Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-22

levies into Handful one day. The great
bearded Emirs and the savage, hairy, fight
ing men laughed through their teeth when
they saw him come. They had made the
poor rice eaters Of Egypt run too often TO
dream OF anything else except an easy
slaughter. But this time the men whom
Kitchener had found in the fellaheen were
behind those brown skins, in which once
there had been room for nothing but quak-
ing hearts. And Emirs and hairy fighting
men snapped their teeth in the dust in
dying and spearmen fell to rise no more.
The troops were beaten of at last, but
Kitchener, although defeated in this his
first real battle, had broken his Egyptian
soldiery to fighting and killing as sports
men blood" a deerhound. He got a bullet
in the face as a souvenir OF the occasion.
A few years ago, while he was eating at a
table. the bullet suddenly worked it's way
out and fell into his plate. He lifted 1t out
With his fork, stared in d~isapproval at his
servant. who had too lively an expression
Of surprise on his face, and went on eating
without saying a word.
Revenge for
Within a year after HANDFUL he led a
brigade Of Soudanese over the trenches at
Gemaizeh and incidentally over Osman'
men. who had incautiously occupied them.
In 1889 he again commanded a brigade. All
this time he was gazing at the Soudan,
studying it, laying his plans to subdue it.
He had prohted by all the experiences Of
others. As intelligence officer with Stew
arts m-starred desert column. he had noted
for future use the breakdown OF the system
Of communications
1t was Kitchener who plunged into the
Korosko desert and in less than three weeks
came out not only alive (then a feat in it.
self), but with the information that he
had succeeded in establishing a chain OF
outposts extending to the Red sea and
guarded by 1000 friendly Arabs.
II vas Kitchener whose native cavalry
sent the Dervishes in rout across the desert
and stopped all Arab invasion for a year.
And it was Kitchener who, In 1890, was
appointed sirdar.
And In 1895 the Soudan was conquered.
Before he could move to conquer the
Soudan he had 20 conquer the khediye. He
did. The khedive said something insulting
about British ofhcers. Kitchener rode up
close to him snd-;he khedive issued a
general order ~praising the army and par
ticularly its British ohcers. Queen Vic
toria made Kitchener a K. c. NJ. C. that
time.
Then began the game Of war. Impassive.
passionless, uncommunicatiye. drillmaster,
~farrier. eommissary and railroad engineer
by turns. the silent man made plans and
laid them 10 converge on one point. Many
thousand instruments. bent by his supreme
will. tOIled blindly for him. not knowing
whether they were working for a hope
lessIy stupid victim OF dull red tape or a
man with q colossal scheme. and. what Is
more. not daring TO try to know.
A year passed by and still the army
drilled and the engineers planned, and in
stead Of gun firing and sword clashing th'
blows Of plckaXes and the seraping Of
spades made monotonous music day aftel
day. Foot by foot, mile by mile, a railroad
began TO crawl away from camp into th'
dim desert, sacred till then to Mahdisi
raids and retAliatory expeditions by British
soldiers that were little more effective thai
raids.
There were TO be no raids with Kitchener
He meant to take no army out and brinl
a cut-up, starving. panic-strteken remnan
back. He meant to send no columns wind