"Can they advance as far as Egypt?" asked Stas.
"No," answered Mr. Rawlinson. "The Mahdi announces, indeed, that he will conquer the whole world, but he is a wild man who has no conception of anything. He never will take Egypt, as England would not permit it."
"If, however, the Egyptian troops are completely routed?"
"Then would appear the English armies which no one has ever overcome."
"And why did England permit the Mahdi to occupy so much territory?"
"How do you know that she has permitted it?" replied Mr. Rawlinson. "England is never in a hurry because she is eternal."
Further conversation was interrupted by a negro servant, who announced that Fatma Smain had arrived and begged for an audience.
Women in the East are occupied exclusively with household affairs and seldom leave the harems. Only the poorer ones go to the market or work in the fields, as the wives of the fellahs, the Egyptian peasants, do; but these at such times veil their faces. Though in the Sudân, from which region Fatma came, this custom was not observed, and though she had come to Mr. Rawlinson's office previously, nevertheless, her arrival, particularly at such a late hour and at a private house, evoked surprise.
"We shall learn something new about Smain," said Pan Tarkowski.
"Yes," answered Mr. Rawlinson, giving at the same time a signal to the servant to usher Fatma in.
Accordingly, after a while there entered a tall, young Sudânese woman with countenance entirely unveiled, complexion very dark, and eyes beautiful but wild, and a trifle ominous. Entering, she at once prostrated herself, and when Mr. Rawlinson ordered her to rise, she raised herself but remained on her knees.
"Sidi," she said, "May Allah bless thee, thy posterity, thy home, and thy flocks!"
"Mercy, help, and succor in misfortune, oh, sir! I am imprisoned in Port Said and destruction hangs over me and my children."
"You say that you are imprisoned, and yet you could come here, and in the night-time at that."
"I have been escorted by the police who day and night watch my house, and I know that they have an order to cut off our heads soon!"
"Speak like a rational woman," answered Mr. Rawlinson, shrugging his shoulders. "You are not in the Sudân, but in Egypt where no one is executed without a trial. So you may be certain that not a hair will fall from your head or the heads of your children."