ow
of Lord Granville in London, and say, And now send men to Joppa, and call
for one Gordon, and he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." Strange
to say, about this time, Gordon was sent for to London, where he had
interviews with Lord Hartington, Secretary of State for War, Lord
Granville, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lord Northbrook, First Lord of
the Admiralty, and Sir Charles Dilke, President of the Local Government
Board, at the War Office, and in a very short space of time, the
question, which was destined to have far reaching results, was settled,
and Gordon declared his willingness to go to Khartoum at the earliest
possible date. Indeed he said, "At once," and to go alone.

Something like the following conversation is said to have taken place
between Gordon and one of his very intimate friends: "Well, General, have
you got your kit ready?" His reply was, "I have got what I always have:
this hat is good enough, so are these clothes, my boots I think are
strong enough." "And how are you off for cash?" "Ah! I was nearly
forgetting that. I had to borrow 25 pounds from the King of the Belgians
to bring me home from Palestine; this I must repay, and I shall of course
need a little more for common daily use." "How much do you think, two or
three thousand pounds?" "Oh dear no! One hundred pounds apiece for
myself and Stewart, will be enough; what on earth should we want so much
money for." And so the gallant general, with his faithful companion--the
late lamented Colonel Stewart, started.

We are told they were accompanied to Charing Cross railway station by H.
R. H. the Duke of Cambridge, who took their tickets for them; also by
Lord Wolseley (who would insist on carrying Gordon's portmanteau),
Colonel Brackenbury, and Lord Hartington's private secretary, who bade
them good-bye, and God speed on their mission, from which they were never
to return. We think history will never record a more heroic example of
patriotism, than that of this God-fearing officer, riding forth upon his
swift footed camel, with only one English friend and companion, the
Colonel Stewart, and a few Arab attendants, to confront and settle the
wild and barbarous hordes of the Madhi.

One of our papers published the following appropriate lines:--

"Not with an army at command,
Not fenced about with guns and swords,
But trusting to their single hands,
Amid a host of savage hordes,
The hero Gordon wends in haste,