hat they believed in him. Gordon was, so
to speak, alone in the midst of enemies, but the expected arrival of the
English kept the inhabitants from surrendering.

Every day Gordon invented some means of making the people believe that
their deliverers were near; he frequently had the walls placarded with
announcements that they were very near Khartum, but all his promises
came to nothing.

Gordon was almost superhuman in his efforts to keep up hope. Every day,
and many and many a time during the day, did he look towards the north
from the roof of the palace for the relief which never arrived. He
overcame the want of money by issuing paper bonds; but soon the people
refused to accept them, and to enforce his order he sent fourteen
merchants to the east bank, just in front of the enemy's guns; this he
did to frighten them, and when they agreed to accept the bonds he had
them brought back to the town. To further strengthen the belief of the
people in the speedy arrival of the English, he hired all the best
houses along the river bank, and had them prepared for their occupation.
He was sure they would come--but when? The time was pressing. How
eagerly he searched the distant horizon for the English flag he longed
to see, but every day he was doomed to disappointment.

The troops were famine-stricken, and began to lose heart, whilst the
enemy without the walls daily grew bolder in anticipation of the plunder
they hoped so soon would be theirs. From Buri to Kalakala the Dervishes
extended in one unbroken mass, whilst their hundreds of noggaras never
ceased beating in Gordon's ears night and day.

The town was closely hemmed in on three sides. Wad Gubara on the north
was near enough to shell his palace; and under the hole where the first
shot struck the wall Gordon inscribed the date as a remembrance. None of
us can realize how heavily his terrible responsibilities weighed upon
him. Despair had seized upon the town. The unreliable nature of the
Sudanese was a constant source of anxiety to him, and enhanced the
critical situation. Those in charge of the biscuits and dhurra stole
quantities of it on every possible occasion, and tried to deceive Gordon
by assuring him that there were millions of okes in store, when in
reality there was almost nothing. In their endeavours to enrich
themselves they forgot that they were only preparing the way for their
ultimate destruction.

The officer in charge of the dhurra store was arreste