"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 gun-boats 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 look-o^t 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 pocket-book, 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 comfortable as possible."
" Thank you, sir! It is to her I owe my life, and I am most anxious to do all I can to repay the debt."
" You came along through the other brigades; do you know what their losses have been 1"
"The British losses are not heavy, sir, considering the fire they have been exposed to. Macdonald's brigade suffered most, I believe."
"Yes; I saw one of the officers just now. It seems they came down upon Mahmud's picked body-guard, and these fought desperately. They found Mahmud in the usual attitude in which the Dervish emirs await death when they are conquered. He was sitting quietly on his mat, with his arms laid down beside him, and was, I should imagine, somewhat surprised at finding that he was not cut to pieces at once."
" I am glad he was not, sir, for he certainly behaved well to me. It was through the influence of his wife, I admit, but in sparing me he really risked serious disaffection among his followers, and at last gave way only to coercion."
The sergeant and men had now come up, and Gregory went off with them. Three or four hundred women were seated on the ground together, with half a dozen Egyptian soldiers standing as sentry over them. More or less closely veiled as they were, Gregory could not distinguish Fatma among them; and indeed, except when he first reached her in the water, he had not got a glimpse of her features. The question, however, was speedily settled when a woman rose in the middle of the group with a cry of gladness. "So you are saved!" she exclaimed. " I have feared so that you were killed. Have you news of Mahmud?"
" Yes, lady. He is a prisoner, but well and unharmed. I have obtained an order from the General that you are to be treated with honours as his wife. We cannot do much for you at present, but all that is possible will be done. I have represented your kindness to me, and these soldiers will at once erect an arbour for you, and food will be brought for you all as soon as matters have settled down a little."
The Egyptian soldiers had already begun to cut down saplings. Accustomed as they were to the work, in half an hour they had erected an arbour. Fatma was then assisted into it with the other women of the harem. The sergeant gave orders to the sentries that no one was to be allowed to interfere in any way with them, and then Gregory took his leave, saying that he would return later on. He again joined General Hunter, who seemed to be his natural chief now that his service in the gun-boat was over.
The list of casualties was now being brought in. The Uamerons, who had led the attack in line, had lost most heavily; they had fifteen killed and forty-six wounded, among them being two officers killed and one mortally wounded. The Sea-forths had one officer killed and one mortally wounded, and four others less severely; in all, six killed and twenty-seven wounded. The Lincolns had one killed and eighteen wounded; the Warwicks two killed and eighteen wounded. Many of the wounded afterwards died. The Egyptians had lost more heavily. The casualties among them were: fifty-seven killed, and four British and sixteen native officers and three hundred and sixty-seven non-commissioned officers and men wounded. The Dervish loss was terrible. Three thousand men were killed, among whom were nearly all the emirs, and two thousand were taken prisoners. The rest were hopeless fugitives, and a vast number of these must have been wounded.
There was but a short rest for the troops. When the wounded had been collected and carried to a neighbouring palm grove, where the surgeons did all that could then be done for them; and the trophies of the fight—banners and spears, guns of all sorts, swords and knives—had been gathered, principally by the exultant Soudanese and Egyptians, the force prepared for a start.
" May I ask, General, what is to be done with the women?" Gregory said.
" I have been speaking to the Sirdar about them, and I was just going to ask you to go with me to them. They are, of course, not to be considered as prisoners. They cannot stay here, or they would die of hunger; therefore they had best follow the troops, at any rate as far as the Atbara camp. They will have food given them, and must then decide for themselves what they are to do. It is a difficult question altogether. The only thing that can at present be settled is that they mustn't be allowed to die of hunger, and they must be protected against molestation. The troops will march at four o'clock. The Egyptian brigade have volunteered to carry the wounded; they will start later. The women had better follow them.
No doubt some of them will find their husbands among the prisoners, so that there will be no trouble about them."
"What will be done with the men, sir?"
The General smiled. "To-morrow they will probably enlist in our service to a man, and will fight just as sturdily as the other Soudanese battalions against their brethren in Khartoum. All the prisoners we have hitherto taken who are fit for the work have done so, and, as has been shown to-day, are just as ready to fight on our side as they were against us. They are a fighting people, and it is curious how they become attached to their white officers, whom formerly they hated as infidels."
When the matter was explained to them, the women accepted the situation with the resignation that is natural to the Mahomedan woman. Gregory was able to assure Fatma that in a short time she would undoubtedly be allowed to join Mahmud, and accompany him wherever he was sent.
" But will they not kill him?" she said.
"We never kill prisoners. Even the bitterest enemy that may fall into our hands is well treated. Mahmud will doubtless be sent down to Cairo, and it will then be settled where he is to be taken to; but you may be sure that wherever it may be, he will be well treated and cared for."