EGYPT.
Naturally his prowess at cricket made Trumpeter Smith a popular figure
in the regiment, and even at the officers' mess his name was frequently
mentioned, and many guesses were ventured as to who he was and what
school he came from.
That he was a gentleman by birth nobody doubted. There was nothing
unusual in that, for all the cavalry regiments contain a considerable
number of gentlemen in their ranks; men of this class generally
enlisting in the cavalry in preference to the other arms of the service.
It was, however, unusual for one to enlist at Edgar's age. Many young
men, after having failed to gain a commission by competition, enlist in
hopes of working up to one through the ranks. Another class are the men
who having got into scrapes of one kind or another, run through their
money, and tired out their friends, finally enlist as the only thing
open to them.
The first class are among the steadiest men in the regiment, and
speedily work their way up among the non-commissioned officers. The
second class are, on the other hand, among the wildest and least
reputable men in the ranks. They are good men in a campaign where pluck
and endurance and high spirits are most valuable, but among the worst
and most troublesome when there is little to do and time hangs heavily
on hand.
There were two of the sergeants who had failed in the examination for
commissions, and were hoping some day to obtain them. One had been five
years in the regiment, the other three. Their attention had first been
called to Edgar by his getting a first-class in the examination, which
at once stamped him as having had an education greatly superior to that
of the majority of recruits. His position in the regimental cricket team
further attracted their attention, and they took an opportunity to speak
to him when it happened they were walking together and met Edgar
returning from an afternoon's ramble across the country.
"Well, Smith, how do you like soldiering?"
"I like it very well; I don't think that there is anything to complain
of at all."
"It is better than grinding away at Latin and Greek and mathematics, and
that sort of thing," the younger of the two sergeants said with a smile.
"There are advantages both ways, sergeant."
"So there are, lad. Of the two I like drill better than grinding at
books, worse luck; if I had been fond of books I should not be wearing
these stripes. I asked the band-master if you were learning an
instrument. He said you were not. So I suppose you mean to give up your
trumpet and join the ranks as soon as you get to eighteen?"
"Yes. I should not care about being in the band."
"Your cricket is not a bad thing for you," the elder of the two men
said. "It brings you into notice, and will help you to get your stripes
earlier than you otherwise would do; as a man who does his regiment
credit either as a good shot or as a cricketer or in the sports is sure
to attract notice, and to be pushed on if he is steady and a smart
soldier. If you won't mind my giving you a bit of advice, I should say
don't try to push yourself forward. Sometimes young fellows spoil their
chances by doing so. Some of the old non-commissioned officers feel a
bit jealous when they see a youngster likely to make his way up, and you
know they can make it very hot for a fellow if they like. So be careful
not to give them a chance. Even if you are blown up when you do not
deserve it, it is better to hold your tongue than to kick against it.
Cheeking a non-commissioned officer never pays."
"Thank you, sergeant," Edgar said quietly; "I am much obliged to you for
your advice."
"An uncommonly good style of young fellow," Sergeant Netherton, who was
the son of a colonel in the army, and had been educated at Harrow, said
to his companion. "Comes from a good school, I should say. Must have got
into some baddish scrape, or he never would be here at his age."
"It does not quite follow," the other replied. "His father may have died
or burst up somehow, and seeing nothing before him but a place at a
clerk's desk or enlisting he may have taken this alternative; and not a
bad choice either. For, putting aside altogether the chance of getting a
commission, which is a pretty slight one, there is no pleasanter life
for a steady, well-conducted young fellow who has had a fair education
than the army. He is sure of getting his stripes in a couple of years
after enlisting. A non-commissioned officer has enough pay to live
comfortably; he has no care or anxiety of any sort; he has more time to
himself than a man in any other sort of business. There are no end of
staff appointments open to him if he writes a good hand, and does not
mind clerk work. If he goes in for long service he has every chance of
being regimental sergeant-major before he has done, and can leave the
service with a pension sufficient to keep him in a quiet way."
"Yes, that is all very well, Summers, but he cannot marry. That is to
say, if he has, as we are supposing, been born and educated as a
gentleman, he cannot marry the sort of woman he would like as a wife."
