and they see no other way
of saving themselves from starvation.

"There are many who fight because they are fond of fighting. You see
how gladly they take service with you, and fight against their own
countrymen, although you are Christians. Suppose you were to conquer
the Khalifa tomorrow, half his army would enlist in your service, if
you would take them. A man who would be contented to till his fields,
if he could do so in peace and quiet, fears that he may see his produce
eaten by others and his house set on fire; and would rather leave his
home and fight--he cares not against whom.

"The Mahdist army are badly fed and badly paid. They can scarce keep
life together. But in the Egyptian Army the men are well taken care of.
They have their rations, and their pay. They say that if they are
wounded, or lose a limb, and are no more able to fight, they receive a
pension. Is it wonderful that they should come to you and be faithful?"

"Well, Zaki, we won't talk any longer, now. It is agreed, then, that if
I go on this expedition, you will accompany me?"

"Certainly, master. Wherever you go I am ready to go. Whatever happens
to you will, I hope, happen to me."

On the following afternoon, Gregory was sent for.

"I have given the matter a good deal of thought, Mr. Hilliard," the
General said, "and have decided to accept your offer. I suppose that
you have been thinking the matter over. Do you decide to go on foot, or
mounted?"

"On horseback, sir. My boy is perfectly willing to go with me. He knows
the way, and the position of the wells on the road. My plan is that,
when we get near Metemmeh, he shall remain with the horses somewhere
near the river; and I shall enter the camp on foot. I am less likely to
be noticed that way. If questioned, my story will be that my father was
at El Obeid, and that the Governor there is, by the Khalifa's orders,
holding his force in hand to put down any outbreaks there may be in the
province; and that, wishing to fight against the infidel, I have come
on my own account. If I am asked why I had not come on horseback, I
shall say that I had ridden to within the last two or three miles, and
that the horse had then died.

"But I do not expect to be questioned at all, as one man on foot is as
nothing, in an army of twenty or thirty thousand, gathered from all
over the Soudan."

"You quite understand, Mr. Hilliard, that you are taking your life in
your hands? And that there is no possibil