by Lewis Hough
CHAPTER SEVEN.
A VERY LONG PAPER-CHASE.
It was not without very careful consideration that Harry Forsyth haddetermined to sacrifice his immediate salary, if not his prospects ofsuccess in the commercial line for ever, in order to track Daireh, andobtain the abstracted will.
On learning the whole story on his return to England, he had indeed atonce thought that that was the best thing to be done, but had not beenhasty in settling to do it.
His first act was to go to Dublin; his next to tell the whole story toMr Williams, the head of the house which employed him in London, and hesomewhat reluctantly fell in with his views, his hesitation arisingprincipally from Harry's youth.
"You are very young," he said, "but you have proved that you have a headon your shoulders; and if your mother and sister have enough to supportthem, and you possess funds for the journey, I cannot dissuade you fromthe attempt. If you fail, come back to us, and we will see if we cannotgive you employment again. And even if you succeed you had better notlead an idle life, and need not sever all connection with us. At anyrate, I will do what I can by letters of introduction to aid you."
Harry thanked Mr Williams heartily, and that gentleman was better thanhis word, for, besides the letters, he gave him charge of some goodswhich had to be sent out to Cairo, by which he not only got a freepassage, but salary up to the date of his arrival out.
Under the circumstances, and considering the object of his present visitto Egypt, Harry had no hesitation in selling the amethysts given to himby his uncle Ralph, or the Sheikh Burrachee. For he fully intended toseek him, if he could not find Daireh, a matter which he felt to beextremely problematical. Without the sale of these jewels he could notattempt the rescue of the will at all. He was surprised at their value,for he got more for them than he expected, and it seemed a great risk tohave left them in the secret drawer of his desk all this time. You maybe sure he did not forget the signet-ring and the thin silver case,these being taken with him as before.
The trip to Cairo was uneventful, and he passed the time in improvinghis Arabic, by the aid of a grammar, dictionary, and Koran. As soon ashe had delivered his cargo, and called upon the member of the firm whoresided out there, who was as kind and cordial as Mr Williams, hestarted up the Nile.
The traveller who does that, proposing to do more than visit a pyramidor two, requires a good deal of patience; and so would a reader if theordinary routine of travel were to be recorded. Suffice it then to saythat Harry voyaged up the Nile to Korosko, and there joined a caravanacross the desert to Abu Hamed, from which place he got passage again onboard a diabeheeh, which carried him to Berber.
With what excitement he beheld the white houses, the minarets, the palm-trees, grow nearer and nearer! Within those walls, as he hoped, Dairehwas living. If so, and he could find him, and get the will, the objectof his journey would be accomplished.
For he had laid his plans. Armed with a letter he had got for theGovernor, he would find no difficulty in having his man seizedunexpectedly before he would have time to make away with the document,and there was little doubt means would be found to make him give it up.
Confidence, which had fluctuated, revived at the sight of the place, andwhen at length he was landed, Harry walked through the bazaars,expecting every man he met to be the one he was in search of. Aftermany disappointments he recognised himself for an idiot, and calmeddown.
How should he set to work in a methodical manner?--that was the point.The letter to the Pasha denounced Daireh as a criminal, and therefore ifhe employed his officers to make search for him the fact might getabout, and Daireh, hearing of it, might hide, escape, or at any rate getrid of all incriminatory documents. It was more prudent, perhaps, topretend to have business with him, and make inquiry in the bazaars.
The one advantage of the tedium of his journey was that Harry hadacquired much more fluency by constant practice in speaking thelanguage. The dress he had selected was not one to attract attention;he had modelled it on that of a Greek merchant who was continuallytrading with the interior. He wore full pantaloons, a loose sort ofjacket, with a shawl bound round the waist, and his head was protectedby a tarboosh, with a turban wrapped round it.
But though his clothes did not look European, the pistol stuck in hisshawl belt was of the best, strongest, and most hard-hitting type. Old-fashioned, indeed, so far that it was not breech-loading; for he hadconsidered that if he lost his cartridges, or spent them, his weaponwould become a useless lump of iron, whereas percussion caps, powder,and lead, are procurable almost everywhere.
He went to the stall of a man who sold filigree work, and at hisinvitation squatted down and had a pipe and a cup of coffee, while heasked the price of several things. That was very well, but when hebegan to inquire about the object of his search, the shopkeeper lost allinterest in the conversation.
He tried a money-changer with better success; he knew Daireh, but hadnot seen him for months. More he could not say. After many morefailures Harry turned into a coffee-house, to sit down and rest, andhave a glass of sherbet and enjoy a smoke.