"No, there is that drawback," the other laughed. "But then, you see, if
he had been obliged to take a small clerkship leading to nothing, he
could hardly invite a young countess to share it with him."
As Edgar walked back to barracks he thought over the advice that had
been given him, and recognized its value. He knew that the chances of
his ever obtaining a commission were exceedingly small, and that even
young men whose fathers were officers of high standing and considerable
influence seldom obtain a commission under six or seven years' service,
and that the majority of commissions from the ranks are given to old
non-commissioned officers who were made quarter-masters or pay-masters.
He had not entered the service, as had the two non-commissioned officers
with whom he had been speaking, for the express purpose of gaining a
commission, but simply because he had always had a fancy for soldiering,
and because it seemed at the time he left Cheltenham the only thing open
to him.
He had resolved from the first that he would regularly put by a portion
of his pay, so that he could at any time purchase his discharge if he
wished to, should he see any opening in which he could embark by the
time he reached the age of three or four and twenty. He would have
gained experience, and might then, if he liked, emigrate to one of the
colonies. He resolved that when winter came he would go into one of the
regimental workshops and learn a trade, either saddlery or farriery,
which would enable him to earn his living for a time abroad until he saw
something better to do. At school Edgar had held his place rather by
steady work than by natural talent. Rupert was the more clever of the
two, but Edgar's dogged perseverance had placed him in a more advanced
position on the modern side than Rupert held on the classical, and in
whatever position he might find himself his perseverance, power of work,
and strong common sense were likely to carry him through.
Edgar was conscious himself that he had acted hastily and wrongly in
leaving Cheltenham as he had done, and yet he felt that if again placed
in the same circumstances he should do the same. Captain Clinton had
certainly a right to have a voice in his future, and yet he felt so
keenly the dishonour of the fraud in which he had been an unconscious
accomplice, that he could not have brought himself to accept any
assistance at Captain Clinton's hands. Still he knew that those at
home--for he still thought of it as home--would be feeling much anxiety
about him, and once a month he wrote a short letter to Captain Clinton
saying that he was well and was keeping himself comfortably. These
letters he gave in charge of comrades going up for a day's leave to
London to post there for him.
One day Edgar had gone with a dozen others to bathe in the canal. After
doing so they had returned to barracks, and he had gone for a walk by
himself. On his return he was walking along a lane at a distance of
about a mile from the town, when he heard a scream. He at once started
off at the top of his speed, and at a turn of the lane he came upon a
group of two tramps and two frightened ladies. One of these was in the
act of handing over her purse to a tramp, while the second man was
holding the other by the wrist, and was endeavouring to tear off her
watch and chain, which she was struggling to retain. Just as Edgar
turned the corner he struck her on the face, and she fell backward on to
the bank.
Another moment and Edgar was up to them. The tramp turned with a savage
oath. Edgar, who was carrying his riding-whip, struck him with it with
all his strength across the eyes, and the man staggered back with a
shriek of pain. The other stood on the defensive, but he was no match
for Edgar, who was in hard exercise, and in regular practice with the
gloves, and whose blood was thoroughly up. The fight lasted but a
minute, at the end of which time the tramp was lying in the road roaring
for mercy, and shouting to his comrade to come to his assistance.
The latter, however, was stamping with pain, and was still unable to use
his eyes.
Edgar turned to the ladies. "If you will kindly walk on to the town," he
said, "and send the first man you meet here to me, I will take care of
these two fellows until he arrives, and then we will hand them over to
the police. Do not be alarmed," he went on, seeing that they hesitated,
"I think they have had enough of it."
[Illustration: "EDGAR STRUCK HIM WITH ALL HIS STRENGTH."]
The ladies hurried off, and before going many hundred yards came upon
three infantry men, who, when they heard what had happened, set off at a
run to Edgar's assistance. They arrived just in time. The man on the
ground had recovered his feet, and he and his companion had attacked
Edgar with fury, and it needed all the latter's skill and activity to
defend himself. As soon as the soldiers arrived upon the scene the
combat ceased. As a measure of precaution the tramps were first knocked
down; they were then dragged on to their feet and conducted by their
captors into Aldershot, where they were lodged at the police station.
