"And when will we be after attacking Matammeh?" asked Grady, as he sat
over the bivouac fire.
"Precious soon, I should think; we can't get on to Khartoum till it's
taken," said Kavanagh.
"And for why not?" asked Grady again.
"Eh, man!" exclaimed Macintosh, "ye would na go past it and leave all
these thousands of heathens in our rear, would ye? With an army at
Khartoum in front, and the army here in our rear, we should be between
two fires, don't ye see? Never a mouthful of grub or a cartridge could
get to us, and we should be peppered on all sides at once."
"We might as well risk it and get it over," said Tarrant.
"We get nothing fit to eat as it is."
"I call that stupid, talking like that!" cried Dobbs. "I know the
rations are a deal better than ever I expected; capital, I call them."
"So they are," said Macintosh; "but if Tarrant had sheep's-head, haggis,
and whusky itsel' for dinner, he would na be contented."
"Every man to his taste," growled Tarrant; "and if a chap likes tinned
meat he's welcome. I prefer good beef and mutton, fresh-killed, with
plenty of potatoes and white bread."
"And a little tripe and onions, or a swatebread after it, with pudding
and lashings of sherry wine, I'll be bound," said Grady.
"Get along wid ye, it's Lord Mayor of London ye ought to be. Why, man,
it's fighting and not ating ye've come out here for."
"Well, I got plenty of that between Abu Klea and this, anyway," replied
Tarrant. "A bullet went through my water-bottle early on the
eighteenth, and I was without a drop for hours. I believe I have worse
luck than anybody."
"Worse luck than anybody, you ungrateful beggar!" cried Smith.
"And how about Richardson, your rear rank man, who got the same bullet
which spoilt your bottle into his body, and died in pain that evening?
I suppose you would rather _his_ water-bottle had been hit and _your_
inwards!"
Tarrant busied himself in stuffing and lighting his pipe, and made no
reply.
"Well, for my part, I hope we shall have a cut in at Matammeh to-
morrow," said Kavanagh, "so as to get on up the river at once."
"Aye, I hope we may," echoed half a dozen voices in chorus.
"Gordon and the poor chaps with him must be pretty well sick of waiting
to be relieved, hemmed in all the time by those blood-thirsty savages."
"Eh, but it must have been bad last March, when our people won the
victory at Tamai, and they thought at Khartoum that they were coming
across to them," said Macintosh.
"And then to hear they had gone awa again, and left them without a bit
of help but themselves."
"Sure, won't they be glad when they hear our guns!" cried Grady. "And
won't they come out and tackle the naygurs that have been bothering them
on the one side, while we pitch into them on the other! We'll double
them up and destroy them entoirely."
"I doubt if we go at Matammeh before we get reinforcements," said
Macintosh.
"And what will we want with reinforcements?" asked Grady; "haven't we
bate the inimy into fiddle-strings already?"
"Yes, if they only knew it," said Kavanagh.
"But they seem to take a lot of persuading before they own themselves
beaten."
"They do, the poor ignorant creatures," said Grady, reflectively. "And
we can't kill the lot of 'em, which is what they seem to want; they are
too many."
"If there _is_ a big fight in a day or two we shan't be in it," said
Corporal Adams, who had come up in time to hear the end of the
conversation.
"The orders are out, and our company has got to go ten miles off to-
morrow."
"Only our company, corporal?"
"That's all detailed in orders."
"And does it say what for?"
"It does not; rikkernottering most like. But you will hear them read
presently."
That was done, and Corporal Adams was quite correct. This particular
company was ordered to take a certain amount of ammunition both for
mouth and rifle, and march out in a certain specified direction. If
they found water they were to make a zereba, or otherwise entrench
themselves and remain until further orders; if not, they were to return
at once. There was a little disappointment amongst both officers and
men of the company.
"We will be out of all the fun entirely," said Grady. "They will catch
the Mahdi, relieve Khartoum, rescue Gordon, and have all their names in
the newspapers--and we will have nothing to say to it at all, at all."
"Don't you believe it," said Kavanagh. "The general would not send a
rifle away if he were going to attack. He has heard something, or knows
something we can't guess at, and means waiting for more troops to come
up, you may depend. And our expedition has something to do, I should
not wonder, with covering the flank of the reinforcements. We shall be
called in, no fear, before the big battle is fought."
But even with those who thought differently the matter did not weigh
very heavily. They had already fallen into the true campaigning frame
of mind which takes things as they come--good quarters and bad; fighting
and resting; outpost duty or guarding stores, even wounds and death--
very philosophically.
As the company was to start some time before daybreak, the men wisely
left off discussing matters, and went to sleep. Then came their rising
while it was still night, and the raking together of the embers of the
bivouac fire, and breakfasting; then the saddling and lading of camels,
amid the dismal lamentations of those grievance-mongering animals; then
the start in darkness, and the mind adapting itself to the lethargic
monotony of the tramp. Every one was chilly; every one was a trifle
sullen at not being in bed; no one was inclined to talk.