While resting in the comparative cool portico where he was served, abarber came and offered his services, and Harry, suddenly rememberinghow the barber in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments" always kneweverybody, thought he would try his luck with him.
"I have come all the way from Cairo," he said, in reply to a bit ofcharacteristic curiosity, "and my business is with one Daireh, whoshould reside here; for the last time our house transacted business withhim he was here."
"He was here but six moons back. And he came from the land of theEnglish to his cousin, who lived here. If you have dealings withDaireh, I know your business,"--and here the barber looked inexpressiblycunning--"Gordon Pasha spoilt that trade; but since he has gone there isgood profit to be made. And what are the pagans fit for but slaves,sons of pigs that they are? But they tell me there will be fine timeswhen the Mahdi rules. Not that I know, but while I shave heads thetongues wag and I listen. It is nothing to me. Mahdi or Khedive, whatdo I care! All want to be shaved."
"To be sure," said Harry; "the wise man has the same opinion as hiscustomer. And where has the family moved to?"
"They moved to Khartoum when trade grew better, and you will find themthere if Allah wills."
How long he would have gone on talking it is impossible to conjecture,had it not been that a customer entered his stall, which was on theopposite side of the street, and he shuffled off to attend to him, forwhich Harry, who had got all the information he required, was by nomeans sorry.
His one great desire now was to get away. To be so close, to find theform of the hare almost warm, and yet to be just too late, was verytrying to his patience. It was all very well to say to himself that hehad only two hundred miles farther to go; and after travelling more thana thousand from Cairo, let alone the journey out from England, what weretwo hundred miles? But the answer he made himself was that two hundredmiles was a great distance, and there was the sixth cataract. He hadforced himself to be cool--mentally, of course, bodily coolness wasquite out of the question--all the way along, with looking upon Berberas the end of his voyage. And here he had to go on another two hundredmiles, and up another tedious cataract. It was very disheartening.
However, there was no help for it; so he went at once down to the quay,and began inquiries about boats going up. Luck here turned in hisfavour, for there was one starting next day, and he engaged a passage byit. And what was still more fortunate, the next day was Friday, and sothere was not any likelihood of the delay which is so charming to theNubian sailor mind. For Friday is their lucky day, and they would notmiss the chance of commencing any undertaking upon it on any account.Now we account Friday an unlucky day (or used to do so). So either weor the Soudanese must be utterly wrong--radically wrong. Which is it, Iwonder?
The dreary business commenced again on the morrow. A fair breeze, andsailing; a foul one or a calm, and rowing; running
on banks, and pushingoff; getting nearly wrecked half a dozen times in the rapids, andescaping. And so they progressed until at length the mighty riverdivided into two streams, that to the left the Blue Nile, that to theright the White, and the real Nile, and they found at the junction thecity of Khartoum, dazzling in the glare of the sunshine, with thegovernor's house and the mosque rising above the flat roofs.
Opposite the city, and on the west side of the Nile, there were a numberof tents visible, and Harry asked the reis what place that was.
"That is Um Durma, where the camp is," he replied.
"And what is the camp for? It seems a very large one."
"Yes, O traveller, it is large! Seven thousand foot soldiers, athousand of them that fight on horseback; many cannon, many camels tocarry powder, shot, provisions, water; thousands of those who fight notthemselves, but load and lead the baggage camels, sell things to thesoldiers, and live upon the camp. In all a large encampment, and mustcost the Khedive much money."
"Who commands the force, and what is it collected for?" asked Harry.
"Hicks Pasha commands it; he is an Englishman, and his principalofficers are also English; the men are Egyptians and Bashi-Bazooks."
The reis paused. He was a Soudanese; and a smile played over his faceas he added, "They are going to do wonderful things; to take El Obeidback again, to destroy the Soudan army, take the Mahdi, and carry him toCairo in a cage, I believe. Oh! But they are great warriors, and theMahdi's days are numbered."
"Is El Obeid in the Mahdi's hands, then?" asked Harry; for the last timehe had heard news of that part of the country it had been still held bythe Egyptians; and Mahomet Achmet, or the Mahdi, as he professed himselfto be, had been repulsed with such heavy loss when he attacked it as tooblige him to sheer off, this being his first defeat. But he hadreturned in the January of that year, and taken the place after afortnight's siege.
"Yes," said the sarcastic reis; "he holds it just for the present, tillthe warriors of Hicks Pasha find it convenient to walk across and takeit from him."
