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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of With Buller in Natal, by G. A. Henty
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: With Buller in Natal
+       A Born Leader
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Posting Date: June 2, 2012 [EBook #7334]
+Release Date: January, 2005
+First Posted: April 15, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH BULLER IN NATAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Tony Hyland, Charles Franks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WITH BULLER IN NATAL
+
+
+[Illustration: "CHRIS SPRANG AT HIM."]
+
+
+WITH BULLER IN NATAL
+
+OR, A BORN LEADER
+
+BY
+
+G. A. HENTY
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+It will be a long time before the story of the late war can be written
+fully and impartially. Even among the narratives of those who witnessed
+the engagements there are many differences and discrepancies, as is
+necessarily the case when the men who write are in different parts of
+the field. Until, then, the very meagre military despatches are
+supplemented by much fuller details, anything like an accurate history
+of the war would be impossible. I have, however, endeavoured to
+reconcile the various narratives of the fighting in Natal, and to make
+the account of the military occurrences as clear as possible.
+Fortunately this is not a history, but a story, to which the war forms
+the background, and, as is necessary in such a case, it is the heroes
+of my tale, the little band of lads from Johannesburg, rather than the
+leaders of the British troops, who are the most conspicuous characters
+in the narrative. As these, although possessed of many admirable
+qualities, had not the faculty of being at two places at once, I was
+obliged to confine the action of the story to Natal. With the doings of
+the main army I hope to deal next year.
+
+G. A. HENTY
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+I. THE BURSTING OF THE STORM
+
+II. A TERRIBLE JOURNEY
+
+III. AT THE FRONT
+
+IV. DUNDEE
+
+V. THE FIRST BATTLE
+
+VI. ELANDSLAAGTE
+
+VII. LADYSMITH BESIEGED
+
+VIII. A DESPERATE PROJECT
+
+IX. KOMATI-POORT
+
+X. AN EXPLOSION
+
+XI. BACK WITH THE ARMY
+
+XII. THE BATTLE OF COLENSO
+
+XIII. PRISONERS
+
+XIV. SPION KOP
+
+XV. SPION KOP
+
+XVI. A COLONIST'S ADVENTURE
+
+XVII. A RESCUE
+
+XVIII. RAILWAY HILL
+
+XIX. MAJUBA DAY
+
+XX. LADYSMITH
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"CHRIS SPRANG AT HIM"
+
+CHRIS OFFERS HIS SERVICES TO SIR PENN SYMONS
+
+CHRIS AND HIS COMPANIONS SCOUTING
+
+"BOTH RIFLES CRACKED AT ONCE"
+
+"THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS ROAR AND A BLINDING CRASH"
+
+"WITH A SHOUT OF TRIUMPH THE TWO BOERS RAN DOWN"
+
+"PRESENTLY FROM BEHIND THE FOOT OF THE HILL SIX HORSEMEN DASHED OUT"
+
+THE NAVAL GUNS ON MOUNT ALICE
+
+"ONE OF THE BOERS HELD UP HIS RIFLE WITH A WHITE FLAG TIED TO IT"
+
+THE RELIEF OF LADYSMITH
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SOUTH EASTERN AFRICA]
+
+WITH BULLER IN NATAL
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE BURSTING OF THE STORM
+
+
+A group of excited men were gathered in front of the Stock Exchange at
+Johannesburg. It was evident that something altogether unusual had
+happened. All wore anxious and angry expressions, but a few shook hands
+with each other, as if the news that so much agitated them, although
+painful, was yet welcome; and indeed this was so.
+
+For months a war-cloud had hung over the town, but it had been thought
+that it might pass over without bursting. None imagined that the blow
+would come so suddenly, and when it fell it had all the force of a
+complete surprise, although it had been so threatening for many weeks
+that a considerable portion of the population had already fled. It was
+true that great numbers of men, well armed, and with large numbers of
+cannon, had been moving south, but negotiations were still going on and
+might continue for some time yet; and now by the folly and arrogance of
+one man the cloud had burst, and in thirty hours war would begin.
+
+Similar though smaller groups were gathered here and there in the
+streets. Parties of Boers from the country round rode up and down with
+an air of insolent triumph, some of them shouting "We shall soon be rid
+of you; in another month there will not be a rooinek left in South
+Africa."
+
+Those addressed paid no heed to the words. They had heard the same
+thing over and over again for the past two months. There was a
+tightening of the lips and a closing of the fingers as if on a sword or
+rifle, but no one replied to the insolent taunts. For years it had been
+the hope of the Uitlanders that this would come, and that there would
+be an end to a position that was well-nigh intolerable. Never before
+had a large body of intelligent men been kept in a state of abject
+subjection by an inferior race, a race almost without even the elements
+of civilization, ignorant and brutal beyond any existing white
+community, and superior only in the fact that they were organized and
+armed, whereas those they trampled upon were deficient in both these
+respects. Having no votes, these were powerless to better their
+condition by the means common to civilized communities throughout the
+world. They were ground down by an enormous taxation, towards which the
+Boers themselves contributed practically nothing, and the revenue drawn
+from them was spent in the purchase of munitions of war, artillery, and
+fortifications, so enormously beyond the needs of the country, that it
+was no secret that they were intended not only for the defence of the
+republic against invasion, but for a general rising of the Boer
+population and the establishment of Dutch supremacy throughout the
+whole of South Africa.
+
+The Boer government was corrupt from the highest to the lowest. The
+president and the members of his family piled up wealth to an enormous
+amount, and nothing could be done without wholesale bribery. The price
+of everything connected with the mining industry was doubled by the
+supply being in the hands of monopolists, who shared their gains with
+high state officials. Money was lavished like water on what was called
+secret service, in subsidizing newspapers to influence public opinion
+throughout Europe, and, as it was strongly suspected, in carrying on a
+propaganda among the Dutch in Cape Colony, and in securing the return
+of members and a ministry secretly pledged to further in every way the
+aims of the Presidents of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The
+British and other aliens were not only deprived of all rights of
+citizenship, but even freedom of speech and the right of public meeting
+was denied them; they were not allowed to carry arms except by a
+special license, their children were taught in Dutch in the schools,
+they had no right of trial by jury; judges who had the courage to
+refuse to carry out the illegal behests of the president were deprived
+of their offices, and the few editors of newspapers representing the
+Uitlanders--as all men not born in the state were called-were
+imprisoned and their journals suppressed.
+
+Intolerable as was such a state of things to a civilized community, it
+might have been borne with some patience had it not been that the
+insolence of their masters was unbounded. Every Boer seemed to take a
+pleasure in neglecting no opportunity of showing his contempt for the
+men whose enterprise and labour had enormously enriched the country,
+and whose superior intelligence he was too grossly ignorant to
+appreciate. A Boar farmer would refuse a cup of water to a passing
+traveller, and would enforce his refusal by producing his rifle
+immediately if the stranger ventured to urge his request. Of late the
+insolence of the Boers had greatly increased; the manner in which
+England had, instead of demanding justice with the sternness and
+determination that the circumstances called for, permitted her
+remonstrances to be simply ignored, was put down as a consciousness of
+weakness. And having now collected arms sufficient not only for
+themselves but for the whole Dutch population of South Africa, the
+Boers were convinced that their hour of triumph had come, and that in a
+very short time their flag would float over every public building
+throughout the country and the Union Jack disappear for ever.
+
+The long discussions that had been going on with regard to a five or
+seven years' franchise were regarded with absolute indifference by the
+Uitlanders--even the shorter time would have afforded them no advantage
+whatever. The members from the mining districts would be in a hopeless
+minority in the assembly; and indeed, very few of those entitled to a
+vote would have cared to claim it, inasmuch as they would thereby
+render themselves citizens of the republic, and be liable to be
+commandeered and called upon to serve in arms, not only against the
+natives, upon whom the Boers were always making aggressions, but
+against England, when the war, which all foresaw could not long be
+delayed, broke out.
+
+For months the negotiations went on between President Kruger and Mr.
+Chamberlain, the British colonial minister, and the certainty that the
+Boers were bent upon fighting became more and more evident. Vast
+quantities of rifles, ammunition, and cannon poured into the Transvaal,
+their passage being more than winked at by the Dutch ministry of Cape
+Colony.
+
+It was that day known that President Kruger had thrown off the mask of
+a pretended desire for peace, and that an ultimatum had been
+telegraphed to England couched in terms of such studied insolence that
+it was certain war must ensue. The greatest civilized power on earth
+would have shown less arrogance towards the most feeble. Not only was
+England called upon to send no more troops to South Africa, but to
+withdraw most of her forces already in the country, and this by a state
+that owed its very existence to her, and whose total population was not
+more than that of a small English county.
+
+The terms of that ultimatum had just become known in Johannesburg, and
+it was not surprising that it had created an intense excitement. All
+had long felt that war must come, and that at an early date, but the
+step that had now been taken came as a surprise. From all appearances
+it had seemed that the negotiations might be continued for months yet
+before the crisis arrived, and that it should thus have been forced on
+by the wording of the ultimatum showed that the Boers were satisfied
+that their preparations were complete, and that they were in a position
+to overrun Natal and Cape Colony before any British force capable of
+withstanding them could arrive. England, indeed, had been placed in a
+most difficult position. The ministry were not unaware of the enormous
+preparations that the Boers were making, and had for some time past
+been quietly sending out a large number of officers and a few
+non-commissioned officers and men to the Cape. But so long as there was
+a hope that the Boers would finally grant some redress to the
+Uitlanders, they could not despatch any considerable number of troops,
+for had they done so they would have been accused not only on the
+Continent, but by a section of Englishmen, of forcing on a war with a
+weak state, whereas in point of fact the war was being forced on by a
+country that most erroneously believed itself to be stronger than
+England. The Boers of the Transvaal knew already that the Orange Free
+State would join them at once, and believed firmly that every Dutchman
+in Natal and Cape Colony would at the signal take up arms.
+
+Presently a gentleman detached himself from the crowd in front of the
+Exchange, and joined a lad of some sixteen years old who was standing
+on the other side of the street.
+
+"Well, father, is it all true what they say?" the latter asked--"that
+Kruger has sent such an ultimatum to England that war is certain?"
+
+"It is quite true, Chris; war is absolutely certain. Kruger has given
+the British Government only two days to reply to the most insolent
+demand ever addressed to a great power, and worded in the most
+offensive manner. I imagine that no reply will be given; and as the
+ultimatum was sent off yesterday, we shall to-morrow morning be in a
+state of war."
+
+"Well, father, there is no doubt what the result will be."
+
+"No doubt whatever as to the final result, but I am afraid things will
+go very badly for a time. I am glad, very glad, that Kruger should have
+sent such an ultimatum. It cannot but be accepted as a defiance by all
+England; and I should say that even the opposition, which has of late
+continually attacked Mr. Chamberlain, will now be silenced, and that
+Government will be supported by all parties."
+
+After a quarter of an hour's walk they arrived at home. It was a
+handsome house, for Mr. King was one of the leading men in
+Johannesburg. He had come out with a wife and son ten years before,
+being sent by some London capitalists to report to them fully upon the
+prospects of the gold-fields. Under his advice they had purchased
+several properties, which had been brought out as companies, and proved
+extremely valuable. He was himself a large holder in each of these, and
+acted as manager and director of the group. "What is the news, Robert?"
+his wife asked, as he and her son came in. "I have had three or four
+visitors in here, and they all say that there is quite an excitement in
+the town."
+
+"It has come at last," he said gravely; "war is inevitable, and will
+begin in twenty-four hours. Kruger has sent one of the most
+extraordinary demands ever drawn up. He calls upon England to cease
+sending out troops, and to speedily recall most of those now in South
+Africa, and has given two days for a reply, of which one has already
+expired. As it is absolutely certain that England will not grant this
+modest request, we may say that the war has begun. I wish now that I
+had sent you and Chris down to Durban a fortnight ago, for there will
+be a fearful rush, and judging by the attitude of the Boers, I fear
+they will make the journey a very unpleasant one. As we have agreed, it
+is absolutely necessary that I should remain here. There is no saying
+what steps the Boers will take with reference to the mines; but it is
+certain that we must, if possible, keep them going--not for the sake of
+the profit, which you may be sure Kruger will not allow to go out of
+the country, but because if they were to be stopped it would cost an
+immense deal of money to put them in working condition again,
+especially if, as is likely enough, the Boers damage the machinery. I
+shall do as little work as I can; and the Boers will not, I fancy,
+interfere with us as long as they can benefit by the working. For
+myself, I would risk any loss or damage rather than aid in supplying
+them with gold, but for the sake of our shareholders in Europe I must
+do my best to save the mines from destruction. Indeed, if I don't work
+them, probably they will do so until the end is at hand, and will then
+do as much damage as possible. You know we have agreed on this point."
+
+"Yes, I suppose it is best, Robert; but it seems terrible leaving you
+alone here, and I shall be in a perpetual state of anxiety about you."
+
+"I don't think there is any occasion for that; as long as I am working
+the mines and they are taking the gold, which no doubt they will have
+to repay when our army are masters here, they will not interfere with
+me. They treat us badly enough, as we know; but they love the gold even
+more than they hate us, so I have no fear whatever as to my personal
+safety. I am afraid, dear, that for a time things will go very badly
+with us. Already we know that commandos have gone forward in great
+strength to the frontier, and I should not be surprised if the whole of
+South Africa rises; at any rate, the Boers are confident that it will
+be so. Gladstone's miserable surrender after our disasters at Laing's
+Nek and Majuba have puffed them up with such an idea of their own
+fighting powers and our weakness, that I believe they think they are
+going to have almost a walk over. Still, though it was certain that we
+should have a hard time whenever war came, we have been hoping for
+years that England would at last interfere to obtain redress for us,
+and we must not grumble now that what we have been so long expecting
+has at last come to pass. I believe there will be some stern fighting.
+The Boers are no cowards; courage is, indeed, as far as I know, the
+only virtue they possess. In the long run they must certainly be
+beaten, but it will only be after very hard fighting."
+
+"What do you think they will do, father?"
+
+"I can't say what they will do, but I am sure that what they ought to
+do is to merely hold the passes from Natal with enough men for the
+purpose, and to march their whole force, broken up into half a dozen
+columns, into Cape Colony. There is no force there that could resist
+them, they would be undoubtedly joined by every Dutchman there, and I
+am convinced that the Africander ministry would at once declare for
+them, in which case England would have to undertake the tremendous work
+of conquering the whole of South Africa afresh, for certainly she could
+not allow it to slip from her hands, even if it should prove as stern a
+business as the conquering of half India after the Sepoy Mutiny. Now to
+business. Fortunately we sent down your clothes and everything we had
+of value to our friends the Wilsons, at Durban, six weeks ago. What you
+have remaining you must leave behind to take its chance. You will be
+able to take no luggage whatever with you. We know how terribly the
+trains have been packed for the past fortnight, and a week ago almost
+all the carriages were commandeered for the use of the troops going
+south.
+
+"You must take with you a basket of provisions, sufficient, if
+necessary, for two or three days for you both. There is no saying how
+long you may be on your way to the frontier; once beyond that you will,
+of course, be able to obtain anything you want. But you need expect no
+civility or courtesy from the Boers, who, indeed, would feel a
+malicious pleasure in shunting you off into a siding, and letting you
+wait there for any number of hours. You must mind, Chris, above all
+things, to keep your temper, whatever may happen. You know how our
+people have been insulted, and actually maltreated in scores of cases,
+and in their present state of excitement the Boers would be only too
+glad to find an excuse for acts of violence. I was speaking to you
+about it three days ago, and I cannot impress it too strongly upon you.
+I have already given you permission to join one or other of the corps
+that are being raised in Natal, and if anything unpleasant occurs on
+the road, you must bottle up your feelings and wait till you get a
+rifle in your hand and stand on equal terms with them."
+
+"I promise that, father. I think, after what we have had to put up with
+here, during the past two or three months especially, I can bear
+anything for these last few days."
+
+"Yes, Chris; but it will be more trying now that you have your mother
+under your charge. It is for her sake as well as your own that I
+impress this so strongly upon you. Now, will you go down at once to the
+railway-station and enquire about the trains? I shall go myself to the
+manager and see whether I can get him to make any special arrangement
+in your mother's favour, though I have no great hopes of that; for
+though I know him well, he is, like all these Dutchmen in office, an
+uncivilized brute puffed up with his own importance."
+
+Chris started at once, and returned an hour later with a very
+discouraging report. The station was crowded with people. No regular
+trains were running, but while he was there a large number of
+cattle-trucks had been run up to the platform, and in these as many of
+the fugitives as could be packed in were stowed away. As soon as this
+was done the train had started, but not half the number collected on
+the platform had found room in it. His father had left a few minutes
+after him, and presently returned.
+
+"From what I can hear," he said, "there is no chance whatever of your
+being able to get any accommodation, but must take your chance with the
+others. Viljoen told me that except the waggons there was not a
+carriage of any sort or class left here, and that there was no saying
+at all when any would return; but that even if they did, they would be
+taken for the use of the troops going south. All he could say was that
+if, when I came down to the station with you, he is there, he will see
+that you go by the first waggons that leave."
+
+"That is something at least," Mrs. King said quietly. "I certainly do
+not wish to ask for any favour from these people, and do not want to be
+better off than others. I have no doubt that it will be an unpleasant
+time, but after all it will be nothing to what great numbers of people
+will have to suffer during the war."
+
+"That is so, Amy. And now I think that the sooner the start is made the
+better. The rush to get away will increase every hour, and we shall
+have the miners coming in in hundreds. Many of the mines will be shut
+down at once, though some of them will, like ours, continue operations
+as long as they are allowed to."
+
+"Make your basket, or bag, or whatever you take your provisions in, as
+small as possible, mother. I saw lots of baggage left behind on the
+platform. You see, there are no seats to stow things under. I should
+say that a flat box which you can sit on would be the best thing. And
+you will want your warmest cloak and a thick rug for night."
+
+"I have a box that will do very well, Chris. Fortunately we have plenty
+of cold meat and bread in the house. I shall not be more than half an
+hour, Robert."
+
+In less than that time the party were ready. Chris's preparations had
+been of the simplest. He carried over his arm a long, thick greatcoat,
+in the pocket of which he had thrust a fur cap and two woollen
+comforters. He had also a light but warm rug, for he thought it
+probable that he might not be able to be next to his mother. He had on
+his usual light tweed suit, but had in addition put on a cardigan
+waistcoat, which he intended to take off when once in the train. In his
+pockets he had a couple of packets of tobacco, for although he seldom
+smoked, he thought that some of it might be very acceptable to his
+fellow-passengers before the journey was over. He wore a light gray,
+broad-brimmed wide-awake, with a white silk puggaree twisted round it,
+for the heat of the sun in the middle of the day was already very
+great, and would be greater still when they got down to Natal. The box,
+which a Kaffir servant put on his shoulder, was about eight inches deep
+and a foot wide, and eighteen inches long.
+
+"What have you in it, mother?"
+
+"Two tin bottles of cold tea, each holding a gallon."
+
+"I should hardly have thought that we wanted as much as that."
+
+"No; but there may be many women who have made no provision at all,
+thinking that we shall at least be able to get water at any of the
+stations we stop at. I have a small tin mug, and that joint of meat;
+the rest of the box is filled up with bread-and-butter. I have cut it
+up and spread it, so that it packs a good deal closer than it would do
+if we put the loaves in whole."
+
+Mr. King had his wife's thick-wadded winter cloak and a rug over his
+arm, and a small hand-bag with a few necessaries for the journey. Mrs.
+King was in her usual attire, and carried only a white umbrella.
+
+"We look as if we were starting for a picnic rather than a journey that
+will last three or four days," she said with an attempt at gaiety.
+"There is one comfort, we shall have nothing to look after when we get
+to the end."
+
+Chris walked on ahead to let his father and mother talk together, for
+although all arrangements had been discussed and settled during the
+past two or three days, there was much they had to say to each other
+now that the parting had come. The lad was a fine specimen of the young
+Uitlander. A life passed largely in the open air, hard work and
+exercise, had broadened his shoulders and made him look at least a year
+older than he really was. He was a splendid rider and an excellent shot
+with his rifle, for his father had obtained a permit from the
+authorities for him to carry one, and he could bring down an antelope
+when running at full speed as neatly as any of the young Boers. Four
+days a week he had spent in the mines, for his father intended him to
+follow in his footsteps, and he had worked by turns with the miners
+below and the engineers on the surface, so that he might in the course
+of a few years be thoroughly acquainted with all the details of his
+profession.
+
+The last two days in each week he had to himself, and with three or
+four lads of his own age went for long rides in search of sport. A
+couple of hours every evening were spent in study under his father's
+direction. He was quiet in manner, and talked but little. He deeply
+resented the position in which the British population in the Transvaal
+were placed, the insolence of the Boers towards them, and their brutal
+cruelty towards the natives. The restraint which he so often found it
+necessary to exercise had had no slight influence on his character, and
+had given a certain grim expression to the naturally bright face. Many
+had been the discussions between him and his friends as to the prospect
+of England's taking up their cause. Their disappointment had been
+intense at the miserable failure of the Jameson raid, which, however,
+they felt, and rightly, must some day have a good result, inasmuch as
+it had brought out the wretched position of the Uitlanders, who, though
+forming the majority of the population, and the source of all the
+wealth of the country, and paying all the taxes, were yet treated as an
+outcast race, and deprived of every right possessed by people of all
+civilized nations.
+
+They had wondered and fretted at the apathy with which the enormous
+warlike preparations of the Boers were regarded at home, and the fact
+that they were permitted to become a formidable power, capable of
+offering a desperate resistance even by the armies of England; whereas,
+before they had been enriched by the industry and enterprise of the
+immigrants, they had been in danger of being altogether wiped out by
+the Zulus and Swazis, and had only been saved by the interference on
+their behalf of the British power. Thus, then, while the war-cloud had
+been slowly but surely gathering, the lads had watched the approaching
+crisis with delight, unmingled with the anxiety and foreboding of the
+capitalists, who, without doubting what the end must be, were sure that
+enormous losses and sacrifices must result before their deliverance
+from Boer oppression could be obtained.
+
+The scene at the station was an extraordinary one. Men, women, and
+children of all ranks were crowded on the platform; the greater
+capitalists, the men whose fortunes could be counted by hundreds of
+thousands, had for the most part left, but many who in England would be
+considered as rich men had remained in the town till the last moment,
+to make their final arrangements and wind up their affairs. With these
+were well-to-do storekeepers, with their wives and families, together
+with mining officials, miners, and mechanics of all kinds. Piles of
+baggage rendered movement difficult, for many had supposed that the
+regular trains were still running, and that they would be able to carry
+away with them the greater portion of their belongings. The scenes at
+the departure of the previous trains roughly awakened them to the fact
+that all this must be abandoned, and women were crying and men cursing
+below their breath at this last evidence of Boer indifference to the
+sufferings of those by whose work they had so greatly benefited. Mr.
+King soon found that the manager was still there, but on speaking to
+him he shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+"I do not see what I can do. Look at the crowd there. When the waggons
+come up there will be a rush, and I have no men here to keep such a
+number in order."
+
+"I see that, Mr. Viljoen, but if you would send a man with us to where
+the waggons are standing in readiness to come up, my wife could take
+her place then."
+
+"Yes, I will do that at once. You had better go with her outside the
+station, and the porter shall take you on from there. If you were to
+get off the platform here and walk up the lines, others would notice
+it, and there would be an immediate rush."
+
+He called to one of the porters on the platform, and gave him
+instructions, and in a few minutes Mrs. King was seated on her box in
+the corner of a truck, which, with a few others, had a covered roof,
+although it was entirely open at the sides. In the next half-hour eight
+or ten others, who had been similarly favoured by the manager, joined
+them. All these were known to the Kings, and it was a great relief to
+them to find that they would travel together, instead of being mixed up
+with the general crowd. They had packed themselves together as closely
+as possible, so that when the train became crowded there should be no
+room for anyone to push in among them. Among the party was John Cairns,
+a great chum of Chris's. He and his father and mother had been waiting
+for two hours at the station, and he told him that there were seven or
+eight of their companions there.
+
+"We will take our seats on that side," Chris said, "and as we move in
+shout to them to join us. It will be a great thing to get as many
+people we know in here as possible."
+
+Presently the train began to move. Fortunately, at the spot where it
+drew up, a group of their acquaintances were clustered together, and
+these all managed to get into the truck, which was speedily filled up
+until there was scarce standing-room. Three minutes later the train
+moved on. A great number were left behind, although everyone made as
+much room as possible, women especially being helped in after the
+trucks seemed absolutely choke-full. As soon as the train was fairly in
+motion many of the men climbed up on to the roofs of the covered
+waggons, thereby relieving the pressure below, and enabling all the
+women to sit down. Others ranged themselves along the sides, sitting on
+the rail, and so minimizing the space they occupied. But even with all
+this, the women were packed inconveniently together. All, however, were
+so much pleased at their good fortune in having got away that there was
+no complaining or grumbling. That the journey would be a long one, all
+knew; but at least they had started, and would soon be a free people in
+a free country. Chris and his friends had been among the first to climb
+up on to the roof, and they sat down in a group at one end of it.
+
+"It is going to be pretty cold here to-night, and desperately hot
+to-morrow," Chris said; "but we can put up with that. I would stand it
+for a month rather than stop any longer among these brutes." There was
+a general murmur of agreement.
+
+"Thank heavens," one of them said, "the next time we meet them will be
+with arms in our hands. We have a long score to pay off, and we shall,
+I expect, have plenty of chances. The Boers are boasting that they will
+soon drive the last Englishman out of South Africa, and seem to regard
+it as a sort of general picnic. They will find out their mistake before
+they have done."
+
+"Still, we must not think that it is going to be a picnic our way,"
+Chris said. "They have quite made up their minds that every Boer in
+Cape Colony and Natal will join them at once. If they do, it will be a
+very long business to put them down, though I have no doubt it will all
+come right in the end. Do you know anything about the others?"
+
+"I know that Peters and Carmichael and Brown went off with their people
+last night, but I don't know about the others."
+
+"Capper and Willesden and Horrocks went yesterday," another lad said.
+"Sankey and Holdsworth were on the platform, and no doubt got into
+another truck.
+
+"There are seven of us here," Chris said, "and as six have gone on,
+that makes thirteen certain, and there are eight more to come. Most of
+us will stop at Pietermaritzburg, but I suppose some, whose friends are
+going straight home, will go down with them to Durban."
+
+"There will not be many who have to do so," another said. "Sankey's
+people and Carmichael's are going to Cape Town, but, so far as I know,
+all the others will stay and see it out either at Maritzburg or Durban.
+Do you think that we should take any others with us, Chris?"
+
+"I don't think so. You see we all know each other, and it would be a
+nuisance having fellows with us of whom we know nothing. They might not
+pull with us, while we have been so much together that there is no fear
+of our having any disagreement. I think we have all pretty well settled
+that it will be much better to act by ourselves, instead of joining any
+of the corps that are sure to be formed down there. Still, if we knew
+one of the men getting up a corps--and some of our people are pretty
+sure to do so--I do think it would be a good plan to join, if they
+would accept us as a sort of independent troop, ready to act with them
+when there is any big fighting, and to go about on our own account at
+other times. You see, none of us will want any pay. We shall all
+furnish our own horses and arms, and shall therefore be on a different
+footing from men who have to draw pay and be equipped at the public
+expense; and I don't see why any officer commanding a troop in one of
+these corps should object to our joining him on those terms. But
+anyhow, I feel sure that we should be able to do a great deal more good
+by being free to move where we liked, and to undertake expeditions on
+our own account, than if we were to act in a more regular manner."
+
+There was a general chorus of agreement.
+
+"Now, how long do you think it will be before we cross Laing's Nek? Of
+course we ought to be there by to-morrow morning. It is only a hundred
+and fifty miles, and at fifteen miles an hour, which is about their
+usual rate of travelling, we should cross the frontier at two o'clock,
+for it was about four when we started. But there is no saying. My
+father thought we ought to take four days' provisions with us; I think
+we could hold out for that time."
+
+"You don't mean to say, Chris, he thought it possible we might be as
+long as that?"