They were followed by the two ladies, who after sending on the
soldiers had waited until their return with the tramps. They waited
outside the police station until a constable came out and asked them to
sign the charge sheet, which they did. Edgar now looked at them fairly
for the first time, and recognized one of them as being the wife of the
major of his corps.
"You belong to my husband's regiment," she said as they came out from
the police station. "What is your name?"
"Smith, madam. I am a trumpeter in D troop."
"Oh, yes! I remember your face now. I have often seen you in the cricket
field. Miss Pearson and myself are greatly indebted to you. I should not
mind so much being robbed of my purse, but I prize my watch very highly
as it was a present from my father. Major Horsley will see you and thank
you when he hears what you have done."
"I do not want any thanks," Edgar said; "it is a pleasure to punish such
ruffians."
Half an hour later Major Horsley came across to Edgar's quarters, and
the sergeant called the lad down.
"I am greatly indebted to you, Smith," he said, as Edgar saluted,
"greatly indebted to you. You have behaved most gallantly, and have
saved my wife from the loss of her watch and chain that she greatly
valued, and perhaps from serious ill-treatment from those ruffians; as
it was, one of them struck her a very severe blow on the face. I know
enough of you, lad, to feel that I cannot offer you money for the
service that you have rendered me; but be assured that I shall not
forget it, and that when it is in my power to do you a good turn I will
do so."
"Thank you, sir," Edgar said. "I am very glad to have been of service."
The major nodded kindly. Edgar saluted and turned away, well pleased at
having made a friend who would have it in his power to be so useful to
him, and still more pleased that the major had not offered him money as
a reward for what he had done. An hour later he was sent for to the
orderly-room, where the colonel in the presence of several of the
officers thanked him for his gallant conduct.
"You are a credit to the regiment, Smith; and you may be sure that I
shall keep my eye on you," he concluded.
The next day the tramps were brought up before the local magistrates and
committed for trial for highway robbery with violence, and a month later
they were brought up at the assizes at Winchester and sentenced to five
years' penal servitude. Edgar gained a great deal of credit in the
regiment from the affair, and came to be known by the nickname of "The
Bantam." There were, of course, some men who were jealous of the young
trumpeter's popularity, and two or three of the non-commissioned
officers especially felt aggrieved at the notice taken of him. One of
these was the corporal in charge of the barrack-room occupied by Edgar,
for he had, since he had been regularly appointed to a troop, left the
quarters he first occupied with the band for those allotted to troop D.
Corporals, however, have but little power in a barrack-room. They are in
a sort of transitional state between a private and a sergeant, and are
liable for even a comparatively small fault to be sent down again into
the ranks. This being the case, they seldom venture to make themselves
obnoxious to the men who were but lately their comrades, and may be
their comrades again before a week is out. Corporal North, however, lost
no opportunity of making himself disagreeable in a small way to Edgar.
More than that he could not venture upon, for the men would at once have
taken the lad's part.
The regiment had been for some little time first on the list for foreign
service, and there was no surprise when the news ran round the
barrack-rooms that the order had come to prepare for embarkation. It was
supposed that as a matter of course India would be their destination;
but it was soon known that the regiment was for the present to be
stationed in Egypt. Most of the men would rather have gone direct to
India, where soldiers are better off and better cared for than
elsewhere. Edgar, however, was pleased at the thought of seeing
something of Egypt, and it seemed to him, too, that there was a chance
of active service there.
"It seems to me," he said, talking it over with several of his chums,
"that sooner or later we must have some fighting in Egypt. I cannot
understand how it is that some of the regiments there have not long ago
been sent down to Suakim. We have smashed up the Egyptian army, and it
seems to me that as we are really masters of the place we are bound to
protect the natives from these savage tribes who are attacking them down
on the Red Sea and up in the Soudan. The Egyptians always managed them
well enough until we disbanded their army. If Hicks Pasha had had, as he
asked for, an English regiment or two with him, he would never have been
smashed up by the Mahdi's people; and it seems to me awful that the
garrisons of Sinkat and Tokar should be deserted when we have a lot of
troops lying idle at Cairo, while Baker is trying in vain to get up a
native force to march to their relief. I wish, instead of going to
Egypt, we were going straight down to Suakim to help him. There is one
thing, if Baker fails and Sinkat and Tokar fall into the hands of the
natives, there will be such indignation that government will have to do
something. So I think there is a very good chance of our seeing some
active service there, which will be a thousand times better than
sweltering in hot barracks in Cairo."
