! 66 To you, Honourable Owen, the Machiavelli of my staff,' returned Francesca, her dark eyes burning, her cheeks glowing with excitement, and also with the share she had had in the night's potations. "And may we never be parted." 66 Signorina, do not speak lightly," cried Owen. He had emptied his glass at a draught, and the glow of the brandy filled his veins with molten fire. He dropped on his knees on the sheepskin rug that covered the floor, and rested his clasped hands in the soft folds of Francesca's skirt. "Never be parted! Do you mean it, Signorina Is there a hope for a poor wretch who would gladly spend the rest of his life trodden on perpetually by your little feet?" The little rose shade in the roof cast a warm glow over the features of Francesca. Her cloak had fallen back, and the splendid curves of her fair neck and shoulders, the swell of her deep bosom, were revealed in all their rich perfection. The Honourable Thomas Owen, on his knees at her feet, was, in essentials, an insignificant creature, but to her, looking down, with her mind filled with romance and her veins with intoxicants, he assumed a form far in excess of his merits. "Who knows? Who knows?" she said softly, resting one fair hand lightly upon his sandy head. "I promise nothing. I dinna even gi'e you hopes. But you never ken." Bubbly seized the hand that rested upon his head, and drawing it to his lips covered it with kisses. It was not drawn away. Why should it be? Francesca was in her element in this theatrical situation. Yet she was the first to return to earth. "Look at the time-Eccolo!" she cried suddenly, after a glance at her diamond-studded wrist-watch. 'Struth! You're right, Signorina," said Owen, confirming the time by a glance at his own watch. The order was given. Bubbly, as arranged, took his seat outside by the side of the chauffeur, and the car started on its last stage. Meanwhile, at the manse, more modest preparations had been made. Mrs Murdoch had insisted upon Jean going to bed, and, strangely, the girl had slept soundly. She was aroused by a light in her room, and awoke to find Mrs Murdoch, fully dressed in a serviceable coat and skirt, by her bedside. 66 The hour has come," said that sprightly matron. There will be a cup of tea ready in ten minutes; 80 buck up, Jean.' "It is good of you to get up," said Jean, impressed by A ROB ROY OF THE DESERT. BY LIEUT.-COLONEL C. E. VICKERY, C.M.G., D.S.O., R.F.A. "Since, then, the rule of right is plain, THE province of Kordofan lies south-west of Khartum, between Darfur and the western bank of the Nile. A rolling steppe of sand sparsely covered with bush, it merges in the south into a great plain studded with isolated ranges of hills rising precipitously six hundred to two thousand feet above the ground-level. The plain itself is covered with light forest alternating with open patches of black cotton soil. These hills (Jebal Mountains) are inhabited by Nubas, who are closely connected with the Nubas of Nubia, which comprises roughly the tract of country in the Nile valley between Assouan and Khartum. The origin of the Nubian race presents an ethnological question of great difficulty, but the connection between the Nilotic and Kordofan Nubas is conceded, although only the latter preserve in these days their racial purity. In these Jebal the "baggara "Arab has been wont to winter for many years, for the wells and ponds of Kordofan, as well as the herbage, are exhausted in the late autumn. In the days of the Egyptian suzerainty the Jebal district was the hunting-ground of the slave - dealer and the Arab raider, hence the Nubas took to their hills, where the Arab horsemen could not pursue them on horseback, and would not venture on foot. They were obliged to terrace their hills for cultivation at infinite labour, for they dared not descend into the plain. There was no confederation amongst these Nuba communities, and each Jebal was a self-contained kingdom. Some of them are not inhabited by pure Nubas, but by descendants of Fung immigrants. These, unlike the Nuba, who wears no clothes at all and is a pagan, are Mohammedans, and nearly as civilised as the Arab. Of such in the penultimate decade of the last century, in the days of the Mahdi, was Jebal Tagoi, ruled over by its local mek, or king, Ahmed Abdullah. A rugged range running due north and south, it was about eight miles in length by one broad, crowned by two precipitous peaks separated by a deep and narrow valley. The Mek Ahmed fell out with the dervishes, the Caliph's Over the remnants of the population and the ruined villages a new Mek was appointed, a kinsman of the late Ahmed, one Idris. A year or two later Abdullah summoned Idris to