62 THE WAR IN THE SOUDAN.

CHAPTER XVII.

A MEDLEY.

If the Government had determined artistically to act out a tragedy, they could not have better arranged their materials. The last chapter has described them going through the third act—the climax ; and the ordinary individual would have imagined that after such rapid succession of events, involving such tremendous influences, the end was not far off. In this he would be mistaken. With the skill of practised dramatists they now insert a long fourth act, keeping their audience in the most painful suspense. Whether they over-did it or not is a party question.

To explain :—After the very vigorous onslaught made by the Opposition in moving the vote of censure, backed up as it was by the full force of public opinion, people naturally expected that some decisive action regarding, at all events, the safety of General Gordon, would be taken. So confident were they in this assurance, that the ringing cheers with which the Opposition greeted the announcement of the bare majority by which censure was averted —the insignificant (or rather extremely significant) twenty-eight—were—at least mentally—echoed and re-echoed throughout the country. The Ministry must surely now definitely formulate some policy, and immediately put it into execution. Even the tone of the leading articles of the great papers was re¬ assuring. The party in power, they took for granted, would now retrieve the prestige of the nation, and so sure were all parties that the rescue of Gordon could be safely left to their care, that for a time it was with a comparatively light-hearted feeling that Egyptian questions were discussed.

But in reality the utmost that had been dragged from the occupiers of the Treasury benches was that they considered themselves responsible for their envoy—a phrase perhaps as vague as it was seemingly definite ; as empty as it was seemingly full of meaning.

As a sort of episode to this terrible tragedy there was introduced now a new element—an Egyptian conference. As an episode it did good service : it took, for a time, the public mind off the main plot ; it delayed admirably the succession of events ; it involved and made more intricate the already complex sequence of actions ; it introduced new characters ; and made more difficult any prophecy as to what would be the final catastrophe.

This proposed Egyptian conference caused much friction between Govern¬ ment and Parliament ; it was understood that the only question to be dis-