s of
the Government we are going together with you to the prophet."

"So orders came to capture us?"

"To all the villages, to all the sheiks, to the military garrisons.
Wherever the copper wire, over which fly the commands of the Khedive,
does not reach, there came the 'zabdis' (gendarmes) with the
announcement that whoever captures you will receive one thousand pounds
reward. Mashallah!--That is great wealth!--Great!"

Idris glanced suspiciously at the speaker.

"But you prefer the blessing of the Mahdi?"

"Yes. He captured such immense booty and so much money in Khartum that
he measures the Egyptian pounds in fodder sacks and distributes them
among his faithful--"

"Nevertheless, if the Egyptian troops are yet in Wadi Haifa, and
further, they may seize us on the way."

"No. It is necessary only to hurry before they recover their wits. Now
since the retreat of the Englishmen they have lost their heads
entirely--the sheiks, the loyal to the Government, as well as the
soldiers and 'zabdis.' All think that the Mahdi at any moment will
arrive; for that reason those of us who in our souls favored him are
now running to him boldly, and nobody is pursuing us, for in the first
moments no one is issuing orders and no one knows whom to obey."

"Yes," replied Idris, "you say truly that it is necessary to hurry,
before they recover their wits, since Khartum is yet far--"

For an instant a faint gleam of hope glimmered again for Stas. If the
Egyptian soldiers up to that time occupied various localities on the
banks in Nubia, then in view of the fact that the English troops had
taken all the steamers, they would have to retreat before the Mahdi's
hordes by land. In such case it might happen that the caravan would
encounter some retreating detachment and might be surrounded. Stas
reckoned also that before the news of the capture of Khartum circulated
among the Arabian tribes north of Wadi Haifa, considerable time would
elapse; the more so as the Egyptian Government and the English people
suppressed it. He therefore assumed that the panic which must have
prevailed among the Egyptians in the first moment must have already
passed away. To the inexperienced boy it never occurred that in any
event the downfall of Khartum and the death of Gordon would cause
people to forget about everything else, and that the sheiks loyal to
the Government as well as the local authorities would now have
something else to do than to think of res