by G. A. Henty
Chapter 16: A Voice From The Dead.
That afternoon, Gregory heard that orders had been issued for five ofthe 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 menof the 11th Soudanese. An order was also issued that all correspondentswere 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 nochoice at all. We might go down instantly, or we must stay till thelast 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 menwith 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 largea force as ever. I don't think, after the way the Egyptians fought theother 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 hadpractically to choose between going at once, or waiting at least amonth; and you may be sure that the censorship would be put on, with around turn, and that we should not be allowed to say a word of theFashoda business, which would be the only thing worth telegraphingabout. So we have all voted for going.
"Of course, we understand that this pressure has been put upon us, onaccount of this curious affair at Fashoda. Fortunately, none of us aresorry 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 ghastlytown; and though it is rather sharp and peremptory work, I cannot saythat I think the Sirdar is wrong. Whoever these men may be, they mustgo, that is certain; but of course it will be a somewhat delicatebusiness, and France--that is, if they are Frenchmen who are there--issure to be immensely sore over the business; and it is certainly verydesirable that nothing should be written, from here, that couldincrease that feeling. I have no doubt the Sirdar telegraphed home, forinstructions, as soon as he got the news of the affair; and I imaginethat his going up in the morning, with five gunboats, is proof that hehas already received instructions of some sort.
"I hope this force is not French. The feeling against us istremendously strong, in France, and they certainly will not likebacking down; but they will have to do that or fight and, with alltheir 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 immenseannoyance to us, it would be of no possible utility to them.
"By the way, we have all got to sell our horses. There is nopossibility of taking them down, and it is a question of giving themaway, rather than of selling; for, of course, the officers of theBritish regiments do not want to buy. I have a horse for which I gavetwenty-five pounds, at Cairo. You are welcome to him. You can give me acouple 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. Ahorse could not possibly pick up food here, and would die of starvationwithout a master; and it would be still more cruel to give him to anative, for they are brutal horse masters."
"Well, in that case I shall be glad, indeed, to have him; and I amextremely obliged to you."
"That is right. If you will send your man round, I will hand it over tohim."
"As you are going tomorrow, it is likely that I shall go with you; forI 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 foryou; 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 ata 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 notinclined to grumble. I want to go, and therefore I do not stand on theorder of going."
Later, General Hunter gave Gregory an order, for a passage in a steameron 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 DervishRemingtons, and several packets of ammunition. I will take them, and Ican get four more. We will take them all down, as we know the peopleabout Hebbeh are not disposed to be friendly. I don't suppose, for aminute, that they are likely to show any hostile feeling; for you maybe sure that the fall of Omdurman has spread, by this time, over thewhole land, and they will be on their best behaviour. Still, it is justas well to be able to defend ourselves, and I shall engage four men atAbu Hamed to go with us. I shall leave all my kit here."
It was a pleasant run down the river, to Atbara. The correspondentswere all heartily glad to be on their way home; and the irritation theyhad at first felt, at being so suddenly ordered away, at the momentwhen so unexpected and interesting a development occurred, hadsubsided. They had witnessed one of the most interesting battles everfought, had seen the overthrow of the Mahdi, and were looking forwardto European comforts and luxuries again.
At Atbara all left the steamer, which was to take in stores, and go upagain at once; and proceeded, by a military train, with the first ofthe returned European regiments.
At Abu Hamed, Gregory left them. His first enquiry was whether anyboats were going down the river. He learned that several native craftwere leaving, and at once engaged a passage in one of them to Hebbeh.He had no difficulty, whatever, in engaging four sturdy Arabs fromamong those who were listlessly hanging round the little station. Whilehe was doing this, Zaki bought food for six men, for a week; and inless than two hours from his arrival at Abu Hamed, Gregory was onboard.
The boat at once dropped down the river and, as the current was runningstrongly, they were off Hebbeh next morning, at eight o'clock. A boatput off, and took Gregory and his party ashore. As they were seen toland, 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 werepresent at the attack upon the party who landed from the steamer overthere, are still living here. There is no question of punishment. Onthe contrary, I have come here to obtain information as to some privatematters, and anyone who can give me that information will be wellrewarded."
