aving established this fact, he set to
work in the most public manner to show them every mark of disrespect.

The Mahdi's uncle, Sayid Abdel Kader, a very proud man, who prior to,
the Mahdi's appearance had gained a livelihood by doctoring donkeys,
thought, under the altered circumstances, that his profession was not a
very honourable one; he therefore took to doctoring human beings with
the aid of a few old Arabic books on medicine which he possessed. He
made no secret of his dislike of Abdullah, and openly deplored the decay
of true Mahdiism; he never attended at the mosque, and studiously
avoided the Khalifa on every occasion. Abdullah, however, was fully
alive to the situation, Sayid's every step was dogged by spies, and at
length, when his impudence got beyond all bounds, the Khalifa suddenly
summoned him to the mosque, and addressed him publicly as follows--"Why
should you not come to the mosque twice a week and greet me
occasionally?" The Sayid replied proudly, "I worship God and pray to Him
daily in my house."

This speech greatly annoyed the Khalifa, who replied, "Pray in your
house; but I shall cut off the hand and foot of everyone who associates
with you, whether in your house or out of it, and I shall send to your
house to have all these Arabic books removed; you can then pray to God
without distraction." Suiting the action to the word, he at once had the
Sayid's books seized and burnt. After this Abdel Kader thought it as
well to pray five times a-day in the Mahdi's mosque.

Thus the breach between the Mahdi's and the Khalifa's households is
widening daily; the former are continually holding secret meetings and
consultations, of which the latter takes good care to be fully apprized.

Another individual--a certain Ismail el Kheir--who had been one of the
Mahdi's most fanatical adherents, but who, after the Mahdi's death, had
shown a tendency to side with the Khalifa Sherif and to be unfriendly to
Khalifa Abdullah, was one day suddenly ordered to be ready to start for
Regaf in half an hour. It was rumoured that Abdullah had discovered he
had been attending the secret meetings of the Ashraf.

I will cite yet another case. A certain Wad el Banna, a good man and a
well-educated Moslem, had the Khalifa's special permission to retain a
number of historical works on Islam, which he frequently read to him and
the Ansar after prayers in the mosque. Being in high favour, and a great
personal friend, the Khalifa se