came for the Nile
to rise it was easy for Gordon to send his steamers up and down both
branches of the river, and to attack the Arab camps. Besides those boats
he had already, he built some new ones, and kept his men busy in the
workshops of the arsenal. But when April came, and there were no answers
to his appeals, he wrote home that the matter _must_ be settled before
the Nile fell in November, when the river route would become not only
difficult but dangerous.

* * * * *

In this way the months went on, and in England his friends were doing
all they could to help him, though vainly. Lord Wolseley repeatedly
urged on the Government the need of sending out a relief force, and in a
letter of July 24, to Gordon's brother, he writes that if he was allowed
to start immediately he could be at Dongola by October 15, and could go
all the way to Khartoum by the river. Lord Hartington, too, never forgot
Gordon, but the rest of the Cabinet turned a deaf ear; they had other
things to think about.

The next move came from the French consul, monsieur Herbin, who was
inside Khartoum. He suggested to Gordon that now that it was September,
and the Nile had risen to its greatest height, the cataracts would be
covered to a depth of thirty or forty feet; therefore it would be quite
easy for a small steamer such as the _Abbas_ to make its way to Dongola,
and from there to send on letters and despatches to Cairo. Gordon
approved of the plan, and Stewart offered to command the little force of
forty or fifty soldiers--all that could be spared to go with it. On
board were some Greeks, monsieur Herbin himself, Stewart, and Power the
'Times' correspondent, the only two friends Gordon had. How he must have
longed to go with them. But that being impossible he put the thought out
of his mind, and gave them most careful directions as to the precautions
they were to take. But on their return journey Gordon's orders were
neglected, the steamer was taken by the mahdi's troops, and all on board
put to death, Stewart among them.

* * * * *

Thus Gordon was left alone in Khartoum, without a creature to share his
responsibility or to help him in his work. From henceforward he was
obliged to see to everything himself, and make sure that his orders were
carried out.

From his journal and letters, which we have up to December 14, we know
all that was going on inside the town: the measures o