WITH KITCHENEK IN THE SOUDAN quarter-master. “ I have been speaking to the General,” the latter said. “ You will mess with the staff; the dinner hour is seven o’clock. I am sure you will soon feel at home.”

Gregory now strolled through the camp. The troops were in little mud huts of their own construction, as these in the heat of the' day were much cooler than tents. The sun was getting low, and the Soudanese troops were all occupied in cooking, mending their clothes, sweeping the streets between the rows of huts, and other light duties. They seemed to Gregory as full of fun and life as a party of school-boys laughing, joking, and playing practical tricks on each other.

The physique of some of the regiments was splendid, the men averaging over six feet in height, and being splendidly built. Other regiments, recruited among different tribes, were not so tall, but their sturdy figures showed them to be capable of any effort they might be called upon to make. One of the officers came out of his tent as he passed.

“ You are a new arrival, I think, sir? ” he said; “ we have so few white officers here that one spots a fresh face at once.”

Yes, I only arrived two or three hours ago. My name is Hilliard. I am not attached to any regiment, but, as I speak the languages well. General Hunter is going, so he said, to make me generally useful. I only received my commission a few days before leaving Cairo.”

‘Well, come in and have a soda and whisky, the heat out here is frightful. You can tell me the last news from Cairo and when we are going to move.”

“I shall be happy to come in and have a chat,” Gregory said, “ but I do not drink anything. I have been brought up in Cairo and am accustomed to heat, and I find that drinking only makes one more thirsty.”

believe it does,” the other said, “especially when the liquid is almost as hot as one is one’s self. Will you sit down on that box? Chairs are luxuries that we do not indulge in here. Well, have you heard anything about a move?” “Nothing; but the officers I have spoken to all seem to