He waved his hand to them and wished them farewell as they started, and his staff shouted their wishes for a safe journey. The black soldiers, seeing that, whoever these Dervishes might be, they were well known to the General and his officers, raised a cheer, to which Zaki, who had hitherto kept in the background, waved his rifle in reply. As his face was familiar to numbers of the Soudanese, they now recognized him and cheered more heartily than before, laughing like school-boys at the transformation.
CHAPTER XXI
GEDAREH
ABDUL AZIM was right about the camels,' Gregory said, as soon as they were fairly off. ' I have never ridden on one like this before. What a difference there is between them and the ordinary camel! It is not only that they go twice as fast, but the motion is so pleasant and easy.'
' Yes, master, these are riding camels of good breed. They cost twenty times as much as the others. They think nothing of keeping up this rate for twelve hours without a stop.'
' If they do that we shall be near the Atbara before it is dark. It is ten o'clock now, and if General Hunter's map is right we have only about eighty miles to go, and I should think they are trotting seven miles an hour.'
They carried their rifles slung behind them and across the shoulders rather than upright, as was the Arab fashion. The spears were held in their right hands.
'We must see if we can't fasten the spears in some other way, Zaki; we should find them a nuisance if we held them in our hands all the way. I should say it would be easy to fasten them across the saddle in front of us. If we see horsemen in the distance we can take them into our hands.'
' I think, master, it would be easier to fasten them behind the saddles, where there is more width, and rings on the saddle on both sides.'
A short halt was made, and the spears fixed. Gregory then looked at his compass.
'We must make for that rise two or three miles away. I see exactly the point we must aim for. When we get there we must look at the compass again.'
They kept steadily on for six hours. They had seen no human figure since they started.
' We will stop here for half an hour,' Gregory said. ' Give the animals a drink of water and a handful or two of grain.'
' I don't think they will want water, master. They had as much as they could drink before starting, and they are accustomed to drink when their work is over.'
'Very well; at any rate we will take something.'
They opened one of the water-skins, and poured some of the contents into a gourd; then, sitting down in the shadow of the camels, they ate some dates and bread. They had only brought native food with them, so that if captured and examined there should be nothing to show that they had been in contact with Europeans. Gregory had even left his revolver behind him, as, being armed with so good a weapon as a Remington, it was hardly likely that it would be needed, and if found upon them it would be accepted as a proof that he was in the employment of the infidels.
It was dusk when they arrived at the bank of the river. No incident had marked the journey, nor had they seen any sign that Dervishes were in the neighbourhood. The Atbara was in full flood, and was rushing down at six or seven miles an hour.
' Colonel Parsons must have had great difficulty in crossing,
Zaki. He is hardly likely to have brought any boats across trom Kassala. I don't know whether he has any guns with him, but if he has I don't think he can have crossed, even if they made rafts enough to carry them.'
They kept along the bank until they reached a spot where the river had overflowed. Here the camels drank their fill. A little grain was given to them, and then they were turned loose to browse on the bushes.
' There is no fear of their straying, I suppose, Zaki?'
'No, master; they are always turned loose at night. As there are plenty of bushes here they will not go far.'
After another meal they both lay down to sleep, and as soon as it was light Zaki fetched in the camels and they continued their journey. In an hour they arrived at a village. The people were already astir, and looked with evident apprehension at the seeming Dervishes.
'Has a party of infidels passed along here?' Gregory asked the village sheik, who came out and salaamed humbly.
' Yes, my lord, a party of soldiers with some white officers came through here three days ago.'
' How many were there of them ?'
' There must have been more than a thousand of them.'
'Many more?'
'Not many; perhaps a hundred more. Your servant did not count them.'
' Had they any cannon with them? '
' No, my lord; they were all on foot. They all carried guns, but there were no mounted men or cannon.'
' Where is Fadil and his army that they thus allowed so small a force to march along unmolested ?'
'They say that he is still near the Nile. Two of his scouts were here the day before the Turks came along. They stayed here for some hours, but as they said nothing about the Turks coming from Kassala, I suppose they did not know they had crossed the river.'
' Well, we must go on and see where they are. They must be mad to come with so small a force when they must have known that Fadil has a large army. They will never go back again.'
Without further talk Gregory rode farther on. At each village through which they passed they had some news of the passage of Colonel Parsons' command. The camels had been resting from the time when Omdurman was taken, and having been well fed that morning Gregory did not hesitate to press them. The troops would not march above twenty-five miles a day, and two days would take them to Mugatta, so that if they halted there but for a day he should be able to overtake them that night. The character of the country was now greatly changed; the bush was thick and high, and a passage through it would be very difficult for mounted men. There was no fear, therefore, that they would turn off before arriving at Mugatta, from which place there would probably be a track of some sort to Gedareh. It was but a thirty-mile ride, and on arriving near the village Gregory saw that a considerable number of men were assembled there. He checked his camel.
' What do you make them out to be, Zaki? Your eyes are better than mine. They may be Colonel Parsons' force, and on the other hand they may be Dervishes who have closed in behind him to cut off his retreat.'
' They are not Dervishes, master,' Zaki said, after a long, steady look; ' they have not white turbans. Some of their clothes are light, and some dark, but all have dark caps like those the Soudanese troops wear.'
'That is good enough, Zaki. We will turn our robes inside out so as to hide the patches, as otherwise we might have a hot reception.'
When they were a quarter of a mile from the village several men started out from the bushes, rifle in hand. They were all in Egyptian uniform. 'We are friends!' Gregory shouted in Arabic. 'I am an officer of the Khedive, and have come from Omdurman with a message to your commander,'
A native officer, one of the party, at once saluted. 'You will find the bey in the village, bimbashi.'
' How long have you been here?'
' We came in yesterday, and I hear that we shall start tomorrow, but I know not whether that is so.'
'Are there any Dervishes about?'
' Yes; forty of them yesterday afternoon, coming from Gedareh and ignorant that we were here, rode in among our outposts on that hill to the west. Three of them were killed and three made prisoners; the rest rode away.'
With a word of thanks Gregory rode on. He dismounted when he reached the village, and was directed to a neighbou^ , -ing hut. Here Colonel Parsons and the six Avhite officers with him were assembled. A native soldier was on sentry at the door.
'I want to speak to Parsons Bey.' The Colonel, hearing the words, came to the door. ' Colonel Parsons,' Gregory said in English, 'I am Major Hilliard of the Egyptian army, and have the honour to be the bearer of a message to you from General Rundle, now in command at Omdurman.'
' You are well disguised indeed, sir,' the Colonel said with a smile, as he held out his hand. ' I should never have taken you for anything but a native. Where did you spring from! You can never have ridden, much less walked,
