he steamer. Then he joined the General, who
was just starting, with his staff, to superintend the embarkation.

Three steamers were going up, and each towed a barge, in which the
greater part of the troops was to be stowed, and in the stern of one of
these knelt two camels.

"There are your nags, Mr. Hilliard," the General said. "There is an
attendant with each. They will manage them better than strangers, and
without them we might have a job in getting the animals ashore. Of
course, I shall take the drivers on with us. The sheik told me the
camels are two of the fastest he has ever had. He has sent saddles with
them, and water skins. The latter you will probably not want, if all
goes well. Still, it is better to take them."

"I shall assuredly do so, sir. They may be useful to us, on the ride,
and though I suppose the camels would do well enough without them, it
is always well to be provided, when one goes on an expedition, for any
emergency that may occur."

An hour later, the steamer started. The river was still full, and the
current rapid, and they did not move more than five miles an hour
against it. At the villages they passed, the people flocked down to the
banks, with cries of welcome and the waving of flags. They felt, now,
that their deliverance was accomplished, and that they were free from
the tyranny that had, for so many years, oppressed them.

The banks were for the most part low; and, save at these villages, the
journey was a monotonous one. The steamers kept on their way till
nightfall, and then anchored.

They started again, at daybreak. At breakfast, General Hunter said:

"I think that in another two hours we shall be pretty well due west of
El Fasher, so you had better, presently, get into your Dervish dress.
You have got some iodine from the doctor, have you not?"

"Yes."

"You had better stain yourself all over, and take a good supply, in
case you have to do it again."

Gregory went below, and had his head shaved by one of the Soudanese;
then re-stained himself, from head to foot, and put on the Dervish
attire--loose trousers and a long smock, with six large square patches,
arranged in two lines, in front. A white turban and a pair of shoes
completed the costume. The officers laughed, as he came on deck again.

"You look an out-and-out Dervish, Hilliard," one of them said. "It is
lucky that there are none of the Lancers scouting about. They would
hardly give you time to explain, especi