"Right you are, Smith," one of the others said. "I don't go in for
reading the papers, and I don't know anything about the chaps in Egypt;
but if there is going to be a row, I say let us have our share in it. We
are pretty well up in the pursuing drill; it would be a change to do it
with somebody to pursue. Anyhow, wherever it is it will be a good job to
get out of Aldershot, with its parades and its drills and its Long
Valley, and the whole blooming lot of it."
Three days later the order came, and the regiment proceeded by rail to
Southampton; they embarked as soon as they arrived there, and the
transport started on the following morning. The weather was fine, and
the voyage a pleasant one. They had but little to do, for they had left
their horses behind them, as they were to take over the horses of the
regiment they were going to relieve. The steamer was a fast one, and in
twelve days after sailing they reached Alexandria. They were met when
they arrived there by terrible news. General Baker's force had marched
to the relief of Tokar, but on the way had been attacked by the natives
and utterly defeated, half the force being killed; and the whole would
have been annihilated had they not reached the sea-shore, where the guns
of the vessels which had brought them down from Suakim checked the
pursuit of the enemy. Sinkat had fallen.
The news had arrived only on the previous day, and the greatest
excitement prevailed. The regiment at once proceeded to Cairo by train
and took over the barracks and horses from the small detachment that had
been left in charge of them, the main body of the regiment having
crossed them on their journey from Alexandria, as they were to proceed
to India in the same steamer that had brought out the Hussars. They were
scarcely settled in their quarters before they heard that, now that it
was too late, an expedition was to be sent down to Suakim. Two English
regiments would have saved Baker's force from destruction, and would
have rescued the garrisons of Sinkat and Tokar; now a large force would
have to be employed. Some time would, of course, be needed for the
organization of the expedition, and in the meantime the Hussars had
plenty of opportunity for investigating Cairo.
To Edgar the town was delightful, with its bazaar and its varied
population, and he and some of his comrades were never tired of
wandering about examining the shops with their curious contents, their
bright-coloured scarves, their wonderful pipes, their gaudy brasswork,
and their oriental stuffs and carpets. But the population were even more
amusing, with the mixture of Egyptians, Arabs, and Negroes clad in every
variety of garb: from the Egyptian functionary in his neat blue uniform
and fez, and the portly merchant in his oriental robes, to the Arabs
muffled up in cotton cloths with turban and bernous, the lightly-clad
Fellah, and the women shrouded in dark blue cottons with their faces
almost entirely hidden by the yashmack. It needed some dexterity to
avoid the strings of loaded camels that made their way through the
narrow streets, the porters carrying heavy weights hanging from the
centre of a thick bamboo pole resting on the shoulders of two or four
men, and the diminutive donkeys with their high saddles, on the top of
which were perched men who looked far more capable of carrying the
donkeys than the donkeys of supporting their weight.
The men soon discovered that spirits were cheap in Cairo, and the result
was a considerable addition to the number brought up at the orderly-room
for drunkenness. Among these, to Edgar's satisfaction, was Corporal
North, who was at once sent back to the ranks and sentenced to a week in
the cells. On the day he came out Edgar went up to him.
"Now look here, North. You have made it pretty hot for me while you were
corporal. If I had given you any cause for it I should bear no malice,
but it has been simply persecution. As long as you were corporal I had
to grin and bear it, but now that you are in the ranks we can settle
matters; so I challenge you to meet me in the riding-school after we are
dismissed from parade to-day."
"That will suit me exactly," North said. "You want a licking badly,
young fellow, and now you will get it."
"Well, if I were you I would say nothing about it until it is over,"
Edgar replied; "for, you see, it is quite possible that it may be the
other way."
As several of the men had heard the conversation there was a
considerable gathering in the riding-school after they were dismissed
from parade. The sympathies of the men were strongly with Edgar; but
most of them thought that he was hardly a match for North, who had
fought several times before he had got his stripes, and was a
well-built young fellow of two-and-twenty.
