +that such an attack would cause terrible loss, and possibly grave +disaster, if delivered at night. The enemy might not be discovered +until within a few yards of the camp. The swish of the rain, and the +almost incessant crash of thunder, would deaden the sound of their +approach; and, long before the troops could leap to their feet and +prepare to receive them calmly, the Dervishes would be upon them. As +the latter were enormously stronger in numbers, the advantage of +superior weapons would be lost in a hand-to-hand fight, and in the +inevitable confusion, as the troops in reserve would be unable to open +fire, while ignorant of the precise position of friends and foes. + +The Khalifa, however, was relying upon prophecy. It was at Kerreri that +the infidel army was to be utterly destroyed, and he may have thought +that it would be tempting fate, were he to precipitate an action before +the invaders reached the spot where their doom had been pronounced. + +Even more miserable than night was the hour before dawn. Lying still, +drenched to the skin as they were, Nature prevailed, and the men +obtained some sleep; but when they rose to their feet, and threw off +the sodden blankets, they felt the full misery of eight hours' +drenching. They were cold now, as well as wet, and as they endeavoured +to squeeze the water from their clothes, and to restore circulation by +swinging their arms, but few words were spoken; and the rising of the +sun, which was regarded as a terrible infliction during the day, was +eagerly looked for. No sooner did it appear above the horizon than the +spirits of the men rose rapidly, and they laughed, joked, and made +light of the inconveniences of the situation. + +An hour later, their clothes were nearly dry. By that time they were +all well on their way, the brigades, as before, marching in +echelon--Wauchope's brigade on the left, Lyttleton's farther to the +right but more to the rear, the three Egyptian brigades farther out on +the plain, the 21st Lancers scouting the ground in front of the British +division, and the native cavalry and camel corps out beyond the right +of the Egyptians. + +All expected that, at least, they should have a skirmish before they +reached Kerreri, where they were to encamp; but, as they advanced, it +was found that the Dervishes had fallen back from that line, and had +joined the Khalifa's main force near Omdurman. + +By ten in the morning the army had arrived at its camping place, which +was in the southern part of the ground occupied by the straggling +village. As usual, both extremities of the line rested on the Nile, +forming a semicircle, in which the baggage animals and stores were +placed, in charge of Collinson's brigade. The gunboats took up their +position, to cover the ground over which an enemy must approach to the +attack. + +While the infantry were settling down, the cavalry and camel corps went +out scouting. Signallers soon mounted a rugged hill, named Surgham, and +from here a fine view was obtained of Omdurman, and the Khalifa's army. +Omdurman was six miles away, covering a wide tract of ground, with but +few buildings rising above the general level, the one conspicuous +object being the great tomb of the Mahdi, with its white dome. + +In the outskirts of the town were the white tents of the Dervish army. +For the present these were unoccupied, the whole force being drawn up, +in regular line, out on the plain; about halfway between the town and +Surgham Hill. It was formed in five divisions, each of which was bright +with banners of all colours, sizes, and shapes. The Khalifa's own +division was in the centre, where his great black banner, waving from a +lofty flagstaff, could be plainly made out. + +The Lancers, Egyptian cavalry, and camel corps continued to advance, +capturing several parties of footmen, principally Jaalins, who probably +lagged purposely behind the retiring Dervishes, in order to be taken. +At times the cavalry attempted to charge the Dervish horsemen, when +these approached, but in no case did the latter await the attack. + +Presently, above the occasional musketry fire, came the boom of a heavy +gun. There was a thrill of excitement in the camp. The gunboats had +arrived opposite Omdurman, and had opened fire upon the Dervish +riverside forts. These were strongly constructed; but, as in the forts +at Metemmeh and Shabluka, the embrasures were so faultily constructed +that the guns could only be brought to bear upon the portion of the +river directly facing them, and the four gunboats passed them without +receiving any material damage, and were so able to maintain the +bombardment without receiving any fire in return. At the same time, +they landed the forty-pounder guns on an island but a short distance +from the town, and thence opened fire with lyddite shells upon it. The +howitzers were trained upon the Mahdi's tomb, and soon great holes were +knocked in the dome. + +It could be seen, from the top of the hill, that this caused great +excitement in the Dervish lines, and a number of their horsemen rode +out against the Lancers, and drove in their advance scouts; but, on the +main body of the regiment moving forward, they fell back to their line; +and almost immediately a heavy body of infantry moved out, their +intention evidently being to surround and cut off the regiment, while +at the same time a general advance took place. The Colonel of the +Lancers dismounted a portion of his men, and these checked the advance +of the enemy, until the rest fell back. + +The news of the advance was signalled to General Kitchener, and the +whole force at once took their position, in fighting order. Believing +that a general attack on the camp would now be made, the cavalry fell +back on either flank, so as to clear the way for the fire of the +artillery and infantry. + +The Dervishes had a good view of our camp from the top of Surgham, but +the Khalifa apparently considered that it was too late in the day for a +general attack, and drew off his men to their former position, and the +rest of the afternoon and evening passed quietly. As the men ate their +meal, of tinned meat and biscuit, they were in higher spirits than they +had been since the advance began. Hitherto, they had been in constant +apprehension lest the Dervishes should shun a battle, and would retire +across the desert to El Obeid, or elsewhere; and that they would have +to perform interminable desert marches, only to find, on arriving at +the goal, that the enemy had again moved off. The events of the day, +however, seemed to show that this fear was groundless, and that the +Khalifa had determined to fight a decisive battle for the defence of +his capital. + +The British soldier is ready to support any fatigue, and any hardship, +with a prospect of a fight at the end; and, during the advance, he is +always haunted by the fear that the enemy will retire, or give in on +his approach. This fear was stronger than usual on this expedition, for +there was no question as to the greatly superior mobility of the +Dervishes; and it was evident that, if they chose to avoid fighting, +they had it in their power to do so. + + + +Chapter 14: Omdurman. + + +The night passed quietly, except that shots were occasionally fired by +Dervishes who crept up within range; and that, once, a mounted man, who +had apparently lost his way, rode fearlessly into camp; and then, +finding himself close to the troops, turned his horse and galloped off +again. No shot followed him, as the orders were strict that the camp +was not to be alarmed, unless in the case of a serious attack. + +At half past three the bugle sounded, and the troops were soon astir. +The animals were watered and fed, and the men had a breakfast of cocoa +or tea, with biscuits and tinned meat. At half past four Colonel +Broadwood, commanding the Egyptian cavalry, sent out a squadron to the +hills on the west, and another to Surgham Hill. + +The latter arrived at their destination at two minutes past five, when +daylight had just broken. The officer in command saw at once that the +Dervish army had been reinforced in the night, and were marching to +attack us. News was at once sent back to the camp, where all was in +readiness for an advance. + +No news could have been more welcome. It was one thing to attack the +Dervishes in their chosen position, and to carry the narrow streets of +Omdurman at the point of the bayonet--the Dervishes had shown, at Abu +Hamed, how desperately they could fight under such circumstances--and +another to meet them while attacking our position, in the open. This +was protected, along the line occupied by the white troops, by a hedge; +while the three Egyptian brigades had constructed shelter trenches. +These afforded a vastly better defence against a foe advancing by +daylight, although they would not be so effective in checking a sudden +and determined rush, in the darkness. + +Preparations were at once made to oppose the enemy. The Sirdar and his +staff were already mounting, when the news arrived. The horses were now +taken to the rear, the reserve ammunition boxes lifted from the mules' +backs, and the animals led to a sheltered position, behind some huts. + +The guns were wheeled up into positions between the infantry brigades. +The troops were disposed in line, two deep; two companies of each +battalion, with the stretchers and bearers, taking post at a short +distance farther back, to reinforce the front line if hardly pressed, +and to supply it from the reserve store of ammunition. + +Already the gunboats had recommenced the bombardment of Omdurman, and +the mosque of the Mahdi, but as soon as news came that the Dervishes +were advancing to the attack, they were signalled to return to cover +the flank of the zareba. On their arrival, they took up a position +whence they could shell the line by which the Dervishes were advancing, +and which would bring them apparently five or six hundred yards west of +Surgham Hill. + +The Lancers at once started forward to cover the left flank of the +position. In a few minutes they reached Surgham Hill, and joined the +Egyptian squadron there. + +The sight from the crest of Surgham Hill was grand. The enemy's front +extended over three miles. The lines were deep and compact, and the +banners floated above them. They were advancing steadily and in good +order, and their battle cries rose and fell in measured cadence. Their +numbers were variously estimated at from fifty to seventy thousand--a +superb force, consisting of men as brave as any in the world, and +animated by religious fanaticism, and an intense hatred of those they +were marching to assail. + +In the centre were the Khalifa's own corps, twenty thousand strong. On +their right was the banner of Yacoub, his brother, and beyond, two +divisions led by well-known emirs; while on his left was the division +led by his son, Osman, known as Sheik Ed Din, the nominal +commander-in-chief of the whole force. + +The 21st Lancers, out in skirmishing order, were speedily driven back +by the Dervishes, and retired into the zareba. When the latter came +near enough to see the small British force, a shout of exultation rose +from their ranks, for they felt certain now of surrounding and +annihilating the infidels, according to the prophecy. + +On our side the satisfaction was no less marked. The front line moved +forward to the thorny hedge, and prepared to open fire above it. The +black troops uttered a joyful shout of defiance, as they took their +places in their trenches. + +When the enemy were two thousand eight hundred yards away, the three +batteries on the left of the zareba opened fire; and two batteries on +the right, and a number of Maxims, joined in pouring shell and bullets +into the thickest of the Dervish mass round the Khalifa's banner. The +effect was terrible. For a moment the Dervish lines halted, astonished +at the storm to which they were exposed. But it was only for a moment. +The wide gaps were filled up, and at a quicker pace than before, the +great line swept on; the banner bearers and Baggara horsemen pushing +forward to the front, to encourage the infantry. + +Seeing how persistently they were coming on, the Sirdar ordered the men +of Lyttleton's brigade to open fire at long range. The Grenadiers were +the first to begin, firing volleys in sections. The other regiments of +the brigade were soon hard at it, but neither they nor the Maxims +appeared to be doing serious execution, while the terrible effect of +the shell fire could really be seen. But, although great numbers of the +enemy were killed or wounded by the bursting shells, there was no halt +in the forward movement. + +Suddenly, over the crest and sides of the Surgham Hill, the division of +the Dervish right, reinforced by a portion of Yacoub's division, +appeared; and over fifteen thousand men came streaming down the hill, +waving banners and shouting their war cries. They were led by their +emirs, on horseback; but the infantry kept pace with these, +occasionally discharging their rifles at random. + +The guns of the three batteries, and one of the Maxims, were swung +round and opened upon them. They were less than a mile away, and the +whole of Gatacre's division opened a terrific fire. Still the Dervishes +held on, leaving the ground they passed over white with fallen men. +From seventeen hundred yards the sights had to be lowered rapidly, but +at a thousand yards they held their foe. No man could cross the ground +swept by the hail of balls. So rapid and sustained was the fire, that +men had to retire to refill their pouches from the reserve ammunition, +and the rifles were so heated that they could no longer be held. In +some cases the men changed their weapons for those of the companies in +reserve, in others these companies closed up and took the places of the +front line. Not for a moment was there any cessation in the fire. + +Unable to do more, Yacoub's men moved towards the front and joined the +main body, whose advance had been checked by the fire of Maxwell's +Egyptian brigade. A few rounds had been fired by the three cannon that +the Khalifa had brought out with him, but they all fell short. + +On our side the casualties had been few. In their desperate attempt to +get at close quarters, the Dervish riflemen had not stopped to reload +the weapons they had discharged, and there was practically no return to +the awful fire to which they had been exposed. + +But while Yacoub's force had been terribly punished, and the main body, +brought to a standstill at a distance of fourteen hundred yards, had +suffered almost as heavily, the battle had not gone so well to the +right of our position, towards which the Khalifa was now moving. +Broadwood's horse, and the camel corps, had been driven off the hill +they occupied; and so fierce was the attack that three of the guns of +the horse battery had to be left behind. The camel corps were ordered +to retire rapidly, and make for shelter to the right rear of the camp. +The force made two or three stands, and the Egyptian cavalry more than +once charged the pursuing horsemen. The gunboats opened fire, and +covered the final retirement of the camel corps, which had lost eighty +men. + +The cavalry did not retire to the zareba, but continued to fall back, +occasionally turning and facing the enemy, until they were five miles +away; when the Dervishes gave up the pursuit, and sat down to rest +after their tremendous exertions. Although forced to retire, the +cavalry had done good service, for they had drawn off a great body of +the enemy at a critical moment, and these were unable to return and +take part in the battle still raging. + +At length, the Khalifa moved off with all his force behind the western +hills, and for a short time there was a lull in the battle. Many of the +wounded tribesmen crawled up to within seven or eight hundred yards of +the zareba, and there opened fire. Their aim was good, and men began to +drop fast, in spite of the volleys fired to clear off the troublesome +foe. But their fire was soon disregarded for, from the ravines in the +range of low hills, behind which the Khalifa's force had disappeared, a +mass of men burst out at a hard run. From their shelter behind Surgham +Hill, a portion of the force who were there also swept down to join the +Khalifa, while Yacoub advanced from the southwest, and another body +from the west. + +Instantly the infantry and artillery fire broke out again. On the +previous day, the distance had been measured and marked on several +conspicuous objects; and the storm of shells tore the ranks of the +enemy, and the rifles swept them with a rain of bullets. But, in face +of all this, the Dervishes continued to advance at a run, their numbers +thinning every minute. + +Two or three hundred horsemen, with their emirs, dashed at the zareba +at full gallop. Shrapnel, Maxim and rifle bullets swept their ranks, +but nearer and nearer they came, with lessening numbers every yard, +until the last of them fell within about two hundred yards of Maxwell's +line. Animated by the example, the infantry rushed forward. The black +flag was planted within nine hundred yards of Maxwell's left; but, in +addition to the Egyptian fire, the crossfire of the British divisions +poured upon those around it. + +The main body began to waver, but the Khalifa and his emirs did their +best to encourage and rally them. The flag was riddled with balls, and +the men who held it were shot down; but others seized the post of +honour, until a pile of bodies accumulated round it. + +At last, but one man remained standing there. For a minute he stood +quietly immovable, then fell forward dead. Then the Dervishes lost +heart, and began to fall back in ones and twos, then in dozens, until +the last had disappeared behind the hills. + +The troops then turned their attention to the men who, lying in +shelter, were still maintaining their fire. There were fully a thousand +of these, and the greater portion of our casualties took place from +their fire, while the troops were occupied in repelling the main +attack. It was not long, however, before bullets and shell proved too +much for them; and those who survived crawled away, to join their +kinsmen behind the hills. + +It was eight o'clock now, and the victory had apparently been won. Some +ten thousand of the Khalifa's best troops had been killed or wounded. +In the British division, one officer and one man had been killed, and +three officers and sixty-five men wounded. The latter were at once +placed on board the hospital barges. Fresh ammunition was served out +and, half an hour after the last shot was fired, the army prepared to +march on Omdurman. + +It was most important that they should arrive at the town before Ed +Din's Dervishes should reach it; for unless they could do so, the loss +that would be incurred in capturing it would be vastly greater than +that which had been suffered in the battle. At nine o'clock the start +was made. The troops advanced in brigades. Lyttleton led on the left, +Wauchope was on his right, Maxwell somewhat in the rear, while still +more to the right came Lewis, and farther out on the plain Macdonald. +They formed roughly half a semicircle. Lyttleton, followed by Wauchope, +was to march between the river and Surgham Hill. Maxwell was to cross +over the hill, while Lewis and Macdonald were to keep farther out to +the right. Collinson's Egyptian brigade was to guard the stores and +materials left behind. + +The 21st Lancers scouted ahead of the British brigades, to discover if +any foe were lurking behind Surgham Hill. When about half a mile south +of the hill, they saw a small party of Dervish cavalry and some +infantry, who were hiding in what looked like a shallow water course. +The four squadrons rode forward at a gallop. A sharp musketry fire +opened upon them, but without hesitation they dashed headlong at the +Dervishes, when they found that, instead of a hundred and fifty foemen +as they had supposed, some fifteen hundred Dervishes were lying +concealed in the water course. + +It was too late to draw rein, and with a cheer the cavalry rode down +into the midst of the foe. There was a wild, fierce fight, lance +against spear, sabre against sword, the butt-end of a rifle or the +deadly knife. Some cut their way through unscathed. Others were +surrounded and cut off. Splendid feats of heroism were performed. Many +of those who got over returned to rescue officers or comrades, until at +last all the survivors climbed the bank. + +The brunt of the fighting fell upon the two central squadrons. Not only +were the enemy thickest where they charged, but the opposite bank of +the deep nullah was composed of rough boulders, almost impassable by +horses. These squadrons lost sixteen killed and nineteen wounded. +Altogether, twenty-two officers and men were killed, and fifty wounded; +and there were one hundred and nineteen casualties among the horses. + +Once across, the survivors gathered at a point where their fire +commanded the water course; and, dismounting, speedily drove the +Dervishes from it. On examining it afterwards, it was found that sixty +dead Dervishes lay where the central squadrons had cut their way +through. + +The charge, in its daring and heroism, resembled that of the 23rd Light +Dragoons at Talavera. The fall into the ravine, on that occasion, was +much deeper than that into which the Lancers dashed; but it was not +occupied by a desperate force, and although many were injured by the +fall, it was in their subsequent charge, against a whole French +division, that they were almost annihilated. + +Both incidents were, like the Balaclava charge, magnificent; but they +were not war. A desperate charge, to cover the retreat of a defeated +army, is legitimate and worthy of all praise, even if the gallant men +who make it are annihilated; but this was not the case at Talavera, nor +at Omdurman. It was a brilliant but a costly mistake. The bravery shown +was superb, and the manner in which officers and men rode back into the +struggling mass, to rescue comrades, beyond all praise; but the charge +should never have been made, and the lives were uselessly sacrificed. + +As yet, all was quiet at other points. Bodies of the enemy could be +seen, making their way towards Omdurman. The battery opposite the town +had, from early morning, been keeping up a fire from its heavy guns +upon it; but, save for the occasional shot of a lurking Dervish, all +was quiet elsewhere. + +While the cavalry charge was in progress, Gregory had moved along the +line of the Egyptian brigades with General Hunter. Suddenly, from +behind the hills where the Khalifa had fallen back with his defeated +army, a column of fully twelve thousand men, led by the banner bearers +and emirs, poured out again. A strong body sprang forward from another +valley, and made for the southeastern corner of Macdonald's brigade, +which had moved almost due west from the position it had occupied in +the zareba; while the large force that had chased away the Egyptian +cavalry were seen, returning to attack him in the rear. + +General Hunter, who was riding between Macdonald's and Lewis's +brigades, which were now a good mile apart, exclaimed to Gregory, who +happened to be the nearest officer to him: + +"Ride to Macdonald, and tell him to fall back, if possible!" + +Then he turned, and galloped off to fetch up reinforcements. But the +need was already seen. The sudden uproar had attracted the attention of +the whole army, and the Sirdar instantly grasped the situation. The +moment was indeed critical. If Macdonald's brigade were overwhelmed, it +might have meant a general disaster; and the Sirdar at once sent orders +to Wauchope's brigade, to go, at the double, to Macdonald's aid. + +Fortunately Colonel Long, who commanded the artillery, had sent three +batteries with Macdonald's brigade. Collinson's brigade were far away +near the river, Lewis's were themselves threatened. It was evident, at +once, that no assistance could reach Macdonald in time. When Gregory +reached him, the Dervishes were already approaching. + +"It cannot be done," Macdonald said sternly, when Gregory delivered the +message. "We must fight!" + +Indeed, to retreat would have meant destruction. The fire would have +been ineffective, and the thirty thousand fierce foes would have been +among them. There was nothing to do but to fight. + +Macdonald had marched out with the 11th Soudanese on his left, the 2nd +Egyptians in the centre, and the 10th Soudanese on the right--all in +line. Behind, in column, were the 9th Soudanese. The last were at once +brought up into line, to face the advancing enemy. + +Fortunately, the Sheik Ed Din's force was still some little distance +away. The batteries took their place in the openings between the +battalions, and the Maxim-Nordenfeldts were soon carrying death into +the advancing foe; while the Martini-Henry, with which the black and +Egyptian troops were armed, mowed them down as by a scythe. The +Soudanese battalions fired, as was their custom, individually, as fast +as they could load; the Egyptian battalion by steady volleys. + +Still the enemy pressed on, until they were within two hundred yards of +the line. The emirs and other leaders, Baggara horse and many spearmen, +still held on; until they fell, a few feet only from the steady +infantry. The rear ranks of the Dervishes now began to fall back, and +the desperate charges of their leaders grew feebler; but Ed Din's +division was now within a thousand yards. Macdonald, confident that the +main attack was broken, threw back the 9th Soudanese to face it, and +wheeled a couple of his batteries to support them. + +The already retreating Dervishes, encouraged by the arrival of Ed Din's +division, returned to the attack. The 11th Soudanese swung round, to +aid the 9th in their struggle with Ed Din's troops. The charges of the +Dervishes were impetuous in the extreme. Regardless of the storm of +shell and bullets they rushed on, and would have thrust themselves +between the 9th and 11th, had not the 2nd Egyptians, wheeling at the +double, thrown themselves into the gap. + +The Dervishes pressed right up to them, and bayonet and spear +frequently crossed; but in a fight of this kind, discipline tells its +tale. The blacks and Egyptians maintained their lines, steadily and +firmly; and against these, individual effort and courage, even of the +highest quality, were in vain. + +The ground being now cleared, the gunboats opened with Maxim and cannon +upon the rear of the Dervishes. The camel corps coming up, each man +dismounted and added his fire to the turmoil; and, finally, three of +Wauchope's battalions arrived, and the Lincolns, doubling to the right, +opened a terrible flank fire. The Dervishes broke and fled; not, as +usual, sullenly and reluctantly, but at full speed, stooping low to +escape the storm of bullets that pursued them. + +Zaki had, throughout the day, kept close to Gregory, ready to hold his +horse when he dismounted; but, quick-footed as he was, he was left +behind when his master galloped across to Macdonald. He was up, +however, in the course of a minute or two, and Gregory was glad to see +him, for the horse was kicking and plunging at the roar of the +approaching enemy; and was almost maddened when to this was added the +crash of the batteries and musketry. + +"Put my blanket round his head, Zaki," Gregory said, when the black ran +up. "Wrap it round so that he cannot see. Hold the bridle with one +hand, and stroke him with the other, and keep on talking to him; he +knows your voice. I don't want to dismount if I can help it, for with +my field glasses I see everything that is taking place, and I will tell +you how matters are going." + +For the moment, it seemed as if the surging crowd streaming down must +carry all before it; but the steadiness with which the 9th Soudanese +moved into their place on the flank of the line, and the other +regiments remained, as if on parade, soon reassured him. The terrible +slaughter that was taking place in the ranks of the Dervishes soon +showed that, in that quarter at least, there was no fear of things +going wrong; but he could not but look anxiously towards the great mass +of men approaching from the north. + +It was a matter of minutes. Would the present attack be repulsed in +time for the position to be changed, to meet the coming storm? +Occasionally, Gregory looked back to see if reinforcements were coming. +Wauchope's brigade was visible over the tops of the scattered bushes. +The movements of the line showed that they were coming on at the +double, but they were farther away than Ed Din's host, and the latter +were running like deer. + +He felt a deep sense of relief when the 9th Soudanese were thrown back, +performing the movement as quietly and steadily as if on a drill +ground; and two batteries of artillery galloped across to their +support. He had hardly expected such calm courage from the black +battalion. As to the bravery of the Soudanese troops, there was no +question. They were of the same blood and race as their foes, and had +shown how bravely they could fight in many a previous battle; but he +was not prepared for the steady way in which they worked, under such +novel circumstances; and although they, too, must have known that every +moment was of consequence, they moved without haste or hurry into the +new position, scarcely glancing at the torrent which was rushing on +towards them. + +Not less steadily and quietly did the 11th, considered to be the crack +regiment of the brigade, swing round; and as calmly and firmly did the +Egyptian battalion--composed of the peasants who, but twenty years +before, had been considered among the most cowardly of people, a host +of whom would have fled before a dozen of the dreaded Dervishes--march +into the gap between the two black regiments, and manfully hold their +own. + +And yet, he could not but feel sorry for the valiant savages who, under +so awful a fire, still pressed forward to certain death; their numbers +withering away at every step, until they dwindled to nothing, only to +be replaced by a fresh band, which darted forward to meet a similar +fate; and yet, when he remembered the wholesale slaughter at Metemmeh, +the annihilation of countless villages and of their inhabitants, and, +above all, the absolute destruction of the army of Hicks Pasha, the +capture of Khartoum, the murder of Gordon, and the reduction to a state +of slavery of all the peaceful tribes of the Soudan, he could not but +feel that the annihilation of these human tigers, and the wiping out of +their false creed, was a necessity. + +When the last shot was fired, he dismounted and leant against his +horse, completely unnerved by the tremendous excitement that had been +compressed into the space of half an hour. Zaki was in ecstasy at the +victory. The ruthless massacre of so many of his tribesmen, the ruin of +his native village, and the murder of his relations was avenged, at +last. The reign of the Dervishes was over. Henceforth men could till +their fields in peace. It was possible that, even yet, he might find +his mother and sisters still alive, in the city but a few miles away, +living in wretched existence as slaves of their captors. + +Tears of joy streamed down his cheeks. He would have liked to help to +revenge the wrongs of his tribe, but his master needed him; and +moreover, there was no place for an untrained man in the ranks of the +Soudanese regiments. They were doing their work better than he could. +Still, it was the one bitter drop in his intense joy, that he had not +been able to aid in the conflict. + +He expressed this to Gregory. + +"You have had your share in the fight, Zaki, just as I have had. I have +not fired a shot, but I have been in the battle, and run its risks, and +so have you. Each of us has done his duty, and we can say, for the rest +of our lives, that we have borne our share in the great battle that has +smashed up the power of the Khalifa, and the rule of the Dervishes." + + + +Chapter 15: Khartoum. + + +There was no pause or rest for the troops who had been fighting, for so +many hours, in the heat of the African sun. It was all important to +occupy Omdurman before the remnants of the Khalifa's army reached it; +and as it was known that the Khalifa himself had returned there, it was +hoped that he might be captured. + +It was ten o'clock when Macdonald's brigade fired their last shot. In +half an hour, the troops went forward again. The field presented a +terrible appearance, being thickly dotted with dead, from the Surgham +Hill across the plain; and round, by the Kerreri Hills, to the spot +where Macdonald's brigade had made their stand. There were +comparatively few wounded; for, wiry and hardy as they were, the +wounded Dervishes, unless mortally hit, were for the most part able to +crawl or walk away; which they had done unmolested, for on each +occasion after the bugle sounded cease firing, not a shot was fired at +them. But of dead there were fully ten thousand, scattered more or less +thickly over the plain. + +From the position in which they were placed, the Egyptian troops, as +they marched south, passed the spot where the Khalifa's flag was still +flying, as it had been left after its last defenders had fallen. +Slatin, who was with the army, rode over the plain at the Sirdar's +request, to ascertain if any of the Dervish leaders were among the +fallen. He recognized many, but the Khalifa, his son Ed Din, and Osman +Digna were not among them. The last-named had ever been chary of +exposing himself, and had probably, as was his custom, viewed the +battle from a safe distance. But round the flag were the Khalifa's +brother, Yacoub, and ten or twelve of the leading emirs. + +On our side, the loss had been comparatively light. Our total number of +casualties, including the wounded, was five hundred and twenty-four; +towards which Macdonald's brigade contributed one hundred and +twenty-eight. Marching steadily on, the force halted in the outlying +suburb of Omdurman, at midday, to obtain much needed food and water. As +soon as the cavalry had watered their horses, they were sent round to +the south of the town to cut off fugitives, and some of the gunboats +moved up to their support. + +Deputations of the townsfolk, Greeks and natives, came out and offered +to surrender. They said that the Khalifa was in his house, and that he +had about a thousand of his bodyguard with him, but that they could not +offer any successful resistance. The town was full of fugitive +Dervishes; many thousands of them were there--among them a great number +of wounded. + +At half past four the Sirdar, with his staff, entered the town; +accompanied by Maxwell's Egyptian brigade. Only a few shots were fired. +The Dervish courage was broken. It was to the followers of the Prophet, +and not to the infidels, that the plains of Kerreri had proved fatal. +It was their bodies, and not those of the white soldiers, that were +strewn there so thickly. The promise of the Khalifa had been falsified, +the tomb of the Mahdi was crumbling into ruins, the bravest of their +troops had fallen--what more was there to be done? + +As Slatin Pasha rode in at the head of the troops, he was instantly +recognized by the people, among whom, for years, he had been a +prisoner; and on his assurances that mercy would be shown to all, if +there was no resistance, numbers of the Dervishes came out from their +houses and huts, and laid down their arms. + +The women flocked out into the streets, uttering their long and +quavering cries of welcome. To them the entry of the British was a +relief from a living death, as almost all were captives taken in war, +or in the Dervish raids upon quiet villages. They could scarce even yet +believe that they were free--that their tyrants were slain or +fugitives. + +Intense was the surprise and relief of the population, when they were +told that there would be no looting--no harm done to any by the +conquerors; that all would be free, if they chose, to depart to their +homes, and to take their few belongings with them. + +The scene in the town was awful--the stench overpowering! The Dervishes +were absolutely ignorant of all sanitary methods--pools of the foulest +slush abounded, and thousands of dead animals, in all stages of +decomposition, lay about the streets. Among them were numerous dead +bodies, principally of girls and women, who had been killed by their +brutal husbands or masters, to prevent them from falling into the hands +of the British. There were also many dead Dervishes, and others +desperately wounded. + +Strangely enough, the latter did not seem to regard their victorious +enemy with the hate that had been exhibited by many of the wounded in +the field; and some of them half raised themselves, and saluted the +Sirdar and his staff as they passed along. + +Presently, there was a commotion in the crowd. The wall of the great +granary had been breached, by some of the lyddite shells, and the grain +had poured out into the street. The natives near ran up to gather it; +and, finding that they were not molested by the British, the news +spread rapidly. The crowds in the streets melted away; and the +inhabitants, for the most part half starved, made a mad rush to the +spot, where in a short time many thousands of men, women, and children +were hard at work, gathering and carrying off the grain. + +In the meantime the Sirdar, with a party of Maxwell's brigade, passed +along by the side of the great wall enclosing the buildings, and square +mile of ground, in which were the Khalifa's house, the tomb of the +Mahdi, the arsenal, storehouses, and the homes of the principal emirs. + +As soon as they had turned the corner of the wall, in view of the tomb +and the Khalifa's house, a brisk fire was opened by the garrison. +Fortunately, the wall was not loopholed, and they had to get on the top +of it, or on to the flat roofs of the houses, to fire. Maxwell's men +soon silenced them, and on the troops passing in through the breaches, +and along the wall, most of the Dervishes at once surrendered. + +For a time, further advance was barred by an inner wall, that still +intervened between them and the Khalifa's house. After the gunboats' +fire had cleared away a number of the Dervishes clustered outside the +south wall, the Sirdar and his staff entered by a gateway, and moved +towards the Khalifa's house. This was searched by Slatin Pasha, and +several officers and soldiers; but, to the general disappointment, it +was found that the Khalifa had escaped but a short time before, +carrying with him his treasure; his wives having been sent off, as soon +as he returned from the field of battle. + +The Mahdi's tomb was a ruin. A large portion of the dome had been +knocked away, and the falling fragments had smashed the iron railings +that surrounded the tomb, itself. + +There was nothing more to be done. The pursuit of the Khalifa, mounted, +as he would be, on fresh horses, was out of the question. It was +already almost dark, and men and horses had been at work since before +daybreak. The town was in a very disturbed state--large numbers of the +Dervishes were still possessed of their arms, and the greater portion +of the troops were withdrawn from the pestilential town. Next morning a +larger force was marched in, and the work of disarmament completed. + +The cavalry went out and scouted the country, and brought in large +numbers of prisoners. The men belonging to the tribes that had +renounced Mahdism--Jaalin and others--were at once allowed to leave for +their homes; and numbers of others, whose appearance was peaceful, and +who had at once given up their arms, were also released; but there were +still no fewer than eleven thousand prisoners, among them some of the +Khalifa's emirs. + +Many of the townspeople had started, the previous evening, for the +field of battle; to bury the bodies of their friends who had fallen, +and to bring in the wounded. Of the latter, after our own men had been +attended to, fully nine thousand received aid and attention from the +British doctors. + +On the morning after the occupation, the work of purification began. +Great numbers of the unwounded prisoners, and of the townspeople, were +set to work to clean the streets; and, in a couple of days, the wider +thoroughfares and avenues had been thoroughly cleansed. + +Having but little to do, Gregory went into the Khalifa's arsenal. This +building was full of war material of all kinds; including a perfectly +appointed battery of Krupp guns, numbers of old cannon, modern +machine-guns, rifles and pistols; mixed up with musical instruments, +suits of chain armour, steel helmets, hundreds of battle flags, and +thousands of native spears, swords, and shields. Besides these the +collection comprised ivory, percussion caps, lead, copper, and bronze, +looms, pianos, sewing machines, boilers, steam engines, agricultural +implements, ostrich feathers, wooden and iron bedsteads, paints, India +rubber, leather water bottles, clothes, three state coaches, and an +American buggy. There were also a modern smithy, where gunpowder, +shell, bullets, and cartridge cases were made and stored; and a +well-appointed engineers' shop and foundry, with several steam engines, +turning lathes, and other tools. The machinery had been brought from +Gordon's arsenal at Khartoum, where the foreman had been employed; and +the workmen were, for the most part, Greeks. + +The battle was fought on Friday, the 2nd of September. On Sunday a +flotilla of boats, containing detachments from all the British and +Egyptian regiments, and every officer who could be spared from duty, +proceeded up the river to Khartoum. The ruined and deserted city looked +delightful, after the sand, dirt, and wretchedness of Omdurman. The +gardens of the governor's house, and other principal buildings, had run +wild; and the green foliage was restful indeed, to the eye, after the +waste of sand, rock, and scrub that had been traversed by the army on +its way from Wady Halfa. + +The vessels drew up opposite a grove of tall palms. Beyond them +appeared what had been the government house. The upper story was gone, +the windows were filled up with bricks, and a large acacia stood in +front of the building. + +The troops formed up before the palace, in three sides of a square--the +Egyptians were to the left, looking from the river, and the British to +the right--the Sirdar, and the generals of the divisions and brigades, +facing the centre. Two flagstaffs had been raised on the upper story. +The Sirdar gave the signal, and the British and Egyptian flags were run +up. As they flew out, one of the gunboats fired a salute, the Guards' +band struck up "God Save the Queen!" and the band of the 11th Soudanese +then played the Khedive's hymn, while the Generals and all present +stood in salute, with their hands to the peak of their helmets. The +Sirdar's call for three cheers for the Queen was enthusiastically +responded to, every helmet being raised. Similar cheers were then given +for the Khedive, the bands again struck up, and twenty-one guns were +fired. + +As the last gun echoed out, the Guards played the Dead March, in Saul; +and the black band the march called Toll for the Brave, the latter in +memory of the Khedive's subjects, who had died with Gordon. Then minute +guns were fired, and four chaplains--Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, +and Catholic--by turns read a psalm or a prayer. The pipers then wailed +a dirge, and finally the Soudanese bands played Gordon's favourite +hymn, Abide with Me. + +At the conclusion, General Hunter and the other officers shook hands +with the Sirdar, one by one. Kitchener himself was deeply moved, and +well he might be! Fourteen years of his life had been spent in +preparing for, and carrying out, this campaign; and now the great task +was done. Gordon was avenged. Of the Dervish host, the remnant were +scattered fugitives. The Mahdi's cause, the foulest and most +bloodstained tyranny that had ever existed, transforming as it did a +flourishing province into an almost uninhabited desert, was crushed +forever; and it was his patient and unsparing labour, his wonderful +organization, that had been the main factor in the work. No wonder that +even the Iron Sirdar almost broke down, at such a moment. + +The bugles sounded, and the troops broke up their formation; and, for +half an hour, wandered through the empty chambers of the palace, and +the wild and beautiful garden. Another bugle call, and they streamed +down to the water's edge, took to the boats, and returned to Omdurman. + +The long-delayed duty, which England owed to one of her noblest sons, +had been done. Gordon had had his burial. None knew where his bones +reposed, but that mattered little. In the place where he was slain, all +honour had been done to him; and the British flag waved over the spot +where he disappeared, forever, from the sight of his countrymen. + +On Gregory's return, he found Zaki in a state of the highest +excitement. + +"Why, what is the matter with you, Zaki?" + +"Oh, master, I have found my two sisters!" + +"That is good news, indeed. I am very glad to hear it, Zaki. How did +you find them?" + +"While you were away, Master, I had been walking through the town; and +when I was passing near the outskirts, a woman came to a door, and +looked very hard at me. Then she suddenly drew aside the cloth from her +face and cried, 'Surely it is Zaki!' + +"Then I knew her--she was my elder sister. Then another woman came to +the door--it was my younger sister, and you can imagine my joy. Both +had been married to Baggaras, who had carried them off. Their husbands +had gone to the battle, and had not returned; and some neighbours who +had gone to the battlefield, next day, brought back news that they had +found both bodies; so one sister came to stay with the other. People +had told them that it was safe to go out, and that no one was injured +who did so; but they had a store of grain in the house, and they +decided to wait and see what happened. + +"One of them, seeing me come along, and observing that I belonged to +the Jaalin, came out to ask me the news; and they were as delighted as +I was, at our meeting." + +"And your mother, do they know anything of her?" + +"She was killed, Master," Zaki said sorrowfully. "I thought possibly it +would be so. The Dervishes did not carry off old women. They killed +them, and the little children. I had never hoped to see her again; but +I did think, when we entered Omdurman, that my sisters might be here." + +"What are they going to do?" + +"They will go down to Berber. I have told them that many of the people +here are going down, and that they will find no difficulty in joining a +party. They are sure to find people they know, at Berber, for most of +the Jaalin who have escaped have gone there, since we occupied the +place. I told them that I would give them what money I had; for, since +I have been in my lord's service, I have had no occasion to spend aught +that he has paid me." + +"I have no doubt, Zaki, that I can arrange for them to go down in one +of the empty store boats. I believe that many of the captives who have +been released will be sent down that way; and, of course, I shall be +glad to give your sisters enough to keep them, for some time, at +Berber." + +"My lord is too good," Zaki said gratefully. + +"Nonsense, Zaki! You saved my life, and I owe you a great deal. I will +go down, at once, to the river--that is, if your sisters are ready to +start tomorrow--and I have no doubt the transport officer will give me +an order, for them, to go in one of the boats." + +As he had expected, he had no difficulty in making arrangements. +Several of the native boats, that had already landed their stores, +would leave on the following day; and Gregory obtained an order for the +passage of the two women. He then drew some money from the paymaster +and, on his return to headquarters, gave Zaki a hundred dollars for his +sisters. + +The black was overpowered with joy and, going off, returned with the +two girls--for they were little more. Each took one of Gregory's hands, +and pressed it to her forehead and heart, and murmured her thanks. + +"Do not thank me," he said. "It is but a small part of the debt that I +owe your brother. I do not know whether he has told you that he saved +my life, at the risk of his own." + +"I have been thinking, my lord," Zaki said, "that it would be well for +them to go down in the boat as far as Dongola. Our village is not many +miles from that place, and many of our people fled there; and doubtless +they will return to their villages, and plant their fields, now that +they have no longer any fear of the Dervishes. At any rate, they are +certain to meet friends, at Dongola." + +"Very well, I will get the order altered. There will be no difficulty +about that. I shall be very glad to know that you will have a home to +go to, when this war is quite over." + +"I shall never go, as long as my lord will keep me," Zaki said, +fervently. + +"I certainly shall not part with you, Zaki, as long as I remain in this +country, which will probably be for a long time." + +The next day, Zaki aided in carrying his sisters' goods down to the +river bank, and saw them on board one of the native craft, which +carried also fifteen or twenty other fugitives. + +"Now, Mr. Hilliard," General Hunter said, that morning, "you can devote +yourself to the object for which you came here. Unquestionably, there +must be many among the prisoners who fought at El Obeid. You may gather +all particulars of the battle, from their lips. + +"The greater portion of the white troops will march down the country, +at once. Of course, I don't know what your plans may be; but unless you +have a very good reason to the contrary, I should certainly advise you +to retain your position in the Egyptian army. A great deal of work will +have to be done, before matters are quite settled down; and then civil +administration of some sort will, of course, be formed, under which you +would certainly obtain a far better post than you could hope to get, at +home." + +"I have quite made up my mind to do so, sir. Certainly, when I left +Cairo, I had no idea of remaining permanently in the service; but I +have been so exceptionally fortunate, owing largely to your kindness, +that I have been seriously thinking the matter over; and am quite +determined that, if I can obtain an appointment, I will remain here. I +have no ties, whatever, either in Lower Egypt or in England; no way of +earning my living there; and possibly, as I have begun so early, I may +rest, in time, in what will no doubt become an important branch of the +Egyptian administration." + +"I am glad to hear that you take that view. We all grumble at the +Soudan, and yet there are few of us but would be sorry to leave it; and +there can be no doubt whatever that, under our administration, it will, +in time, become a magnificently rich and fertile province." + +Being relieved from other duty, at present, Gregory went to the great +yard near the mosque, called the Praying Square, where the majority of +the Dervish prisoners were confined. Addressing a man of some +five-and-forty years, he asked him, in Arabic, whether many among the +prisoners had fought against Hicks, at El Obeid. + +The man hesitated. + +"I am not asking on the part of the Sirdar," Gregory said; "and you may +be sure that, if no punishment is inflicted against those who have +fought against us now, there can be no thought of punishment, for a +thing that happened so many years ago. My father was, I believe, one of +the English officers killed there; but as he spoke Arabic well, it is +just possible he was not killed; but, like Slatin and Neufeld, was kept +as a slave, in case he might be useful." + +"There are many here who fought against Hicks," the native said. "I +myself fought there, and nearly all the Baggara who are as old as I am +were there, also. I have never heard of a white man who escaped death. +When we broke into the square, the English General and his officers +charged into the middle of us, and all fell. I was not close at the +time, but I saw their bodies, an hour afterwards." + +"My father was not a fighting officer. He was the interpreter, and may +not have been near the others. When the attack by your people was made, +I have heard that one of the Soudanese regiments held together, and +marched away, and that there was a white officer with them." + +"That was so. Two days afterwards, we surrounded them. They fought +hard; and at last, when we had lost many men, we offered that, if they +would surrender and become the Mahdi's men, they would be spared. Most +of them did so, just as some of our tribesmen, taken by you at Atbara, +have now taken service with you." + +"But the white officer--what became of him?" + +"I cannot say," the native said. "I have no memory of him. He may have +fallen before they surrendered--who can say? Certainly, I do not +remember a white man being killed, after they did so. I will ask others +who were there, and tomorrow will tell you what they say." + +It was a busy day, in Omdurman. The army that had made such efforts, +and achieved so great a triumph, marched in military order, with bands +playing, through the town. The Sirdar had a double motive, in ordering +them to do so. In the first place, it was a legitimate triumph of the +troops, thus to march as conquerors through the town. In the second +place the sight would impress, not only the inhabitants, but the +Dervish prisoners, with a sense of the power of those who, henceforth, +would be their masters; and, undoubtedly, the show had the desired +effect. The orderly ranks, as they swept along, the proud demeanour of +the men, their physique and equipment, created a profound impression +among the natives. Half of them were their own kinsmen, many of whom +had fought for the Khalifa, and had now aided in defeating him. This +was what had been accomplished by drill and discipline, and the +influence of white officers. The Soudanese were evidently well fed and +cared for; not even the haughty Baggara held their heads so high. + +Especially admired were the artillery, battery following battery, in +perfect order. These were the guns that had carried death into the +ranks of the Dervishes, against whose fire even the fanatical bravery +of the followers of the Khalifa was unable to stand. When the march +past was concluded, there was scarce one of the prisoners who would not +gladly have enlisted. + +On the following day, Gregory again went to the Praying Square. The man +he had the morning before seen, at once came up to him. + +"I have enquired of many who were at El Obeid, my lord," he said. "All +say that there was no white man in the camp, when the black battalion +surrendered, though one had been seen while the fighting was going on. +Nor was the body of one found, where the fight had taken place on the +previous day. It was a matter of talk among the Dervishes, at the time; +for they had lain in a circle round the enemy, and were convinced that +no one passed through their lines. Those who surrendered said that he +had taken the command, and had exposed himself to the hottest fire, and +encouraged them; telling them that the more bravely they defended +themselves, the more likely they were to obtain favourable terms. The +night before, he had advised them to accept any offer the Dervishes +might make, but on the following morning he was missing, and none could +give any account of what had become of him. The same tale is told by +all to whom I have spoken." + +The story made a profound impression upon Gregory. It seemed possible +that the father, of whom he had no remembrance, might have been the +sole white survivor of Hicks's army. True, there was nothing to prove +that he was the white man who had joined the black battalion that +escaped the first day's massacre. There were other non-combatants: +Vizitelly, the artist of the Illustrated London News, and O'Donovan, +the correspondent of the Daily News. Either of these might also have +been at any other portion of the square, when the attack commenced, and +unable to join Hicks and his officers, in their final charge into the +midst of the enemy. + +Still, it was at least possible that his father was the man who had +retired from the field, with the black battalion; and who had, +afterwards, so strangely disappeared. If so, what had become of him, +all these years? Had he made off in disguise, only to be murdered by +wandering bands? Had he been concealed, for months, in the hut of a +friendly tribesman? What had he been doing, since? Had he been killed, +in trying to make his way down? Had he been enslaved, and was he still +lingering on, in a wretched existence? + +He could hardly hope that he had fallen into friendly hands; for, had +he been alive, he would surely have managed, with his knowledge of the +country, to make his way down; or to reach Khartoum, when it was still +held by the Egyptians. + +At any rate, Gregory concluded that he might find out whether any +European had arrived there, during the siege. He went down to the +river, and took a native boat across to Khartoum. At the ceremony, on +Sunday, many natives watched the arrival of the flotilla; and some of +these might have been there, in Gordon's time. He had no great hopes of +it, but there was just a chance. + +The flags were still flying over the governor's house, when he landed, +and a detachment of Egyptian troops was stationed there. A native +officer came down, when he landed. + +"I have come across to question some of the natives," he said. "I +believe some are still living here." + +"Oh, yes, Bimbashi! there are a good many, scattered about among the +ruins. They come in, bringing fruit and fish for sale. I think they +mostly live down by the riverside." + +Gregory kept on, till he came to the huts occupied by the fishermen, +and men who cultivated small plots of ground. He found several who had +lived at Khartoum, when it was captured; and who had escaped the +general massacre, by hiding till nightfall, and then making their way +up the river, in boats. None of them could give him the information he +sought, but one suggested that he was more likely to hear from the +Greeks and Turks, who worked in the Khalifa's arsenal and foundries; as +they had been spared, for the services they would be able to render to +the Mahdi. + +Returning to Omdurman, he went to the machine shop. Here work had +already been resumed, as repairs were needed by several of the +gunboats. He went up to the foreman, a man of some sixty years of age. + +"You were engaged in the city during the siege, were you not?" he said, +in Arabic, with which he knew the foreman must be thoroughly +acquainted. + +"Yes, sir, I had been here ten years before that." + +"I am very anxious to learn whether any white man, who had survived the +battle of El Obeid, ever reached this town before its capture." + +The man thought for some time. + +"Yes," he said, "a white man certainly came here, towards the end of +the siege. I know, because I happened to meet him, when I was going +home from work; and he asked me the way to the governor's. I should not +have known him to be a white man, for he had a native attire; and was +as black, from exposure to the sun, as any of the Arabs. I gave him +directions, and did not ask him any questions; but it was said, +afterwards, that he was one of Hicks's officers. Later, I heard that he +went down in the steamer with Colonel Stewart." + +"You did not hear his name?" Gregory asked, anxiously. + +"No, sir." + +"Did he talk Arabic well?" + +"Extremely well. Much better than I did, at the time." + +"Do you remember how long he arrived before the steamer started?" + +"Not very long, sir, though I really cannot tell you how long it was." + +"After you were cut off, I suppose?" + +"Certainly it was, but I cannot say how long." + +"No one else, here, would know more about it than you do?" + +"No, sir; I should think not. But you can ask them." + +He called up some of the other workmen. All knew that a white officer, +of Hicks Pasha's army, was said to have returned. One of them +remembered that he had come down once, with Gordon, to see about some +repairs required to the engines of a steamer; but he had never heard +his name, nor could he recall his personal appearance, except that he +seemed to be a man about thirty. But he remembered once seeing him, +again, on board Stewart's steamer; as they had been working at her +engines, just before she started. + +After thanking the foreman, Gregory returned to the hut, where he and +two other officers of Hunter's staff had taken up their quarters. He +was profoundly depressed. This white man might well have been his +father; but if so, it was even more certain than before that he had +fallen. He knew what had been the fate of Stewart's steamer, the +remains of which he had seen at Hebbeh. The Colonel, and all with him, +had accepted the invitation of the treacherous sheik of that village, +and had been massacred. He would at least go there, and endeavour to +learn, from some of the natives, the particulars of the fate of those +on board; and whether it was possible that any of the whites could have +escaped. + +After sitting for some time, in thought, he went to General Hunter's +quarters, and asked to see him. The General listened, sympathetically, +to his story. + +"I never, for a moment, thought that your father could have escaped," +he said; "but from what you tell me, it is possible that he did so, +only to perish afterwards. But I can well understand how, having learnt +so much, you should be anxious to hear more. Certainly, I will grant +your request for leave to go down to Hebbeh. As you know, that place +was taken and destroyed, by the river column under Earle; or rather +under Brackenbury, for Earle had been killed in the fight at Kirkeban. +Numerous relics were found of the massacre, but the journal Stewart was +known to have kept was not among them. Had it been there it would, no +doubt, have mentioned the survivor of Hicks's army, who was coming down +the river with him. + +"The place was deserted when Brackenbury arrived. It certainly was so, +when we came up. Since then, some of the inhabitants have probably +returned; and may know of places where plunder was hidden away, on the +approach of Brackenbury's column. No doubt the offer of a reward would +lead to their production. + +"You may not have to be absent long. The British regiments are to go +down at once, and several steamers will start tomorrow. I will give you +an order to go with them. You will have no difficulty in getting back, +for the Sirdar has already decided that the railway is to be carried +on, at once, from Atbara to Khartoum; and has, I believe, telegraphed +this morning that material and stores are to be sent up, at once. Most +of these will, no doubt, be brought on by rail; but grain, of which +large quantities will be required, for the use of our troops and of the +population of the town, will come on by water. + +"But, no doubt, your quickest way back will be to ride to Abu Hamed, +and take the train up to Atbara." + +"I will be back as soon as I can, General. I am much obliged to you, +for letting me go." + +"I will tell the Sirdar that I have given you leave, and why. It is not +absolutely necessary, but it is always well that one's name should be +kept to the front." + +The next day, Gregory saw the General again. + +"I mentioned, to the Sirdar, that you wanted a fortnight's leave, and +told him why. He simply nodded, and said, 'Let him have a month, if he +wants it.' + +"He had other things to think of; for, this morning, a small Dervish +steamer came down the White Nile. They had the Khalifa's flag flying, +and had not heard of what had taken place, till one of the gunboats ran +alongside her. Of course she surrendered, at once. + +"It is a curious story they told. They left Omdurman a month ago with +the Sapphire, which carried five hundred men. The object of the voyage +was to collect grain. When they reached the old station of Fashoda, +they had been fired upon by black troops, with some white men among +them, who had a strange flag flying. The firing was pretty accurate, +for they had forty men killed and wounded; and the emir in command had +disembarked, and encamped his troops from the Sapphire on the opposite +bank, and had sent the small steamer back, to ask the Khalifa for +orders. + +"The story seemed so strange, and improbable, that I went down with the +Sirdar to the boat, which had been brought alongside. There was no +doubt that it had been peppered with balls. Some of the General's staff +cut one of the bullets out of the woodwork, and these fully confirmed +the story. They were not leaden balls, or bits of old iron, but conical +nickel bullets. They could only have been fired from small-bore rifles, +so there were certainly white men at Fashoda. Of course, no one can +form any opinion as to who they are, or where they come from. They may +be Belgians from the Congo. They may--but that is most improbable--be +an expeditionary party of Italians. But Italy is withdrawing, and not +pushing forward, so I think it is out of the question that they are +concerned in the matter. + +"The question seems to lie between Belgians and French, unless an +expedition has been sent up from our possessions on the great lakes. +The Dervishes in the steamer can only say that the flag is not at all +like ours; but as their ignorance of colour is profound, they give all +sorts of contradictory statements. Anyhow, it is a serious matter. +Certainly, no foreign power has any right to send an expedition to the +Nile; and as certainly, if one of them did so, our government would not +allow them to remain there; for, beyond all question, Fashoda is an +Egyptian station, and within Egyptian territory; which is, at present, +as much as to say that a foreign power, established there, would be +occupying our country." + +"It seems an extraordinary proceeding, sir." + +"Very extraordinary. If it were not that it seems the thing has +absolutely been done, it would seem improbable that any foreign power +could take such an extraordinary, and unjustifiable, course. It is +lucky for them, whoever they are, that we have smashed up the +Dervishes; for they would have made very short work of them, and the +nation that sent them would probably never have known their fate." + + + +Chapter 16: A Voice From The Dead. + + +That afternoon, Gregory heard that orders had been issued for five of +the gunboats to start up the river, the first thing in the morning; +that the Sirdar himself was going, and was to take up five hundred men +of the 11th Soudanese. An order was also issued that all correspondents +were to leave, the next day, for Cairo. Gregory had met one of them, +that evening. + +"So you are all off, I hear, Mr. Pearson?" + +"Yes; we did have a sort of option given us, but it was really no +choice at all. We might go down instantly, or we must stay till the +last of the white troops had gone down. That may be a very long time, +as there is no saying what may come of this Fashoda business. Besides, +the Khalifa has fairly escaped; and if, out of the sixty thousand men +with him, some thirty thousand got off, they may yet rally round him: +and, in another two or three months, he may be at the head of as large +a force as ever. I don't think, after the way the Egyptians fought the +other day, there will be any need for white troops to back them. Still, +it is likely that a battalion or two may be left. However, we had +practically to choose between going at once, or waiting at least a +month; and you may be sure that the censorship would be put on, with a +round turn, and that we should not be allowed to say a word of the +Fashoda business, which would be the only thing worth telegraphing +about. So we have all voted for going. + +"Of course, we understand that this pressure has been put upon us, on +account of this curious affair at Fashoda. Fortunately, none of us are +sorry to be off. There is certain to be a pause, now, for some time; +and one does not want to be kicking one's heels about, in this ghastly +town; and though it is rather sharp and peremptory work, I cannot say +that I think the Sirdar is wrong. Whoever these men may be, they must +go, that is certain; but of course it will be a somewhat delicate +business, and France--that is, if they are Frenchmen who are there--is +sure to be immensely sore over the business; and it is certainly very +desirable that nothing should be written, from here, that could +increase that feeling. I have no doubt the Sirdar telegraphed home, for +instructions, as soon as he got the news of the affair; and I imagine +that his going up in the morning, with five gunboats, is proof that he +has already received instructions of some sort. + +"I hope this force is not French. The feeling against us is +tremendously strong, in France, and they certainly will not like +backing down; but they will have to do that or fight and, with all +their big talk, I don't think they are ready to risk a war with us; +especially as, though their occupation of Fashoda would be an immense +annoyance to us, it would be of no possible utility to them. + +"By the way, we have all got to sell our horses. There is no +possibility of taking them down, and it is a question of giving them +away, rather than of selling; for, of course, the officers of the +British regiments do not want to buy. I have a horse for which I gave +twenty-five pounds, at Cairo. You are welcome to him. You can give me a +couple of pounds, for the saddle and things." + +"I am very much obliged to you, but it would be robbery." + +"Not at all. If you won't take him, I shall have him shot, tonight. A +horse could not possibly pick up food here, and would die of starvation +without a master; and it would be still more cruel to give him to a +native, for they are brutal horse masters." + +"Well, in that case I shall be glad, indeed, to have him; and I am +extremely obliged to you." + +"That is right. If you will send your man round, I will hand it over to +him." + +"As you are going tomorrow, it is likely that I shall go with you; for +I am going down, also, as far as Abu Hamed, for ten days." + +"That will be pleasant, though I do not know that it will be so for +you; for I own the majority of us are rather sour-tempered, at present. +Though we may be glad enough to go, one does not care to be sent off at +a moment's notice, just as fractious children are turned out of a room, +when their elders want a private chat. However, for myself, I am not +inclined to grumble. I want to go, and therefore I do not stand on the +order of going." + +Later, General Hunter gave Gregory an order, for a passage in a steamer +on which the correspondents of the various newspapers were going down. + +"What shall we take, master?" Zaki asked. + +"Just the clothes we stand in, Zaki. I have got a couple of the Dervish +Remingtons, and several packets of ammunition. I will take them, and I +can get four more. We will take them all down, as we know the people +about Hebbeh are not disposed to be friendly. I don't suppose, for a +minute, that they are likely to show any hostile feeling; for you may +be sure that the fall of Omdurman has spread, by this time, over the +whole land, and they will be on their best behaviour. Still, it is just +as well to be able to defend ourselves, and I shall engage four men at +Abu Hamed to go with us. I shall leave all my kit here." + +It was a pleasant run down the river, to Atbara. The correspondents +were all heartily glad to be on their way home; and the irritation they +had at first felt, at being so suddenly ordered away, at the moment +when so unexpected and interesting a development occurred, had +subsided. They had witnessed one of the most interesting battles ever +fought, had seen the overthrow of the Mahdi, and were looking forward +to European comforts and luxuries again. + +At Atbara all left the steamer, which was to take in stores, and go up +again at once; and proceeded, by a military train, with the first of +the returned European regiments. + +At Abu Hamed, Gregory left them. His first enquiry was whether any +boats were going down the river. He learned that several native craft +were leaving, and at once engaged a passage in one of them to Hebbeh. +He had no difficulty, whatever, in engaging four sturdy Arabs from +among those who were listlessly hanging round the little station. While +he was doing this, Zaki bought food for six men, for a week; and in +less than two hours from his arrival at Abu Hamed, Gregory was on +board. + +The boat at once dropped down the river and, as the current was running +strongly, they were off Hebbeh next morning, at eight o'clock. A boat +put off, and took Gregory and his party ashore. As they were seen to +land, the village sheik at once came down to them. + +"Is there anything I can do for my lord?" he asked. + +"Yes; I have come here to ascertain whether any of those, who were +present at the attack upon the party who landed from the steamer over +there, are still living here. There is no question of punishment. On +the contrary, I have come here to obtain information as to some private +matters, and anyone who can give me that information will be well +rewarded." + +"There are but three men alive who were here at the time, my lord. +There were more, but they fled when the boats with the white troops +came up, from Merawi. I believe they went to the Dervish camp at +Metemmeh. + +"The three here are quiet and respectable men. They were asked many +questions, and guided the white officers to the place where Wad Etman +stood--it was there that those who landed from the steamer first +rested--and to the place where the great house of Suleiman Wad Gamr, +Emir of Salamat, stood. + +"It was there that the much to be regretted attack on the white men was +made. When the white army came up, six months afterwards, they blew up +the house, and cut down all the palm trees in the village." + +"I was with the force that came up from Merawi, last year. Will you +bring me the three men you speak of? I would question them, one by one. +Assure them that they need not be afraid of answering truthfully, even +if they themselves were concerned in the attack upon the white +officers, and the crew of the steamer, for no steps will be taken +against them. It is eighteen years since then; and, no doubt, their +houses were destroyed and their groves cut down, when the British +column came here and found the place deserted. I am ready to reward +them, if I obtain the information I require from them." + +The three men were presently brought to the spot where Gregory had +seated himself, in the shade of one of the huts. Zaki stood beside him, +and the four armed men took post, a short distance away. + +The first called up was a very old man. In reply to Gregory's +questions, he said: + +"I was already old when the steamboat ran ashore. I took no hand in the +business; the white men had done me no harm, while the followers of the +Mahdi had killed many of my family and friends. I heard what was going +to be done, and I stayed in my house. I call upon Allah to witness that +what I say is true!" + +"Do you know if any remains of that expedition are still in existence?" + +"No, my lord. When the white troops came here, some months afterwards, +I fled, as all here did; but I know that, before they destroyed Wad +Gamr's house, they took away some boxes of papers that had been brought +ashore from the ship, and were still in the house. I know of nothing +else. The clothes of the men on board the steamboat were divided among +those who took part in the attack, but there was little booty." + +Gregory knew that, at Wad Gamr's house, but few signs of the tragedy +had been found when General Brackenbury's troops entered. Bloodstained +visiting cards of Stewart's, a few scraps of paper, and a field glass +had, alone, been discovered, besides the boxes of papers. + +The next man who came up said that he had been with the party who fell +upon the engineers and crew of the boat, by the riverside. + +"I was ordered to kill them," he said. "Had I not done so, I should +have been killed, myself." + +"Do you know whether any booty was hidden away, before the English +came?" + +"No, my lord, there was no booty taken. No money was found on board the +steamer. We stripped her of the brass work, and took the wood ashore, +to burn. The sheik gave us a dollar and a half a man, for what we had +done. There may have been some money found on the ship, but as his own +men were on board first, and took all that they thought of value, I +have naught to say about it." + +"And you never heard of anything being hidden, before the British +troops arrived?" + +The Arab shook his head. + +"No, my lord, but there may have been, though I never heard of it. I +went and fought at Kirkeban; and when we were beaten, I fled at once to +Berber, and remained there until the white troops had all gone down the +country." + +"I may want to question you again tomorrow," Gregory said. "Here are +two dollars. I shall give you as much more, if I want you again." + +The third man was then called up. He was evidently in fear. + +"Do not be afraid to answer me truly," Gregory said. "If you do so, no +harm will come to you, whatever share you may have had in the affair. +But if you answer falsely, and the truth is afterwards discovered, you +will be punished. Now, where were you when this business took place?" + +"We were all ordered, by Wad Gamr, to gather near his house; and, when +the signal was given, we were to run in and kill the white men. We saw +them go up to the house. They had been told to leave their arms behind +them. One of the sheik's servants came out and waved his arms, and we +ran in and killed them." + +"What happened then?" + +"We carried the bodies outside the house. Then we took what money was +found in their pockets, with watches and other things, in to the sheik; +and he paid us a dollar and a half a head, and said that we could have +their clothes. For my share, I had a jacket belonging to one of them. +When I got it home, I found that there was a pocket inside, and in it +was a book partly written on, and many other bits of paper." + +"And what became of that?" Gregory asked, eagerly. + +"I threw it into a corner. It was of no use to me. But when the white +troops came up in the boats, and beat us at Kirkeban, I came straight +home and, seeing the pocketbook, took it and hid it under a rock; for I +thought that when the white troops got here, they would find it, and +that they might then destroy the house, and cut down my trees. Then I +went away, and did not come back until they had all gone." + +"And where is the pocketbook, now?" + +"It may be under the rock where I hid it, my lord. I have never thought +of it, since. It was rubbish." + +"Can you take me to the place?" + +"I think so. It was not far from my house. I pushed it under the first +great rock I came to, for I was in haste; and wanted to be away before +the white soldiers, on camels, could get here." + +"Did you hear of any other things being hidden?" + +"No. I think everything was given up. If this thing had been of value I +should, perhaps, have told the sheik; but as it was only written +papers, and of no use to anyone, I did not trouble to do so." + +"Well, let us go at once," Gregory said, rising to his feet. "Although +of no use to you, these papers may be of importance." + +Followed by Zaki and the four men, Gregory went to the peasant's house, +which stood a quarter of a mile away. + +"This is not the house I lived in, then," the man said. "The white +troops destroyed every house in the village; but, when they had gone, I +built another on the same spot." + +The hill rose steeply, behind it. The peasant went on, till he stopped +at a large boulder. + +"This was the rock," he said, "where I thrust it under, as far as my +arm would reach. I pushed it in on the upper side." + +The man lay down. + +"It was just about here," he said. + +"It is here, my lord. I can just feel it, but I cannot get it out. I +pushed it in as far as the tips of my fingers could reach it." + +"Well, go down and cut a couple of sticks, three or four feet long." + +In ten minutes, the man returned with them. + +"Now take one of them and, when you feel the book, push the stick along +its side, until it is well beyond it. Then you ought to be able to +scrape it out. If you cannot do so, we shall have to roll the stone +over. It is a big rock, but with two or three poles, one ought to be +able to turn it over." + +After several attempts, however, the man produced the packet. Gregory +opened it, with trembling hands. It contained, as the man had said, a +large number of loose sheets, evidently torn from a pocketbook, and all +covered with close writing. + +He opened the book that accompanied them. It was written in ink, and +the first few words sufficed to tell him that his search was over. It +began: + +"Khartoum. Thank God, after two years of suffering and misery, since +the fatal day at El Obeid, I am once again amongst friends. It is true +that I am still in peril, for the position here is desperate. Still, +the army that is coming up to our help may be here in time; and even if +they should not do so, this may be found when they come, and will be +given to my dear wife at Cairo, if she is still there. Her name is Mrs. +Hilliard, and her address will surely be known, at the Bank." + +"These are the papers I was looking for," he said to Zaki. "I will tell +you about them, afterwards." + +He handed ten dollars to the native, thrust the packet into his breast +pocket, and walked slowly down to the river. He had never