The silence was only broken by the _swish_, _swish_, _swish_ of the
camels' feet through the sand, the most ghostlike and uncanny of sounds;
so slight, so continuous, so wide-spread. To meet a train of camels in
the dark would be enough to convert any unbeliever in supernatural
phenomena, I mean if he did not know anything about it.
When the sun rose every man seemed to wake up and feel new life in him,
and they began to talk, just as the dicky birds tune up for a song on
the like occasion. Yet the scene was desolate and dreary enough for
Dante or Gustave Dore.
After some hours' march they passed this barren land and approached the
foot of a hill where the mimosa was plentiful again, and other shrubs
were seen, with herbage, scant indeed, but good for camels, who will
browse upon what would hardly tempt a donkey. Here a halt was called,
and while the men dismounted and lay down, the three officers who were
with the company explored the spot. There were two mud-holes which
supplied water, and had a couple of palms near them, pretty well in the
open, and a third spring a hundred yards from the others, larger and
deeper, and apparently yielding a better supply than both the others put
together, but so near a patch of rocks and thick mimosas which would
afford dangerous cover to an enemy, should any be in the neighbourhood,
that it would never do to camp close by it.
So when the colour-sergeant was called out presently, he learned that it
had been determined to form the zereba so as to include the two smaller
water holes and the palm-trees, and the ground was marked out
accordingly. Then all set to work to cut down mimosa bushes, and make a
hedge of them all round, a gap, just admitting of one camel to pass at a
time, being left on the side nearest the outside well, but not at the
corner, and this gap was marked by a short hedge inside facing it. It
was determined to use this outside well while they had the place to
themselves, and reserve those within the zereba in case of an attack.
The space enclosed was as limited as was consistent with convenience to
render it more capable of defence, and the hedge was breast high, so
that the men could fire over it without their aim being in any way
impeded. Shrubs beyond those required to form the zereba were cut down
and stored for firewood, so as to remove all cover where Arabs might
conceal themselves as far as possible.
Most of this work was done before dinner, and the men had two hours'
rest. After that tapes were brought out and the lines of a trench
marked off, six feet from the hedge all round, and when that was done
the men began to dig it out, five feet wide, one foot and a foot and a
half deep, throwing the soil out on the hedge side, flattening it down
and making it as firm as they could, so that if exposed to heavy fire
the men might find protection, since the prickly walls, though difficult
for men to struggle through, would not stop bullets. And so a good
day's work ended, and the night sentries were posted between the trench
and the hedge.
There was no alarm that night. The next morning the camels were taken
outside the zereba and watered at the large well, from which also a
supply was drawn for the company; and it sufficed for all, evidently a
valuable spring. That day the trench was completed, deepened a little,
but not much, as it would not do for the defenders to be too low behind
the hedge, and a small watch-tower commenced in the centre of the
square. Some quaint, distorted trees were found at a little distance,
and from one of these enough timber was got for the erection
contemplated. There was a flat rock which formed a foundation for it,
and a rustic-looking affair, something like a summer-house, was raised
some twelve feet from the rock it stood on, which was already six feet
from the level plain. From this elevation an extensive view could be
obtained.
On the third day a balcony was made round the top of the watch-tower,
the sides of which were composed of logs, which it was reckoned would be
bulletproof. A few good marksmen might, without being exposed, do
considerable execution from this. It also had a roof fixed over it, and
the look-out man had thus a protection from the sun. The saddles, with
all cases and packages, were arranged to form an inner court of the
zereba, within which were the camels, and when they were lying down they
were very well protected. Hump, who of course had followed his company,
took great interest in all these proceedings, and when the men were at
work he stood with his head on one side watching them critically, and
from the expression of his face, and the vibration of his tail, it was
gathered that on the whole he approved. Captain Reece, who commanded
the company, did not, as a matter of fact, much expect an attack, but he
thought it only right to be prepared in case one were made, and being a
man of an ingenious turn of mind, who, when a boy at Harton, was known
as the "Dodger," he felt a special delight in constructing devices. On
being ordered off on his present duty, he had gone to a friend in the
Royal Engineers and begged a good bit of gun-cotton, carried for
blasting purposes, and with this he proposed to make a mine, an electric
battery and a coil of wire forming part of his baggage. There was a
group of boulders two hundred yards off, which was certain to be taken
advantage of by an enemy, since it formed a perfectly safe redoubt from
which to fire on the zereba, or to shelter a group forming the forlorn
hope of an attack. This Reece fixed upon as the most favourable spot
for his mine, and here the gun-cotton was placed in the position he
deemed most adapted for a favourable explosion, and connected by a wire,
which there was no great delay or difficulty in concealing in the sandy
soil with the zereba, and so with the electric battery.
"It's a sight of trouble we have taken to resave the inimy, and it will
be mighty onpolite of him if he doesn't come at all," said Grady.
"I don't believe there's any Arabs about these parts," said Macintosh;
"they air all together at Matammeh, or else before Khartoum."
