334 ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN. tear himself away from the land where he had resided for eleven years, and which seems to have a kind of fascination for Europeans. He hesitated, too, about leaving the soldiers, who, until some foolish fancy had warped their reason, had always served him faithfully and well. He had scruples about following Stanley; he seemed thereby to be breaking his promise to Gordon, his venerated chief, that he would shed the very last drop of his blood in the Soudan in the cause of civilisation and progress. Stanley, however, was not so much enthralled by the fascinations of a country in which his expe riences had been so rough, where he had run so many fatal risks, and where he had seen his com panions die around him by the score. He was fully sensible of the import of the events that had transpired, and he represented, with much show of reason, that in the present state of anarchy, a handful of Europeans, however valiant they might be, could do nothing for the cause of civilisation at Wadelai, which by this time was probably in the power of encroaching Mahdists, mutinous soldiers, or hostile natives. Moreover, his mission was to rescue Emin from