"And so we started the next morning. I rode by the side of Abu, and as
all knew that I was the hakim who had taken off his arm, none wondered.
The journey was made without any incident worth recording. Abu did not
hurry. We made a long march between each of the wells, and then halted
for a day. So we journeyed, until we made our last halt before arriving
at Omdurman.

"'You are still determined to go?' Abu said to me.

"'I shall leave tonight, my friend.'

"'I shall not forget all that you have told me about your people,
hakim. Should any white man fall into my hands, I will spare him for
your sake. These are evil times, and I regret all that has passed. I
believe that the Mahdi is a prophet; but I fear that, in many things,
he has misunderstood the visions and orders he received. I see that
evil rather than good has fallen upon the land, and that though we
loved not the rule of the Egyptians, we were all better off under it
than we are now. We pass through ruined villages, and see the skeletons
of many people. We know that where the waterwheels formerly spread the
water from the rivers over the fields, is now a desert; and that,
except the fighting men, the people perish from hunger.

"'All this is bad. I see that, if we enter Egypt, we shall be like a
flight of locusts. We shall eat up the country and leave a desert
behind us. Surely this cannot be according to the wishes of Allah, who
is all merciful. You have taught me much in your talks with me, and I
do not see things as I used to. So much do I feel it, that in my heart
I could almost wish that your countrymen should come here, and
establish peace and order.

"'The Mohamedans of India, you tell me, are well content with their
rulers. Men may exercise their religion and their customs, without
hindrance. They know that the strong cannot prey upon the weak, and
each man reaps what he has sown, in peace. You tell me that India was
like the Soudan before you went there--that there were great
conquerors, constant wars, and the peasants starved while the robbers
grew rich; and that, under your rule, peace and contentment were
restored. I would that it could be so here. But it seems, to me,
impossible that we should be conquered by people so far away.'

"'I hope that it will be so, Abu; and I think that if the great and
good white general, Governor Gordon, is murdered at Khartoum, the
people of my country will never rest until his death has been avenged.'

"'You