A few weeks later, Li Hung Chang was in power, and peace was
assured.
Gordon had spent two and a half days in Pekin, and was whirling
through
China, when a telegram arrived from the home authorities, who
viewed his movements with uneasiness, ordering him to return at
once to England. 'It did not produce a twitter in me,' he wrote
to his sister; 'I died long ago, and it will not make any
difference to me; I am prepared to follow the unrolling of the
scroll.' The world, perhaps, was not big enough for him; and yet
how clearly he recognised that he was 'a poor insect!' 'My heart
tells me that, and I am glad of it.'
On his return to England, he telegraphed to the Government of the
Cape of Good Hope, which had become involved in a war with the
Basutos, offering his services; but his telegram received no
reply. Just then, Sir Howard Elphinstone was appointed to the
command of the Royal Engineers in Mauritius. it was a thankless
and insignificant post; and, rather than accept it, Elphinstone
was prepared to retire from the Army-- unless some other officer
could be induced, in return for ?800, to act as his substitute.
Gordon, who was an old friend, agreed to undertake the work upon
one condition: that he should receive nothing from Elphinstone;
and accordingly, he spent the next year in that remote and
unhealthy island, looking after the barrack repairs and testing
the drains.
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