Many Arabs Sought Clemency; But There Were
Others Who Disdained It; And The Whirring Of The Maxims, The Crashes Of
The volleys, and a continual dropping fire attested that there was fighting
in all parts of the city into which
The columns had penetrated.
All Dervishes who did not immediately surrender were shot or bayoneted,
and bullets whistled at random along or across the streets. But while women
crowded round his horse, while sullen men fired carefully from houses,
while beaten warriors cast their spears on the ground and others, still
resisting, were despatched in corners, the Sirdar rode steadily onward
through the confusion, the stench, and the danger, until he reached
the Mahdi's Tomb.
At the mosque two fanatics charged the Soudanese escort,
and each killed or badly wounded a soldier before he was shot.
The day was now far spent, and it was dusk when the prison was reached.
The General was the first to enter that foul and gloomy den. Charles
Neufeld and some thirty heavily shackled prisoners were released. Neufeld,
who was placed on a pony, seemed nearly mad with delight, and talked and
gesticulated with queer animation. 'Thirteen years,' he said to his rescuer,
'have I waited for this day.' From the prison, as it was now dark,
the Sirdar rode to the great square in front of the mosque, in which his
headquarters were established, and where both British brigades were already
bivouacking. The rest of the army settled down along the roadways through
the suburbs, and only Maxwell's brigade remained in the city to complete
the establishment of law and order - a business which was fortunately hidden
by the shades of night.
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