Show It cannot be easily forgott how General Gen-eral Gordon went thither unattended even by the smallest military force with only one or two companions and armed only with a simple walkingstick how he crossed the desert amid hostile Arab tribes holding his life in tile hollow of his hand at every stage of his strange journey He reached Khartoum in safety took command of the garrison and at once set to work at his task But before he could find a way to retire from Khartoum with the Egyptian soldiers and people he found himself hemmed in by the Mahdis savage forces He not only could not get tho Egyptians out but found his own path back to civilization closed upon him It is only a wonder how this heroic soldier sol-dier has been able so long to keep his fierce foe at bay His force in Khartoum was small and far from brave or well disciplined It was only with great difficulty that he could keep the desert city provided with provisions Starvation Starva-tion must have many times stared him in the face At last it became clear that without the aid of a large force of British troops Gordon could never get away from Khartoum Khar-toum Accordingly Lord Wolseley whose fame had been won by his succcfs on Egyptian battlegrounds was sent to the Soudan to rescue him I at the head t of wellappointed army But Lord WolseTey was too late As soon as a portionof his forcecould make its way up the Nile near to Khartoum it was discovered that the fortress was in the hands of the Mahdi and that General Gen-eral Gordon as well as a large portion of the Egyptians had been massacred t General l Gordon was a strange yet heroic he-roic character He does not seem to have known what fear is In his campaigns both in China and in Africa he showed a courage which amazed thqso who witnessed wit-nessed it He had a capacity for dealing with savage chiefs and tribes which gaye him a unique power over them whenever they presented themselves No less selfish man ever appeared upon the public stage He was careless of and indifferent to his ovn personal fortunes f He did not seek after rank or honor or fame The idea of duty was ever present to him and seemed to absorb him When he had a task to perform which he believed right and necessary he seemed to forget his own awn afFairs completely and absorbed himself in the work fear lessly and with all the intensity of his ar dent nature Such a character is very rare and in many of its features presents a shining example of heroism and selfabnegation to his fellowmen |