With Kitchener in the Soudan : a story of Atbara and Omdurman Read online

  With Kitchener in the Soudan : a story of Atbara and Omdurman

  G.A. Henty

  Gregory Hilliard Hartley is a young man, brother to the heir of an English estate. When he marries a young lady lower on the social ladder than his father wished, he was expelled from his father's house. He soon travels to Egypt, due to his knowledge of Arabic, and obtains employment with a merchant firm. When the Dervishes attack and destroy his employer's warehouse, he joins the army under Hicks Pasha as an interpreter. The expedition is destroyed, and no news is heard of Gregory.

  His wife lives in Cairo, uncertain of his fate. Years pass, and she brings up their young son, also named Gregory, and ensures that he is taught several native languages. When she dies, Gregory is left alone in the world, with a small bank account and a mysterious tin box only to be opened when he is certain of his father's death.

  Gregory obtains a position as interpreter in the expedition under Lord Kitchener which is advancing into the Soudan to attack the Dervish forces. He endures many hardships and dangers in the great campaign, and gains high distinction, while continuing his search for his father. Soon, a discovery leads him to a clue, and the tin box, once opened, reveals a surprising discovery about his true identity.

  PREFACE

  The reconquest of the Soudan will ever be mentioned as one of the most difficult and at the same time the most successful enterprises ever undertaken. The task of carrying an army hundreds of miles across a waterless desert, conveying it up a great river bristling with obstacles, defeating an enormously superior force unsurpassed in the world for courage, and finally killing the leader of the enemy and crushing out the last spark of opposition, was a stupendous one. After the death of Gordon and the retirement of the British troops there was no force in existence that could have barred the advance of the fanatical hordes of the Mahdi had they poured down into Egypt. The native Egyptian army was as yet in the earliest stage of organization, and could not be relied upon to stand firm against the wild rush of the Dervishes. Fortunately time was given for that organization to be completed, and when at last the Dervish forces marched north they were repulsed. Assouan was saved, and Wady Haifa became the Egyptian outpost.

  Gradually preparations were made for taking the offensive: a railway was constructed along the banks of the Nile, and a mixed force of British and Egyptians drove the enemy beyond Dongola; then by splendidly-organized labour a railroad was made from Wady Haifa across the desert towards the elbow of the great bend from Dongola to Abu Hamed. The latter place was captured by an Egyptian brigade moving up from the former place, and from that moment the movement was carried on with irresistible energy. The railway was pushed forward to Abu Hamed, and then southward past Berber up to the Atbara river. An army of twenty thousand men under one of the Khalifa's sons was attacked in a strong position and defeated with immense loss. Fresh British troops were then brought up, and, escorted by gun-boats and steamers carrying provisions, the army marched up the Nile, crushed the Khalifa's great host before Omdurman, and recovered possession of Khartoum.

  Then the moving spirit of this enterprise, the man whose marvellous power of organization had secured its success, was called to other work. Fortunately he had a worthy successor in Colonel Wingate, who, with a native force, encountered that which the Khalifa had again gathered near El Obeid, the scene of the total destruction of the army under Hicks Pasha, and routed it with ease, killing the Khalifa and all his principal emirs. Thus a land that had been turned into a desert by the terrible tyranny of the Mahdi and his successor was wrested from barbarism and restored to civilization, and the stain upon British honour caused by the desertion of Gordon by the British ministry of the day was wiped out. It was a marvellous campaign—marvellous in the perfection of its organization, marvellous in the completeness of its success.

  G. A. HENTY.

  WITH KITCHENER IN THE SOUDAN

  CHAPTER I

  DISINHERITED

  WANTED, an active and intelligent young man for general work in a commercial house having a branch at Alexandria. It is desirable that he should be able to write a good hand, and if necessary to assist in office work. Wages £2 per week. Personal application to be made at Messrs. Partridge & Co., 453 Leadenhall Street."

  This advertisement was read by a man of five or six and twenty, in a small room in the upper story of a house in Lupus Street, Pimlico. He was not the only inmate of the room, for a young woman, apparently not more than eighteen, was sitting there sewing, her work interrupted occasionally by a short, hacking cough. Her husband, for this was the relation in which he stood to her, put down the paper carelessly and then got up.

  " I am going out, dear, on my usual search. You know we have agreed that it is of no use my trying to live by my pen. I get an article accepted occasionally, but it's not enough to provide more than bread and cheese. I must look for something else."

  "But you must succeed presently, Gregory."

  "Yes, dear; but while the grass grows the horse starves. At any rate I will try for something else. If I get anything, it won't prevent my writing; and when my genius is recognized I can drop the other thing and take to literature

  regularly again. Well, I won't be away longer than I can help. Anyhow I will be back to our mid-day banquet. I will bring a couple of rashers of bacon in with me. We have potatoes enough, I think."

  So saying, he kissed his wife tenderly and went out.

