A VOICE FKOM THE DEAD 249 The question seems to lie between Belgians and French, unless an expedition has been sent up from our possessions on the great lakes. The Dervishes in the steamer can onlysay that the flag is not at all like ours ; but as their ignorance of colour is profound, they give all sorts of contradictory statements. Anyhow, it is a serious matter. Certainly no foreign power has any right to send an expedition to the Nile; and as certainly, if one of them did so, our government would not allow them to remain there, for beyond all question Fashoda is an Egyptian station and within Egyptian territory, which is at present as much as to say that a foreign power established there would be occupying our country.”

It seems an extraordinary proceeding, sir.” “ Very extraordinary. If it were not that it seems the thing has absolutely been done, it would seem improbable that any foreign power could take such an extraordinary and unjustiflable course. It is lucky for them, whoever they are, that we have smashed up the Dervishes, for they would have made very short work of them, and the nation that sent them would probably never have known their fate.”

CHAPTER XYI A VOICE FROM THE DEAD T hat afternoon Gregory heard that orders had been issued for five of the gun-boats \p start up the river the first thing in the morning, that the Sirdar himself was going, and was to take up fite hundred men of the 11th Soudanese. An order was also issulpd that all correspondents were to leave the next day for Cairi. Gregory had met one of them that evening.

“ So you are all off,ll hear, Mr. Pearson ? ” “Yes; we did have k sort of option given us, but it was really no choice at all. We might go down instantly, or we