I then hope to go
home for good, for the slave-hunters (thanks to Gessi) have collapsed,
and it will take a long time to rebuild again, even if fostered by my
successor. I like the new Khedive immensely; but I warn you that all
Midian guiles will be wasted on him, and Mrs. Burton ought to have taken
the 3,000 pounds I offered her at Suez, and which she scoffed at, saying,
'You would want that for gloves.' Do you wear those skin coverings to
your paws? I do not! No, the days of Arabian Nights are over, and stern
economy now rules. Tewfik seeks 'honour, not honours.' I do not know
what he will do with the Soudan; he is glad, I think (indeed feel sure),
I am going. I was becoming a too powerful Satrap. The report at Cairo
was that I meditated rebellion even under Ismail the 'Incurable,' and
now they cannot imagine why I am so well received by the new Khedive.
"Believe me,
"Yours sincerely,
"C. G. GORDON."
Gordon was not the only one who suffered by the change of Khedive.
Burton, as Gordon had foretold, came to grief over the Mines of Midian,
for Tewfik declined to be bound by any promise of his father; and though
Burton went to Egypt to interview the Khedive, to see if he could do
anything, his efforts were of no avail. Meanwhile Isabel, who had come
to London mainly for medical treatment, was moving heaven and earth to
see if she could induce the English Government to stir in the matter;
but they naturally declined.
Pages:
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309