After the disappointment at Berber, Harry did not feel the sameconfidence in finding his man that he had previously done. He began tobe disheartened, and to think luck was against him; and to settle thematter quickly was a more important matter than ever it had been. If ElObeid was taken by the Mahdi, the insurrection of the Soudanese againstthe Egyptian yoke must be a very serious thing, and the country would bein a disturbed state for a long time, so that the Nile route would beclosed against travellers, and passage across the desert to the seawould be equally difficult. If then he caught his man and recovered thewill, he would not be able to get out of the country with it.
He had little doubt that Sheikh Burrachee's signet-ring and theparchment in the silver case, would, properly used, find him safeconduct to his uncle, if living; but the getting back again he suspectedwould be much more difficult, for his fanatical relative would probablywant to keep him when he had got him.
But as Khartoum was a so much larger and more important town thanBerber, so much greater difficulty was there in tracing an individual;and perseveringly and assiduously as Harry pursued his investigations,he could learn nothing. Most of those of whom he made inquiries wereprobably as ignorant as they professed to be; but there were some who,at the name of Daireh, looked at the inquirer with a quick suspiciousglance. One of these replied with a verse out of the Koran, anotherwith a proverb, a third said he never meddled with other people'saffairs, and walked quickly away.
After three days of fruitless inquiry, Harry was obliged to haverecourse to the plan which he wished to avoid as long as he could--thatof applying to the authorities.
So he inquired for the house of Slatin Bey, to whom he had a letter ofintroduction, and went to deliver his credentials.
Experience in transacting business on his former journey up the countryhad taught him how to expedite his reception, and a judiciousapplication of baksheesh caused him to be introduced to the great manwithout too great delay.
Slatin Bey read the letter, and received him courteously, motioning himto a seat on the divan, and ordering him a chibouque to smoke, andcoffee.
Harry knew that the great man must not be bustled, so he sucked at hislong pipe with apparent complacency and indifference to all externalmatters, and said that he was an Englishman, who had come from London tobask in the sunshine of the Bey's presence.
"England is a great country, and London is a great town--twice as largeas Cairo. I am honoured," said the Bey. "And you need no interpreter?That is pleasant."
"I speak but badly, but I can understand and reply," said Harry.
"It is well," said the Bey; "and if you have a message for the Governorit is best delivered without an interpreter."
"I have no message; neither, though a merchant, have I come to trade,"said Harry, when after a few observations on fleets, armies, and MrGladstone--in which the Bey evidently tried to pump him--he thought hesaw an opening. "My business is a private one. A man named Daireh, anative of Alexandria, went to England as a boy, and was brought up to bea lawyer. He has fled with documents, for the want of which I cannotobtain property which is mine by right, and I have traced him toKhartoum; and I request your Highness's omnipotent aid to find him, andinduce him to make restitution of what is valueless to him, but of greatimportance to me."
The Bey smoked a little while in silence, and then said--
"If these documents are of no use to him, why has he taken them?"
"He took them to extort money for their recovery," replied Harry. "Buthe had committed other crimes which obliged him to fly the country in ahurry, and before he had time to make profit of the papers."
Another long pause of silent smoking, and the Bey observed--
"It is a difficult matter, and he will be hard to find."
Harry was prepared for objections, and had learned the best argumentsfor their removal. He placed a purse containing the sum which hisfriends in Cairo had estimated sufficient on the divan, and said--
"I know that legal expenses are great in all countries, and it is onlyjust that I should bear the charge."
The Bey bowed and clapped his hands.
"Send Abdullah here," he said to the attendant who appeared.
Abdullah came in; an old man, with an ink horn and other writingmaterials, worn in a case stuck into his girdle instead of weapons, whoprostrated himself, and was questioned. He remembered the name ofDaireh, and knew there was something wrong about him. But he mustconsult his books and examine certain sbirri, or policemen.
So Harry had to go away, with the promise that he should have fullerinformation next day. He did not for a moment expect to be satisfied soquickly as that, nor was he; but still he was infinitely more lucky thanmost people who have to deal with Turkish or Egyptian authorities, forat a third meeting, and with a little more baksheesh to subordinates, hegot at the facts; and very disappointing they were.