+
+"He did think so, Peters. He considered that we might be shunted off
+very often to let trains with men and stores for the troops go on ahead
+of us."
+
+"Well," the other replied, "I don't care so much for myself, though I
+don't say that it would be lively to be stuck up here for four days and
+nights, but it would be awful for the women; and I should say that very
+few of them have got more than enough provisions for a day. Still, of
+course, if we are shunted at a station we shall be able to buy things."
+
+"I am not so sure of that," Chris said. "You know what the Boers are at
+their best; and now that they believe the time has arrived when they
+are going to be the absolute lords of all South Africa, they are so
+puffed up that there is no saying what they may do to show their hatred
+and contempt for us. And whatever happens, you fellows, you must keep
+your temper. My father spoke to me very strongly about it. You must
+remember that they will not mind what they do, and would shoot any of
+us down on the smallest excuse, knowing well enough that we are
+helpless, and that it is unlikely any enquiry would ever be made, or
+anyone punished even if they shot a dozen of us. We must remember that
+we intend to pay off old scores later on, and that we mean to do it
+with interest."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A TERRIBLE JOURNEY
+
+
+Twenty-four hours had gone, and not half the distance had yet been
+covered. The night had passed painfully to all those in the waggons,
+for though most of the women had provided themselves with wraps of one
+sort or another, the cold was severe. This, however, was less felt than
+the cramped position in which all had to sit on the floor, unable to
+move or to stretch their legs, the only change obtainable being by
+standing up. The pressure was most felt in the open waggons, where the
+men as well as the women were packed together so closely that even
+sitting down was impossible. Some slight relief had been afforded by
+the men on the covered waggons taking as many from the uncovered trucks
+as could lie down there with them; but as the latter were by far the
+more numerous, a comparatively small number of men could be so
+entertained.
+
+For a time the rising of the sun afforded some relief, but as it gained
+in power the position of the fugitives became almost unbearable. The
+stoppages were frequent, and at all the stations the Boers from the
+neighbourhood had assembled, some from curiosity, but the majority to
+wait for the trains that were to take them to the front. Although
+sometimes detained for three or four hours, the passengers were not
+allowed to alight. The men, indeed, at times, by common impulse, sprang
+out, but were soon forced to take their places again, some of the Boers
+using their heavy whips over their heads and shoulders, while others
+with pointed guns prevented any attempt at retaliation. Men, and even
+women, crowded the platform, jeering and cursing those in the waggons,
+menacing them with their whips and snatching at such trinkets, and even
+cloaks as took their fancy. The men were all several times searched for
+weapons, and made to turn their pockets inside out, the contents being
+unceremoniously transferred to those of the Boers. Chris and his
+companions would have taken their places below with their friends, but
+these implored them not to do so, being afraid that they would be
+enraged beyond endurance, and might in their anger say or do something
+that would give an excuse to the Boers to use their rifles, which they
+so often pointed threateningly at women as well as men. It was only
+when the train was in motion that food and drink were passed up from
+below, as these too would assuredly, had they been seen, have been
+confiscated by the brutal tormentors.
+
+When they steamed into Standerton in the afternoon, the distress of the
+women and children for water was so great that men determined at all
+costs to endeavour to get some for them. As if by one impulse, when the
+train came to a standstill outside the station, they jumped out and
+made for the little village. But here all refused to give or sell them
+water or food, and in a few minutes a large party of Boers rode in, and
+falling upon them with their whips, drove them back to the train. Had
+they been armed the men would assuredly have resisted till the last,
+although certain to be killed, so mad were they with passion. As it
+was, it would have been throwing away their lives, without a chance of
+even avenging themselves on their assailants. As they reached the
+waggons and climbed into their places again, several had broad blue
+weals across their faces, while many more were smarting from the cuts
+they had received on the body. Chris and his companions had got out
+when the others did so, but had not followed them. Their supply of
+water and cold tea was not yet exhausted, as most of the ladies had
+made preparations for a journey of two or three days, and Mrs. King and
+the mothers of the other lads begged them not to go.
+
+"The Boers are only waiting for an excuse to use their firearms," Mrs.
+King said, "and whatever happens you had better stay here. You can do
+no good by going." So, reluctantly, they had again taken their places
+on the roofs of the carriages, and sat there with their pulses beating
+and their fists clenched as they heard the shouts and the cracking of
+the heavy whips in the village, and presently saw the men running back,
+pursued by their cowardly assailants. Two or three of the lads were so
+enraged at the sight that they would have jumped down had not Chris
+laid a restraining hand on them.
+
+"Wait your time," he said in a hard voice. "We can't repay them now,
+but we will remember this when our turn comes."
+
+The Boers, as they rode up, leapt from their horses, and with shouts of
+exultation walked along the waggons, striking at the men, hurling every
+epithet of contempt and hatred at them, and even spitting at them. Many
+of the women were also struck as well as being grossly insulted.
+
+"And these scoundrels call themselves Christian men, and their friends
+speak of them as simple pious farmers! I call them, both from their
+appearance and their actions, as unmitigated a set of ruffians as are
+to be found on the face of the globe," Cairns exclaimed passionately.
+
+They were indeed as unsavoury in appearance as they were brutal in
+manner. Water is scarce in the Transvaal, and is used most sparingly
+for all purposes of cleanliness. The Boer sleeps in his clothes, gives
+himself a shake when he gets up, and his toilet is completed, unless on
+very exceptional occasions when he goes outside the door to the
+water-cask, fills his hands with water, and rubs them over his face.
+
+Four times in the year, however, the Boers indulge in a general wash
+before starting with their wives and families for four or five days'
+stay at the nearest town to attend the services of the church and to do
+their quarter's marketing. In dress the Boer is almost universally
+slovenly, his clothes hang about him stained and discoloured by long
+usage. In the majority of cases he is altogether without education, and
+very many Boers are scarcely able to sign their names. Most of them
+wear beards and long unkempt hair. But in point of physique they are
+fine men, tall and powerfully, though loosely, built, but capable of
+standing great fatigue if necessary, although averse to all exercise
+save on horseback. All are taught to shoot from boyhood, and even the
+women in the country districts are trained in the use of firearms, for
+it is not so long since they lived in dread of incursions by the Zulus
+and Swazis.
+
+There was no attempt whatever at uniformity of dress. Most of the men
+wore high riding boots. Some of the young men from the towns were in
+tweed suits, the vast majority wore either shooting jackets or long
+loose coats; some were in straw hats, but the elder men all wore large
+felt hats with wide brims. They were all, however, similarly armed with
+rifles of the best and most modern construction. Their general
+appearance was that of a large band of farmers of the roughest type and
+wholly without regard for their personal appearance.
+
+It was fully an hour before the train moved again. Then it was shunted
+on to a siding while the Boers entrained with their horses on a long
+line of waggons which had just come up, and which started on its way
+south as soon as they were on board. Then the emigrant tram crawled on
+again. There was another night of wretchedness, and in the morning they
+arrived at Volksrust, the frontier town. Here they were again closely
+searched for arms, and what provisions remained among them were
+commandeered, or as the emigrants called it, stolen. However, they knew
+that their troubles were now nearly over, and did not grumble when they
+were informed that the train would go no farther, and that they must
+make their way on foot to Newcastle.
+
+They were told tauntingly that they might find some of their friends
+there if they had not already run away, and that if they stopped at
+Pietermaritzburg for a week they would have another journey down to
+Durban as prisoners. All were too glad to get out of the clutches of
+the Boers to utter complaints which they knew would be useless, and
+they went off at once. The prospect was not, however, a pleasant one.
+Newcastle was nearly thirty miles away, but they hoped that at least
+they might obtain shelter and rest and food for the women at some of
+the scattered farms. At first their progress was slow, for after being
+for more than two days and a half packed up like cattle, they had
+almost lost the use of their limbs; but gradually the pace was
+accelerated. Men took the little children on their shoulders, others
+helped the women along. Charlestown, on the British side of the
+frontier, was already occupied by the Boers, who hooted and abused them
+as they passed through. At Laing's Nek there was a Dutch commando with
+some guns.
+
+Two miles on the women could go no further, and they halted at a large
+farmhouse which had been deserted by its owners. All the men, however,
+who were alone, determined to push on at once to Newcastle, and
+promised they would send vehicles of some sort to take them on if they
+could possibly be obtained. Mrs. King and the other ladies authorized
+them to pay any sums demanded.
+
+Thankful indeed were the tired women when they reached the farmhouse.
+They found the doors unfastened, as the farmer knew that were he to
+lock them the Boers would certainly batter them in when they arrived,
+and would probably do greater damage to the furniture left behind than
+if they had obtained an entry without trouble. The men soon found the
+wood-shed, and in a short time great fires blazed in every room. The
+bedding had been carried away, but utterly worn out as they were, the
+women were only too glad to lie down on rugs and cover themselves with
+their cloaks. The men gathered in the lower room and talked for some
+time before thinking of going to sleep. There was scarce one who was
+not determined to join one of the volunteer corps being raised at
+Durban and Maritzburg, and to avenge the insults and ill-treatment to
+which they had been subjected. The long-smouldering animosity towards
+the Boers had been fanned during the past three days into a fierce
+fire, and even those who had not before thought of taking part in the
+struggle were now as eager as the others to do so.
+
+In the morning all were astir early. Had they been supplied with food
+they would have waited until waggons came out from Newcastle, but these
+could hardly arrive until evening, and at any moment the Boer advance
+might commence. They therefore determined to move on early, for if they
+met the waggons half-way these could return with them at once to the
+town. It was desirable to start as soon as possible so as to get well
+on the way before the heat of the day was at its fullest. Accordingly
+by six all were in movement. The long night's rest had done them good,
+still more so the thought that by the end of the day they would be
+among friends, and they were disposed to laugh and joke over their
+present situation. All the men had cut themselves heavy cudgels from
+the stock of firewood, and the fact that they were not as before wholly
+defenceless was no slight gratification to them. Even the ladies spoke
+confidently of being able to walk the twenty miles to Newcastle should
+they not meet vehicles coming to fetch them. They could go ten miles
+now and then halt till the sun was setting, and after such a long rest
+could certainly go on to Newcastle.
+
+"I am afraid, mother," Chris said as they started, "that what seems so
+easy now will be too much for many of the women. We started without
+breakfast, and unless we can get something by the way I doubt if many
+will reach the town to-night. Of course for the men it is nothing. Very
+often when I have been out on the veldt and have started early, I have
+had nothing till I got back late in the evening. What are you wearing
+that veil for, mother? I saw that you pulled it down over your face
+yesterday afternoon. I suppose you did it to keep the dust out of your
+eyes, but there is none now."
+
+"I had a reason for doing it, but I can put it up now."
+
+She lifted the white veil to its usual place round her hat; as she did
+so, Chris uttered a sharp exclamation as his eye fell on a bluish-red
+mark across her face.
+
+"You don't mean to say, mother," he said in a tone of horror, "that one
+of those scoundrels struck you?"
+
+"They struck a good many of us, Chris, and there was no reason why I
+should escape more than another."
+
+The lad's face grew white.
+
+"Why did you not call out? I would have--"
+
+"I know you would," she interrupted gently, "and so of course I did not
+cry out. You had all had enough to try you to the utmost, and I was not
+going to risk your life by letting you know what had happened. It
+flashed across me at once that if you had seen it happen you would have
+been down from the roof in an instant and struck the man. Had you done
+so, your fate would have been sealed, you would have had half a dozen
+bullets in your body; therefore, I simply dropped my veil, and I can
+assure you that the smart of the Boer's sjambok gave me less pain when
+I felt that you knew nothing of it."
+
+Chris walked along silently for a minute or two; then he said quietly:
+"Thank you, mother. I am sure it would have been as you said. I could
+not have helped it. No one could see his mother struck without
+interfering."
+
+"I can understand that, dear; but it would have been a poor consolation
+for me had you been killed in endeavouring to right a wrong that I
+could very well put up with, and shall forget in a week."
+
+"I suppose so, mother. I should not so much mind if I only knew the
+fellow's name, or even knew him by sight, so that I might possibly have
+the chance some day of settling accounts with him."
+
+They walked on until eight o'clock, and then rested under the shade of
+some rocks. Fortunately there had been some rain two days before, and
+they had been able to quench their thirst at a little stream that came
+down from the hills. There were in all some thirty women and eighteen
+men.
+
+"Look here, Harris," Chris said, "there is a farmhouse over there, and
+as I see cattle and horses, it evidently is not deserted. Let us go and
+see if we can get some bread and some milk for the women."
+
+"All right!"
+
+The other lads were quite ready to go also, and they walked across to
+the house, which stood some half a mile away. As they approached it a
+Boer came out. On seeing them he re-entered it, and appeared again with
+a rifle.
+
+"I am afraid we shall get nothing here," Harris said. "The Dutchmen in
+Natal are only waiting for the Boers to advance to join them."
+
+"Well, we will try anyhow," Chris said doggedly. "I dare say that you
+are right; but Boer or no Boer, if there is any food in that house I
+mean to get it."
+
+They went quietly on. When they were within fifty yards the Boer
+shouted to them to go back.
+
+"We have some women and children with us," Chris replied, continuing to
+advance. "They are exhausted from want of food and fatigue, and we have
+come to ask for some bread, and if you have it in the house, some milk."
+
+"If the house was full of both you should not have a crumb of bread or
+a drop of milk. Halt! I say, or I will put a bullet into you."
+
+Chris did not heed the command.
+
+"We have plenty of money to pay you, and are willing to give ten times
+its fair price."
+
+He was now within ten yards of the farmer. The latter burst into a
+torrent of abuse, and was in the act of raising his rifle when Chris
+sprang at him. The Boer, who had no idea that this lad would venture to
+attack him, discharged his rifle almost at random, and the ball passed
+through the brim of Chris's hat. An instant later his heavy stick fell
+on the Boer's head, and levelled him to the ground.
+
+"Now, Harris," he shouted, "do you and the others go into the house,
+and first of all bring me out one of these fellows' whips. Cairns, pick
+up his rifle, and reload it. Sankey, do you and the others keep guard
+at the door, and don't let those viragoes out"--for three women had
+just appeared, and were cursing with a fluency that Billingsgate would
+have envied.
+
+Harris had already come out with a heavy whip by the time Cairns had
+reloaded. Chris took it and said to the Boer, who, in view of the
+formidable sticks the lads carried, had thought it best to lie quiet.
+
+"Now you can get up, you hulking ruffian. I am going to give you a
+lesson in civility. Oh, you won't get up? Well, it will make no
+difference to me," and he proceeded to give the howling Boer a
+tremendous thrashing. "There," he said, when his arm was tired, "you
+may get up and go, and I hope that the lesson will do you good. Now,
+Cairns, we will search the house. It is likely enough he has a lot of
+rifles hidden somewhere, and perhaps when we have gone he may go and
+fetch some more of his class. We may as well possess ourselves of them."
+
+The seven lads went into the house, paying no further attention to the
+Boer. In spite of the fury of the women, they searched the house
+thoroughly, and in a large case in a disused room they found twelve
+Mauser rifles, with a thousand cartridges. They then took a basket and
+filled it with bread, and emptied the milk from two large pans into a
+pail.
+
+"We are not thieves and robbers, like your people," Chris said to the
+women, as he threw five shillings on the table. "Your man has been good
+enough to tell us that he will be in Maritzburg with the Boers in a
+week's time. Therefore, as war has been declared, the muskets are
+lawful spoil taken from a rebel. Now, boys, let's be off."
+
+The cartridges were divided among them; then, with the thirteen guns,
+the basket, and pail, they started to rejoin their friends. "Well, that
+is a fair capture to begin with," Chris said. "As far as we are
+concerned, the war has begun. The Boer has made off, I see. I should
+not be surprised if we hear of him and some of his friends again.
+However, now we are well armed they can come as soon as they like."
+
+Great was the joy among the women and children when they returned with
+the much-needed refreshment.
+
+"I was getting very anxious about you, Chris," his mother said. "We
+heard the man fire. But where have you got all these rifles from?"
+
+"The owner of the farm is a Boer, mother, and as he told us, a rebel.
+As he began the affair by putting a bullet through my hat, and abusing
+us and our nation heartily, we took the liberty of searching his house,
+with good success. I need not say that he did not give us this bread
+and the pail of milk of his own free-will, but I left the money for
+them."
+
+His mother had turned pale when he said that a bullet had gone through
+his hat, but she said nothing.
+
+"What became of the man?" she asked. "You did not kill him, I hope?"
+
+"No, mother; I contented myself with thrashing him with one of his own
+whips until my arm ached."
+
+There was enough bread for all to have a slice. The women and children
+had as much milk as they could drink, the rest was divided among the
+men. The extra rifles were given to those who could best use them. In
+half an hour the women said that they were ready to go on again, and
+that they would rather do that than wait, for they greatly feared that
+the Boer might gather some of his friends and attack them. Feeling
+greatly strengthened and refreshed, they started at a good pace. They
+had gone about a mile when Sankey said to Chris:
+
+"Look, there is a party of mounted men across the valley."
+
+"Then we had better plant ourselves among the rocks, and let the
+unarmed men go on with the women and children, and take shelter a bit
+farther on. I don't suppose they will venture to attack us when they
+find, to their disgust, that we are armed with as good rifles as their
+own. They have a great respect for their lives."
+
+Accordingly the seven lads and the six men with rifles at once took up
+a position among the rocks. The rest of the party went forward two
+hundred yards and then took shelter also. The Boers, feeling certain
+that the party was unarmed, did not trouble themselves to open fire at
+a distance, but rode forward in a clump at full gallop.
+
+"They are about a thousand yards away now," one of the men said. "We
+may as well give them a volley."
+
+The thirteen rifles flashed out almost simultaneously. There were, as
+they had counted, sixteen Boers. Five horses fell, three others
+galloped off riderless, and the party broke up and rode off at full
+speed in various directions.
+
+"I don't think we need trouble any more about them," said Sankey's
+father, who, was one of the party, as he rose to his feet. "You may be
+sure that several of those who got away carried bullets somewhere about
+them."
+
+As they turned to rejoin their friends there was a general exclamation
+of satisfaction, for two large waggons were seen coming along the road.
+In ten minutes the women and children, with all the older men, were
+comfortably seated and on their way to Newcastle. Chris and his party
+accompanied them on foot so as to form a rear-guard. "We have won our
+first battle," Chris laughed.
+
+"But for you there would not have been any battle at all," Field said.
+"I don't think any of us would have gone forward after that fellow
+warned us back had you not done so."
+
+"I was determined to get some milk for the children," Chris said, "and
+would have gone forward even if I had been alone. I don't think I ever
+felt such a satisfaction as I did in thrashing that Boer. One of them
+struck my mother across the face, you know, in the train, and though it
+was not the same man, I feel better now that I have taken it out of
+someone."
+
+At Newcastle they found a small British force, and learned that there
+were four or five thousand troops at Dundee. Trains were still running,
+and after only an hour's delay at Newcastle to obtain a meal, the whole
+party went on. Late that evening they arrived at Colenso. Mrs. King and
+the ladies and gentlemen of the party had decided to sleep there, but
+hearing on the road that the little town was crowded with fugitives
+from the Transvaal and the farms near the frontier, they determined to
+continue the journey to the capital, which they reached the next
+morning. The lads had quite decided upon their course before starting,
+and had arranged with their parents to remain at Maritzburg. The
+general opinion was that the British force at the front could not
+possibly maintain itself, but that as soon as the invasion began in
+force they must fall back, as the Transvaal Boers would be able to
+attack them in front and on the right flank, while the Free Staters
+would pour down through Van Reenen and De Beers Passes and make
+straight for Ladysmith, and so threaten their line of retreat.
+
+There were a few indeed who still believed that the Boers would stand
+entirely upon the defensive so far as Natal went. They would occupy the
+formidable passes through the Drakensberg and await attack there, while
+they would invade Cape Colony at many points and raise the Boer
+population. However, the general opinion was that they would advance
+into Natal in great force, and in that case it was doubtful, indeed,
+whether Sir George White could oppose them successfully north of
+Maritzburg. He might even, it was thought, be obliged to fall back to
+Durban until reinforcements arrived from England. Already there was a
+rush to the offices that had been opened for the volunteer corps. Many
+of the fugitives from the Transvaal had joined, as had most of the
+young farmers who had been obliged by the hostility of their Dutch
+neighbours to abandon their homes in the north of Natal, while numbers
+of all ranks in Maritzburg, Durban, and other towns were giving in
+their names. All the lads who had come down with Chris had some time
+before obtained their parents' consent to join a volunteer corps, or
+form one among themselves, and as it was evident that the crisis was at
+hand no objections were raised to their doing so at once. Mrs. King
+would go down to Durban with her friends, so that there was no need for
+her son to accompany her.
+
+It had been agreed by the other lads that they would all meet at ten
+o'clock at the hotel where Chris put up, and the party mustered in
+greater strength than had been expected, for they found that the boys
+who had preceded them had all waited in the town, and were stopping at
+the various hotels. They too had been as badly treated by the Boers as
+the last arrivals, and were all eager to begin work.
+
+"There is no getting a private room here," Chris said, "so we had
+better go outside the town and talk things over." As they went they
+chatted over their adventures on the road, and great satisfaction was
+felt among those who had not been present on hearing how Chris had
+thrashed the Boer, and had gone tip to him in spite of his threat to
+shoot. At their last meeting at Johannesburg they had elected him their
+captain, but he had at the time refused to accept the post, saying that
+it would be wiser to decide that afterwards, as one of the others might
+show himself better fitted for the position. However, their first step
+when they sat down by the bank of the little river outside the town was
+to again elect him by acclamation.
+
+"Very well," he said, "as you all wish it I will accept the post. I
+suppose we are well provided with funds. Our fathers all said they
+would find our outfit, and money enough for all expenses." There was a
+general assent. "Well, we start better than we had expected, for we
+have thirteen rifles: twelve of them are Mausers, the other we will
+sell; so we shall have to buy nine others. That had better be done this
+morning, for we may be sure that there will be a rush to the gunsmiths'
+shops. In the next place we must each buy a saddle and saddlery. We
+have agreed that we will not have any approach to uniform; because, as
+we all speak Dutch, we shall be able to pass unobserved, if necessary,
+among them. But I have been thinking it over, and it seems to me that
+if we have nothing of the sort we shall run the risk of being shot by
+our own men."
+
+"What are we to do, then, Chris?"
+
+"I think that we had better get flat caps, like the fatigue caps our
+soldiers wear. They can be carried in our pockets inside our shirts
+when we are in the neighbourhood of the Boers, and when we are riding
+anywhere near our own troops we can put them on instead of our felt
+hats. It would alter our appearance altogether when riding in groups,
+and even at a distance we could hardly be taken for Boers."
+
+All agreed that it would be an excellent plan.
+
+"We shall, of course, have bandoliers for our cartridges, and
+haversacks for our provisions and spare packets of ammunition. Not an
+hour must be lost in getting these things. I hear that Captain
+Brookfield, who came up to Johannesburg last year and stayed a
+fortnight with us, has raised a corps, which he has named the
+Maritzburg Scouts. I will call upon him this afternoon and tell him
+that there are one-and-twenty of us, all somewhere about my age, and
+that we mean fighting; and that as we all speak Dutch we think we can
+do more good by scouting about on our own account than by joining any
+regular corps; but that at the same time we should like, if there was
+anything like regular fighting, to place ourselves under the orders of
+an officer like himself. It is rather difficult to explain, you know,
+but I think he will understand what we mean. We should be, in fact, a
+section of his troop, acting generally on independent service, either
+scouting, or going in among the Boers and getting intelligence, trying
+to blow up bridges, and engaging looting parties--for we may be sure
+that the Boers will be scattering all over the country plundering.
+
+"Of course I shall say, if he won't accept us on those terms, we shall
+do as we best can on our own account; but that as we don't require pay,
+and will provide ourselves with all necessaries, we do not see that we
+should be any burden when we join him. I propose that we meet here
+again this afternoon, and I hope that by that time we shall all have
+got our mounts and saddlery. I hear that many of the loyal farmers
+north have driven their animals down here, and are only too glad to
+sell the horses at the usual prices. Mind, the clothes we have now
+won't do; we must get them of farmer fashion. Don't go together to any
+shop, but let each choose for himself; we don't want anything like
+uniformity of pattern. The stuff must be strong. We shall each want a
+couple of blankets; one of these, with a slit cut in the middle to slip
+over the head, will serve as a greatcoat. Now, let us be off! To save
+trouble, I should say that we had each better put a certain sum, say
+twenty pounds, to go into a fund for general expenditure--food and
+ammunition, and that sort of thing--into one of the banks, and we can
+draw upon that as we require it."
+
+"I should say, Chris," Sankey said, "that we had better put all our
+money into the fund. Our people are all going to pay for our outfit,
+and you know they have agreed to give us a hundred pounds each to last
+us through the war. It is of no use carrying money about with us. I
+think we should agree to pay it all into the common fund, and that at
+the end of the business what remains is to be divided among those of us
+who go through it."
+
+"I think that is a good plan, Sankey. Certainly we cannot all expect to
+come out alive, and that arrangement will save all trouble about money."
+
+On going back into the town they learned that a large farmer had
+encamped two miles away, with a big drove of cattle and a couple of
+hundred horses, many of which were fine animals, and it was agreed at
+once that Sankey, Carmichael, and Peters should hire a buggy and drive
+over there and choose twenty-one good horses. Harris and Field
+undertook the purchase of the rifles, and Chris went to the office
+which Captain Brookfield, who had been an officer in the English army
+had taken. He had sent in his name, and was at once shown in.
+
+"Well, Chris," he said cordially as he entered, "I am glad to see you.
+You have grown and widened out a good deal since last year. I suppose
+your father and mother have both come down with you?"
+
+"My mother has come down, sir, but my father thought that he ought to
+remain behind to look after the mines."
+
+"Have you come here to enlist?"
+
+"Not exactly, sir, and yet I have to a certain extent;" and he told the
+officer of the little corps that had been formed among his companions
+at Johannesburg.
+
+"A very good idea. Speaking Dutch, as you say they all do, they ought
+to do good service as scouts. But why have you come to me?"
+
+This Chris explained.
+
+The captain laughed. "I suppose the fact is, Chris, you think that you
+will be able to see and do more if you are altogether independent of
+other people's orders."
+
+"Perhaps that is it, sir; but if there is any cavalry fighting we
+should much rather be under orders. Such a small corps would look
+ridiculous marching out by itself."
+
+"Well, I don't see any reason why you should not carry out your plan.
+It would certainly be better that you should have some--what I may
+call--official sanction. All the men in our corps are paid five
+shillings a day, and as your troop would serve under different
+conditions, you can to a certain extent dictate your own terms. I will,
+if you like, accept you as an independent corps, attached to my command
+when with me, but at other times free to scout and to act as you
+choose; but mind, I cannot be responsible for any scrape that you get
+into. You might call yourselves the Johannesburg section of the
+Maritzburg Scouts, maintaining yourselves at your own expense, and
+drawing neither pay nor rations."
+
+"Thank you very much, sir; that is just what we want."
+
+"Then, if you will bring your companions here this evening, I will
+swear you in. I shall administer a different oath to you from that
+which the others take, and merely pledge you, when under my orders, to
+obey them, with permission to withdraw from the corps when you choose.
+And indeed, receiving no pay or assistance from government, you would
+naturally be free to do so."
+
+Leaving Captain Brookfield, Chris went and bought his clothes,
+bandolier and belt, and saddlery, and then returned to the hotel and
+told his mother how he had got on, and that a horse and rifle would, he
+hoped, be obtained that afternoon.
+
+"It seems to me a terribly dangerous business, Chris; but as your
+father agreed to it, of course I need say no more. I have a cheque for
+five hundred pounds for my expenses and yours."
+
+"Father gave me a hundred before I started, mother; that will more than
+pay for my outfit. I don't know what we shall do for the horses, but
+there will certainly not be much over."