"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 troopscame up, from Merawi. I believe they went to the Dervish camp atMetemmeh.
"The three here are quiet and respectable men. They were asked manyquestions, and guided the white officers to the place where Wad Etmanstood--it was there that those who landed from the steamer firstrested--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 wasmade. When the white army came up, six months afterwards, they blew upthe house, and cut down all the palm trees in the village."
"I was with the force that came up from Merawi, last year. Will youbring 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, evenif they themselves were concerned in the attack upon the whiteofficers, and the crew of the steamer, for no steps will be takenagainst them. It is eighteen years since then; and, no doubt, theirhouses were destroyed and their groves cut down, when the Britishcolumn came here and found the place deserted. I am ready to rewardthem, if I obtain the information I require from them."
The three men were presently brought to the spot where Gregory hadseated 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'squestions, he said:
"I was already old when the steamboat ran ashore. I took no hand in thebusiness; the white men had done me no harm, while the followers of theMahdi had
killed many of my family and friends. I heard what was goingto be done, and I stayed in my house. I call upon Allah to witness thatwhat 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 WadGamr's house, they took away some boxes of papers that had been broughtashore from the ship, and were still in the house. I know of nothingelse. The clothes of the men on board the steamboat were divided amongthose who took part in the attack, but there was little booty."
Gregory knew that, at Wad Gamr's house, but few signs of the tragedyhad been found when General Brackenbury's troops entered. Bloodstainedvisiting cards of Stewart's, a few scraps of paper, and a field glasshad, alone, been discovered, besides the boxes of papers.
The next man who came up said that he had been with the party who fellupon the engineers and crew of the boat, by the riverside.
"I was ordered to kill them," he said. "Had I not done so, I shouldhave been killed, myself."
"Do you know whether any booty was hidden away, before the Englishcame?"
"No, my lord, there was no booty taken. No money was found on board thesteamer. 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 haddone. There may have been some money found on the ship, but as his ownmen were on board first, and took all that they thought of value, Ihave naught to say about it."
"And you never heard of anything being hidden, before the Britishtroops arrived?"
The Arab shook his head.
"No, my lord, but there may have been, though I never heard of it. Iwent and fought at Kirkeban; and when we were beaten, I fled at once toBerber, and remained there until the white troops had all gone down thecountry."
"I may want to question you again tomorrow," Gregory said. "Here aretwo 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, noharm will come to you, whatever share you may have had in the affair.But if you answer falsely, and the truth is afterwards discovered, youwill be punished. Now, where were you when this business took place?"
"We were all ordered, by Wad Gamr, to gather near his house; and, whenthe signal was given, we were to run in and kill the white men. We sawthem go up to the house. They had been told to leave their arms behindthem. One of the sheik's servants came out and waved his arms, and weran in and killed them."
"What happened then?"
"We carried the bodies outside the house. Then we took what money wasfound 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 havetheir 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 itwas 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 whitetroops came up in the boats, and beat us at Kirkeban, I came straighthome and, seeing the pocketbook, took it and hid it under a rock; for Ithought that when the white troops got here, they would find it, andthat they might then destroy the house, and cut down my trees. Then Iwent 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 thoughtof 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 firstgreat rock I came to, for I was in haste; and wanted to be away beforethe 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 Ishould, perhaps, have told the sheik; but as it was only writtenpapers, 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. "Althoughof 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 whitetroops destroyed every house in the village; but, when they had gone, Ibuilt another on the same spot."
The hill rose steeply, behind it. The peasant went on, till he stoppedat a large boulder.
"This was the rock," he said, "where I thrust it under, as far as myarm 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. Ipushed 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 alongits side, until it is well beyond it. Then you ought to be able toscrape it out. If you cannot do so, we shall have to roll the stoneover. It is a big rock, but with two or three poles, one ought to beable to turn it over."