"You think yourself very clever, no doubt," said Corporal Adams,
indignantly. "But do you suppose that the captain would have taken all
this trouble without good information?"
"Nay, but with all due respect to the captain, and the colonel, and the
general, and yersel', too, corporal," said Macintosh, "the reports they
have acted upon are native reports, and they may be good, and they may
be bad, they may be honest, and they _may_ want to get detachments sent
aboot to weaken the force at Gubat."
"Well, I think you are very presumpterous," said the corporal, "very
presumpterous indeed, to suppose your superior officers can be took in
by a lot of Johnnies that you can see through. They may attack us or
they may not, seeing how ready we are for them; but they are
somewhere's, you may take a haveadavy."
As everybody is generally somewhere, it was difficult to contradict this
statement. Besides it is imprudent for a private to contradict a
corporal, who has many ways of making himself disagreeable or the
reverse. So the prudent Scot acquiesced.
"Well, I am a paceable boy meself, and hate fighting," said Grady.
"But still it seems a pity to make such iligant fortifications and not
to thry them. Is there not sinse in that, now, Kavanagh?"
"I don't know about sense, but there's a lot of human nature in it,"
replied Kavanagh. "I know I learned to box when I was a lad, and was
never happy until I had a turn up to try my skill without the gloves.
And a jolly good licking I got for my pains."
"To be sure!" cried Grady. "And if ye get a new knife ye want to cut
something with it, or a new gun ye must be after shooting with it; and
so on with anything at all. And now we have got the fortifications one
is a thrifle curious to know if the Johnnies could get into them."
I don't know whether many of the company wanted to be attacked, or,
indeed, if any did, but certainly there was a restlessness about them.
They listened all day for firing in the direction of Matammeh, some
lying down with their ears to the ground to hear the farther. But all
was still as the desert only can be, and the great battle which was
expected had certainly not yet begun. But expectation of a fight
excites men, and if at a distance they itch to be in it, this feeling
even actuating men who fail to show any particular heroism when the
pinch comes.
However, wishing or not wishing to be attacked could make no difference;
the Arabs were not likely to consult their feelings on the subject.
There was no alarm that night, and all but the men on duty slept soundly
by the bivouac fires. In the course of the next morning the camels were
to be taken to the outside well to be watered, and a few impediments
which blocked the gap being removed they began to move out. The leader
had gone twenty paces, and three others were following, when Grant, one
of the lieutenants who was in the gallery of the look-out with a field-
glass, shouted, "Halt! Come back!"
The man with the leading camel looked round to see if the order applied
to him, and saw the lieutenant beckoning to him. "Come back at once!"
he repeated. The four camels went to the right-about not a bit too
soon; for a puff of smoke spurted up from a mimosa bush beyond, and the
vicious whiz of a bullet hinted to the leader of the camel nearest to it
that it would be better for him not to stop to wind up his watch or pare
his nails before he got under shelter.
Pop, pop, pop, pop! A camel is a big mark, and it was clever to miss
the lot. One indeed had a lock of hair chipped off him, as if the
marksman were an artist who wanted a painting brush; but that was the
nearest approach to a casualty.
The other bullets went high over everything, save one or two, which
struck the sand and sent little stones flying about in a dangerous
manner. But they came in contact with nothing vulnerable, and the four
were back in the enclosure presently.
Macintosh, Cleary, and two other men, the crack shots of the company,
were ordered up into the balcony to try if they could show the attacking
party that they could make a better use of their weapons than they
could. Captain Reece was now up there, and the bullets were whizzing
about and thudding into the logs in a nerve-shaking manner.
"Crouch down, men, till they are a bit tired of wasting their
cartridges," said the captain, standing erect himself, however; "you
could not get a fair shot yet for the smoke."
When they had done so, he sat on a block of wood himself, and was then
protected by the balcony. The two lieutenants and the non-commissioned
officers were below cautioning the men, who were now in position all
round the zereba, against firing until ordered.
It was a picked corps, and they were perfectly in hand, so that not one
single shot was fired during this first storm. And a storm it was; the
air seemed perfectly alive with the rush of bullets, all aimed high.
Whether it did not occur to the Arabs that the bushes of the enclosure
were not impervious, or the watch-tower offered a more tempting mark, or
the Remington rifle stocks did not suit their arms and shoulders, and
came up high I don't know, but certainly all the bullets which hit
anything struck the wooden erection and the rock it stood upon.
Splinters of wood and chips of stone were flying in all directions, but
nothing was wounded which minded it, not a man or a camel or Hump, who
thought the whole affair got up for his amusement, and barked with
delight at the noise.
The leaden shower raged for about five minutes, died down to a
sputtering, and ceased. Every man grasped his weapon and peered over
the hedge, expecting a rush. But the enemy seemed to want to know
whether they had annihilated everything with their fusillade, and kept
close in cover. Slowly the smoke lifted, and rolled above their
positions.
