“I do not want it.”
“All I have shall be yours!”
“It is mine already.”
One of the eunuchs connected with Mahmoud’s harem testified how the wives were constantly beaten with whips.
“The same measure shall be meted out to Mahmoud,” said the Mahdi; “it is fate.”
The man pleaded for his life, but the Mahdi was inexorable.
Mahmoud suffered the scourging from the hands of his own eunuch, and was drowned in the Nile.
“It is fate! It is justice!” exclaimed the people, who were more than ever enthused with the prophet and his cause.
CHAPTER XXXI.
VICTORY ALL ALONG THE LINE.
Early on the following morning a man, riding at hot haste, asked for the Mahdi.