After several attempts, however, the man produced the packet. Gregoryopened it, with trembling hands. It contained, as the man had said, alarge number of loose sheets, evidently torn from a pocketbook, and allcovered with close writing.
He opened the book that accompanied them. It was written in ink, andthe first few words sufficed to tell him that his search was over. Itbegan:
"Khartoum. Thank God, after two years of suffering and misery, sincethe fatal day at El Obeid, I am once again amongst friends. It is truethat 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 ifthey should not do so, this may be found when they come, and will begiven 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 tellyou about them, afterwards."
He handed ten dollars to the native, thrust the packet into his breastpocket, and walked slowly down to the river. He had never entertainedany hope of finding his father, but this evidence of his death gave hima shock.
His mother was right, then. She had always insisted there was apossibility that he might have escaped the massacre at El Obeid. He haddone so. He had reached Khartoum. He had started, full of hope ofseeing his wife and child, but had been treacherously massacred, here.
He would not, now, read this message from the grave. That must bereserved for some time when he was alone. He knew enough to be able toguess the details--they could not be otherwise than painful. He feltalmost glad that his mother was not alive. To him, the loss wasscarcely a real one. His father had left him, when an infant. Althoughhis mother had so often spoken of him, he had scarcely been a realityto Gregory; for when he became old enough to comprehend the matter, itseemed 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 fromCairo, than ever before. He knew the desert, now, and its fierceinhabitants. He could picture the battle and since the fight atOmdurman he had been able to see, before him, the wild rush on theEgyptian square, the mad confusion, the charge of a handful of whiteofficers, and the one white man going off, with the black battalionthat held together.
If, then, it was a shock to him to know how his father had died, howvastly greater would it have been, to his mother! She had pictured himas dying suddenly, fighting to the last, and scarce conscious of paintill he received a fatal wound. She had said, to Gregory, that it wasbetter to think of his father as having died
thus, than lingering inhopeless slavery, like Neufeld; but it would have been agony to her toknow that he did suffer for two years, that he had then struggled onthrough all dangers to Khartoum, and was on his way back, full of hopeand 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 whilehe 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 tosleep here, tonight, and to bargain with the sheik for donkeys orcamels to take us back. This will save two days."
Two or three native craft were fastened up to the shore, waiting for abreeze to set in, strong enough to take them up. Gregory at oncearranged, with one of them, to put his party on board the steamer, intheir boat. In a quarter of an hour the gunboat approached, and theyrowed out to meet her.
As she came up, Gregory stood up, and shouted to them to throw him arope. This was done, and an officer came to the side.
"I want a passage for myself and five men, to Abu Hamed. I am anofficer on General Hunter's staff."
"With pleasure.
"Have you come down from the front?" he asked, as Gregory stepped onboard, with the five blacks.
"Yes."
"Then you can tell me about the great fight. We heard of it, atDongola, but beyond the fact that we had thrashed the Khalifa, andtaken 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 theawning, and the steward brought tumblers, soda water, some whisky, andtwo 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'sold steamers; she has broken down twice. Still, I console myself bythinking that, even if I had been in time, very likely she would nothave been taken up.
"I hope, however, there will be work to do, yet. As you see, I have gotthree of these native craft in tow, and it is as much as I can do toget them up this cataract.
"Now, please tell me about the battle."
Gregory gave him an outline of the struggle, of the occupation ofOmdurman, and of what might be called the funeral service of Gordon, atKhartoum. It was dark before the story was finished.
"By the way," the officer said, as they were about to sit down todinner, "while we were on deck, I did not ask about your men. I mustorder 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 beobliged 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. Myfather was on board Stewart's steamer, and as there would be nothingdoing at Omdurman, for a few days, I got leave to run down. I wasfortunate in securing a boat at Abu Hamed, on my arrival there; and Ihave been equally so, now, in having been picked up by you; so that Ishall not be away from Omdurman more than seven days, if I have equalluck in getting a steamer at Atbara. I do not think I shall bedisappointed, for the white troops are coming down, and stores aregoing up for the Egyptian brigade, so that I am certain not to be keptthere many hours. The Sirdar has gone up to Fashoda, or I don't supposeI should have got leave."
