Probably she will be sent
down to Berber. No doubt we shall all fall back."

"Then you will not pursue, sir?"

"No. The cavalry have already gone off in pursuit of their horsemen,
but they are not likely to catch them; for we hear that Osman Digna is
with them, and he seems to enjoy a special immunity from capture. As
for the other poor beggars, we could not do it if we wanted to. I
expect the campaign is over, for the present. Certainly, nothing can be
done till the railway is completed; then the gunboats can tow the
native craft, abreast of us, as we march along the river bank.

"Shendy has been captured, and we found twelve thousand Jaalin
prisoners there, women and children, and a large quantity of stores.
That is what makes the position of the Dervish fugitives so hopeless.
There is nothing before them but to find their way across the desert to
Omdurman, and I fancy that few of them will get there alive.

"No doubt some will keep along by the Atbara, and others by the Nile.
The latter will have the best chance, for the friendlies at Kassala
will be on the lookout for fugitives. I am sorry for the poor wretches,
though they richly deserve the worst that can befall them. They have
never shown mercy. For twenty years they have murdered, plundered, and
desolated the whole land, and have shown themselves more ferocious and
merciless than wild beasts."

He took out his pocketbook, wrote the order to Colonel Lewis; and then,
tearing the leaf out, handed it to Gregory, who at once made his way,
followed closely by Zaki, to the spot where two Egyptian battalions had
halted. They had no difficulty in finding Colonel Lewis, who was
receiving a report, from the officers of the two battalions, of the
casualties they had sustained. Gregory had met the Colonel several
times, at Berber, and the latter recognized him at once.

"Ah! Major Hilliard," that officer said, as he came up; "I am glad to
see you. I heard that you had been captured by the Dervishes, and
killed; but I suppose, as I see you here, that it was only the usual
canard."

"No, sir. I was captured; but, as you see, not killed, though it has
been a pretty close thing. This is a note, sir, that General Hunter
requested me to give you."

Colonel Lewis read the order.

"The women are down over there, a couple of hundred yards away," he
said. "I will send a sergeant and four men with you. If you will point
out Mahmud's wife, I will see that she is made as comf