entertained +any hope of finding his father, but this evidence of his death gave him +a shock. + +His mother was right, then. She had always insisted there was a +possibility that he might have escaped the massacre at El Obeid. He had +done so. He had reached Khartoum. He had started, full of hope of +seeing his wife and child, but had been treacherously massacred, here. + +He would not, now, read this message from the grave. That must be +reserved for some time when he was alone. He knew enough to be able to +guess the details--they could not be otherwise than painful. He felt +almost glad that his mother was not alive. To him, the loss was +scarcely a real one. His father had left him, when an infant. Although +his mother had so often spoken of him, he had scarcely been a reality +to Gregory; for when he became old enough to comprehend the matter, it +seemed to him certain that his father must have been killed. He could, +then, hardly understand how his mother could cling to hope. + +His father had been more a real character to him, since he started from +Cairo, than ever before. He knew the desert, now, and its fierce +inhabitants. He could picture the battle and since the fight at +Omdurman he had been able to see, before him, the wild rush on the +Egyptian square, the mad confusion, the charge of a handful of white +officers, and the one white man going off, with the black battalion +that held together. + +If, then, it was a shock to him to know how his father had died, how +vastly greater would it have been, to his mother! She had pictured him +as dying suddenly, fighting to the last, and scarce conscious of pain +till he received a fatal wound. She had said, to Gregory, that it was +better to think of his father as having died thus, than lingering in +hopeless slavery, like Neufeld; but it would have been agony to her to +know that he did suffer for two years, that he had then struggled on +through all dangers to Khartoum, and was on his way back, full of hope +and love for her, when he was treacherously murdered. + +The village sheik met him, as he went down. + +"You have found nothing, my lord?" + +"Nothing but a few old papers," he said. + +"You will report well of us, I hope, to the great English commander?" + +"I shall certainly tell him that you did all in your power to aid me." + +He walked down towards the river. One of the men, who had gone on while +he had been speaking to the sheik, ran back to meet him. + +"There is a steamer coming up the river, my lord." + +"That is fortunate, indeed," Gregory exclaimed. "I had intended to +sleep here, tonight, and to bargain with the sheik for donkeys or +camels to take us back. This will save two days." + +Two or three native craft were fastened up to the shore, waiting for a +breeze to set in, strong enough to take them up. Gregory at once +arranged, with one of them, to put his party on board the steamer, in +their boat. In a quarter of an hour the gunboat approached, and they +rowed out to meet her. + +As she came up, Gregory stood up, and shouted to them to throw him a +rope. This was done, and an officer came to the side. + +"I want a passage for myself and five men, to Abu Hamed. I am an +officer on General Hunter's staff." + +"With pleasure. + +"Have you come down from the front?" he asked, as Gregory stepped on +board, with the five blacks. + +"Yes." + +"Then you can tell me about the great fight. We heard of it, at +Dongola, but beyond the fact that we had thrashed the Khalifa, and +taken Omdurman, we received no particulars. + +"But before you begin, have a drink. + +"It is horribly annoying to me," he went on, as they sat down under the +awning, and the steward brought tumblers, soda water, some whisky, and +two lemons. + +Gregory refused the whisky, but took a lemon with his cold water. + +"A horrible nuisance," the officer went on. "This is one of Gordon's +old steamers; she has broken down twice. Still, I console myself by +thinking that, even if I had been in time, very likely she would not +have been taken up. + +"I hope, however, there will be work to do, yet. As you see, I have got +three of these native craft in tow, and it is as much as I can do to +get them up this cataract. + +"Now, please tell me about the battle." + +Gregory gave him an outline of the struggle, of the occupation of +Omdurman, and of what might be called the funeral service of Gordon, at +Khartoum. It was dark before the story was finished. + +"By the way," the officer said, as they were about to sit down to +dinner, "while we were on deck, I did not ask about your men. I must +order food to be given them." + +"They have plenty," Gregory said. "I brought enough for a week with me. +I thought that I might be detained two or three days, here, and be +obliged to make the journey by land to Abu Hamed." + +"I have not asked you what you were doing at this out of the way place, +and how long you have been here." + +"I only landed this morning. I came down to search for some relics. My +father was on board Stewart's steamer, and as there would be nothing +doing at Omdurman, for a few days, I got leave to run down. I was +fortunate in securing a boat at Abu Hamed, on my arrival there; and I +have been equally so, now, in having been picked up by you; so that I +shall not be away from Omdurman more than seven days, if I have equal +luck in getting a steamer at Atbara. I do not think I shall be +disappointed, for the white troops are coming down, and stores are +going up for the Egyptian brigade, so that I am certain not to be kept +there many hours. The Sirdar has gone up to Fashoda, or I don't suppose +I should have got leave." + +"Yes. I heard at Merawi, from the officer in command, that some foreign +troops had arrived there. I suppose nothing more is known about it?" + +"No; no news will probably come down for another fortnight, perhaps +longer than that." + +"Who can they be?" + +"The general idea is that they are French. They can only be French, or +a party from the Congo States." + +"They had tremendous cheek, whoever they are," the officer said. "It is +precious lucky, for them, that we have given the Khalifa something else +to think about, or you may be sure he would have wiped them out pretty +quickly; unless they are a very strong force, which doesn't seem +probable. I hear the Sirdar has taken a regiment up with him." + +"Yes, but I don't suppose any actual move will be made, at present." + +"No, I suppose it will be a diplomatic business. Still, I should think +they would have to go." + +"No one has any doubt about that, at Omdurman," Gregory said. "After +all the expense and trouble we have had to retake the Soudan, it is not +likely that we should let anyone else plant themselves on the road to +the great lakes. + +"When will you be at Abu Hamed, sir?" + +"We shall be there about five o'clock--at any rate, I think you may +safely reckon on catching the morning train. It goes, I think, at +eight." + +"I am sure to catch a train, soon, for orders have been sent down that +railway materials shall be sent up, as quickly as possible; as it has +been decided that the railway shall be carried on, at once, to +Khartoum. I expect that, as soon as the Nile falls, they will make a +temporary bridge across the Atbara." + +It was six in the morning, when the steamer arrived at Abu Hamed. +Gregory at once landed, paid his four men, went up to the little +station; and, an hour later, was on his way to Atbara Fort. He had but +two hours to wait there, and reached Omdurman at three o'clock, on the +following afternoon. As he landed, he met an officer he knew. + +"Is there any news?" he asked. + +"Nothing but Fashoda is talked about. It has been ascertained that the +force there is undoubtedly French. The betting is about even as to +whether France will back down, or not. They have made it difficult for +themselves, by an outburst of enthusiasm at what they considered the +defeat of England. Well, of course, that does not go for much, except +that it makes it harder for their government to give in." + +"And has any news been received of the whereabouts of the Khalifa?" + +"No. Broadwood, with two regiments of Egyptian cavalry and the camel +corps, started in pursuit of the Khalifa and Osman, an hour after it +was found that they had got away. Slatin Pasha went with them. But as +the horses had been at work all day, they had to stop at half past +eight. They could not then get down to the water, and bivouacked where +they had halted. At four in the morning they started again, and at half +past eight found a spot where they could get down to the river; then +they rode fifteen miles farther. + +"They were now thirty-five miles from Omdurman. One of the gunboats had +gone up with supplies, but owing to the Nile having overflowed, could +not get near enough to land them. Next morning they got news that the +Khalifa was twenty-five miles ahead, and had just obtained fresh +camels, so they were ordered to return to the town. They had picked up +a good many of the fugitives, among them the Khalifa's favourite wife; +who, doubtless with other women, had slipped away at one of his halting +places, feeling unable to bear the constant fatigues and hardships of +the flight in the desert. + +"The cavalry have since been out again, but beyond the fact that the +Khalifa had been joined by many of the fugitives from the battle, and +was making for Kordofan, no certain news has been obtained. At present, +nothing can be done in that direction. + +"That horse you bought is all right." + +"I really did not like taking him, for I already had one; and it looked +almost like robbery, giving him two pounds for it, and the saddle." + +"Others have done as well," the officer laughed. "One of the brigade +staff bought a horse for a pound from Burleigh, who had given forty for +it at Cairo. There was no help for it. They could not take horses down. +Besides, it is not their loss, after all. The newspapers can afford to +pay for them. They must have been coining money, of late." + +"That reconciles me," Gregory laughed. "I did not think of the +correspondents' expenses being paid by the papers." + +"I don't know anything about their arrangements, but it stands to +reason that it must be so, in a campaign like this. In an ordinary war, +a man can calculate what his outlay might be; but on an expedition of +this kind, no one could foretell what expenses he might have to incur. + +"Besides, the Sirdar has saved the newspapers an enormous expenditure. +The correspondents have been rigidly kept down to messages of a few +hundred words; whereas, if they had had their own way, they would have +sent down columns. Of course, the correspondents grumbled, but I have +no doubt their employers were very well pleased, and the newspapers +must have saved thousands of pounds, by this restriction." + +"You are back sooner than I expected," General Hunter said, when +Gregory went in and reported his arrival. "It is scarce a week since +you left." + +"Just a week, sir. Everything went smoothly, and I was but three or +four hours at Hebbeh." + +"And did you succeed in your search?" + +"Yes, sir. I most fortunately found a man who had hidden a pocketbook +he had taken from the body of one of the white men who were murdered +there. There was nothing in it but old papers and, when Brackenbury's +expedition approached, he had hidden it away; and did not give it a +thought, until I enquired if he knew of any papers, and other things, +connected with those on board the steamer. He at once took me to the +place where he had hidden it, under a great stone, and it turned out to +be the notebook and journals of my father; who was, as I thought +possible, the white man who had arrived at Khartoum, a short time +before the place was captured by the Dervishes, and who had gone down +in the steamer that carried Colonel Stewart." + +"Well, Hilliard," the General said, kindly, "even the certain knowledge +of his death is better than the fear that he might be in slavery. You +told me you had no remembrance of him?" + +"None, sir; but of course, my mother had talked of him so often, and +had several photographs of him--the last taken at Cairo, before he +left--so that I almost seem to have known him. However, I do feel it as +a relief to know that he is not, as I feared was remotely possible, a +slave among the Baggara. But I think it is hard that, after having gone +through two years of trials and sufferings, he should have been +murdered on his way home." + +"No doubt that is so. Have you read your father's diary, yet?" + +"No, sir; I have not had the heart to do so, and shall put it off, +until the shock that this has given me has passed away. I feel that a +little hard work will be the best thing for me. Is there any chance of +it?" + +"You have just returned in time. I am going up the Blue Nile, tomorrow +morning, to clear out the villages; which, no doubt, are all full of +fugitives. I am glad that you have come back. I was speaking of you +today to General Rundle, who is in command. + +"One of the objects of the expedition is to prevent Fadil from crossing +the river. He was advancing from Gedareh, at the head of ten thousand +troops, to join the Khalifa; and was but forty miles away, on the day +after we took this place; but when he received the news of our victory, +he fell back. If he can cross, he will bring a very formidable +reinforcement to the Khalifa. + +"We know that Colonel Parsons started from Kassala, on the 7th, his +object being to capture Gedareh, during the absence of Fadil. He is to +cross the Atbara at El Fasher, and will then march up this bank of the +river, till he is at the nearest point to Gedareh. It is probable that +he will not strike across before the 18th, or the 20th. His force is +comparatively small, and we do not know how large a garrison Fadil will +have left there. + +"Altogether, we are uneasy about the expedition. It is very desirable +that Parsons should know that Fadil is retiring, and that, so far as we +can learn from the natives, he has not yet crossed the Blue Nile. +Gedareh is said to be a strong place, and once there, Parsons might +hold it against Fadil until we can send him reinforcements. + +"In order to convey this information to him, we require someone on whom +we can absolutely rely. I said that, if you were here, I felt sure that +you would volunteer for the service. Of course it is, to a certain +extent, a dangerous one; but I think that, speaking the language as you +do, and as you have already been among the Dervishes, you might, even +if taken prisoner, make out a good story for yourself." + +"I would undertake the commission, with pleasure," Gregory said. "I +shall, of course, go in native dress." + +"I propose that we carry you a hundred miles up the river, with us, and +there land you. From that point, it would not be more than sixty or +seventy miles across the desert to the Atbara, which you would strike +forty or fifty miles above El Fasher. Of course you would be able to +learn, there, whether Parsons had crossed. If he had, you would ride up +the bank till you overtake him. If he had not, you would probably meet +him at Mugatta. He must cross below that, as it is there he leaves the +river." + +"That seems simple enough, sir. My story would be that I was one of the +Dervishes, who had escaped from the battle here; and had stopped at a +village, thinking that I was safe from pursuit, until your boats came +along; and that I then crossed the desert to go to Gedareh, where I +thought I should be safe. That would surely carry me through. I shall +want two fast camels--one for myself, and one for my boy." + +"These we can get for you, from Abdul Azil, the Abadah sheik. Of +course, you will put on Dervish robes and badges?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I will go across and tell General Rundle, and obtain written +instructions for you to carry despatches to Parsons. I will give them +to you when you go up on the boat, in the morning. I will see at once +about the camels, and ask the Intelligence people to get you two of the +Dervish suits. You will also want rifles." + +"Thank you, sir! I have a couple of Remingtons, and plenty of +ammunition for them. I have two spears, also, which I picked up when we +came in here." + +"We are off again, Zaki," he said, when he returned to his hut; where +the black was engaged in sweeping up the dust, and arranging everything +as usual. + +"Yes, master." Zaki suspended his work. "When do we go?" + +"Tomorrow morning." + +"Do we take everything with us?" + +"No. I start in uniform. We shall both want Dervish dresses, but you +need not trouble about them--they will be got for us." + +"Then we are going among the Dervishes, again?" + +"Well, I hope we are not; but we may meet some of them. We are going +with the expedition up the Blue Nile, and will then land and strike +across the desert, to the Atbara. That is enough for you to know, at +present. We shall take our guns and spears with us." + +Zaki had no curiosity. If his master was going, it was of course all +right--his confidence in him was absolute. + +In about an hour, a native from the Intelligence Department brought +down two Dervish dresses, complete. They had still three hours before +mess, and Gregory sat down on his bed, and opened his father's +pocketbook, which he had had no opportunity to do, since it came into +his possession. + + + +Chapter 17: A Fugitive. + + +"I do not suppose," the diary began, "that what I write here will ever +be read. It seems to me that the chances are immeasurably against it. +Still, there is a possibility that it may fall into the hands of some +of my countrymen when, as will surely be the case, the Mahdi's +rebellion is crushed and order restored; and I intend, so long as I +live, to jot down from time to time what happens to me, in order that +the only person living interested in me, my wife, may possibly, +someday, get to know what my fate has been. Therefore, should this +scrap of paper, and other scraps that may follow it, be ever handed to +one of my countrymen, I pray him to send it to Mrs. Hilliard, care of +the manager of the Bank at Cairo. + +"It may be that this, the first time I write, may be the last; and I +therefore, before all things, wish to send her my heart's love, to tell +her that my last thoughts and my prayers will be for her, and that I +leave it entirely to her whether to return to England, in accordance +with the instructions I left her before leaving, or to remain in Cairo. + +"It is now five days since the battle. It cannot be called a battle. It +was not fighting; it was a massacre. The men, after three days' +incessant fighting, were exhausted and worn out, half mad with thirst, +half mutinous at being brought into the desert, as they said, to die. +Thus, when the Dervishes rushed down in a mass, the defence was feeble. +Almost before we knew what had happened, the enemy had burst in on one +side of the square. Then all was wild confusion--camels and Dervishes, +flying Egyptians, screaming camp followers, were all mixed in +confusion. + +"The other sides of the square were also attacked. Some of our men were +firing at those in their front, others turning round and shooting into +the crowded mass in the square. I was with a black regiment, on the +side opposite to where they burst in. The white officer who had been in +command had fallen ill, and had been sent back, a few days after we +left Khartoum; and as I had been, for weeks before that, aiding him to +the best of my powers, and there were no other officers to spare, Hicks +asked me to take his place. As I had done everything I could for the +poor fellows' comfort, on the march; they had come to like me, and to +obey my orders as promptly as those of their former commander. + +"As long as the other two sides of the square stood firm, I did so; but +they soon gave way. I saw Hicks, with his staff, charge into the midst +of the Dervishes, and then lost sight of them. Seeing that all was +lost, I called to my men to keep together, to march off in regular +order, and repel all assaults, as this was the only hope there was of +getting free. + +"They obeyed my orders splendidly. Two or three times the Dervishes +charged upon them, but the blacks were as steady as rocks, and their +volleys were so fatal that the enemy finally left us alone, preferring +to aid in the slaughter of the panic-stricken Egyptians, and to share +the spoil. + +"We made for the wells. Each man drank his fill. Those who had water +bottles filled them. We then marched on towards El Obeid, but before +nightfall the Dervish horse had closed up round us. At daylight their +infantry had also arrived, and fighting began. + +"All day we held our position, killing great numbers, but losing many +men ourselves. By night, our water was exhausted. Then the soldiers +offered to attack the enemy, but they were twenty to one against us, +and I said to them, 'No, fight one day longer, if we can hold on. The +Dervishes may retire, or they may offer us terms.' + +"So we stood. By the next evening, we had lost half our number. After +they had drawn off, one of the Dervish emirs came in with a white flag, +and offered life to all who would surrender, and would wear the badge +of the Mahdi, and be his soldiers. I replied that an answer should be +given in the morning. When he had left, I gathered the men together. + +"'You have fought nobly,' I said, 'but you have scarce a round of +ammunition left. If we fight again tomorrow, we shall all be +slaughtered. I thank you, in the name of the Khedive, for all that you +have done; but I do not urge you to reject the terms offered. Your +deaths would not benefit the Khedive. As far as I am concerned, you are +free to accept the terms offered.' + +"They talked for some time together, and then the three native officers +who were still alive came forward. + +"'Bimbashi,' they said, 'what will be done about you? We are Mahometans +and their countrymen, but you are a white man and a Christian. You +would not fight for the Mahdi?' + +"'No,' I said, 'I would not fight for him, nor would I gain my life, at +the price of being his slave. I wish you to settle the matter, without +any reference to me. I will take my chance. I may not be here, in the +morning. One man might escape, where many could not. All I ask is that +I may not be watched. If in the morning I am not here, you can all say +that I disappeared, and you do not know how. I do not, myself, know +what I am going to do yet.' + +"They went away, and in a quarter of an hour returned, and said that +the men would surrender. If they had water and ammunition, they would +go on fighting till the end; but as they had neither, they would +surrender. + +"I felt that this was best. The Soudanese love battle, and would as +readily fight on one side as on the other. They have done their duty +well to the Khedive, and will doubtless fight as bravely for the Mahdi. + +"The men lay in a square, as they had fought, with sentries placed to +warn them, should the Dervishes make a night attack. British troops +would have been well-nigh maddened with thirst, after being twenty-four +hours without water, and fighting all day in the blazing sun, but they +felt it little. They were thirsty, but in their desert marches they are +accustomed to thirst, and to hold on for a long time without water. + +"I was better off, for I had drunk sparingly, the day before, from my +water bottle; and had still a draught left in it. I waited until I +thought that the men were all asleep; then I stripped, and stained +myself from head to foot. I had carried stain with me, in case I might +have to go out as a native, to obtain information. In my valise I had a +native dress, and a native cloth, in which I could have passed as a +peasant, but not as one of the Baggara. However, I put it on, passed +through the sleeping men, and went up to a sentry. + +"'You know me,' I said. 'I am your Bimbashi. I am going to try and get +through their lines; but if it is known how I have escaped, I shall be +pursued and slain. Will you swear to me that, if you are questioned, +you will say you know nothing of my flight?' + +"'I swear by the beard of the Prophet,' the man said. 'May Allah +protect you, my lord!' + +"Then I went on. The night was fairly dark and, as the Dervishes were +nearly half a mile away, I had no fear of being seen by them. There +were many of their dead scattered about, seventy or eighty yards from +our square. I had, all along, felt convinced that it would be +impossible to pass through their lines; therefore I went to a spot +where I had noticed that a number had fallen, close together, and went +about examining them carefully. It would not have done to have chosen +the dress of an emir, as his body might have been examined, but the +ordinary dead would pass unnoticed. + +"I first exchanged the robe for one marked with the Mahdi's patches. It +was already smeared with blood. I then carried the body of the man +whose robe I had taken off, for some distance. I laid him down on his +face, thinking that the absence of the patches would not be seen. Then +I crawled some thirty or forty yards nearer to the Dervishes, so that +it would seem that I had strength to get that far, before dying. Then I +lay down, partly on my side, so that the patches would show, but with +my face downwards on my arm. + +"I had, before dyeing my skin, cut my hair close to my head, on which I +placed the Dervish's turban. The only property that I brought out with +me was a revolver, and this pocketbook. Both of these I buried in the +sand; the pocketbook a short distance away, the pistol lightly covered, +and within reach of my hand, so that I could grasp it and sell my life +dearly, if discovered. + +"Soon after daylight I heard the triumphant yells of the Dervishes, and +knew that my men had surrendered. Then there was a rush of horse and +foot, and much shouting and talking. I lifted my head slightly, and +looked across. Not a Dervish was to be seen in front of me. + +"I felt that I had better move, so, taking up my pistol and hiding it, +I crawled on my hands and knees to the spot where I had hidden this +book; and then got up on to my feet, and staggered across the plain, as +if sorely wounded, and scarcely able to drag my feet along. As I had +hoped, no one seemed to notice me, and I saw three or four other +figures, also making their way painfully towards where the Dervishes +had encamped. + +"Here were a few camels, standing untended. Everyone had joined in the +rush for booty--a rush to be met with bitter disappointment, for, with +the exception of the arms of the fallen, and what few valuables they +might have about their person, there was nothing to be gained. I +diverged from the line I had been following, kept on until there was a +dip in the ground, that would hide me from the sight of those behind; +then I started to run, and at last threw myself down in the scrub, four +or five miles away from the point from which I had started. + +"I was perfectly safe, for the present. The Dervishes were not likely +to search over miles of the desert, dotted as it was with thick bushes. +The question was as to the future. My position was almost as bad as +could be. I was without food or water, and there were hundreds of miles +of desert between me and Khartoum. At every water hole I should, almost +certainly, find parties of Dervishes. + +"From time to time I lifted my head, and saw several large parties of +the enemy, moving in the distance. They were evidently bound on a +journey, and were not thinking of looking for me. I chewed the sour +leaves of the camel bush; and this, to some extent, alleviated my +thirst. + +"I determined at last that I would, in the first place, march to the +wells towards which we had been pressing, when the Dervishes came up to +us. They were nearly three miles south of the spot where the square had +stood. No doubt, Dervishes would be there; but, if discovered by them, +it was better to die so than of thirst. + +"Half an hour before the sun sank, I started. No horsemen were in +sight, and if any were to come along, I could see them long before they +could notice me. Knowing the general direction, I was fortunate enough +to get sight of the palm grove which surrounded the wells, before +darkness set in. + +"It lay about two miles away, and there were certainly moving objects +round it. I lay down until twilight had passed, and then went forward. +When within two or three hundred yards of the grove, I lay down again, +and waited. That the Dervishes would all go to sleep, however long I +might wait, was too much to hope for. They would be sure to sit and +talk, far into the night, of the events of the last three or four days. + +"Shielding myself as well as I could, by the bushes, I crawled up until +I was in the midst of some camels, which were browsing. Here I stood +up, and then walked boldly into the grove. As I had expected, two or +three score of Dervishes were sitting in groups, talking gravely. They +had destroyed the Turks (as they always called the Egyptians, and their +infidel white leaders), but had suffered heavily themselves. The three +hundred Soudanese who had surrendered, and who had taken service with +the Mahdi, were but poor compensation for the losses they had suffered. + +"'A year ago,' one old sheik said, 'I was the father of eight brave +sons. Now they have all gone before me. Four of them fell in the +assaults at El Obeid, two at Baria, and the last two have now been +killed. I shall meet them all again, in the abode of the blessed; and +the sooner the better, for I have no one left to care for.' + +"Others had tales of the loss of relations and friends, but I did not +wait to listen further. Taking up a large water gourd, that stood empty +at the foot of one of the trees, I boldly walked to the well, descended +the rough steps at the water's edge, and drank till I could drink no +longer; and then, filling the gourd, went up again. + +"No one noticed me. Had they looked at me they would have seen, even in +the darkness, the great patches down the front of the robe; but I don't +think anyone did notice me. Other figures were moving about, from group +to group, and I kept on through the grove, until beyond the trees. I +came out on the side opposite to that which I had entered, and, as I +expected, found some of the Dervish horses grazing among the bushes. + +"No guard was placed over them, as they were too well trained to wander +far. I went out to them and chose the poorest, which happened to be +farther among the bushes than the others. I had thought the matter well +over. If a good horse were taken, there would be furious pursuit, as +soon as it was missed; and this might be soon, for the Arabs are +passionately fond of their favourite horses--more so than they are of +their families. While I had been waiting at the edge of the wood, more +than one had come out to pat and fondle his horse, and give it a +handful of dates. But a poor animal would meet with no such attention, +and the fact that he was missing was not likely to be discovered till +daylight. Probably, no great search would be made for it. The others +would ride on, and its owner might spend some hours in looking about, +thinking it had strayed away, and was lying somewhere among the bushes. + +"I had no thought of trying to return to Khartoum. The wells were far +apart, and Dervish bands were certain to be moving along the line. It +seemed to me that El Obeid was the safest place to go to. True, it was +in the hands of the Mahdists, but doubtless many wounded would be +making their way there. Some, doubtless, would have wives and children. +Others might have come from distant villages, but these would all make +for the town, as the only place where they could find food, water, and +shelter. + +"Riding till morning, I let the horse graze, and threw myself down +among the bushes, intending to remain there until nightfall. In the +afternoon, on waking from a long sleep, I sat up and saw, a quarter of +a mile away, a Dervish making his way along on foot, slowly and +painfully. This was the very chance I had hoped might occur. I got up +at once, and walked towards him. + +"'My friend is sorely wounded,' I said. + +"'My journey is well-nigh ended,' he said. 'I had hoped to reach El +Obeid, but I know that I shall not arrive at the well, which lies three +miles away. I have already fallen three times. The next will be the +last. Would that the bullet of the infidel had slain me, on the spot!' + +"The poor fellow spoke with difficulty, so parched were his lips and +swollen his tongue. I went to the bush, where I had left the gourd, +half full of water. The man was still standing where I had left him, +but when he saw the gourd in my hand he gave a little cry, and tottered +feebly towards me. + +"'Let my friend drink,' I said. I held the gourd to his lips. 'Sip a +little, first,' I said. 'You can drink your fill, afterwards.' + +"'Allah has sent you to save me,' he said; and after two or three gulps +of water, he drew back his head. 'Now I can rest till the sun has set, +and then go forward as far as the well, and die there.' + +"'Let me see your wound,' I said. 'It may be that I can relieve the +pain, a little.' + +"He had been shot through the body, and it was a marvel to me how he +could have walked so far; but the Arabs, like other wild creatures, +have a wonderful tenacity of life. I aided him to the shelter of the +thick bush, then I let him have another and longer drink, and bathed +his wound with water. Tearing off a strip from the bottom of his robe, +I bound it round him, soaking it with water over the wound. He had been +suffering more from thirst than from pain, and he seemed stronger, +already. + +"'Now,' I said, 'you had better sleep.' + +"'I have not slept since the last battle,' he said. 'I started as soon +as it was dark enough for me to get up, without being seen by the +Turks. I have been walking ever since, and dared not lie down. At +first, I hoped that I might get to the town where my wife lived, and +die in my own house. But that hope left me, as I grew weaker and +weaker, and I have only prayed for strength enough to reach the well, +to drink, and to die there.' + +"'Sleep now,' I said. 'Be sure that I will not leave you. Is it not our +duty to help one another? When the heat is over, we may go on. I have a +horse, here, which you shall ride. How far is it from the well to El +Obeid?' + +"'It is four hours' journey, on foot.' + +"'Good! Then you shall see your wife before morning. We will stop at +the well to give my horse a good drink; and then, if you feel well +enough to go on, we will not wait above an hour.' + +"'May Allah bless you!' the man said, and he then closed his eyes, and +at once went to sleep. + +"I lay down beside him, but not to sleep. I was overjoyed with my good +fortune. Now I could enter El Obeid boldly and, the wounded man being a +native there, no questions would be asked me. I had a house to go to, +and shelter, for the present. + +"As to what might happen afterwards, I did not care to think. Some way +of escape would surely occur, in time. Once my position as a Mahdist +was fully established, I should be able to join any party going towards +Khartoum, and should avoid all questioning; whereas, if I were to +journey alone, I should be asked by every band I met where I came from; +and might, at any moment, be detected, if there happened to be any from +the village I should name as my abode. It was all important that this +poor fellow should live; until, at least, I had been with him two days, +in the town. + +"From time to time, I dipped a piece of rag in the gourd, squeezed a +few drops of water between his lips, and then laid it on his forehead. +When the sun began to get low, I went out and caught the horse. As I +came up, the Dervish opened his eyes. + +"'I am better,' he said. 'You have restored me to life. My head is +cool, and my lips no longer parched.' + +"'Now,' I said, 'I will lift you into the saddle. You had better ride +with both legs on the same side. It will be better for your wound. +There is a mound of earth, a few yards away. If you will stand up on +that, I can lift you into the saddle, easily. Now put your arms round +my neck, and I will lift you in the standing position. If you try to +get up, yourself, your wound might easily break out again.' + +"I managed better than I had expected and, taking the bridle, led the +horse towards the well. + +"'You must tell me the way,' I said, 'for I am a stranger in this part, +having come from the Blue Nile.' + +"'I know it perfectly,' he said, 'having been born in El Obeid. I +fought against the Mahdists, till we were starved out; and then, as we +all saw that the power of the Mahdi was great, and that Allah was with +him, we did not hesitate to accept his terms, and to put on his +badges.' + +"In less than an hour, we saw the trees that marked the position of the +well; and, in another half hour, reached it. At least a score of +wounded men were there, many of them so sorely hurt that they would get +no farther. They paid little attention to us. One of them was known to +Saleh--for the wounded man told me that that was his name--he also was +from El Obeid. He was suffering from a terrible cut in the shoulder, +which had almost severed the arm. He told my man that it was given by +one of the infidel officers, before he fell. + +"I thought it was as well to have two friends, instead of one; and did +what I could to bind his wound up, and fasten his arm firmly to his +side. Then I said to him: + +"'My horse, after three hours' rest, will be able to carry you both. +You can sit behind Saleh, and hold him on with your unwounded arm.' + +"'Truly, stranger, you are a merciful man, and a good one. Wonderful is +it that you should give up your horse, to men who are strangers to you; +and walk on foot, yourself.' + +"'Allah commands us to be compassionate to each other. What is a walk +of a few miles? It is nothing, it is not worth speaking of. Say no more +about it, I beseech you. I am a stranger in El Obeid, and you may be +able to befriend me, there.' + +"Three hours later Abdullah, which was the name of the second man, +mounted, and assisted me to lift Saleh in front of him, and we set out +for El Obeid. We got into the town at daybreak. There were few people +about, and these paid no attention to us. Wounded men had been coming +in, in hundreds. Turning into the street where both the men lived, we +went first to the house of Saleh, which was at the farther end, and +was, indeed, quite in the outskirts of the place. It stood in a walled +enclosure, and was of better appearance than I had expected. + +"I went to the door, and struck my hand against it. A voice within +asked what was wanted, and I said, 'I bring home the master of the +house. He is sorely wounded.' + +"There was a loud cry, and the door opened and a woman ran out. + +"'Do not touch him,' Abdullah exclaimed. 'We will get him down from the +horse, but first bring out an angareb. We will lower him down onto +that.' + +"The woman went in, and returned with an angareb. It was the usual +Soudan bed, of wooden framework, with a hide lashed across it. I +directed them how to lift one end against the horse, so that Saleh +could slide down onto it. + +"'Wife,' the Arab said, when this was done, 'by the will of Allah, who +sent this stranger to my aid, I have returned alive. His name is Mudil. +I cannot tell you, now, what he has done for me. This house is his. He +is more than guest, he is master. He has promised to remain with me, +till I die, or am given back to life again. Do as he bids you, in all +things.' + +"Abdullah would have assisted to carry the bed in, but I told him that +it might hurt his arm, and I and the woman could do it. + +"'You had better go off, at once, to your own people, Abdullah. There +must be many here who understand the treatment of wounds. You had +better get one, at once, to attend to your arm." + +"'I will come again, this evening,' the man replied. 'I consider that I +also owe my life to you; and when you have stayed a while here, you +must come to me. My wives and children will desire to thank you, when I +tell them how you brought me in here.' + +"'Is there any place where I can put my horse?' I asked. + +"'Yes,' the woman replied; 'take it to that door in the wall. I will go +and unfasten it.' + +"There was a shed in the garden. Into this I put my horse, and then +entered the house. + +"Most of the Arab women know something of the dressing of wounds. +Saleh's wife sent out the slave, to buy various drugs. Then she got a +melon from the garden, cut off the rind, and, mincing the fruit in +small pieces, squeezed out the juice and gave it to her husband to +drink. When she had done this, she set before me a plate of pounded +maize, which was boiling over a little fire of sticks, when we went in. + +"'It is your breakfast,' I said. + +"She waved her hand. + +"'I can cook more,' she said. 