  Gregory Hartley belonged to a good family. He was the second son of the Hon. James Hartley, brother of the Marquis of Langdale. He had been educated at Harrow and Cambridge, and after leaving the university had gone out to Egypt with a friend of his father's, who was an enthusiast in the exploration of the antiquities of that country. Gregory had originally intended to stay there a few months at most, but he was infected by the enthusiasm of his companion, and remained in Egypt for two years, when the professor was taken ill and died, and he returned home.

  A year later he fell in love with the governess in a neighbouring family; his feeling was reciprocated, and they became engaged. His father was furious when his son told him what had taken place.

  "It is monstrous," he said, "after the education that you have had, and the place that I, if I survive him, or, if not, your brother, will take at the death of your uncle, that you should dream of throwing yourself away in this manner. I have looked to your making a good marriage, for, as you know, I am not what may be called a rich man. Your brother's tastes are expensive, and what with his education and yours, and the allowances I have made you both, it is as much as I have been able to do to keep up our position. And there are your sisters to be provided for. The idea of your falling in love with this young woman is monstrous."

  " Young lady, Father. She is a clergyman's daughter."

  " I won't hear of such a thing—I will not hear of it for a moment; and if you persist in this mad folly, I tell you fairly that from this moment I shall have nothing more to say to you! You have to choose between me and this penniless beggar."

  " I am sorry you put it in that way, sir. My choice is made. I am engaged to this young lady, and shall certainly marry her. I trust that when your present anger has subsided you will recognize that my honour was involved in the matter, and that even if I wished it I could not, without showing myself to be a downright cad, draw back."

  And so Gregory Hartley married the girl of his choice. She had for some time refused to allow him to sacrifice himself; but when she found that he was as determined as his father, and absolutely refused to release her from the engagement, she had given way, and had, after a quiet marriage, ac
companied him to London. There he had endeavoured to get literary work, but had found it much harder than he had expected. The market was overcrowded, and they had moved from comfortable lodgings into small rooms, and so step by step had come to the attic in Lupus Street. He was doing a little better now, and had hopes that ere long he would begin to make his way steadily up. But the anxiety had told on his wife. Never very strong, she had developed a short, hard cough, and he had drawn upon his scanty reserves to consult a specialist

  "There is undoubtedly lung trouble," the latter said. "If you can manage it, I should say that she ought certainly to be taken to a warm climate. The damage is not extensive as yet, and it is probable that under favourable circumstances she might shake it off; but I fear that if she continues to live in London her chances are not great."

  This Gregory felt was almost equivalent to a death-sentence, and he had begun to consult the advertisements in the papers for some post abroad. He had, unknown to her, applied for several situations, but without success. "When he first read the advertisement that morning, he had hardly thought of applying for the situation. His pride revolted at the idea of becoming a mere messenger; but his wife's cough had decided him.

  What did it matter, so that he could save her life? "I may

  not get it," he said to himself as he went out; " but my knowledge of Arabic and the native dialect is all in my favour. And at least in a year or two she may have thoroughly shaken off the cough, and that is everything. At any rate I have a better chance of getting this, than I had of the other places that I applied for. There can hardly be a rush of applicants. When I am out there I may hear of something better. However, I will take another name. Fortunately I have a second one, which will do very well. Hilliard will do as well as Hartley; and as I never write it in full as my signature, no one would recognize it as my name. There is nothing to be ashamed of in accepting such a post. As for the marquis, as he has never been friendly with us, it does not matter; he is, I have heard, a very tough sort of man, and my father is not likely to survive him. But I do not think it would be fair to Geoffrey, when he comes into his peerage, that anyone should be able to say that he has a brother who is porter in a mercantile house at Alexandria. We have never got on very well together. The fact that he was heir to a title spoilt him. I think he would have been a very good fellow if it hadn't been for that."

  On arriving at the office in Leadenhall Street he was, on saying he wished to speak to Mr. Partridge, at once shown in. A good many of his personal belongings had been long since pledged, but he had retained one or two suits, so that he could make as good an appearance as possible when he went out. The clerk had merely said " A gentleman wishes to speak to you, sir," and the merchant looked up enquiringly at him as he entered.

  " I have come to see you, sir, with reference to that advertisement for a man at your establishment at Alexandria."

  A look of surprise came over the merchant's face, and he said: "Have you called on your own account?"

  "Yes; I am anxious to go abroad for the sake of my wife's health, and I am not particular as to what I do, so that I can take her to a warm climate. I may say that I have been two years in Egypt, and speak Arabic and Koptic fluently. I am strong and active, and am ready to make myself useful in any way."

  Mr. Partridge did not answer for a minute. Certainly this applicant was not at all the sort of man he had expected to apply for the place in answer to his advertisement. That he was evidently a gentleman was far from an advantage, but the fact that he could speak the languages would add much to his value.

  "Can you give me references?" he said at last.

  "I cannot, sir. I should not like to apply to any of my friends in such a matter. I must ask you to take me on trust. Frankly, I have quarrelled with my family and have to strike out for myself. Were it not for my wife's health I could earn my living, but I am told it is essential that she should go to a warm climate, and as I see no other way of accomplishing this I have applied for this situation, hoping that my knowledge of the language and my readiness to perform whatever duties I may be required to do, might induce you to give me a trial."