+
+"Yes, I know, Chris; and he told me to hand you over another hundred
+when I went to the bank, which I shall do this afternoon."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+AT THE FRONT
+
+
+At five o'clock the lads from Johannesburg again met and reported the
+result of the afternoon's work. The nine Mauser rifles had been bought,
+and six thousand rounds of ammunition had been purchased. This appeared
+an excessive amount, but as there might be a difficulty in obtaining
+this ammunition, they bought up all that could be found in the town.
+Peters and his party had chosen the horses for the troop. The farmer
+was a well-known breeder of good stock, and was glad to dispose of some
+of them at a fair price in order to lessen their number. He had already
+had several enquiries from corps that were being raised, but the prices
+were higher than could be paid for ordinary troopers, though several
+had been bought by officers. The lot the lads had picked out had been
+put aside, and they had given the farmer fifty pounds earnest-money, to
+hold them till the next morning.
+
+"They are as good a looking lot of horses as I ever saw," Peters said,
+"in fact, by a long way the best. I always heard that he was one of the
+largest breeders of good horses in South Africa. He had eight or ten
+extraordinarily good ones, but, of course, he wanted extra prices for
+these; but from the rest--and he has some three hundred of them--he let
+us choose any we liked at one price, and I think I can say that we
+shall be as well mounted a corps as any out here. Of course we avoided
+the showy-looking horses, and chose those specially suited to the
+country and likely to be fast. Mr. Duncan had several thoroughbreds
+from home, and there is no doubt that his stock has benefited by it;
+they are all of the country type, sturdy and compact, and yet somewhat
+finer in the limb than any I ever saw in the Transvaal. We were
+delighted with them."
+
+All the lads were accustomed from childhood to horses, but those Chris
+had selected as the committee of inspection were admitted by their
+friends to be the best judges of horseflesh in the party, their fathers
+being wealthy men who always bought the finest horses money could
+obtain.
+
+"We will go over in a body to-morrow," Chris said, "and pay for them
+and bring them back. We are lucky indeed to have got hold of such a
+good lot. Are they pretty even animals, Peters?"
+
+"Yes, I really don't think there is anything to choose between them."
+
+"Well then, the fair way will be, to make one-and-twenty tickets with
+as many numbers and fasten one to the mane of each horse, then we will
+put another twenty-one numbers into a hat and draw them; in that way
+everyone will be satisfied. Those of you who have not got their money
+from their people had better ask them for it this evening, so that we
+can settle up to-morrow for the horses and rifles and ammunition. The
+hundred pounds we have each been promised will well cover all our
+expenses up to the moment we start, and I should think leave us with
+something like twenty pounds apiece in pocket, but all we have and the
+other hundred for future expenses we had better put into the bank here
+to-morrow. We must arrange for four of us to sign cheques, each cheque
+to be signed by two, but we had better give them all our signatures so
+that in case what we can call the finance committee of four are all
+killed or taken prisoners there will be no bother about having fresh
+signatures to arrange about."
+
+"Well," Sankey said, "we might as well settle that at once. I propose
+that Field, Carmichael, Capper, and, of course, you form the
+committee." As no amendment was offered, this was at once agreed to.
+
+"What time did you say that we would come over to fetch the horses?"
+
+"About ten o'clock."
+
+"Well, will you all be at my hotel to-morrow at half-past eight with
+your money? Then we will all sign our names on paper the committee
+first; afterwards they shall go with me to the bank and pay all the
+money in, give them the list of signatures, and tell them that until
+further notice two of the four first names will sign the cheques, but
+that should circumstances prevent any two of them being able to do so,
+others will sign instead. The account had better stand as the
+Johannesburg Scouts. When we have arranged that we will hire a couple
+of light waggons and start. Have you all got your saddlery?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, we will take it with us, and then we can ride the horses back. I
+will get the tickets made out."
+
+As soon as the bank opened in the morning, Chris and his three
+companions presented themselves, and had an interview with the manager,
+who was somewhat surprised when twenty-one cheques and cash to the
+amount of three thousand five hundred pounds were handed in, each
+member having deducted the amount paid for saddlery and clothes. "We
+wish the account to stand in the name of the Johannesburg Scouts, and
+cheques will be signed by two of the four names standing first on this
+list; but as casualties may occur, you will please accept any of these
+signatures. Our little corps will form part of the Maritzburg Scouts,
+but in money matters we keep to ourselves, being all volunteers serving
+without pay."
+
+The manager ran his eye over the cheques. All the names were well known
+to him as those of prominent men at Johannesburg, and the great
+majority had already accounts at his bank, as all had some time
+previously made arrangements for drawing money in case of necessity.
+
+"I suppose, Mr. King," he said, "that as you and your friends represent
+the corps, you are all young men?"
+
+"We are all boys," Chris answered with a smile, "but we are old enough
+to do men's work, and in the Transvaal the Boers are commandeering all
+boys two or three years younger than we are."
+
+"Well, I congratulate you all both on your patriotism and your pluck,
+Mr. King, and I have no doubt that you will do good service."
+
+Receiving a cheque-book, they drew two hundred pounds for current
+expenses, and then going back to the hotel found the two Cape-carts and
+their companions ready, and the saddlery already stowed away. On
+arriving at the farm all were highly pleased with the horses their
+comrades had selected. They had on the way agreed that it would be a
+good plan to buy four others to act as pack-horses, and to furnish them
+with remounts in case any of their own were shot. These were to be sent
+into the town by two Kaffirs, whom they arranged to take into their
+service, for the farmer said at once, when they asked him that he could
+very well spare them, as he would be parting with a considerable number
+of his horses and cattle, and would not require so many hands as he had
+at present. The two men he chose for them were both active young
+natives; they made no objection to the exchange of masters, and,
+indeed, seemed pleased at the thought of going with them to fight the
+Boers, who were universally hated by the natives.
+
+A cheque was given to the farmer for their purchase, then the horses
+were chosen by lot as agreed, and were at once saddled and mounted.
+They had all been partially broken in, and as the boys were good
+riders, they were after a little preliminary struggle soon at their
+ease, and, taking a couple of hours' sharp ride through the country,
+returned on good terms with their mounts. Two or three hours were spent
+in teaching the horses to stand steady as soon as the reins were thrown
+over their heads, this being a training to which all horses in the Cape
+are subjected. Then they rode back to the town and arranged with a
+farmer near it to picket their horses in one of his meadows, and for
+their feed while they remained there. The rest of the day was spent in
+laying in their supplies. The rifles and ammunition were paid for, pack
+saddles bought for the four spare horses, a brace of revolvers
+purchased for each member, haversacks ordered for the whole party, and
+bags to carry a supply of grain for each horse. In the evening they
+went out to the farm, and after discharging their rifles a few times
+fed their horses.
+
+This they repeated in the morning, so as to familiarize them with the
+sound of firearms; then they saddled and mounted them, and after riding
+for half an hour drew up in line, as Captain Brookfield, who had sworn
+them in on the previous afternoon, was to inspect them at eight
+o'clock. They had all put on their working clothes, bandoliers and
+belts, and high boots, and the captain on his arrival, after closely
+inspecting them, expressed his strongest approval of their appearance.
+
+"I really congratulate you, Mr. King," he said, "on having command of
+twenty such serviceable-looking young fellows. As they all can ride,
+and, as you tell me, can all shoot, they ought to do really good
+service, and I should be well pleased if all my troop were composed of
+such good material. From the fact that you can all speak Dutch, and
+most of you Kaffir, you will have great opportunities of obtaining
+information, and can, in case of need, pass as young Boers. In fact, I
+may say that there is some danger of your being mistaken for them by
+our men. I should take you for them myself, except that you all look
+brighter and more wide-awake than Boers generally do; but an
+artilleryman could hardly be blamed if he plumped a shell among you at
+a distance of two or three thousand yards."
+
+"We thought of that, sir;" Chris turned to his band, "Change caps!" All
+pulled field-service caps from their pockets, took off the soft felts,
+rolled them up and forced them into their valises, and put on the caps.
+
+"That is excellent!" Captain Brookfield exclaimed. "That certainly
+alters your appearance altogether, and as far as your figures could be
+made out through a glass, it could be seen that you are an irregular
+body of some sort. And this can be still more plainly seen if, as I
+should advise you, you always ride in fours when you are approaching
+our lines; there will then be little chance of a mistake being made.
+Where did you pick up all those horses?"
+
+"We bought them yesterday from a farmer named Duncan, who has brought
+them down from his place near Dundee."
+
+"Ah! that accounts for it; he is one of the best-known horse-breeders
+in the colony. I had not heard that he had come down."
+
+"He only arrived two days ago, sir. We were fortunate to hear of it,
+and some of us rode over early yesterday and were lucky enough to
+secure them."
+
+"You were lucky. There are several mounted corps being formed here and
+at Durban, and horses will go up in price rapidly. Where is he
+staying'?"
+
+"About a mile and a half farther out, sir. If you want horses I should
+think that you had better go on at once, for he told me that he had
+sold sixty yesterday, but that very few of them were anything like as
+good horses as these."
+
+"No. People are subscribing handsomely, but we cannot afford to mount
+our troopers on such horses as these. A good many gentlemen have found
+their own horses, and of course will be well mounted; but a good,
+sound, country horse is all we can afford for the others; they are
+excellent for ordinary work, though, of course, not so fast as yours,
+nor quite so big. Your horses have all a strain of English thoroughbred
+blood, and if you should at any time have to ride for it there would be
+little chance of the Boers overtaking you, though some of them are very
+well mounted, for the two things a Boer will spend money on, are his
+horse and his rifle. And when do you start?"
+
+"We are going to-morrow morning. I went to the station-master yesterday
+evening and arranged for trucks for the horses to be attached to an
+early train to Dundee. We want to get up in time to see the first of
+it, and we should lose three days if we were to travel by road."
+
+"That is the right spirit, and I wish I could go with you; but my troop
+will wear a sort of uniform, Norfolk jackets and riding-breeches, and
+the outfitters are so overwhelmed with orders that it will be another
+couple of days at least before they are ready. Then the men must have
+two or three days' drill before they start; I am still short of horses,
+so I will ride on and see Duncan. I want thirty-five more, and as yet,
+although subscriptions are coming in well, we are still a good deal
+short of our requirements. However, I dare say I shall be able to make
+some arrangement with Duncan, as I shall probably have enough to pay
+him in full by the end of the week. Altogether, I don't suppose I shall
+be ready to start for another ten days, and unless the Boers delay
+their advance I am afraid that I shall not get to Dundee."
+
+"Do you not believe that we shall be able to hold the town?"
+
+"I hardly think that there is a chance of it, and I am sure we made a
+mistake in sending a portion of the force there. I know the premier was
+most anxious that our troops should be posted as far north as possible,
+in order to save the loyal farmers from plunder. If the position were
+stronger and impossible to be turned, the case would be different; but
+it is not strong, and can be turned on each flank. If the Boers march
+to attack General Symons, who is in command there, he may possibly beat
+them off; but as they can advance towards Ladysmith either from the
+Free State on one side or the Transvaal on the other, he and his troops
+would be cut off, and the loyal farmers would be plundered just as much
+as if Symons had remained at Ladysmith. I fancy all the military men
+think that a grave mistake has been made, and that General White should
+not have exposed half his force to disaster. Besides, the position of
+Ladysmith is no more defensible than that of Dundee. The Tugela would
+be the natural line of defence, but even that could be turned by troops
+from the Transvaal going through Zululand, and the line of the river
+would be very difficult to defend by a force of less than twenty
+thousand men. However, we shall see how the thing works out--how
+enterprising the Boers are, and how warmly the Free Staters throw
+themselves into the work."
+
+"You think that we shall have a hard time, Captain Brookfield?"
+
+"Yes, I think that is certain, even if Cape Colony keeps quiet, which I
+am very much afraid it will not do. If it rises, it will take all the
+strength of England to put it down. Well, I wish you all luck. I can
+assure you I feel proud of my Johannesburg section, and I shall be glad
+when you join me."
+
+He shook hands with the whole of the lads and then rode off.
+
+"The train starts at eight o'clock," Chris said. "We had better get our
+good-byes over to-night, get some breakfast if we are able to do so at
+half-past five, and meet here at six. We ought to be at the station at
+least an hour before the train starts. We shall not only have to get
+the horses into the trucks, which is certain to be a troublesome
+business, as they are altogether new to it, but we shall have to see to
+our other stores and belongings. I have arranged that we shall travel
+with the horses, so that we can each stand at the heads of our own
+animals, and if they are very wild, we can blindfold them until they
+become accustomed to the situation. I have bought a couple of trusses
+of hay from Thomas, and he will send down two of his native boys to the
+station. I should advise you all to put some food into your haversacks,
+there is no saying how long we may be on the road."
+
+"What sort of trucks are they, Chris?"
+
+"They have high sides, but no roofs. Of course I would rather have had
+roofs, but the station-master could not provide any waggons with them.
+But he showed me these, and as the sides are quite high enough to
+prevent the horses getting out, they will do very well."
+
+The saddles were taken off and piled together. There was no chance of
+rain, so they were left uncovered. The lads then walked back into the
+town. There was, of course, a sad parting that evening between Chris
+and his mother, but she bore up well. She knew that hundreds of other
+women were parting with husbands or sons, and she felt that, as the
+main cause of the war was to rescue the Uitlanders in the Transvaal
+from the oppression of the Boers, it behooved all the fugitives from
+that country to do their utmost.
+
+In the morning the lads all arrived punctually at the rendezvous. The
+horses were fed to the accompaniment, as usual, of pistol shots. Then
+they were saddled up, the valises the lads had brought down with them
+were strapped on, and with their rifles slung behind them they rode to
+the station.
+
+It was, as they had expected, a long and troublesome business to get
+the horses into the trucks, but at last this was managed. Nose-bags
+were put on, with a few double-handfuls of grain, then one trooper was
+left to each two horses, while the rest saw to their bundles of
+blankets, their stores of tea, sugar, and flour, preserved milk, cocoa,
+bacon, and tinned food. A couple of frying-pans, and a canteen of tin
+cups and plates, a knife, fork, and spoon each, and two kettles,
+completed their outfit. They had put their soft felt hats in their
+valises, and were all in their flat fatigue caps.
+
+The train was a long one, but the carriages with it were empty, for
+while the trains from the north were closely packed, there were few
+persons indeed proceeding up country. The trucks, however, were well
+filled, as great quantities of stores were being taken up, some to
+Ladysmith, and others for the force at Dundee. The horses soon became
+accustomed to the motion, and their masters took the opportunity of
+familiarizing themselves with them, by talking to them, patting them,
+and giving them pieces of bread and an occasional lump of sugar. The
+two Kaffirs had brought on the pack-horses four water-skins and a
+couple of buckets, and in the heat of the day the horses were allowed a
+good drink, while their masters, whose haversacks had been filled by
+their friends, enjoyed a hearty meal, washed down by tin mugs full of
+champagne.
+
+They were in the highest spirits, although the meal was taken under
+difficult circumstances, for all were seated on the upper rails of the
+trucks, there being no room for them to sit down among the horses. The
+plates were all packed up, and fingers and teeth served for knives and
+forks, which was the less important since chickens were the staple of
+the meal; and these had been cut up before starting. Many were the
+jokes that passed along the line. All felt that it was the last
+experience they were likely to have of civilized food, and that it
+would be a long while before champagne or any other wine would fall to
+their lot. The Kaffirs, who had each charge of two spare horses,
+enjoyed themselves no less, for they had a fair share of the provisions
+of their masters, and were in a high state of contentment with their
+prospects.
+
+There was a halt of an hour at Ladysmith. Many of the officers and
+soldiers gathered at the station, their work for the day finished, and
+the arrival of the train being always an event of some importance in
+the little town. They were amused and interested at the party of young
+fellows who alighted to stretch their legs and get a change of position.
+
+"Which is your leader?" a major asked Field.
+
+"The one talking to an officer. His name is Chris King."
+
+"Is he chosen because he is the oldest of you?"
+
+"No, that has nothing to do with it. We are all within a year of the
+same age. We have all been chums and friends, and have hunted and shot
+together, and he is the one we elected as our leader, just as you would
+choose the captain of a cricket club. We all come from Johannesburg,
+find our own horses, arms, and outfits, and ask nothing whatever from
+the government; and as we speak Dutch, and all know more or less
+Kaffir, we fancy we can make a good deal better scouts than your
+cavalry, who can't ask a question of a Boer or get information from a
+native."
+
+The major laughed. He saw that the lad a little resented the joking
+tone in which he had asked the question.
+
+"I have no doubt that you are right," he said, "and I am quite sure I
+should like half a dozen of you as subalterns. When did you come from
+Johannesburg?"
+
+"We left there about a week ago, and as we were only at Maritzburg
+three days, we have not lost any time."
+
+"Indeed, I think that is a record performance. Of course you are all
+looking forward to your first skirmish; I can assure you we are."
+
+"We had our first on the way down here, when we were between Newcastle
+and the frontier. Four or five of us went to a farmhouse to try and get
+some food and milk for the women and children. It was a Boer's place,
+and the fellow came out with a rifle and warned us off. We went
+forward, and he took a shot at King when he was quite close to him, but
+fortunately the bullet only went through his hat. Chris knocked him
+down and gave him a tremendous thrashing with his own whip. Then we
+took some provisions and paid for them, and searching the house, found
+twelve Mauser rifles and a lot of ammunition. We took these off without
+paying for them. The Boer had made off while we were searching the
+house, and he and some twenty others pursued us, not dreaming that we
+were now armed. However, we gave them a volley, and emptied three
+saddles and killed three or four horses, and they moved off without
+trying to make our further acquaintance."
+
+"Well done, lads!" the officer said warmly, "that was an excellent
+beginning, and I have no doubt that you will follow it up well."
+
+Similar conversations were going on all along the platform, and when at
+last the lads again took their places in the trucks, a hearty cheer was
+given them. The sun was setting when they arrived at Dundee. It was a
+larger place than Ladysmith, as there were some coal-mines in the
+neighbourhood, and a considerable number of men were employed in them.
+Like Ladysmith it is situated on a plain dominated by hills. The camp
+was some little distance out of the town. An officer was at the station
+with a party of men to receive the stores brought up by the train.
+Chris at once went up to him and saluted.
+
+"We have just arrived, sir; we are a section of the Maritzburg Scouts,
+acting independently. As we are all from Johannesburg, and find our own
+horses, equipment, and food, provide our own rations, and, of course,
+serve without pay, we propose to scout on our own account, and as we
+all speak Dutch well, I think that we may be useful in obtaining
+information. We shall, of course, search the country in whatever
+direction may be considered most useful."
+
+"I have no doubt that you will be of good service, sir," the officer
+said.
+
+"I suppose we can camp anywhere we like."
+
+"I should think so. As you do not draw rations, it can matter little
+where you post yourselves; but I don't think that you will be able to
+get tents to-night."
+
+"We shall not want them, sir; we have each a large waterproof sheet,
+and intend to use them as tentes d'abri. I suppose I had better report
+myself at the headquarters of the general?"
+
+"Yes, that would be the proper thing. The camp is a mile and a half
+away; if you follow the Glencoe railway, you cannot miss it."
+
+As soon as the horses were detrained and the baggage packed, the little
+party mounted and left the station, and choosing a piece of unoccupied
+ground a few hundred yards away, proceeded to unsaddle and picket the
+horses, while Chris rode away to the camp accompanied by one of the
+natives to hold his horse there. He had no difficulty in finding it,
+and dismounting, walked to the group of head-quarter tents. His
+appearance excited a good deal of amusement and some chaff from the
+soldiers he passed. He looked, indeed, like a young Dutch farmer in his
+rough clothes, and his rifle, and a bandolier of cartridges. Seeing a
+young officer close to a tent, he asked him which was that of the
+adjutant-general.
+
+"He is there talking to the general at the door of his tent. Do you
+wish to speak to him?"
+
+"I should be glad to do so," Chris replied. The officer walked across
+and informed the colonel that Chris wanted to speak to him.
+
+"Bring him across, Mr. Williams," the general himself said. "He is
+evidently a young farmer, and possibly brings in some news of the
+enemy's movements."
+
+The lieutenant returned to Chris and led him up to the general.
+
+"You have some news that you wish to give us, sir?" Sir Penn Symons
+said.
+
+"No, general; but I hope to be able to do so to-morrow."
+
+He then stated his position and the nature of his command.
+
+"We are all very well mounted, sir," he went on, "and as we all speak
+Dutch, hope to be useful. At any rate, we shall be no trouble to you,
+as we draw neither rations nor pay. We think we can pass anywhere as
+Boers; that is why we have not adopted any uniform."
+
+"I have no doubt you will be of service," the general said, "though I
+hardly think that you will pass as Boers with those caps."
+
+"We have all wide-brimmed hats to use while we are scouting, general;
+but we carry these too, so that on our return towards your lines we can
+be recognized even at a distance as not being Boers, and so avoid being
+fired at."
+
+"Yes, that is a very necessary precaution. I will have officers
+commanding cavalry and artillery detachments warned, that a section of
+Maritzburg volunteers are dressed as farmers, but may be known in the
+distance by having caps similar to the ordinary infantry field-service
+caps.
+
+"Well, sir, I shall be glad if you will to-morrow ride to the south,
+following the river, and endeavour to find out whether the Boers have
+any considerable force in that direction, either on this side of the
+river or the other, I may tell you that five of the Natal police were
+captured on the evening of the 13th at De Jagers Drift. The Boers have
+been in possession of Newcastle for the past three days, and they are
+certainly crossing the passes from the Free State. You must be very
+careful, for they have scouting parties across the river almost as far
+as the Tugela. However, we hardly expect any serious struggle for
+another week or ten days; for all the accounts are to the effect that
+the Boers are still very deficient in transport, and that for the past
+week those at Laing's Nek, and the other passes, have been very much
+straitened for provisions. It would be as well for you, while you are
+at Dundee, to come over once a day to report your doings, and to
+receive orders as to the point where we most need information. Have you
+gone into lodgings in the town?"
+
+"No, sir. We have waterproof sheets that form tentes d'abri, and we
+prefer being with our horses, which were only bought a few days ago;
+so, as we shall not have much opportunity of sleeping otherwise than in
+the open for some time, we thought it as well to begin at once,
+especially as the weather looks threatening, and the horses, being
+unaccustomed to be picketed, might pull up the pegs and get loose were
+there a heavy rain."
+
+"You seem to be well fitted for the work, and to set about it in the
+right spirit."
+
+"We have all been accustomed to hunting expeditions, sir, when we have
+often been out for some days, so that we understand how to shift for
+ourselves, though we are new to campaigning."
+
+"What rifles have you? that does not look like a Lee-Metford."
+
+"No, general, it is a Mauser. We captured twelve of them, at a Boer's
+farmhouse three or four miles this side of Newcastle six days ago. He
+fired at us, and though his bullet only went through my hat, we thought
+ourselves justified in searching his house."
+
+
+[Illustration: CHRIS OFFERS HIS SERVICES TO SIR PENN SYMONS.]
+
+
+"Certainly you were. We heard that there had been a skirmish on the
+road, and learned the particulars from one of those who took part in
+it, and who stayed here for two or three days before going down the
+country. He said that four or five young gentlemen, who were coming
+down with a party of women and children from Volksrust, had gone to a
+farmhouse to try and get food, milk, and bread for the females. The
+Boer farmer insulted them, and shot at one of them when but two or
+three yards away; he had been tremendously thrashed by the young
+fellow, and they returned laden with a good supply of milk and bread,
+and twelve rifles and a lot of ammunition that they had found at the
+farm. And with these they and some of the men had beaten off an attack
+of a score of Boers without any loss to themselves."
+
+"Yes, general, that was our party; we had sent forward for some
+waggons, and got into Dundee two hours after the skirmish; and as there
+was a train just going we went on at once, and reached Maritzburg the
+next morning, where we were joined by some of our party who had come
+down the day before. As we had made all our plans before leaving
+Johannesburg, we were able to start this morning, which was the third
+after our arrival there."
+
+"You were prompt indeed," the general said with a smile, "and must have
+needed money as well as brains."
+
+"We had all obtained leave of our families, general, and were well
+provided with funds to carry us through the campaign if it lasts for a
+year. We wanted to be in time for the first fight."
+
+"I think yours was the first fight, except that a few shots were
+exchanged between our scouts and the Boers on the morning after the
+ultimatum expired. Now, sir, if you should at any time be in want of
+necessaries I shall be glad to supply you; but I cannot furnish you
+with ammunition, as the Mausers carry a smaller bullet than our rifles."
+
+"Thank you, general, but we have enough to last us for a considerable
+time, having brought up six thousand rounds."
+
+"A good provision indeed," the general laughed; "enough to last you
+through half a dozen pitched battles. I shall be in the town at six
+o'clock to-morrow morning, and shall be pleased to inspect your little
+corps before you start."
+
+"I thank you, general; we shall all be very proud to be inspected by
+you."
+
+Then saluting he returned to his horse and rode back to Dundee. He was
+pleased to see that the eleven little tents had been erected strictly
+in line, that the horses were all standing quietly at the picket-rope,
+and that two of the troop were placed as sentries. A large fire was
+blazing in front of the tents, the two natives were squatting by it,
+the kettles were swung over it, and a joint of meat was roasting there.
+Two or three of the lads were standing talking together; the rest had
+gone into the town. Cairns came up to him as he dismounted.
+
+"Have you heard the news, Chris?"
+
+"No, I have not heard any particular news."
+
+"I was at the station a quarter of an hour ago, and a telegram had just
+been received that the Boers were, when it was sent off, entering
+Elandslaagte station, and were in the act of capturing the passenger
+train that was standing there. The message stopped abruptly, as no
+doubt the Boers entered the room where the clerk was at work at the
+needles."
+
+"By Jove we are in luck!" Chris said. "Of course that was the train
+that had to leave three hours after us. If we had stopped for that, the
+horses, rifles, and kit would all have gone, and we should now be
+prisoners. It is serious news, though, for it is evident that not only
+are they marching against us in front, and on both flanks, but have cut
+our communications with Ladysmith. There can be no doubt that, as
+everyone said there, it was a mistake to send General Symons forward
+here, as it was almost certain that with four regiments, three
+batteries of artillery, a regiment of cavalry, and a few hundred of the
+Natal police and volunteers, he could never maintain himself here. Why,
+we heard at Ladysmith that a column had gone out the day before towards
+Besters station, as the news had come in that they were even then in
+the neighbourhood. It was a false alarm, but it was enough to show that
+the Boers were likely to be coming down and cutting the railway in our
+rear. General Symons told me that he did not expect any general advance
+of the enemy just yet, because he heard that their transport was
+incomplete, and that they were very short of provisions. But I don't
+think the want of transport would prevent their advancing. We know well
+enough that the Boers think nothing of going out for three or four days
+without any prospect of getting any more provisions than they carry
+about them, unless they have the luck to bring down an antelope. And as
+Utrecht and Vryheid and Newcastle are all within a few miles of us, and
+the Free Staters have already come down through some of the passes of
+the Drakensberg, they must be within an easy ride of us; and if they
+are in force enough to drive us out of this place, they must know they
+would find themselves in clover, for we heard at Ladysmith that there
+were provisions and stores for two months collected here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+DUNDEE
+
+
+After picketing his horse, Chris went into the town. He found the
+streets full of excited people, for the news that the railway had been
+cut was serious indeed, and the scene reminded Chris of that which he
+had witnessed in the streets of Johannesburg but eight days before.
+Only eight days! and yet it seemed to him as if weeks had passed since
+then. So much had been done, so great had been the changes. As at
+Johannesburg, a considerable portion of the population had left, seeing
+that, although the troops might for a time defend the town, the Boers
+were certain to cut the line of railway. Work at the coal-mines had
+been pushed on feverishly of late, for strangely enough there was no
+store of coals either in Dundee itself or at any of the stations down
+to Durban, and the authorities had only woke up a few days before to
+the fact that coal would be required in large quantities for the
+transports on the arrival of the troops. But now all this was to come
+to a stop. The hands would be thrown out of employment, and the town
+would become stagnant until it was captured by the Boers, or until an
+army arrived of sufficient strength to clear Natal of its invaders.