'It matters not if we do not eat till +sunset.' + +"I sat down at once, for indeed, I was famishing. The food had all been +exhausted, at the end of the first day's fighting. I had been more than +two days without eating a morsel. I have no doubt I ate ravenously, for +the woman, without a word, emptied the contents of the pot into my +bowl, and then went out and cut another melon for me. + +"When the slave woman returned, she boiled some of the herbs, made a +sort of poultice of them, and placed it on the wound. Saleh had fallen +asleep, the moment he had drunk the melon juice, and did not move while +the poultice was being applied. + +"The house contained three rooms--the one which served as kitchen and +living room; one leading from it on the right, with the curtains +hanging before the door (this was Saleh's room); and on the opposite +side, the guest chamber. I have not mentioned that there were four or +five children, all of whom had been turned out, as soon as we entered; +and threatened with terrible punishments, by their mother, if they made +any noise. + +"When I finished my meal I went into the guest chamber, threw myself +down on the angareb there, and slept till sunset. When I awoke, I found +that a native doctor had come, and examined Saleh. He had approved of +what the woman had done, told told her to continue to poultice the +wound, and had given her a small phial, from which she was to pour two +drops into the wound, morning and evening. He said, what I could have +told her, that her husband was in the hands of Allah, If He willed it, +her husband would live. + +"Of course, I had seen something of wounds, for in the old times--it +seems a lifetime back--when I was, for two years, searching tombs and +monuments with the professor, there had been frays between our workmen +and bands of robbers; and there were also many cases of injuries, +incurred in the work of moving heavy fragments of masonry. Moreover, +although I had no actual practice, I had seen a good deal of surgical +work; for, when I was at the university, I had some idea of becoming a +surgeon, and attended the courses there, and saw a good many +operations. I had therefore, of course, a general knowledge of the +structure of the human frame, and the position of the arteries. + +"So far the wound, which I examined when the woman poured in what I +suppose was a styptic, looked healthy and but little inflamed. Of +course, a skilled surgeon would have probed it and endeavoured to +extract the ball, which had not gone through. The Soudanese were armed +only with old muskets, and it was possible that the ball had not +penetrated far; for if, as he had told me, he was some distance from +the square when he was hit, the bullet was probably spent. + +"I told the woman so, and asked her if she had any objection to my +endeavouring to find it. She looked surprised. + +"'Are you, then, a hakim?' + +"'No, but I have been at Khartoum, and have seen how the white hakims +find which way a bullet has gone. They are sometimes able to get it +out. At any rate, I should not hurt him; and if, as is likely, the ball +has not gone in very far--for had it done so, he would probably have +died before he got home--I might draw it out.' + +"'You can try,' she said. 'You have saved his life, and it is yours.' + +"'Bring me the pistol that your husband had, in his belt.' + +"She brought it to me. I took out the ramrod. + +"'Now,' I said, 'it is most important that this should be clean; +therefore, heat it in the fire so that it is red hot, and then drop it +into cold water.' + +"When this had been done, I took a handful of sand, and polished the +rod till it shone, and afterwards wiped it carefully with a cloth. Then +I inserted it in the wound, very gently. It had entered but an inch and +a half when it struck something hard, which could only be the bullet. +It was as I had hoped, the ball had been almost spent, when it struck +him. + +"Saleh was awake now, and had at once consented to my suggestion, +having come to have implicit faith in me. + +"'It is, you see, Saleh, just as I had hoped. I felt sure that it could +not have gone in far; as, in that case, you could never have walked +twenty miles, from the battlefield, to the point where you met me. Now, +if I had a proper instrument, I might be able to extract the bullet. I +might hurt you in doing so, but if I could get it out, you would +recover speedily; while if it remains where it is, the wound may +inflame, and you will die.' + +"'I am not afraid of pain, Mudil.' + +"I could touch the ball with my finger, but beyond feeling that the +flesh in which it was embedded was not solid to the touch, I could do +nothing towards getting the ball out. I dared not try to enlarge the +wound, so as to get two fingers in. After thinking the matter over in +every way, I decided that the only chance was to make a tool from the +ramrod. I heated this again and again, flattening it with the pistol +barrel, till it was not more than a tenth of an inch thick; then I cut, +from the centre, a strip about a quarter of an inch wide. I then rubbed +down the edges of the strip on a stone, till they were perfectly +smooth, and bent the end into a curve. I again heated it to a dull red, +and plunged it into water to harden it, and finally rubbed it with a +little oil. It was late in the evening before I was satisfied with my +work. + +"'Now, Saleh,' I said, 'I am going to try if this will do. If I had one +of the tools I have seen the white hakims use, I am sure I could get +the ball out easily enough; but I think I can succeed with this. If I +cannot, I must make another like it, so as to put one down each side of +the bullet. You see, this curve makes a sort of hook. The difficulty is +to get it under the bullet.' + +"'I understand,' he said. 'Do not mind hurting me. I have seen men die +of bullets, even after the wound seemed to heal. I know it is better to +try and get it out.' + +"It was a difficult job. Pressing back the flesh with my finger, I +succeeded, at last, in getting the hook under the bullet. This I held +firmly against it, and to my delight felt, as I raised finger and hook +together, that the bullet was coming. A few seconds later, I held it +triumphantly between my fingers. + +"'There, Saleh, there is your enemy. I think, now, that if there is no +inflammation, it will not be long before you are well and strong +again.' + +"'Truly, it is wonderful!' the man said, gratefully. 'I have heard of +hakims who are able to draw bullets from wounds, but I have never seen +it done before.' + +"If Saleh had been a white man, I should still have felt doubtful as to +his recovery; but I was perfectly confident that a wound of that sort +would heal well, in an Arab, especially as it would be kept cool and +clean. Hard exercise, life in the open air, entire absence of +stimulating liquors, and only very occasionally, if ever, meat diet, +render them almost insensible to wounds that would paralyse a white. +Our surgeons had been astonished at the rapidity with which the wounded +prisoners recovered. + +"Saleh's wife had stood by, as if carved in stone, while I performed +the operation; but when I produced the bullet, she burst into tears, +and poured blessings on my head. + +"I am writing this on the following morning. Saleh has slept quietly +all night. His hand is cool this morning, and I think I may fairly say +that he is convalescent. Abdullah's wife came in yesterday evening, and +told the women here that her husband was asleep, but that he would come +round in the morning. I warned her not to let him stir out of doors, +and said I would come and see him. + +"It has taken me five hours to write this, which seems a very long time +to spend on details of things not worth recording; but the act of +writing has taken my thoughts off myself, and I intend always to note +down anything special. It will be interesting to me to read it, if I +ever get away; should I be unable to escape, I shall charge Saleh to +carry it to Khartoum, if he ever has the chance, and hand it over to +the Governor there, to send down to Cairo. + +"A week later. I am already losing count of days, but days matter +nothing. I have been busy, so busy that I have not even had time to +write. After I had finished my story so far, Saleh's slave woman took +me to Abdullah's house. I found that he was in a state of high fever, +but all I could do was to recommend that a wet rag should be applied, +and freshly wetted every quarter of an hour; that his head should be +kept similarly enveloped, in wet bandages; and that his hands should be +dipped in water very frequently. + +"When I got back, I found several women waiting outside Saleh's house. +His wife had gossiped with a neighbour, and told them that I had got +the bullet out of his wound. The news spread rapidly, and these women +were all there to beg that I would see their husbands. + +"This was awkward. I certainly could not calculate upon being +successful, in cases where a bullet had penetrated more deeply; and +even if I could do so, I should at once excite the hostility of the +native hakims, and draw very much more attention upon myself than I +desired. In vain I protested that I was not a hakim, and had done only +what I had seen a white hakim do. Finding that this did not avail, I +said that I would not go to see any man, except with one of the native +doctors. + +"'There are two here,' one of the women said. 'I will go and fetch +them.' + +"'No,' I said; 'who am I, that they should come to me? I will go and +see them, if you will show me where they live.' + +"'Ah, here they come!' she said, as two Dervishes approached. + +"I went up to them, and they said: 'We hear that you are a hakim, who +has done great things.' + +"'I am no hakim,' I said. 'I was just coming to you, to tell you so. +The man I aided was a friend, and was not deeply wounded. Having seen a +white hakim take bullets from wounded men, I tried my best; and as the +bullet was but a short way in, I succeeded. If I had had the +instruments I saw the infidel use, it would have been easy; but I had +to make an instrument, which sufficed for the purpose, although it +would have been of no use, had the bullet gone in deeper.' + +"They came in and examined Saleh's wound, the bullet, and the tool I +had made. + +"'It is well,' they said. 'You have profited by what you saw. Whence do +you come?' + +"I told the same story that I had told Saleh. + +"'You have been some time at Khartoum?' + +"'Not very long,' I said; 'but I went down once to Cairo, and was there +some years. It was there I came to know something of the ways of the +infidels. I am a poor man, and very ignorant; but if you will allow me +I will act as your assistant, as I know that there are many wounded +here. If you will tell me what to do, I will follow your instructions +carefully.' + +"The two hakims looked more satisfied, at finding that I was not a +dangerous rival. One said: + +"'Among the things that have been brought in here is a box. Those who +brought it did not know what it contained, and it was too strong for +them to open, though of course they were able to hammer it, and break +it open. It contained nothing but many shining instruments, but the +only one that we knew the purport of was a saw. There were two boxes of +the same shape, and the other contained a number of little bottles of +drugs; and we thought that maybe, as the boxes were alike, these +shining instruments were used by the white hakim.' + +"'I can tell you that, if I see them,' I said, and went with them. + +"In a house where booty of all sorts was stored, I saw the chests which +I knew were those carried by Hicks's medical officer. The one contained +drugs, the other a variety of surgical instruments--probes, forceps, +amputating knives, and many other instruments of whose use I was +ignorant. I picked out three or four probes, and forceps of different +shapes. + +"'These are the instruments,' I said, 'with which they take out +bullets. With one of these thin instruments, they search the wound +until they find the ball. Sometimes they cannot find it, and even when +they have found it, they sometimes cannot get hold of it with any of +these tools, which, as you see, open and shut.' + +"'What are the knives for?' + +"'They use the knives for cutting off limbs. Twice have I seen this +done, for I was travelling with a learned hakim, who was searching the +tombs for relics. In one case a great stone fell on a man's foot, and +smashed it, and the hakim took it off at the ankle. In another case a +man had been badly wounded, by a bullet in the arm. He was not one of +our party but, hearing of the hakim's skill, he had made a journey of +three days to him. The wound was very bad, and they said it was too +late to save the arm, so they cut it off above the elbow.' + +"'And they lived?' + +"'Yes, they both lived.' + +"'Could you do that?' + +"I shook my head. 'It requires much skill,' I said. 'I saw how it was +done, but to do it one's self is very different. If there was a man who +must die, if an arm or a leg were not taken off, I would try to save +his life; but I would not try, unless it was clear that the man must +die if it were not done. + +"But you are learned men, hakims, and if you will take me as your +assistant, I will show you how the white doctors take out balls, and, +if there is no other way, cut off limbs; and when I have once shown +you, you will do it far better than I.' + +"The two men seemed much pleased. It was evident to them that, if they +could do these things, it would widely add to their reputation. + +"'It is good,' they said. 'You shall go round with us, and see the +wounded, and we will see for ourselves what you can do. Will you want +this chest carried?' + +"'No,' I said. 'I will take these instruments with me. Should it be +necessary to cut off a limb, to try and save life, I shall need the +knives, the saw, and this instrument, which I heard the white hakim +call a tourniquet, and which they use for stopping the flow of blood, +while they are cutting. There are other instruments, too, that will be +required.'" + + + +Chapter 18: A Hakim. + + +"I succeeded in getting out two more bullets, and then handed the +instruments to the hakims, saying that I had shown them all I knew, and +would now leave the matter in their hands altogether; or would act as +their assistant, if they wished it. I had no fear that harm would come +of it; for, being so frequently engaged in war, I knew that they had, +in a rough way, considerable skill in the treatment of wounds. I had +impressed upon them, while probing the wounds, that no force must be +used, and that the sole object was to find the exact course the ball +had taken. + +"As to the amputations, they would probably not be attempted. A +fighting Dervish would rather die than lose a limb; and, were he to die +under an operation, his relatives would accuse the operator of having +killed him. + +"I remained at work with them, for two or three days. In nearly half +the cases, they failed to find the course of the ball; but when they +did so, and the wound was not too deep, they generally succeeded in +extracting it. They were highly pleased, and I took great pains to +remain well in the background. + +"They were very friendly with me. Their fees were mostly horses, or +carpets, or other articles, in accordance with the means of the +patients; and of these they gave me a portion, together with some +money, which had been looted from the chests carrying silver, for the +purchase of provisions and the payment of troops. Although they made a +pretence of begging me to remain always with them, I refused, saying +that I saw I could no longer be of assistance to them. I could see they +were inwardly pleased. They gave me some more money, and I left them, +saying that I did not, for a moment, suppose that I could tell them +anything further; but that if, at any time, they should send for me, I +would try and recall what I had seen the white hakims do, in such a +case as they were dealing with. + +"In the meantime, Saleh was progressing very favourably; and, indeed, +would have been up and about, had I not peremptorily ordered him to +remain quiet. + +"'You are doing well,' I said. 'Why should you risk bringing on +inflammation, merely for the sake of getting about a few days earlier?' + +"Abdullah was also better, but still extremely weak, and I had to order +that meat should be boiled for some hours, and that he should drink +small quantities of the broth, three or four times a day. Many times a +day women came to me, to ask me to see to their husbands' wounds; and +sometimes the wounded men came to me, themselves. All the serious cases +I referred to the hakims, and confined myself simply to dressing and +bandaging wounds, which had grown angry for want of attention. I always +refused to accept fees, insisting that I was not a hakim, and simply +afforded my help as a friend. + +"I had the satisfaction, however, of doing a great deal of good, for in +the medicine chest I found a large supply of plaster and bandages. +Frequently mothers brought children to me. These I could have treated +with some of the simple drugs in the chest, but I refused to do so; for +I could not have explained, in any satisfactory way, how I knew one +drug from another, or was acquainted with their qualities. Still, +although I refused fees, I had many little presents of fowls, fruit, +pumpkins, and other things. These prevented my feeling that I was a +burden upon Saleh, for of course I put them into the general stock. + +"So far, I cannot but look back with deep gratitude for the strange +manner in which I have been enabled to avert all suspicion, and even to +make myself quite a popular character among the people of El Obeid. + +"One bottle I found in the medicine chest was a great prize to me. It +contained iodine and, with a weak solution of this, I was able to +maintain my colour. I did not care so much for my face and hands, for I +was so darkened by the sun that my complexion was little fairer than +that of many of the Arabs. But I feared that an accidental display, of +a portion of my body usually covered by my garments, would at once +prove that I was a white man. I had used up the stuff that I had +brought with me, when I escaped from the square; and having no means of +procuring fresh stain, was getting uneasy; but this discovery of the +iodine put it within my power to renew my colouring, whenever it was +necessary. + +"About a month later. I have been living here quietly, since I last +wrote in this journal. The day after I had done so, the Emir sent for +me, and said he had heard that I had taken bullets out of wounds, and +had shown the two doctors of the town how to do so, by means of +instruments found in a chest that was among the loot brought in from +the battlefield. I repeated my story to him, as to how I had acquired +the knowledge from being in the service of a white hakim, from Cairo, +who was travelling in the desert; and that I had no other medical +knowledge, except that I had seen, in the chest, a bottle which +contained stuff like that the white doctors used in order to put a +patient to sleep, so that they could take off a limb without his +feeling pain. + +"'I have heard of such things being done by the Turkish hakims at +Khartoum, but I did not believe them. It is against all reason.' + +"'I have seen it done, my lord,' I said. 'I do not say that I could +take off a limb, as they did, but I am sure that the stuff would put +anyone to sleep.' + +"'I wish you to put it to the trial,' the Emir said. 'One of my sons +came back, from the battle, with a bullet hole through his hand. The +hakim said that two of the bones were broken. He put bandages round, +and my son said no more about it. He is a man who does not complain of +slight troubles, but yesterday evening the pain became so great that he +was forced to mention it; and when I examined his arm, I found that it +was greatly swelled. Slaves have been bathing it with cold water, ever +since, but the pain has increased rather than diminished.' + +"'I will look at it, my lord, but I greatly fear that it is beyond my +poor skill to deal with it.' + +"The young man was brought in and, on removing the bandage, I saw that +the wound was in a terrible state, and the arm greatly inflamed, some +distance up the wrist. It was a bad case, and it seemed to me that, +unless something was done, mortification would speedily set in. + +"'The two doctors saw it an hour ago,' the Emir went on, 'and they +greatly fear for his life. They told me that they could do nothing, but +that, as you had seen the white hakim do wonderful things, you might be +able to do something.' + +"'My lord,' I said, 'it is one thing to watch an operation, but quite +another to perform it yourself. I think, as the doctors have told you, +your son's life is in great danger; and I do believe that, if there +were white doctors here to take off his arm, he might be saved. But I +could not undertake it. The skill to do so is only acquired by long +years of study. How can I, a poor man, know how to do such things? Were +I to attempt and fail, what would you say?--that I had killed your son; +and that, but for me, he might have recovered.' + +"'He will not recover,' the Emir said, moodily. + +"'What say you, Abu? You have heard what this man says; what do you +think?' + +"'I think, Father, that it were well to try. This man has used his +eyes, so well, that he has taken the white man's instruments, and drawn +out bullets from wounds. I feel as if this wound will kill me; +therefore, if the man fails, I shall be none the worse. Indeed, it +would be better to die at once, than to feel this fire burning, till it +burns me up.' + +"'You hear what my son says? I am of the same opinion. Do your best. +Should you fail, I swear, by the head of the Prophet, that no harm +shall come to you.' + +"The wounded man was a fine young fellow, of three or four and twenty. + +"'If it is my lord's will, I will try,' I said; 'but I pray you to bear +in mind that I do so at your command, and without much hope of +accomplishing it successfully. It would, I think, be advisable that the +limb should be taken off above the elbow, so that it will be above the +spot to which the inflammation has extended.' + +"The Emir looked at his son, who said: + +"'It matters not, Father. 'Tis but my left arm, and I shall still have +my right, to hurl a spear or wield a sword.' + +"I need not tell how I got through the operation. Everything required +for it--the inhaler, sponges, straight and crooked needles, and +thread--was in the chest. The young Arab objected to be sent to sleep. +He said it might be well for cowards, but not for a fighting man. I had +to assure him that it was not for his sake, but for my own, that I +wished him to go to sleep; and that if I knew he was not suffering +pain, I might be able to do the thing without my hand trembling; but +that if I knew he was suffering, I should be flurried. + +"I insisted that the hakims should be sent for. When they came I called +them to witness that, at the Emir's command, I was going to try to do +the operation I had seen the white doctor perform, although I was but +an ignorant man, and feared greatly that I might fail. I really was +desperately nervous, though at the same time I did feel that, having +seen the operation performed two or three times, and as it was a simple +one, I ought to be able to do it. Of course, I had everything laid +handy. The tourniquet was first put on the arm, and screwed tightly. +Then I administered the chloroform, which took its effect speedily. My +nerves were braced up now, and I do think I made a fair job of +it--finding and tying up the arteries, cutting and sawing the bone off, +and making a flap. A few stitches to keep this together, and it was +done, and to my relief the Arab, who had lain as rigid as a statue, +winced a little when the last stitch was put in. + +"This was the point on which I had been most anxious. I was not sure +whether the amount of chloroform he had inhaled might not have been too +strong for him. + +"'Do not try to move,' I said, as he opened his eyes and looked round, +as if trying to remember where he was. + +"As his eyes fell upon me, he said, 'When are you going to begin?' + +"'I have finished,' I said, 'but you must lie quiet, for some time. The +slightest movement now might cause the flow of blood to burst out.' + +"The Emir had stood staring at his son's quiet face, as if amazed +beyond the power of speech. Four Dervishes had held the patient's +limbs, so as to prevent any accidental movement. A female slave had +held a large basin of warm water, and another handed me the things I +pointed to. I had begged the hakims to keep their attention fixed on +what I was doing, in order that these also might see how the white +doctor did such things. + +"When his son spoke, the Emir gave a gasp of relief. 'He lives,' he +murmured, as if even now he could scarcely believe that this was +possible; and as he put his hand upon my shoulder it trembled with +emotion. + +"'Truly the ways of the white infidels are marvellous. Abu, my son, +Allah has been merciful! He must have meant that you should not die, +and thus have sent this man, who has seen the white hakims at work, to +save your life! + +"What is to be done now?' he went on, turning to me. + +"'He should be raised very gently, and clothes put under his shoulder +and head. Then he should be carried, on the angareb, to the coolest +place in the house. He may drink a little juice of fruit, but he had +best eat nothing. The great thing is to prevent fever coming on. With +your permission I will stay with him, for if one of the threads you saw +me tie, round these little white tubes in the arm, should slip or give +way, he would be dead in five minutes; unless this machine round the +arm is tightened at once, and the tube that carries the blood is tied +up. It would be well that he should have a slave to fan him. I hope he +will sleep.' + +"The Emir gave orders for the bed to be carried to the room adjoining +his harem. + +"'His mother and his young wife will want to see him,' he said to me, +'and when the danger that you speak of is past, the women will care for +him. You will be master in the room, and will give such orders as you +please.' + +"Then he turned off, and walked hastily away. I could see that he had +spoken with difficulty, and that, in spite of his efforts to appear +composed and tranquil, his mouth was twitching, and his eyes moist. + +"As soon as the bed had been placed, by my directions, near the open +window, the four Dervishes left the room. The hakims were on the point +of doing so, when I said: + +"'I will stay here for a few minutes, and will then come out and talk +this matter over with you. I have been fortunate, indeed, in +remembering so well what I saw. I heard a white hakim explain how he +did each thing, and why, to the sheik of the wounded man's party; and I +will tell you what I remember of it, and you, with your wisdom in these +matters, will be able to do it far better than I.' + +"When they had retired, the door leading into the harem opened, and a +woman, slightly veiled, followed by a younger woman and two slave +girls, came in. I stopped her, as she was hurrying towards her son. + +"'Lady,' I said, 'I pray you to speak very quietly, and in few words. +It is most important that he should not be excited, in any way, but +should be kept perfectly quiet, for the next two or three days.' + +"'I will do so,' she said. 'May I touch him?' + +"'You may take his hand in yours, but do not let him move. I will leave +you with him for a few minutes. Please remember that everything depends +upon his not being agitated.' + +"I went out and joined the hakims. + +"'Truly, Mudil, Allah has given you strange gifts,' one of them said. +'Wonderful is it that you should have remembered so well what you saw; +and more wonderful still is it, that you should have the firmness to +cut and saw flesh and bone, as if they were those of a dead sheep, with +the Emir standing by to look at you!' + +"'I knew that his life, and perhaps mine, depended upon it. The Emir +would have kept his oath, I doubt not; but when it became known in the +town that Abu, who is known to all for his bravery and goodness, died +in my hands, it would not have been safe for me to leave this house.' + +"I then explained the reason for each step that I took. They listened +most attentively, and asked several questions, showing that they were +intensely interested, and most anxious to be able to perform so +wonderful an operation themselves. They were greatly surprised at the +fact that so little blood flowed. + +"'It seems,' I said, 'from what I heard the white hakim say, that the +blood flowed through those little white tubes. By twisting the +tourniquet very tight, that flow of blood is stopped. The great thing +is to find those little tubes, and tie them up. As you would notice, +the large ones in the inside of the arm could be seen quite plainly. +When they cannot be seen, the screw is unloosed so as to allow a small +quantity of blood to flow, which shows you where the tubes are. You +will remember that I took hold of each, with the bent point of a small +wire or a pair of these nippers; and, while you held it, tied the +thread tightly round it. When that is done, one is ready to cut the +bone. You saw me push the flesh back, so as to cut the bone as high up +as possible; that is because the white doctor said the flesh would +shrink up, and the bone would project. I cut the flesh straight on one +side, and on the other with a flap that will, when it is stitched, +cover over the bone and the rest of the flesh, and make what the hakim +called a pad. He said all cutting off of limbs was done in this way, +but of course the tubes would not lie in the same place, and the +cutting would have to be made differently; but it was all the same +system. He called these simple operations, and said that anyone with a +firm hand, and a knowledge of where these tubes lie, ought to be able +to do it, after seeing it done once or twice. He said, of course, it +would not be so neatly done as by men who had been trained to it; but +that, in cases of extreme necessity, anyone who had seen it done once +or twice, and had sufficient nerve, could do it; especially if they +had, ready at hand, this stuff that makes the wounded man sleep and +feel no pain. + +"'I listened very attentively, because all seemed to me almost like +magic, but I certainly did not think that I should ever have to do such +a thing, myself.' + +"'But what would be done if they had not that sleep medicine?' + +"'The hakim said that, in that case, the wounded man would have to be +fastened down by bandages to the bed, and held by six strong men, so +that he could not move in the slightest. However, there is enough of +that stuff to last a hundred times or more; for, as you see, only a +good-sized spoonful was used.' + +"The Emir, who had passed through the harem rooms, now opened the door. + +"'Come in,' he said. 'My son is quiet, and has not moved. He has spoken +to his mother, and seems quite sensible. Is there anything more for you +to do to him?' + +"'I will put a bandage loosely round his arm, and bind it to his body +so that he cannot move it in his sleep, or on first waking. It will not +be necessary for me to stay with him, as the ladies of the harem can +look after him; but I must remain in the next room, so as to be ready +to run in, at once, should they see that the wound is bleeding again. I +have asked the hakims to make a soothing potion, to aid him to sleep +long and soundly.' + +"As I went up to the side of the bed, Abu smiled. I bent down to him, +and he said in a low voice: + +"'All the pain has gone. May Allah bless you!' + +"'I am afraid that you will feel more pain, tomorrow, but I do not +think it will be so bad as it was before. Now, I hope you will try to +go to sleep. You will be well looked after, and I shall be in the next +room, if you want me. The hakims will give you a soothing draught soon, +and you can have cool drinks when you want them.' + +"Things went on as well as I could have wished. In four or five days +the threads came away, and I loosened the tourniquet slightly, and +strapped up the edges of the wound, which were already showing signs of +healing. For the first twenty-four hours I had remained always on +watch; after that the hakims took their turns, I remaining in readiness +to tighten up the tourniquet, should there be any rush of blood. I did +not leave the Emir's house, but slept in a room close by that of the +patient. + +"There was now, however, no longer need for my doing so. The splendid +constitution of the young Baggara had, indeed, from the first rendered +any attendance unnecessary. There was no fever, and very little local +inflammation; and I was able to gladden his heart by telling him that, +in another fortnight, he would be able to be up. + +"The day I was intending to leave, the Emir sent for me. He was alone. + +"'The more I think over this matter,' he said, 'the more strange it is +that you should be able to do all these wonderful things, after having +seen it done once by the white hakim. The more I think of it, the more +certain I feel that you are not what you seem. I have sent for Saleh +and Abdullah. They have told me what you did for them, and that you +gave up your horse to them, and dressed their wounds, and brought them +in here. They are full of praise of your goodness, and but few of my +people would have thus acted, for strangers. They would have given them +a drink of water, and ridden on. + +"Now, tell me frankly and without fear. I have thought it over, and I +feel sure that you, yourself, are a white hakim, who escaped from the +battle in which Hicks's army was destroyed.' + +"'I am not a hakim. All that I said was true--that although I have seen +operations performed, I have never performed them myself. As to the +rest, I answer you frankly, I am an Englishman. I did escape when the +black Soudanese battalion surrendered, three days after the battle. I +was not a fighting officer. I was with them as interpreter. I may say +that, though I am not a hakim, I did for some time study with the +intention of becoming one, and so saw many operations performed.' + +"'I am glad that you told me,' the Emir said gravely. 'Your people are +brave and very wise, though they cannot stand against the power of the +Mahdi. But were you Sheitan himself, it would be nothing to me. You +have saved my son's life. You are the honoured guest of my house. Your +religion is different from mine, but as you showed that you were +willing to aid followers of the Prophet and the Mahdi, although they +were your enemies, surely I, for whom you have done so much, may well +forget that difference.' + +"'I thank you, Emir. From what I had seen of you, I felt sure that my +secret would be safe with you. We Christians feel no enmity against +followers of Mahomet--the hatred is all on your side. And yet, 'tis +strange, the Allah that you worship, and the God of the Christians, is +one and the same. Mahomet himself had no enmity against the Christians, +and regarded our Christ as a great prophet, like himself. + +"Our Queen reigns, in India, over many more Mohamedans than are ruled +by the Sultan of Turkey. They are loyal to her, and know that under her +sway no difference is made between them and her Christian subjects, and +have fought as bravely for her as her own white troops.' + +"'I had never thought,' the Emir said, 'that the time would come when I +should call an infidel my friend; but now that I can do so, I feel that +there is much in what you say. However, your secret must be kept. Were +it known that you are a white man, you would be torn to pieces in the +streets; and even were you to remain here, where assuredly none would +dare touch you, the news would speedily travel to my lord the Mahdi, +and he would send a troop of horse to bring you to him. Therefore, +though I would fain honour you, I see that it is best that you should, +to all save myself, continue to be Mudil. I will not even, as I would +otherwise have done, assign you a house, and slaves, and horses in +token of my gratitude to you for having saved the life of my son. + +"'Something I must do, or I should seem utterly ungrateful. I can, at +any rate, give you rooms here, and treat you as an honoured guest. This +would excite no remark, as it would be naturally expected that you +would stay here until my son is perfectly cured. I shall tell no one, +not even my wife; but Abu I will tell, when he is cured, and the secret +will be as safe with him as with me. I think it would please him to +know. Although a Baggara like myself, and as brave as any, he is +strangely gentle in disposition; and though ready and eager to fight, +when attacked by other tribes, he does not care to go on expeditions +against villages which have not acknowledged the power of the Mahdi, +and makes every excuse to avoid doing so. It will please him to know +that the man who has saved his life is one who, although of a different +race and religion, is willing to do kindness to an enemy; and will love +and honour you more, for knowing it.' + +"'I thank you deeply, Emir, and anything that I can do for members of +your family, I shall be glad to do. I have a knowledge of the usages of +many of the drugs in the chest that was brought here. I have not dared +to say so before, because I could not have accounted for knowing such +things.' + +"So at present I am installed in the Emir's palace, and my prospects +grow brighter and brighter. After the great victory the Mahdi has won, +it is likely that he will be emboldened to advance against Khartoum. In +that case he will, no doubt, summon his followers from all parts, and I +shall be able to ride with the Emir or his son; and it will be hard if, +when we get near the city, I cannot find some opportunity of slipping +off and making my way there. Whether it will be prudent to do so is +another question, for I doubt whether the Egyptian troops there will +offer any resolute resistance to the Dervish hosts; and in that case, I +should have to endeavour to make my way down to Dongola, and from there +either by boat or by the river bank to Assouan. + +"A month later. I have not written for some time, because there has +been nothing special to put down. All the little details of the life +here can be told to my dear wife, if I should ever see her again; but +they are not of sufficient interest to write down. I have been living +at the Emir's house, ever since. I do not know what special office I am +supposed to occupy in his household--that is, what office the people in +general think that I hold. In fact, I am his guest, and an honoured +one. When he goes out I ride beside him and Abu, who has now +sufficiently recovered to sit his horse. I consider myself as medical +attendant, in ordinary, to him and his family. I have given up all +practice in the town--in the first place because I do not wish to make +enemies of the two doctors, who really seem very good fellows, and I am +glad to find that they have performed two or three operations +successfully; and in the second place, were I to go about trying to +cure the sick, people would get so interested in me that I should be +continually questioned as to how I attained my marvellous skill. +Happily, though no doubt they must have felt somewhat jealous at my +success with Abu, I have been able to do the hakims some service, put +fees into their pockets, and at the same time benefited poor people +here. I have told them that, just as I recognized the bottle of +chloroform, so I have recognized some of the bottles from which the +white hakims used to give powder to sick people. + +"'For instance,' I said, 'you see this bottle, which is of a different +shape from the others. It is full of a white, feathery-looking powder. +They used to give this to people suffering from fever--about as much as +you could put on your nail for men and women, and half as much for +children. They used to put it in a little water, and stir it up, and +give it to them night and morning. They call it kena, or something like +that. It did a great deal of good, and generally drove away the fever. + +"'This other bottle they also used a good deal. They put a little of +its contents in water, and it made a lotion for weak and sore eyes. +They called it zing. They saw I was a careful man, and I often made the +eye wash, and put the other white powder up into little packets when +they were busy, as fever and ophthalmia are the two most common +complaints among the natives.' + +"The hakims were immensely pleased, and both told me, afterwards, that +both these medicines had done wonders. I told them that I thought there +were some more bottles of these medicines in the chest, and that when +they had finished those I had now given them, I would look out for the +others. I had, in fact, carried off a bottle both of quinine and zinc +powder for my own use, and with the latter I greatly benefited several +of the Emir's children and grandchildren, all of whom were suffering +from ophthalmia; or from sore eyes, that would speedily have developed +that disease, if they had not been attended to. + +"I had only performed one operation, which was essentially a minor one. +Abu told me that his wife, of whom he was very fond, was suffering very +great pain from a tooth--could I cure her? + +"I said that, without seeing the tooth, I could not do anything, and he +at once said: + +"'As it is for her good, Mudil, I will bring her into this room, and +she shall unveil so that you can examine the tooth.' + +"She was quite a girl, and for an Arab very good looking. She and the +Emir's wife were continually sending me out choice bits from their +dinner, but I had not before seen her face. She was evidently a good +deal confused, at thus unveiling before a man, but Abu said: + +"'It is with my permission that you unveil, therefore there can be no +harm in it. Besides, has not Mudil saved my life, and so become my +brother?' + +"He opened her mouth. The tooth was far back and broken, and the gum +was greatly swelled. + +"'It is very bad,' I said to Abu. 