"Now there is a chance for you, Macintosh," said the captain; "above
that bush, do you see? About three hundred yards."
Macintosh took a steady aim and pulled.
The man he aimed at staggered, and came down in a sitting position,
seizing his right leg, which was broken, with both hands.
"An outer!" cried Captain Reece, who had his field-glass directed on the
spot.
"A miss," he said presently, as another man fired at an Arab darting
from a distant to a nearer bit of cover.
"Don't shoot at them running."
An Arab was taking careful note of the zereba from the rocks two hundred
yards off, his head and shoulders only being exposed. Cleary rested his
rifle on the top of the balcony, pulled the stock firmly to his
shoulder, got a fine sight on his mark, and pressed the trigger. A
flash! A crack!
"A bull for you, Cleary!" exclaimed the captain. "You have nailed him
through the head."
The enemy were now more cautious, and not more than half a dozen shots
were got in the next hour, but most of them told. During that time the
Arabs indulged in no more continued storms of fire; only Captain Reece
drew occasional volleys, mostly from a considerable distance, as he
stood fully exposed, reconnoitring the position.
He did not do this recklessly or out of bravado, but simply because it
was of the utmost importance to gain some idea of their numbers, which
he put at about five or six hundred; not more in the immediate
neighbourhood. It was an uncomfortable position, being cramped up
there, imprisoned in so small a space, but not a dangerous one. The
enemy kept up a dropping fire, which had no effect beyond wasting their
cartridges, though after nightfall it was annoying in two ways; the
English had to bivouac in the cold, for they could not light fires, and
their sleep was disturbed by constant alerts. In the morning there was
a lull, not a shot being fired for some hours. The marksmen went up to
the balcony, but, seeing no chance of a shot, were withdrawn, and only
the look-out man left there. There was some idea that the enemy might
have gone away, and no one would have been sorry; for the wells inside
the zereba were very inefficient, the water being soon exhausted, and a
tedious waiting entailed before the wells filled again. Already the men
had to be put on an allowance, and in that country, where the throat is
always parched, any stint of water is the greatest possible privation.
But just as it was in contemplation to send out an exploring party,
numbers of them were sighted again amongst the more distant bushes, and
it did not go out. Dinner time arrived, and the meal was served out.
Before the men had quite finished two sentries fired shots, and all
sprang to their arms, which were handy; for every man ate, drank, slept
with his rifle close to him, as it was impossible to tell at what moment
he might require it.
In half a minute every man was at the hedge with a cartridge in his
rifle, and that was not too soon, for the Arabs came at a fast run on
two sides simultaneously, and even lapped round and threatened a third.
"Steady, now! Don't shoot till you have your man covered. There's no
hurry. The nearer they are the better!" cried the officers, and
sergeants and corporals seconded them well. Yet the commands were not
necessary, so cool and steady were the men. It was as if they had been
waiting so long for a chance, that they were afraid of wasting it now
they had got it. Nothing could be more deliberate than the way they
aimed.
"Why did you not fire then, Macintosh?" Sergeant Barton happened to
ask; "you had a fair chance," the Arab being about forty yards off, and
the Scotsman "drawing a bead" on him.
"I was trying to get two in a line," said the economist; and presently
he succeeded. Being protected by the hedge naturally made the men
cooler, and able to afford to reserve their fire.
If any Arabs were shot so far off as a hundred yards it was as much as
it was, and then only because the marksman felt he was "on." Indeed,
with far inferior defenders the position would have been impregnable;
held by such men as these, to attack it was suicide. It is hardly an
exaggeration to say that every shot told; and if several hit one man, on
the other hand some single bolts struck two men, and that helped to
bring up the average. For a good ten minutes the plucky fanatics
persevered, thirsting like tigers for the blood of their foes; and the
carnage was fearful. They had no artillery to shake the defence with
before attacking, and the fire was uniform as well as deadly.
"Give it 'em hot, boys!" "That's your sort!" "Bravo, old Waterproof!"
this last cheer being for Macintosh, who shot a chief who was leading on
his tribesmen, brandishing a huge two-handed sword.
"Camels for ever!" "Faugh-a-ballah!" "Ha! Ha!" "Hurrah! Hurrah!
Hurra-a-ah!" and the cheers were heard for miles across the barren
waste, disturbing the beasts and birds of prey on the sites of
neighbouring battle-fields from their unholy repast, as the Arabs drew
off to their cover in confusion, leaving the whole ground between it and
the zereba strewed with their dead and dying. As they pressed back more
fell, the soldiers firing at longer distances now the prospect of many
more immediate chances was small. The champion marksmen ran for the
balcony again, and the last victims dropped to their rifles. And soon
was apparent the astonishing vitality of the Arab race. The wounded,
who were not mortally stricken, were seen crawling and dragging
themselves to cover in all directions. Had they but got the order, how
delighted would the soldiers have been to quit the zereba, and dash upon
the disordered foe; and that Captain Reece burned to give that order you
may be perfectly certain. But that would have been contrary to the
tenor of his instructions; and, besides, might, after all, have turned
victory into disaster, for the Arabs probably had received
reinforcements before the attack, and the little band of Englishmen
might find themselves smothered with numbers in the bush.
