One day, in the month of December, 1892, when I had just left the Khalifa's door to take a short rest, one of the mulazemin summoned me to the Khalifa's presence. I found him in the reception room, surrounded by his Kadis, and the threats and reprimands which I had received on the occasion of Taib Haj Ali's calumny were still fresh in my mind. I was therefore considerably dismayed when the Khalifa, without returning my salute, ordered me to take my seat amongst the judges. "Take this thing," said he, after a short pause, and in a very severe tone, "and see what it contains." I at once arose and took in both hands the object he gave me, and then sat down again. It consisted of a brass ring of about four centimetres in diameter, attached to which was a small metal case about the size and shape of a revolver cartridge. An attempt had been made to open it, and I could plainly see that it contained a paper. This was indeed an anxious moment for me. Could it be a letter from my relations, or from the Egyptian Government; and had the messenger who brought it been captured? Whilst I was engaged in opening the case with the knife which had been given me, I turned over in my mind how I should act, and what I should say; and, as good luck would have it, I had not on this occasion to have recourse to dissimulation. Pulling out two small papers, and opening them, I found inscribed on them, in minute but legible handwriting, in German, French, English, and Russian languages the following:—
This crane has been bred and brought up on my estate at Ascania Nova, in the Province of Tauride, in South Russia. Whoever catches or kills this bird is requested to communicate with me, and inform me where it occurred.
(Signed) F. R. Falz-Fein.
September, 1892.
I now raised my head, which hitherto I had kept closely bent down; and the Khalifa asked, "Well, what do the papers contain?" "Sire," I replied, "this case must have been fastened to the neck of a bird which has been killed. Its owner, who lives in Europe, has requested that any one who finds the bird should let him know where it was caught or killed." "You have spoken the truth," said the Khalifa, in a somewhat more amiable tone; "the bird was killed by a Shaigi near Dongola, and the cartridge case was found attached to its neck. He took it to the Emir Yunes, whose secretary was unable to decipher the writing of the Christian, and he therefore forwarded it to me. Tell me now what is written on the paper?" I translated the message, word for word, and, at the Khalifa's command also tried to describe the geographical position of the country from which the bird had come, and the distance it had travelled before it was killed. "This is one of the many devilries of those unbelievers," he said, at last, "who waste their time in such useless nonsense. A Mohammedan would never have attempted to do such a thing."
He then ordered me to hand over the case to his secretary, and signed to me to withdraw; but I managed to take one more hurried glance at the paper,—Ascania Nova, Tauride, South Russia, I repeated over and over again to imprint it on my memory. The mulazemin at the door anxiously awaited my return; and when I came out from the presence of my tyrannical master with a placid countenance, they seemed greatly pleased. On my way to my house, I continued to repeat to myself the name of the writer and his residence, and determined, that should Providence ever grant me my freedom, I should not fail to let him know what had happened to his bird.
In accordance with orders, Mahmud Ahmed now returned to Omdurman with all his available troops (about five thousand) from Darfur, leaving there only sufficient men for the garrison. He pitched his camp at Dem Yunes on the south side of the city.
Once more I underwent a period of considerable trial. The Khalifa again instituted a series of military manœuvres for all the troops in Omdurman; and, as usual, they resulted in the wildest confusion. I had to perform the duties of aide-de-camp, and invariably had to bear the blame for everything that went wrong; but all things come to an end, and at last Mahmud Ahmed was ordered back to Gallabat, after his troops had renewed their oath of allegiance, in return for which they received some new jibbas.
The Khalifa now turned his attention to the Equatorial regions, where Abu Girga resided as nominal Governor, and despatched two steamers with three hundred men, under the command of his relative Arabi Dafalla, to Reggaf with instructions to depose Abu Girga, and throw him into chains. It was abundantly clear that the latter had only been sent to Reggaf to get him out of the way. Dafalla's departure was also taken advantage of to exile Khaled, who had been lying heavily chained in the Saier.
Dafalla was instructed to extend the Mahdist territory as far as possible in all directions, and to send back to Omdurman as many slaves and as much ivory as he could obtain. Whilst the expedition was being got ready, the Khalifa, under the pretext of giving Zeki Tummal special verbal instructions regarding an intended campaign against the Italians, recalled him to Omdurman. Ahmed Wad Ali had faithfully carried out his secret instructions, which had resulted in the recall of his chief. A few days after the steamers had left, Zeki arrived at Omdurman accompanied by some of the Emirs whom he looked upon as friendly. During his absence, he had nominated Ahmed Wad Ali as his representative, and had ordered him to await his return at Gedaref. The Khalifa, to all outward appearance, received Zeki in the most friendly manner possible; and, a few days after his arrival, in spite of their orders, Ahmed Wad Ali and the other Emirs arrived at Omdurman, and were frequently received in secret audience by Abdullahi. They brought proofs of Zeki's duplicity and disobedience to the Khalifa's commands in not restoring the property which he had confiscated; and they showed how he had subverted his instructions by inducing his men to become participators in a conspiracy by which he should become independent. The Khalifa and his brother Yakub took counsel together, and agreed to make him harmless once and for all. They thought that if they merely removed him from his position, dissensions might arise amongst his men. On the following morning, therefore, the unsuspecting Zeki, relying on the former services he had rendered, and anticipating merely a reprimand, was enticed into Yakub's house, where he was immediately seized from behind by four men, his sword wrenched from him, and his hands tied behind his back. He had frequently spoken disrespectfully of Yakub and Kadi Ahmed, saying that, in comparison with a brave warrior like himself, they were little better than women, and were only happy in receiving presents and leading comfortable and voluptuous lives. Disarmed and bound, he was now brought, a miserable captive, before his master, who awaited him in an adjoining court.