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The horses of the 19th Hussars received a bucketful apiece, which exhausted the supply of the wells. At six o'clock in the morning they again advanced, and after a rest of three hours at mid-day continued their way until midnight, when a light being seen at a distance the column was halted, and the Hussars went out and captured a caravan loaded with dates for the use of the Mahdi troops.
When it is remembered how easily an organised army, even though it be in a bad condition, can stamp out the beginnings of revolt among a population, the courage of their resolve must be admired. The messenger arrived. He was received with courtesy by Abdullah, and forthwith conducted before the Mahdi.
At first it was thought that some dispute might have arisen between the various tribes now occupying the place, but this idea was abandoned when it was seen that the cannon on the walls were discharged not into the town but towards the open country, and it was then concluded that some great festival of the Mahdi was being celebrated. The following day was Sunday.
At night on the 24th, and again on the 25th, the bulk of the rebel force was conveyed across the river to the right bank of the White Nile; the Mahdi preached them a sermon, promising them victory, and they were enjoined to receive his remarks in silence, so that no noise was heard in the beleaguered city.
This man towards whom all of them showed great deference was engaged when the captives entered; they were therefore obliged to stand aside for a few minutes. "Who is he?" asked Molloy of the negro interpreter. "Our great leader," said the negro, "the Mahdi." "What! the scoundrel that's bin the cause o' all this kick-up?" asked Jack Molloy, in surprise.
The principal troubles of the English grew out of the invasion of the false prophet called El Mahdi, who gathered to himself a host of followers in the Soudan, partly instigated by Moslem fanaticism, but largely impelled by their hatred of the Egyptian government established over that region. The people of the Soudan complained bitterly of the oppressive Egyptian officers.
The crowd retreated in terror; all save one woman, a grim-looking female with the indurated face of an old-established lodginghouse-keeper. This woman came forward, and jabbed at Mahdi the Missing Link with her umbrella. "Gerrout, yeh brute!" she said.
As this man afterwards succeeded Colonel Gordon as Governor-General of the Soudan, it is to him more than any one that the present Khedive is indebted for having lost the whole of the Soudan. By his tyranny, following after Gordon's kindness, the province was stirred into revolt, and the Mahdi enabled to usurp authority. We are, however, anticipating events.
As Gordon was not resorted to when the fall of El Obeid in the early part of the year 1883 showed that the situation demanded some decisive step, it is not surprising that he was left in inglorious inaction in Palestine, while, as I and others knew well, his uppermost thought was to be grappling with the Mahdi during the long lull of preparing Hicks's expedition, and of its marching to its fate.
As the officer had no suspicion that the Arab's first story was untrue he hesitated; then he said, "Not so; all your camels are forfeited for breaking the laws of the Mahdi." "But those who err in ignorance are surely not punished like those who err wilfully," the sheik urged. "But I am pressed for time.
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