could hold out a few days longer. The Greek argued
in vain, and at length left him; and that was the last time they saw
each other.

That night proved to be the last night on earth for Gordon and thousands
of others. While they were sleeping soundly, and dreaming perhaps of the
arrival of the English, the Dervishes were creeping like snakes towards
the parapets. It is hardly likely Gordon could have slept. For two days
he had remarked considerable movement in the Mahdi's camp; he had
observed numbers of boats passing to and fro on the White and Blue
Niles. He could not have doubted that the Mahdi was preparing to strike
the final blow. And so it proved, for he was planning the assault on
Khartum. He had received news of the destruction of his troops at Abu
Klea and Abu Kru, and of the advance of the English.

The Mahdi was convinced that if one Englishman reached Khartum his
chance of success was gone, and that he must retire to Kordofan. That
was his reason for attempting the assault. Gordon, on the other hand,
expected the arrival of the English at any moment; and while he was
counting the hours which might elapse ere they could reach him, his
enemies were shaking their lances with which they should pierce him.

The moon had gone down, deep obscurity reigned; and now the Dervishes
stealthily advanced in perfect silence towards that portion of the
defence which had been destroyed during the high Nile, and which, as the
river receded, had left an open space in which ditch and parapet had
almost disappeared. Here there was little to impede their entry; and the
Dervishes, shouting their wild battle-cry, dashed in wild disorder over
this open ground.

Farag Pasha commanded the whole of this portion of the defences. Many
people in the Sudan, more especially those who used to be in the
Government service, say that Farag Pasha betrayed the town; but the fact
that he was killed almost immediately after the fall points to his not
having done so.

It is a well-known fact that many of the senior officers were wavering,
and numbers of Khartum merchants were in correspondence with the Mahdi.
It is possible that their action may have assisted the Dervishes. The
latter naturally assert that Khartum was captured entirely by force of
arms, for any acknowledgment on their part of treachery within the town
would tend to detract from the effect of the Mahdi's success. The matter
stands thus: the parapet which had been destroyed had