ard quite indifferently his narrative of the journey, and finally to
the question, whether he knew Smain, the husband of Fatma, answered:

"No. In Omdurman and Khartum there are over one hundred thousand
warriors, so it is easy not to meet one another, and not all the
officers are acquainted with each other. The domain of the prophet is
immense; therefore many emirs rule in distant cities in Sennar, in
Kordofan, and Darfur, and around Fashoda. It may be that this Smain, of
whom you speak, is not at present at the prophet's side."

Idris was nettled by the slighting tone with which Nur spoke of "this
Smain," so he replied with a shade of impatience:

"Smain is married to a first cousin of the Mahdi, and therefore Smain's
children are relatives of the prophet."

Nur el-Tadhil shrugged his shoulders.

"The Mahdi has many relatives and cannot remember all of them."

For some time they rode in silence; after which Idris again asked:

"How soon shall we arrive at Khartum?"

"Before midnight," replied el-Tadhil, gazing at the stars which began
to appear in the eastern part of the heavens.

"Shall we at that late hour be able to obtain food and fodder? Since
our last rest at noon we have not eaten anything."

"You will pass this night with me and I shall feed you in my house, but
to-morrow in Omdurman you will have to seek for food yourself, and I
warn you in advance that this will not be an easy matter."

"Why?"

"Because we have a war. The people for the past few years have not
tilled the fields and have lived solely upon meat; so when finally
cattle were lacking, famine came. There is famine in all the Sudan, and
a sack of durra today costs more than a slave."

"Allah akbar!" exclaimed Idris with surprise, "I saw nevertheless herds
of camels and cattle on the steppes."

"They belong to the prophet, to the 'Noble,'* [* The Noble brothers and
relatives of the Mahdi.] and to the caliphs.--Yes--The Dongolese, from
which tribe the Mahdi came and the Baggara, whose leader is the chief
caliph, Abdullahi, have still quite numerous herds, but for other
tribes it has become more and more difficult to live in the world."

Here Nur el-Tadhil patted his stomach, and said:

"In the service of the prophet I have a higher rank, more money, and a
greater authority, but I had a fuller stomach in the Khedive's service."

But, realizing that he might have said too much, after a while he added:

"But all this will change when