+That evening many who possessed vehicles started by road for Ladysmith,
+feeling that in another twenty-four hours it might be too late.
+
+At seven o'clock, as had been arranged when they arrived, all the
+members of the band met at the bivouac for supper. There was a general
+feeling of excitement among them. They had known that hostilities must
+soon begin, but to find that the line had already been cut, and that
+the enemy were closing in in all directions, came almost as a surprise.
+This, however, in no way prevented them from enjoying their meal. After
+it was over they held, at Chris's suggestion, a sort of council. He had
+already told them what the general had said to him, and that they were
+to be inspected in the morning. As their saddlery was all new, there
+was nothing to be done in the way of burnishing buckles and rubbing up
+leather. As Chris remarked, all that would be necessary was an hour's
+work in the morning grooming their horses.
+
+"Now," he said, "that the work is going to begin, we must draw up a few
+rules, for, volunteers though we are, we must have some regulations. In
+the first place, I find that the troops all parade in order of battle
+before daybreak, so as to be able to repel a sudden attack or move in
+any direction that may be required. If it is necessary for them, it is
+still more necessary for us, and I think that it should be a standing
+rule that we are all ready to mount at daybreak. Sentries must be
+posted at night, however safe we may feel. I think there should be two,
+relieved every two hours. There will be no hardship in that, as each
+would only go on duty every other night. In the next place, I think
+there should be what they call an officer of the day, who would
+generally be in charge of the arrangements, see that the Kaffirs
+attended to their horses properly, and so on. You see, we shall not be
+always acting together, but might sometimes be broken into four troops,
+in which case one in each five should command. I think the same lot
+should always keep together. What do you think? Would it be better that
+in each group of five one should be in charge each day, or that each
+group should choose one to act as non-commissioned officer?"
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"What do you think yourself, Chris?" Sankey asked after a pause.
+
+"You are as well able to judge as I am," he replied. "I think that it
+would perhaps be the best way to write down the twenty names and put
+them in a hat, and draw them one by one. The first five should be
+number one squad. I don't know whether that is the right word, but
+anyhow it will do for them. The next five number two, and so on. Then
+each five can vote whether they would prefer alternate commands, or to
+choose one of their number as permanent non-commissioned officer. If
+they prefer this, they must then ballot as to which among them shall be
+leader. If you can think of any way that you would like better, by all
+means say so."
+
+All agreed that the plan that he proposed should be adopted. Four
+groups were first chosen. Before they proceeded to the next step,
+Peters said:
+
+"Of course I am quite game to carry it out as you suggest, Chris, but
+don't you think it would be a good plan to let the final decision stand
+for a week or two, each taking the leadership of his group in rotation?
+At the end of that time we should be better able to make a choice than
+we can be now."
+
+"I think that is a very good idea, Peters. What do you all say? Will
+you each take your turn alphabetically for the present, and at the end
+of fifteen days, when each of you have led three times, you can decide
+whether each squad shall choose a permanent leader or go on as you have
+begun."
+
+All at once agreed to the proposal. They felt, good friends as they
+were, that it would be very difficult to decide now.
+
+"Very well, then, it shall be so," Chris said. "To-morrow we shall
+certainly do some scouting, but in a day or two you may be shut up
+here; and until we get away there will be no scouting to be done. We
+must have some signals. Suppose we are scattered over two or three
+miles, we may want to assemble, and must be able to signal. I thought
+of it before we started from home, and put down in my pocket-book the
+sort of thing that I fancied would be wanted. I will read it out to
+you."
+
+He stirred the fire into a blaze and then read:
+
+"One shot followed by another and a third, with ten seconds between
+them, will mean 'Enemy seen on the right'; with twenty seconds between,
+'Enemy seen on the left'; then, after a pause, two shots in quick
+succession will mean 'Enemy in strength'; three shots will be 'Small
+party only'; one shot, followed at an interval of ten seconds by two in
+succession, will mean 'Retire to the point agreed on before we
+separated'; followed by three shots in quick succession, will be 'Close
+in to the centre'. We can think of others afterwards, but I think that
+will do to begin with. I know that you have all pocketbooks, so take
+down these signals at once."
+
+"We ought to know where you will be," Field said, "so that we could
+rally round you ready for the next order."
+
+"That might be so; therefore we had better fix on three shots in quick
+succession, followed in ten seconds by a fourth. The sound will be
+sufficient to let you know pretty well where I am, and you will on
+hearing it, join me at once. Are there any other suggestions?"
+
+There was silence and then the books were closed.
+
+"I cannot too strongly impress upon you all," Chris said, after they
+had chatted for some time, "the necessity for being extremely cautious.
+We know how slim the Boers are, and how accustomed they are to stalk
+game; and we shall have to be as watchful as deer, more so, in fact,
+since we have not their power of smell. When we break up into four
+parties, each party must scatter, keeping three or four hundred yards
+apart. On arriving at any swell or the crest of a hill, a halt must be
+made, and every foot of the country searched by your field glasses, no
+matter how long it takes. You must assure yourself that there are no
+moving objects in sight. When you get near such a point you must
+dismount, and, leaving your horse, crawl forward until you reach a
+point from where you have a good view, and on no account stand up.
+While you are making your observations any Boers who might be lying in
+sight would be certain to notice a figure against the skyline, and we
+know that many of them are provided with glasses as good as our own. We
+must be as careful as if we were out after game instead of men. You all
+know these things as well as I do, but I want to impress them upon you.
+You see, they have captured five of the Natal police, who are a very
+sharp set of fellows. However, a few days' scouting will show us far
+better what is required than any amount of thinking beforehand. There
+is one thing that I want to say to you. You elected me for your leader,
+but it is quite probable that when we have worked together for a bit
+some of you may prove much better qualified for the post than I am.
+What I want to say now is, if this is the case, I shall feel in no way
+aggrieved, and shall serve just as cheerfully under his orders as I
+hope you will under mine so long as I command you."
+
+There was a general chorus of "No fear of that, Chris. We all know you
+well enough to be sure that we have made a good choice. We knew it
+before we left Johannesburg, but your pluck in walking up to that Boer
+with his loaded rifle clenched the matter."
+
+"Well, we shall see," Chris said. "I shall do my best, but, as I said,
+the moment you want a change I shall be ready to resign; and now I
+think that we may as well turn in. It is nine o'clock, and we must be
+up at daybreak. Squads number one and two will each furnish a man for
+the first watch, taking the first on the list alphabetically. At eleven
+they will be relieved by two from squads three and four; then one and
+two furnish the next pair, and so on. Four watches will take us on till
+daybreak. The two of each squad who will be on duty to-night turn in to
+the same tent together, then the others will not be disturbed."
+
+The blankets were spread in the little shelter tents, and all except
+the two men on duty were soon asleep. Chris had a tent to himself,
+there being an odd number, and an extra waterproof sheet had been
+carried for this purpose. Before leaving Maritzburg twenty-two poles, a
+little longer than cricket stumps, had been made under Chris's
+direction. They were shod with iron, so that they could be driven into
+hard ground. At the top was a sort of crutch, with a notch cut in it
+deep enough to hold another of the same size. Twenty-two other sticks
+of the same length were to form the ridgepoles. Half these were
+provided with a long brass socket, into which its fellow fitted. The
+whole, when they were accompanied by the spare horses, would be packed
+with their stores and spare blankets. At other times each rider would
+carry two of the poles strapped to his valise behind him.
+
+Chris was the first to stir in the morning. There was but the slightest
+gleam of daylight in the sky, but he at once blew a whistle that he had
+bought that evening in the town, and heads appeared almost immediately
+at the entrances of the other tents, and in half a minute all were out,
+some alert and ready for business, others yawning and stretching
+themselves, according to their dispositions.
+
+"First of all, let's put on the nose-bags, and let the horses have a
+meal," Chris said; "then set to work to groom them. Remember, there
+must not be a speck of yesterday's dust left anywhere."
+
+All were soon hard at work. The Kaffirs stirred up the embers of the
+fire, which they had replenished two or three times during the night,
+hung the kettles again over it, and cut up slices of ham ready to fry.
+By half-past five Chris, after inspecting all the horses closely,
+declared that nothing more could be done to them. Then they were
+saddled, the valises, with a day's provisions and a spare blanket,
+being strapped on. Then all had a wash, and made themselves, as far as
+possible, tidy. By this time breakfast was ready, and they had just
+finished their meal when a party of horsemen were seen in the distance.
+Rifles were slung over their shoulders, and bandoliers and belts full
+of cartridges strapped on, and they donned their forage-caps after
+coiling up the picket-ropes and halters and fastening them with their
+valises to the saddles. Then they mounted and formed up in line just as
+the general, with two of his staff, rode up. After saying a few words
+to Chris, the general examined the horses and their riders closely.
+
+"Very good and serviceable," he said, "and a really splendid set of
+horses. Of course, gentlemen, you would look better if you were in
+uniform, but for your purpose the clothes you have on are far more
+useful. Let me see you in your hats; I can then better judge how you
+would pass as Boers."
+
+The lads all slipped their forage-caps in their pockets, and put on
+their felt hats, which were of different shapes and colours. As they
+had agreed beforehand they at once dropped the upright position in
+which they had been sitting, and assumed the careless, slouching
+attitude of the Boers.
+
+"Very good indeed," the general said with a laugh. "As far as
+appearances go, you would pass anywhere. The only criticism I can make
+is that your boots look too new, but that is a fault that will soon be
+mended. A few days' knocking about, especially as I fancy we are going
+to have bad weather, will take the shine out of them, and, once off,
+take good care not to put it on again. A Boer with clean boots would be
+an anomaly indeed. Now, I will detain you no longer."
+
+The only manoeuvre the boys had to learn was the simple one of forming
+fours. This they had practised on foot, and performed the manoeuvre
+with fair accuracy. Then Chris gave the word, and, after saluting the
+general, led the way off at a trot.
+
+"They are a fine set of young fellows," the general said to the two
+officers with him. "They are all sons of rich men, and have equipped
+themselves entirely at their own expense. They are admirably mounted,
+and provided they are not caught in an ambush, are not likely to see
+the inside of a Boer prison. It says a good deal for their zeal that
+they are ready to disguise themselves as Boer farmers instead of going
+in for smart uniforms. However, they are right; for, speaking Dutch, as
+I hear they all do, they should be able singly to mingle with the Boers
+and gather valuable information."
+
+As soon as they were fairly south of the town, Chris said:
+
+"Now our work begins. Number one squad will make its way towards the
+river, and follow its course, keeping always at a distance from it, so
+that while they themselves would escape notice, they can ascertain
+whether any bodies of the enemy are this side of it, or within sight
+beyond the other bank. Number four will take the right flank, and keep
+a sharp look-out in that direction. Squads two and three will, under my
+command, scout between the flanking parties, and examine the farmhouses
+and the country generally. The whole will, as I said last night,
+maintain a distance of about three hundred yards apart, and each man
+will as far as possible keep those next to him on either hand in sight."
+
+The two flanking companies starting off, those under Chris separating
+as they rode off until they were as far apart as he had ordered, and
+then moved forward. When on level ground they went fast, but broke into
+a walk whenever they came to the foot of rising ground, and when near
+the top halted, dismounted, and crawled forward. Each man carried a
+Union Jack about the size of a handkerchief, elastic rings being sewn
+to two of the corners. When necessary these flags could be slipped over
+the rifles, and a signal could be passed from one to another along the
+whole line--to halt by waving the flag, to advance by holding the
+rifles steadily erect. Other signals were to be invented in the future.
+Chris took his place in the centre of the line, in readiness to ride to
+either flank from which a signal might be given.
+
+For five or six miles no signs of the enemy could be perceived. Most of
+the fields were entirely deserted, but round a few of the scattered
+farmhouses animals could be seen grazing, and these Chris set down as
+belonging to Dutch farmers who had no fear of interference by the
+Boers, and were prepared to join them as soon as they advanced. Many of
+these, indeed, during the past fortnight had trekked north, and were
+already in the ranks of the enemy. Presently Chris, who was constantly
+using his glasses, saw the flutter of a flag on a hill away to the
+left, and a minute later the signal to halt passed along the line. It
+had been agreed that signalling by shot should not be attempted unless
+the enemy seen were so far distant that they would not be likely to
+hear.
+
+"What do you see, Brown?" Chris said as he reached the lad who had
+first signalled.
+
+"There are a good many men and animals round a farmhouse about two
+miles away. The house lies under the shoulder of a hill to the left, I
+suppose that that is why the others did not see it."
+
+Dismounting, Chris crawled forward with the other until he could obtain
+a view across the country. As Brown had said, the farmhouse stood at
+the foot of the line of hills they were crossing, and was fully a mile
+nearer to those on the right flank than to the point from which he was
+looking at it, but hidden from their view. Bringing his glass to bear
+upon it, he could distinctly make out that some forty or fifty men were
+moving about, and that a large quantity of cattle were collected near
+the house.
+
+"It is certainly a raiding party," he said to his companion. "They are
+too strong for us to attack openly, at least if they are all Boers. It
+would not do to lose half our number in our first fight. Still, we may
+be able to frighten them off, and save the farmer, who is certainly a
+loyalist, and cattle. You gallop along the line as far as it extends
+and order all to come over to the right. I shall go on at once and get
+a view of the ground close by. By the time they have all assembled we
+can see what had best be done."
+
+Going back to their horses they started in opposite directions. In a
+few minutes Chris reached a point which he believed to be nearly behind
+the farmhouse, picking up some of the scouts by the way.
+
+"I expect I shall be back in about a quarter of a hour," he said as he
+dismounted. "You, Peters and Field, may as well come with me, I may
+want to send back orders."
+
+They walked forward fast until so far down the hill that they could
+obtain a view of the farmhouse. The moment they did so they lay down,
+and made their way across some broken ground until they were within a
+quarter of a mile of it; then seated among some rocks they had a look
+through their glasses, and could see everything that was passing as
+clearly as if they had been standing in the farmyard. It was evident
+the Boers had only arrived there a short time before Brown noticed
+them. Parties of two or three were still driving in cattle, others were
+going in and out of the house, some returning with such articles as
+they fancied and putting them down by their horses in readiness to
+carry them off. Two men and some women and children were standing
+together in a group; these were beyond doubt the owners of the
+farmhouse.
+
+"How many Boers do you make out? I have counted thirty-eight." Peters
+had made out forty, and Field forty-three, the difference being
+accounted for by those going in and out of the house and sheds.
+
+"Well, we will say forty-five, and then we shan't be far wrong. We
+certainly can't attack that number openly, but we may drive them off
+empty-handed if we take them by surprise." He examined the ground for
+another minute or two, and then said: "I think we might make our way
+down among these rocks to within three hundred yards of the house. I
+will send six more down to you. With the others I will go down farther
+to the left, and work along in that little donga running into the flat
+a hundred yards to the east of the house. You keep a sharp look-out in
+that direction, and you will be able to see us, while we shall be
+hidden from the Boers. We shall halt about three hundred yards beyond
+the house. As soon as we are ready I will wave a flag, then you and
+your party will open fire. Be sure you hide yourselves well, so that
+they may not know how many of you there are; they are certain, at the
+first alarm, to run to their horses and ride off. Directly they do so
+we will open fire on them, and finding themselves taken in the flank
+they are likely to bolt without hesitation. Don't throw away a shot if
+you can help it, but empty your magazines as fast as you can be sure of
+your aim. Between us we ought to account for a good many of them."
+
+"I understand, Chris; we will wait here till the others join us, and
+then, as you say, we will work down as far as we can find cover."
+
+Chris at once returned to the main party, who had by this time all
+assembled. "We can bring our horses down a good bit farther without
+being seen," he said. "There is a dip farther on with some rough
+brushwood. We had better fasten them there; they have learned to stand
+pretty fairly, but they might not do so if they heard heavy firing."
+
+Leading their own horses and those of Field and Peters they walked down
+to the spot Chris had chosen, and there threw the reins over the
+horses' heads as usual, unfastened the head ropes, and tied them to the
+bushes. Chris had already explained the situation to the troop, and had
+told off six of them to go down to join Peters. He now advanced
+cautiously with these till he could point out to them exactly the spot
+where the two scouts were lying. Then he returned to the others, and
+they walked along fast until they came upon the break in the hill,
+which lower down developed into a depression, and was during the rains
+a water-course. Down this they made their way. On reaching the bottom
+they found it was some twelve feet below the level of the surrounding
+ground.
+
+A couple of hundred yards further they could tell by the sound of
+shouting, the bellowing of cattle, and other noises, that they were
+abreast of the farmhouse, and going another three hundred yards they
+halted. Chris went up the bank until he could obtain a view, and saw
+that he was just at the spot he had fixed on. Making signs to the
+others, they took their places as he had directed, some ten yards
+apart. Then he raised his rifle after slipping the little flag upon it.
+A moment later came the crack of a rifle, followed by other shots in
+quick succession. Chris, with his eyes just above the level of the
+ground, could see all that was passing round the farmhouse. With shouts
+of alarm the Boers at once rushed towards their horses, several
+dropping before they reached them. As they rode out from the yard the
+magazine rifles kept up a constant rattle, sounding as if a strong
+company of troops were at work. Chris waited until they were nearly
+abreast of his party, and then fired.
+
+His companions followed his example, and in a moment a fire as rapid
+and effective as that still kept up from the hill was maintained. This
+completed the stampede of the enemy. They were soon half a mile away,
+but even at that distance the Mauser bullets continued to whistle over
+and among them, and they continued their flight until lost in the
+distance. Chris's whistle gave the signal for ceasing fire, and the two
+parties sprang to their feet, gave three hearty cheers, and then ran
+towards the farmhouse. In the yard lay five Boers and seven or eight
+horses; the riders had jumped up behind companions, for as they passed,
+Chris had seen that several of the animals were carrying double. The
+little group, so lately prisoners, advanced as they came up, almost
+bewildered at the sudden transformation that had taken place, their
+surprise being increased on seeing that they had apparently been
+rescued by another party of Boers, and still more when on their
+reaching them they found that these were all mere lads.
+
+"We are a party of Maritzburg Scouts," Chris said, with a smile at
+their astonished faces; "though, as you see, we are got up as Boers so
+as to be able to get close to them without exciting suspicion. We were
+fortunate in just arriving in time."
+
+"We thank you indeed, sir," the settler said, "for you have saved us
+the loss of all our property, and, for aught I know, from being carried
+off as prisoners. We were intending to trek down to Ladysmith today,
+and had just driven in our herds when the Boers arrived. If they had
+been content with stealing them, they would have been away before you
+arrived; but they stopped to plunder everything they could carry off,
+and, as I should say, from noises that we heard in the house, to smash
+up all the furniture they could not carry off. We are indeed grateful
+to you."
+
+"We are very glad to have had the chance of giving the plunderers a
+lesson," Chris said. "It will make them a little cautious in future.
+But I think that you are wise to go at once, for there are certainly
+parties between this and Elandslaagte, where they have cut the line; so
+I should advise you to travel west for a bit before you strike down to
+Ladysmith. We have not heard of any of them being beyond the line of
+railway yet. Now we have work to do. Number one and two squads will at
+once go up and fetch down the horses, number three and four will
+examine the Boers who have fallen here and out on the plain and will
+bring in any who may be only wounded."
+
+He went out with this party; they found that eight more had fallen.
+Three of these lay at a short distance from the farmhouse, and had
+evidently fallen under the fire of the party on the hill; the others
+had been hit by those in the ambuscade. Altogether ten horses had been
+killed. Five of the Boers were still alive.
+
+"Have you a spare cart?" Chris asked the farmer.
+
+"Yes, I can spare one. Fortunately I have a small one besides two large
+waggons. May I ask what you want it for?"
+
+"I want it to carry these wounded men to within reach of their friends.
+Which is the nearest drift?"
+
+"Vant's Drift, and it is there, no doubt, that the party crossed. It is
+a little more than two miles away."
+
+"Then we will place the wounded in the cart, and you might send one of
+your Kaffirs with it to the drift and stick up a pole with a sheet on
+it; they are sure to have halted on the other side, and will guess that
+there are wounded in it. As soon as the Kaffir comes within two or
+three hundred yards of the river he can take the horses out and return.
+I dare say he will be back again before you are off."
+
+The cart was driven along the line that the Boers had taken, the
+wounded being carefully lifted and placed in it as it reached them. Two
+more were found dead and three wounded some distance beyond the spot
+where the searchers had turned, having fallen nearly a mile from the
+farm; the lads who accompanied the cart then returned. Long before they
+reached the house the horses had been brought down. The settler and his
+Kaffirs were hard at work loading the stores into two ox-waggons. The
+lads all lent their assistance, and in less than an hour the settlers
+started for Ladysmith, the women and children in the wagon, and the men
+on horseback driving their herds with the aid of the Kaffirs. After a
+hearty adieu, Chris and his party rode on together for some little
+distance before again scattering widely to recommence their work of
+scouting. Hitherto they had been too busy for conversation, but now
+they were able to give words to the satisfaction they all felt at their
+success.
+
+"It has been splendid!" Sankey said enthusiastically. "We have defeated
+a force twice as strong as ourselves, have killed or badly wounded
+eighteen of them, and you may be sure that of those that got away
+several must have been hit. Not one of us has a scratch."
+
+"Splendid!" another exclaimed. "It could not have been better managed.
+I think we ought to give three cheers for Chris." Three rousing cheers
+were given. "After this, Chris," Carmichael said, "I don't think you
+need talk any more about resigning the command. General Symons himself
+could not have done better."
+
+"I think, at any rate, we have begun to wipe off old scores," Chris
+said. "We have paid for a few of the insults the ladies had to submit
+to as we came along, and I am heartily glad that we were in time to do
+it. We have baulked them of the haul they expected to make, and saved
+something like a thousand head of cattle for the colony, to say nothing
+of preventing these people from being absolutely ruined. It is only a
+pity that we had not our horses with us. If we had, not many of the
+Boers would have recrossed the river. But we could not have taken them
+with us without being detected before we got into position, and in that
+case we might have had a hard fight, and matters would probably have
+turned out altogether differently."
+
+There was a general expression of assent, for all felt that in an equal
+fight the Boers, being twice their own numbers, would have been more
+than a match for them. It was evening when they returned to Dundee,
+having come across no more Boers during the day's work. Directly they
+arrived at the little camp where they had left the tents standing in
+charge of their two Kaffirs, Chris wrote a short report of their
+doings, stating briefly that they had come upon a party of forty-five
+Boers in the act of driving off the cattle and sacking the house of Mr.
+Fraser, a loyal settler. Having dismounted and divided into two
+parties, they had attacked the Boers and driven them off, with the loss
+of ten killed and eight seriously wounded left on the field. Many of
+their horses had been killed. The wounded Boers had been sent in a cart
+to Vant's Drift, and the farmer and his herds had been escorted as far
+as the line of railway, which they had crossed and were making for
+Ladysmith. There had been no casualties among his party.
+
+Field rode over with this report and delivered it at headquarters,
+remaining to ask whether there were any orders for the next day. When
+he returned he brought a line from the general. It contained only the
+words, "I congratulate you most heartily. The affair must have been
+managed excellently, and does you all the greatest credit. Continue
+scouting on the same line to-morrow."
+
+The lads were all highly delighted when Chris read this aloud, and then
+sat down to a well-earned meal, which was the more enjoyed as it had
+been voted that Field, as one of the finance committee, should go into
+the town and buy half a dozen of champagne in honour of their first
+victory. In the course of the evening one of the general's staff rode
+into camp on his way to town, having been requested by him to obtain
+full particulars of the fight at Eraser's farm. He took his seat by the
+fire with them, and Chris gave him a full account of their proceedings.
+
+"Upon my word, Mr. King," he said, "you managed the matter admirably;
+no cavalry leader could have done it better."
+
+"There is no particular credit about the management," Chris said; "we
+acted just as we should have done had we been stalking a herd of deer
+instead of a party of Boers. One always manages, if possible, to put a
+party on the line by which they are likely to take flight, before
+crawling up within shot. If we could have taken our horses down with us
+before we opened fire we should have done so, and being so well
+mounted, I think few of them would have got away; but we could not
+manage it without risking being seen, and in that case the Boers, on
+making out what our strength was, would certainly have shown fight; and
+even if we had beaten them, which I don't suppose we should have done,
+we should have suffered heavily."
+
+"You were quite right not to risk it," the officer said; "we know by
+old experience that the Boers are formidable antagonists when behind
+shelter, and, accustomed as they are to shooting on horseback, I dare
+say they will do well when not opposed by regular cavalry, who, I am
+convinced, would ride through and through them. I am quite sure that in
+the open they will not be able to make any stand whatever against
+infantry, which is the more important, as in so hilly a country as
+Natal our cavalry would seldom be able to act with advantage."
+
+In the course of conversation he told them that there was no news of
+any large body of the Boers being near. Joubert's force had not moved
+out of Newcastle, and nothing had been heard of the Free Staters or of
+the Utrecht force under Lucas Meyer. "We have sentries on all the lower
+hills round here and Glencoe, and there is no fear of our being
+surprised. The sooner they come the better, for we are all longing to
+get at them; and I can tell you we felt quite jealous when we heard of
+your spirited affair to-day. I can assure you that we shall have a
+greater respect for the volunteers than we had before, and if all do as
+well as you have done to-day they will be a most valuable addition to
+our force."
+
+After their visitor had left, they sat chatting round a fire till ten
+o'clock, and then turned in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE FIRST BATTLE
+
+
+All in the little camp, save the two sentries, slept soundly until, at
+two in the morning, they awoke with a sudden start. A deep boom and a
+strange rushing sound was in their ears. With exclamations of surprise
+they all scrambled out of their tents.
+
+"What is that?" Chris asked the sentry.
+
+"It is a big gun on the top of that high hill they call Talana. We saw
+the flash of light, and directly after heard the report, and a rushing
+sound. I suppose it was a shot overhead; if it had been a shell we
+should have heard it burst and seen the flash. It must have been fired
+at the camp."
+
+The horses, startled by the report, were plunging and kicking, and the
+lads at once ran to their heads and patted and soothed them. Not until
+they were quiet did they gather again.
+
+"What time is it?" Chris asked.
+
+"The clock on the church struck two a few minutes ago," Brown, who was
+on sentry, said. As he spoke another gun boomed from Talana, or as it
+was generally called in the town, Smith's Hill, from a farm owned by a
+settler of that name at its foot. It was about a mile and a half east
+of the town, and therefore some three miles from the camp.
+
+"It must be a very heavy gun by its sound--as big as the largest of
+those we have heard fired from that fort above Johannesburg. Joubert
+must have started from Newcastle early to have managed to get it up
+there by this time, or it may be the force from Utrecht; anyhow, they
+must be strong to venture to attack us in this way. We may as well
+saddle up, though it is hardly likely the cavalry will be engaged. I
+shall not send to camp for orders; the general will have enough to
+think about, and it will make no matter where twenty men place
+themselves. However, I shall ride over to camp and see what is going on
+there; it is likely enough that there will be an attack by the Free
+Staters on the other side. Carmichael and Horrocks, do you run into the
+town and see what is going on there. I will not start till you get
+back; if any of the staff see me they may ask some questions about it."
+
+In a quarter of an hour the two lads returned. The people there were
+completely scared at the unexpected attack, and the streets were full
+of half-dressed men; however, they seemed to be getting over their
+first terror, now that they found it was the camp and not the town that
+was being fired at, and the volunteer corps was already gathering in
+readiness for orders.
+
+"We may be pretty sure that nothing will be done till daylight," Chris
+said. "Our men know the ground now, and none of the Transvaal Boers can
+do so, and I don't think they will venture to move till they can see
+their way about. I am glad, indeed, that most of the women and children
+were sent off two days ago, and that the scare on the evening that we
+arrived, when the news came of the railway being cut at Elandslaagte,
+sent the greater part of the men who had remained behind, and who did
+not mean fighting, off by road. If they bombard the town they may do
+damage to property, but there will be no great loss of life. You had
+better give the horses a feed--that is, if they are disposed to eat at
+this hour--while I am away."