When the Egyptian army, now under the command of Hicks Pasha, was beinggathered to the camp of Um Durma, where it was at present situated,Daireh had been very energetic in trying for contracts to supply thetroops with various requisites, and had ingratiated himself with many ofthe Egyptian officers, so he came and went freely past the sentries atall hours, always having the password. One of the English officers,however, chanced to see him one day in company which aroused hissuspicions, and he had him watched, and shortly afterwards a couple ofspies were taken, from the papers found on whom, as well as from theconfessions they were induced to make--not, I fear, by arguments whichwould be approved of in more civilised lands--it became evident thatDaireh was in communication with the enemy, and had kept him posted asto the number of the troops, their organisation, and their probablemovements. Orders were immediately issued for the arrest of thetraitor, who, however, had disappeared, having doubtless taken refugewith the Mahdi.
This news was a terrible blow to Harry. He had tracked the man allthese thousands of miles, and here, just as he ha
d his hand upon him, hehad slipped away again, and was now farther off than ever.
There seemed to be but one chance left--to employ the signet-ring, toapply to the principal dervish of Khartoum, and seek out his uncleRalph, the Sheikh Burrachee. He was most likely with the Mahdi, or elsewith Osman Digna out Red Sea way; and, in the former case, he would helphim to recover what he wanted from Daireh, who was pretty certainly withthe False Prophet. But it was extremely distasteful to him to haverecourse to such an expedient. His uncle was a renegade, and if Englandespoused the cause of the Khedive, which, after the experience ofinterference with Arabi's revolt, it was very likely that she would do,he would be in arms against his country.
It was certain that he would not desert the man, Mahomet Achmet, whomhis cracked brain accepted as a prophet from Heaven, for any patrioticconsideration, for he was a wrong-headed Irishman as well as a fanatic,and a man with a grievance to boot, and would glory in drawing his swordagainst England. And if he joined him and sought his aid, Harry Forsythmight find himself in the awkward fix of acquiescing, if not takingpart, in war against his countrymen, or of losing his head. And he hada sort of foolish weakness for his head, which fitted very comfortablyon his shoulders, and did not want transferring to any other pedestal.And then, suppose, after all, the Sheikh Burrachee were serving withOsman Digna on the other side of the Soudan! He would be farther offhis object than ever after he joined him.
He revolved all this in his mind as he walked moodily through thebazaar, where the products of all countries were displayed, notexcepting the merchandise of Manchester and Birmingham, when he heardvoices in loud altercation, and, looking up, he saw a group of men whosegestures showed them to be strangely excited about something.
An Arab, who stalked along, his hand on the hilt of his sword, andscowling on the bystanders, seemed to be the object of this commotion.
"Stop him!" "Seize him!" "The spy!" "The rebel!" were the cries: butthe Arab passed on like a lion through a crowd of wolves.
Then an Egyptian soldier, bolder than the rest, seized him by the sword-arm, and in a second half a dozen were upon him. But in the next he hadshaken himself free, and his bright blade flashed in the sunlight, anddown went the first aggressor on the causeway, which was flooded with acrimson stream.
Pistols were pulled out, carbines unslung, as the motley crowd rushed tothe spot. Pop, pop, pop; at least half a dozen shots were fired. Onebullet whizzed unpleasantly close to Harry's nose, another smashed inamongst the bottles of an apothecary's stall, from which an assortmentof odours arose, attar of rose and asafoetida being the most prominent.What billets all the other bullets found I know not, but one severed theArab's spine, and avenged the Egyptian.
By the time Harry got up to this latter, he saw that a man in Europeanclothing was by his side, kneeling on one knee, and trying to check theflow of blood which pumped out of a wound in his neck.
"Is there a human being here who is not a jabbering idiot?" he cried inEnglish. "Keep back, you fools, and let the man have a chance tobreathe."
"Can I be of any use?" asked Harry, pushing to him.
"That's right, come on," said the surgeon, as he evidently was. "Layhold of this forceps, and hold tight--that's it--while I cut down a bitand tie it lower down. No good, I fear; there are too many vesselssevered. By George, how sharp those fellows keep their tools!"
He was right; it _was_ no good. In five minutes the Egyptian soldierdied under his hands. Upon which he rose up and walked on to where theArab lay, to see if anything could be done for him; but he had hardlymoved since the shot struck him.
"A bad business," said the doctor to Harry, who had followed him. "Wehave not got many soldiers in our force brave enough to lay hold of anArab, and can ill afford to lose one of them in a stupid affair likethis."
"Are they such cowards?" asked Harry. "But I say," he added, as helooked in the other's face, "is not your name Howard?"
"Yes, it is."
"Don't you remember Forsyth at Harton--your fag?"
"Remember little Forsyth! Of course I do. But you don't mean to say--by George! Now I look at you I see a sort of a likeness. But I shouldnever have known you."