The fight lasted upwards of an hour. North had some knowledge of boxing,
but in this respect Edgar was his superior. He was far stronger and
longer in the reach, while Edgar was the more active. In the early part
of the fight the advantage lay all with the soldier, and Edgar was
terribly knocked about, so much so that the general opinion was that he
had better give in and say that he had had enough; but Edgar laughed at
the suggestion.
"We have only begun yet," he said to the man who was acting as his
second; "last tells in the long run. I have seen that before now, and I
have double the last he has."
This was the fact. Edgar had been constantly at hard work since he
joined the regiment, while North had had a comparatively easy time of it
since he became a corporal. He had, too, spent no small portion of his
pay in drink, and although he was seldom absolutely drunk, had had more
than one narrow escape of his condition being observed on his return to
barracks in the evening. As the fight went on, then, want of condition
told upon him. Edgar, who had at one time seemed weak, gradually
recovered his strength, while North became exhausted by the exertions he
had made in the early part of the fight.
Edgar now took the offensive, and at the end of an hour and a quarter's
fighting North was no longer able to come up to time, and a loud shout
from the lookers-on proclaimed that Edgar was the victor. He went across
to North and held out his hand.
"Let us shake hands, North," he said; "it has been a good tough fight. I
owe you no malice now, and if you get your stripes again, as I daresay
you will, I hope it will be a lesson to you not to drop unfairly upon
anyone you may take a dislike to."
North took the hand held out to him.
"You have licked me fairly, Smith," he said. "I did not think you had
it in you; but I don't think you would have thrashed me if I had been in
as good a condition as you are."
"Very likely not," Edgar laughed. "Well, next time we fight I hope it
will be against the Arabs, and not against each other."
This fight greatly added to Edgar's reputation in the regiment. North
was not a popular character and had always been considered a bully, and
the pluck with which Edgar had continued the fight was thoroughly
appreciated. Neither of the combatants were able to take their place in
the ranks for some days after the fight, being obliged to obtain an
order from the surgeon dispensing them from appearing on parade, though
they still did stable duty and inner guards. Through the surgeon the
matter came to the ears of the officers, who, by quiet inquiry from the
sergeants, learnt the particulars of the fight.
"Your friend Trumpeter Smith is reported as unfit for duty, my dear,"
Major Horsley said to his wife.
"Is he! I am sorry for that," the lady said. "Is there anything we can
do for him in the way of sending him some soup, or anything of that
sort? He is not seriously ill, I hope?"
"I am afraid he is beyond your skill, Emma," Major Horsley said; and
then, seeing that his wife looked seriously grieved, went on, "don't be
alarmed, he has only been fighting again."
"Oh! is that all? I was afraid it was fever, or something of that sort.
Who has he been fighting with? He doesn't look quarrelsome at all."
"He has been fighting with a man named North, who was a corporal in his
troop, and who, as I hear, has been persecuting him a good deal. The
fellow got drunk the other day and was reduced to the ranks, and young
Smith lost no time in challenging him to fight. I hear most of the men
thought he was a fool for doing so, for North is five years older than
he is, and a stiff-built young fellow too. I hear that it was a very
hard fight, and lasted nearly an hour and a half. After the first
half-hour it seemed to every one that Smith would have to give in, for
the other man had all the best of it, knocking him down every round; but
he stuck to it, and at last North was so beaten he could not come up to
time. The sergeant says both of them are terribly knocked about, Smith
worst. He can hardly see out of his eyes, and it will be fully a week
before either of them can take their places in the ranks. I hear it was
the longest fight that there has been in the regiment for years, and the
sergeant-major tells me the men are quite enthusiastic over the pluck
with which the young one fought. You see, he is not seventeen yet, and
for a lad of that age to stand up against a man--and one too who, as I
hear, is accustomed to use his fists--is a feather in his cap. It will
do him good in the regiment. I have no doubt some of the men are rather
jealous of the position he gained from his play at cricket, and from
that affair of yours."
"It was very mean of them, then," Mrs. Horsley said warmly.
"Perhaps so, my dear; but favourites are not often popular. Anyhow, this
will do him good, and will give him a better standing in the regiment
than even his cricket could do; and, at any rate, those who don't like
him are likely after this to keep their opinion to themselves."