  "And you would, if necessary—say in the case of illness of one of my clerks—be ready to help in the office?'"

  "Certainly, sir."

  "Will you call again in half an hour? I will give you an answer then."

  By the time Gregory returned, the merchant's mind was made up. He had come to the conclusion that the story he had heard was a true one; the way it had been told was convincing. The man was undoubtedly a gentleman; there was no mistake in his manner and talk. He had quarrelled with his family, probably over his marriage, and, as so many had done, found it difficult to keep his head above water. His wife had been ordered to a warm climate, and he was ready to do anything that would enable him to keep her there. It would assuredly be a great advantage to have one who could act in an emergency as a clerk; of course his knowledge of Ianguage would greatly add to his utility. It certainly was not business to take a man without a reference, but the advantages more than counterbalanced the disadvantages. It was not likely that he would stay with him long, but at any rate the fact that he was taking his wife with him would ensure his staying until he saw something a great deal better elsewhere. When Gregory returned therefore he said:

  " I have been thinking this matter over. What is your name?"

  "Gregory Hilliard, sir."

  "Well, I have been thinking it over, and I have decided to engage you. I quite believe the story that you have told me, and your appearance fully carries it out. You may consider the matter settled. I am willing to pay for a second-class passage for your wife as well as yourself, and will give such instructions to my agents there as will render your position as easy for you as possible. In the natural course of things your duties would have included the sweeping out of the offices and work of that description, but I will instruct him to engage a native to do this under your supervision. You will be in charge of the warehouse under the chief storekeeper, and, as you say, you will, in case of pressure of work in the office, take a desk there. In consideration of your knowledge of the language, which will render you at once more useful than a green hand would be, I shall add ten shillings a week to the wages named in the advertisement, which will enable you to obtain comfortable lodgings.' ;

  "I am heartily obliged to you, sir," Gregory said, "and will do my best to show that your confidence in me has not been misplaced. When do you wish me to sail? I shall only require a few hours to make my preparations."

  " Then in that case I will take a passage for you and your wife in the P. & 0. that sails next Thursday from Southampton. I may say that it is our custom to allow fifteen pounds for outfit. If you will call again in half an hour I will hand you the ticket and a cheque for that amount, and you can call the day before you go, for a letter to our agents there."

  Gregory ascended the stairs to his lodging with a far more elastic step than usual. His wife saw at once, as he entered, that he had good news of some sort.

  'What is it, Gregory?"

  "Thank God, darling, that I have good news to give you at last! I have obtained a situation at about a hundred and thirty pounds a year in Alexandria."

  "Alexandria?" she repeated in surprise.

  " Yes. It is the place of all others that I wanted to go to; you see I understand the language. That is one thing; and what is of infinitely more consequence, it is a place that will suit your health, and you will, I hope, very soon get rid of that nasty cough. I did not tell you at the time, but the doctor I took you to, said that this London air did not suit you, but that a warm climate would soon set you up again."

  " You are going out there for my sake, Gregory! As if I hadn't brought trouble enough on you already!"

  "I would bear a good deal more trouble for your sake, dear; you need not worry about that."

  "And what are you going to do?" she asked.

  " I am going to be a sort of useful man—extra clerk, ass
istant storekeeper, et cetera, et cetera. I like Egypt very much, it- will suit me to a T; at any rate it will be a vast improvement upon this. Talking of that, I have forgotten the rashers; I will go and get them at once. We sha'n't have to depend upon them as our main staple in future, for fruit is dirt-cheap out there, and one does not want much meat. We shall be able to live like princes on two pounds ten a week, and besides, this appointment may lead to something better, and we may consider that there is a future before us. We are to sail on Thursday. Look! here are fifteen golden sovereigns, that is for my outfit, and we can begin with luxuries at once. We shall not want much outfit: half a dozen suits of white drill for myself and some gowns for you."

  "Nonsense, Gregory! I shan't want anything. You would not let me sell any of my dresses, and I have half a dozen light ones. I shall not want a penny spent on me."

  "Very well; then I will begin to be extravagant at once. In the first place, I will go down to that confectioner's round the corner, and we will celebrate my appointment with a cold chicken and a bottle of port. I shall be back in five minutes."

  " Will it be very hot, Gregory?" she asked, as they ate their meal. "Not that I am afraid of heat, you know; I always like summer."

  "No; at any rate not at present. We are going out at the best time of year, and it Avill be a comfort indeed to change these November fogs for the sunshine of Egypt. You will have four or five months to get strong again before it begins to be hot. Even in summer there are cool breezes morning and evening, and of course no one thinks of going out in the middle of the day. I feel as happy as a school-boy at the thought of getting out of this den and this miserable climate, and of basking in the sunshine. We have had a bad beginning, dear, but we have better clays before us."

  "Thank God, Gregory! I have not cared about myself. But it has been a trial, when your manuscripts have come back, to see you sitting here slaving away; and to know that it is I who have brought you to this."