Page:A Prisoner of the Khaleefa.djvu/391

318 for ten months, without the slightest assistance or aid from outside, the number of wives of his "enemies" in the Mahdi's camp was so insignificant as to be unworthy of notice. But even supposing that all the starving women who went to Gordon crying for the bread which Father Ohrwalder suggests should have been represented by a stone, were the wives of his enemies, his own writing justifies Gordon's feeding of them, for he says, "These crafty people thus assured themselves that, should the Mahdi be victorious, their loyalty to him would ensure the safety of their families and property in Khartoum, while, on the other hand, should Gordon be victorious, then their wives and families would be able to mediate for them with the conquerors."

It is quite evident, then, that these people who went over to the Mahdi's camp did so, not from conviction of his divine mission, but to save the lives of their wives and families, whom by preference they entrusted to Gordon even at the last hour, and nearly a year after the date when his arrival without five hundred British bayonets is supposed to have ruined his reputation in the Soudan. I am inclined to think that the "craftiness" displayed by some in trying to secure their wives and daughters against violation and death, was no less justifiable than the "craftiness" displayed by others for an entirely different purpose. What a tribute these "crafty" people paid to Gordon! I mean the crafty people who left Khartoum in January, 1885, and trusted Gordon with the lives of their wives and children.