uled so wisely and well in the Soudan
that his prestige among the natives was enormous. He had suppressed
slave-trading and restored order throughout the wide province, and by
mingling mercy with justice he was at once admired and feared even by
those whose profits had been annihilated by the abolition of the
slave-trade.

But although Gordon had been rapturously received by the inhabitants of
Khartoum, the tribes of the Soudan had not rallied, as it was hoped they
would do, in opposition to the Mahdi, whose armies had gradually
advanced and had besieged the city. General Gordon with the troops there
had made expeditions up the river in the steamers, and brought in
provisions for the besieged town; he had fought several battles with the
Mahdists, in which he had not always been successful, and it was known
that unless help arrived the city must finally surrender. Many letters
had been received from him asking urgently for aid, but weeks and months
passed, and the government who had sent him out were unable to make up
their minds to incur the cost necessary for the despatch of so distant
an expedition.

In Cairo public feeling ran very high, and among the troops there the
indignation at this base desertion of one of England's noblest soldiers
was intense and general. At last the news came that public feeling in
England had become so strong that government could no longer resist it,
and that orders had been issued to prepare an expedition with all haste.
A number of flat-boats were to be built for conveying the troops up the
Nile. Canadian boatmen had been sent for to aid in the navigation of the
river. Camels were to be purchased in Egypt, a mounted infantry corps
organized, and stores of all kinds hastily collected.

People who knew the river shook their heads, and said that the decision
had been delayed too long. The Nile would have fallen to a point so low
that it would be difficult if not impossible to pass up the cataracts,
and long before help could reach Khartoum the city and its noble
governor would have fallen into the hands of the Mahdi.

There was much disgust among the troops when it was known that many of
them would remain in Lower Egypt, and that of the cavalry especially but
a very small force would be taken, while three regiments mounted on
camels, two of them consisting of cavalry men from England, would take
part in the expedition.

Some of the soldiers, however, looked at the matter more
philosop