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

Gregory went up to Colonel Wingate. " I beg your pardon, sir, but I find that Khatim, and probably his son, who were so kind to my father at El Obeid, have retired with a fighting force. Have I your permission to ride forward and call upon them to surrender?"

" Certainly, Mr. Hilliard, there has been bloodshed enough."

Being well mounted, Gregory overtook the cavalry and camel corps before they had gone two miles, as they were delayed by disarming the Dervishes, who were coming in in large numbers. Half a mile away a small body of men were to be seen keeping together, firing occasionally; their leader's flag was flying, and Gregory learned from a native that it was Khatim's. The cavalry were on the point of gathering for a charge as he rode up to the officer in command.

" I have Colonel Wingate's orders, sir, to ride forward and try to persuade the emir to surrender; he does not wish any further loss of life."

"Very well, sir; I am sure we have killed enough of the poor beggars. I hope he will give in."

As Gregory neared the party, which was some five hundred strong, several shots were fired at him; he waved a white handkerchief and the firing ceased. Two emirs rode forward to meet him.

" I have come, sir, from the English General to ask you to surrender. Your cause is lost; the Khalifa is dead, and most of his principal emirs. He is anxious that there should be no further loss of blood."

" We can die, sir, as the others have done," the elder emir, a man of some sixty years old, said sternly.

" But that would not avail your cause, sir. I solicited this mission as I owe much to you."

" How can that be?" the chief asked.

" I am the son of that white man whom you so kindly treated at El Obeid, where he saved the life of your son Abu;" and he bowed to the younger emir.

"Then he escaped?" the latter exclaimed.

" No, sir; he was killed at Hebbeh when the steamer in which he was going down from Khartoum was wrecked there; but I found his journal, in which he told the story of your kindness to him. I can assure you that you shall be well treated if you surrender, and those of your men who wish to do so will be allowed to return to El Obeid. I feel sure that when I tell our General how kindly you acted to the sole white officer who escaped from the battle, you and your son will be treated with the greatest consideration."

" I owe more to your father than he did to me," Abu exclaimed; " he saved my life and did many great services to us. What say you, Father? I am ready to die if you will it; but as the Khalifa is dead and the cause of Mahdism lost, I see no reason, and assuredly no disgrace, in submitting to the will of Allah."

" So be it," Khatim said. " I have never thought of surrendering to the Turks, but as it is the will of Allah I will do so."

He turned to his men. " It is useless to fight further," he said, " the Khalifa is dead. It were better to return to your wives and families than to throw away your lives. Lay down your arms; none will be injured."

It was with evident satisfaction that the Arabs laid musket and spear on the ground. They would have fought to the death had he ordered them, for they greatty loved their old chief, but as it was his order they gladly complied with it, as they saw that they had no chance of resisting the array of cavalry and camel corps gathered less than half a mile away.

"If you will ride back with me," Gregory said to the emir, " I will present you to the General. The men had better follow. I will ride forward and tell the officer commanding the cavalry that you have surrendered, and that the men approaching are unarmed."

He cantered back to the cavalry. " They have all surrendered, sir," he said; "they have laid down their arms at the place where they stood, and are going back to camp to surrender to Colonel Wingate."

" I am glad of it. My orders are to push on another three miles; on our return the camel corps shall collect the arms and bring them in."

Gregory rode back to the emirs, who were slowly crossing the plain, but who halted as the cavalry dashed on. " Now, Emirs," he said, " we can ride quietly back to camp."

" You have not taken our arms," Khatim said.

"No, Emir, it is not for me to ask for them; it is the General to whom you surrender, not me."

" I mourn to hear of the death of your father," Abu said, as they rode in; " he was a good man and a skilful hakim."

" He speaks always in the highest terms of you, Emir, in his journal, and tells how he performed that operation on your left arm which was necessary to save your life, but did so with great doubt, fearing that, never having performed one before, he might fail to save your life."

"I have often wondered what became of him," Abu said.

" I believed that he had got safely into Khartoum, and I enquired about him when we entered. When I found that he was not among the killed I trusted that he might have escaped. I grieve much to hear that he was killed while on his way down."

" Such was the will of Allah," Khatim said. " He preserved him at the battle, He preserved him in the town, He enabled him to reach Khartoum; but it was not His will that he should return to his countrymen. I say with Abu that he was a good man, and while he remained with us was ever ready to use his skill for our benefit. It was Allah's will that his son should after all these years come to us, for assuredly if any other white officer had asked us to surrender I would have refused."

" Many strange things happen by the will of God," Gregory said. " It was wonderful that, sixteen years after his death, I should find my father's journal at Hebbeh and learn the story of his escape after the battle and of his stay with you at El Obeid."

Gregory rode into camp between the two emirs. He paused for a minute and handed over their followers to the officer in charge of the prisoners, and then went to the hut formerly occupied by the Khalifa, where Colonel Wingate had now established himself. Colonel Wingate came to the entrance.

"These are El Khatim and his son Abu, sir. They surrendered on learning that I was the son of the British officer whom they had protected and sheltered for a year after the battle of El Obeid."

The two emirs had withdrawn their swords and pistols from their sashes, and advancing, offered them to the Colonel. The latter did not offer to receive them.

"Keep them," he said, "we can honour brave foes; and you and your followers were ready to fight and die when all seemed lost. Still more do I refuse to receive the weapons of the men who defended an English officer when he was helpless and a fugitive; such an act would alone ensure good treatment at our iiands. Your followers have surrendered?"

"They have all laid down their arms," Khatim said.

"Do you give me your promise that you will no more fight against us?"

"We do," Khatim replied; "we have received our weapons back from you and would assuredly not use them against our conquerors."

"In that case, Emir, you and your son are at liberty to depart, and your men can return with you. There will, I trust, be no more fighting in the land. The Mahdi is dead, his successor proved a false prophet and is dead also. Mahdism is at an end, and now our object will be to restore peace and prosperity to the land. In a short time all the prisoners will be released. Those who choose will" be allowed to enter our service; the rest can return to their homes. We bear no enmity against them; they fought under the orders of their chiefs, and fought bravely and well. When they return I hope they will settle down and cultivate the land, and undo, as far as may be, the injuries they have inflicted upon it.

" I will write an order, Mr. Hilliard, to release at once the men you have brought in; then I will ask you to ride with these emirs to a point where there will be no fear of their falling in with our cavalrj^."