There was no more sign of the enemy that day; they lay close in cover,
watching. During the night they stole out and removed many of their
dead, which those in the zereba were glad of, for the numbers threatened
presently to poison the air. The next day water began to grow very
scarce indeed, and two men with a corporal were permitted to leave the
zereba and approach the well, to try if they could get a supply without
molestation, so quiet and hidden were the enemy. But they had hardly
got half-way before a storm of fire was poured upon them, and they had
to run back as hard as they could go, one dropping--the first casualty.
The corporal and the other man, who was no other than Grady, stopped,
picked him up, and carried him in, the bullets cutting the ground up in
puffs of dust all around. But they were not hit, and got their comrade
inside amidst cheers from all who were watching them.
Poor Hump seemed likely to come off badly, for however great a pet you
may make of an animal, when it comes to a question whether you or he are
to go thirsty, the animal is apt to come off second best. And the
camels, who reverse the recipe of "little and often," and require "much
and seldom," must fill the reservoirs, as they call their stomachs, at
certain intervals, or die. And if they died the company would probably
die too. Poor Hump! Every consideration was against his getting a
drink. He whined, and looked very plaintive, with his tongue hanging
out. He scratched and scratched, but the water was exhausted, and only
trickled into the legitimate holes by driblets. Everybody was very
sorry for him, but still more sorry for himself.
So Hump took the matter into his own hands--I was going to say, but he
had not got any. I mean that he fell back on his own resources, and he
simply ran across to the outside well, drank his fill, and ran back
again. It never occurred to the Arabs to take the trouble to shoot at a
dog, so he was quite unmolested. After he had made two journeys a
bright idea came into the head of Thomas Dobbs. The next time Hump
prepared to start on a watering expedition, he took off the lid of his
water-bottle, which was suspended round his neck, so when the dog
plunged his nose to lap, the tin went into the water and got filled; and
though some of it got spilled as he trotted back, enough remained to wet
the ingenious Dobbs's whistle. And he improved upon this; he cut a
round piece of wood, filling the can so loosely as to lie at the bottom
when it was empty, and floating to the surface when full, but prevented
from tumbling out by the edges of the top of the tin being bent in a
bit. This prevented most of the spilling, and every excursion Hump made
he brought back the best part of a pint. And a pint of water, look you,
was worth a good deal more than a pint of champagne in England.
Two more days passed; the Arabs burst out now and then into a spurt of
volley firing, but would not attempt another attack. They probably knew
the nature of the wells, and trusted to thirst to fight for them.
The little party in the zereba kept a sharp look-out for rescue, you may
depend, for their position was growing more and more critical every
hour. To the south was the spring, with a few trees, and the thick
mimosa bush beyond. On the east were more mimosas and rocky ground in
which the enemy could find cover to within five hundred yards at the
furthest part; up to two hundred at one point. But on the northern and
western sides the country was quite open, and the view was only bounded
by sand-hills a good mile off. And it was from one of these directions
that they expected help would come.
So when dust was noticed, amidst which an occasional glitter flashed, on
the western horizon, eyes began to sparkle and hearts to beat high, as
those of shipwrecked men in an open boat when a sail comes in sight. No
doubt it was a party sent to relieve them--cavalry, by the pace they
came, for the cloud of dust rolled rapidly nearer. In five minutes it
was within a thousand yards, and then out of it burst a single horseman,
riding straight for the zereba, and the enemy, running from their cover
on the southern side, strove to intercept him with their fire as he
passed, while presently some twenty Arab horsemen became visible, racing
after the fugitive, the foremost about twenty yards from his heels.
_Bang_! _bang_! _bang_! From the Arabs, who had run out, and were
somewhat too far for the zereba fire. But the hunted man came on
untouched.
It is not easy, even for good shots, to hit flying with ball, and the
Arabs were not good shots, but the exact reverse. Nearer now, with his
horse well in hand, not seeking to increase his distance, glancing back
to judge how far off his pursuers were. The footmen of the enemy,
provoked at not being able to stop him, ran out in his course too close
to the English, and two of them were presently down on the sand. Others
not heeding sought to cut him off, and the English could not fire
without risk to him also, as they were straight in his direction.
Whipping out his sword, which had hitherto been sheathed, he flourished
it in salutation of his friends, and rode straight at a couple of Arabs
in his path, loosening his rein, and digging with his spurs as he did
so. He knocked one down with his horse's shoulder, and put aside the
spear of the other, as he passed, and without waiting to cut at him,
went straight at the zereba hedge. The horse, though covered with foam,
had a good bit left in him yet, and rose at it nobly, without an attempt
to refuse, and landed safely on the inside. His pursuers came within
ten yards. There was a spurt of fire, and four saddles were empty.
