"You know me,' I said.I am your Bimbashi. I am going to try and get through their lines; but if it is known how I have escaped I shall be pursued and slain. Will you swear to me that if you are questioned you will say you know nothing of my flight?'
"' I swear by the beard of the Prophet,' the man said.May Allah protect you, my lord!'
"Then I went on. The night was fairly dark, and as the Dervishes were nearly half a mile away I had no fear of being seen by them. There were many of their dead scattered about, seventy or eighty yards from our square. I had all along felt convinced that it would be impossible to pass through their lines; therefore I went to a spot where I had noticed that a number had fallen close together, and went about examining them carefully. It would not have done to have chosen the dress of an emir, as his body might have been examined, but the ordinary dead would pass unnoticed. I first exchanged the robe for one marked with the Mahdi's patches. It was already smeared with blood. I then carried the body of the man whose robe I had taken off for some distance. I laid him down on his face, thinking that the absence of the patches would not be seen. Then I crawled
some thirty or forty yards nearer to the Dervishes, so that it would seem that I had strength to get that far before dying. Then I lay down partly on my side, so that the patches would show, but with my face downwards on my arm.
" I had, before dyeing my skin, cut my hair close to my head, on which I placed the Dervish's turban. The only property that I brought out with me was a revolver and this pocket-book. Both of these I buried in the sand; the pocket-book a short distance away, the pistol lightly covered and within reach of my hand, so that I could grasp it and sell my life dearly if discovered.
" Soon after daylight I heard the triumphant yells of the Dervishes, and knew that my men had surrendered. Then there was a rush of horse and foot, and much shouting and talking. I lifted my head slightly and looked across. Not a Dervish was to be seen in front of me. I felt that I had better move, so, taking up my pistol and hiding it, I crawled on my hands and knees to the spot where I had hidden this book, and then got up on to my feet and staggered across the plain as if sorely wounded and scarcely able to drag my feet along. As I had hoped, no one seemed to notice me, and I saw three or four other figures also making their way painfully towards where the Dervishes had encamped.
" Here were a few camels standing untended. Everyone had joined in the rush for booty—a rush to be met with bitter disappointment, for, with the exception of the arms of the fallen, and what few valuables they might have about their person, there was nothing to be gained. I diverged from the line I had been following, kept on until there was a dip in the ground that would hide me from the sight of those behind, then I started to run, and at last threw myself down in the scrub four or five miles away from the point from which I had started. I was perfectly safe for the present. The Dervishes were not likely to search over miles of the desert, dotted as it was with thick bushes. The question was as to the future. My position was almost as bad as could be; I was
without food or water, and there were hundreds of miles of desert between me and Khartoum. At every water-hole I should almost certainly find parties of Dervishes.
" From time to time I lifted my head and saw several large parties of the enemy moving in the distance. They were evidently bound on a journey, and were not thinking of looking for me. I chewed the sour leaves of the camel bush, and this to some extent alleviated my thirst. I determined at last that I would, in the first place, march to the wells towards which we had been pressing when the Dervishes came up to us. They were nearly three miles south of the spot where the square had stood. No doubt Dervishes would be there, but if discovered by them it was better to die so than of thirst. Half an hour before the sun sank I started. No horsemen were in sight, and if any were to come along I could see them long before they could notice me. Knowing the general direction, I was fortunate enough to get sight of the palm-grove which surrounded the wells before darkness set in.
"It lay about two miles away, and there were certainly moving objects round it. I lay down until twilight had passed, and then went forward. When within two or three hundred yards of the grove, I lay down again and Avaited. That the Dervishes would all go to sleep, however long I might wait, was too much to hope for. They would be sure to sit and talk far into the night of the events of the last three or four days. Shielding myself as well as I could by the bushes, I crawled up until I was in the midst of some camels which were browsing. Here I stood up, and then walked boldly into the grove. As I had expected, two or three score of Dervishes were sitting in groups, talking gravely. They had destroyed the Turks (as they always called the Egyptians and their infidel white leaders), but had suffered heavily themselves. The three hundred Soudanese who had surrendered, and who had taken service with the Mahdi, were but poor compensation for the losses they had suffered.
"A year ago,' one old sheik said,I was the father of eight
brave sons. Now they have all gone before me. Four of them fell in the assaults at El Obeid, two at Baria, and the last two have now been killed. I shall meet them all again in the abode of the blessed, and the sooner the better, for I have no one left to care for.' Others had tales of the loss of relations and friends, but I did not wait to listen further. Taking up a large water gourd that stood empty at the foot of one of the trees, I boldly walked to the well, descended the rough steps at the water's edge, and drank till I could drink no longer, and then, filling the gourd, went up again. No one noticed me. Had they looked at me they would have seen even in the darkness the great patches down the front of the robe, but I don't think anyone did notice me. Other figures were moving about from group to group, and I kept on through the grove until beyond the trees. I came out on the side opposite to that which I had entered, and, as I expected, found some of the Dervish horses grazing among the bushes.
"No guard was placed over them, as the}'' were too well trained to wander far. I went out to them and chose the poorest, which happened to be farther among the bushes than the others. I had thought the matter well over. If a good horse were taken, there would be furious pursuit as soon as it was missed, and this might be soon, for the Arabs are passionately fond of their favourite horses—more so than they are of their families. While I had been waiting at the edge of the wood more than one had come out to pat and fondle his horse and give it a handful of dates. But a poor animal would meet with no such attention, and the fact that he was missing was not likely to be discovered till daylight. Probably no great search would be made for it; the others would ride on, and its owner might spend some hours in looking about, thinking it had strayed away and was lying somewhere among the bushes.
" I had no thought of trying to return to Khartoum. The wells were far apart, and Dervish bands were certain to be moving along the line. It seemed to me that El Obeid was
the safest place to go to. True, it was in the hands of the Mahdists, but doubtless many wounded would be making their way there. Some doubtless would have wives and children, others might have come from distant villages, but these would all make for the town as the only place where they could find food, water, and shelter. Riding till morning I let the horse graze, and threw myself down among the bushes, intending to remain there until nightfall. In the afternoon, on waking from a long sleep, I sat up and saw a quarter of a mile away a Dervish making his way along on foot, slowly and painfully. This was the very chance I had hoped might occur. I got up at once and walked towards him. 'My friend is sorely wounded,' I said.