r it will be in the defence of
Omdurman, or whether he will come out and attack us at Kerreri, none
can say. The Khalifa keeps his intentions to himself."

"By the bye, Hilliard, I don't think you know my right-hand neighbour;
he only joined us an hour before we started, having been left behind at
Cairo, sick.

"Mr. Hartley, let me introduce you to Mr. Hilliard--I should say
Bimbashi Hilliard. He is on General Hunter's staff."

The young lieutenant placed an eyeglass in his eye, and bowed to
Gregory.

"Have you been in this beastly country long?" he asked.

"If you include Lower Egypt, I have been here eighteen years."

"Dear me!" the other drawled; "the climate seems to have agreed with
you."

"Fairly well," Gregory replied. "I don't mind the heat much, and one
doesn't feel it, while one is at work."

"Hartley has not tried that, yet," one of the others laughed. "Work is
not in his line. This most unfortunate illness of his kept him back at
Cairo, and he brought such a supply of ice with him, when he came up,
that he was able to hand over a hundredweight of it to us when he
arrived. I don't think, Major, that in introducing him you should have
omitted to mention that, but for a temporary misfortune, he would be
the Marquis of Langdale; but in another two years he will blossom out
into his full title, and then I suppose we shall lose him."

Gregory, whose knowledge of the English peerage was extremely limited,
looked puzzled.

"May I ask how that is?" he said. "I always thought that the next heir
to a title succeeded to it, as soon as his father died."

"As a rule that is the case," the Major said, "but the present is an
exceptional one. At the death of the late marquis, the heir to the
title was missing. I may say that the late marquis only enjoyed the
title for two years. The next of kin, a brother of his, had
disappeared, and up to the present no news has been obtained of him. Of
course he has been advertised for, and so on, but without success. It
is known that he married, but as he did so against the wish of his
father, he broke off all communication with his family; and it is
generally supposed that he emigrated. Pending any news of him, the
title is held in abeyance.

"He may have died. It is probable that he has done so, for he could
hardly have escaped seeing the advertisements that were inserted in
every paper. Of course, if he has left children, they inherit the
title.

"After a lapse of fiv