The Arab horsemen wheeled round, and the broadsides of the horses
presented too fair a mark. Half a dozen of the poor animals were
brought down by the bullets, and before they could get away the riders
too were slain. Neither did those who in the excitement of the moment
had run out from their cover entirely escape; several deliberate shots
were aimed at them, and several fresh corpses dotted the plain.
"The curse of Cromwell on them!" cried Grady; "the more you shoot the
more there are!"
And it really looked like it. It was a similar phenomenon to that of
the wasps in August, when, if you kill one, three come to his funeral.
The man who had occasioned this commotion was carried by his horse
safely over the zereba hedge, as has been said. Directly he landed he
found himself on the edge of the trench, and this, too, the animal
cleverly got over.
The rider at once dismounted, and saw Captain Reece before him.
"Rather an unceremonious way of coming into a gentleman's parlour," he
said; "but I don't think I have done any damage."
"Not a bit; and no matter if you had," said Reece. "We cannot show you
much hospitality, I fear, for we are short of everything."
"By Jove!" exclaimed the new-comer, "I beg your pardon if I am wrong,
but is not your name Reece?"
"Yes."
"You do not remember me?"
"Well, I am sure you will pardon me; I cannot call to mind exactly where
I have had the pleasure of meeting you. Was it at the Rag? No, no;
surely at Simla, was it not?"
"Not exactly," said the new arrival.
"Don't you remember a little idiot who was your fag at Harton, and used
to boil your eggs hard and burn your toast, for which you very properly
corrected him?"
"What, Strachan!" cried Captain Reece. "Impossible! You can't be Tom
Strachan!"
"As sure as you are Dodger Reece. I should not have dared to call you
that to your face then, though."
"Well, but, you know, I should never have recognised you."
"I daresay not; I was twelve years old when you left Harton, and I have
altered a bit since, no doubt. You were seventeen, and have not changed
so much."
"I am very glad to see you, anyhow," said Reece, "and we will have a
good chat presently. Just now I must not lose my opportunity; the rocks
seem pretty crowded. The beggars are blazing away from every crevice
about them."
Strachan wisely asked no questions, but watched and followed. The Arabs
had evidently gathered in considerable numbers about the pile of
boulders among which the gun-cotton mine was buried. Reece had
forbidden any one to molest them from the balcony, not wishing to drive
them away. He now went to his battery, attached the wires, brought two
ends together, and the ground shook. There was a roar and a rattle;
blocks of stone, arms, heads, legs went flying into the air, and a whole
posse of Arabs were seen scuttling away into the mimosa bushes.
"What is bred in the bone," said Strachan to himself.
"He is a Dodger still!"
The men got some more shots at their enemies in the confusion caused by
the explosion. It was a useful measure, this, however; for six men with
water-cans, and six with rifles, who were waiting close to the gap,
rushed out to the well the moment they heard the explosion, and in the
confusion into which the enemy were thrown by an event which seemed to
them supernatural, in the dust and in the smoke they accomplished their
task of filling the cans and retiring without being observed, much less
attacked.
It was not until they were safely back in the zereba that the Arabs
began firing harmless volleys, in evident anger at having been out-
manoeuvred. The water gained was not so much in quantity, but was a
great boon nevertheless, for it had been absolutely necessary to water
the camels, and that had absorbed every drop of their own springs for
the last twelve hours, and was very insufficient for the poor animals
then. Strachan loosened his horse's girths and rubbed him down with a
palm-leaf or two, doing what he could for him after his gallant efforts.
It was pitiful to hear him whinny as he smelt the water in the
distance, and not to be able to get him any. But perhaps a little could
be spared from what trickled out by-and-by.
Presently Captain Reece came back to his visitor.
"Well, now I have time to ask, how on earth did you come to choose this
desert for a steeple-chase course, and our little zereba for a goal?" he
asked.
"I am acting on the staff," said Strachan; "only galloping, you know.
And I was sent out to find you if I could, and tell you to make for
Shebacat, and, if you could, to get on to Abu Klea at once. If I found
any of the enemy out in this direction, and could not get on, I was to
return at once, and a force was to be sent to relieve you; but it was
important to avoid this if possible, I was given to understand.
However, I had no chance of returning, for the first glimpse I got of
the enemy consisted of a small body of mounted Arabs, who cut off my
retreat, and chased me all the way here."
"We are not to make back to Gubat, then?" asked Reece in surprise.
"No," said Strachan.
"Matammeh has not been carried?"
"Not yet; I suppose it may be soon; everybody seems to expect it. But I
don't see the use now."
"Why not?"
"Well," said Strachan, "one hates to be the bearer of bad news, but it
must come. The expedition has been too late: Khartoum has fallen."
The two other officers had come up and heard this, and their faces
showed the blank dismay which had fallen upon their hearts, as the words
fell upon their ears.
Khartoum fallen! Why, then, what were they fighting for? What was to
happen next? All seemed chaos.
"And Gordon?" was the first question which rose to all lips.