+
+On reaching the camp, Chris found all the troops under arms. They had
+been roused before the Boer fire began, as a picket to the east of
+Dundee had been attacked and driven in. It was not, however, supposed
+that the Boers were in force until their guns opened fire. All lights
+were out in the camp, and the enemy's shot had gone wide. It was by no
+means clear why the Boers should have betrayed their presence on the
+top of the hill until it was light enough for them to use their guns
+with effect. Chris had, before starting, put on his flat cap.
+
+As he approached the camp he was challenged by a sentry: "Who comes
+there?" and on his replying, "An officer of the Maritzburg Scouts," the
+sentry called out: "Advance, officer of the Maritz Scouts, and give the
+countersign."
+
+Fortunately, as it happened, the officer had given it to Chris on his
+visit to their camp, and he therefore answered at once, "Ladysmith,"
+and was relieved when the sentry called out, "Ladysmith pass, and all
+is well."
+
+When he entered the camp he found the men were standing in lines, but
+at ease, with their rifles piled in front of them, and there was a hum
+of conversation in the ranks. At the head-quarter tents everybody was
+astir. Presently an officer came up.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked as he advanced.
+
+"I am in command of the party of Maritzburg Scouts."
+
+"Mr. King, is it not?" the officer asked.
+
+"Yes, sir. I have ridden in to ask if there are any orders."
+
+"No, and there will be none issued until it is daylight, and we can
+make out how matters stand and what is the force of the Boers. It is
+not likely that you will have any special orders, but can act with the
+cavalry and mounted infantry."
+
+"Thank you, sir. Then I will ride back at once." On returning to camp,
+he said: "There is nothing to be done till morning. So far they have no
+idea of the force of the Boers. This is just the work we were formed
+for. Peters, you and Field and Horrocks certainly speak Dutch better
+than any of the others. It is half-past two now, and we have at least
+two and a half hours of darkness, therefore I propose we try to find
+out what force the Boers have got up there. It is no use for more than
+four of us to go, so the others can turn in, except the two sentries;
+but all will, of course, be ready to mount in case any party of Boers
+should come down upon the town before it is light. The next time I want
+three men on special duty I will give others a chance."
+
+"Shall we ride, Chris?"
+
+"I think so. Of course it will be more difficult getting up there in
+the dark; but I shall make a detour of three or four miles, and come up
+on the other side, and we should be much more likely to be questioned
+if we were on foot than on horseback. Should we come upon any party of
+armed Boers, remember we have just arrived from Standerton, and finding
+when we got to Newcastle that the force had moved on, and were to take
+up their station at Talana Hill, we rode on to overtake them. When we
+get fairly there among them, we will dismount; Field and Peters will
+stand by the four horses, Horrocks and I will go on. If you hear a row,
+you will mount and wait a minute or two, and then if we do not come,
+you will ride off with our horses as well as your own. We shall try and
+make our way to the edge of the hill, and ought to be able to slip away
+in the darkness if we can get there before we are shot down or
+overtaken. However, I don't think there is much chance of our being
+recognized. Indeed, I expect most of them will be lying down for a
+sleep before the time comes for action. If there is one thing a Boer
+hates it is being kept awake at night. I will take one of the Kaffir
+boys with us. They can see in the dark a great deal better than we can;
+and as the Boers are sure to have some natives with them, he is quite
+as likely to pick up news as we are--more so, perhaps, for the natives
+will sit and talk all night while their masters are snoring. I think
+the one we call Jack is the sharpest."
+
+Jack was called up, and on being told what was required, at once agreed
+to accompany them.
+
+No time was lost. Chris and his three companions mounted, and with the
+Kaffir running alongside they set off at a trot. Keeping to the north
+of east, they rode on for some two miles, Jack leading the way with as
+much ease as if it had been daylight. When they had, as they
+calculated, come upon the ground the Boers must have passed over, they
+turned south, and kept on until they saw the dark mass of Talana on
+their right, and made towards it. On this side the hill sloped
+gradually, while on that facing Dundee it was extremely steep and
+strewn with boulders. They were now going at a walk, and they soon came
+upon an immense gathering of waggons, carts, oxen and ponies, crowded
+without any order, just as they had arrived two hours before. "There is
+no fear of our being detected," Chris said in a whisper, "and we can't
+do better than stop here. There is no getting the horses through this
+crowd, and if we did manage to do so there would be no getting them
+back, certainly not in a hurry. You had better lie down beside them, it
+is not likely that any Boers will be coming up or down. If the whole
+camp is like this there is not the slightest fear of our getting
+caught." Jack had already been instructed that when he got into the
+camp he was to leave them and join any party of Kaffirs he found awake,
+and talk to them as if he were one of the bullock drivers. As Chris and
+his companions returned, the former would blow his whistle softly, and
+he was then to make his way down to the horses at once.
+
+Passing on unquestioned they neared the top of the hill, having left
+the mass of the vehicles behind them. There were, however, large
+numbers of ponies assembled here in readiness should their masters
+require them. Hitherto they had heard no voices since entering the
+camp, but as they went farther they heard talking. Here the fighting
+men were assembled. For the most part they were lying down; some were
+asleep; others, however, were moving about, and joining or leaving
+groups gathered together discussing the events of the next day.
+Horrocks and Chris now separated and joined different parties, some
+twenty yards from each other. They attracted no attention whatever.
+Their appearance in their broad hats and rough clothing, their
+bandoliers and rifles, was precisely similar to that of the men
+standing about.
+
+No doubt whatever that the morning would bring them a brilliant
+victory, appeared to be entertained by the enemy. The artillery would
+first crush that of the British, then they would charge down and finish
+the affair. "They say that they have less than four thousand
+altogether," one said. "We are as many, and, as everyone knows, one
+Boer is a match for any three rooineks. It will not be a fight, it will
+be slaughter. We shall stop a day to gather the plunder and send it off
+in the waggons, then we shall go south and destroy the force at
+Ladysmith. Three days later we shall be in Maritzburg, and within three
+or four days afterwards shall drive the British on board their ships at
+Durban. We shall get grand plunder there and at Maritzburg. But I think
+it is time now to take a hand at building up that wall along the front.
+Ebers' commando have been at it for three hours, and it is our turn
+now."
+
+[Illustration: CHRIS AND HIS COMPANIONS SCOUTING.]
+
+There was a general movement, which was accelerated by a sharp order,
+and a minute later Horrocks and Chris again came together and moved on
+with the others. Three hundred yards farther they came upon six guns,
+beyond which a number of men were at work carrying and placing great
+stones to form a rough wall. These left off their work as soon as the
+party arrived. Having now seen all that was necessary, the two lads
+joined them and returned with them down the hill. The others threw
+themselves down near their horses, but Chris and his companion went on.
+Through the huge gathering of waggons they made their way with great
+difficulty, Chris giving a low whistle occasionally. At last they were
+through the camp. Jack was standing by the horses, and Peters and Field
+at once rose to their feet. Without a word they mounted, and rode
+without speaking till they were some little distance from the waggons.
+
+"You are back earlier than I expected," Field said. "You have been gone
+scarcely an hour."
+
+"No; the only difficulty we had was making our way through the mass of
+waggons and animals all mixed up higgledy-piggledy, and there has been
+no more excitement than if we had been walking through Dundee. We have
+got all we wanted to know. Their strength is about four thousand. They
+have six guns. They are building a stone wall along the brow of the
+hill, and they are cock-sure that they are going to thrash us without
+difficulty." Field and Peters laughed.
+
+"They are fools to count their chickens before they are hatched," the
+latter said. "If they think it is going to be another Laing's Nek
+business they will find themselves mightily mistaken, though it will be
+a very difficult business to scale that hill from the other side under
+such a rifle fire as they will keep up."
+
+Jack had now taken his place ahead of them again, and kept there with
+ease, although, they broke into a canter as soon as they reached the
+level ground. In half an hour they reached their camp.
+
+"Now, Jack," Chris said when he had dismounted, "we have not heard what
+news you have picked up."
+
+"Not much news, baas. Talk with some Kaffirs; all hope that we beat
+them to-day, but think we cannot do so. Too many Boers and big guns.
+They say Boers very angry because the other commandos not here, and
+Free State Boers not arrived. They sure going to beat the rooineks, but
+are afraid that some may get away. If Joubert and Free Staters here,
+catch them in a trap and kill them all."
+
+Such was the substance of Jack's answer in his own language. By this
+time the rest of the party had turned out to hear the news. They had
+had but little sleep, for all were intensely anxious as to the fate of
+their four comrades, and although delighted that they had returned
+safely, were a little disappointed on finding that the affair had been
+so tame and unexciting. While they were talking the two Kaffirs had
+stirred up the fire, put some wood and some coal on, and hung up the
+kettle.
+
+"That is right, Jack," Chris said; "day will begin to break in half an
+hour, and we may have to be moving." All was quiet until half-past
+five, and the lads had just finished their meal when the Boer guns
+opened fire, and two or three minutes later those of the British
+replied.
+
+"It is an uncomfortable feeling sitting here with that terrific roaring
+noise overhead," Chris said. "One knows that there is not the slightest
+risk of being hit, but, to say the least of it, it is very unpleasant.
+There, a shell has just burst over the camp. So it is shell that they
+are firing."
+
+Indeed, the Boers had been using these missiles only, but owing to some
+fault in the loading, or the badness of the fuses, they fell for the
+most part without bursting. It was soon evident to the lads that the
+range of the British guns was shorter than that of the heavier pieces
+from Talana. The distance was five thousand yards, and the elevated
+position of the Boer guns added to the advantage given by their
+superior weight.
+
+"I will ride in now," Chris said as he got up from breakfast, "and tell
+the staff what we have gathered as to the Boers' strength." He had on
+his way down the hill exchanged his hat for his forage-cap, and taking
+Horrocks with him he galloped to the camp. Sir Penn Symons was standing
+on a small elevation watching the fire. Chris rode up and saluted.
+
+"I have no orders for you, Mr. King, except that when the fighting is
+over you will join the cavalry in pursuit."
+
+"Thank you, sir; I have not come for orders, but to report to you that
+with Mr. Horrocks and two others, and one of our Kaffir servants, I
+entered the Boer camp last night in order to ascertain their strength."
+
+"You did!" the general exclaimed in surprise. "You hear that,
+gentlemen?" he said, turning round to three or four of his staff
+standing but a short distance behind him. "Mr. King and three of his
+party absolutely entered the Boer camp last night to discover their
+force. Well, sir, what was the result?"
+
+"There are about four thousand of them, sir, over rather than under,
+and they have six guns, all of heavy calibre. When I was there they
+were at work building a thick wall some five feet high of rough stones
+along the edge of the hill. It will scarcely shelter the guns, but it
+will provide cover for the riflemen at the edge of the hill. There is
+an immense gathering of waggons and carts--there are certainly not less
+than a thousand of them--in a confused mass behind the hill. Arriving
+in the dark, each seems to have gone on until it could get no farther.
+The fighting men are all on the top of the hill, and between them and
+the waggons are their ponies. They certainly could not ride away till
+the waggons have been passed through, but possibly a passage may have
+been left on each side of these for them to get through, in order, as
+is their intention, to charge your army when their guns have silenced
+your artillery. I gathered that expected commandos had not come up.
+They were disappointed at hearing nothing of the Free Staters, who they
+expected would have attacked Glencoe from the other side. They are
+absolutely confident of success, and expect to overwhelm General White
+at Ladysmith in three days from now, and to be in Pietermaritzburg in a
+week, and are talking of driving the last rooinek on board the ships at
+Durban shortly after."
+
+The general smiled. "I am much obliged to you for your information, Mr.
+King, and am much pleased at the courage with which you and your
+companions entered the Boer camp to obtain it. It is satisfactory to
+learn that their force is not much greater than our own. It is also
+useful to know that their ponies are gathered so close to them, for
+shells that go over the hill may burst among them; and I believe that
+one of the Boers' most vulnerable points is their horses, for without
+them they would feel absolutely lost. I am sure, Mr. King, that you
+would wish to be in the thick of the fighting, but I would rather that
+you curbed your impetuosity, for after the manner in which you obtained
+this news for me, I can see that your party will do far greater service
+in scouting and in gaining intelligence than they could afford in
+action. I should advise you to shift your camp, as the troops are about
+to advance into the town, and the enemy's shot will soon be falling
+there."
+
+A few minutes later two field batteries moved forward and took up their
+position south of Dundee, escorted by the mounted infantry and the
+rifles. The third battalion of the Lancashire regiment remained to
+protect the camp should it be attacked by the Free Staters, while the
+Dublin Fusiliers and the Royal Irish Fusiliers were to march through
+the town to a donga or river-bed half a mile to the east. Beyond this
+the long ascent to Talana begins. The King's Royal Rifles were to take
+up a position under cover to the east of the town.
+
+Chris had ridden back fast to Dundee. The work of taking down the tents
+and packing their materials and all the stores on to the spare horses
+took but a few minutes, and two of the lads went with the two natives
+and saw the horses safely placed in a sharp depression half a mile
+away, in which they would be safe from Boer shells. Chris had told his
+companions what the general had said. They all looked disappointed.
+
+"We shall have plenty of opportunities afterwards, and it is a
+compliment that he considers we had better reserve ourselves for
+scouting, which, after all, is the work we always intended to carry
+out. Still, though, after what he has said, we cannot absolutely join
+the cavalry, we will manage somehow to see some of the fighting without
+getting into the thick of it. Besides, I should say that in any case
+the whole brunt of the affair must fall upon the infantry and
+artillery. If they silence the Boer guns and capture the hill, the
+battle is won, and the cavalry will have to wait for their chance till
+they can get the Boers to fight on ground where they can act."
+
+Drizzling rain had now set in, but this and the fact that they had
+started without breakfast in no way abated the spirits of the troops
+who soon came along, marching with light step and eager faces which
+showed that they were delighted at the prospect of action. The
+batteries to the right had already come into play, and a vigorous
+cannonade was being directed at the crest of the hill, from which the
+Boer guns kept up a slower though steady fire in return.
+
+"While nothing else is doing we may just as well ride over and see how
+things are getting on there," Chris said. And as soon as the two Irish
+regiments had passed, the little troop trotted across to the rising
+ground and dismounted a few hundred yards from the guns. They soon saw
+with satisfaction that the fire of the Boers was far from effective,
+their aim was not good, and a very small proportion of the shells
+burst; while on the other hand the shrapnel from the British batteries
+burst with splendid accuracy over the crest of the hill. For two hours
+the artillery duel continued, then the Boer guns gradually ceased their
+fire. The mist that had partly shrouded the summit of Talana, eight
+hundred feet above the plain, and the smoke that still hung thickly
+there, rendered it impossible to say whether they had all been put out
+of action or simply withdrawn, but when it cleared off they could no
+longer be seen. It was now the turn of the infantry. Beyond the donga
+in which they were lying the rise of the ground was gradual, up to a
+plantation which surrounded Smith's farm. Beyond this the ground was
+rocky. The men advanced at the double in open order, and the moment
+they were seen by the Boers a continuous fire of musketry was opened.
+The distance was about a mile, but the Mauser rifles had a much greater
+range than this and the bullets pattered thickly on the ground. Only
+four men, however, fell. The two regiments halted in the plantation and
+farm buildings, and the advanced line at the edge of the trees opened
+fire in answer to that to which they were exposed. The general at first
+had taken up his position with the guns, but as soon as the men
+advanced from the donga he joined them and accompanied them as far as
+the plantation. Then he returned to the battery, which continued its
+fire with greater activity to prepare the way for the further advance
+of the infantry.
+
+The Rifles had joined the two Irish regiments, and at half-past nine
+General Symons galloped up to the farm and gave the order for the
+advance. This was received with a cheer by the men, who had been
+impatiently awaiting it. Scarcely had the cheer died away when the
+general was mortally wounded by a bullet that struck him in the
+stomach. Unconscious that the wound was so severe he retained his seat
+a minute or two, and was then carried by the Indian bearer company into
+the town. The troops, ignorant of the misfortune that had befallen
+them, were now working their way up the hill, taking advantage of every
+stone and boulder, and although exposed to a terrific fire, gradually
+pushing on until they reached a stone wall which ran round the face of
+the hill. Beyond this the ground was much rougher and very much
+steeper--so steep, indeed, that it was almost impossible to climb it.
+The fire of the enemy was now terrific. The troops were some three
+hundred yards from the crest, and it was certain death to show a head
+above the wall. An officer placed his helmet on the end of his sword,
+and the moment he raised it, it was riddled by five balls.
+
+For a time it was impossible to advance farther, but when the Boer fire
+moderated a little the order ran along the line for the men to storm
+the position. A signal was made to the artillery to cease fire, and as
+it did so the men leapt over the wall and rushed forward. There was now
+no thought of taking shelter or returning the Boers' fire, every effort
+was needed for surmounting the difficulties in their way. In some
+places the rock was so steep that the men had to climb on their hands
+and knees, sometimes those below pushed their comrades up and were in
+turn assisted by them to climb. The roar of musketry was unceasing. It
+seemed to be an impossibility for any man to reach the top unscathed,
+and yet there was no hesitation or wavering. Numbers fell, but panting
+and determined the rest pressed on. The Rifles suffered most heavily,
+and out of the seventeen officers who advanced with them five were
+killed and seven wounded. At last the steepest part of the ascent was
+surmounted. Those who first reached this point waited until joined by
+others, and then fixing bayonets they rushed up the slope to the edge
+of the plateau cheering loudly.
+
+The Boers did not await the onset; the great body had already fled.
+They had believed it impossible for mortal men to scale the hill under
+their continuous fire, and our steady advance through the hail of
+bullets had astounded them and shaken their courage. The artillery,
+after ceasing fire, had galloped off at full speed and taken up their
+position on the ridge known as Smith's Nek, overlooking the plain
+behind the hill. For a distance of three miles this was covered with
+waggons and galloping men. The guns were about to open fire upon them
+when a white flag was hoisted, and, believing that the Boers had
+surrendered, the gunners abstained from firing. It was, however, but
+the first of numerous similar acts of treachery, and the Boers were
+thus enabled to make their escape.
+
+The appearance of the plateau gained by the troops was appalling. Some
+five hundred of the Boers lay dead or wounded, and many had doubtless
+been carried off. Three of the guns lay dismounted, the others had been
+removed; for as they could not be sufficiently depressed to bear upon
+the stormers, they had been taken off as soon as the advance began in
+earnest. Beyond the plateau smashed waggons and dead animals lay
+thickly. Great numbers of the Boer ponies had been killed; many were
+still standing quietly waiting for their masters, lying dead above.
+
+Pursuit was out of the question. The men were exhausted by their
+efforts; they were wet to the skin by the rain that had for nine hours
+come down unceasingly; they had had no food since the previous day, and
+the tremendous climb had taxed their powers to the utmost. For a time
+they cheered vociferously, the first joy of victory overcoming the
+thought of their dead and wounded comrades, who had to be collected and
+carried down. The loss had been severe, ten officers and thirty men had
+been killed, twenty officers and a hundred and sixty-five men wounded;
+and nine officers and two hundred and eleven men did not answer to the
+roll-call. This loss was unaccountable.
+
+Chris, as soon as the infantry advance began, had, after talking with
+the others, agreed to set out in the direction in which the three
+squadrons of cavalry had started in the morning with instructions to
+work round, and be prepared to cut off the enemy's retreat. They had
+with them some of the mounted infantry and a machine-gun.
+
+As the whole Boer force would be concentrated on the hill, Chris
+thought that there would be no danger in riding round, especially as,
+even had the Boers posted a force to protect their line of retreat, he
+was confident that the speed of his horses would prevent any chance of
+capture. From some natives he learned the direction that the cavalry
+had taken, and presently on rising ground, saw two parties halted in
+hollows some two miles apart. The farthest out on the plain appeared to
+be the largest, and to this he rode. The officer in command had seen
+him in camp, and as he saluted on riding up, said:
+
+"So you have come to lend us a hand, sir? Can you tell me how matters
+are going on at Dundee?"
+
+"At the time we rode off, sir, the advance of the infantry had just
+begun, the Boer guns had been silenced, and our men were advancing from
+Smith's farm under a very heavy fire of the enemy, which continued
+without intermission as long as we were within hearing distance."
+
+"Did you see the other squadron as you came along?"
+
+"They are in a hollow two miles away."
+
+"Ah! that is where we left them."
+
+The troopers were all dismounted, and the scouts followed the example.
+The boom of the British guns was continuing unabated. "They can be
+getting on but slowly," the officer said. "I am afraid we shall find it
+a very tough job. I suppose there is a strong force up there?"
+
+"Over four thousand."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I was up there last night," Chris said, "with three of the others. We
+did not go up in these caps, as you may suppose, but in wide-brimmed
+hats. We were able to get about without exciting any suspicion
+whatever. We found they had six guns and over four thousand men. As we
+all speak Dutch fluently there was really no chance of our being
+detected."
+
+The other officers of the squadron had all gathered round.
+
+"Danger or no danger, it was a very plucky action," their leader said.
+"I suppose that was the news you brought in just before the troops
+marched off. Well, I wish that we had got our breakfast and the horses
+a feed before we started. It is more important for the horses than it
+is for us, though I should not be sorry for breakfast myself."
+
+"We have some food in our haversacks, sir. We breakfasted before we
+started, and we filled our haversacks with biscuits, thinking that
+perhaps they would be welcome, for we knew that none of the troops had
+anything to eat before leaving."
+
+"You are very good to offer it," the colonel said. "But we could not
+eat while the men have nothing."
+
+"It will go round, sir, though it will be but a small portion for each.
+We each put about ten pounds of biscuits in our haversacks, and shall
+not be sorry to get rid of the weight. It will make something like
+three-quarters of a pound per man all round."
+
+"More than that," the officer said. "I am indeed greatly obliged to
+you."
+
+The haversacks were emptied and divided into four heaps of equal size,
+with a proportionate heap for the ten officers. Four men were called up
+from each troop, and in a short time the soldiers were all munching
+biscuits, every man dividing his rations with his horse. The sight of
+the rough-looking troop had at first excited some amusement and a
+little derision among the soldiers, but this feeling was now exchanged
+for gratitude, and it was unanimously agreed that these young farmers
+were a capital set of fellows. The hours passed slowly until the
+officers, through their glasses, saw a great movement in the encampment
+on the hill. The waggons standing lowest separated from the others, and
+gradually a general movement set in.
+
+"Our men must be gaining ground," the colonel said, "and the Boers are
+beginning to funk."
+
+The bits were put into the horses' mouths again, the saddles buckled up
+tightly, and an expression of satisfaction succeeded that of disgust at
+the long hours standing in the pouring rain. Presently, when the
+leading waggons were abreast of them, at a distance of about a mile,
+the order was given to mount, and the two squadrons dashed across the
+plain and were soon among the fugitives. There were many mounted men
+among them, these being the first to steal away from the fight. They
+opened fire as the cavalry approached, but were soon overthrown or
+driven away in headlong flight. Many of the waggons were seized, but
+each moment their defenders became stronger. The Boers were now
+flocking down in great numbers, and seeing their teams and property in
+danger they dismounted, formed some of the waggons up in a square, and
+from them opened a heavy fire upon the troopers. Chris dismounted his
+party, and returned the fire, but the officer in command, seeing that
+with so small a force of infantry he could do nothing, and that the
+numbers of their enemies were increasing, drew off. He would have
+continued the fight, but he supposed that the artillery would soon be
+at work, and knew they could not open fire as long as he was engaging
+the Boers, he therefore retired with the long train of captured
+waggons, and late in the afternoon reached camp.
+
+Nothing was seen of the other squadron and mounted infantry, nor was
+any news received of them until the following day, when a medical
+officer with some wounded men came in. Like the larger force, they too
+had ridden in among the waggons, but had taken a more northerly line,
+and had come on a point where the Boers were thickest. They had charged
+and taken several prisoners, and inflicted severe loss on the enemy.
+These, however, had swarmed round them, keeping up an incessant fire
+and barring their retreat. They took up a defensive position in a farm,
+and for three hours repelled all the attacks of the Boers, until their
+horses were all killed or had broken away and the ammunition exhausted,
+while the Boers had just brought up the three guns they had withdrawn
+from the hill. Further resistance would have ended in the extermination
+of the whole party, and Lieutenant-Colonel Möller was therefore obliged
+to surrender.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ELANDSLAAGTE
+
+
+The scouts erected their tents again on their former ground. The
+remaining inhabitants of Dundee were jubilant over the victory that had
+been won, and did their best, by hanging out flags from the windows, to
+decorate the town. Jack and his companion had returned to the camp with
+the spare horses as soon as the hill was carried, and had the fires
+lighted by the time the party came in. In spite of having worn their
+blankets as cloaks, all were wet through, but after changing their
+clothes, they went into the town to gather the news of how the hill had
+been won, and by the time they returned their meal was ready.
+
+"What do you think of affairs, Chris?"
+
+"I think that the officer at Ladysmith was right, and that it was a
+frightful mistake to divide the force and send four thousand men up
+here. They have thrashed the Boers today, but they may be back again on
+the top of that hill tomorrow. Besides, we know that Joubert's force
+was not engaged to-day, and they and the Free Staters will be gathering
+round. We might win another victory, but we are certain to be obliged
+to fall back soon, and my opinion is that we shall be very lucky if we
+get through safely."
+
+"Why not start to-morrow morning, Chris?" Peters said. "We shall be of
+no use scouting here, and not much use if there is hard fighting. I
+hear that some natives have brought in the news that there was some
+firing to-day at Elandslaagte. If that is the case, we must have troops
+there, and the chances are that they will be there to-morrow."
+
+"Yes, that is very likely," Chris agreed. "General White will be sure
+to hold the line there if he can, for he must feel sure that the force
+here will have to retreat now that it is attacked in earnest. When we
+were talking to-day to the cavalry, one of the officers mentioned that
+we had still telegraphic communication with Ladysmith, for although the
+wires by the railway are cut, it is possible to communicate through
+Helpmakaar. The Boers seem to have forgotten that, for it is quite out
+of the direct line, and nearly double as far round. Well, as we had no
+orders to come here, I suppose there is no occasion to get orders to go
+back. I think Peters's proposal is a very good one, but on a point like
+this everyone ought to give an opinion. My view is that we might be a
+great deal more useful there than here, and that if we stop we shall
+run a great chance of being captured. I think that it would be a fair
+thing to put it to the vote."
+
+He took two or three leaves out of his pocket-book, and tore them up
+into narrow slips of paper.
+
+"Now," he said, "write 'Yes' if you are in favour of going back, 'No'
+if you are for stopping here. Drop them into my cap and the majority
+shall decide."
+
+When the strips of paper were examined, it was found that only two out
+of the twenty-one were in favour of remaining.
+
+"That settles it," Chris said. "It is thirty miles down to Elandslaagte
+by road, and as from here to Glencoe is five miles, and we are no
+nearer there than we are here, by cutting across to Waschbrank we shall
+have only five-and-twenty miles to ride. It is well that we should get
+there as early as possible, so we will settle to start at five o'clock,
+which will take us there by eight, in time to see anything that is
+going on. No doubt we shall be able to hear from natives as we go along
+whether the troops are still there; at any rate if they are, we are
+sure to hear firing before we get there, unless, of course, the Boers
+have retired."
+
+The horses had already had an extra feed, and the Kaffirs were warned
+of the hour at which they were going to start. The pack-horses were
+able to keep up with the rest, for their loads were by no means
+heavy--in fact, they carried less weight than the others. The two
+hundred pounds of biscuits given to the hussars made no difference in
+their baggage, for this had been bought at Dundee, as the lads decided
+to keep their stores as far as possible intact for a time when they
+might for some days be away scouting in a district where no provisions
+could be obtained.
+
+At four o'clock the sentries roused the others, and having taken a cup
+of coffee and some cold meat and bread, and led the horses down to the
+stream while the Kaffirs were loading up the packets and bundles, they
+mounted at five o'clock and set off at a trot, Jack and Japhet, a name
+suggested by Field, who was the wag of the party, were allowed to ride
+on two of the horses that carried the lightest burdens. All the lads
+were provided with compasses, but these were not necessary, as both the
+natives were well acquainted with the country, which was wild and
+mountainous.
