thrown into the
Nile.

The news of the death of his two friends, and the ruin of his plan to
hasten on the relief of Khartoum, cut Gordon's brave heart to the quick.

Before Mr. Power left, Gordon had given him a little book that he
loved. It is called _The Dream of S. Gerontius_. Gordon had marked
many passages in it.

Here are some:--

"_Pray for me, O my friends._"

"Now that the hour is come, my fear is fled . . ."
"Into thy hands
O Lord, into Thy hands . . ."

So it seemed that even then Gordon knew that Death was drawing near
him, and was greeting with a fearless face the martyrdom that he was
soon to endure.

Yet all the while he never wavered, and his bravery seemed to give
courage to the feeblest hearted.

He who had never taken any pride in decorations or in medals--save
one--tried to cheer his soldiers by having a decoration made and
distributed--"three classes: gold, silver, pewter."

A Circassian in the Egyptian Service, speaking of Gordon in after
years, said: "He never seemed to sleep. He was always working and
looking after the people."

In the early days of those dark months, Frank Power had written of him
that all day he was cheering up others, but that through the night he
heard his footfall overhead, backwards and forwards, backwards and
forwards, sleepless, broken in heart, bearing on his soul the burden of
those he had no power to save.

At dawn he slept. All day he went the rounds, cheering up the people,
seeing to the comfort of every one, feeding the starving as well as he
could. For two days at a time he would go without food, that his
portion might go to others. They were living on roots and herbs when
the siege was done.

All the night he spent on the top of his tower, watching and praying.
Many times in the day did men see the spare figure standing on that
yellow-white tower, staring, with eyes that grew tired with longing,
into the far-away desert, looking for the help that never came.

[Illustration: Looking for the help that never came]

But, after many delays, an English army was actually on the march.

It was a race of about 1800 miles up the Nile from the sea--a race
between Victory and the Salvation of the beleaguered city and its
defender on one side, and Defeat, Death, and the Mahdi on the other.

Lord Wolseley, who commanded the expedition, offered L100 to the
regiment that covered the distance first.

Some fierce battles were fought on the way