"Yes. I heard at Merawi, from the officer in command, that some foreigntroops had arrived there. I suppose nothing more is known about it?"
"No; no news will probably come down for another fortnight, perhapslonger than that."
"Who can they be?"
"The general idea is that they are French. They can only be French, ora party from the Congo States."
"They had tremendous cheek, whoever they are," the officer said. "It isprecious lucky, for them, that we have given the Khalifa something elseto think about, or you may be sure he would have wiped them out prettyquickly; unless they are a very strong force, which doesn't seemprobable. 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 thinkthey would have to go."
"No one has any doubt about that, at Omdurman," Gregory said. "Afterall the expense and trouble we have had to retake the Soudan, it is notlikely that we should let anyone else plant themselves on the road tothe great lakes.
"When will you be at Abu Hamed, sir?"
"We shall be there about five o'clock--at any rate, I think you maysafely reckon on catching the morning train. It goes, I think, ateight."
"I am sure to catch a train, soon, for orders have been sent down thatrailway materials shall be sent up, as quickly as possible; as it hasbeen decided that the railway shall be carried on, at once, toKhartoum. I expect that, as soon as the Nile falls, they will make atemporary 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 littlestation; and, an hour later, was on his way to Atbara Fort. He had buttwo hours to wait there, and reached Omdurman at three o'clock, on thefollowing 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 theforce there is undoubtedly French. The betting is about even as towhether France will back down, or not. They have made it difficult forthemselves, by an outburst of enthusiasm at what they considered thedefeat of England. Well, of course, that does not go for much, exceptthat 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 camelcorps, started in pursuit of the Khalifa and Osman, an hour after itwas found that they had got away. Slatin Pasha went with them. But asthe horses had been at work all day, they had to stop at half pasteight. They could not then get down to the water, and bivouacked wherethey had halted. At four in the morning they started again, and at halfpast eight found a spot where they could get down to the river; thenthey rode fifteen miles farther.
"They were now thirty-five miles from Omdurman. One of the gunboats hadgone up with supplies, but owing to the Nile having overflowed, couldnot get near enough to land them. Next morning they got news that theKhalifa was twenty-five miles ahead, and had just obtained freshcamels, so they were ordered to return to the town. They had picked upa good many of the fugitives, among them the Khalifa's favourite wife;who, doubtless with other women, had slipped away at one of his haltingplaces, feeling unable to bear the constant fatigues and hardships ofthe flight in the desert.
"The cavalry have since been out again, but beyond the fact that theKhalifa had been joined by many of the fugitives from the battle, andwas 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 lookedalmost like robbery, giving him two pounds for it, and the saddle."
"Others have done as well," the officer laughed. "One of the brigadestaff bought a horse for a pound from Burleigh, who had given forty forit 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 topay for them. They must have been coining money, of late."
"That reconciles me," Gregory laughed. "I did not think of thecorrespondents' expenses being p
aid by the papers."
"I don't know anything about their arrangements, but it stands toreason 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 ofthis 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 fewhundred words; whereas, if they had had their own way, they would havesent down columns. Of course, the correspondents grumbled, but I haveno doubt their employers were very well pleased, and the newspapersmust have saved thousands of pounds, by this restriction."
"You are back sooner than I expected," General Hunter said, whenGregory went in and reported his arrival. "It is scarce a week sinceyou left."
"Just a week, sir. Everything went smoothly, and I was but three orfour hours at Hebbeh."
"And did you succeed in your search?"
"Yes, sir. I most fortunately found a man who had hidden a pocketbookhe had taken from the body of one of the white men who were murderedthere. There was nothing in it but old papers and, when Brackenbury'sexpedition approached, he had hidden it away; and did not give it athought, 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 theplace where he had hidden it, under a great stone, and it turned out tobe the notebook and journals of my father; who was, as I thoughtpossible, the white man who had arrived at Khartoum, a short timebefore the place was captured by the Dervishes, and who had gone downin the steamer that carried Colonel Stewart."
