G.A. Henty - With Kitchener in the Soudan - a story of Atbara and Omdurman

" We could camp equally well anywhere here, Zaki, but we may as well go round to the extreme left, as, if we have to ride off suddenly, we shall at least start from the nearest point to the line by which we came."

There was a small clump of bushes a hundred yards or so from the nearest of the little shelters. Here they dismounted, and at once began with their knives to cut down some of the bushes to form a screen from the sun. They had watered the horses before they left the river, and had also filled their water-skins.

"I don't think we could find a better place, Zaki," Gregory said, when, having completed their shelter and thrown their blankets over it, they lay down in the shade. " No doubt we shall soon be joined by others, but as we are the first comers on this spot it will be for us to ask questions of them, and, after, for them to make enquiries of us. I shall go into the camp as soon as the heat abates and people begin to move about again. Remember our story:—You were carried off from a Jaalin village in a raid. Your master was a small sheik, and is now with the force at El Obeid. You had been the companion of his son, and when the latter made up his mind to come and fight here your master gave you your freedom so that you might fight by his son's side. You might say that I have not yet settled under whose banner I shall fight. All I wish is to be in the front of the battle when we meet the infidels. That will be quite sufficient. There are men here from almost every village in the Soudan, and no one will care much where his neighbours come from.

" Mention that we intend to fight as matchlock men, not on horseback, as the animals are greatly fatigued from their long journey and will require rest for some time; and being so far from home I fear that we might lose them if we went into the fight with them, and in that case might have to journey on foot for a long time before we could get others. I don't at all suppose that it will be necessary for you to say all this. People will be too much occupied with their own affairs to care much about others; still, it is well not to hesitate if questioned."

Talk and laughter in the great camp ceased now, and it was not until the sun lost its power that it again began. Gregory did not move till it began to get dusk.

"I shall be away some time," he said, "so don't be at all uneasy about me. I shall take my black blanket so that I can cover myself with it and lie down, as if asleep, close to any of the emirs' tents where I hear talk going on, and so may be able to gather some idea as to their views. I have already learned that the tribesmen have not heard of any immediate move, and are discontented at being kept inactive so long. The leaders, however, may have their plans, but will not make them known to the men until it is time for action."

The camp was thoroughly alive when he entered it. Men were sitting about in groups; the women, as before, keeping near their little shelters, laughing and chatting together, and sometimes quarrelling. From the manner of the men, who either sat or walked about, it was not difficult for Gregory to distinguish between the villagers who had been dragged away from their homes and forced to enter the service of the Khalifa, and the Baggara and kindred tribes who had so long held the Soudan in subjection. The former were quiet in their demeanour and sometimes sullen in their looks. He had no doubt that when the fighting came these would face death at the hands of the infidels as bravely as their oppressors, for the belief in Mahdism was now universal. His followers had proved themselves invincible; they had no doubt that they would destroy the armies of Egypt, but they resented being dragged away from their quiet homes, their families, and their fields.

Among these the Baggara strode haughtily. Splendid men for the most part, tall, lithe, and muscular; men with the supreme belief in themselves and in their cause, carrying themselves as the Norman barons might have done among a crowd of Saxons; the conquerors of the land, the most trusted followers of the successor of the Mahdi, men who felt themselves invincible. It was true that they had so far failed to overrun Egypt, and had even suffered reverses, but these the Khalifa had taught them to consider were due to disobedience of his orders or the result of their fighting upon unlucky days. All this was soon to be reversed. The prophecies had told that the infidels were about to be annihilated, and that then they Avould sweep down without opposition, and possess themselves of the plunder of Egypt.

Gregory passed wholly unnoticed among the crowd. There was nothing to distinguish him from others, and the thought that an Egyptian spy, still less one of the infidels, should venture into their camp had never occurred to one of that multitude. Occasionally he sat down near a group of the Baggara, listening to their talk. They were impatient too, but they were convinced that all was for the best, and that when it was the will of Allah they would destroy their enemy. Still, there were expressions of impatience that Mahmud was not allowed to advance. "We know," one said, "that it is at Kirbekan that the last great destruction of the infidel is to take place, and that these madmen are coming to their fate; still, we might move down and destroy those at Dongola and along the river, and possess ourselves of their arms and stores. Why should we come thus far from Omdurman if we are to go no farther ?"

" Why ask questions?" another said contemptuously. "Enough that it is the command of the Khalifa, to whom power and knowledge has been given by the Mahdi, until he himself returns to earth. To the Khalifa will be revealed the day and the hour on which we are to smite the infidel. If Mahmud and the great emirs are all content to wait, why should we be impatient?"

Everywhere Gregory went he heard the same feelings expressed. The men were impatient to be up and doing, but they must wait the appointed hour. It was late before he ventured to approach the tents of the leaders. He knew that it was impossible to get near Mahmud himself, for he had his own bodyguard of picked men. The night, however, was dark, and, enveloping himself from head to foot in his black blanket, he crawled out until well beyond the line of tents, and then very cautiously made his way towards them again. He knew that he should see the white figures of the Dervishes before they could make him out, and he managed, unnoticed, to crawl up to one of the largest tents and lie down against it. He heard the chatter of the women in an adjoining tent, but there was no sound in that against which he lay.

For an hour all was quiet. Then he saw two white figures coming from Mahmud's camp, which lay some fifty yards away. To his delight they stopped at the entrance of the tent by which he was concealed, and one said : " I can well understand, Ibrahim Khalim, that your brother Mahmud is sorely vexed that your father will not let him advance against the Egyptians at Merawi. I fully share his feelings, for could I not with my cavalry sweep them before me into the river, even though no foot-men came with me? According to accounts they are but two or three thousand strong, and I have as many horsemen under my command."

" That is so, Osman Azrakyet. But methinks my father is right. If we were to march across the desert we should lose very many men and great numbers of animals, and we should arrive weakened and dispirited. If we remain here it is the Egyptians who will have to bear the hardships of the march across the desert. Great numbers of the animals that carry the baggage and food, without which the poor infidels are unable to march, would die, and the weakened force would be an easy prey for us."

"That is true," the other said, "but they may come now, as they came to Dongola, in their boats."

"They have the cataracts to ascend, and the rapid currents of the Nile at its full to struggle against. There is a strong force at Abu Hamecl, and our governor at Berber will move down there with all his force when he hears that the Egyptians are coming up the cataracts. Should it be the will of Allah that they should pass them and reach Berber, we shall know how to meet them. Mahmud has settled this evening that many strong forts are to be built on the river bank here, and if the infidels try to advance farther by water they will be all sunk. I agree with you and Mahmud, and wish that it had been otherwise, and that we could hurl ourselves at once upon the Egyptians and prevent their coming farther, but that Avould be but a partial success. If Ave wait, they will gather all their forces before they come, and we shall destroy them at one blow. Then we shall seize all their stores and animals, cross the desert to Dongola, march forward to Assouan, and there wait till the Khalifa brings his own army, and then who is to oppose us? We will conquer the land of the infidel. I am as eager for the day of battle as you are, but it seems to me that it is best to wait here until the infidels come, and I feel that it is wise of the Khalifa thus to order. Now I will to my tent."