Thinking civilian clothes might be useful, Hafiz had told Gordon's soldier servant to smuggle a suit out also, but it had been found impossible to do so.
"That comes of taking up your quarters in a barracks instead of at the Club or at a private house, as Staff Officers always do," said Hafiz, and when Gordon gave some hint of explanation he added, "Oh, I know! You wanted to make common cause with the men, but now you have to pay the price of it."
"What about the man to go with me?" asked Gordon.
"I've got him. You remember the two Sheikhs who went with us to Alexandria. It's one of them."
His name was Osman. He had been tutor to the Khedive's children, but he wished to become a teacher of Mohammedan law in the college at Khartoum, so the journey suited his book exactly.
"And the camels?"
"I've got them also. Young ones, too, with ripping big humps! They'll want their humps before they've crossed that desert."
"Where and when am I to meet them, Hafiz?"
"At the first village beyond the fort on the Gebel Mokattam at eleven o'clock to-morrow night. But I'll come for you at ten and see you safely started."
Gordon looked up in alarm.