"Well, Hilliard," the General said, kindly, "even the certain knowledgeof his death is better than the fear that he might be in slavery. Youtold me you had no remembrance of him?"
"None, sir; but of course, my mother had talked of him so often, andhad several photographs of him--the last taken at Cairo, before heleft--so that I almost seem to have known him. However, I do feel it asa relief to know that he is not, as I feared was remotely possible, aslave among the Baggara. But I think it is hard that, after having gonethrough two years of trials and sufferings, he should have beenmurdered 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 alittle hard work will be the best thing for me. Is there any chance ofit?"
"You have just returned in time. I am going up the Blue Nile, tomorrowmorning, to clear out the villages; which, no doubt, are all full offugitives. I am glad that you have come back. I was speaking of youtoday to General Rundle, who is in command.
"One of the objects of the expedition is to prevent Fadil from crossingthe river. He was advancing from Gedareh, at the head of ten thousandtroops, to join the Khalifa; and was but forty miles away, on the dayafter 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 formidablereinforcement to the Khalifa.
"We know that Colonel Parsons started from Kassala, on the 7th, hisobject being to capture Gedareh, during the absence of Fadil. He is tocross the Atbara at El Fasher, and will then march up this bank of theriver, till he is at the nearest point to Gedareh. It is probable thathe will not strike across before the 18th, or the 20th. His force iscomparatively small, and we do not know how large a garrison Fadil willhave left there.
"Altogether, we are uneasy about the expedition. It is very desirablethat Parsons should know that Fadil is retiring, and that, so far as wecan learn from the natives, he has not yet crossed the Blue Nile.Gedareh is said to be a strong place, and once there, Parsons mighthold it against Fadil until we can send him reinforcements.
"In order to convey this information to him, we require someone on whomwe can absolutely rely. I said that, if you were here, I felt sure thatyou would volunteer for the service. Of course it is, to a certainextent, a dangerous one; but I think that, speaking the language as youdo, and as you have already been among the Dervishes, you might, evenif taken prisoner, make out a good story for yourself."
"I would undertake the commission, with pleasure," Gregory said. "Ishall, of course, go in native dress."
"I propose that we carry you a hundred miles up the river, with us, andthere land you. From that point, it would not be more than sixty orseventy miles across the desert to the Atbara, which you would strikeforty or fifty miles above El Fasher. Of course you would be able tolearn, there, whether Parsons had crossed. If he had, you would ride upthe bank till you overtake him. If he had not, you would probably meethim at Mugatta. He must cross below that, as it is there he leaves theriver."
"That seems simple enough, sir. My story would be that I was one of theDervishes, who had escaped from the battle here; and had stopped at avillage, thinking that I was safe from pursuit, until your boats camealong; and that I then crossed the desert to go to Gedareh, where Ithought I should be safe. That would surely carry me through. I shallwant two fast camels--one for myself, and one for my boy."
"These we can get for you, from Abdul Azil, the Abadah sheik. Ofcourse, you will put on Dervish robes and badges?"
"Yes, sir."
"I will go across and tell General Rundle, and obtain writteninstructions for you to carry despatches to Parsons. I will give themto you when you go up on the boat, in the morning. I will see at onceabout the camels, and ask the Intelligence people to get you two of theDervish suits. You will also want rifles."
"Thank you, sir! I have a couple of Remingtons, and plenty ofammunition for them. I have two spears, also, which I picked up when wecame in here."
"We are off again, Zaki," he said, when he returned to his hut; wherethe black was engaged in sweeping up the dust, and arranging everythingas 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 youneed 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 goingwith the expedition up the Blue Nile, and will then land and strikeacross the desert, to the Atbara. That is enough for you to know, atpresent. We shall take our guns and spears with us."
Zaki had no curiosity. If his master was going, it was of course allright--his confidence in him was absolute.
In about an hour, a native from the Intelligence Department broughtdown two Dervish dresses, complete. They had still three hours beforemess, and Gregory sat down on his bed, and opened his father'spocketbook, which he had had no opportunity to do, since it came intohis possession.