WHAT GORDON IS DOING. 53 CHAPTER XIV.

WHAT GORDON IS DOING.

Let us now go back to Khartoum and Gordon. It is difficult for us to imagine what in that far off place his thoughts and feelings are. He is almost alone—latterly quite alone. Col. Stewart and the Times correspondent are at present the only Englishmen with whom he can talk over his hopes and fears. He has no army to rely upon, and no army is within call. Around him are vast numbers of Soudanese, some friendly, more treacherous, still more hostile. There are conflicting interests which it seems impossible to adjust ; there are petty wrongs to be avenged, and there are gigantic problems to be solved. There are thousands of poor, helpless, ignor¬ ant blacks to care for, and there are numbers of powerful and wealthy Sheikhs to conciliate or to punish. Gordon may be said to be Governor, Mayor, Police Magistrate, President of the Bank, Chairman of the Board of Trade, and Chief of Police of Khartoum all in one. What courage, what forbearance, what calm dispassionate judgment does it require !

External influences, too, add to his difficulties. Parliament does not hesitate to question the rightness of his doings*; the Egyptian Government, although under the sway of England, and although pretending to place im¬ plicit confidence in the man she has chosen to rule the Soudan, is watching him with a keen eye. Once before Egypt had objected to a feringhee (an infidel) being placed at the head of affairs in the Southern provinces, and though now his presence seems to be a necessity, it is perhaps still a distasteful one. England herself, too, thwarted him in some of his plans. Gordon wants Zebehr—he even goes so far as to offer him (April 16) the Assistant-Governor¬ ship of the Soudan—but England will not allow it.

Was ever man placed in so critical a position 1 The Soudan belongs to Egypt, Egypt belongs to Turkey, Gordon undertakes to manage matters for all three ; and France, Germany, Russia, Austria, and Italy are critically looking on to see how he does it. The future of the Mahdi, the future of the Soudanese, of Egypt herself, of England's relationships to Egypt, and of her relationships to the five great powers—all may be said to hinge directly or indirectly on Gor¬ don’s actions at Khartoum.

He and his few faithful followers too, were continually attacked by the rebel tribes surrounding the town. Now 3000 of them fall upon a party of * His proclamation on the slave trade, for example.