"You ask me to believe that at the word of this man without a penny, and
with his head full of worthless noise, the blue-shirted fellaheen will
leave their comfortable homes and their lands----"
"Aye, and their wives and children too--everything they have or ever
hope to have! And if he promises them nothing but danger and death all
the more they'll go to him."
"Then we must deal with him also."
"You can't--you can't do anything with a man like that--a man who wants
nothing and is afraid of nothing--except kill him, and you can't do that
either."
The Consul-General did not reply immediately, and, coming closer, Gordon
began to plead with him.
"Father, believe me, I know what I'm saying. Don't be blind to the
storm that is brewing, and so undo all the good you have ever done. For
Egypt's sake, England's, your own, don't let damnable scoundrels like
the Grand Cadi and the Prime Minister play on you like a pipe."
It was Gordon who had blundered now, and the consequences were cruel.
The ruthless, saturnine old man rose again, and on his square-hewn face
there was an icy smile.
"That brings me," he said, speaking very slowly, "from what _I_ have
done to what you must do. The Ulema of El Azhar have received an order
to close the University. It went to them this morning through the
President of the Council, who is acting as Regent in the absence of the
Khedive. If they refuse to go it will be your duty to turn them out."
"Mine?"
"Yours! The Governor of the City and the Commandant of Police will go
with you, but where sixteen thousand students and a disaffected
population have to be dealt with the military will be required. If you
had brought Ishmael Ameer back from Alexandria this step might have been
unnecessary, but now instead of one man you may have to arrest
hundreds."
"But if they resist--and they will--I know they will----"
"In that case they will be tried by Special Tribunal as persons
assaulting members of the British Army of Occupation, and be dispatched
without delay to the Soudan."
"But surely----"
"The Ulema are required to signify their assent by to-morrow morning,
and we are to meet at the Citadel at four in the afternoon. You will
probably be required to be there."
"But, Father----"
"We left something to your discretion before, hoping to give you an
opportunity of distinguishing yourself in the eyes of England, but in
this case your orders will be definite, and your only duty will be to
obey."
"But will you not permit me to----"
"That will do for the present. I'm busy. Good-day!"
Gordon went out dazed and dumbfounded. He saw nothing of Ibrahim who
handed him his linen-covered cap in the hall, or of the page-boy at the
porch who gave him his reins and held down his stirrup. When he came
back to consciousness he was riding by the side of the Nile where the
bridge was open, and a number of boats with white sails, like a flight
of great sea-gulls, were sweeping through.
At the next moment he was at the entrance to his own quarters, and found
a white motor-car standing there. It was Helena's car, and leaping from
the saddle, he went bounding up the stairs.
*CHAPTER XVIII*
Helena, with an anxious and perplexed face, was at his door, talking to
his soldier-servant. At the next instant they were in each other's
arms, and their troubles were gone. Her smile seemed to light up his
room more than all its wealth of sunlight, and nothing else was of the
smallest consequence. But after a moment she drew out a letter and
said--
"I told Father you were back, and he dictated a message to you. He was
going to send it by his A.D.C., but I asked to be allowed to bring it
myself and he consented. Here it is, dear."
Gordon opened and read the General's letter. It was a formal request
that he should be in attendance at the Citadel at four the following day
to receive urgent and important instructions.
"You know what it refers to, Helena?"
"Yes, I know," she answered.
The look of perplexity had returned to her face, and for some minutes
they stood arm-in-arm by the open window, looking down at the Nile in a
dazed and dreamy way.
"What are you going to do, Gordon?"
"I don't know--yet."
"It will be an order now, and as an officer you can do nothing but
obey."
"I suppose not, dear."
"There are so many things calling for your obedience, too--honour,
ambition, everything a soldier can want, you know."
"I know! I know!"