22 THE DOWNFALL OF THE DERVISHES

disapproved of this, and as he was getting into

the carriage she suddenly struck a violent blow

at his hand luggage. It was a most effective

stroke. The bundle he carried exploded like

a shell, and its contents lay scattered in hope-

less confusion over the platform. Long before

the baffled husband could collect the diszecta memobra of his travelling kit, the train steamed

off into the darkness, and he was left to settle matters with his triumphant wife.

We rapidly left Cairo behind us, and with it the joys and comforts of civilisation. It was a posi-

tive relief to feel that we had now commenced

in real earnest to travel the twelve hundred miles which separated us from our final goal far away in the Sudan. Still, at the time of our departure from Cairo, no certainty was felt that there would be any fighting at all. Rumours were persistently current that the Khalifa and

his forces had retreated from Omdurman. It

would, as somebody said, be simply a case of

cherchez la femme. If the women and children became panic - stricken and retired, it was

certain that the Dervishes would lose heart and make a poor show of resistance. Take,

for instance, the case of Berber. Here a