Who
was he that he should dare to imagine that he could impose his
will upon Mr. Gladstone? The old man's eyes glared. If it came to
a struggle between them--well, they should see! As the weeks
passed, the strange situation grew tenser. It was like some
silent deadly game of bluff. And who knows what was passing in
the obscure depths of that terrifying spirit? What mysterious
mixture of remorse, rage, and jealousy? Who was it that was
ultimately responsible for sending General Gordon to Khartoum?
But then, what did that matter? Why did not the man come back? He
was a Christian hero, wasn't he? Were there no other Christian
heroes in the world? A Christian hero! Let him wait until the
Mahdi's ring was really round him, until the Mahdi's spear was
really about to fall! That would be the test of heroism! If he
slipped back then, with his tail between his legs--! The world
would judge.
One of the last telegrams sent by Gordon before the wire was cut
seemed to support exactly Mr. Gladstone's diagnosis of the case.
He told Sir Evelyn Baring that, since the Government refused to
send either an expedition or Zobeir, he would 'consider himself
free to act according to circumstances.' 'Eventually,' he said,
'you will be forced to smash up the Mahdi', and he declared that
if the Government persisted in its present line of conduct, it
would be branded with an 'indelible disgrace'.
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