Neufeld,
who was placed on a pony, seemed nearly mad with delight, and talked and
gesticulated with queer animation. 'Thirteen years,' he said to his rescuer,
'have I waited for this day.' From the prison, as it was now dark,
the Sirdar rode to the great square in front of the mosque, in which his
headquarters were established, and where both British brigades were already
bivouacking. The rest of the army settled down along the roadways through
the suburbs, and only Maxwell's brigade remained in the city to complete
the establishment of law and order--a business which was fortunately hidden
by the shades of night.
While the Sirdar with the infantry of the army was taking possession
of Omdurman, the British and Egyptian cavalry had moved round to the west
of the city. There for nearly two hours we waited, listening to the
dropping fusillade which could be heard within the great wall and wondering
what was happening. Large numbers of Dervishes and Arabs, who, laying aside
their jibbas, had ceased to be Dervishes, appeared among the houses at the
edge of the suburbs. Several hundreds of these, with two or three Emirs,
came out to make their submission; and we were presently so loaded with
spears and swords that it was impossible to carry them, and many
interesting trophies had to be destroyed. It was just getting dark when
suddenly Colonel Slatin galloped up.
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