"There is no certain news, yet," said Strachan; "but the rumours of his
death are only too probable. He was not the sort of man to be taken
alive, I think, was he?"
"No, no!"
"But when did you hear this?" asked Reece.
"Only last night," replied Strachan. "Gordon's four steamers arrived
while you were at Abu Kru, the camp at Gubat, I think?"
"Yes, and two of them, the _Bordein_ and _Telh-howeiya_, had started
with Sir Charles Wilson up the river. That was on the 24th of January."
"Exactly. Well, it seems when they got to Khartoum they found it in the
hands of the Mahdi, and it was with the greatest difficulty they got
away, having to run the gauntlet of several batteries and a tremendous
fusillade. Both steamers were wrecked coming down, and Sir Charles
Wilson, with the crews and the Royal Sussex men who went with him, is on
an island watched by the enemy, who have got guns posted, waiting to be
brought off. Stuart Wortley came down in a small boat with the news
last night."
"I could go straight to Shebacat; but for Abu Klea I am not so certain,"
said Reece.
"I can guide you as straight as a die," replied Strachan.
"Indeed, from Shebacat you cannot miss the track."
Captain Reece then said he had some immediate business to look to, and
retired to the watch-tower, partly to have another look round, but
principally to get away alone for a bit to think. It was clear to him
that he must get away as soon as possible, but yet leaving would cause
him to incur responsibility, which he hated. He was a brave man enough
where personal danger was concerned, but to have to decide upon a matter
where grave interests were at stake threw him into a cold sweat. Let a
superior officer be in command, and he was as jolly as possible under
any circumstances; supposing he got killed, and all got killed, it had
nothing to do with him--that was the commanding officer's look-out; and
he obeyed him cheerfully, reserving the right to criticise him freely
afterwards, supposing he were alive to do so.
But here he himself had to take a decided step; he was commanding
officer, and Strachan had brought him no definite orders. Suppose they
were intercepted, and cut to pieces. The blame would fall on him. Why
did he quit the zereba? Suppose he delayed, and a force had to be sent
to his rescue, and it were proved afterwards that he could have saved
the small main body all that risk and trouble, and very likely loss, if
he had shown a little more enterprise. Or suppose that the enemy, now a
small body, assembled in force, cut off his retreat, now open, prevented
all rescue, and cut them to pieces. In any case he would be blamed. He
dreaded the second alternative most, because then he would be alive and
ashamed. Still it made his ears burn to think what would be said of
him, even after he could not hear or know, if he failed.
The more he thought about it, however, the more he saw that the first
risk was the best to incur, and he finally determined to march that
night and stand the racket. He examined the enemy's position once more
carefully through his field-glass, and could only make out a few camels
and a couple of horses. Indeed, they could not have watered any large
number, especially as they had to do so entirely by night, the well
being under the fire of the zereba all the daytime. And from men on
foot they had nothing to fear, let them get the shortest of starts.
There was the cavalry which had hunted Strachan, but they were but a
handful. And the route to Shebacat was open desert, so far as the eye
could reach from the balcony, with but few mimosas or black rocks.
When he had quite settled his plans he felt easier, and returned to the
others. The two juniors had shown Strachan what little hospitality was
in their power, including an iron tea-cupful of muddy water for himself
and a pint for his horse, who asked for more, poor fellow! With all the
earnestness of Oliver Twist in the workhouse.
"Are you Strachan of the Blankshire?" asked Grant.
"Yes," said Strachan.
"Were you not wounded at Tamai last spring?"
"Yes, I was; but I soon got all right."
"Is not Edwards in your battalion?"
"Yes, he is; do you know him?"
"Very well; we were at Sandhurst together."
And this discovery of a common friend made these two feel like comrades
at once.
"Well, Strachan," said Reece, coming up, "are you ready to pilot us to-
night?"
"Perfectly ready, sir," replied Strachan.
"Well, then, we will be off directly after sun-down. Since Khartoum has
fallen, the troops before it will be set free, and the country perhaps
will be flooded with them. This may be our best chance."
"Certainly."
The three officers of camelry had to prepare their men for the start,
and see that they got the saddles and other packages, which had been
piled together to make an inner defence, separated and placed in proper
position for instant adjustment.
Tom Strachan, left alone, wandered off to the watch-tower, to have a
look at it and mount to the balcony. On his way across he met a
soldier, who advanced his rifle and brought his right-hand smartly
across in salute, whom he recognised.
"Kavanagh!" he cried.
"Yes, sir, here I am," replied Kavanagh. "No, please don't shake hands
now or here," he added, hurriedly. "I do not want to be recognised at
all. My captain has not remembered being with me at Harton, I am glad
to say."
"I have your sword still," said Strachan.
"Yes, and did good work with it at Tamai," replied Kavanagh.
"I am glad of that."
"It is a good one, indeed," said Strachan; "but I don't know that I have
done anything wonderful with it!"
"Oh, yes, I read about it in the papers. You were mentioned in
despatches."