"I wish we could do something for him, Robert. You see, we have never
done anything yet."
"I shall have a chance of giving him a helping hand some day," the major
replied, "and you may be sure that when the opportunity comes I shall do
what I can. I have not forgotten what I owe him, I can tell you."
The opportunity came sooner than the major had expected. In a short time
it became known that four squadrons of the 10th Hussars and one squadron
of the 1st were to accompany the expedition, and the greatest excitement
prevailed in the corps as to which troops should be chosen. Two days
later Edgar was delighted to hear that the A and D troops had been
named for the service.
"Why have they chosen the D troop, Robert?" Mrs. Horsley asked her
husband.
"Partly, my dear, because Atkinson is the senior captain."
"Oh, yes! I forgot that. And what is the other reason?"
"Well, Emma, that reason is known only to myself, but I do not mind your
knowing it; but you must not whisper it to anyone."
"What is it?" his wife asked curiously.
"Because, my dear, Trumpeter Smith belongs to that troop, and I thought
I would give him the chance of distinguishing himself. Someday, when it
comes to a question of promotion, it will count in his favour that he
has seen active service."
"Oh, I am glad, Robert! It was very good of you to think of it. I wish
that he could know that you thought of him."
"That he certainly cannot know," the major said decidedly. "It would be
a nice thing for it to be known by anyone that the arrangements as to
which troop should go on service had been influenced by my desire to do
a good turn to a trumpeter. The other reason is a good and sufficient
one. Atkinson, as senior captain, has almost a right to the first chance
that offers. He is pretty sure to get brevet rank if there is any hard
fighting."
At this moment there was a knock at the door and an orderly entered, and
saluting handed a note to Major Horsley. He glanced through it, and an
expression of pleasure crossed his face.
"My compliments to the colonel. I will come across and see him at once."
"What is it, Robert?" his wife asked as the door closed behind the
soldier.
"Well, my dear, it is news that I own gives me great pleasure, but which
I am afraid you won't like."
"Not that you are to go with the detachment, Robert?"
"Yes, Emma, that is it;" and he handed her the note.
"My dear Horsley, I have just received orders from the general that a
field-officer is to go in command of the squadron. As senior major, you
have, of course, the right to the chance. I congratulate you."
Mrs. Horsley turned a little pale as she read it, and her lip quivered
as she said, "Well, Robert, no doubt you are glad of the opportunity,
and as a soldier's wife I will not say anything to damp your pleasure.
It is natural that you should wish to go. If I were a man I should wish
so too. Anyhow, it will only last a very short time. You said you
thought that they would be back again in a month, and surely there can
be no very great danger in a fight with these savages."
"The smallest amount in the world, Emma. It is not like Baker's force,
which was composed of these cowardly Egyptians; and it is ridiculous to
suppose that these wild tribesmen, brave as they may be, can stand
against British troops armed with breech-loaders. I am afraid that all
our share of the business will be to do a little scouting before the
fight begins, and a little pursuing practice afterwards, so there will
be really no occasion whatever for you to be at all uneasy, child; and I
must own that I am extremely glad of the opportunity of taking part in
this little expedition against these fanatics. Well, I must go across
and see the colonel."
Mrs. Horsley indulged in a quiet cry while he was away, for although she
did not apprehend any real danger, the thought that her husband was
going to run some risk of his life for the first time since she married
him was a trial. However, she looked bright and cheerful when he
returned, and at once set to work to pack up the kit required for the
expedition.
The next morning the detachment of the 1st Hussars, eighty strong,
marched down to the station with one hundred men of the 10th Hussars.
They took train for Suez. Here they found another two hundred and
twenty-eight men of the 10th who had come on by an earlier train, and
the work of embarking the horses on board the steamer that was to take
them down to Suakim at once began. It was continued until nightfall and
recommenced again at daybreak, for the operation of getting horses on
board a ship and slinging them down into the hold is necessarily a slow
one; but by mid-day all was concluded, the baggage on board, and the
troops in readiness for a start.
