" I think there can be no difficulty about that," Gregory said. " I have letters from both my parents, a copy of their marriage certificate, and of the registers of my birth and baptism. There are some persons in Cairo who knew my father, and a good many who knew my mother."
"Then I should say that it would be quite safe sailing. I don't know, Lewis, whether you are not entitled to that five hundred pounds."
" I am afraid not," the other laughed. " Mr. Hartley, or rather, I should say, the Earl, would have discovered it himself. I only recognized the name, which plenty of people would have done as soon as they saw it in dispatches."
" It will be a great disappointment to someone," Gregory said, " if they have been for fourteen years expecting to come in for this."
" You need not fret about that," another officer said. " The next heir is a distant cousin. He has been trying over and over again to get himself acknowledged, but the courts would not hear of it, and told him that it was no use applying until they had proof of the death of your father. I know all about it, because there was a howling young ass in the regiment from which I exchanged. He was always giving himself airs on the strength of the title he expected to get, and if he is still in the regiment there will be general rejoicings at his downfall."
" Then I have met him," Gregory said. " On the way up he made himself very unpleasant, and I heard from the other officers that he was extremely unpopular. The Major spoke very sharply to him for the offensive tone in which he addressed me; and an officer sitting next to me said that he was terribly puffed by his expectations of obtaining a title shortly, owing to the disappearance of those who stood before him in succession. Some of the officers chaffed him about it then. I remember now that his name was Hartley; but as I had no idea at that time that that was also mine, I never thought anything more about it until now. As he was the only officer Avho has been in any way offensive to me since I left Cairo nearly three years ago, certainly I would rather that he should be the sufferer, if I succeed in proving uvy right to the title, than anyone else."
"I don't think he will suffer except in pride," the officer said. "His father, who was a very distant cousin of the Earl's, had gone into trade and made a considerable fortune, so that the young fellow was a great deal better off than the vast majority of men in the army. It was the airs he gave himself, on the strength of being able to indulge in an expenditure such as no one else in the regiment could attempt—by keeping three or four race-horses in training, and other follies—that had more to do with his unpopularity than his constant talk about the peerage he was so confident of getting."
"Of course you will go home to England at once," Colonel Wingate said. " The war is over now, and it would be rank folly for you to stay here. You have got the address of the lawyers who advertised for you, and have only to go straight to them with your proofs in your hand, and they will take all the necessary steps. I should say that it Avould facilitate matters if, as you go through Cairo, you were to obtain statements or affidavits from some of the people who knew your mother, stating that you are, as you claim to be, her son, and that she was the wife of the gentleman known as Gregory Hilliard, who went up as an interpreter with Hicks. I don't say that this would be necessary at all, for the letters you have would in themselves go far to prove your case. Still, the more proofs you accumulate the less likely there is of any opposition being offered to your claim. Any papers or letters of your mother might contain something that would strengthen the case. It is really a pity, you know, when you have done so well out here, and would be certain to rise to a high post under the administration of the province (which will be taken in hand in earnest now), that you should have to give it all up."
" I scarcely know whether to be pleased or sorry myself, sir. At present I can hardly take in the change that this will make, or appreciate its advantages."
"You will appreciate them soon enough," one of the others laughed. "As long as this war has been going on, one could put up with the heat, and the dust, and the horrible thirst one gets, and the absence of anything decent to drink; but now that it is all over, the idea of settling down here permanently would be horrible except to men—and there are such fellows— who are never happy unless they are at work, to whom work is everything—meat, and drink, and pleasure. It would have to be everything out here, for no one could ever think of marrying and bringing a wife to such a country as this. Women can hardly live in parts of India, but the worst station in India would be a paradise in comparison with the Soudan; though possibly in time Khartoum will be rebuilt, and being situated between two rivers might become a possible place— which is more than any other station in the Soudan can be —for ladies."
" I am not old enough to take those matters into consideration," Gregory laughed. "I am not twenty yet; still, I do think that anyone permanently stationed in the Soudan would have to make up his mind to remain a bachelor."
The next morning the greater portion of the prisoners were allowed to return to their homes. All the grain and other stores found in the camp were divided among the women, who were advised to return to their native villages; but those who had lost their husbands were told that they might accompany the force to the river, and would be taken down to Omdur-man and given assistance for a time, until they could find some means of obtaining a subsistence.
On returning to Khartoum, Colonel Wingate, at Gregory's request, told Lord Kitchener of the discovery that had been made, and said that he wished to return to England at once. The next day the Sirdar sent for Gregory.
" Colonel Wingate has been speaking to me about you," he said, " and I congratulate you on your good fortune. In one respect I am sorry, for you have done so surprisingly well that f had intended to appoint you to a responsible position in the Soudan Civil Service, which is now being formed. Colonel Wingate says that you naturally wish to resign your present post, but I should advise you not to do so. The operation of the law in England is very uncertain. I trust that in your case you will meet with but small difficulty in proving your birth, but there may be some hitch in the matter, some missing link. I will therefore grant you six months' leave of absence. At the end of that time you will see how you stand. If things have gone on well with you, you can then send in your resignation ; if, on the other hand, you find yourself unable to prove your claim, it will still be open to you to return here, and continue the career in which you have begun so well."
"I am greatly obliged to you, sir, for your kindness; and should I fail in proving my claim, I shall gladly avail myself of your offer at the end of the six months."
"Now, Zaki," he said, on returning to the hut, of which he had again taken possession, " we must have one more talk. I have told you about the possible change in my position, and that I was shortly leaving for England. You begged me to take you with me, and I told you that if you decided to go, I would do so. I shall be put in orders to-morrow for six months' leave. If I succeed in proving my claim to a title, which is what you would call here an emirship, I shall not return; if I fail, I shall be back again in six months. Now I want you to think it over seriously before you decide. Everything will be different there from what you are accustomed to. You will have to dress differently, live differently, and be among strangers. It is very cold there in winter, and it is never what you would call hot in summer. It is not that I should not like to have you with me; we have been together now for three years. You saved my life at Atbara, and have always been faithfully devoted to me. It is for your sake, not my own, that I now speak."