'It would hurt her terribly, if I +were to try and take it out; but if she will take the sleeping medicine +I gave you, I think that I could do it.' + +"'Then she shall take it,' he said at once. 'It is not unpleasant. On +the contrary, I dreamt a pleasant dream while you were taking off my +arm. Please do it, at once.' + +"I at once fetched the chloroform, the inhaler, and a pair of forceps +which looked well suited for the purpose, and probably were intended +for it. I then told her to lie down on the angareb, which I placed +close to the window. + +"'Now, Abu,' I said, 'directly she has gone off to sleep, you must +force her mouth open, and put the handle of your dagger between her +teeth. It will not hurt her at all. But I cannot get at the tooth +unless the mouth is open, and we cannot open it until she is asleep, +for the whole side of her face is swollen, and the jaw almost stiff.' + +"The chloroform took effect very quickly. Her husband had some +difficulty in forcing the mouth open. When he had once done so, I took +a firm hold of the tooth, and wrenched it out. + +"'You can withdraw the dagger,' I said, 'and then lift her up, and let +her rinse her mouth well with the warm water I brought in. She will +have little pain afterwards, though of course it will take some little +time, before the swelling goes down.' + +"Then I went out, and left them together. In a few minutes, Abu came +out. + +"'She has no pain,' he said. 'She could hardly believe, when she came +round, that the tooth was out. It is a relief, indeed. She has cried, +day and night, for the past three days.' + +"'Tell her that, for the rest of the day, she had better keep quiet; +and go to sleep if possible, which I have no doubt she will do, as she +must be worn out with the pain she has been suffering.' + +"'I begin to see, Mudil, that we are very ignorant. We can fight, but +that is all we are good for. How much better it would be if, instead of +regarding you white men as enemies, we could get some of you to live +here, and teach us the wonderful things that you know!' + +"'Truly it would be better,' I said. 'It all depends upon yourselves. +You have a great country. If you would but treat the poor people here +well, and live in peace with other tribes; and send word down to Cairo +that you desire, above all things, white hakims and others who would +teach you, to come up and settle among you, assuredly they would come. +There are thousands of white men and women working in India, and China, +and other countries, content to do good, not looking for high pay, but +content to live poorly. The difficulty is not in getting men willing to +heal and to teach, but to persuade those whom they would benefit to +allow them to do the work.' + +"Abu shook his head. + +"'That is it,' he said. 'I would rather be able to do such things as +you do, than be one of the most famous soldiers of the Mahdi; but I +could never persuade others. They say that the Mahdi himself, although +he is hostile to the Turks, and would conquer Egypt, would willingly +befriend white men. But even he, powerful as he is, cannot go against +the feelings of his emirs. Must we always be ignorant? Must we always +be fighting? I can see no way out of it. Can you, Mudil?' + +"'I can see but one way,' I said, 'and that may seem to you impossible, +because you know nothing of the strength of England. We have, as you +know, easily beaten the Egyptian Army; and we are now protectors of +Egypt. If you invade that country, as the Mahdi has already threatened +to do, it is we who will defend it; and if there is no other way of +obtaining peace, we shall some day send an army to recover the Soudan. +You will fight, and you will fight desperately, but you have no idea of +the force that will advance against you. You know how Osman Digna's +tribes on the Red Sea have been defeated, not by the superior courage +of our men, but by our superior arms. And so it will be here. It may be +many years before it comes about, but if you insist on war, that is +what will come. + +"'Then, when we have taken the Soudan, there will come peace, and the +peasant will till his soil in safety. Those who desire to be taught +will be taught; great canals from the Nile will irrigate the soil, and +the desert will become fruitful.' + +"'You really think that would come of it?' Abu asked, earnestly. + +"'I do indeed, Abu. We have conquered many brave peoples, far more +numerous than yours; and those who were our bitterest enemies now see +how they have benefited by it. Certainly, England would not undertake +the cost of such an expedition lightly; but if she is driven to it by +your advance against Egypt, she will assuredly do so. Your people--I +mean the Baggaras and their allies--would suffer terribly; but the +people whom you have conquered, whose villages you have burned, whose +women you have carried off, would rejoice.' + +"'We would fight,' Abu said passionately. + +"'Certainly you would fight, and fight gallantly, but it would not +avail you. Besides, Abu, you would be fighting for that ignorance you +have just regretted, and against the teaching and progress you have +wished for.' + +"'It is hard,' Abu said, quietly. + +"'It is hard, but it has been the fate of all people who have resisted +the advance of knowledge and civilization. Those who accept +civilization, as the people of India--of whom there are many more than +in all Africa--have accepted it, are prosperous. In America and other +great countries, far beyond the seas, the native Indians opposed it, +but in vain; and now a great white race inhabit the land, and there is +but a handful left of those who opposed them.' + +"'These things are hard to understand. If, as you say, your people come +here some day to fight against us, I shall fight. If my people are +defeated, and I am still alive, I shall say it is the will of Allah; +let us make the best of it, and try to learn to be like those who have +conquered us. I own to you that I am sick of bloodshed--not of blood +shed in battle, but the blood of peaceful villagers; and though I +grieve for my own people, I should feel that it was for the good of the +land that the white men had become the masters.'" + + + +Chapter 19: The Last Page. + + +"Khartoum, September 3rd, 1884. + +"It is a long time since I made my last entry. I could put no date to +it then, and till yesterday could hardly even have named the month. I +am back again among friends, but I can hardly say that I am safer here +than I was at El Obeid. I have not written, because there was nothing +to write. One day was like another, and as my paper was finished, and +there were no incidents in my life, I let the matter slide. + +"Again and again I contemplated attempting to make my way to this town, +but the difficulties would be enormous. There were the dangers of the +desert, the absence of wells, the enormous probability of losing my +way, and, most of all, the chance that, before I reached Khartoum, it +would have been captured. The Emir had been expecting news of its fall, +for months. + +"There had been several fights, in some of which they had been +victorious. In others, even according to their own accounts, they had +been worsted. Traitors in the town kept them well informed of the state +of supplies. They declared that these were almost exhausted, and that +the garrison must surrender. Indeed, several of the commanders of +bodies of troops had offered to surrender posts held by them. + +"So I had put aside all hope of escape, and decided not to make any +attempt until after Khartoum fell, when the Dervishes boasted they +would march down and conquer Egypt, to the sea. + +"They had already taken Berber. Dongola was at their mercy. I thought +the best chance would be to go down with them, as far as they went, and +then to slip away. In this way I should shorten the journey I should +have to traverse alone; and, being on the river bank, could at least +always obtain water. Besides, I might possibly secure some small native +boat, and with the help of the current get down to Assouan before the +Dervishes could arrive there. This I should have attempted; but, three +weeks ago, an order came from the Mahdi to El Khatim, ordering him to +send to Omdurman five hundred well-armed men, who were to be commanded +by his son Abu. Khatim was to remain at El Obeid, with the main body of +his force, until further orders. + +"Abu came to me at once, with the news. + +"'You will take me with you, Abu,' I exclaimed. 'This is the chance I +have been hoping for. Once within a day's journey of Khartoum, I could +slip away at night, and it would be very hard if I could not manage to +cross the Nile into Khartoum.' + +"'I will take you, if you wish it,' he said. 'The danger will be very +great, not in going with me, but in making your way into Khartoum.' + +"'It does not seem to me that it would be so,' I said. 'I should strike +the river four or five miles above the town, cut a bundle of rushes, +swim out to the middle of the river, drift down till I was close to the +town, and then swim across.' + +"'So be it,' he said. 'It is your will, not mine.' + +"Khatim came to me afterwards, and advised me to stay, but I said that +it might be years before I had another chance to escape; and that, +whatever risk there was, I would prefer running it. + +"'Then we shall see you no more,' he said, 'for Khartoum will assuredly +fall, and you will be killed.' + +"'If you were a prisoner in the hands of the white soldiers, Emir,' I +said, 'I am sure that you would run any risk, if there was a chance of +getting home again. So it is with me. I have a wife and child, in +Cairo. Her heart must be sick with pain, at the thought of my death. I +will risk anything to get back as soon as possible. If I reach +Khartoum, and it is afterwards captured, I can disguise myself and +appear as I now am, hide for a while, and then find out where Abu is +and join him again. But perhaps, when he sees that no further +resistance can be made, General Gordon will embark on one of his +steamers and go down the river, knowing that it would be better for the +people of the town that the Mahdi should enter without opposition; in +which case you would scarcely do harm to the peaceful portion of the +population, or to the troops who had laid down their arms.' + +"'Very well,' the Emir said. 'Abu has told me that he has tried to +dissuade you, but that you will go. We owe you a great debt of +gratitude, for all that you have done for us, and therefore I will not +try to dissuade you. I trust Allah will protect you.' + +"And so we started the next morning. I rode by the side of Abu, and as +all knew that I was the hakim who had taken off his arm, none wondered. +The journey was made without any incident worth recording. Abu did not +hurry. We made a long march between each of the wells, and then halted +for a day. So we journeyed, until we made our last halt before arriving +at Omdurman. + +"'You are still determined to go?' Abu said to me. + +"'I shall leave tonight, my friend.' + +"'I shall not forget all that you have told me about your people, +hakim. Should any white man fall into my hands, I will spare him for +your sake. These are evil times, and I regret all that has passed. I +believe that the Mahdi is a prophet; but I fear that, in many things, +he has misunderstood the visions and orders he received. I see that +evil rather than good has fallen upon the land, and that though we +loved not the rule of the Egyptians, we were all better off under it +than we are now. We pass through ruined villages, and see the skeletons +of many people. We know that where the waterwheels formerly spread the +water from the rivers over the fields, is now a desert; and that, +except the fighting men, the people perish from hunger. + +"'All this is bad. I see that, if we enter Egypt, we shall be like a +flight of locusts. We shall eat up the country and leave a desert +behind us. Surely this cannot be according to the wishes of Allah, who +is all merciful. You have taught me much in your talks with me, and I +do not see things as I used to. So much do I feel it, that in my heart +I could almost wish that your countrymen should come here, and +establish peace and order. + +"'The Mohamedans of India, you tell me, are well content with their +rulers. Men may exercise their religion and their customs, without +hindrance. They know that the strong cannot prey upon the weak, and +each man reaps what he has sown, in peace. You tell me that India was +like the Soudan before you went there--that there were great +conquerors, constant wars, and the peasants starved while the robbers +grew rich; and that, under your rule, peace and contentment were +restored. I would that it could be so here. But it seems, to me, +impossible that we should be conquered by people so far away.' + +"'I hope that it will be so, Abu; and I think that if the great and +good white general, Governor Gordon, is murdered at Khartoum, the +people of my country will never rest until his death has been avenged.' + +"'You had better take your horse,' he said. 'If you were to go on foot, +it would be seen that there was a horse without a rider, and there +would be a search for you; but if you and your horse are missing, it +will be supposed that you have ridden on to Omdurman to give notice of +our coming, and none will think more of the matter.' + +"As soon as the camp was asleep, I said goodbye to Abu; and took my +horse by the reins and led him into the desert, half a mile away. Then +I mounted, and rode fast. The stars were guide enough, and in three +hours I reached the Nile. I took off the horse's saddle and bridle, and +left him to himself. Then I crept out and cut a bundle of rushes, and +swam into the stream with them. + +"After floating down the river for an hour, I saw the light of a few +fires on the right bank, and guessed that this was a Dervish force, +beleaguering Khartoum from that side. I drifted on for another hour, +drawing closer and closer to the shore, until I could see walls and +forts; then I stripped off my Dervish frock, and swam ashore. + +"I had, during the time we had been on the journey, abstained from +staining my skin under my garments, in order that I might be recognized +as a white man, as soon as I bared my arms. + +"I lay down till it was broad daylight, and then walked up to the foot +of a redoubt. There were shouts of surprise from the black soldiers +there, as I approached. I shouted to them, in Arabic, that I was an +Englishman; and two or three of them at once ran down the slope, and +aided me to climb it. I was taken, at my request, to General Gordon, +who was surprised, indeed, when I told him that I was a survivor of +Hicks's force, and had been living nine months at El Obeid. + +"'You are heartily welcome, sir,' he said; 'but I fear that you have +come into an even greater danger than you have left, for our position +here is well-nigh desperate. For months I have been praying for aid +from England, and my last news was that it was just setting out, so I +fear there is no hope that it will reach me in time. The government of +England will have to answer, before God, for their desertion of me, and +of the poor people here, whom they sent me to protect from the Mahdi. + +"'For myself, I am content. I have done my duty as far as lay in my +power, but I had a right to rely upon receiving support from those who +sent me. I am in the hands of God. But for the many thousands who +trusted in me, and remained here, I feel very deeply. + +"'Now the first thing is to provide you with clothes. I am expecting +Colonel Stewart here, every minute, and he will see that you are made +comfortable.' + +"'I shall be glad to place myself at your disposal, sir,' I said. 'I +speak Arabic fluently, and shall be ready to perform any service of +which I may be capable.' + +"'I thank you,' he said, 'and will avail myself of your offer, if I see +any occasion; but at present, we have rather to suffer than to do. We +have occasional fights, but of late the attacks have been feeble, and I +think that the Mahdi depends upon hunger rather than force to obtain +possession of this town. + +"This evening, I will ask you to tell me your story. Colonel Stewart +will show you a room. There is only one other white man--Mr. +Power--here. We live together as one family, of which you will now be a +member.' + +"I felt strange when I came to put on my European clothes. Mr. Power, +who tells me he has been here for some years, as correspondent of the +Times, has this afternoon taken me round the defences, and into the +workshops. I think the place can resist any attacks, if the troops +remain faithful; but of this there is a doubt. A good many of the +Soudanese have already been sent away. As Gordon said at dinner this +evening, if he had but a score of English officers, he would be +perfectly confident that he could resist any enemy save starvation. + +"September 12th: + +"It has been settled that Colonel Stewart and Mr. Power are to go down +the river in the Abbas, and I am to go with them. The General proposed +it to me. I said that I could not think of leaving him here by himself, +so he said kindly: + +"'I thank you, Mr. Hilliard, but you could do no good here, and would +only be throwing away your life. We can hold on to the end of the year, +though the pinch will be very severe; but I think we can make the +stores last, till then. But by the end of December our last crust will +have been eaten, and the end will have come. It will be a satisfaction +to me to know that I have done my best, and fail only because of the +miserable delays and hesitation of government.' + +"So it is settled that I am going. The gunboats are to escort us for +some distance. Were it not for Gordon, I should feel delighted at the +prospect. It is horrible to leave him--one of the noblest +Englishmen!--alone to his fate. My only consolation is that if I +remained I could not avert it, but should only be a sharer in it. + +"September 18th: + +"We left Khartoum on the 14th, and came down without any serious +trouble until this morning, when the boat struck on a rock in the +cataract, opposite a village called Hebbeh. A hole has been knocked in +her bottom, and there is not a shadow of hope of getting her off. +Numbers of the natives have gathered on the shore. I have advised that +we should disregard their invitations to land, but that, as there would +be no animosity against the black crew, they would be safe; and that we +three whites should take the ship's boat, and four of the crew, put +provisions for a week on board, and make our way down the river. +Colonel Stewart, however, feels convinced that the people can be +trusted, and that we had better land and place ourselves under the +protection of the sheik. He does not know the Arabs as well as I do. + +"However, as he has determined to go ashore, I can do nothing. I +consider it unlikely, in the extreme, that there will be any additions +to this journal. If, at any time in the future, this should fall into +the hands of any of my countrymen, I pray that they will send it down +to my dear wife, Mrs. Hilliard, whom, I pray, God may bless and +comfort, care of the Manager of the Bank, Cairo." + + + +Chapter 20: A Momentous Communication. + + +Gregory had, after finishing the record, sat without moving until the +dinner hour. It was a relief to him to know that his father had not +spent the last years of his life as he had feared, as a miserable +slave--ill treated, reviled, insulted, perhaps chained and beaten by +some brutal taskmaster; but had been in a position where, save that he +was an exile, kept from his home and wife, his lot had not been +unbearable. He knew more of him than he had ever known before. It was +as a husband that his mother had always spoken of him; but here he saw +that he was daring, full of resource, quick to grasp any opportunity, +hopeful and yet patient, longing eagerly to rejoin his wife, and yet +content to wait until the chances should be all in his favour. He was +unaffectedly glad thus to know him; to be able, in future, to think of +him as one of whom he would have been proud; who would assuredly have +won his way to distinction. + +It was not so that he had before thought of him. His mother had said +that he was of good family, and that it was on account of his marriage +with her that he had quarrelled with his relations. It had always +seemed strange to him that he should have been content to take, as she +had told him, an altogether subordinate position in a mercantile house +in Alexandria. She had accounted for his knowledge of Arabic by the +fact that he had been, for two years, exploring the temples and tombs +of Egypt with a learned professor; but surely, as a man of good family, +he could have found something to do in England, instead of coming out +to take so humble a post in Egypt. + +Gregory knew nothing of the difficulty that a young man in England has, +in obtaining an appointment of any kind, or of fighting his way single +handed. Influence went for much in Egypt, and it seemed to him that, +even if his father had quarrelled with his own people, there must have +been many ways open to him of maintaining himself honourably. Therefore +he had always thought that, although he might have been all that his +mother described him--the tenderest and most loving of husbands, a +gentleman, and estimable in all respects--his father must have been +wanting in energy and ambition, deficient in the qualities that would +fit him to fight his own battle, and content to gain a mere competence, +instead of struggling hard to make his way up the ladder. He had +accounted for his going up as interpreter, with Hicks Pasha, by the +fact that his work with the contractor was at an end, and that he saw +no other opening for himself. + +He now understood how mistaken he had been, in his estimate of his +father's character; and wondered, even more than before, why he should +have taken that humble post at Alexandria. His mother had certainly +told him, again and again, that he had done so simply because the +doctors had said that she could not live in England; but surely, in all +the wide empire of England, there must be innumerable posts that a +gentleman could obtain. Perhaps he should understand it better, some +day. At present, it seemed unaccountable to him. He felt sure that, had +he lived, his father would have made a name for himself; and that it +was in that hope, and not of the pay that he would receive as an +interpreter, that he had gone up with Hicks; and that, had he not died +at that little village by the Nile, he would assuredly have done so, +for the narrative he had left behind him would in itself, if published, +have shown what stuff there was in him. + +It was hard that fate should have snatched him away, just when it had +seemed that his trials were over, that he was on the point of being +reunited to his wife. Still, it was a consolation to know he had died +suddenly, as one falls in battle; not as a slave, worn out by grief and +suffering. + +As he left his hut, he said to Zaki: + +"I shall not want you again this evening; but mind, we must be on the +move at daylight." + +"You did not say whether we were to take the horses, Master; but I +suppose you will do so?" + +"Oh, I forgot to tell you that we are going to have camels. They are to +be put on board for us, tonight. They are fast camels and, as the +distance from the point where we shall land to the Atbara will not be +more than seventy or eighty miles, we shall be able to do it in a day." + +"That will be very good, master. Camels are much better than horses, +for the desert. I have got everything else ready." + +After dinner was over, the party broke up quickly, as many of the +officers had preparations to make. Gregory went off to the tent of the +officer with whom he was best acquainted in the Soudanese regiment. + +"I thought that I would come and have a chat with you, if you happened +to be in." + +"I shall be very glad, but I bar Fashoda. One is quite sick of the +name." + +"No, it was not Fashoda that I was going to talk to you about. I want +to ask you something about England. I know really nothing about it, for +I was born in Alexandria, shortly after my parents came out from +England. + +"Is it easy for anyone who has been well educated, and who is a +gentleman, to get employment there? I mean some sort of appointment, +say, in India or the West Indies." + +"Easy! My dear Hilliard, the camel in the eye of a needle is a joke to +it. If a fellow is eighteen, and has had a first-rate education and a +good private coach, that is, a tutor, he may pass through his +examination either for the army, or the civil service, or the Indian +service. There are about five hundred go up to each examination, and +seventy or eighty at the outside get in. The other four hundred or so +are chucked. Some examinations are for fellows under nineteen, others +are open for a year or two longer. Suppose, finally, you don't get in; +that is to say, when you are two-and-twenty, your chance of getting any +appointment, whatever, in the public service is at an end." + +"Then interest has nothing to do with it?" + +"Well, yes. There are a few berths in the Foreign Office, for example, +in which a man has to get a nomination before going in for the exam; +but of course the age limit tells there, as well as in any other." + +"And if a man fails altogether, what is there open to him?" + +The other shrugged his shoulders. + +"Well, as far as I know, if he hasn't capital he can emigrate. That is +what numbers of fellows do. If he has interest, he can get a commission +in the militia, and from that possibly into the line; or he can enlist +as a private, for the same object. There is a third alternative, he can +hang himself. Of course, if he happens to have a relation in the city +he can get a clerkship; but that alternative, I should say, is worse +than the third." + +"But I suppose he might be a doctor, a clergyman, or a lawyer?" + +"I don't know much about those matters, but I do know that it takes +about five years' grinding, and what is called 'walking the hospitals,' +that is, going round the wards with the surgeons, before one is +licensed to kill. I think, but I am not sure, that three years at the +bar would admit you to practice, and usually another seven or eight +years are spent, before you earn a penny. As for the Church, you have +to go through the university, or one of the places we call training +colleges; and when, at last, you are ordained, you may reckon, unless +you have great family interest, on remaining a curate, with perhaps one +hundred or one hundred and fifty pounds per annum, for eighteen or +twenty years." + +"And no amount of energy will enable a man of, say, four-and-twenty, +without a profession, to obtain a post on which he could live with some +degree of comfort?" + +"I don't think energy would have anything to do with it. You cannot +drop into a merchant's office and say, 'I want a snug berth, out in +China;' or 'I should like an agency, in Mesopotamia.' If you have luck, +anything is possible. If you haven't luck, you ought to fall back on my +three alternatives--emigrate, enlist, or hang yourself. Of course, you +can sponge on your friends for a year or two, if you are mean enough to +do so; but there is an end to that sort of thing, in time. + +"May I ask why you put the question, Hilliard? You have really a +splendid opening, here. You are surely not going to be foolish enough +to chuck it, with the idea of returning to England, and taking anything +that may turn up?" + +"No, I am not so foolish as that. I have had, as you say, +luck--extraordinary luck--and I have quite made up my mind to stay in +the service. No, I am really asking you because I know so little of +England that I wondered how men who had a fair education, but no family +interest, did get on." + +"They very rarely do get on," the other said. "Of course, if they are +inventive geniuses they may discover something--an engine, for example, +that will do twice the work with half the consumption of fuel that any +other engine will do; or, if chemically inclined, they may discover +something that will revolutionize dyeing, for example: but not one man +in a thousand is a genius; and, as a rule, the man you are speaking +of--the ordinary public school and 'varsity man--if he has no interest, +and is not bent upon entering the army, even as a private, emigrates if +he hasn't sufficient income to live upon at home." + +"Thank you! I had no idea it was so difficult to make a living in +England, or to obtain employment, for a well-educated man of two or +three and twenty." + +"My dear Hilliard, that is the problem that is exercising the minds of +the whole of the middle class of England, with sons growing up. Of +course, men of business can take their sons into their own offices, and +train them to their own profession; but after all, if a man has four or +five sons, he cannot take them all into his office with a view to +partnership. He may take one, but the others have to make their own +way, somehow." + +They chatted now upon the war, the dates upon which the various +regiments would go down, and the chance of the Khalifa collecting +another army, and trying conclusions with the invaders again. At last, +Gregory got up and went back to his hut. He could now understand why +his father, having quarrelled with his family, might have found himself +obliged to take the first post that was offered, however humble, in +order to obtain the advantage of a warm climate for his wife. + +"He must have felt it awfully," he mused. "If he had been the sort of +man I had always thought him, he could have settled down to the life. +But now I know him better, I can understand that it must have been +terrible for him, and he would be glad to exchange it for the +interpretership, where he would have some chance of distinguishing +himself; or, at any rate, of taking part in exciting events. + +"I will open that packet, but from what my mother said, I do not think +it will be of any interest to me, now. I fancy, by what she said, that +it contained simply my father's instructions as to what she was to do, +in the event of his death during the campaign. I don't see what else it +can be." + +He drew the curtains he had rigged up, at the doorway and window, to +keep out insects; lighted his lantern; and then, sitting down on the +ground by his bed, opened the packet his mother had given him. The +outer cover was in her handwriting. + +"My dearest boy: + +"I have, as I told you, kept the enclosed packet, which is not to be +opened until I have certain news of your father's death. This news, I +trust, you will some day obtain. As you see, the enclosed packet is +directed to me. I do not think that you will find in it anything of +importance, to yourself. It probably contains only directions and +advice for my guidance, in case I should determine to return to +England. I have been the less anxious to open it, because I have been +convinced that it is so; for of course, I know the circumstances of his +family, and there could be nothing new that he could write to me on +that score. + +"I have told you that he quarrelled with his father, because he chose +to marry me. As you have heard from me, I was the daughter of a +clergyman, and at his death took a post as governess. Your father fell +in love with me. He was the son of the Honorable James Hartley, who was +brother to the Earl of Langdale. Your father had an elder brother. Mr. +Hartley was a man of the type now, happily, less common than it was +twenty years ago. He had but a younger brother's portion, and a small +estate that had belonged to his mother; but he was as proud as if he +had been a peer of the realm, and owner of a county. I do not know +exactly what the law of England is--whether, at the death of his +brother, your grandfather would have inherited the title, or not. I +never talked on this subject with your father, who very seldom alluded +to matters at home. He had, also, two sisters. + +"As he was clever, and had already gained some reputation by his +explorations in Egypt; and was, moreover, an exceptionally handsome +man--at least, I thought so--your grandfather made up his mind that he +would make a very good marriage. When he learned of your father's +affection for me, he was absolutely furious, told his son that he never +wished to see him again, and spoke of me in a manner that Gregory +resented; and as a result, they quarrelled. + +"Your father left the house, never to enter it again. I would have +released him from his promise, but he would not hear of it, and we were +married. He had written for magazines and newspapers, on Egyptian +subjects, and thought that he could make a living for us both, with his +pen; but unhappily, he found that great numbers of men were trying to +do the same; and that, although his papers on Egyptian discoveries had +always been accepted, it was quite another thing when he came to write +on general subjects. + +"We had a hard time of it, but we were very happy, nevertheless. Then +came the time when my health began to give way. I had a terrible cough, +and the doctor said that I must have a change to a warmer climate. We +were very poor then--so poor that we had only a few shillings left, and +lived in one room. Your father saw an advertisement for a man to go out +to the branch of a London firm, at Alexandria. Without saying a word to +me, he went and obtained it, thanks to his knowledge of Arabic. + +"He was getting on well in the firm, when the bombardment of Alexandria +took place. The offices and stores of his employers were burned; and, +as it would take many months before they could be rebuilt, the +employees were ordered home; but any who chose to stay were permitted +to do so, and received three months' pay. Your father saw that there +would be many chances, when the country settled down, and so took a +post under a contractor of meat for the army. + +"We moved to Cairo. Shortly after our arrival there he was, as he +thought, fortunate in obtaining the appointment of an interpreter with +Hicks Pasha. I did not try to dissuade him. Everyone supposed that the +Egyptian troops would easily defeat the Dervishes. There was some +danger, of course; but it seemed to me, as it did to him, that this +opening would lead to better things; and that, when the rebellion was +put down, he would be able to obtain some good civil appointment, in +the Soudan. It was not the thought of his pay, as interpreter, that +weighed in the slightest with either of us. I was anxious, above all +things, that he should be restored to a position where he could +associate with gentlemen, as one of themselves, and could again take +his real name." + +Gregory started, as he read this. He had never had an idea that the +name he bore was not rightly his own, and even the statement of his +grandfather's name had not struck him as affecting himself. + +"Your father had an honourable pride in his name, which was an old one; +and when he took the post at Alexandria, which was little above that of +an ordinary office messenger, he did not care that he should be +recognized, or that one of his name should be known to be occupying +such a station. He did not change his name, he simply dropped the +surname. His full name was Gregory Hilliard Hartley. He had always +intended, when he had made a position for himself, to recur to it; and, +of course, it will be open to you to do so, also. But I know that it +would have been his wish that you, like him, should not do so, unless +you had made such a position for yourself that you would be a credit to +it. + +"On starting, your father left me to decide whether I should go home. I +imagine that the packet merely contains his views on that subject. He +knew what mine were. I would rather have begged my bread, than have +gone back to ask for alms of the man who treated his son so cruelly. It +is probable that, by this time, the old man is dead; but I should +object as much to have to appeal to my husband's brother, a character I +disliked. Although he knew that his father's means were small, he was +extravagant to the last degree, and the old man was weak enough to keep +himself in perpetual difficulties, to satisfy his son. Your father +looked for no pecuniary assistance from his brother; but the latter +might, at least, have come to see him; or written kindly to him, when +he was in London. As your father was writing in his own name for +magazines, his address could be easily found out, by anyone who wanted +to know it. He never sent one single word to him, and I should object +quite as much to appeal to him, as to the old man. + +"As to the sisters, who were younger than my husband, they were nice +girls; but even if your grandfather is dead, and has, as no doubt would +be the case, left what he had between them, it certainly would not +amount to much. Your father has told me that the old man had mortgaged +the estate, up to the hilt, to pay his brother's debts; and that when +it came to be sold, as it probably would be at his death, there would +be very little left for the girls. Therefore, certainly I could not go +and ask them to support us. + +"My hope is, my dear boy, that you may be able to make your way, here, +in the same manner as your father was doing, when he fell; and that, +someday, you may attain to an honourable position, in which you will be +able, if you visit England, to call upon your aunts, not as one who has +anything to ask of them, but as a relative of whom they need not feel +in any way ashamed. + +"I feel that my end is very near, Gregory. I hope to say all that I +have to say to you, before it comes, but I may not have an opportunity; +and in that case, some time may elapse before you read this, and it +will come to you as a voice from the grave. I am not, in any way, +wishing to bind you to any course of action, but only to explain fully +your position to you, and to tell you my thoughts. + +"God bless you, my dear boy, prosper and keep you! I know enough of you +to be sure that, whatever your course may be, you will bear yourself as +a true gentleman, worthy of your father and of the name you bear. + +"Your loving Mother." + +Gregory sat for some time before opening the other enclosure. It +contained an open envelope, on which was written "To my Wife;" and +three others, also unfastened, addressed respectively, "The Hon. James +Hartley, King's Lawn, Tavistock, Devon"; the second, "G. Hilliard +Hartley, Esquire, The Albany, Piccadilly, London;" the third, "Miss +Hartley," the address being the same as that of her father. He first +opened the one to his mother. + +"My dearest Wife, + +"I hope that you will never read these lines, but that I shall return +to you safe and sound--I am writing this, in case it should be +otherwise--and that you will never have occasion to read these +instructions, or rather I should say this advice, for it is no more +than that. We did talk the matter over, but you were so wholly averse +from any idea of ever appealing to my father, or family, however sore +the straits to which you might be reduced, that I could not urge the +matter upon you; and yet, although I sympathize most thoroughly with +your feelings, I think that in case of dire necessity you should do so, +and at least afford my father the opportunity of making up for his +treatment of myself. The small sum that I left in your hands must soon +be exhausted. If I am killed, you