It was just sunset when the vessel steamed away from the wharf, the
troops on board joining in a hearty cheer as she started. The ship was
far more crowded than would have been the case had she been starting for
a long voyage; but the run down to Suakim was so short that she was
packed as full as she could hold, having in addition to the troops a
number of mules for the transport. Every one was in high spirits. The
change was a most welcome one after the monotony of barrack life in
Egypt, and moreover all were burning to avenge the destruction of
Baker's force and the massacre of the brave little garrison of Sinkat.
The voyage was a pleasant one. After passing out of the Gulf of Suez,
with the lofty and rugged mountain of Sinai with its red rocks and
patches of verdure rising almost from the water's edge, they entirely
lost sight of land on the left. On the right, however, ran a range of
steep hills, which became bolder and loftier as they made their way
south. When night again fell the engines were slowed down, for it was
not deemed advisable to arrive off Suakim before daylight, as the coast
of the neighbourhood abounded with reefs, and the entrance to the
harbour was intricate and difficult. As soon as day broke the engines
were again put at full speed, and in an hour the masts of the shipping
lying in the port could be made out. As they neared the port a small
launch was seen coming out. An officer soon came on board.
"You are to go down the coast to Trinkitat," he said to the captain.
"The transports have gone down there, that is to be the base of
operations."
The officers clustered round the new-comer to learn the news.
"You have been more lucky than the 19th," he said. "The _Neva_ ran
ashore on a shoal eighteen or nineteen miles away and has become a total
wreck. Several steamers went out at once to help her, and got out the
men and horses. A good deal of the baggage was lost, and fifty transport
mules, which there was no time to take out before she went to pieces. It
was a very close thing, and it was very lucky that aid came two or three
hours after she struck. There has been trouble with the black regiments.
The scoundrels mutinied as soon as they got on shore, and announced
their intention of joining the rebels; so the marines have been kept
here for the defence of the place, instead of going with the expedition.
I am sorry to say that Tokar has fallen."
A groan broke from his hearers.
"It is a bad business," he went on; "but happily there has been no
repetition of the Sinkat massacre. We heard the news yesterday morning.
It was brought by five soldiers who made their way down the coast. They
reported that the civil governor of the town had entered into
negotiations with the enemy, and had agreed to surrender on the promise
that the lives of the garrison should be spared. In the afternoon two of
our spies came back and confirmed the intelligence. It seems that they
could have held out some time longer, and that the governor has behaved
like a traitor. They were annoyed by a distant fire from six Krupp guns
taken at the defeat of Baker's force, and worked by some black
artillerymen captured at the same time. The fire did no material harm,
but it seems to have frightened what little courage was left among the
officials, and the governor and a hundred and fifty of the townsmen went
out and arranged the surrender, although they knew perfectly well that
in a very few days help would arrive. There is one thing, the surrender
will enable General Graham to choose his own time, and to wait until all
the troops are up, instead of pushing forward, as he might otherwise
have done, directly he thought he had men enough, to save Tokar."
In another five minutes the officer had taken his place in the launch
and was steaming back into Suakim, and the transport was making her way
south. By noon she was anchored off the landing-place, a low beach with
a flat country extending behind it. The shore was alive with troops, and
numbers of boats were plying backwards and forwards. The work of
disembarking the horses began immediately, and the greater part of them
were on shore before night. There they found the Black Watch, Gordon
Highlanders, Irish Fusiliers, 19th Hussars, and the Mounted Infantry, a
corps of one hundred and twenty-six strong.
Edgar greatly enjoyed the bustle and excitement, and the troops were all
in the highest spirits. The first comers were eagerly questioned. They
said that during the day the 19th and Mounted Infantry had made a
reconnaissance across a lagoon which lay between the beach and the
country behind. The enemy had been seen there in force, but they retired
at once upon seeing the cavalry advance. It was expected that by the
following morning some of the infantry would cross the lagoon and occupy
a battery which General Baker had thrown up there to cover his landing,
for Trinkitat had been the spot from which he too had advanced to
relieve Tokar, and the scene of the conflict in which his force had been
destroyed would probably be crossed by the British in their advance.
No tents had been taken or were needed, for even in February the heat
upon the shores of the Red Sea is very great; and as the evening went on
the buzz of talk and laughter died out, and the troops lay down and
slept under the starry sky.