"I expect not. When you left I was thirteen, and I have altered a goodbit since then. But you were eighteen or thereabouts, and have notchanged so much."
"That's it; though I have had plenty to change me, too. But how do youcome to be here, and in that toggery?"
"Well, it is rather a long story," said Harry, "and I would sooner tellit sitting down somewhere out of the sun. What are you doing here--inprivate practice?"
"That is a long story, too," cried Howard, laughing; "and I would alsosooner tell it sitting out of the sun. Come to Yussuff's, where we canwash this mess from our hands, and get anything we want."
Yussuff's was not far. It was a convenient establishment, where youcould get a meal, or a bottle of wine, or even beer, if you would payfor it, or simply take a chibouque or narghile, and a cup of coffee or asherbet.
"Try the lemonade; they make it first-rate here," said Howard; and Harrytook his advice, and swallowed a big glassful of nectar, which no icedchampagne he had ever drunk could beat. And then they washed theirhands and rested on a comfortable divan while they interchangedconfidences.
Howard had been a bit wild, perhaps, before he passed the College ofSurgeons, and did not see any opening afterwards; he had no money orprofessional interest. So he had gone into the Turkish service, and,thinking himself ill-treated, had passed into that of the Khedive, andhad lately volunteered to accompany Hicks Pasha's expedition.
"I have made a regular hash of it, as usual," he said; "for my greatwish is to study gun-shot wounds, and for that purpose I should havetaken service with the Mahdi; for almost all our fellows are hurt withspears or swords, while all their wounded are shot. But now tell mewhat extraordinary chance has brought you out here."
Harry told his story, leaving out, however, all that part about hisuncle, the Tipperary Sheikh, who was now in all probability in the ranksof the enemy Hicks Pasha's force was about to attack.
When he had done, Howard said--
"I remember that fellow Daireh; he would have had a short shrift if wehad caught him! It was unlucky, though, that he was found out beforeyou came; he could not have done us much more harm, and the finding himhere would have done you a great deal of good. By George! You are anasty fellow to have for an enemy, Forsyth! What a sticker you are--aregular sleuth-hound. Fancy following your enemy to the very end of theworld! Such a little innocent chap as I remember you, too. I don'tthink I bullied you much, did I? By George, I should have thought twiceabout offending you if I had known what a Red Indian I had to dealwith!"
"I did think you rather a beast sometimes," said Harry, laughing; "and Itook it out of the next generation, when I had a fag in my turn. Butthere is no revenge or vice in my present journey; it is simply to getmy money. I had been a good bit of the way already on other people'sbusiness, and that put me up to coming on my own. Do you rememberKavanagh?"
"Very slightly; he was a little fellow--Brown's fag."
"He is not a little fellow now!" said Harry, laughing. "I should say hewould weigh down the pair of us."
"And you can talk the lingo!" said Howard, admiringly. "It is very fewwords that I have been able to pick up. But what are you going to donow?"
"That is just what I was wondering when that row took place, and sentall my ideas and reflections spinning. I must sleep on it."
"Look here," said Howard, presently. "The chances are that that fellowDaireh has gone to the Mahdi's head-quarters, which are at El Obeid.Now we are going to El Obeid; therefore come with us there."
"A capital idea!" cried Harry, hope dawning once more in his breast."There will be a chance of catching the fellow, after all, that way.But how can it be managed? Will Hicks Pasha be bothered with me?"
"He does not want any useless mouths, it is true," said Howard; "but Iexpe
ct that he will be able to make some use of you. An Englishman whohas shown sufficient energy to make his way out to Khartoum, and who canunderstand and speak Arabic, and that at an age when his sisters andtheir she friends would call him `a nice boy,' and patronisingly teachhim the newest waltz steps, is sure to be available in some capacity,especially for a leader with the resources of our chief. At any ratethere is no harm in trying, and if you come with me I will introduceyou. You need not tell him your story, you know, unless he asks you forit, because it is rather long, and he is very busy. Later, over abivouac fire, it may interest and amuse him. Just say who you are, whatyou can do, and offer your services, and I do not doubt you will findyourself a man in authority over a certain number of Egyptians."
"What sort of soldiers do these Egyptians make? They did not do muchgood against us under Arabi."
"No; and we have a lot who ran away at Tel-el-Kebir here. They are nogood. The Egyptian rule has been a curse to the Soudan, and theEgyptian troops are the greatest curs that ever tempted a brave butunarmed people to throw off the yoke. But suppose we go to the camp."