Part 7 (2/2)
When Gordon was in Abyssinia King John took hiht before his Majesty, Gordon fairly took away the breath of thehis own chair beside the king's, and telling him that he would only talk to him as an equal
”Do you know, Gordon Pasha,” said the king, ”that I could kill you on the spot if I liked?”
”I am perfectly aware of it,” replied Gordon calmly; ”so do it, if it is your royal pleasure”
”What! ready to be killed?” asked the king incredulously
”Certainly I am always ready to die,” answered the pasha; ”and so far fro ”
Upon this his Majesty gave up the idea of frightening him
At the end of 1879 Gordon was free from the Soudan for the second tiood; but, as it turned out, it was only for a feeeks' holiday in England, and then back to quell the rebellion
Even noas destined that he should soon return once again and finally But during the breathing ti an easy life or ”never getting up till noon,” he was in all parts of the world, from China to the Cape, fro to do a little good wherever he was
Leopold II, King of the Belgians, who had a profound regard for Gordon, greatly desired that he should go out to the Congo; and in January, 1884, he was just preparing to start in his Majesty's service when on the 17th of thathi he was in London; and the sa received instructions from the Government, he was on his way for the last tiarrisons of the Soudan toere sore beset by the legions which were gathering beneath the banners of the Mahdi, who, flushed with victory, was threatening an eruption into Lower Egypt itself
To extricate these garrisons without bloodshed if possible was Gordon's object It was a forlorn hope; still if any one man could acco it was found even beyond his powers; for after sending off a portion of the Khartouions closed in upon hie
For nearly a year he held the city against all the forces of the enemy; and meantime Great Britain was stirred with a vehement desire to save the life of this devoted man
In the autumn of 1884 a force under the command of Lord Wolseley was sent out to relieve Khartou their way up the river and across the desert, Khartouony
By January, 1885, the city had been reduced to starvation Donkeys, dogs, rats, everything indeed in the way of flesh, had been consumed; even boot leather, the straps of native bedsteads, and arrison
Famine had produced lack of discipline on the part of some of the troops; and Gordon foresahat the end h without a fear for himself
You can read for yourself froe of his diary, written on the 14th Deceth of tied to keep back the enemy for another month, yet on the 26th January, 1885, whilst yet Sir Charles Wilson and the British troops were fighting their way up the river Nile to his relief, Khartoum fell
In the early dawn of that day the Mahdi assaulted the town in overwhel force--whether helped by treachery is not exactly known; and before his well-fed, well-trained hosts, the feeble worn-out garrison gave way, the walls were scaled, the city taken, and the hero who had won the affection of many nations fell amidst the people he had come to save
[ILlustRATION: REDUCED FACSIMILE OF THE LAST PAGE OF GORDON'S DIARY AT KHARTOUM]
It was on the whole a happy and fitting end Theout; and the man lived so much in the presence of God that death was a welcome visitor
”Like Lawrence,” he wrote, ”I have tried to do ht nobly he had done it
Let those ish to testify their love and veneration for this great man remember the Gordon Home for Boys at Chobham, which was founded to perpetuate his name It is situated in the midst of Surrey; and here are to be found over two hundred boys rescued fro life they lead in their country ho they receive fits the useful citizens and valuable servants of the State Most of them join the ar the Queen in every land