+
+When they reached Wessels station, nine miles from Elandslaagte, they
+heard the sound of guns. At this proof that there was still a force
+there, they turned off from the road, and riding west, struck the point
+where the main road to Meran crossed the Sundays River, and then, still
+keeping a mile west of the line of railway, found themselves abreast of
+the station. Just as they did so, a body of mounted volunteers galloped
+up towards them. As soon as they were seen, they exchanged their hats
+for forage-caps, and some of them, by Chris's orders, hoisted their
+union-jacks on their rifles.
+
+"It is well that you raised those flags," the officer in command said.
+"We made sure by your appearance that you were Boers, and rather took
+your change of caps as one of their slim devices, and had our rifles
+ready to give you a warm reception. I suppose you come from Dundee? We
+heard news yesterday evening of the battle, and were sorry to hear how
+heavy the losses were, and particularly of General Symons' wound. I
+suppose you have no later news?"
+
+"No, beyond that we heard he was very dangerously hit indeed. He is
+either at the church or town-hall. Both have been turned into
+hospitals."
+
+"There is a good deal of anxiety at Ladysmith," the officer said. "The
+general opinion is that, with the Boers closing in all round it, the
+position is a very serious one."
+
+"I am afraid so, sir. There is nothing to prevent the Boers from
+returning to their position on Talana Hill to-day; and soon after we
+left the town this morning we heard the sound of guns away on the
+right, and supposed that the Free Staters had approached Glencoe. As
+mounted men are of very little use there, and our party is too small to
+be able to do any good, we thought it would be best to come back here,
+especially as there was a native report that there was firing in this
+direction."
+
+"Yes; a party of our cavalry under French came up with a battery of
+field artillery. There was a little skirmishing, but in the evening the
+Boers were strongly reinforced, and our cavalry returned to Ladysmith.
+It was only a reconnaissance to ascertain the general situation. To-day
+we are stronger. Squadrons of the 5th Dragoon Guards, 5th Lancers, the
+Natal mounted, battery, and several detachments of mounted volunteers,
+including the Imperial Light Horse, and half the Manchester Regiment,
+are coming up in an armoured train. I suppose you are not attached to
+any other corps?"
+
+"Yes; we form a section of Captain Brookfield's corps of Maritzburg
+Scouts. As you see, we are not in uniform; it being thought that, as we
+are all from Johannesburg, and speak Dutch and Kaffir, we should be of
+more use for scouting if able to appear as Boers."
+
+"A very good idea," the officer said, "but somewhat dangerous; for if
+they caught you they would assuredly shoot you as spies."
+
+"We don't mean to be caught if we can help it, as you see we are very
+well mounted."
+
+"Uncommonly well. Brookfield's subscriptions must have come in
+handsomely for him to be able to buy such horses as those."
+
+"We provide our own mounts and equipments," Chris said, "and consider
+ourselves very lucky in getting hold of this batch of horses from Mr.
+Duncan on the day he arrived at Maritzburg. I really think they were
+very cheap at sixty pounds each."
+
+"They were not dear, certainly; and the fact that they came from him is
+in itself a sufficient recommendation. We have got some thirty from
+him, but they are a different stamp of animal and did not cost half
+that figure. And now we must be riding to join the rest of our fellows.
+We made you out when you were a couple of miles away, and were sent off
+to ascertain what you were. By the way, you will find Brookfield there.
+He arrived with his men by rail last evening." Riding on, they soon
+came upon the mounted corps, and were warmly received by Captain
+Brookfield.
+
+"You are back just in time," he said. "I suppose that you saw something
+of the fight yesterday, but, as I see your number still complete, you
+can scarcely have been in the thick of it?"
+
+"We were with two squadrons of Hussars, and captured a good many
+waggons and did a little fighting, but nothing very serious. There were
+only a few casualties. We heard, however, from Colonel Yule, who has
+succeeded poor Symons, that up to ten o'clock last night, another of
+the squadrons of the Hussars and a company of mounted infantry with
+them had not returned, and nothing was known of their whereabouts."
+
+"Had they not got into camp when you started?"
+
+"I did not hear, sir. In fact, we set off by daylight. But last night
+it was hoped that the squadron, which was acting independently, had
+lost their way, and would come in this morning. Where is the Boer force
+now?"
+
+"Our batteries have shelled them out of the station. They were wholly
+unprepared for it, and bolted at once to those hills a mile and half
+east of the line. Their camp lies at the bottom of that conical hill.
+You can make them out from here with your glass. There, French is
+moving forward."
+
+The order had indeed been given to advance, the artillery accompanying
+the cavalry, and halting every two or three minutes to deliver their
+fire. The ground was flat, but cut up by gullies. As soon as they came
+within range, the colonials dismounted and added their fire to that of
+the guns. An immense confusion was seen to reign in the Boer camp, and
+thirty-seven British subjects, including the officials and staff at the
+railway-station, and some of the coal-miners, took advantage of this
+and ran forward to join their friends. They were at once sent back into
+Ladysmith, after having given the information that General Koch was in
+command of the Boers, and that Commandant Miellof and the German
+Colonel Shiel, with many of the Johannesburg commando, were there.
+Chris and his comrades felt great satisfaction at the news.
+
+"We have a chance of paying off old scores on the right persons now,"
+Chris said. "I do hope that the fellows who insulted us when we were
+coming down are here, and that we shall manage to get among them."
+
+For the time, however, this wish was not gratified. The Boers now
+seeing that they had such a small force opposed to them, steadied
+themselves and opened fire with some guns, Maxims, and rifles from the
+crest of the hill, while a swarm of horsemen and dismounted men poured
+out to threaten the flanks of the British. The odds were too great; the
+comparatively heavy guns of the enemy were well aimed and served, and
+quite overpowered the fire of the light cannon of the field and
+mountain batteries. The order was given to fall back, which was done in
+good order, though the troops were harassed by a hot fire from the
+enemy concealed in the gullies. On reaching the high ground near Modder
+Spruit, the country was more in favour of the British, who were now
+extended on each flank. The Boers were unable or unwilling to move
+their heavy guns from their position on the hill, and being now beyond
+their range, and exposed to the fire of four batteries as well as the
+infantry, those pressing forward fell back. General French had brought
+out a signalling apparatus with him, and the telegraph wires were
+tapped, and a message sent to General White asking him for
+reinforcements in order to carry the Boer position.
+
+The fight now ceased for a time. A party of the Boers occasionally
+crept forward and opened fire, but the Colonial Horse dashed forward
+and sent them flying back to the hills. From nine o'clock till a
+quarter to two the troops remained idle, but the reinforcements then
+arrived, a battery of field artillery, several squadrons of Dragoons,
+Lancers, and Colonials, and the Devonshire regiment and Gordon
+Highlanders, the infantry being brought up by train. These were under
+the command of Colonel Ian Hamilton, who had a thorough knowledge of
+Boer tactics, and knew how to handle his troops. It was well that it
+was so, for, led by a less experienced commander, they would have
+suffered terribly in their advance. While the infantry detrained, the
+Colonials, followed by the 5th Lancers, rode towards some low hills,
+whence some parties of Boers had maintained a distant fire. These were
+at once scattered. The infantry marched along some ridges parallel with
+the railway, but a mile away, while the Devonshire regiment kept along
+the low ground by the line. The 5th Dragoon Guards, with some troops of
+Colonials and one of the field batteries, moved forward on the left.
+
+The Manchesters were on the right of the infantry, the Gordons in the
+centre, and the Devons on the left, as they set their faces towards the
+Boer position. At three o'clock the action began, the Boer riflemen
+opening a heavy fire. It was still too distant, however, to do any
+serious execution, and the British moved forward as regularly and
+unconcernedly as if it had been a field day. The Boer fire grew in
+intensity, and one of our batteries opened with shrapnel to drive them
+from the lower ridges. At half-past three the Boer artillery joined
+their deeper roar to the rattle of musketry and the sharp cracks of the
+British guns. Although it was still early the light was indistinct, for
+a heavy thunder-storm had been for some time brewing, and this burst
+before the heat of the action really began. The darkness was all in
+favour of the advancing infantry, who in their khaki uniforms were
+almost invisible to the Boers.
+
+The troops were now in extended open order, and advanced towards the
+foot of the hill by rushes, taking advantage of the ant-hills that
+studded the plain and afforded an excellent cover, being high enough to
+cover them while lying down, and thick and compact enough to resist the
+passage of a Mauser bullet. The Highlanders were suffering the most
+heavily, their dark kilts showing up strongly against the light sandy
+soil, and while the Devons and Manchesters sustained but few
+casualties, they were dropping fast. They and the Manchesters were
+somewhat in advance of the Devons, who were guarding their flank, which
+was threatened by a large number of Boers gathered on the ridges on
+that side.
+
+The storm was now at its height, the thunder for a time deadening the
+roar of the battle, but through the driving rain the infantry pressed
+on until they reached the foot of the Boers' hill. Large numbers of the
+enemy were on the slope, hidden from sight by the boulders, but these
+could not long maintain their position, for the British marksmen shot
+as straight as the Boer. Our batteries, which had almost silenced those
+of the enemy, scattered their shrapnel among those higher up the hill,
+and as the Boers rose to fly before the bayonets of our cheering
+troops, they were swept away by volleys of the Lee-Metfords. So, with
+short pauses when shelter was obtainable, our troops bore upwards,
+cheering and even joking, until they reached the last shoulder of the
+hill. The Boers made a short but plucky struggle, numbers pushing up
+from behind to help their comrades, but nothing could check the
+impetuosity of our troops. The magazines of the rifles were now for the
+first time set in action, and the Boer force withered away under the
+terrible storm of shot.
+
+The men of the Imperial Light Horse, who had dismounted and joined in
+the advance, were fighting side by side with the Highlanders and
+Manchesters. The pace was now increased to a run, and shouting and
+cheering the men went forward with levelled bayonets. Many of the
+Boers, lying behind rocks, maintained their fire until the troops were
+within two yards of them, and then rising, called for quarter. The men,
+furious at seeing their comrades shot down when all hope of resistance
+was over, would have spared none, had not the officers with the
+greatest difficulty restrained them from bayoneting the Boers, and many
+of these were in fact killed. As the troops, now joined by the Devons,
+were rushing down upon the camp, the Boers raised a white flag, and the
+bugle sounded "Cease firing". The men halted for a moment and then were
+advancing quietly when a tremendous fire broke out from the Boers, who
+were scattered over the ridges of the hillside and a slope leading to
+its summit.
+
+Hitherto the British loss had been wonderfully small considering the
+storm of bullets through which they had passed, but numbers now
+dropped, and taken wholly by surprise, the troops ran up the hill
+again. But not for long. Halting when they reached the crest, and
+furious at the treachery that had been practised with such success upon
+them, they turned again, and rushed down the hill, scattering the
+Boers, who still clung to their shelters, with their fire. It was just
+six o'clock when the Devons carried the last defence of the Boers and
+then with the Manchesters swept down into the camp. It was now the turn
+of the cavalry. These had in the darkness moved forward unnoticed, and
+the Lancers and Dragoons, with a few of the Colonials, among whom were
+the Maritzburg Scouts, fell upon the flying Boers and cut them up with
+great slaughter, and, although it was now quite dark, followed them for
+upwards of two miles, and then returned to camp.
+
+The losses were heavy. The Gordons had lost four officers killed and
+seven wounded, and a total of a hundred and fifteen casualties among
+the four hundred and twenty-five men led into action. The Imperial
+Light Horse lost their colonel and had seven officers wounded, and
+eight men killed and forty wounded. Two hundred of the Boers lay dead
+upon the field. Their wounded were vastly more numerous, and most of
+the principal officers were killed or captured. General Koch, two of
+his brothers, a son, and a nephew were all wounded; Shiel, Viljoen, and
+many others killed or captured. Everything had been left behind. Three
+guns, all their baggage, their waggons, a great quantity of arms and
+ammunition, and many horses fell into the hands of the victors. Several
+battle flags were also captured, and two hundred prisoners were brought
+in by the cavalry. The night was a dreadful one, the rain still
+continued to come down, the cold was bitter, and it was next to
+impossible to find, still less to bring down, the wounded. Nevertheless
+the soldiers carried on the work during the greater part of the night.
+Boer waggons were turned for a time into hospital tents, and here by
+the light of their lanterns the surgeons laboured unweariedly in giving
+what aid was possible to those brought in, whether Boers or Britons.
+Chris and his band worked as hard as the rest, and carried down a great
+number of wounded; but in spite of all the exertions of the troops many
+remained on the hillside all night, the sufferings from the wounds
+being as nothing to that caused by the wet and cold. The lads' flasks
+were of great use now, and enabled many a man, too badly wounded to be
+carried down the rough hillside, to hold on till morning. General White
+had arrived from Ladysmith while the battle was going on, but he left
+the command in the hands of General French. On the following morning
+orders came for General French to retire, as strong parties of the
+enemy had been seen further south, and it was hourly becoming more and
+more evident that it would be impossible to hold the country beyond
+Ladysmith, and many were of opinion that even this position was too far
+advanced.
+
+The splendid valour shown by our soldiers at Dundee and Elandslaagte,
+and the heavy losses they suffered, had been practically thrown away.
+The coal-fields of Northern Natal had been lost, the loyal settlers had
+been plundered and ruined. Colonel Yule's force was in imminent peril,
+and all that had been obtained was the temporary possession of the two
+heights, both of which had to be relinquished on the following morning.
+Beyond showing the Boers how enormously they had underrated the
+fighting powers of the British troops, no advantage whatever had been
+gained by the advance beyond Ladysmith.
+
+Three of the Johannesburg Scouts had been wounded in the charge among
+the Boers. None of the injuries were severe, being merely flesh wounds,
+of which they were hardly conscious during the fighting, and which
+would not be likely to keep them long from the saddle. None of them
+applied for medical assistance, as the surgeons were so fully occupied
+with serious cases. Their comrades bound up the wounds and placed them
+in the most sheltered position they could find, five of their comrades
+remaining in charge of them and the horses, there being no possibility
+of finding the two Kaffirs and the spare animals in the confusion and
+darkness.
+
+"We have had one lesson," Chris said, as at seven in the morning the
+party assembled, worn out by the long night's work, "and that is, that
+blankets are well enough against a passing shower, but that when there
+is any probability of wet we must carry our waterproof sheets with us.
+Of course they would have been no good last night, but on occasions
+when there is no need for us to be using our hands they will be an
+immense comfort."
+
+"But we should have been wet through before we lay down, Chris."
+
+"Yes, they would not have kept us dry, but they would have gone a long
+way towards keeping us warm. It would be like putting oilskin over wet
+lint; we should have felt as if we were in a hot poultice in a short
+time. And even while riding it would have been very comfortable, if we
+had worn them as we did the blankets, with a hole in the middle to put
+our heads through."
+
+"But that would spoil them for tents," Carmichael said.
+
+"Well, we could have flaps sewn so as to cover the hole."
+
+"Our blankets were very useful last night," Horrocks remarked. "I don't
+know how we could have got many of those poor fellows down the hill if
+we had not carried them in the blankets. It was infinitely easier for
+them and a great deal easier for us. I saw lots of soldiers using
+theirs in the same way."
+
+"Are you sure you will be able to sit your horses down to Ladysmith?"
+Chris asked Brown, Capper, and Harris, the three wounded.
+
+All laughed. "One would think that we were babies, Chris," Harris said.
+"We could ride to Maritzburg if necessary, though I feel my arm rather
+stiff, and no doubt it will be stiffer still to-morrow. I felt a bit
+miserable at sunrise after lying there shivering, and envied you
+fellows who could keep yourselves warm by working; but I am beginning
+to thaw out now, and the sight of the Kaffirs coming towards us with
+the horses half an hour ago, and the thought of hot coffee, did even
+more than the sun to warm me."
+
+"It will be ready soon," Willesden, who was specially in charge of the
+stores, said. "It was a capital idea bringing that large spirit stove
+and the paraffin with us; even a native could not find any dry sticks
+this morning."
+
+"Except as the soldiers have done," Chris said, pointing to where, a
+quarter of a mile from the spot where they had gathered, a dozen fires
+were blazing, the soldiers having utilized some of the Boer waggons
+that had been smashed by the shell for the purpose of firewood.
+
+"Yes, but if we were by ourselves, Chris, there would be no broken
+waggons; besides, after all I should not care to go down and scramble
+with the soldiers for a place to put a kettle on. At any rate, the
+stove will be invaluable out on the veldt."
+
+"We all agree with you, Willesden," Peters said, "and it was because
+you were the one who suggested it that we promoted you to the office of
+superintendent of the kitchen. It is a comfort, too, that we have some
+clear water instead of having to get it from one of these muddy
+streams. The storm has done good anyhow, for if it had not been for
+that there would have been no breakfast for the troops until they had
+moved to the river."
+
+In another twenty minutes they were drinking hot coffee and munching
+biscuits. At ten o'clock the bugle sounded the assembly, and the troops
+formed up, the wounded were placed in ambulance waggons or carried on
+stretchers, and all returned to Elandslaagte station. Here the wounded
+were sent on by train, while the infantry and cavalry returned by road.
+Talking to some of the officers of the Imperial Horse, several of whom
+were friends of his father, and had only left Johannesburg a short time
+before the declaration of war, Chris learned that the principal object
+in fighting the battle was to drive the Boers off the line by which the
+Dundee force would retreat; for Colonel Yule in his telegraphic
+despatch had stated, that although a victory had been won he felt that
+the position was untenable, and that he might at any moment be forced
+to evacuate it. He also learned that the safety of the line beyond
+Ladysmith was already threatened, but whether Sir George White would
+decide upon falling back towards Pietermaritzburg or would hold
+Ladysmith no one knew. Certainly nothing could be determined upon until
+General Yule rejoined with the division from Dundee.
+
+The position there was indeed growing worse every hour. While the
+battle of Elandslaagte was being fought the Boers had opened fire from
+the hills above Glencoe on the British camp, and had compelled it to
+shift its position. The next day they were again obliged to move by
+artillery on the Impati mountain, and it was then that General Yule
+decided to retire at once on Ladysmith. A cavalry reconnaissance which
+was sent out found that the Boers were in great strength in the pass of
+Glencoe, and it was therefore determined to move by the roundabout way
+through Helpmakaar. Some stores of ammunition that had been left under
+a guard in the other camp were fetched, and with full pouches the
+little army started on its long and perilous march at nine o'clock on
+the evening of the 22nd. The camp was abandoned as it stood. The
+wounded remained with some surgeons under the protection of the Red
+Cross flag. All the available transport accompanied the column, but the
+men's kits and all other encumbrances were left behind. They were
+obliged to pass through Dundee to get upon the southern road, but so
+quietly was the movement effected that but few of the townsmen knew
+what was happening.
+
+The column was led by Colonel Dartnel, chief of the Natal Police, whose
+knowledge of the district was invaluable to the troops. The roads were
+heavy, and the rain continued to pour down in torrents. Each man
+carried three days' provisions; they tramped along silently through the
+night; stoppages by swollen streams were frequent, and by daybreak the
+next morning they had only accomplished nine miles of their journey.
+Early in the morning the townspeople had woke up to the fact that the
+army had gone, and there was a general exodus of all who could obtain
+conveyances. The Boers remained for some time in ignorance that the
+force whose capture or destruction they had regarded as certain had
+slipped away. They saw the tents, but the fact that neither men nor
+horses were visible puzzled them, and it was eleven o'clock before some
+of the more venturesome galloping down found that the English force had
+escaped.
+
+Then from all sides they poured into the town. Had they at once pursued
+they might still have overtaken the retreating force before nightfall;
+but they immediately set to work to loot the great stores of provisions
+left behind, and to gather their pickings from the deserted houses of
+Dundee, and so let slip their opportunity, and no pursuit whatever was
+attempted. For four days the column continued its march, resting for a
+few hours each day and usually marching all night. The road was
+terribly bad, leading through narrow mountain passes, and had but a
+small force of the enemy held the Waschbrank gorge, where the sides
+were for three miles nearly perpendicular, a terrible calamity might
+have taken place. Happily, however, the Boers were in absolute
+ignorance of the road which the British troops were following, and
+concluded that they must have somewhere crossed the railway and were
+making their way down by the roads to its west. That they had gone
+through Helpmakaar does not appear to have occurred to them, for after
+marching some thirty miles to that town the column was as far off
+Ladysmith as when it started.
+
+The anxiety at the latter town was intense. The line being still uncut,
+the arrival of the column at Helpmakaar was known, but beyond that no
+communication could be received. On Tuesday the 24th Colonel Dartnel
+arrived in Ladysmith with the news that the column was now twenty miles
+away, all well, and he at once returned to them with supplies and a
+small relief force. On Wednesday many of the men came in, and on
+Thursday the remainder arrived and were heartily greeted. On the
+24th--in order to divert the attention of Joubert and the Free State
+Boers, both of whom were converging upon General Yule's column, still
+making its way through the passes--a force composed of three regiments
+of cavalry, four of Colonial Mounted Infantry, three batteries, and
+four infantry regiments went out. The enemy were found near
+Reitfontein. No actual engagement took place, but for some hours an
+artillery and rifle duel was maintained and the Boers fell back. The
+number of casualties was not large, and these were principally among
+the Gloucester regiment, who, on entering a valley supposed to be
+untenanted, were received by a heavy fire from a strong party of the
+enemy hidden there. The fight, however, fulfilled the object for which
+the advance was undertaken, that of occupying the Boers' attention and
+enabling the column from Dundee to make its way into Ladysmith
+unmolested. The Boers were now closing in on the latter town from all
+directions, and preparations for defence at once began. The town-hall
+and the schools were fitted up as hospitals and everything arranged for
+the reception of wounded. As the Boers had already been seen near
+Colenso, sixteen miles to the south, it was certain that the
+communications would ere long be cut.
+
+No more unsuitable place for a military camp could well have been
+selected than Ladysmith, which had indeed been chosen, years before the
+war was thought of, on account of its position on the railway, and the
+vicinity of the Klip river. The fact that the country immediately round
+was fertile and forage was obtainable no doubt influenced the military
+authorities in their selection. Lying in the heart of a mountainous
+country, it was commanded by steep and rocky hills at a distance of
+from two to four miles. Just as many castles built in the days before
+firearms were in use were rendered untenable against even the clumsy
+cannon of early days placed on eminences near, so the improvement in
+artillery and the possession of powerful modern guns by the Boers had
+gravely imperilled the position of Ladysmith. The military authorities
+could never have anticipated that the town would be besieged by foes
+armed with artillery that could carry over five miles. But such was the
+case now, and all there felt, as soon as it was decided to defend the
+place till the last, that the position was a precarious one.
+
+Fortunately, a considerable store of provisions had been collected, and
+so long as the line was open additions were being sent up by every
+train. The line was a single one, winding along through passes among
+the hills, and therefore open to attack by small bodies of the enemy.
+In point of size Ladysmith was the third largest town in Natal. Durban
+boasted a population of thirty thousand, Pietermaritzburg of twenty
+thousand, and Ladysmith of four thousand five hundred, being four
+hundred larger than that of Dundee. It was the point at which the line
+of railway forked, one branch running north through Glencoe to the
+Transvaal, the other northwest through Van Reenen's Pass to
+Bloemfontein. It was a pretty straggling town with its barracks,
+government buildings and large stores. Almost all the houses were
+detached and standing in their own gardens, and as these were largely
+wooded its appearance was very picturesque, with the Klip river, a
+branch of the Tugela, running through it. The houses were, for the most
+part, one-storied, and the roofs were all painted white for the sake of
+coolness. No perfectly open town had ever before undergone a siege by
+an army of some thirty thousand men provided with excellent guns, and
+yet the garrison awaited the result with perfect confidence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+LADYSMITH BESIEGED
+
+
+On the 30th, the Boers being now in force on many of the hills around
+the town, and having inflicted the first annoyance upon Ladysmith by
+cutting the conduit that brought down the water-supply to the town from
+a reservoir among the hills, and so forced it for the future to depend
+upon a few wells and the muddy water of the river, it was determined to
+make an effort to drive them back and to gain possession of some of the
+hills from which it was now evident the town would stand a risk of
+being bombarded. Hitherto there had been considerable apathy in taking
+measures for keeping the enemy as far as possible out of range. A few
+redoubts thrown up during the last week and strongly held would have
+been invaluable, but it seemed to be considered by the military
+authorities that the siege could be but a short one, and that the Boers
+would speedily be driven off by the troops now pouring into Durban.
+
+An effort was now to be made to repair the consequences of this
+remissness and to drive the Boers off the positions they occupied, and
+it was hoped that if a heavy blow were dealt them they would draw off
+altogether. The forces of Joubert, Meyer, and the Free Staters were now
+all within a distance of a few miles, and were all to be beaten up.
+Their central position was on a hill afterwards known as Signal Hill,
+and on this they had already planted a forty-pounder gun. A force
+composed of six companies of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, four and a half
+of the Gloucesters, a mountain battery and a troop of Hussars started
+at midnight towards a hill known as Nicholson's Nek, occupied by the
+Free Staters. Major General Hunter with a brigade of infantry, three
+batteries, and a small cavalry force were to attack Meyer's commando to
+the east, while General White, with two infantry brigades, French's
+cavalry, and six batteries of field artillery moved against Joubert's
+force on Modder Spruit. It was hoped that the Boers, if defeated, would
+find their retreat barred by the force that had stated early for
+Nicholson's Nek. All were well away from the town before daylight broke.
+
+At five o'clock in the morning the guns spoke out, and were at once
+answered by the Boer artillery, and the roar of fire soon became
+general. General White's central column was screened by a ridge near
+the railway, and the big gun on Signal Hill directed its fire partly
+against the town and partly against the cavalry which could be seen by
+them in rear of the column. As only a few of the Volunteer Horse had
+been ordered to accompany the attacking force, Chris and his companions
+took up their position on an eminence that afforded a general view of
+the battle, and here a large number of the townspeople also gathered.
+The general plan of operations was that the two movable columns should
+form a rough arc of a circle and, driving in both flanks of the Boers,
+sweep the whole force before them.
+
+"They have a great many guns," Peters said, as the rattle of the
+machine-guns and the thud of quick-firing one-pounders joined the
+continuous fire of several Boer batteries and the deeper roar of their
+big gun, "and they seem to be in greater force than was supposed, for I
+can make out large reinforcements coming up to them from behind."
+
+Our artillery were first placed about four thousand yards from the Boer
+position, but as this was on higher ground than that occupied by our
+guns our fire did not appear to be effective. They were therefore moved
+forward some distance, supported by two battalions of the Rifles and
+the Dublin Fusiliers. The infantry force with them pushed forward
+rapidly and gained a crest from which they threatened to take the Boer
+position on Signal Hill in rear; but the Boers, very strongly
+reinforced, moved to meet them, and heavy fighting took place, until
+the enemy's force became so strong that they not only checked the
+further advance of the brigade, but threatened it on both flanks. Two
+batteries went to their assistance, but even with this aid they could
+not continue their advance, pressed as they were by greatly superior
+numbers and harassed by the fire of the Boer field batteries on the
+hill.
+
+At other points our advance was opposed as hotly. Nowhere were our
+infantry gaining ground. The enemy had not wasted their time, but had
+thrown up intrenchments on the steep hills they occupied, and from
+these shelters maintained a terrible fire, while their numerous
+machine-guns swept the ground with a hail of bullets and shells. On
+such ground the cavalry were useless, and the range of the Boer guns
+was much greater than that of our own.
+
+"It seems to me," Chris said, "that instead of gaining ground we are
+losing it. We can't see at all what is going on, but certainly the
+firing seems nearer than it was."
+
+All had thought the same though none had cared to suggest such a thing.
+
+"Hurrah! there is a train coming in," Field said. "I heard they were
+expecting a party of sailors with naval guns. They would be useful just
+at the present moment. Let us go down and see, we can make out nothing
+from here."