"They were very kind, because I was wounded. Have you heard anything of
the missing will, or Harry Forsyth?"
"Not a word; but I hope for better times still," he replied.
"So do I, Reginald, with all my heart. You have found life as a private
soldier a severe trial, I fear."
"Not out here, campaigning," replied Kavanagh. "At home it was
certainly trying at first. But the sergeant is waiting for me."
And he saluted again and passed on, leaving his old chum very serious
and meditative, which was not by any means his accustomed state of mind.
Presently Hump came up to make friends, and, when Strachan met Grant
again he learned the story of the dog and his excursions to the well,
and how Thomas Dobbs had made him fetch water.
"You were saying you did not know the name of this place," cried
Strachan, laughing; "you should call it after him. _Bir_ is the Arabic
I believe for a well; you should name it _Bir-Hump_."
The suggestion was repeated, adopted, and spread, and the entire company
always alluded to the place as _Bir-Hump_ from that hour forward.
The day waned; the camels were saddled and loaded as quietly as might
be, Strachan tightened the girths of his horse, and when the sun had set
and the after-glow faded into darkness, all mounted, and the camels, led
by Strachan, defiled out of the zereba like a string of ghosts.
Every man had his rifle in his hand, ready to sell his life as dearly as
he could; but the Arabs did not issue from their cover, and they sped on
at a sharp trot unmolested, Strachan keeping a correct course by a
compass he had, with an ingenious phosphorescent contrivance, by which
he could distinguish the north point. When an hour had elapsed they all
began to breathe more freely, for it is uncanny work expecting to be
attacked every minute in the dark. But still strict silence was
maintained.
During the long night tramp, with no jingling of accoutrements, beat of
hoofs, light laugh, or homely talk to break the stillness, nothing but
the light _brushing_ sound, more like the whisper of sound than sound
itself, caused by the movement of the camels' feet over the sand, the
minds of the most thoughtless could not avoid reflection, and probably
there was not one of all that company who did not think of Gordon. And
of him there was not a little to think. The long waiting, month after
month; never disheartened or beaten; trying every device, every
stratagem, to keep the foes which environed him at bay; maintaining well
even _his_ reputation; anxious not for himself but for others, ready to
sacrifice self indeed at any moment, cheerfully, for the sake of those
whom he had undertaken to rescue; struggling on against fanatic courage
without, and weakness, frailty, half-heartedness within; seeing the
hearts of those in whom he was forced to trust grow fainter and fainter
by degrees, in spite of his constant struggles against the effects of
hope deferred upon them.
And then, when the reward was just within his reach--not personal
honours, for which he cared so little, but what to him was the dearest
object, the rescue of those whom he had undertaken to save if possible--
to lose all by treachery, the treason of those he had trusted and
forgiven.
"Trust makes troth," says the proverb, and Gordon had proved the truth
of it again and again.
But it failed him; the endurance of some who had long wavered was now
quite worn-out, and so he was killed, and all his heroic work nullified,
all those who had depended on his efforts for safety being destroyed
with him. It was a perfectly maddening thought that the ship should
founder thus in the entrance of the harbour; that after so many tedious
marches, thirst-sufferings, struggles against the forces of nature,
desperate battles, and wide-spread misery and wretchedness, they should
be just a couple of days too late.
So little would have done it. A week's earlier start, a little more
energy in some clerk, tailor, bootmaker, shipwright--who knows?
The mind seems forced in such a case to try and fix blame upon somebody.
There was no redeeming feature for the most persevering maker of the
best of things to turn to Experience gained? There was no use in it,
for Gordons do not crop up every century.
His example? The lesson of it was spoiled, since his devotion resulted
in failure, and he died in the bitterness of feeling that his efforts
had not been appreciated, and that he had been but lukewarmly supported.
We do not mean to imply that this was so. History must judge of that.
We know only partial facts, and our judgment must also necessarily be
affected by our feelings. But it is to be feared that it seemed so to
him.
The moon rose, and gloomy thoughts were lightened. There was no enemy
in sight, and talk began to circulate amongst the men. Captain Reece,
for his part, was inclined to forget everything else in his delight at
having given the enemy the slip. To have carried out his orders, and
sustained such an attack with the loss of but one man wounded, and he
doing well, was a legitimate source of satisfaction. It is true that he
was not out of the wood yet; the Arabs who had chased Strachan might
belong to a large body that had seized Shebacat.
This proved not to be the case, however, and a halt was called at the
wells there. First the men were supplied, and Strachan's horse had a
good satisfactory drink, and then the camels got an instalment of water.
Then they mounted again, and pushed on to Abu Klea, where they arrived
at sunrise, and Reece reported himself to the officer in command with a
feeling of intense relief. He had got well out of it, at any rate, and
Tom Strachan also had accomplished his mission satisfactorily; and next
day he returned to head-quarters, not, however, without having seized
the opportunity of a short unnoticed interview with his old chum
Kavanagh before he started.