A Surprise At the Oasis of El-Dubie

The company of Sikhs at the point lead the patrol towards the oasis

We last saw the scouting patrol moving ever so slowly and carefully towards the Oasis of El-Dubie, its mission being to find and recover the body of Colonel Barlow. As the column closed within site of the Oasis they spied what looked like civilians milling about the desert water well. Everyone was on edge as they moved in for a closer look.

Here is what the patrol found at the Oasis of El-Dubie:

Who could that be in the red tunic with his arm in  a sling?

An Arab wearing a red headscarf emerged from the mud hut followed by two burly henchmen, each holding an arm of what appeared to be a hostage. The henchmen wore the brightly colored cloth patches of the Mahdi's Ansar warriors, so caution was taken.


The Arab waved at the patrol as if to indicate that he wanted to talk to the British. The man in the red tunic raised his one good arm over his head and waved to the column.

Colonel Fred Burnaby, the leader of the patrol, looked through his spyglass and exclaimed:

"Good God, it's Barlow, and he's alive!"

(more of the details in our next posting tomorrow)