will, perhaps, obtain a small +pension; but this, assuredly, would not be sufficient to maintain you +and the boy in comfort. I know that you said, at the time, that +possibly you could add to it by teaching. Should this be so, you may be +able to remain in Egypt; and when the boy grows up, he will obtain +employment of some sort, here. + +"But should you be unsuccessful in this direction, I do not see what +you could do. Were you to go to England, with the child, what chance +would you have of obtaining employment there, without friends or +references? I am frightened at the prospect. I know that, were you +alone, you would do anything rather than apply to my people; but you +have the child to think of, and, painful as it would be to you, it yet +seems to me the best thing that could be done. At any rate, I enclose +you three letters to my brother, father, and sisters. I have no legal +claim on any of them, but I certainly have a moral claim on my brother. +It is he who has impoverished the estate, so that, even had I not +quarrelled with my father, there could never, after provision had been +made for my sisters, have been anything to come to me. + +"I do not ask you to humiliate yourself, by delivering these letters +personally. I would advise you to post them from Cairo, enclosing in +each a note saying how I fell, and that you are fulfilling my +instructions, by sending the letter I wrote before leaving you. It may +be that you will receive no reply. In that case, whatever happens to +you and the child, you will have nothing to reproach yourself for. +Possibly my father may have succeeded to the title and, if for no other +reason, he may then be willing to grant you an allowance, on condition +that you do not return to England; as he would know that it would be +nothing short of a scandal, that the wife of one of his sons was trying +to earn her bread in this country. + +"Above all, dear, I ask you not to destroy these letters. You may, at +first, scorn the idea of appealing for help; but the time might come, +as it came to us in London, when you feel that fate is too strong for +you, and that you can struggle no longer. Then you might regret, for +the sake of the child, that you had not sent these letters. + +"It is a terrible responsibility that I am leaving you. I well know +that you will do all, dear, that it is possible for you to do, to avoid +the necessity for sending these letters. That I quite approve, if you +can struggle on. God strengthen you to do it! It is only if you fail +that I say, send them. My father may, by this time, regret that he +drove me from home. He may be really anxious to find me, and at least +it is right that he should have the opportunity of making what amends +he can. From my sisters, I know that you can have little but sympathy; +but that, I feel sure, they will give you, and even sympathy is a great +deal, to one who has no friends. I feel it sorely that I should have +naught to leave you but my name, and this counsel. Earnestly I hope and +pray that it may never be needed. + +"Yours till death, + +"Gregory Hilliard Hartley." + +Gregory then opened the letter to his grandfather. + +"Dear Father, + +"You will not receive this letter till after my death. I leave it +behind me, while I go up with General Hicks to the Soudan. It will not +be sent to you, unless I die there. I hope that, long ere this, you may +have felt, as I have done, that we were both somewhat in the wrong, in +the quarrel that separated us. You, I think, were hard. I, no doubt, +was hasty. You, I think, assumed more than was your right, in demanding +that I should break a promise that I had given, to a lady against whom +nothing could be said, save that she was undowered. Had I, like +Geoffrey, been drawing large sums of money from you, you would +necessarily have felt yourself in a position to have a very strong +voice in so important a matter. But the very moderate allowance I +received, while at the University, was never increased. I do not think +it is too much to say that, for every penny I have got from you, +Geoffrey has received a guinea. + +"However, that is past and gone. I have been fighting my own battle, +and was on my way to obtaining a good position. Until I did so, I +dropped our surname. I did not wish that it should be known that one of +our family was working, in an almost menial position, in Egypt. I have +now obtained the post of interpreter, on the staff of General Hicks; +and, if he is successful in crushing the rebellion, I shall be certain +of good, permanent employment, when I can resume my name. The fact that +you receive this letter will be a proof that I have fallen in battle, +or by disease. + +"I now, as a dying prayer, beg you to receive my wife and boy; or, if +that cannot be, to grant her some small annuity, to assist her in her +struggle with the world. Except for her sake, I do not regret my +marriage. She has borne the hardships, through which we have passed, +nobly and without a murmur. She has been the best of wives to me, and +has proved herself a noble woman, in every respect. + +"I leave the matter in your hands, Father, feeling assured that, from +your sense of justice alone, if not for the affection you once bore me, +you will befriend my wife. As I know that the Earl was in feeble +health, when I left England; you may, by this time, have come into the +title, in which case you will be able, without in any way +inconveniencing yourself, to settle an annuity upon my wife, sufficient +to keep her in comfort. I can promise, in her name, that in that case +you will never be troubled in any way by her; and she will probably +take up her residence, permanently, in Egypt, as she is not strong, and +the warm climate is essential to her." + +The letter to his brother was shorter. + +"My dear Geoffrey, + +"I am going up, with General Hicks, to the Soudan. If you receive this +letter, it will be because I have died there. I leave behind me my wife, +and a boy. I know that, at present, you are scarcely likely to be able +to do much for them, pecuniarily; but as you will someday--possibly not +a very distant one--inherit the title and estate, you will then be able +to do so, without hurting yourself. + +"We have never seen much of each other. You left school before I began +it, and you left Oxford two years before I went up to Cambridge. You +have never been at home much, since; and I was two years in Egypt, and +have now been about the same time, here. I charge my wife to send you +this, and I trust that, for my sake, you will help her. She does not +think of returning to England. Life is not expensive, in this country. +Even an allowance of a hundred a year would enable her to remain here. +If you can afford double that, do so for my sake; but, at any rate, I +feel that I can rely upon you to do at least that much, when you come +into the title. Had I lived, I should never have troubled anyone at +home; but as I shall be no longer able to earn a living for her and the +boy, I trust that you will not think it out of the way for me to ask +for what would have been a very small younger brother's allowance, had +I remained at home." + +The letter to his sisters was in a different strain. + +"My dear Flossie and Janet, + +"I am quite sure that you, like myself, felt deeply grieved over our +separation; and I can guess that you will have done what you could, +with our father, to bring about a reconciliation. When you receive +this, dears, I shall have gone. I am about to start on an expedition +that is certain to be dangerous, and which may be fatal; and I have +left this with my wife, to send you if she has sure news of my death. I +have had hard times. I see my way now, and I hope that I shall, ere +long, receive a good official appointment, out here. Still, it is as +well to prepare for the worst; and if you receive this letter, the +worst has come. As I have only just begun to rise again in the world, I +have been able to make no provision for my wife. I know that you liked +her, and that you would by no means have disapproved of the step I +took. If our father has not come into the title, when you receive this, +your pocket money will be only sufficient for your own wants; therefore +I am not asking for help in that way, but only that you will write to +her an affectionate letter. She is without friends, and will fight her +battle as best she can. She is a woman in a thousand, and worthy of the +affection and esteem of any man on earth. + +"There is a boy, too--another Gregory Hilliard Hartley. She will be +alone in the world with him, and a letter from you would be very +precious to her. Probably, by the same post as you receive this, our +father will also get one requesting more substantial assistance, but +with that you have nothing to do. I am only asking that you will let +her know there are, at least, two people in the world who take an +interest in her, and my boy. + +"Your affectionate Brother." + +There was yet another envelope, with no address upon it. It contained +two documents. One was a copy of the certificate of marriage, between +Gregory Hilliard Hartley and Anne Forsyth, at Saint Paul's Church, +Plymouth; with the names of two witnesses, and the signature of the +officiating minister. The other was a copy of the register of the +birth, at Alexandria, of Gregory Hilliard, son of Gregory Hilliard +Hartley and Anne, his wife. A third was a copy of the register of +baptism of Gregory Hilliard Hartley, the son of Gregory Hilliard and +Anne Hartley, at the Protestant Church, Alexandria. + +"I will write, someday, to my aunts," Gregory said, as he replaced the +letters in the envelopes. "The others will never go. Still, I may as +well keep them. + +"So I am either grandson or nephew of an earl. I can't say that I am +dazzled by the honour. I should like to know my aunts, but as for the +other two, I would not go across the street to make their +acquaintance." + +He carefully stowed the letters away in his portmanteau, and then lay +down for a few hours' sleep. + +"The day is breaking, master," Zaki said, laying his hand upon +Gregory's shoulder. + +"All right, Zaki! While you get the water boiling, I shall run down to +the river and have a bathe, and shall be ready for my cocoa, in twenty +minutes." + +"Are we going to put on those Dervish dresses at once, master? They +came yesterday evening." + +"No; I sha'n't change till we get to the place where we land." + +As soon as he had breakfasted, he told Zaki to carry his portmanteau, +bed, and other belongings to the house that served as a store for +General Hunter's staff. He waited until his return, and then told him +to take the two rifles, the packets of ammunition, the spears, and the +Dervish dresses down to the steamer. Then he joined the General, who +was just starting, with his staff, to superintend the embarkation. + +Three steamers were going up, and each towed a barge, in which the +greater part of the troops was to be stowed, and in the stern of one of +these knelt two camels. + +"There are your nags, Mr. Hilliard," the General said. "There is an +attendant with each. They will manage them better than strangers, and +without them we might have a job in getting the animals ashore. Of +course, I shall take the drivers on with us. The sheik told me the +camels are two of the fastest he has ever had. He has sent saddles with +them, and water skins. The latter you will probably not want, if all +goes well. Still, it is better to take them." + +"I shall assuredly do so, sir. They may be useful to us, on the ride, +and though I suppose the camels would do well enough without them, it +is always well to be provided, when one goes on an expedition, for any +emergency that may occur." + +An hour later, the steamer started. The river was still full, and the +current rapid, and they did not move more than five miles an hour +against it. At the villages they passed, the people flocked down to the +banks, with cries of welcome and the waving of flags. They felt, now, +that their deliverance was accomplished, and that they were free from +the tyranny that had, for so many years, oppressed them. + +The banks were for the most part low; and, save at these villages, the +journey was a monotonous one. The steamers kept on their way till +nightfall, and then anchored. + +They started again, at daybreak. At breakfast, General Hunter said: + +"I think that in another two hours we shall be pretty well due west of +El Fasher, so you had better, presently, get into your Dervish dress. +You have got some iodine from the doctor, have you not?" + +"Yes." + +"You had better stain yourself all over, and take a good supply, in +case you have to do it again." + +Gregory went below, and had his head shaved by one of the Soudanese; +then re-stained himself, from head to foot, and put on the Dervish +attire--loose trousers and a long smock, with six large square patches, +arranged in two lines, in front. A white turban and a pair of shoes +completed the costume. The officers laughed, as he came on deck again. + +"You look an out-and-out Dervish, Hilliard," one of them said. "It is +lucky that there are none of the Lancers scouting about. They would +hardly give you time to explain, especially with that rifle and spear." + +Presently they came to a spot where the water was deep up to the bank, +which was some six feet above its level. The barge with the camels was +brought up alongside. It had no bulwark, and as the deck was level with +the land, the camels were, with a good deal of pressing on the part of +their drivers, and pushing by as many Soudanese as could come near +enough to them, got ashore. + +None of the Soudanese recognized Gregory, and looked greatly surprised +at the sudden appearance of two Dervishes among them. As soon as the +camels were landed, Gregory and Zaki mounted them. + +"You had better keep, if anything, to the south of east," General +Hunter's last instructions had been. "Unless Parsons has been greatly +delayed, they should be two or three days' march farther up the river, +and every mile you strike the stream, behind him, is so much time +lost." + +He waved his hand to them and wished them farewell, as they started, +and his staff shouted their wishes for a safe journey. The black +soldiers, seeing that, whoever these Dervishes might be, they were well +known to the General and his officers, raised a cheer; to which Zaki, +who had hitherto kept in the background, waved his rifle in reply. As +his face was familiar to numbers of the Soudanese, they now recognized +him, and cheered more heartily than before, laughing like schoolboys at +the transformation. + + + +Chapter 21: Gedareh. + + +"Abdul Azim was right about the camels," Gregory said, as soon as they +were fairly off. "I have never ridden on one like this, before. What a +difference there is between them and the ordinary camel! It is not only +that they go twice as fast, but the motion is so pleasant, and easy." + +"Yes, Master, these are riding camels of good breed. They cost twenty +times as much as the others. They think nothing of keeping up this rate +for twelve hours, without a stop." + +"If they do that, we shall be near the Atbara before it is dark. It is +ten o'clock now, and if General Hunter's map is right, we have only +about eighty miles to go, and I should think they are trotting seven +miles an hour." + +They carried their rifles slung behind them and across the shoulders, +rather than upright, as was the Arab fashion. The spears were held in +their right hands. + +"We must see if we can't fasten the spears in some other way, Zaki. We +should find them a nuisance, if we held them in our hands all the way. +I should say it would be easy to fasten them across the saddle in front +of us. If we see horsemen in the distance, we can take them into our +hands." + +"I think, Master, it would be easier to fasten them behind the saddles, +where there is more width, and rings on the saddle on both sides." + +A short halt was made, and the spears fixed. Gregory then looked at his +compass. + +"We must make for that rise, two or three miles away. I see exactly the +point we must aim for. When we get there, we must look at the compass +again." + +They kept steadily on for six hours. They had seen no human figure, +since they started. + +"We will stop here for half an hour," Gregory said. "Give the animals a +drink of water, and a handful or two of grain." + +"I don't think they will want water, Master. They had as much as they +could drink, before starting, and they are accustomed to drink when +their work is over." + +"Very well. At any rate, we will take something." + +They opened one of the water skins, and poured some of the contents +into a gourd. Then, sitting down in the shadow of the camels, they ate +some dates and bread. They had only brought native food with them so +that, if captured and examined, there should be nothing to show that +they had been in contact with Europeans. Gregory had even left his +revolver behind him as, being armed with so good a weapon as a +Remington, it was hardly likely that it would be needed; and if found +upon them, it would be accepted as a proof that he was in the +employment of the infidels. + +It was dusk when they arrived at the bank of the river. No incident had +marked the journey, nor had they seen any sign that Dervishes were in +the neighbourhood. The Atbara was in full flood, and was rushing down +at six or seven miles an hour. + +"Colonel Parsons must have had great difficulty in crossing, Zaki. He +is hardly likely to have brought any boats across, from Kassala. I +don't know whether he has any guns with him, but if he has, I don't +think he can have crossed, even if they made rafts enough to carry +them." + +They kept along the bank, until they reached a spot where the river had +overflowed. Here the camels drank their fill. A little grain was given +to them, and then they were turned loose, to browse on the bushes. + +"There is no fear of their straying, I suppose, Zaki?" + +"No, Master. They are always turned loose at night. As there are plenty +of bushes here, they will not go far." + +After another meal, they both lay down to sleep; and, as soon as it was +light, Zaki fetched in the camels and they continued their journey. In +an hour, they arrived at a village. The people were already astir, and +looked with evident apprehension at the seeming Dervishes. + +"Has a party of infidels passed along here?" Gregory asked the village +sheik, who came out and salaamed humbly. + +"Yes, my lord, a party of soldiers, with some white officers, came +through here three days ago." + +"How many were there of them?" + +"There must have been more than a thousand of them." + +"Many more?" + +"Not many; perhaps a hundred more. Your servant did not count them." + +"Had they any cannon with them?" + +"No, my lord. They were all on foot. They all carried guns, but there +were no mounted men, or cannon." + +"Where is Fadil and his army, that they thus allowed so small a force +to march along, unmolested?" + +"They say that he is still near the Nile. Two of his scouts were here, +the day before the Turks came along. They stayed here for some hours, +but as they said nothing about the Turks coming from Kassala, I suppose +they did not know they had crossed the river." + +"Well, we must go on, and see where they are. They must be mad to come +with so small a force, when they must have known that Fadil has a large +army. They will never go back again." + +Without further talk, Gregory rode farther on. At each village through +which they passed, they had some news of the passage of Colonel +Parsons' command. The camels had been resting, from the time when +Omdurman was taken; and, having been well fed that morning, Gregory did +not hesitate to press them. The troops would not march above +twenty-five miles a day, and two days would take them to Mugatta, so +that if they halted there but for a day, he should be able to overtake +them that night. + +The character of the country was now greatly changed. The bush was +thick and high, and a passage through it would be very difficult for +mounted men. There was no fear, therefore, that they would turn off +before arriving at Mugatta; from which place there would probably be a +track, of some sort, to Gedareh. It was but a thirty-mile ride and, on +arriving near the village, Gregory saw that a considerable number of +men were assembled there. He checked his camel. + +"What do you make them out to be, Zaki? Your eyes are better than mine. +They may be Colonel Parsons' force, and on the other hand they may be +Dervishes, who have closed in behind him to cut off his retreat." + +"They are not Dervishes, master," Zaki said, after a long, steady look. +"They have not white turbans. Some of their clothes are light, and some +dark; but all have dark caps, like those the Soudanese troops wear." + +"That is good enough, Zaki. We will turn our robes inside out, so as to +hide the patches, as otherwise we might have a hot reception." + +When they were a quarter of a mile from the village, several men +started out from the bushes, rifle in hand. They were all in Egyptian +uniform. + +"We are friends!" Gregory shouted in Arabic. "I am an officer of the +Khedive, and have come from Omdurman, with a message to your +commander." + +A native officer, one of the party, at once saluted. + +"You will find the bey in the village, Bimbashi." + +"How long have you been here?" + +"We came in yesterday, and I hear that we shall start tomorrow, but I +know not whether that is so." + +"Are there any Dervishes about?" + +"Yes; forty of them yesterday afternoon, coming from Gedareh, and +ignorant that we were here, rode in among our outposts on that hill to +the west. Three of them were killed, and three made prisoners. The rest +rode away." + +With a word of thanks, Gregory rode on. He dismounted when he reached +the village, and was directed to a neighbouring hut. Here Colonel +Parsons and the six white officers with him were assembled. A native +soldier was on sentry, at the door. + +"I want to speak to Parsons Bey." + +The Colonel, hearing the words, came to the door. + +"Colonel Parsons," Gregory said in English, "I am Major Hilliard of the +Egyptian Army, and have the honour to be the bearer of a message to +you, from General Rundle, now in command at Omdurman." + +"You are well disguised, indeed, sir," the Colonel said with a smile, +as he held out his hand. "I should never have taken you for anything +but a native. Where did you spring from? You can never have ridden, +much less walked, across the desert from Omdurman?" + +"No, sir. I was landed from one of the gunboats in which General +Hunter, with fifteen hundred Soudanese troops, is ascending the Blue +Nile, to prevent Fadil from crossing and joining the Khalifa." + +"Have you a written despatch?" + +"It was thought better that I should carry nothing, so that even the +strictest search would not show that I was a messenger." + +"Is your message of a private character?" + +"No, sir, I think not." + +"Then will you come in?" + +Gregory followed Colonel Parsons into the hut, which contained but one +room. + +"Gentlemen," the former said with a smile, "allow me to introduce +Bimbashi Hilliard, who is the bearer of a message to me from General +Rundle, now in command at Omdurman. + +"Major Hilliard, these are Captain MacKerrel, commanding four hundred +and fifty men of the 16th Egyptians; Captain Wilkinson, an equal number +of the Arab battalion; Major Lawson, who has under his command three +hundred and seventy Arab irregulars; Captain the Honorable H. Ruthven, +who has under him eighty camel men; also Captain Fleming of the Royal +Army Medical Corps, who is at once our medical officer, and in command +of the baggage column; and Captain Dwyer. They are all, like yourself, +officers in the Egyptian Army; and rank, like yourself, as Bimbashis. + +"Now, sir, will you deliver your message to me?" + +"It is of a somewhat grave character, sir, but General Rundle thought +it very important that you should be acquainted with the last news. The +Sirdar has gone up the White Nile, with some of the gunboats and the +11th Soudanese. He deemed it necessary to go himself, because a body of +foreign troops--believed to be French--have established themselves at +Fashoda." + +An exclamation of surprise broke from all the officers. + +"In the next place, sir, Fadil, who had arrived with his force within +forty miles of Khartoum, has retired up the banks of the Blue Nile, on +hearing of the defeat of the Khalifa. Major General Hunter has +therefore gone up that river, with three gunboats and another Soudanese +battalion, to prevent him, if possible, from crossing it and joining +the Khalifa, who is reported to be collecting the remains of his +defeated army. + +"It is possible--indeed the General thinks it is probable--that Fadil, +if unable to cross, may return with his army to Gedareh. It is to warn +you of this possibility that he sent me here. Gedareh is reported to be +a defensible position, and therefore he thinks that, if you capture it, +it would be advisable to maintain yourself there until reinforcements +can be sent to you, either from the Blue Nile or the Atbara. The place, +it seems, is well supplied with provisions and stores; and in the event +of Fadil opposing you, it would be far safer for you to defend it than +to be attacked in the open, or during a retreat." + +"It is certainly important news, Mr. Hilliard. Hitherto we have +supposed that Fadil had joined the Khalifa before the fight at +Omdurman, and there was therefore no fear of his reappearing here. We +know very little of the force at Gedareh. We took some prisoners +yesterday, but their accounts are very conflicting. Still, there is +every reason to believe that the garrison is not strong. Certainly, as +General Rundle says, we should be in a much better position there than +if we were attacked in the open. No doubt the Arabs who got off in the +skirmish, yesterday, carried the news there; and probably some of them +would go direct to Fadil, and if he came down upon us here, with his +eight thousand men, our position would be a desperate one. It cost us +four days to cross the river at El Fasher, and would take us as much to +build boats and recross here; and before that time, he might be upon +us. + +"It is evident, gentlemen, that we have only the choice of these +alternatives--either to march, at once, against Gedareh; or to retreat +immediately, crossing the river here, or at El Fasher. As to remaining +here, of course, it is out of the question." + +The consultation was a short one. All the officers were in favour of +pushing forward, pointing out that, as only the 16th Egyptians could be +considered as fairly disciplined, the troops would lose heart if they +retired; and could not be relied upon to keep steady, if attacked by a +largely superior force; while, at present, they would probably fight +bravely. The Arab battalion had been raised by the Italians, and were +at present full of confidence, as they had defeated the Mahdists who +had been besieging Kassala. The Arab irregulars had, of course, the +fighting instincts of their race, and would assault an enemy bravely; +but in a defensive battle, against greatly superior numbers, could +scarcely be expected to stand well. As for the eighty camel men, they +were all Soudanese soldiers, discharged from the army for old age and +physical unfitness. They could be relied upon to fight but, small in +number as they were, could but have little effect on the issue of a +battle. All therefore agreed that, having come thus far, the safest, as +well as the most honourable course, would be to endeavour to fight the +enemy in a strong position. + +Although it may be said that success justified it, no wilder enterprise +was ever undertaken than that of sending thirteen hundred only partly +disciplined men into the heart of the enemy's country. Omdurman and +Atbara, to say nothing of previous campaigns, had shown how desperately +the Dervishes fought; and the order, for the garrison of Kassala to +undertake it, can only have been given under an entire misconception of +the circumstances, and of the strength of the army under Fadil, that +they would almost certainly be called upon to encounter. This was the +more probable, as all the women and the property of his soldiers had +been left at Gedareh, when he marched away; and his men would, +therefore, naturally wish to go there, before they made any endeavour +to join the Khalifa. + +Such, indeed, was the fact. Fadil concealed from them the news of the +disaster at Omdurman, for some days; and, when it became known, he had +difficulty in restraining his troops from marching straight for +Gedareh. + +"Do you go on with us, Mr. Hilliard?" Colonel Parsons asked, when they +had decided to start for Gedareh. + +"Yes, sir. My instructions are to go on with you and, if the town is +besieged, to endeavour to get through their lines, and carry the news +to General Hunter, if I can ascertain his whereabouts. If not, to make +straight for Omdurman. I have two fast camels, which I shall leave +here, and return for them with my black boy, when we start." + +"We shall be glad to have you with us," the Colonel said. "Every white +officer is worth a couple of hundred men." + +As they sat and chatted, Gregory asked how the force had crossed the +Atbara. + +"It was a big job," Colonel Parsons said. "The river was wider than the +Thames, below London Bridge; and running something like seven miles an +hour. We brought with us some barrels to construct a raft. When this +was built, it supported the ten men who started on it; but they were, +in spite of their efforts, carried ten miles down the stream, and it +was not until five hours after they embarked that they managed to land. +The raft did not get back from its journey till the next afternoon, +being towed along the opposite bank by the men. + +"It was evident that this would not do. The Egyptian soldiers then took +the matter in hand. They made frameworks with the wood of the mimosa +scrub, and covered these with tarpaulins, which we had fortunately +brought with us. They turned out one boat a day, capable of carrying +two tons; and, six days after we reached the river, we all got across. + +"The delay was a terrible nuisance at the time, but it has enabled you +to come up here and warn us about Fadil. Fortunately no Dervishes came +along while we were crossing, and indeed we learned, from the prisoners +we took yesterday, that the fact that a force from Kassala had crossed +the river was entirely unknown, so no harm was done." + +The sheik of the little village took charge of Gregory's camels. Some +stores were also left there, under a small guard, as it was advisable +to reduce the transport to the smallest possible amount. + +The next morning the start was made. The bush was so thick that it was +necessary to march in single file. In the evening, the force halted in +a comparatively open country. The camel men reconnoitred the ground, +for some little distance round, and saw no signs of the enemy. They +camped, however, in the form of a square; and lay with their arms +beside them, in readiness to resist an attack. + +The night passed quietly, and at early dawn they moved forward again. +At six o'clock the camel men exchanged a few shots with the Dervish +scouts, who fell back at once. At eight a village was sighted, and the +force advanced upon it, in fighting order. + +It was found, however, to have been deserted, except by a few old +people. These, on being questioned, said that the Emir Saadalla, who +commanded, had but two hundred rifles and six hundred spearmen, and had +received orders from Fadil to surrender. Subsequent events showed that +they had been carefully tutored as to the reply to be given. + +The force halted here, as Gedareh was still twelve miles away; and it +was thought better that, if there was fighting, they should be fresh. +At midnight, a deserter from the Dervishes came in, with the grave news +that the Emir had three thousand five hundred men, and was awaiting +them two miles outside the town. There was another informal council of +war, but all agreed that a retreat, through this difficult country, +would bring about the total annihilation of the force; and that there +was nothing to do but to fight. + +Early in the morning, they started again. For the first two hours, the +road led through grass so high that even the men on camels could not +see above it. They pushed on till eight o'clock, when they reached a +small knoll. At the foot of this they halted, and Colonel Parsons and +the officers ascended it, to reconnoitre. + +They saw, at once, that the deserter's news was true. A mile away four +lines of Dervishes, marching in excellent order, were making their way +towards them. Colonel Parsons considered that their numbers could not +be less than four thousand, and at once decided to occupy a saddle-back +hill, half a mile away; and the troops were hurried across. The +Dervishes also quickened their movements, but were too late to prevent +the hill from being seized. + +The Arab battalion had been leading, followed by the Egyptians; while +the irregulars, divided into two bodies under Arab chiefs, guarded the +hospital and baggage. The Dervishes at once advanced to the attack of +the hill, and the column wheeled into line, to meet it. Even on the +crest of the hill, the grass was breast high, but it did not impede the +view of the advancing lines of the Dervishes. Into these a heavy and +destructive fire was at once poured. The enemy, however, pushed on, +firing in return; but being somewhat out of breath, from the rapidity +with which they had marched; and seeing nothing of the defenders of the +hill, save their heads, they inflicted far less loss than they were +themselves suffering. + +The fight was continuing, when Colonel Parsons saw that a force of +about three hundred Dervishes had worked round the back of the hill, +with the intention of falling upon the baggage. He at once sent one of +the Arab sheiks to warn Captain Fleming; who, from his position, was +unable to see the approaching foe. Colonel Parsons had asked Gregory to +take up his position with the baggage, as he foresaw that, with their +vastly greater numbers, it was likely that the Dervishes might sweep +round and attack it. + +Scarcely had the messenger arrived with the news, when the Dervishes +came rushing on through the high grass. In spite of the shouts of +Doctor Fleming and Gregory, the escort of one hundred and twenty +irregular Arabs, stationed at this point, at once broke and fled. +Happily, a portion of the camel corps, with its commander, Captain +Ruthven, a militia officer, was close at hand. Though he had but +thirty-four of these old soldiers with him, he rushed forward to meet +the enemy. Doctor Fleming and Gregory joined him and, all cheering to +encourage the Soudanese, made a determined stand. + +Gregory and Zaki kept up a steady fire with their Remingtons, and +picked off several of the most determined of their assailants. The +fight, however, was too unequal; the Dervishes got in behind them, and +cut off the rear portion of the transport; and the little band, +fighting obstinately, fell back, with their faces to the foe, towards +the main body. + +One of the native officers of the Soudanese fell. Captain Ruthven, a +very powerful man, ran back and lifted the wounded soldier, and made +his way towards his friends. So closely pressed was he, by the +Dervishes, that three times he had to lay his burden down and defend +himself with his revolver; while Gregory and Zaki aided his retreat, by +turning their fire upon his assailants. For this splendid act of +bravery, Captain Ruthven afterwards received the Victoria Cross. + +Flushed by their success, the Dervishes pushed on. Fortunately, at this +time the main force of the Dervishes was beginning to waver, unable to +withstand the steady fire of the defenders of the hill; and as they +drew back a little, the Egyptian and Arab battalions rushed forward. + +Shaken as they were, the Dervishes were unable to resist the attack; +and broke and fled, pursued by the Arab battalion. The Egyptians, +however, obeyed the orders of Captain MacKerrel and, halting, faced +about to encounter the attack from the rear. Their volleys caused the +Dervishes to hesitate, and Captain Ruthven and his party reached the +summit of the hill in safety. + +The enemy, however, maintained a heavy fire for a few minutes; but the +volleys of the Egyptians, at a distance of only a hundred yards, were +so deadly that they soon took to flight. + +The first shot had been fired at half-past eight. At ten, the whole +Dervish force was scattered in headlong rout. Had Colonel Parsons +possessed a cavalry force, the enemy would have been completely cut up. +As it was, pursuit was out of the question. + +The force therefore advanced, in good order, to Gedareh. Here a Dervish +Emir, who had been left in charge when the rest of the garrison moved +out, surrendered at once, with the two hundred black riflemen under +him. He had long been suspected of disloyalty by the Khalifa, and at +once declared his hatred of Mahdism; declaring that, though he had not +dared to declare himself openly, he had always been friendly to +Egyptian rule. + +The men with him at once fraternized with the Arabs of Colonel Parsons' +force, and were formally received into their ranks. The Emir showed his +sincerity by giving them all the information in his power, as to +Fadil's position and movements, and by pointing out the most defensible +positions. + +None of the British officers had been wounded, but fifty-one of the men +had been killed, and eighty wounded. Five hundred of the Dervishes were +left dead upon the field, including four Emirs. + +Not a moment was lost in preparing for defence, for it was certain that +Fadil, on hearing the news, would at once march to retake the town. The +position was naturally a strong one. Standing on rising ground was +Fadil's house, surrounded by a brick wall, twelve feet high. Here the +Egyptian battalion and camel corps were placed, with the hospital, and +two brass guns which had been found there. + +A hundred yards away was another enclosure, with a five-foot wall, and +two hundred yards away a smaller one. The Arab battalion was stationed +to the rear of this, in a square enclosure with a brick wall, twelve +feet high, in which was situated a well. These four buildings were so +placed, that the fire from each covered the approaches to the other. +Two hundred yards from the well enclosure was a fortified house, +surrounded by a high wall. As the latter would need too many men for +its defence, the wall was pulled down, and a detachment placed in the +house. + +No time was lost. The whole force was at once employed in pulling down +huts, clearing the ground of the high grass, and forming a zareba round +the town. The greatest cause for anxiety was ammunition. A large +proportion of that carried in the pouches had been expended during the +battle, and the next morning Colonel Parsons, with a small force, +hurried back to Mugatta to fetch up the reserve ammunition, which had +been left there under a guard. He returned with it, three days later. + +An abundant supply of provisions had been found in Gedareh, for here +were the magazines, not only of the four thousand men of the garrison +and the women who had been left there, but sufficient for Fadil's army, +on their return. There were three or four wells, and a good supply of +water. + +The ammunition arrived just in time; for, on the following morning, +Captain Ruthven's camel men brought in news that Fadil was close at +hand. At half-past eight the Dervishes began the attack, on three sides +of the defences. Sheltered by the long grass, they were able to make +their way to within three hundred yards of the dwellings occupied by +the troops. But the intervening ground had all been cleared, and though +time after time they made rushes forward, they were unable to withstand +the withering fire to which they were exposed. + +After an hour's vain efforts their musketry fire ceased; but, half an +hour later, strong reinforcements came up, and the attack recommenced. +This was accompanied with no greater success than the first attack, and +Fadil retired to a palm grove, two miles away. Of the defenders five +men were killed, and Captain Dwyer and thirteen men wounded. + +For two days, Fadil endeavoured to persuade his troops to make another +attack; but although they surrounded the town, and maintained a +scattered fire, they could not be brought to attempt another assault, +having lost over five hundred men in the two attacks the first day. He +then fell back, eight miles. + +Three days later, Colonel Parsons said to Gregory: + +"I think the time has come, Mr. Hilliard, when I must apply for +reinforcements. I am convinced that we can