+
+Glad to be doing something they went down the hill. As they reached the
+station they saw a large detachment of sailors at work detraining some
+twelve-pounders and two large quick-firing guns. Teams of oxen were
+brought up, the sailors harnessed themselves to ropes, and with
+tremendous exertions one of the guns was taken up to an eminence, and
+at eleven it opened fire. It was but just in time. In steady order the
+columns were retiring with their faces towards the Boers, answering
+shot for shot, carrying off their wounded as they dropped, in spite of
+the terrible rifle fire and the roar of the Boers' batteries; but as
+soon as the first naval gun opened fire, amid the cheers of the
+townspeople, the situation was changed. The first two shells burst
+close to the Boer big gun, the third in the midst of the artillerymen,
+and it was some time before its fire was resumed. In the meantime the
+sailors had turned their attention to other Boer batteries which the
+field artillery had scarcely been able to reach, and one by one these
+were withdrawn over the crest.
+
+At one o'clock Colonel Hamilton's brigade, which had hitherto been
+lying behind the crest they first occupied, in readiness to repel any
+counter-attack the Boers might make, now moved out and took up their
+position to cover the retirement of Hunter's column and Howard's
+brigade, and although the Boers pressed hotly upon them they held their
+ground steadily until their comrades had all reached their camp, and
+then marched in unhindered by the enemy, whose big cannon had now been
+finally silenced by the naval gun and their batteries for the most part
+obliged to retire.
+
+After seeing the naval gun open fire Chris had gone down to speak to
+Captain Brookfield, when he met two soldiers of a mountain battery
+carrying an injured comrade. They took him into the hospital and then
+came out. Their shoulder-straps showed them to belong to the mountain
+battery that had gone out with the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the
+Gloucesters, of whom nothing had been heard, though occasionally, in
+momentary intervals of fire, the sound of distant musketry could be
+made out in the direction of Nicholson's Nek.
+
+"How are your party getting on?" he asked.
+
+"We don't know anything about them, sir," one of the men said, "except
+that they have been heavily engaged since daylight. I am afraid that
+they are in a tight place."
+
+"How is it you know nothing about them?"
+
+"It has been a bad job altogether," the man said. "We were marching up
+a steep valley with only room for us to lead two mules abreast; we were
+in the rear of the column. Suddenly a boulder came rolling down the
+hill and some shots were fired. In a moment the mules stampeded. One or
+two began it, kicking and plunging and squealing like wild beasts, then
+the others all set to. There was no holding them? it was almost
+pitch-dark, and before one could say 'knife' they were tearing down the
+road we had come up. There was no time to stop, and those who were
+lucky jumped out of their way, those who were not were knocked down and
+trampled on. As soon as they had gone those of us who were not hurt set
+off after them and looked for them everywhere, but only two or three
+were caught. Where the rest went I don't know, but I hope that they got
+into the enemy's line of fire and were all shot. At last we gave it up
+as a bad job and went back to bring in the fellows who were hurt. I
+think most of them are in now. We have been a long time, for Thompson's
+leg was broken and one of his arms, and, I expect, most of his ribs,
+and it hurt him so to be moved that we have had to stop every two
+yards."
+
+"It is a bad business indeed," Chris said; "and of course all your guns
+are lost?"
+
+"Every one of them, and what is worse, all the reserve small-arm
+ammunition is lost too. The mules carrying them were with ours, and as
+the fighting up there has been going on ever since, I am afraid the
+infantry must have pretty well used up their last cartridges."
+
+It was not until the next day that the extent of the calamity was
+known, when a Boer came down with a white flag asking that doctors
+might be sent up. The little column instead of, as had been hoped,
+surprising the Boers had itself been ambushed, being suddenly attacked
+by two strong parties of the enemy. They at once seized a little
+eminence, threw up a breastwork of stone, and defended themselves
+successfully until the ammunition was entirely exhausted, and a hundred
+and fifty had been killed or wounded. The Boers had, by taking
+advantage of every bit of cover, crept up close to them, and a
+murderous fire was poured in. The two regiments asked Colonel Carleton,
+who commanded them, to allow them to charge with their bayonets and cut
+their way through. He consented to allow the desperate attempt to be
+made, and the men were in the act of fixing bayonets when someone
+raised a white flag, and the Boers standing up advanced to receive the
+surrender.
+
+After this the laws of war permitted no further defence, and the men,
+half mad with fury at the situation in which they were placed, threw
+down their rifles and were made prisoners. This was at two o'clock in
+the afternoon, after the rest of the force had returned to Ladysmith;
+and thus some nine hundred men fell into the hands of the Boers. Apart
+from this the loss was comparatively small considering the heat of the
+engagement. The day's work had been altogether unsatisfactory; no
+advantage whatever had been gained beyond the discovery of the Boers'
+position, and their unexpected strength and fighting powers, and it was
+evident that the force at Ladysmith was unable to drive off the enemy
+unaided, and must undergo a siege until the arrival of a relieving
+army. There were provisions calculated to last for two months, and no
+one doubted that long before that time General Buller would arrive to
+their rescue. So confident had the military authorities been, that not
+only had no defensive works been thrown up, but they had omitted to
+send the women and children, and the men unfitted to give active
+assistance, to the rear.
+
+On the following morning the scouts held a council of war.
+
+"Now," Chris said, "we have to decide the all-important question. It is
+quite certain that the town is going to be besieged, and I should say
+that the siege will last for some time, as nothing can be done to
+relieve them until a lot of troops arrive from home. We have shown at
+Dundee and Elandslaagte that our fellows can drive the Boers from their
+kopjes, but a force arriving to relieve Ladysmith would have to fight
+its way through a tremendously mountainous district, and to capture at
+least eight or ten such positions. At Dundee and Elandslaagte the Boers
+had only a few guns, and the big one from Pretoria had not arrived, nor
+had they time to fortify themselves. It is certain, therefore, that it
+will require a very big force to fight its way in here, especially as
+the Tugela has to be crossed, and the Boers will of course destroy the
+bridges.
+
+"It may be a couple of months before the place is relieved. Of course
+the question is, Shall we stay here or go? I don't think we should be
+of much use here; indeed, I don't see that cavalry would be any good at
+all, whereas if a portion of the Boers push south we may be very useful
+in our own line of scouting. Still, this is a question for you to
+decide. You chose to make me your commander when at work, but we should
+all have an equal voice in a matter of this sort."
+
+There was little discussion; all were of their leader's opinion that it
+was best for them to leave. The prospect of a long siege in which they
+could take but little active part was not a pleasant one, and it was
+decided at once that they should leave.
+
+"Very well," Chris said. "Then I will go in to Captain Brookfield and
+ask his permission to go. Now that we are in camp with him he must be
+consulted."
+
+They had since Elandslaagte taken their places as a part of the
+Maritzburg Scouts, and had been drilled for some hours each day. They
+were already favourites among the corps, who were proud of the work
+they had done, and being a pleasant set of lads their uncouth
+appearance, which had at first been viewed with much disfavour by many
+of their comrades, had been forgiven. Chris went to the commander's
+tent and laid the matter and their decision before him.
+
+"I think that it is just as well that you should go, Chris," the
+officer said; "and indeed I was on the point of telling you that we are
+all leaving. For myself I cannot understand why the cavalry should be
+kept here, and indeed I know that it is their opinion also, and that
+they have asked the general to let them leave. However, he has decided
+to keep them. I am sure it is a mistake. Before the siege is over
+forage is sure to run short, and half the cavalry will be dismounted
+before the end comes. However, I have seen him and pointed out that as
+scouts we should be useless here. He has given me leave to go, but has
+requested me to join the first troops that come up the line. When we
+are once away I shall give you leave to act altogether independently of
+us, which will I am sure suit you better than being kept for weeks
+perhaps at Colenso or Estcourt. Another thing I will do. General Yule
+was speaking to me only yesterday of the manner in which your party
+defeated and cut up more than double your number, and how you and three
+of your party went into the Boer camp at Talana and ascertained their
+strength for General Symons. I expect that General Buller will come on
+here, as it is certainly the most serious point at present. I will ask
+Yule to give you a letter of introduction to him, it will be useful;
+and I have no doubt that he will give you a free hand, as I have done.
+I should not call upon General Buller in that rig-out, if I were you. I
+have heard he is somewhat of a martinet at the War Office, and we know
+that they have a very poor opinion of volunteers there."
+
+Chris smiled. "Volunteers have done good service at the Cape before
+now, sir, and have shown over and over again that a man can fight just
+as well in plain clothes as if he were buttoned up to the chin in
+uniform; and as the Boers are themselves nothing but volunteers, I
+should think that before this war is over the War Office will see its
+mistake."
+
+"I should think so indeed, Chris, but at present they have certainly
+not woke up to the fact. I see by the telegrams that the London
+Scottish and the London Irish have both volunteered almost to a man for
+service here, and that they have not even had a civil reply to their
+application. I tell you, lad, this war is going to be a big thing, and
+before it is over we may have both militia and volunteers out here, and
+perhaps troops from the colonies. I heard that some of the Australian
+colonies have already offered to send bodies of mounted men, and that
+our government are ordering out a larger number of men than was at
+first intended. I hear this morning that at Kimberley and Mafeking
+fighting has begun. On the 24th Kimberley made a successful sortie, and
+on the 25th a general attack on Mafeking was repulsed. The fact that
+both these places are beleaguered, and that we have again been obliged
+to fall back here, and are likely to be cut off altogether, has
+evidently stirred them up, and they begin to understand that it is
+going to be a much bigger affair than they expected.
+
+"I wrote to your mother yesterday at Durban, and told her that I
+intended to leave while it is still possible. Of course you have
+written; but I told her of the flattering way in which General Yule had
+spoken of the doings of you and your party, and said that I hoped she
+would not be anxious, for it was quite evident that you were able to
+take good care of yourselves. My letter was in answer to one she wrote
+to me from Durban, begging me to keep you from undertaking what she
+called 'mad-brained business', and expressing some regret that you and
+the others had been allowed to form a separate corps, instead of being
+under the command of an experienced officer like myself. I told her
+that I thought that you would have less chance of coming to harm in
+scouting work than if you had to work in a regular way as the general
+ordered. If this sort of fighting--I mean, of attacking in front every
+position the Boers choose to take--goes on, our numbers will very
+speedily dwindle away.
+
+"The fact is, as far as we colonials can see, the regulars do not as
+yet understand fighting the Boers. Nothing could be more splendid than
+the behaviour of the troops, both at Dundee and Elandslaagte, but in
+our humble opinion neither fight was necessary; and if Talana was to be
+attacked, it should have been done by marching the troops round the
+hill and taking it in the rear. In that case the Boers would have
+bolted without firing a shot. That it could have been done is shown by
+the fact that the cavalry did it, and encountered no difficulty on the
+way. Again, at Elandslaagte the object of keeping the road open would
+have been equally well attained if, after driving them out of the
+station, we had taken up a strong position there and waited for them to
+attack us. Therefore, Chris, I think that fighting in our way--that is
+to say, in Boer fashion--and trusting to skill as much as to shooting,
+you will be running a good deal less risk than you would in fighting
+under British generals in British fashion. We shall go off quietly this
+evening. We must keep a bright look-out on the way, for the trains have
+been fired upon, and at any moment the Boers may pull up the rails and
+block the roads altogether."
+
+Two hours later all was ready for a start, and just before sunset the
+corps rode out of Ladysmith. They kept a sharp look-out as they went,
+but saw no signs of the enemy, and crossing the Tugela by the bridge
+near Colenso, halted there for the night. Here Captain Brookfield
+reported his arrival to the officer in command of the troops, and on
+the following day Chris and his friends rode on to Estcourt. They had
+seen some parties of mounted men in the far distance, but none had come
+near them, and as the military authorities were well aware of the Boers
+being in the vicinity, there was nothing to be gained by scouting. But
+it was now decided that they were in advance of the point that any
+large number of the enemy were likely to reach, and might therefore
+strike across the country and resume what they considered their regular
+work. They added to their stores several articles whose want they had
+felt, had slits made in the waterproof sheets, and covers sewn on to
+close the holes when they were used for tents, and had some triangular
+pieces of the same material made to buckle on so as to close the rear
+of the tents, which had before been open to the wind and rain. They had
+employed much of their spare time in training their horses and in
+teaching them to lie down when ordered, and thus share the shelter
+taken up by their masters, behind rocks or a wall.
+
+The officer commanding the small force at Estcourt had at first viewed
+them with some suspicion, but Colonel Yule had purposely left open the
+letter with which he had furnished Chris, so that it could be shown to
+any officers commanding posts or detached forces, and its production
+now caused his cold reception to be converted into a warm welcome.
+Riding across country they met more than one farmer trekking with his
+cattle and belongings towards the ferry across the Mooi river. These
+reported that the Boers had overrun the whole of the country north of
+the Tugela, and that some parties had already crossed at the ferry on
+the road between Helpmakaar and Greytown. Fugitives had come in from
+the villages on the other side, and complained that the Boers were
+looting everywhere, and had driven off thousands of cattle and numbers
+of horses, and had everywhere wantonly destroyed the furniture and
+everything they could not carry off, in the farmhouses they visited.
+
+A vigilant look-out was kept as the scouts advanced. On the second day
+after starting they encamped on a slight elevation near Mount Umhlumba,
+and early next morning they saw a party of some twenty Boers riding in
+a direction that would bring them within rifle-shot of their camp. All
+were at once on the alert.
+
+"We will not go out and attack them," Chris said to the lads who were
+running towards their horses. "That would mean that though we might
+kill all of them, half of us would probably be shot. We will ambush
+them. Get the picket ropes loose and the bridles on ready for mounting,
+and then leave the horses in charge of the natives where we camped.
+They will be out of sight there. When you have done that take your
+places quietly among the rocks. Do you, Capper and Carmichael, put
+yourselves twenty or thirty yards apart; you are our best shots. When
+the Boers get within a thousand yards, which is as near as they will do
+if they keep the line they are going, open fire upon them and keep it
+up steadily, but not too fast. When they see that only two men are
+firing they will think that you are a couple of farmers whose place
+they have plundered, and who are determined to have their revenge. You
+are safe to hit some of them, and the others will decide upon wiping
+you out, and will probably leave their horses and crawl up in their
+usual style. When they get close it will be our turn. I don't think
+many of them are likely to get away."
+
+His orders were carried out, and five minutes later the two rifles
+flashed out one after another. The Boers were riding in a clump. One
+was seen to fall, and the horse of another gave a violent plunge.
+
+"Very good," exclaimed Chris, who, like the rest, was lying down behind
+a rock. "Don't fire too fast. Wait half a minute, and then each take
+another turn, one a little time after the other." The man who had
+fallen was instantly picked up by one of his comrades, and all rode off
+at full gallop, but before they could get beyond the range of the
+Mausers each of the lads had fired two more shots. No more of the Boers
+dropped, but the watchers, who had their glasses directed upon them,
+thought by their movements that two had been hit. The Boers, when the
+firing ceased, stopped, and for some little time remained clustered
+together. Then they took a long sweep round to a point where the ground
+was broken, and a shallow donga ran up in a direction that would bring
+them within a hundred yards of the position occupied by their hidden
+assailants. There they were seen to dismount, and, after some talk,
+leaving all the horses in the charge of one man, probably one of the
+wounded, they entered the donga. Its course was irregular, and once or
+twice the two lads were able to get a shot at them. The Boers did not
+return the fire but hurried past the exposed points. As they approached
+a head was occasionally raised above the bank to view the position, and
+then disappeared again. The ground between the camp and the nearest
+point of the donga was thickly strewn with boulders, with bushes
+growing between them. The lads had all shifted their position to this
+side.
+
+"Don't open fire till I give the order," Chris said quietly. "We have
+got them now."
+
+Except for a slight movement of the bushes, it would not have been
+known that the Boers had left the donga. Once or twice Capper and
+Carmichael caught a momentary glimpse of one of them, but held their
+fire, as Chris had said.
+
+"Let them come within twenty yards, then both fire at once, whether you
+catch a glimpse of them or not. Thinking that your rifles are
+discharged, they will all jump up and make a rush. Then it will be our
+turn."
+
+[Illustration: "BOTH RIFLES CRACKED AT ONCE."]
+
+Presently a man's head was seen peering round a rock at about the right
+distance. Both the rifles cracked at once, and a Boer fell prone on the
+ground beyond his shelter. At the same moment there was a shout, and
+his comrades all sprang to their feet and rushed forward. A volley from
+the whole of the scouts flashed out. Twelve of the Boers fell, the
+others leapt back behind their shelters, and in turn opened fire.
+
+"Keep in shelter!" Chris shouted. "They know now that we are two to
+their one, and will soon be making off."
+
+The combatants were so close to each other that neither dared expose
+shoulder or head to take aim, and after the first shots fired at the
+Boers all remained quiet. Chris waited for three or four minutes, and
+then told four of the lads who were in the best shelter to crawl back,
+mount their horses, and ride out down the other side of the slope, and,
+after making a slight circuit, to gallop straight at the Boers' horses.
+
+"The fellows may be some distance away already," he said, "as they may
+have slipped off directly they discharged their rifles. In any case
+there is no time to be lost in getting hold of their ponies, or at any
+rate in driving them off."
+
+As two or three minutes again passed without a shot being fired by the
+Boers, Chris was in the act of calling off half the troop to watch the
+donga and fire at the Boers if they saw them running past the exposed
+points, when at this moment he heard the horses returning, and directly
+afterwards one of the lads he had sent off ran up to him.
+
+"There are a whole lot of them coming round the other side," he said,
+"sixty or seventy of them at least. Some distance behind I can see a
+lot of cattle and waggons. I suppose they were making for home when
+they heard the firing." Just at this moment two or three shots rang
+out, telling that the surviving Boers were seen running down the donga.
+
+"Never mind them," Chris shouted; "we are going to be attacked by a big
+party. Put down your rifles all of you, and pile the stones on the
+crest, so as to make a shelter, as quickly as you can. We shall have a
+few minutes. Those who are coming up can't know yet what the firing
+means." He ran up to the top. "They are not more than six or seven
+hundred yards away," he said, "and it would be better to fight it out
+here than to take to our horses. Some of us would certainly not get off
+without a bullet. You need not mind showing yourselves when they come
+up. They won't be able to make out what we are."
+
+The Boers, indeed, reined in their ponies when they saw Chris appear on
+the brow of the eminence, and as a preliminary some of them rode off in
+both directions and endeavoured to ascertain the position. Those on the
+right soon caught sight of the clump of horses.
+
+"They will soon know all about it," Chris said, as two of them galloped
+off. "We may as well teach them to keep their distance. Take your
+places behind rocks, and then open a sharp fire with your magazines.
+They cannot know how many of us there are here. Now, are you all ready?
+Yes? Well, then, set to work!"
+
+In a moment an almost incessant rattle of musketry broke out upon the
+astounded Boers, who, turning their horses, scattered at full gallop to
+escape the hail of bullets; but more than a dozen had fallen before
+they were beyond the range of the Mausers and were fully two thousand
+yards away.
+
+"I don't think we need stop," Chris said. "Fill up your magazines
+again, and then make for the horses." Directly the first party of Boers
+had been seen, Jack and Japhet had set to work taking down and rolling
+up the tents and loading the spare horses.
+
+"Jump up," Chris said to them, "we are off. Mind you keep well with us.
+Now," he went on, as they rode off in a body, "we will do a little
+cattle raiding on our own account. Make for them, lads!"
+
+With a shout they rode off at full gallop towards the great herd of
+cattle. As they approached, the Kaffirs who were driving them fled.
+Separating as they rode, waving their hats and shouting at the top of
+their voices, the lads dashed at the herd, who at once turned and went
+off at a rate that would have astonished animals accustomed only to
+small pastures and other enclosures.
+
+"Don't press them too much," Chris had ordered before the band
+separated, "or they will break down. Listen for my whistle; when you
+hear it, Field, Willesden, Harris, and Bryan will follow up the herd
+with the Kaffirs and keep them moving, the rest will dismount, make
+their horses lie down, and open fire. That narrow valley we passed
+through yesterday afternoon will do to make a stand. It is about five
+miles away, head the cattle for it. The Boers won't be far behind us
+when we get there."
+
+The enemy indeed had not noticed them leave the little kopje, as they
+were hidden by a slight fall in the ground where they descended, and it
+was not until they observed a commotion among the cattle that they
+perceived what had happened. Then, furious not only at the loss they
+had suffered, but at seeing their booty driven away, they mounted and
+pursued in hot haste. But the party had obtained a start of fully a
+mile, and the valley was reached by the fugitives while the Boers were
+still half that distance in their rear. Chris rode along until he came
+to a narrow and defensible point; the horses were taken a hundred yards
+on and made to lie down, and he and his sixteen companions then ran
+back and took up their positions among the rocks on each side of the
+track and the slopes above it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A DESPERATE PROJECT
+
+
+Scarcely had the band taken cover in the gorge than the Boers appeared
+some five hundred yards away.
+
+"Open fire at once!" Chris shouted, "the farther they have to come
+under fire the less they will like it."
+
+The rifles at once spoke out. The lads had all used the boulders behind
+which they crouched as rests for their rifles, and confident of their
+shooting and their position, their aim was deadly. Five or six of the
+leading Boers fell and several horses, the rest came to an abrupt
+pause, galloped back some little distance and then dismounted, and
+leaving their horses in shelter, disappeared from sight. In a short
+time a dropping fire was opened from both sides of the valley.
+
+"Don't fire unless you see a man," Chris ordered, "there are gaps on
+the hillside that they can't pass without giving you a chance. Fire in
+rotation, it is no use wasting a dozen bullets on one man; if the first
+misses, let the next shoot instantly, and so on. When they learn that
+it is death to leave shelter, they will soon get sick of it. Keep
+yourselves well under cover."
+
+The rifle duel continued for an hour. As Chris had said would be the
+case, after seven or eight had fallen, as they were trying to make
+rushes across pieces of ground where boulders afforded no cover, the
+rest became very cautious, and at last only an occasional shot was
+heard.
+
+"We will fall back now," Chris said, "for aught we know a party of them
+may be working round somewhere to take us in rear. We know that they
+have not got their horses with them, for we can see the spot where they
+hid them. Still, we do not want to be caught between two fires. Let
+four on each flank crawl back; keep well among the rocks, and don't let
+them catch sight of you. We will fire occasionally to let them know
+that we are still here. When you have got the horses up and everything
+is ready, whistle, and we will come back to you. It will be a long time
+before they venture to crawl up and discover that we have gone, an hour
+most likely, and by that time the cattle will be a dozen miles on their
+way to Estcourt, and the Boers are not likely to follow them."
+
+Ten minutes later all were in their saddles. They had left the horses
+at a spot where there was a sharp elbow in the gorge, and their retreat
+could not be seen from the valley below. They cantered along in high
+glee; not one had received a scratch, while some twelve of the first
+party of Boers had fallen, and fully fifteen of the second, and it was
+certain that at least as many more must have been wounded.
+
+"I expect they really gave up all idea of carrying our position long
+ago," Chris said, "and have only been keeping up their fire to prevent
+our turning the tables upon them. They must have seen that we are
+better mounted than they are, and have been afraid that we should in
+turn take the offensive. I should not be surprised if they stay where
+they are all day, and don't venture to mount and ride off till it gets
+dark."
+
+"You are something like a leader," Peters said enthusiastically. "We
+knew that you were a good fellow, and would make the best leader among
+us, but no one could think that our choice would turn out so well as it
+has done. This is the second fight we have had with the Boers, and we
+have thrashed them well each time, although the first time they were
+twice as strong, and in the second something like four times, and we
+have not lost one of our number. I am sure if we had been caught where
+we were without you with us, at least half of us would have been
+killed, and we should have been lucky to get away with only that."
+
+Riding without pressing their horses, it was two hours before they
+overtook the party with the cattle. These had now broken into a walk.
+
+"We kept them at it till half an hour ago," Willesden said
+apologetically, when they came up, "but the Kaffirs said that unless we
+gave them a rest half of them would drop, so we let them go easy till
+you came up."
+
+"Quite right," Chris said. "We have given the Boers such a thrashing
+that there is no fear of their continuing the pursuit. Unless we meet
+some more of these thieves, we can go on as quietly as we like. I have
+some sort of respect for men like those we met at Dundee and
+Elandslaagte, who fight manfully and stoutly, but for these raiding
+scoundrels who only come out to rob and plunder, and do wanton damage
+to quiet people, one feels only disgust, and shoots them without the
+least compunction."
+
+There was a general chorus of agreement.
+
+"Did they get near you, Chris?"
+
+"Not within about four hundred yards. They got it so hot at first that
+they dismounted and took to the rocks; they pushed on for a bit, and if
+the whole hillside had been covered with boulders we might have had
+some sharp fighting, but there were some open spaces to be crossed, and
+after getting over two or three of them they found it safer to lie as
+close as rabbits. For aught we know they are there still."
+
+They travelled quietly till sunset, and then halted in an open valley
+where there was water and good grass. Half the company kept watch by
+turns, being posted with their horses some half a mile out in the
+country, taking the animals with them not only because they could fall
+back more quickly, but because they knew the horses would hear any
+approaching sound long before their masters were able to do so, and
+would evince their uneasiness unmistakably. There was, however, no
+alarm, and two days later, travelling by easy stages, they arrived at
+Estcourt, where their arrival with so large a number of cattle created
+quite a sensation. They at once put up a notice at the post-office,
+that all persons who had been raided by the Boers could come and
+inspect the herd and take all animals bearing their brand. It soon
+appeared that the cattle were the property of four farmers living
+within a short distance of each other. They had arrived in Estcourt
+with their families two days previously, weary and broken down with
+fatigue, hunger, and the loss and ruin of their property. Their
+gratitude was deep indeed at this wholly unexpected recovery of a large
+portion of their herds, and they started the next morning, mounted on
+some ponies they had picked up for a trifle, to drive them down the
+country.
+
+Chris saw the officer in command as soon as they arrived in the town,
+and gave him an outline of their adventure, upon which he was warmly
+congratulated. "Shall I send in a written report to you, sir?" Chris
+asked.
+
+"No, you are not under my orders; and I should say that you had better
+write and post it to the officer commanding the force at Maritzburg. I
+do not know who it may be."
+
+"Is the road closed to Ladysmith?" Chris asked.
+
+"Yes, two days since. General French, who is ordered to Port Elizabeth
+to take command of the cavalry brigade that is forming to drive back
+the Boers who have crossed the Orange River, came down in the last
+train that got out. It was hotly fired upon by the Boers, but luckily
+they had not taken up the rails, and the train got through safely. We
+have had no news since, for even the wire to Colenso has been cut, and
+for anything we know the place may be in possession of the Boers. We
+have a little fort here, and have been throwing up entrenchments, but
+if they come in any force there is not much hope of our getting off. We
+have an armored train, which yesterday ran to within a mile or so of
+Colenso without being interfered with, though several parties of the
+enemy could be seen in the distance. I have great hopes that we shall
+get half a battalion up from Maritzburg to-morrow; if so, by loopholing
+the houses and throwing up some breastworks, we ought to be able to
+keep the Boers out of the place, unless they come in force. At any
+rate, I should advise you to scout next time beyond the Mooi River and
+to make Maritzburg your head-quarters. So far as we know the Boers have
+not yet gone beyond that river, and any news of their doing so would
+certainly be of value. You have done marvellously well in getting away
+from that party you met, but you might not be so lucky next time, for
+as they push on they are sure in a short time to be strong all over the
+country between the Tugela and the Mooi."
+
+This, after some consultation, was agreed to by the troop. There was no
+reason for haste, and they rode by easy stages down to Maritzburg,
+stopping at Weston and Hawick. Many of their friends had gone down to
+Durban, but some still remained, and from these they received a hearty
+welcome. All found letters awaiting them, for it had been arranged that
+as it would be impossible to give any address, these should be sent to
+Maritzburg. Their friends were scarcely ready to credit their stories,
+but, on being shown General Yule's letter, saw that at least the
+accounts of their early doings were strictly correct.
+
+Troops were coming up fast from Durban, and there was already a strong
+brigade there. Chris called upon the brigadier and presented General
+Yule's letter, and his own report of the fight with the Boers
+subsequently.
