Under the Rebel's Reign Part 38

"Ah, well, you'll find my quarters better than that," said the sergeant, with a laugh, leading the way in.

Inside, George found as the man had said, and he quickly had a comfortable bed made on the ground.

"There you are, fling yourself on that while I go and get you some supper. Your horse has been put on our lines, and the men have attended to him, so you needn't bother. Your saddle shall be brought here."

The sergeant went out, and soon returned with the promised supper, and George fell to with an appet.i.te in no way impaired by his fatigue. While he was in the middle of it, chatting away to his companion, an orderly strode up, and, putting his head in the doorway, said----

"Does the man named Helmar stop here, Sergeant Smith?"

"Yes, here I am," answered George, before the sergeant could reply.

"Good!" said the orderly. "You will hold yourself in readiness to leave at daybreak on special duty."

"Hurrah!" exclaimed Helmar. "I'm going to Cairo after all!"

"You, Sergeant," continued the man, "will have other work to do. The general a.s.sembly will sound at ten-thirty. Arabi's going to get fits to-night!" he added, as he went off, laughing.

CHAPTER XXIX

TO DEATH OR GLORY

History chronicles the events that followed on the night Helmar arrived at the British camp outside Tel-el-Kebir. It is therefore unnecessary to give here the details of how on that night, the thirteenth of September, the camp was struck at Ka.s.sa.s.sin Lock, with a few men only left to hold the place; how the whole force, consisting of about 14,000 men, marched out in the dead of night towards Arabi's entrenchments; how they bivouacked within a short distance of them until nearly morning; and how at length the order for attack was pa.s.sed along the line, and the rebels, taken by surprise, utterly routed by this daring manoeuvre. There is no need to dilate on the gallantry displayed by the Highland Brigade and the Royal Irish regiment on that occasion, all this is known with the rest of the history of the British nation's many great victories, and will remain until the day of doom graven on the pages of the military achievements of the English race.

But the events that resulted after the news of Arabi's intention to burn the beautiful city of Cairo to the ground reached the Commander-in-Chief, concern us most, for in their development Helmar was largely concerned.

After the orderly had warned him to hold himself in readiness, George, with the help of his new-found friend Sergeant Smith, set about collecting his accoutrements. His saddle was brought to the tent, and his horse placed where he could easily find it; this done, he lay down to s.n.a.t.c.h all the rest he could.

So weary and tired was he, that he failed to hear his companion leave the tent, when the troops moved to the attack. There was no noise in their leaving, and even had there been, it is doubtful if it would have roused him, so worn out was he with his day's work.

Towards daybreak he was awakened by one of the men left in camp, and he rose refreshed and ready for the journey that lay before him. A few minutes sufficed to devour a few mouthfuls of food, and then he saddled up his horse; by the time this was over he saw a large body of mounted men already a.s.sembling further down the lines. Mounting his sleek Arab steed he rode hastily over to them, and in a few minutes the whole body moved off.

As far as he could see there were about nine hundred men of various regiments, all mounted on horses in the pink of condition, the men themselves looking fit to undertake any work, no matter how arduous.

Before the party had proceeded far, an officer rode up to George.

"You are the man who came from Cairo yesterday, are you not?" he said, as he drew rein alongside.

"Yes, sir," George replied.

"Very well, your two men are on ahead acting as guides with the advanced guard; you will ride on and join them, and act under the orders of the officer in command of that party. Hurry up!"

Helmar at once started off, and in a few minutes caught them up. He found Belbeis and his guide of the previous day riding on the lead with the officer. Reporting himself, he was told to ride with them, and the journey began in deadly earnest.

"We are bound for Cairo," the officer explained, "and must reach there in the quickest possible time."

"Yes, sir; and which route is to be taken?" asked George.

"Via a little village called Belbeis, where we shall rest for the night."

"Belbeis," exclaimed Helmar, looking over at his faithful guide.

"Yes," replied the Arab, "I know, it is my native place, the village from which I take my name. It is on the fresh-water ca.n.a.l. We must take the desert route, and so avoid Arabi's entrenchments."

Turning to the officer, George interpreted what Belbeis had said, adding that he thought the suggestion the guide had made was the best plan possible.

"Very well, but there must be no mistake, for our work will admit of no delay. The man can be trusted, I hope."

"Without doubt," said George, at once. "He is absolutely faithful and trustworthy."

Considering the large number of men, the journey was most rapid, and, under the guidance of the trusty Belbeis, his native village was reached at sundown in safety. The journey was made in the heat of the day, and, notwithstanding the fort.i.tude of both horses and men, was very trying. Even the guides and Helmar, after their terrible journey of the day before, were thankful when the little village was sighted, and the order for the bivouac was given. Many of the men lay down where they off-saddled, tired and worn out, and, after a frugal meal, slept where they were, without covering, and with only their saddles for a pillow.

George, after the wants of his horse were attended to, glanced round the scattered soldiers, and noting the worn-out condition, registered a mental wager that many of them would never be able to last till Cairo was reached. At present only the shortest part of the journey had been traversed, how would they feel at the end of the next forty miles?

With many misgivings he found his two friends, and communicated his fears to them.

"Seems to me," he said, seating himself beside Belbeis, "many of those fellows will never reach Cairo."

Belbeis was thoughtfully smoking, squatting on his haunches in true Oriental fashion, his water-bottle lying beside him, and the remains of his supper scattered about on the ground; the other guide sat facing him.

"The children of the West," replied Belbeis, watching the puffs of smoke as he emitted them from his mouth, "are not used to the Egyptian sun and the sand of the desert. It is hard for them, but they are good men, their hearts are big. The horses are what I most fear."

"Yes," put in the guide, "the Arab courser is as the wind in the desert, he never tires, and nothing can travel like him."

"You are right," said George, gazing admiringly at his own mount, calmly feeding a little way off. "The desert has no terrors for the fleet-footed Arab, but I doubt if he would do as well in my country."

There was a short pause, and then Belbeis again spoke.

"What are we going to do when we reach Cairo?" he asked. "The way is long and we are but few."

"Going to take the city, I expect," replied George.

"But we are not a thousand fighting men," exclaimed the cautious Arab, "and there are at least twenty thousand rebels in the city.

Poof, the English are mad, we shall die."

George burst into a laugh, and Belbeis looked disgusted.

"You do not understand our people, there is some trick on hand, they know their business; besides, if it came to a fight with such a number, I would not wager on the rebels."

"Allah is great," replied Belbeis solemnly, "His ways are mysterious, but I cannot understand."

"No," said George, smiling, "neither will Arabi, he does not know the sons of the West. They will dare anything."

"Allah is powerful," replied Belbeis, "and we are but His children."