repel all attacks, but we +are virtually prisoners here. Were we to endeavour to retreat, Fadil +would probably annihilate us. Our men have behaved admirably; but it is +one thing to fight well, when you are advancing; and another to be firm +in retreat. + +"But our most serious enemy, at present, is fever. Already, the stink +of the unburied bodies of the Dervishes is overpowering, and every day +it will become worse. Doctor Fleming reports to me that he has a great +many sick on his hands, and that he fears the conditions that surround +us will bring about an epidemic. Therefore I have decided to send to +General Rundle, for a reinforcement that will enable us to move out to +attack Fadil." + +"Very well, sir, I will start at once." + +"I will write my despatch. It will be ready for you to carry in an +hour's time. You had better pick out a couple of good donkeys, from +those we captured here. As it is only nine o'clock, you will be able to +get to Mugatta this evening. I don't think there is any fear of your +being interfered with, by the Dervishes. We may be sure that Fadil is +not allowing his men to roam over the country, for there can be little +doubt that a good many of them would desert, as soon as they got fairly +beyond his camp." + +"I don't think there is any fear of that, sir; and as my camels will +have had ten days' rest, I should have very little fear of being +overtaken, even if they did sight us." + +"We are off again, Zaki," Gregory said. "We will go down to the yard +where the animals we captured are kept, and choose a couple of good +donkeys. I am to carry a despatch to Omdurman, and as time is precious, +we will make a straight line across the desert; it will save us fifty +or sixty miles." + +"I am glad to be gone, Master. The smells here are as bad as they were +at Omdurman, when we went in there." + +"Yes, I am very glad to be off, too." + +An hour later they started, and arrived at Mugatta at eight o'clock in +the evening. The native with whom the camels had been left had taken +good care of them; and, after rewarding him and taking a meal, Gregory +determined to start at once. The stars were bright, and there was quite +light enough for the camels to travel. + +The water was emptied from the skins, and filled again. They had +brought with them sufficient food for four days' travel, and a sack of +grain for the camels. An hour after arriving at the village they again +started. + +"We will follow the river bank, till we get past the country where the +bushes are so thick, and then strike west by north. I saw, by Colonel +Parsons' map, that that is about the line we should take." + +They left the river before they reached El Fasher, and continued their +journey all night, and onward till the sun was well up. Then they +watered the camels (they had, this time, brought with them a large half +gourd for the purpose), ate a good meal themselves; and, after placing +two piles of grain before the camels, lay down and slept until five +o'clock in the afternoon. + +"We ought to be opposite Omdurman, tomorrow morning. I expect we shall +strike the river, tonight. I have kept our course rather to the west of +the direct line, on purpose. It would be very awkward if we were to +miss it. I believe the compass is right, and I have struck a match +every hour to look at it; but a very slight deviation would make a big +difference, at the end of a hundred and fifty miles." + +It was just midnight when they saw the river before them. + +"We can't go wrong now, Zaki." + +"That is a comfort. How many miles are we above its junction with the +White Nile?" + +"I don't know." + +They rode steadily on, and day was just breaking when he exclaimed: + +"There are some buildings opposite. That must be Khartoum. We shall be +opposite Omdurman in another hour." + +Soon after six o'clock, they rode down to the river bank opposite the +town; and, in answer to their signals, a large native boat was rowed +across to them. After some trouble the camels were got on board, and in +a quarter of an hour they landed. + +"Take the camels up to my house, Zaki. I must go and report myself, at +headquarters." + +General Rundle had not yet gone out, and on Gregory sending in his +name, he was at once admitted. + +"So you are back, Mr. Hilliard!" the General said. "I am heartily glad +to see you, for it was a very hazardous mission that you undertook. +What news have you?" + +"This is Colonel Parsons' report." + +Before reading the long report, the General said, "Tell me, in a few +words, what happened." + +"I overtook Colonel Parsons at Mugatta, on the third morning after +leaving. We were attacked by nearly four thousand Dervishes, five miles +from Gedareh. After a sharp fight they were defeated, and we occupied +the town without resistance. Four days later, Fadil came up with his +army and attacked the town; but was driven off, with a loss of five +hundred men. He is now eight miles from the town. The place is +unhealthy and, although it can be defended, Colonel Parsons has asked +for reinforcements, to enable him to attack Fadil." + +"That is good news, indeed. We have all been extremely anxious, for +there was no doubt that Colonel Parsons' force was wholly inadequate +for the purpose. How long is it since you left?" + +"About forty-six hours, sir." + +"Indeed! That seems almost impossible, Mr. Hilliard." + +"We started at eleven o'clock in the morning, sir, and rode on donkeys +to Mugatta, where I had left my camels; arrived there at eight, and +started an hour later on the camels. We rode till nine o'clock the next +day, halted till five, and have just arrived here. The camels were +excellent beasts, and travelled a good six miles an hour. I did not +press them, as I knew that, if we arrived opposite the town at night, +we should have difficulty in getting across the river." + +"It was a great ride, a great achievement! You must be hungry, as well +as tired. I will tell my man to get you some breakfast, at once. You +can eat it, while I read this despatch. Then I may have a few questions +to ask you. After that, you had better turn in till evening." + +Gregory enjoyed his breakfast, with the luxuries of tinned fruit, after +his rough fare for the past fortnight. When he went to the General's +room again, the latter said: + +"Colonel Parsons' despatches are very full, and I think I quite +understand the situation. No praise is too high for the conduct of his +officers and troops. All seemed to have behaved equally well, and he +mentions the gallant part you took in the defence of the baggage, with +Captain Ruthven and the doctor, and only some thirty-four soldiers of +the camel corps. + +"Now, I will not detain you longer. I hope you will dine with me this +evening. I should like to hear more of the affair." + +Returning to his hut, Gregory found that Zaki had already got his bed, +and other things, from the store; and he was just about to boil the +kettle. + +"I have breakfasted, Zaki. Here is a dollar. Go to one of those big +shops, and buy anything you like, and have a good meal. Then you had +better take the camels across to Azim's camp. I shall not want you +then, till evening." + +No time was lost. Three battalions and a half of Soudanese were sent up +the Blue Nile, in steamers, and the garrisons stationed at several +points on the river were also taken on board. Three companies of camel +corps marched along the bank, and arrived at Abu Haraz, a hundred and +thirty miles up the river, in fifty-six hours after starting. Five +hundred baggage camels were also sent up. As the distance from Gedareh +to this point was a hundred miles, and as water was only to be found at +one point, it was necessary to carry up a supply for the troops. + +Colonel Collinson, who was in command, pushed forward at once with the +12th Soudanese and the camel corps. When Fadil heard of their approach, +he made a night attack on Gedareh. This, however, was easily repulsed +by the garrison. He then broke up his camp and marched away, intending +to cross the Blue Nile, and join the Khalifa. + +His troops were greatly demoralized by their failures, and in spite of +the precautions he took, the Darfur Sheik, with five hundred of his +men, succeeded in effecting his escape; and at once joined us, +actively, in the further operations against Fadil. As there was no +further danger, the Soudanese marched back again and joined the other +battalions, the garrisons on the river were re-established, and part of +the force returned to Omdurman. + +The Sirdar had returned from Fashoda before Gregory came back, and had +left almost immediately for Cairo. On the day after Gregory's return, +he had a sharp attack of fever; the result partly of the evil smells at +Gedareh, heightened by the fact that the present was the fever season, +in the Blue Nile country. + + + +Chapter 22: The Crowning Victory. + + +It was eight weeks before he recovered, and even then the doctor said +that he was not fit for any exertion. He learned that on the 22nd of +October, Colonel Lewis, with two companies of the camel corps and three +squadrons of Lancers, had started from Omdurman to visit the various +villages between the White and Blue Niles; to restore order, and +proclaim that the authority of the Khedive was established there. On +the 7th of November, following the Blue Nile up, he reached Karkoj, but +a short distance below the point at which the navigation of the river +ceased. He had come in contact with a portion of Fadil's force, but +nothing could be done, in the thick undergrowth in which the latter was +lurking; and he therefore remained, waiting for the next move on the +part of the Dervish commander, while the gunboats patrolled the Blue +river up to Rosaires. + +Six weeks passed. His force, and all the garrisons on the river, +suffered severely from heat, thirty percent of the troops being down +together. The cavalry had suffered particularly heavily. Of the four +hundred and sixty men, ten had died and four hundred and twenty were +reported unfit for duty, a month after their arrival at Karkoj; while +of the thirty white officers on the Blue Nile, only two escaped an +attack of fever. + +At the end of the month, Colonel Lewis was joined by the Darfur Sheik +and three hundred and fifty of his men. He had had many skirmishes with +Dervish parties, scouring the country for food, and his arrival was +very welcome. + +Gregory was recommended to take a river trip, to recover his health; +and left on a steamer going up with stores, and some small +reinforcements, to Colonel Lewis. They arrived at Karkoj on the 14th of +December, and learned that the little garrison at Rosaires had been +attacked by the Dervishes. + +The fifty fever-stricken men who formed the garrison would have had no +chance of resisting the attack, but fortunately they had, that very +morning, been reinforced by two hundred men of the 10th Soudanese, and +two Maxims; and the Dervishes were repulsed, with considerable loss. +Two companies of the same battalion had reinforced Colonel Lewis, who +marched, on the day after receiving the news, to Rosaires. The gunboat +went up to that point, and remained there for some days. + +Gregory went ashore, as soon as the boat arrived, and saw Colonel +Lewis, to whom he was well known. + +"I am supposed to be on sick leave, sir; but I feel quite strong now, +and shall be glad to join you, if you will have me." + +"I can have no possible objection, Mr. Hilliard. I know that you did +good service with Colonel Parsons, and it is quite possible that we +shall find ourselves in as tight a place as he was. So many of our +white officers have been sent down, with fever, that I am very +short-handed, and shall be glad if you will temporarily serve as my +assistant." + +On the 20th, the news came that Fadil was crossing the river at +Dakhila, twenty miles farther to the south. He himself had crossed, and +the women and children had been taken over on a raft. On the 22nd, the +Darfur Sheik was sent off up the west bank, to harass the Dervishes who +had already crossed. On the 24th two gunboats arrived, with two hundred +more men of the 10th Soudanese, and a small detachment of the 9th. + +On the following day the little force started, at five in the +afternoon; and, at eleven at night, halted at a little village. At +three in the morning they again advanced, and at eight o'clock came in +contact with the Dervish outposts. Colonel Lewis had already learned +that, instead of half the Dervish force having crossed, only one +division had done so, and that he had by far the greater part of +Fadil's army opposed to him. + +It was a serious matter to attack some four or five thousand men, with +so small a force at his disposal; for he had but half the 10th +Soudanese, a handful of the 9th, and two Maxim guns. As to the Darfur +irregulars, no great reliance could be placed upon them. + +As the force issued from the wood through which they had been marching, +they saw the river in front of them. In its midst rose a large island, +a mile and a quarter long, and more than three-quarters of a mile wide. +There were clumps of sand hills upon it. They had learned that the +intervening stream was rapid, but not deep; while that on the other +side of the island was very deep, with a precipitous bank. + +It was upon this island that Fadil's force was established. The +position was a strong one--the sand hills rose from an almost flat +plain, a thousand yards away; and this would have to be crossed by the +assailants, without any shelter whatever. The Dervishes were bound to +fight their hardest, as there was no possibility of escape, if +defeated. + +At nine o'clock the Soudanese and irregulars lined the bank and opened +fire, while the two Maxims came into action. The Dervishes replied +briskly, and it was soon evident that, at so long a range, they could +not be driven from their position. Several fords were found, and the +irregulars, supported by a company of the 10th, crossed the river, and +took up a position two hundred yards in advance, to cover the passage +of the rest. These crossed with some difficulty, for the water was +three and a half feet deep, and the current very strong; and they were, +moreover, exposed to the fire of Fadil's riflemen, from the high cliff +on the opposite bank. + +Colonel Lewis, determined to turn the left flank of the Dervishes, kept +along the river's edge until he reached the required position; then +wheeled the battalion into line, and advanced across the bare shingle +against the sand hills. Major Ferguson, with one company, was detached +to attack a knoll on the right, held by two hundred Dervishes. The +remaining four companies, under Colonel Mason, kept straight on towards +the main position. + +A very heavy fire was concentrated upon them, not only from the sand +hills, but from Fadil's riflemen. The Soudanese fell fast, but held on, +increasing their pace to a run; until they reached the foot of the +first sandhill, where they lay down in shelter to take breath. A +quarter of the force had already fallen, and their doctor, Captain +Jennings, remained out in the open, binding up their wounds, although +exposed to a continuous fire. + +This halt was mistaken by the Dervishes, who thought that the courage +of the Soudanese was exhausted; and Fadil, from the opposite bank, +sounded the charge on drum and bugle; and the whole Dervish force, with +banners waving and exultant shouts, poured down to annihilate their +assailants. + +But the Soudanese, led by Colonels Lewis and Mason, who were +accompanied by Gregory, leapt to their feet, ran up the low bank behind +which they were sheltering, and opened a terrible fire. The Dervishes +were already close at hand, and every shot told among them. Astonished +at so unlooked-for a reception, and doubtless remembering the heavy +loss they had suffered at Gedareh, they speedily broke. Like dogs +slipped from their leash, the black troops dashed on with triumphant +shouts, driving the Dervishes from sandhill to sandhill, until the +latter reached the southern end of the island. + +Here the Soudanese were joined by the irregulars who had first crossed, +and a terrible fire was maintained, from the sand hills, upon the +crowded mass on the bare sand, cut off from all retreat by the deep +river. Some tried to swim across, to join their friends on the west +bank. A few succeeded in doing so, among them the Emir who had given +battle to Colonel Parsons' force, near Gedareh. + +Many took refuge from the fire by standing in the river, up to their +necks. Some four hundred succeeded in escaping, by a ford, to a small +island lower down; but they found no cover there, and after suffering +heavily from the musketry fire, the survivors, three hundred strong, +surrendered. + +Major Ferguson's company, however, was still exposed to a heavy fire, +turned upon them by the force on the other side of the river. He +himself was severely wounded, and a third of his men hit. The Maxims +were accordingly carried over the river to the island, and placed so as +to command the west bank, which they soon cleared of the riflemen. + +Over five hundred Arabs lay dead on the two islands. Two thousand one +hundred and seventy-five fighting men surrendered, and several hundred +women and children. Fadil, with the force that had escaped, crossed the +desert to Rung, on the White Nile, where on the 22nd of January they +surrendered to the English gunboats; their leader, with ten or twelve +of his followers only, escaping to join the Khalifa. + +Our casualties were heavy. Twenty-five non-commissioned officers and +men were killed; one British officer, six native officers, and one +hundred and seventeen non-commissioned officers and men wounded of the +10th Soudanese, out of a total strength of five hundred and eleven. The +remaining casualties were among the irregulars. + +Never was there a better proof of the gallantry of the black regiments +of Egypt; for, including the commander and medical officer, there were +but five British officers, and two British sergeants, to direct and +lead them. + +After the battle of Rosaires, there was a lull in the fighting on the +east of the White Nile. The whole country had been cleared of the +Dervishes, and it was now time for the Sirdar, who had just returned +from England, to turn his attention to the Khalifa. The latter was +known to be near El Obeid, where he had now collected a force, of whose +strength very different reports were received. + +Gregory, whose exertions in the fight, and the march through the scrub +from Karkoj, had brought on a slight return of fever, went down in the +gunboat, with the wounded, to Omdurman. Zaki was with him, but as a +patient. He had been hit through the leg, while charging forward with +the Soudanese. At Omdurman, Gregory fell into regular work again. So +many of the officers of the Egyptian battalions had fallen in battle, +or were down with fever, that Colonel Wingate took him as his +assistant, and his time was now spent in listening to the stories of +tribesmen; who, as soon as the Khalifa's force had passed, had brought +in very varying accounts of his strength. Then there were villagers who +had complaints to make of robbery, of ill usage--for this the Arab +irregulars, who had been disbanded after the capture of Omdurman, were +largely responsible. Besides these, there were many petitions by +fugitives, who had returned to find their houses occupied, and their +land seized by others. + +Gregory was constantly sent off to investigate and decide in these +disputes, and was sometimes away for a week at a time. Zaki had +recovered rapidly and, as soon as he was able to rise, accompanied his +master; who obtained valuable assistance from him as, while Gregory was +hearing the stories of witnesses, Zaki went quietly about the villages, +talking to the old men and women, and frequently obtained evidence that +showed that many of the witnesses were perjured; and so enabled his +master to give decisions which astonished the people by their justness. + +Indeed, the reports of the extraordinary manner in which he seemed able +to pick out truth from falsehood, and to decide in favour of the +rightful claimant, spread so rapidly from village to village, that +claimants who came in to Colonel Wingate often requested, urgently, +that the young Bimbashi should be sent out to investigate the matter. + +"You seem to be attaining the position of a modern Solomon, Hilliard," +the Colonel said one day, with a smile. "How do you do it?" + +Gregory laughed, and told him the manner in which he got at the truth. + +"An excellent plan," he said, "and one which it would be well to adopt, +generally, by sending men beforehand to a village. The only objection +is, that you could not rely much more upon the reports of your spies +than on those of the villagers. The chances are that the claimant who +could bid highest would receive their support." + +Matters were quiet until the Sirdar returned from England, and +determined to make an attempt to capture the Khalifa, whose force was +reported not to exceed one thousand men. Two squadrons of Egyptian +cavalry and a Soudanese brigade, two Maxims, two mule guns, and a +company of camel corps were placed under the command of Colonel +Kitchener. The great difficulty was the lack of water along the route +to be traversed. Camels were brought from the Atbara and the Blue Nile; +and the whole were collected at Kawa, on the White Nile. They started +from that point, but the wells were found to be dry; and the force had +to retrace its steps, and to start afresh from Koli, some forty miles +farther up the river. + +They endured great hardships, for everything was left behind save the +clothes the men and officers stood in, and one hundred rounds of +ammunition each; only one pint of water being allowed per head. The +country was a desert, covered with interlacing thorn bushes. An eight +days' march brought the force to a village which was considered sacred, +as it contained the grave of the Khalifa's father, and the house where +the Khalifa himself had been born. + +Three days later they reached the abandoned camp of the Khalifa, a wide +tract that had been cleared of bush. A great multitude of dwellings, +constructed of spear grass, stretched away for miles; and at the very +lowest compilation it had contained twenty thousand people, of which it +was calculated that from eight thousand to ten thousand must have been +fighting men, ten times as many as had before been reported to be with +the Khalifa. A reconnaissance showed that a large army was waiting to +give battle, on a hill which was of great strength, surrounded by deep +ravines and pools of water. + +The position was an anxious one. The total force was about fourteen +hundred strong, and a defeat would mean annihilation; while even a +victory would scarcely secure the capture of the Khalifa; who, with his +principal emirs, Osman Digna, El Khatim the Sheik of El Obeid, the +Sheik Ed Din, and Fadil, would be able to gallop off if they saw the +battle going against them. Colonel Kitchener had the wisdom to decide +against risking the destruction of his followers by an assault against +so great a force, posted in so strong a position. It was a deep +mortification to him to have to retreat, and the soldiers were bitterly +disappointed; but their commander felt that, brave as the Egyptians and +Soudanese had shown themselves, the odds against victory were too +great. After a terrible march, and great sufferings from thirst and +scanty food, the force reached Koli on the 5th of February, and were +conveyed in steamers down to Omdurman. + +After this somewhat unfortunate affair, which naturally added to the +prestige of the Khalifa, the months passed uneventfully; but, late in +October, preparations were made for an attack upon a large scale +against the Khalifa's camp, and eight thousand men were concentrated at +Karla, on the White Nile. It was known that the Khalifa was at Gedir, +eighty miles away; but after proceeding half the distance, it was found +that he had marched away, and the column returned, as pursuit through a +densely-wooded country would have been impracticable. + +The gunboats had gone up the river with a flying column, under Colonel +Lewis, to check any of the Khalifa's forces that attempted to establish +themselves on the banks. Mounted troops and transport were at once +concentrated, and Colonel Wingate was sent up to take command. The +force consisted of a brigade of infantry, under Colonel Lewis, with the +9th and 13th Soudanese, an irregular Soudanese battalion, a company of +the 2nd Egyptians, six companies of camel corps, a squadron of cavalry, +a field battery, six Maxims, and detachments of medical and supply +departments, with a camel transport train to carry rations and three +days' water--in all, three thousand seven hundred men. + +On the afternoon of the 21st of November, the column moved forward and, +favoured by a bright moonlight, made a march of fifteen miles; the +cavalry scouting two miles in front, the flanks and rear being covered +by the camel corps. Native reports had brought in information that +Fadil, who had been raiding the country, was now in the neighbourhood, +on his way to rejoin the main Dervish army, which was lying near Gadi. + +The cavalry pushed forward at dawn, and found that Fadil had retreated, +leaving a quantity of grain behind. A sick Dervish who had remained +there said that the Dervishes had moved to a point seven miles away. +The cavalry, camel corps, and some of the guns advanced, and seized a +position within three hundred yards of the Dervish encampment, on which +they immediately opened fire. + +The rest of the guns were at once pushed forward, to reinforce them, +and arrived in time to assist them in repulsing a fierce attack of the +Dervishes. Owing to the nature of the ground, these were able to +approach to within sixty yards of the guns, before coming under their +fire. They were then mowed down by the guns and Maxims, and the +musketry fire of the camel corps; to which was added that of the +infantry brigade, when they arrived. This was too much even for Dervish +valour to withstand, and they fled back to their camp. + +The British force then advanced. They met with but little opposition +and, as they entered the camp, they saw the enemy in full flight. The +infantry followed them for a mile and a half, while the cavalry and +camel corps kept up the pursuit for five miles. + +Fadil's camp, containing a large amount of grain and other stores, fell +into the hands of the captors; with a number of prisoners, including +women and children, and animals. Four hundred Dervishes had fallen, +great numbers had been wounded, while the British casualties amounted +to a native officer of the camel corps dangerously wounded, one man +killed, and three wounded. + +Gregory had accompanied Colonel Wingate, and acted as one of his staff +officers. He had, of course, brought his horse with him. It was an +excellent animal, and had been used by him in all his excursions from +Omdurman. + +"That is rather a different affair from the fight on the Atbara, Zaki," +he said, when the force gathered in Fadil's camp, after the pursuit was +relinquished; "the Dervishes fought just as bravely, but in one case +they had a strong position to defend, while today they took the +offensive. It makes all the difference." + +"I am glad to have seen some fighting again, Master, for it has been +dull work stopping ten months in Omdurman, with nothing to do but ride +about the country, and decide upon the villagers' quarrels." + +"It has been useful work, Zaki, and I consider myself very fortunate in +being so constantly employed. I was desperately afraid that Colonel +Wingate would leave me there, and I was greatly relieved when he told +me that I was to come with him. It is a fortunate thing that we have +beaten our old enemy, Fadil, here. In the first place because, if the +three or four thousand men he had with him had joined the Khalifa, it +would have given us harder work in tomorrow's fight; and in the next +place his arrival, with his followers who have escaped, at the +Khalifa's camp, is not likely to inspirit the Dervishes there." + +Gregory was occupied, all the afternoon, in examining the prisoners. +They affirmed that they had left the former camp, three days before, +with the intention of proceeding to Gedid; where Fadil was to join the +Khalifa with captured grain, when the whole Dervish force was to march +north. + +The troops slept during the afternoon, and in the evening set out for +Gedid, which they reached at ten o'clock the next morning. A Dervish +deserter reported that the Khalifa was encamped seven miles to the +southeast. Fortunately, a pool with sufficient water for the whole +force was found at Gedid; which was a matter of great importance, for +otherwise the expedition must have fallen back. + +It was hoped that the Khalifa would now stand at bay, as our occupation +of Gedid barred his advance north. Behind him was a waterless, and +densely wooded district. The capture of the grain on which he had +relied would render it impossible for him to remain long in his present +position, and his only chance of extricating himself was to stand and +fight. + +After twelve hours' rest the troops were roused, and started a few +minutes after midnight. The transport was left, under a strong guard, +near the water; with orders to follow, four hours later. The cavalry, +with two Maxims, moved in advance; and the camel corps on the flanks. +The ground was thickly wooded. In many places, a way had to be cut for +the guns. + +At three o'clock news was received, from the cavalry, that the enemy's +camp was but three miles distant from the point which the infantry had +reached; and that they and the Maxims had halted two miles ahead, at +the foot of some slightly rising ground; beyond which the scouts had, +on the previous day, discovered the main force of the enemy to be +stationed. The infantry continued to advance, slowly and cautiously, +making as little noise as possible. + +It was soon evident, however, that in spite of their caution, the enemy +were aware of their approach, as there was an outburst of the beating +of drums, and the blowing of war horns. This did not last long, but it +was enough to show that the Dervishes were not to be taken by surprise. +When the infantry reached the spot where the cavalry were halted, the +latter's scouts were withdrawn and the infantry pickets thrown out, and +the troops then lay down to await daybreak. + +The officers chatted together in low tones. There were but two hours +till dawn, and with the prospect of heavy fighting before them, none +were inclined to sleep. The question was whether the Dervishes would +defend their camp, or attack. The result of the battle of Omdurman +should have taught them that it was impossible to come to close +quarters, in the face of the terrible fire of our rifles. Fadil could +give his experience at Gedareh, which would teach the same lesson. On +the other hand, the storming of the Dervish camp on the Atbara, and the +fight at Rosaires, would both seem to show them that the assault of the +Egyptian force was irresistible. + +As Gregory had been present at all four of these battles, he was asked +to give his opinion. + +"I think that they will attack," he said. "The Dervish leaders rely +upon the enthusiasm of their followers; and, in almost all the battles +we have fought here, they have rushed forward to the assault. It was so +in all the fights down by the Red Sea. It was so in the attacks on Lord +Wolseley's desert column. It succeeded against Hicks's and Baker's +forces; and even now they do not seem to have recognized that the +Egyptians, whom they once despised, have quite got over their dread of +them, and are able to face them steadily." + +There was only the faintest light in the sky, when firing broke out in +front. Everyone leapt to his feet, and stood listening intently. Was it +merely some Dervish scouts, who had come in contact with our pickets, +or was it an attacking force? + +The firing increased in volume, and was evidently approaching. The +pickets, then, were being driven in, and the Dervishes were going to +attack. The men were ordered to lie down, in the position in which they +were to fight. In five minutes after the first shot all were ready for +action, the pickets had run in; and, in the dim light, numbers of dark +figures could be made out. + +The guns and Maxims at once spoke out, while the infantry fired +volleys. It was still too dark to make out the movements of the enemy, +but their reply to our fire came louder and louder on our left, and it +was apparent that the intention of the Dervishes was to turn that flank +of our position. + +Colonel Wingate sent Gregory, to order the guns to turn their fire more +in that direction; and other officers ordered our right to advance +somewhat, while the left were slightly thrown back, and pushed farther +out. The light was now getting brighter, and heavy bodies of Dervishes, +shouting and firing, rushed forward; but they were mown down by grape +from our guns, a storm of Maxim bullets, and the steady volleys of the +infantry. They wavered for a moment, and then gradually fell back. + +The bugles sounded the advance and, with a cheer, our whole line moved +forward down the gentle slope; quickening their pace as the enemy +retired before them, and still keeping up a heavy fire towards the +clump of trees that concealed the Dervish camp from sight. The enemy's +fire had now died out. At twenty-five minutes past six the "cease fire" +was sounded and, as the troops advanced, it was evident that resistance +was at an end. + +As they issued through the trees, many Dervishes ran forward and +surrendered, and thousands of women and children were found in the +camp. Happily, none of these had been injured, as a slight swell in the +ground had prevented our bullets from falling among them. Numbers of +Dervishes who had passed through now turned and surrendered, and the +cavalry and camel corps started in pursuit. + +Gregory had learned, from the women, that the Emir El Khatim, with a +number of his trained men from El Obeid, had passed through the camp in +good order, but that none of the other emirs had been seen; and the 9th +Soudanese stated that, as they advanced, they had come upon a number of +chiefs lying together, a few hundred yards in advance of our first +position. One of the Arab sheiks of the irregulars was sent to examine +the spot, and reported that the Khalifa himself, and almost all his +great emirs, lay there dead. + +With the Khalifa were Ali Wad, Helu, Fadil, two of his brothers, the +Mahdi's son, and many other leaders. Behind them lay their dead horses, +and one of the men still alive said that the Khalifa, having failed in +his attempt to advance over the crest, had endeavoured to turn our +position; but, seeing his followers crushed by our fire and retiring, +and after making an ineffectual attempt to rally them, he recognized +that the day was lost; and, calling on his emirs to dismount, seated +himself on his sheepskin, as is the custom of Arab chiefs who disdain +to surrender. The emirs seated themselves round him, and all met their +death unflinchingly, the greater part being mowed down by the volleys +fired by our troops, as they advanced. + +Gregory went up to Colonel Wingate. + +"I beg your pardon, sir, but I find that Khatim, and probably his son, +who were so kind to my father at El Obeid, have retired with a fighting +force. Have I your permission to ride forward, and call upon them to +surrender?" + +"Certainly, Mr. Hilliard, there has been bloodshed enough." + +Being well mounted, Gregory overtook the cavalry and camel corps, +before they had gone two miles; as they were delayed by disarming the +Dervishes, who were coming in in large numbers. Half a mile away, a +small body of men were to be seen keeping together, firing +occasionally. Their leader's flag was flying, and Gregory learned, from +a native, that it was Khatim's. The cavalry were on the point of +gathering for a charge, as he rode up to the officer in command. + +"I have Colonel Wingate's orders, sir, to ride forward and try to +persuade the emir to surrender. He does not wish any further loss of +life." + +"Very well, sir. I am sure we have killed enough of the poor beggars. I +hope he will give in." + +As Gregory neared the party, which was some five hundred strong, +several shots were fired at him. He waved a white handkerchief, and the +firing ceased. Two emirs rode forward to meet him. + +"I have come, sir, from the English General, to ask you to surrender. +Your cause is lost. The Khalifa is dead, and most of his principal +emirs. He is anxious that there should be no further loss of blood." + +"We can die, sir, as the others have done," the elder emir, a man of +some sixty years old, said sternly. + +"But that would not avail your cause, sir. I solicited this mission, as +I owe much to you." + +"How can that be?" the chief asked. + +"I am the son of that white man whom you so kindly treated, at El +Obeid, where he saved the life of your son Abu;" and he bowed to the +younger emir. + +"Then he escaped?" the latter exclaimed. + +"No, sir. He was killed at Hebbeh, when the steamer in which he was +going down from Khartoum was wrecked there; but I found his journal, in +which he told the story of your kindness to him. I can assure you that +you shall be well treated, if you surrender; and those of your men who +wish to do so will be allowed to return to El Obeid. I feel sure that +when I tell our General how kindly you acted, to the sole white officer +who escaped from the battle, you and your son will be treated with the +greatest consideration." + +"I owe more to your father than he did to me," Abu exclaimed. "He saved +my life, and did many great services to us. + +"What say you, Father? I am ready to die if you will it; but as the +Khalifa is dead, and the cause of Mahdism lost, I see no reason, and +assuredly no disgrace, in submitting to the will of Allah." + +"So be it," Khatim said. "I have never thought of surrendering to the +Turks, but as it is the will of Allah, I will do so." + +He turned to his men. + +"It is useless to fight further," he said. "The Khalifa is dead. It +were better to return to your wives and families than to throw away +your lives. Lay down your arms. None will be injured." + +It was with evident satisfaction that the Arabs laid musket and spear +on the ground. They would have fought to the death, had he ordered +them, for they greatly loved their old chief; but as it was his order, +they gladly complied with it, as they saw that they had no chance of +resisting the array of cavalry and camel corps, gathered less than half +a mile away. + +"If you will ride back with me," Gregory said to the emir, "I will +present you to the General. The men had better follow. I will ride +forward, and tell the officer commanding the cavalry that you have +surrendered, and that the men approaching are unarmed." + +He cantered back to the cavalry. + +"They have all surrendered, sir," he said. "They have laid down their +arms at the place where they stood, and are going back to camp, to +surrender to Colonel Wingate." + +"I am glad of it. My orders are to push on another three miles. On our +return the camel corps shall collect the arms, and bring them in." + +Gregory rode back to the emirs, who were slowly crossing the plain, but +who halted as the cavalry dashed on. + +"Now, Emirs," he said, "we can ride quietly back to camp." + +"You have not taken our arms," Khatim said. + +"No, Emir, it is not for me to ask for them. It is the General to whom +you surrender, not me." + +"I mourn to hear of the death of your father," Abu said, as they rode +in. "He was a good man, and a skilful hakim." + +"He speaks always in the highest terms of you, Emir, in his journal, +and tells how he performed that operation on your left arm, which was +necessary to save your life; but did so with great doubt, fearing that, +never having performed one before, he might fail to save your life." + +"I have often wondered what became of him," Abu said. "I believed that +he had got safely into Khartoum, and I enquired about him when we +entered. When I found that he was not among the killed, I trusted that +he might have escaped. I grieve much to hear that he was killed while +on his way down." + +"Such was the will of Allah," Khatim said. "He preserved him at the +battle, He preserved him in the town, He enabled him to reach Khartoum; +but it was not His will that he should return to his countrymen. I say, +with Abu, that he was a good man; and while he remained with us, was +ever ready to use his skill for our benefit. It was Allah's will that +his son should, after all these years, come to us; for assuredly, if +any other white officer had asked us to surrender, I would have +refused." + +"Many strange things happen by the will of God," Gregory said. "It was +wonderful that, sixteen years after his death, I should find my +father's journal at Hebbeh, and learn the story of his escape after the +battle, and of his stay with you at El Obeid." + +Gregory rode into camp between the two emirs. He paused for a minute, +and handed over their followers to the officer in charge of the +prisoners; and then went to the hut formerly occupied by the Khalifa, +where Colonel Wingate had now established himself. Colonel Wingate came +to the entrance. + +"These are El Khatim and his son Abu, sir. They surrendered on learning +that I was the son of the British officer whom they had protected, and +sheltered, for a year after the battle of El Obeid." + +The two emirs had withdrawn their swords and pistols from their sashes; +and, advancing, offered them to the Colonel. The latter did not offer +to receive them. + +"Keep them," he said. "We can honour brave foes; and you and your +followers were ready to fight and die, when all seemed lost. Still more +do I refuse to receive the weapons of the men who defended an English +officer, when he was helpless and a fugitive; such an act would, alone, +ensure good treatment at our hands. Your followers have surrendered?" + +"They have all laid down their arms," Khatim said. + +"Do you give me your promise that you will no more fight against us?" + +"We do," Khatim replied. "We have received our weapons back from you, +and would assuredly not use them against our conquerors." + +"In that case, Emir, you and your son are at liberty to depart, and +your men can return with you. There will, I trust, be no more fighting +in the land. The Mahdi is dead. His successor proved a false prophet +and is dead also. Mahdism is at an end, and now our object will be to +restore peace and prosperity to the land. + +"In a short time, all the prisoners will be released. Those who choose +will be allowed to enter our service. The rest can return to their +homes. We bear no enmity against them. They fought under the orders of +their chiefs, and fought bravely and well. When they return, I hope +they will settle down and cultivate the land; and undo, as far as may +be, the injuries they have inflicted upon it. + +"I will write an order, Mr. Hilliard, to release at once the men you +have brought in. Then I will ask you to ride, with these emirs, to a +point where there will be no fear of their falling in with our +cavalry." + +"You are a generous enemy," Khatim said, "and we thank you. We give in +our allegiance to the Egyptian government, and henceforth regard +ourselves as its servants." + +"See, Mr. Hilliard, that the party takes sufficient food with it for +their journey to El Obeid." + +Colonel Wingate stepped forward, and shook hands with the two emirs. + +"You are no longer enemies," he said, "and I know that, henceforth, I +shall be able to rely upon your loyalty." + +"We are beaten," Khatim said, as they walked away, each leading his +horse. "You can fight like men, and we who thought ourselves brave have +been driven before you, like dust before the wind. And now, when you +are masters, you can forgive as we should never have done. You can +treat us as friends. You do not even take our arms, and we can ride +into El Obeid with our heads high." + +"It will be good for the Soudan," Abu said. "Your father told me, +often, how peace and prosperity would return, were you ever to become +our masters; and I felt that his words were true. Two hours ago I +regretted that Allah had not let me die, so that I should not have +lived to see our people conquered. Now, I am glad. I believe all that +he said, and that the Soudan will some day become, again, a happy +country." + +Khatim's men were separated from the rest of the prisoners. Six days' +supply of grain, from the stores found in the camp, were handed over to +them; together with ten camels with water skins, and they started at +once on their long march. Gregory rode out for a couple of miles with +them, and then took leave of the two emirs. + +"Come to El Obeid," Khatim said, "and you shall be treated as a king. +Farewell! And may Allah preserve you!" + +So they parted; and Gregory rode back to the camp, with a feeling of +much happiness that he had been enabled, in some way, to repay the +kindness shown to his dead father. + + + +Chapter 23: An Unexpected Discovery. + + +The victory had been a decisive one, indeed. Three thousand prisoners, +great quantities of rifles, swords, grain, and cattle had been +captured; together with six thousand women and children. A thousand +Dervishes had been killed or wounded. All the most important emirs had +been killed, and the Sheik Ed Din, the Khalifa's eldest son and +intended successor, was, with twenty-nine other emirs, among the +prisoners. Our total loss was four men killed, and two officers and +twenty-seven men wounded in the action. + +"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Hilliard," Colonel Wingate said to him, +that evening, "for the valuable services you have rendered, and shall +have the pleasure of including your name among the officers who have +specially distinguished themselves. As it was mentioned by General +Rundle and Colonel Parsons--by the former for undertaking the hazardous +service of carrying despatches to the latter, and by Colonel Parsons +for gallant conduct in the field--you ought to be sure of promotion, +when matters are arranged here." + +"Thank you very much, sir! May I ask a favour? + +"You know the outline of my story. I have learned, by the papers I +obtained at Hebbeh, and others which I was charged not to open until I +had certain proof of my father's death, that the name under which he +was known was an assumed one. He had had a quarrel with his family; and +as, when he came out to Egypt, he for a time took a subordinate +position, he dropped a portion of his name, intending to resume it when +he had done something that even his family could not consider was any +discredit to it. I was myself unaware of the fact until, on returning +to Omdurman from Hebbeh, I opened those papers. I continued to bear the +name by which I am known, but as you are good enough to say that you +will mention me in despatches, I feel that I can now say that my real +name is Gregory Hilliard Hartley." + +"I quite appreciate your motives in adhering to your former name, Mr. +Hartley; and in mentioning your services under your new name, I will +add a note saying that your name mentioned in former despatches, for +distinguished services, had been erroneously given as Gregory Hilliard +only." + +"Thank you very much, sir!" + +That evening, when several of the officers were gathered in Colonel +Wingate's hut, the latter said, when one of them addressed Gregory as +Hilliard: + +"That is not his full name, Colonel Hickman. For various family +reasons, with which he has acquainted me, he has borne it hitherto; but +he will, in future, be known by his entire name, which is Gregory +Hilliard Hartley. I may say that the reasons he has given me for not +having hitherto used the family name are, in my opinion, amply +sufficient; involving, as they do, no discredit to himself; or his +father, a brave gentleman who escaped from the massacre of Hicks's +force at El Obeid; and finally died, with Colonel Stewart, at Hebbeh." + +"I seem to know the name," Colonel Lewis said. "Gregory Hilliard +Hartley! I have certainly either heard or seen it, somewhere. May I ask +if your father bore the same Christian names?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I have it now!" Colonel Lewis exclaimed, a minute or two later. "I +have seen it in an advertisement. Ever since I was a boy, that name has +occasionally been advertised for. Every two or three months, it +appeared in the Times. I can see it plainly, now. + +"'Five hundred pounds reward will be given for any information +concerning the present abode, or death, of Gregory Hilliard Hartley; or +the whereabouts of his issue, if any. He left England about the year +1881. It is supposed that he went to the United States, or to one of +the British Colonies. Apply to Messieurs Tufton and Sons, solicitors, +Lincoln's Inn Fields.' + +"Do you know when your father left England?" + +"He certainly left about that time. I am nineteen now, and I know that +I was born a few weeks after he came out to Alexandria." + +"Then there ought to be something good in store for you," Colonel +Wingate said. "People don't offer a reward of five hundred pounds, +unless something important hangs to it. Of course, there may be another +of the same name, but it is hardly likely that anyone would bear the +two same Christian names, as well as surname. Is it indiscreet to ask +you if you know anything about your father's family?" + +"Not at all, sir. Now that I have taken his name, I need have no +hesitation in relating what I know of him. Previous to his leaving +England, he married without his father's consent; and, failing to make +a living in England, he accepted a situation in Alexandria; which he +gained, I may say, because he was an excellent Arabic scholar, as he +had spent two years in exploring tombs and monuments in Egypt. He was +the second son of the Honourable James Hartley; who was brother, and I +believe heir, of the Marquis of Langdale, and I should think by this +time has succeeded to the title. At his death, my father's eldest +brother would, of course, succeed him." + +"Then, my dear fellow," Colonel Mahon said, giving him a hearty slap on +the shoulder, "allow me to congratulate you. I can tell you that the +title has been in abeyance, for the past fourteen years. Everyone knows +the facts. Your grandfather died before the Marquis. Your uncle +succeeded him, lived only three years and, being unmarried, your father +became the next Earl; and has been advertised for, in vain, ever since. +As, unhappily, your father is dead also, you are unquestionably the +Marquis of Langdale." + +Gregory looked round with a bewildered air. The news was so absolutely +unexpected that he could hardly take it in. + +"It seems impossible," he said at last. + +"It is not only impossible, but a fact," the Colonel said. "There is +nothing very surprising in it. There were only two lives between your +father and the peerage; and as one was that of an old man, the second +of a man certainly in the prime of life, but unmarried, why, the Jews +would have lent money on the chance. + +"I fancy your uncle was a somewhat extravagant man. I remember he kept +a lot of race horses and so on, but he could not have dipped very +seriously into the property. At any rate, there will be fourteen years' +accumulations, which will put matters straight. + +"I hope you have got papers that will prove you are your father's son, +and that he was brother of the late Earl." + +"I think there can be no difficulty about that," Gregory said. "I have +letters from both my parents, a copy of their marriage certificate, and +of the registers of my birth and baptism. There are some persons in +Cairo who knew my father, and a good many who knew my mother." + +"Then I should say that it would be quite safe sailing. + +"I don't know, Lewis, whether you are not entitled to that five hundred +pounds." + +"I am afraid not," the other laughed. "Mr. Hartley; or rather, I should +say, the Earl; would have discovered it, himself. I only recognized the +name, which plenty of people would have done, as soon as they saw it in +despatches." + +"It will be a great disappointment to someone," Gregory said; "if they +have been, for fourteen years, expecting to come in for this." + +"You need not fret about that," another officer said. "The next heir is +a distant cousin. He has been trying, over and over again, to get +himself acknowledged; but the courts would not hear of it, and told him +that it was no use applying, until they had proof of the death of your +father. I know all about it, because there was a howling young ass in +the regiment from which I exchanged. He was always giving himself airs, +on the strength of the title he expected to get; and if he is still in +the regiment, there will be general rejoicings at his downfall." + +"Then I have met him," Gregory said. "On the way up, he made himself +very unpleasant, and I heard from the other officers that he was +extremely unpopular. The Major spoke very sharply to him, for the +offensive tone in which he addressed me; and an officer sitting next to +me said that he was terribly puffed, by his expectations of obtaining a +title shortly, owing to the disappearance of those who stood before him +in succession. Some of the officers chaffed him about it, then. I +remember now that his name was Hartley; but as I had no idea, at that +time, that that was also mine, I never thought anything more about it, +until now. As he was the only officer who has been in any way offensive +to me, since I left Cairo nearly three years ago, certainly I would +rather that he should be the sufferer, if I succeed in proving my right +to the title, than anyone else." + +"I don't think he will suffer, except in pride," the officer said. "His +father, who was a very distant cousin of the Earl's, had gone into +trade and made a considerable fortune; so that the young fellow was a +great deal better off than the vast majority of men in the army. It was +the airs he gave himself, on the strength of being able to indulge in +an expenditure such as no one else in the regiment could attempt--by +keeping three or four race horses in training, and other follies--that +had more to do with his unpopularity, than his constant talk about the +peerage he was so confident of getting." + +"Of course you will go home to England, at once," Colonel Wingate said. +"The war is over now, and it would be rank folly for you to stay here. +You have got the address of the lawyers who advertised for you; and +have only to go straight to them, with your proofs in your hand, and +they will take all the necessary steps. + +"I should say that it would facilitate matters if, as you go through +Cairo, you were to obtain statements or affidavits from some of the +people who knew your mother; stating that you are, as you claim to be, +her son; and that she was the wife of the gentleman known as Gregory +Hilliard, who went up as an interpreter with Hicks. I don't say that +this would be necessary at all, for the letters you have would, in +themselves, go far to prove your case. Still, the more proofs you +accumulate, the less likely there is of any opposition being offered to +your claim. Any papers or letters of your mother might contain +something that would strengthen the case. + +"It is really a pity, you know, when you have done so well out here, +and would be certain to rise to a high post under the administration of +the province; (which will be taken in hand, in earnest, now), that you +should have to give it all up." + +"I scarcely know whether to be pleased or sorry, myself, sir. At +present, I can hardly take in the change that this will make, or +appreciate its advantages." + +"You will appreciate them, soon enough," one of the others laughed. "As +long as this war has been going on, one could put up with the heat, and +the dust, and the horrible thirst one gets, and the absence of anything +decent to drink; but now that it is all over, the idea of settling down +here, permanently, would be horrible; except to men--and there are such +fellows--who are never happy, unless they are at work; to whom work is +everything--meat, and drink, and pleasure. It would have to be +everything, out here; for no one could ever think of marrying, and +bringing a wife, to such a country as this. Women can hardly live in +parts of India, but the worst station in India would be a paradise, in +comparison with the Soudan; though possibly, in time, Khartoum will be +rebuilt and, being situated between two rivers, might become a possible +place--which is more than any other station in the Soudan can be--for +ladies." + +"I am not old enough to take those matters into consideration," Gregory +laughed. "I am not twenty, yet. Still, I do think that anyone +permanently stationed, in the Soudan, would have to make up his mind to +remain a bachelor." + +The next morning, the greater portion of the prisoners were allowed to +return to their homes. All the grain and other stores, found in the +camp, were divided among the women, who were advised to return to their +native villages; but those who had lost their husbands were told that +they might accompany the force to the river, and would be taken down to +Omdurman, and given assistance for a time, until they could find some +means of obtaining a subsistence. + +On returning to Khartoum, Colonel Wingate, at Gregory's request, told +Lord Kitchener of the discovery that had been made; and said that he +wished to return to England, at once. The next day, the Sirdar sent for +Gregory. + +"Colonel Wingate has been speaking to me about you," he said, "and I +congratulate you on your good fortune. In one respect, I am sorry; for +you have done so surprisingly well, that I had intended to appoint you +to a responsible position in the Soudan Civil Service, which is now +being formed. Colonel Wingate says that you naturally wish to resign +your present post, but I should advise you not to do so. The operation +of the law in England is very uncertain. I trust that, in your case, +you will meet with but small difficulty in proving your birth; but +there may be some hitch in the matter, some missing link. + +"I will, therefore, grant you six months' leave of absence. At the end +of that time, you will see how you stand. If things have gone on well +with you, you can then send in your resignation. If, on the other hand, +you find yourself unable to prove your claim, it will still be open to +you to return here, and continue the career in which you have begun so +well." + +"I am greatly obliged to you, sir, for your kindness; and should I fail +in proving my claim, I shall gladly avail myself of your offer, at the +end of the six months." + +"Now, Zaki," he said, on returning to the hut, of which he had again +taken possession, "we must have one more talk. I have told you about +the possible change in my position, and that I was shortly leaving for +England. You begged me to take you with me, and I told you that if you +decided to go, I would do so. I shall be put in orders, tomorrow, for +six months' leave. If I succeed in proving my claim to a title, which +is what you would call here an emirship, I shall not return. If I fail, +I shall be back again, in six months. Now, I want you to think it over +seriously, before you decide. + +"Everything will be different there from what you are accustomed to. +You will have to dress differently, live differently, and be among +strangers. It is very cold there, in winter; and it is never what you +would call hot, in summer. + +"It is not that I should not like to have you with me; we have been +together, now, for three years. You saved my life at Atbara, and have +always been faithfully devoted to me. It is for your sake, not my own, +that I now speak." + +"I will go with you, Master, if you will take me. I hope never to leave +you, till I die." + +"Very well, Zaki, I am more than willing to take you. If I remain in +England, you shall always be with me, if you choose to remain. But I +shall then be able to give you a sum that will enable you to buy much +land, and to hire men to work your sakies, to till your land, and to +make you what you would call a rich man here, should you wish to return +at the end of the six months. If I return, you will, of course, come +back with me." + +On the following day, after having said goodbye to all his friends, +disposed of his horse and belongings, and drawn the arrears of his pay, +Gregory took his place in the train; for the railway had now been +carried to Khartoum. + +Four days later, he arrived at Cairo. His first step was to order +European clothes for Zaki, and a warm and heavily-lined greatcoat; for +it was now the first week in December, and although delightful at +Cairo, it would be, to the native, bitterly cold in England. + +Then he went to the bank, and Mr. Murray, on hearing the story, made an +affidavit at the British resident's; affirming that he had, for fifteen +years, known Mrs. Gregory Hilliard, and was aware that she was the +widow of Mr. Gregory Hilliard, who joined Hicks Pasha; and that Mr. +Gregory Hilliard, now claiming to be Mr. Gregory Hilliard Hartley, was +her son. Mr. Gregory Hilliard, senior, had kept an account at the bank +for eighteen months; and had, on leaving, given instructions for Mrs. +Hilliard's cheques to be honoured. Mrs. Hilliard had received a pension +from the Egyptian government, up to the date of her death, as his +widow; he having fallen in the service of the Khedive. + +Gregory looked up his old nurse, whom he found comfortable and happy. +She also made an affidavit, to the effect that she had entered the +service of Mrs. Hilliard more than eighteen years before, as nurse to +Gregory Hilliard, then a child of a year old. She had been in her +service until her death, and she could testify that Gregory Hilliard +Hartley was the child she had nursed. + +After a stay of four days at Cairo, Gregory started for England. Even +he, who had heard of London from his mother, was astonished at its +noise, extent, and bustle; while Zaki was almost stupefied. He took two +rooms at Cannon Street Hotel, for himself and servant, and next morning +went to the offices of Messieurs Tufton and Sons, the solicitors. He sent +in his name as Mr. Gregory Hilliard Hartley. + +Even in the outer office, he heard an exclamation of surprise, as the +piece of paper on which he had written his name was read. He was at +once shown in. Mr. Tufton looked at him, with a little surprise. + +"I am the son of the gentleman for whom, I understand, you have +advertised for a long time." + +"If you can prove that you are so, sir," Mr. Tufton said, wearily, "you +are the Marquis of Langdale--that is to say, if your father is +deceased. + +"May I ask, to begin with, how it is that the advertisement has, for so +many years, remained unanswered?" + +"That is easily accounted for, sir. My father, being unable to obtain a +situation in England, accepted a very minor appointment in the house of +Messieurs Partridge and Company, at Alexandria. This he obtained owing to +his knowledge of Arabic. He had been engaged, as you doubtless know, +for two years in explorations there. He did not wish it to be known +that he had been obliged to accept such a position, so he dropped his +surname, and went out as Gregory Hilliard. As the firm's establishment +at Alexandria was burned, during the insurrection there, he went to +Cairo and obtained an appointment as interpreter to General Hicks. He +escaped when the army of that officer was destroyed, at El Obeid; was a +prisoner, for many months, at that town; and then escaped to Khartoum. +He came down in the steamer with Colonel Stewart. That steamer was +wrecked at Hebbeh, and all on board, with one exception, were +massacred. + +"My mother always retained some hope that he might have escaped, from +his knowledge of Arabic. She received a small pension from the Egyptian +government, for the loss of my father, and added to this by teaching in +the families of several Turkish functionaries. Three years ago she +died, and I obtained, through the kindness of Lord Kitchener, an +appointment as interpreter in the Egyptian army. I was present at the +fights of Abu Hamed, the Atbara, Omdurman, and the late victory by +Colonel Wingate. My name, as Gregory Hilliard, was mentioned in +despatches; and will be mentioned, again, in that sent by Colonel +Wingate, but this time with the addition of Hartley. + +"It was only accidentally, on the night after that battle, that I +learned that my father was the heir to the Marquis of Langdale, and I +thereupon obtained six months' leave, to come here." + +"It is a singular story," the lawyer said, "and if supported by proofs, +there can be no question that you are the Marquis, for whom we have +been advertising, for many years." + +"I think that I have ample proof, sir. Here is the certificate of my +father's marriage, and the copies of the registers of my birth and +baptism. Here is the journal of my father, from the time he was taken +prisoner till his death. Here are his letter to my mother, and letters +to his father, brother, and sisters, which were to be forwarded by her +should she choose to return to England. Here are two affidavits--the +one from a gentleman who has known me from childhood, the other from +the woman who nursed me, and who remained with our family till I +reached the Soudan. Here also is a letter that I found among my +mother's papers, written from Khartoum, in which my father speaks of +resuming the name of Hartley, if things went well there." + +"Then, sir," Mr. Tufton said, "I think I can congratulate you upon +obtaining the title; but at the same time, I will ask you to leave +these papers with me, for an hour. I will put everything else aside, +and go through them. You understand, I am not doubting your word; but +of course, it is necessary to ascertain the exact purport of these +letters, and documents. If they are as you say, the evidence in favour +of your claim would be overwhelming. + +"Of course, it is necessary that we should be most cautious. We have, +for upwards of a hundred years, been solicitors to the family; and as +such have contested all applications, from the junior branch of the +family, that the title should be declared vacant by the death of the +last Marquis, who would be your uncle. We have been the more anxious to +do so, as we understand the next claimant is a young man of extravagant +habits, and in no way worthy to succeed to the title." + +"I will return in an hour and a half, sir," Gregory said, rising. "I +may say that the contents of this pocketbook, although intensely +interesting to myself, as a record of my father, do not bear upon the +title. They are a simple record of his life, from the time when the +army of Hicks Pasha was destroyed, to the date of his own murder at +Hebbeh. The last entry was made before he landed. I mention this, as it +may save you time in going through the papers." + +Gregory went out, and spent the time in watching the wonderful flow of +traffic, and gazing into the shops; and when he returned to the office, +he was at once shown in. Mr. Tufton rose, and shook him warmly by the +hand. + +"I consider these documents to be absolutely conclusive, my lord," he +said. "The letters to your grandfather, uncle, and aunts are conclusive +as to his identity; and that of your mother, strengthened by the two +affidavits, is equally conclusive as to your being his son. I will take +the necessary measures to lay these papers before the court, which has +several times had the matter in hand, and to obtain a declaration that +you have indisputably proved yourself to be the son of the late Gregory +Hilliard Hartley, and therefore entitled to the title and estates, with +all accumulations, of the Marquis of Langdale." + +"Thank you very much, sir! I will leave the matter entirely in your +hands. Can you tell me the address of my aunts? As you will have seen, +by my father's letter, he believed implicitly in their affection for +him." + +"Their address is, The Manor House, Wimperton, Tavistock, Devon. They +retired there at the accession of their brother to the title. It has +been used as a dower house in the family for many years; and, pending +the search for your father, I obtained permission for them to continue +to reside there. I was not obliged to ask for an allowance for them, as +they had an income, under their mother's marriage settlement, +sufficient for them to live there in comfort. + +"I will not give you the letter addressed to them, as I wish to show +the original in court; but I will have a copy made for you, at once, +and I will attest it. + +"Now, may I ask how you are situated, with regard to money? I have +sufficient confidence in the justice of your claim to advance any sum, +for your immediate wants." + +"Thank you, sir! I am in no need of any advance. My mother's savings +amounted to five hundred pounds, of which I only drew fifty to buy my +outfit, when I went up to the Soudan. My pay sufficed for my wants +there, and I drew out the remaining four hundred and fifty pounds when +I left Cairo; so I am amply provided." + +Gregory remained four days in London, obtaining suitable clothes. Then, +attended by Zaki, he took his place in the Great Western for Tavistock. +Zaki had already picked up a good deal of English, and Gregory talked +to him only in that language, on their way down from the battlefield; +so that he could now express himself in simple phrases. + +Mr. Tufton had on the previous day written, at Gregory's request, to +his aunts; saying that the son of their brother had called upon him, +and given him proofs, which he considered incontestable, of his +identity and of the death of his father. He was the bearer of a letter +from his father to them, and proposed delivering it the next day, in +person. He agreed with Gregory that it was advisable to send down this +letter, as otherwise the ladies might doubt whether he was really what +he claimed to be, as his father's letter might very well have come into +the hands of a third person. + +He went down by the night mail to Tavistock, put up at an hotel; and, +after breakfast, drove over to the Manor House, and sent in a card +which he had had printed in town. He was shown into a room where the +two ladies were waiting for him. They had been some four or five years +younger than his father, a fact of which he was not aware; and instead +of being elderly women, as he expected, he found, by their appearance, +they were scarcely entering middle age. They were evidently much +agitated. + +"I have come down without waiting for an invitation," he said. "I was +anxious to deliver my father's letter to you, or at least a copy of it, +as soon as possible. It was written before his death, some eighteen +years ago, and was intended for my mother to give to you, should she +return to England. Its interest to you consists chiefly in the proof of +my father's affection for you, and that he felt he could rely on yours +for him. I may say that this is a copy, signed as correct by Mr. +Tufton. He could not give me the original, as it would be required as +an evidence of my father's identity, in the application he is about to +make for me to be declared heir to the title." + +"Then Gregory has been dead eighteen years!" the elder of the ladies +said. "We have always hoped that he would be alive, in one of the +colonies, and that sooner or later he would see the advertisement that +had been put in the papers." + +"No, madam. He went out to Alexandria with my mother, shortly before I +was born. He died some three or four years before his brother. It was +seldom my mother saw an English paper. Unfortunately, as it turned out, +my father had dropped his surname when he accepted a situation, which +was a subordinate one, at Alexandria; and his reason for taking it was +that my mother was in weak health, and the doctor said it was necessary +she should go to a warm climate; therefore, had any of her friends seen +the advertisement, they would not have known that it applied to her. I, +myself, did not know that my proper name was Hartley until a year back, +when I discovered my father's journal at Hebbeh, the place where he was +murdered; and then opened the documents that my mother had entrusted to +me, before her death, with an injunction not to open them until I had +ascertained, for certain, that my father was no longer alive." + +One of the ladies took the letter, and opened it. They read it +together. + +"Poor Gregory!" one said, wiping her eyes, "we were both fond of him, +and certainly would have done all in our power to assist his widow. He +was nearer our age than Geoffrey. It was a terrible grief to us, when +he quarrelled with our father. Of course our sympathies were with +Gregory, but we never ventured to say so; and our father never +mentioned his name, from the day he left the house. Why did not your +mother send his letter to us?" + +"Because she did not need assistance. She was maintaining herself and +me in comfort by teaching music, French, and English to the wives and +children of several of the high Egyptian officials." + +"How long is it since you lost her?" + +"More than three years ago. At her death, I was fortunate enough to +obtain an appointment similar to that my father had, and at the same +time a commission in the Egyptian service; and have been fortunate in +being, two or three times, mentioned in despatches." + +"Yes; curiously enough, after receiving Mr. Tufton's letter, we saw +Colonel Wingate's despatch in the paper, in which your name is +mentioned. We should have been astonished, indeed, had we not opened +the letter before we looked at the paper. + +"Well, Gregory, we are very glad to see you, and to find that you have +done honour to the name. The despatch said that you have been +previously mentioned, under the name of Gregory Hilliard. We always +file our papers, and we spent an hour after breakfast in going through +them. I suppose you threw up your appointment, as soon as you +discovered that Geoffrey died, years ago, and that you had come into +the title?" + +"I should have thrown it up, but Lord Kitchener was good enough to give +me six months' leave; so that, if I should fail to prove my right to +the title, I could return there and take up my work again. He was so +kind as to say that I should be given a responsible position, in the +civil administration of the Soudan." + +"Well, we both feel very proud of you; and it does sound wonderful +that, being under twenty, you should have got on so well, without +friends or influence. I hope you intend to stay with us, until you have +to go up to London about these affairs." + +"I shall be very happy to stay a few days, Aunt; but it is better that +I should be on the spot, as there may be questions that have to be +answered, and signatures, and all sorts of things. + +"I have brought my Arab servant down with me. He has been with me for +three years, and is most faithful and devoted; and moreover, he once +saved my life, at tremendous risk to himself." + +"Oh, of course we can put him up! Can he speak English?" + +"He speaks a little English, and is improving fast." + +"Does he dress as a native?" + +"No, Aunt. He would soon freeze to death, in his native garb. As soon +as I got down to Cairo with him, I put him into good European clothes. +He is a fine specimen of a Soudan Arab, but when he came to me he was +somewhat weakly; however, he soon got over that." + +"Where is he, now?" + +"He is with the trap, outside. I told him that he had better not come +in until I had seen you, for I thought that your domestics would not +know what to do with him, till they had your orders." + +"You brought your portmanteau with you, I hope?" + +"I have brought it, but not knowing whether it would be wanted; for I +did not know whether you would take sufficiently to me, to ask me to +stay." + +"The idea of such a thing! You must have had a bad opinion of us." + +"No, Aunt. I had the best of opinions. I am sure that my father would +not have written as he did to you, unless he had been very fond of you. +Still, as at present I am not proved to be your nephew, I thought that +you might not be disposed to ask me to stay. + +"Now, with your permission, I will go and tell Zaki--that is the man's +name--to bring in my portmanteau. I can then send the trap back." + +"Do you know, Gregory," one of his aunts said that evening; "even +putting aside the fact that you are our nephew, we are delighted that +the title and estates are not to go to the next heir. He came down here +about a year ago. His regiment had just returned from the Soudan. He +drove straight to the hall, and requested to be shown over it, saying +that in a short time he was going to take possession. The housekeeper +came across here, quite in distress, and said that he talked as if he +were already master; said he should make alterations in one place, +enlarge the drawing room, build a conservatory against it, do away with +some of the pictures on the walls; and, in fact, he made himself very +objectionable. He came on here, and behaved in a most offensive and +ungentlemanly way. He actually enquired of us whether we were tenants +by right, or merely on sufferance. I told him that, if he wanted to +know, he had better enquire of Mr. Tufton; and Flossie, who is more +outspoken than I am, said at once that whether we were tenants for +life, or not, we should certainly not continue to reside here, if so +objectionable a person were master at the hall. He was very angry, but +I cut him short by saying: + +"'This is our house at present, sir; and, unless you leave it at once, +I shall call the gardener in and order him to eject you.'" + +"I am not surprised at what you say, Aunt, for I met the fellow myself, +on the way up to Omdurman; and found him an offensive cad. It has been +a great satisfaction to me to know that he was so; for if he had been a +nice fellow, I could not have helped being sorry to deprive him of the +title and estates which he has, for years, considered to be his." + +After remaining four days at the Manor House, Gregory went back to +town. A notice had already been served, upon the former claimant to the +title, that an application would be made to the court to hear the claim +of Gregory Hilliard Hartley, nephew of the late Marquis, to be +acknowledged as his successor to the title and estates; and that if he +wished to appear by counsel, he could do so. + +The matter was not heard of, for another three months. Lieutenant +Hartley was in court, and was represented by a queen's counsel of +eminence; who, however, when Gregory's narrative had been told, and the +various documents put in, at once stated that after the evidence he had +heard, he felt that it would be vain to contest the case at this point; +but that he reserved the right of appealing, should anything come to +light which would alter the complexion of the affair. + +The judgment was that Gregory Hilliard Hartley had proved himself to be +the son of the late Gregory Hilliard Hartley, brother of and heir to +the late Marquis of Langdale, and was therefore seized of the title and +estates. + +As soon as the case was decided, Gregory went down again to Devonshire, +and asked his aunts to take charge for him. This they at first said was +impossible; but he urged that, if they refused to do so, he should be +driven to go back to the Soudan again. + +"My dear Aunts," he said, "what in the world am I to do? I know no one. +I know nothing of English customs, or society. I should, indeed, be the +most forlorn person in existence, with a large country estate and a +mansion in London. I want someone to introduce me into society, and set +me on my legs; manage me and my house, and preside at my table. I am +not yet twenty, and have not as much knowledge of English ways as a boy +of ten. I should be taken in and duped in every way, and be at the +mercy of every adventurer. I feel that it would be a sacrifice for you +to leave your pretty home here, but I am sure, for the sake of my +father, you will not refuse to do so." + +His aunts admitted that there was great justice in what he said, and +finally submitted to his request to preside over his house; until, as +they said, the time came when he would introduce a younger mistress. + +Zaki, when his six months' trial was over, scorned the idea of +returning to the Soudan; declaring that, if Gregory would not keep him, +he would rather beg in the streets than go back there. + +"It is all wonderful here," he said; "we poor Arabs could not dream of +such things. No, Master, as long as you live, I shall stay here." + +"Very well, Zaki, so be it; and I can promise you that if I die before +you, you will be so provided for that you will be able to live in as +much comfort as you now enjoy, and in addition you will be your own +master." + +Zaki shook his head. + +"I should be a fool to wish to be my own master," he said, "after +having such a good one, at present." + +Gregory is learning the duties of a large land owner, and is already +very popular in his part of Devonshire. The mansion in London has not +yet been reopened, as Gregory says he must learn his lessons perfectly, +before he ventures to take his place in society. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH KITCHENER IN THE SOUDAN*** + + +******* This file should be named 18868.txt or 18868.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/8/6/18868 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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