Khartum. During his absence a cousin, Mohammed Gedeil, usurped the throne, and, when he returned, Idris was confronted with un fait accompli. There was nothing to be done at the time, so he took refuge with a neighbour, Mek Geili of Tagali, nursing his grievance and biding his time. He sent messengers to Khartum, but the Caliph was busy dealing with the hated infidel who had captured Mahmud and his army at Atbara, and was advancing on Khar tum. Thus Gedeil reigned in peace, and soon a British flag flew over El Obeid, the capital of Kordofan. Month by month the arm of the "Hakumah (government) lengthened, and more and more of the country was brought under control. Gedeil received visits from strange officers, who would not take presents, as the officials of the old Government did before the dervish days. They seemed in some way, too, to be ordering him to do certain things, and he grew uneasy. Now his hill was a veritable fortress, for the villages nestled at the summit under two peaks which commanded all approaches, and were well supplied with water and grain. The visits of officials were few and far between, and Gedeil regained his peace of mind, until he was startled, first by the establishment of a government post a few miles from his hill, and later by the appointment of a British inspector. Soon he was beset with demands to restore stolen slaves, to cease highway robbery, and to appear at the inspector's court. He was ordered to make roads, to improve wells, and to pay tribute. He, like Gallio, cared for none of these things, and sent only evasive replies. The inspector visited him at his hill, and so long as he came with a few police only, was a welcome guest at his village. A courteous host, a strict, almost fanatical, Mohammedan, he spent many hours in agreeable conversations with the inspector. There was no result, however, from any of these visits, and the months, and even years, went by, while neighbouring potentates asked why Gedeil should be allowed to defy the Government with impunity. Finally, Gedeil considered himself strong enough to write a flat refusal to meet the inspector anywhere except on steep and rocky up to the his own hill. He had disobeyed the Government for several years; he had seen only a few police; what was all this nonsense about a strong "Hakumah "? Why should he worry? The approaching, and first, visit of the Governor of Kordofan, with his escort of fifty infantry for State purposes, seemed to afford an opportunity to visit Gedeil with a little more pomp and weight of authority than the usual inspector's visit in the company of half a dozen police. The Mek was accordingly informed by the inspector that the Governor was coming to see him. A few days afterwards the inspector met the Governor, who agreed, after after reading Gedeil's dossier, to visit the Jebal. That was a red-letter night for the inspector, for he was on the eve of dealing with Gedeil, who had mocked his authority for three years, and he was in the company again of his own kind. Five days from the nearest Government station, the inspector's life was a lonely one, for he had no other European with him : only a staff of four Egyptian or Sudanese officers and clerks. The Governor camped near the foot of the hill. The following morning at sunrise, leaving a small guard over the animals and camp, the party started to ascend the hill. The path was summit of the first ridge, where a boulder - strewn, irregularshaped stretch of open ground led up to the foot of the peaks above mentioned. One could only ascend in single file. At the summit of this ridge we were met by a messenger, who asked if we came in peace or war. We replied in peace, and that Gedeil was to come down and meet us. We advanced slowly, when another messenger ran up to say Gedeil would come down from his post on the peak if all the soldiers withdrew, and only the Governor and inspector remained. This was refused, but he was assured of our peaceable intent. We had advanced only another two hundred yards, when, with dramatic suddenness, a bugle blew out from the peak fortress and the green banner of the dervish army was unfurled, while a tumult of many voices testified to the faith of Islam and to their hatred of the unbeliever. This was rather more than we had bargained for: we were nicely up on the hill, our camp was below, guarded by two or three police, and our strength was fifty Sudanese and fifteen local police. It was decided to move on against the village under the first peak, where Gedeil had his battle station. Hostilities having opened, the officer commanding the Sudanese, a versatile and distinguished soldier, took over the control of affairs. He made a flank |