Undoubtedly, this was a very clear case of want of con-
fidence in me on the Khalifa's part. He was anxious to
remove me from the neighbourhood of the ammunition
stores and powder magazine, which, in case of war, I was
supposed to seize. I now called together my household,
and told them to begin moving at once. They cursed the
Khalifa freely, and called down all the punishments of
Heaven on his head. Little by little, year by year, they
had gone on building. They had dug wells fifty feet deep,
and planted lemon and pomegranate trees, which were just
about to bear fruit, and had, so to speak, made themselves
comfortable. For me the move was quite immaterial. How
I had prayed to leave this house, though not in this way I
However, as Gereifawi had said, perhaps the new house
would bring me better luck, and I was by no means the
only man who had been turned out of his abode at short
notice. The whole portion of the city lying north of the



•96 FIRB AND SWORD IN THE SUDAN

Khali&'s house had been vacated at a moment's notice by
the Ashraf and theif relatives, and they had not even been
allowed to remove their furniture, nor had they received the
smallest compensation. They had been given a patch of
stony ground to the west of the town, where they had been
ordered to build fresh houses. After aU, I was better off
than they. Kecent events had depressed me considerably,
and I saw that the situation was now becoming almost un-
bearable ; but more trouble was in store for me which was
to throw completely into the background that of which I
now complained.