+
+"This shows what can be done by young fellows who are good shots and
+good riders, and who, I may say, Mr. King, have been admirably
+commanded. What are your wishes now? There are two or three troops of
+volunteer horse here; would you wish to be attached to one of them? Of
+course, if you do so there will be no difficulty about it; but really,
+I think that you would be more useful in carrying on your work in your
+own way."
+
+It had been known for a long time past that a large proportion of the
+cannon, rifles, and ammunition of the Boers had been landed at the
+Portuguese port of Lorenzo Marques, and taken up by rail from there to
+Komati-poort--a station on the frontier, where there was a bridge
+across the Komati river--and thence by rail to Pretoria. Chris heard
+that it was generally known that the Portuguese officials, who had long
+been influenced by Boer money extracted from the Uitlanders, were still
+winking at the practice, although it was a breach of neutrality. So
+much indignation was expressed on the subject at Maritzburg that Chris,
+one day when the party assembled at the spot where their horses were
+tethered, said:
+
+"I want to have a serious talk with you all. You have all heard that
+immense quantities of arms and dynamite are passing through Lorenzo
+Marques. Now, at present we don't see much for us to do here. My idea
+is, that if we could manage to blow up the bridge across the river that
+divides Portuguese territory from the Transvaal, we should do an
+infinitely greater service than by killing any number of plundering
+Boers."
+
+His troop looked at each other in surprise.
+
+"You are not really in earnest, Chris?" Peters said; "it would be a
+tremendous business."
+
+"It would be a big business, no doubt, but I was never more earnest in
+my life than in proposing it. Now that we know how strong the Boers are
+round Ladysmith, and what terribly hard work it will be for an army to
+fight its way through all those hills, we can see that the first
+calculations as to the time when it can be relieved are a good deal
+short of the mark. There must be at least twenty thousand men collected
+here to do it, and I think it is more likely to be the end of January
+than the end of December before the Boers are driven off. We have in
+the one case seven weeks and in the other twelve before the place is
+relieved, and we begin to turn the tables on the Boers; and according
+to the way we carry my idea out it depends whether we are back here by
+the end of the year or by the end of January--that is, I acknowledge,
+if we get back at all.
+
+"I have been thinking it over. There are two ways of doing it. We can
+go on board a ship touching at Durban and going on to Lorenzo Marques.
+I don't say that we could not all do it, but it would be better to
+choose only four; a larger number would excite more observation. Those
+who go will of course take dynamite with them. We can buy that at
+Durban. At Lorenzo Marques we should assume the character of four young
+Irish fellows. We know there are lots of them already up there, and
+Germans too, fighting in the Boer ranks and I am glad to know that they
+got peppered at Elandslaagte, although that is not to the point. We
+should go as four Irish lads who have come across from America to fight
+for the Boers. We have heard plenty of Irish in the mines and at
+Johannesburg, so shall be able to put enough brogue in our talk to
+pass. I know from what I have heard that a trip to the Portuguese
+officials would be quite sufficient for them to pass anything without
+examination; but even if they did open our cases and find dynamite in
+them, we could account for it by saying that we had been told before
+starting that it would be the handiest thing to take with us, and would
+be of more assistance to the Boers than anything we could bring them.
+
+"No doubt some of the passengers would know that we got on board at
+Durban, but if any questions were asked we could account for that by
+saying that the ship we came over in, was going on to Australia, and
+therefore we had been obliged to land and take another on to Lorenzo
+Marques. Once landed, we should of course take a train for
+Komati-poort, and slip off it after dark at some station a few miles
+from there. Then, you know, we could first reconnoitre the bridge, and
+when we had settled on the best place for the dynamite, we could put it
+there the next night. I know a good deal about the use of dynamite. It
+is not like gunpowder, that you have to put in a hole and fasten up
+tightly, you only have to lay it upon an iron girder or arch, and light
+your fuse and leave it to do its work."
+
+The boys listened with increasing surprise to his proposal.
+
+"And what is your other plan?" Peters asked after a long pause.
+
+"The other plan is that we should all take a passage in some small
+craft, which we could hire, to St. Lucia Bay, and then go up through
+Zululand and Swaziland, which extends to within a short distance of
+Komati-poort. Both tribes are friendly enough with us, and hate the
+Boers like poison. Of course in that case we shall take the dynamite
+with us, and then must be guided by circumstances as to our course and
+what we should do when we got to the bridge."
+
+There was again a long silence, then Brown said: "If anyone but you had
+proposed it, Chris, I should have scoffed at it as impossible, but for
+myself I have come to have such confidence in you that I believe you
+would manage it. There can be no doubt that it would be a grand thing
+if we could do it. I have heard my father say that the river is a
+terribly bad one, and that sometimes it is altogether impassable for
+weeks at a time. Except by the bridge, even in the best times, I should
+think, from what he said, it would be quite impossible for them to take
+heavy things like cannon across. Anyhow, I am ready to go with you."
+
+"Thank you, Brown," Chris said. "I should certainly not ask anyone to
+go. Those who are willing to do so must volunteer. Of course we only
+combined for the purpose of acting as scouts, and no one ever
+contemplated doing more. So far, we have, as all allow, carried out
+that object well; and I have no doubt that those who do not care to
+join in what is a sort of forlorn hope, will continue to do well after
+we have started on it, and of course I shall, if I get back, rejoin
+them. My scheme would, no doubt, be considered a very wild one, but I
+can see no reason why, with good luck, it should not succeed. Indeed, I
+believe that it will succeed, if, when we arrive there, we do not find
+that the Boers are guarding the bridge. Of course, if they do so there
+is but little hope of carrying the matter out. They will know the
+importance of the bridge to them, and how greatly its destruction would
+be desired by the British Government, and may think it possible that
+such an attempt as I propose would be made, and take precautions to
+prevent its success.
+
+"I do not mean to throw away my life. If, when I get there, I find that
+it is next to impossible to carry the matter out, I shall give it up;
+but even then the information I should get about matters up there, both
+as to the Boers and the Swazis, would be of use. We know that Boer
+agents have been doing their utmost to get the Basutos to join them,
+and it is likely that they may be trying to induce the Zulus and Swazis
+to do the same; and even if we fail in the principal object, I should
+say that the time would not be wasted. When I am up there, I can, of
+course, get news as to how the war is going on, and if I find that our
+forces are pushing up into the Transvaal, I shall make straight across
+the country and join them. I have been thinking over the matter a good
+deal since we came here, and made up my mind that anyhow I shall try to
+carry it out, so I now resign the leadership, and also for the present
+my membership. Now, I don't want to influence you in any way. It has
+all come suddenly upon you. You had better talk it over together. All I
+ask you is that you will not say a word about it to anyone, not even to
+your relations.
+
+"Not only because, as I know would be the case, they would be afraid of
+having anything to do with what they would consider an absolutely mad
+scheme, but because a chance word might prove fatal to success. As
+everyone knows, there are a great number of Dutch in the colony, who,
+although they may not be openly hostile, are in favour of the Boers,
+and will no doubt keep them acquainted with every movement of troops
+here, and can have no difficulty in communicating with them by native
+runners. Were one of our friends even to mention it casually that we
+had gone north, suspicions might be aroused. Therefore I beg that no
+one will breathe a word about the matter, but that you will decide for
+yourselves without consulting anyone. I shall leave you now, and we
+will meet here at the same time to-morrow. You will have had time to
+think it over then. I wish to say before I go that I don't consider
+that the success of my plan depends upon my having the whole twenty of
+you with me. I repeat, that four would be quite sufficient.
+
+"There are advantages as well as disadvantages in having only that
+number. We should travel without exciting so much notice; we should
+have less difficulty about food; we could conceal ourselves more easily
+in case we were pursued. On the other hand, with a stronger party we
+could repulse an attack if chased by the Boers. So you see I really do
+not want more than three of you to join. I think four is the best
+number, and should be glad if only two besides Brown wished to go with
+me; but at the same time if more desire it, of course, as we are all
+comrades, they would have a right to go."
+
+So saying he turned away, leaving the others to talk the matter over.
+They went through their usual drill that afternoon without any allusion
+being made to the subject. When they met the next day Chris said
+cheerfully, "Well, what have you decided? First, Brown, do you stick to
+what you said yesterday, or do you think better of it?"
+
+"Certainly I stick to it," Brown said. "When I say a thing I mean it."
+
+"And how about the others?"
+
+"I have made up my mind to go with you, Chris," Peters said, "and so
+has Willesden. Field and Capper and Sankey would all go with you if you
+wanted to take more than four, and all would go if you wanted the
+troop; but if you would rather only have three of us, it is settled
+that Brown, Willesden and I go."
+
+"Very well," Chris said, "that just suits me. I am glad that you would
+all go if you were wanted; but really I think that four would be the
+best number, so we will consider that as settled. And now there is one
+other thing I want to ask you about. You see, we have no right to take
+any money out of the common fund, but we shall have some heavy
+expenses. In the first place we shall want, I should say, a couple of
+hundred pounds of dynamite; then we shall have to take some natives
+with us, a couple of Zulus and two or three Swazis. There will be no
+difficulty in getting them, as so many have been thrown out of
+employment owing to the farmers losing their herds. We may find it
+useful to make presents to chiefs as we go along, and, of course, we
+shall have to take a certain amount of provisions for the party. Have
+you any objection to our each taking half our share out of the bank?
+Nothing has been drawn at present, and with a couple of hundred pounds
+between us we shall have enough and to spare for however long we may be
+away."
+
+There was a chorus of agreement.
+
+"We are all awfully sorry that you are going, Chris," Field said. "It
+won't be the same without you at all. We have agreed to ask you to
+nominate a leader during your absence."
+
+"I would much rather not do that," Chris said. "Everyone has done
+equally well, and it is a question that you should settle among
+yourselves."
+
+"We are all against that," Field said positively. "We have talked it
+over and agree that we shall never be able to fix on one. Suppose our
+votes were divided between four and five I don't think we should feel
+more comfortable afterwards. We would rather put all the names in a hat
+and draw one out, just leaving it to chance."
+
+"I almost think that it would be better," Chris said, "to do as you
+propose. Agree first that, as we have done up till now, all important
+matters shall be discussed and decided by vote, then draw all the names
+from a hat and let each be leader for a week in the order in which they
+come out, with the proviso that if as time goes on you find that you
+can have more confidence in one than another, you can by a majority of
+three to one elect him as permanent leader."
+
+"That would be a very good plan," Carmichael said, "but, you see, the
+difficulty is that, supposing we were going to attack the Boers or the
+Boers attack us, the plan the leader fixed on might not seem to us at
+all the best. In the two fights we have had there was not that
+difficulty, for everyone felt that the plan you adopted was the best,
+and indeed much better than any of us would have been likely to think
+of. I don't say that that would occur, but it might. It is not everyone
+who could fix upon the best thing to be done all at once as you did."
+
+Chris thought for a minute. "I would suggest," he said, "that in such a
+case as you mention the leader should tell the next two on the list
+what he proposed. If one of the two agreed with him it would be a
+majority, and there would be nothing more to be said on the matter. If
+both disagreed with him there must be a general vote. I should hope
+such a thing would never occur, because the loss of five minutes would
+sometimes be disastrous, though in some cases it might not make any
+difference. Still, that is the best plan I can think of. There is no
+occasion for you to decide that straight off. At any rate, if you
+should find that any arrangement you make does not act perfectly well,
+I should advise you to join Captain Brookfield's troop and act with
+him."
+
+The general opinion was strongly in favour of Chris's suggestion. It
+was agreed that at any rate the first leader should be chosen by
+chance. Carmichael's name came first out of the hat.
+
+"I shall not have much responsibility," he said, "as we have settled to
+remain here until the advance begins. Now, Chris, about the spare
+horses."
+
+"I should like to take one of them. We may have to gallop for it, and
+it is of no use our being well mounted if we are hampered with a pony
+that cannot keep up with us. We have only to lighten its load by
+getting rid of most of its burden, and then we should be free to go our
+own pace.
+
+"I should like to take one of our Kaffirs. They have both turned out
+very well, and have a good idea of cooking, and are accustomed to our
+ways. I don't care which I have, but I should certainly like to have
+one of them. He would stick to the spare horse, while the other natives
+would be all right if they scattered and shifted for themselves."
+
+"Would you not like two spare horses, Chris?"
+
+"No, thank you, one would be enough. He would carry our stores, and I
+should get two native ponies to take the dynamite along. We shall not
+be travelling at any extraordinary rate of speed, and if they broke
+down we could always replace them. Certainly there would be no danger
+if we go through Zululand, and, I should think, not until we get north
+of the Swazis' country; for though I know there are Boers settled among
+them, a good many would of course have joined their army, and it would
+be easy to avoid the others. The danger will only lie in the last part
+of the journey."
+
+"Then you have settled to go by land?"
+
+"Yes, I have decided to go all the way on horseback. We might find
+difficulties with the Portuguese at Lorenzo Marques, and if we manage
+to blow up the bridge, should have no horses, and should have a very
+bad time indeed in getting back. If I can get dynamite here I shall go
+all the way by land, and it would be safer. No doubt the Boers have
+spies at Durban, and we might have difficulty in hiring a craft to take
+us to St. Lucia, and our starting with horses and five or six natives
+would be safe to attract the attention of someone looking out for news
+to send to the Boers. I think the best plan will be to keep a little to
+the east of the road to Greytown, where no doubt there are some Dutch,
+and strike the road that runs from there to Eshowe. A little west of
+Krantzkop there must be either a drift or a bridge or a ferry where it
+crosses the Tugela. I shall of course avoid Eshowe, and then keep along
+inside the Zulu frontier as far as the Maputa, which is its northern
+boundary, then we shall cross the Lebombo range into Swaziland. I don't
+know how far it would be by the way we should have to go, but as the
+crow flies it is about three hundred miles from here. I suppose, what
+with the detours and passes and so on, it will be four hundred.
+Ordinarily that distance could be done in twenty days, but we must
+allow a good bit longer than that; fifteen miles a day is the utmost we
+can calculate upon. However, in about a month after we start we ought
+to be there or thereabouts. Coming back we should do it more quickly,
+as we should have got rid of our weight and need not be bothered with
+pack ponies."
+
+"You talk as coolly about it," Field laughed, "as if you were going out
+for a few days' picnic."
+
+"It is the same sort of thing," Chris said, "except that it will be
+longer, a bit rougher, and a good deal more interesting."
+
+"When will you start?"
+
+"As soon as possible; all I have to see about are the dynamite and
+stores for the journey. We know pretty well by this time what we shall
+want. We are sure to be able to buy mealies and a bullock when we want
+one from the natives. Some tea and coffee, a dozen tins of preserved
+milk, and half a hundredweight of biscuits, in case of finding
+ourselves at a lonely camp with no native kraals near, and we shall be
+all right. Of course we will take a gallon or two of paraffin, a
+frying-pan, a small kettle, and so on, and a lantern that will burn
+paraffin. We will fill up our pouches with a hundred rounds of rifle
+cartridges and fifty for our revolvers, and then I think we shall be
+ready. Now mind, the success of our enterprise depends entirely upon
+your all keeping the secret absolutely. Neither Willesden, Brown, nor
+Peters have friends here to bother themselves about their absence. We
+are not likely to be missed, but if any questions are asked, you can
+say casually that we are off on a scouting expedition. I shall write
+four or five letters, with dates a week or ten days apart, and direct
+them from here, and leave them for you to post one by one to my mother.
+Be sure you send them in the right order. As she will suppose that we
+are stopping here quietly, and out of all harm, she won't be uneasy
+about me. Peters' and Willesden's friends have gone to England, so they
+are all right, and Brown's are at the Cape. You had better write two or
+three letters too, Brown, to be posted a fortnight or three weeks
+apart."
+
+When these matters were arranged, Chris saw Jack, and the Kaffir agreed
+without hesitation to go with him. He had been so well treated since he
+joined them that he had become quite attached to Chris, who generally
+gave him his orders. He was only told they were going up on an
+expedition to Zululand and Swaziland.
+
+"I want you to find two good Zulu and two Swazis. Do you think that you
+could do that?"
+
+"There are plenty of them here, baas. I look about and get good men.
+What shall I tell them that they will have to do?"
+
+"To act as guides, to tell the chiefs who we are, and on the march to
+look after two or three ponies. We shall only take one of the spare
+horses, you will look after him."
+
+"Will they have guns, baas? All men like to have guns."
+
+"Yes, they may as well carry guns, and you too, Jack."
+
+"Much better for men to have guns, baas. They would be thought nothing
+of without them."
+
+"All right Jack, there shall be no difficulty about that; the stores
+are full of them."
+
+This was the case. Men entering the volunteer corps, or who intended to
+do any fighting, sold the rifles they had previously used and obtained
+those of Government pattern and carrying the regulation cartridge, so
+that for ten pounds Chris got hold of five really good weapons,
+carefully selecting those that carried the same-sized cartridge.
+
+"You can take whichever you like," he said to Jack, who had gone with
+him to buy them; "and I shall tell the men I engage that if at the end
+of the journey I am well satisfied with their behaviour, I shall give
+them the guns in addition to their pay."
+
+A few hours afterwards Jack brought up four natives for his inspection.
+They were all strong and well-built men, and looked capable of hard
+work. Having been thrown out of their employment by the events of the
+past fortnight, they were glad of a fresh job, and were highly
+satisfied when they were offered wages considerably higher than those
+they had before received. All preparations were completed by the
+following evening, and the next morning at daybreak, after bidding
+their comrades a hearty farewell, the little party started.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+KOMATI-POORT
+
+
+The four lads were no longer dressed in the guise of farmers. These
+suits were carried in the packs to be resumed when they neared the
+Transvaal. They now dressed in the tweeds they had worn at
+Johannesburg, and either felt hats or straw. They still wore
+jack-boots. The heat of the day was now great, much more so, indeed,
+than they had been accustomed to, for while Maritzburg lies two
+thousand two hundred feet above the sea, Johannesburg is five thousand
+seven hundred. Behind them Jack led the spare horse, and the four new
+men stepped lightly along with their muskets slung behind them by the
+side of two strong Basuto ponies, each carrying a couple of boxes
+containing half a hundredweight of dynamite. These were concealed from
+view by sacks and blankets, the cooking utensils, and other light
+articles. The spare horse carried the flour, paraffin, fuses, and other
+stores, which brought up the weight to a hundred and twenty pounds.
+This was somewhat lighter than that carried by the ponies, but they
+were anxious to keep it in good condition in case one of their own gave
+out.
+
+The baggage had all been very carefully packed, so that even when going
+fast it might not be displaced. They had found no difficulty in
+obtaining the dynamite, as several of the stores kept it for the use of
+the mines. They made no difficulty in selling it, and would not have
+been sorry to part with their whole stock. In view of the possibility
+of a siege, it was not an article that any sane man would care to keep
+on the premises. Chris had gone round to these stores and had obtained
+an offer from each, and as he said that he intended to accept the
+lowest tender, it was offered to him at a price very much below what he
+would ordinarily have had to give for it. The cases were sewn up in
+canvas, on which was painted respectively, Tea, Sugar, Biscuits, and
+Rice. Travelling five hours and halting at ten o'clock at a farmhouse
+that was still tenanted, and again travelling from half-past three
+until eight, they made about twenty-five miles the first day. Then they
+encamped at a spot where there was a small spring and consequently good
+feed for the horses, and knee-haltering them and taking off their
+saddles they turned them loose.
+
+The natives had collected fuel as they went along, and a fire was soon
+made. When the kettle approached boiling, some slices of bacon, of
+which they had brought thirty pounds with them, were fried. There was
+no occasion to make bread, as they had enough for a two days' supply.
+The natives parched some mealies (Indian corn) in the frying-pan when
+the bacon was done, the fat serving as a condiment that they highly
+appreciated, and they quenched their thirst from the spring.
+
+Four days' travelling took them to the drift across the Tugela. So far
+their journey had been wholly uneventful. Before crossing the next day
+they had a long talk with the two Zulus. Their language differed
+somewhat from that of Jack, but Chris understood them without
+difficulty; for a considerable portion of the labourers in the mines at
+Johannesburg were Zulus, and mixing with these, as Chris had done, he
+understood them even better than he did Jack.
+
+The different routes were discussed, and the position of kraals, at
+which mealies for the five natives and the horses could be purchased,
+and meat possibly obtained. This, unless they bought a sheep, would be
+in the form of biltong, that is, strips of meat dried by being hung up
+in the sun and wind, and similar to the jerked meat of the prairies and
+pampas of America. The points at which water could be obtained were
+discussed. Some were at considerable distances apart; but the Zulus
+were of opinion that the late heavy rains had extended to the hills of
+Zululand, and that there would be abundance of water in little dongas
+and water-courses that would be dry after a spell of fine weather.
+While passing through Zululand there would be no occasion whatever for
+vigilance by day or a watch at night, for there perfect order reigned.
+Here and there resident magistrates were stationed, and at these points
+a few white traders had settled. All disputes between the natives were
+ordinarily decided by their own chiefs, but in serious cases an appeal
+could be made to the nearest magistrate, who at once interfered in
+cases of violence or gross injustice.
+
+At the first kraal they came to they learned that the natives were
+everywhere much excited. They were most anxious to be allowed to join
+in the war against their old enemies, and were greatly disappointed on
+learning from the magistrates that this was only a white man's war, and
+that no others must take part in it. If, however, the Boers invaded
+their territory they would of course be allowed to defend themselves.
+
+Some of the Zulus urged with reason, that though the English might wish
+to make it a white man's war, the Boers did not desire it to be so, for
+they knew that they had been urging the Swazis and the Basutos to join
+them against the English, and that offers of many rifles and much
+plunder had been made also to some of their own chiefs. To this the
+magistrates could only reply, that they knew of old that the Boers'
+words could not be trusted, and that they were always ready to break
+any arrangement that they had made. "They would like you to join them,"
+they said, "because they would take your help and afterwards turn
+against you and steal your land. You know well enough that we have
+always stood between you and them; but they would know that if you had
+joined them against us we should be angry, and after our war with them
+was over would no longer protect you." The Zulus, from their knowledge
+of the Boers, felt that this would be so. But in any case no offers
+made to them would have induced them to side with the Boers; and it was
+the general hope that something might occur which would induce the
+English to allow them to attack their enemies.
+
+Chris and his friends had laid aside their bandoliers, retaining only
+the cartridges carried in their belts, in order to assume the
+appearance of Englishmen merely travelling for sport, and as they went
+on they generally managed to shoot deer enough for the needs of the
+whole party. Occasionally they slept in the kraals of chiefs, but
+greatly preferred their own little tents as the smoke in them was often
+blinding, and more than once the attacks of vermin kept them awake.
+Still, it would have been a slight to refuse such invitations, and they
+had to go to the kraals as it was necessary to frequently buy supplies
+of mealies. At times the travelling was very rough, and with the utmost
+exertions they could not make more than twelve or fourteen miles a day,
+and at other times they could make five-and-twenty. Without the supply
+of Indian corn, the ponies could not have continued this rate of going
+without breaking down. The native horses are accustomed occasionally to
+make very long journeys, and can perform from sixty to eighty miles in
+a day, but after such an exertion they will need a week's rest before
+making another effort. With their Basuto masters they are not called
+upon to do so. When one of these makes a long journey he will leave his
+pony with the person he visits and return on a fresh mount, or if he
+returns to his own home after his first day's journey he will take a
+fresh horse from his own stock, which may vary from five to fifty
+ponies. As they rode they seldom talked of the work that was to be
+done. Until they saw the country, the positions, and approach, no plans
+could possibly be formed, and they therefore treated the matter as if
+it were a mere sporting expedition in a new country, and enjoyed
+themselves thoroughly. They had heavy work in crossing the Lebombo
+range, and, travelling a day's journey farther west, turned to the
+north again. They were now in Swaziland, a wild and mountainous
+country. Here also they were hospitably received where they stopped,
+although the Swazis were deeply aggrieved by the shameful manner in
+which England had refused, after the valuable aid they had rendered in
+the last war, to give them any support against the Boers. A word would
+have been sufficient to have kept the latter out of Swaziland, as it
+had kept them from raiding in Zululand; but that word was not given,
+and the unfortunate people had been raided and plundered, their best
+land taken from them, and they themselves reduced to a state of
+semi-subjection. However, they were glad to see four English sportsmen
+among them again, and to learn something of the war that had broken out
+between their oppressors and the British.
+
+"If you beat them we shall be free again," they said. "Last time you
+were beaten, and gave over the whole country to the Boers, and left all
+our people, who had fought for you, at their mercy. This time you must
+not do that. If you beat them, shoot them all like dogs, or make slaves
+of them as they make slaves of the natives who dwell in their land.
+Only so will there be peace."
+
+"I don't know that the English will do that," Chris said; "but you may
+be sure that, when the war is over, the Boers will be no longer
+masters, and there will be just law made by us, and all white men and
+all natives will be protected, and no evil deeds will be allowed."
+
+"We are no longer united among ourselves," one of the chiefs said.
+"Some have been taken by the promises and gifts of the Boers, and our
+queen is also, it is said, in their favour. She is afraid of them, but
+most of us would take advantage of their fighting you to drive all of
+them out of our land, and to win back all the territory they have taken
+from us. We are very poor, our best land is gone, we can scarce grow
+enough food; and we long for the time when once again we can have rich
+mealie patches, and good grazing land for our oxen and our horses, and
+are again a strong people, and they afraid of us. Had not the English
+interfered and taken over the Boer country, we should have wasted it
+from end to end; and they knew it well, and begged your Shepstone to
+hoist your flag and protect them. Ah, he should have stayed there then!
+The natives, our friends in the plain, still talk of that happy time
+when you were masters, and the Boers dared no longer shoot them down as
+if they were wild beasts and treat them as slaves, and the towns grew
+up, and your people paid for work with money and not with the lash of a
+whip or a bullet. All of us have mourned over the time when the English
+bent their knee to the Boers, and gave them all they wanted,--the
+mastery of the land, and the right to kill and enslave us at their
+will."
+
+"That was not quite so," Chris said. "They promised to give good
+treatment to the natives; that was one of the conditions of the treaty."
+
+"And you believed them!" the chief said scornfully. "Did you not know
+that a Boer's oath is only good so long as a gun is pointed at him?
+Perhaps it will be like this again, and when you have conquered them
+you will again trust them, and march away. But they tell us, it is not
+you who will conquer them, but they who will conquer you. They tell our
+people that they will be masters over all the land, and that your
+people will have to sail away in your ships. Runners have brought us
+news that they have gathered round the place where our people go to
+work digging bright stones from the ground, and that very soon they
+will take all the English prisoners, and that they have also beset
+Mafeking, and that they have beaten the English soldiers in Natal, and
+there will soon be none left there; and more than that, that the people
+of the other Boer state have joined them, and have entered the English
+territory, and are being joined by all the Boers there. Therefore we,
+who would like to fight against them, are afraid. We thought the
+English a great people; they had beaten the Zulus, and dethroned the
+great King Cetewayo. But now it seems that the Boers are much greater,
+and our hearts are sore."
+
+"You need not fear, chief," Chris said. "Our country is very many miles
+away, many days' journey in ships; it will take weeks before our army
+gets strong. The Boers have always said they wanted peace, and we
+believed them and kept but a few soldiers here, and until the army
+comes from England they will get the best of it; but we can send, if
+necessary, an army many times stronger than that of the Boers, and are
+sure to crush them in the end."
+
+"But how could you believe they wanted peace?" the chief asked.
+"Everyone knew that they were building great forts, and had got guns
+bigger than were ever before seen, and stores full of rifles. How could
+you believe their words when your eyes saw that it was not peace but
+war that they meant?"
+
+"Because we were fools, I suppose," Chris said bitterly. "It was not
+from want of warnings, for people living out here had written again and
+again telling what vast preparations they were making, but the people
+who govern the country paid no attention. It was much easier to believe
+what was pleasant than what was unpleasant; but their folly will cost
+the country very dear. If they had sent over twenty thousand men a year
+ago there would have been no war; now they will have to send over a
+hundred thousand men, perhaps even more; and great sums of money will
+be spent, and great numbers of lives lost, simply because our
+government refused to believe what everyone out here knew to be the
+fact. We did nothing, and allowed the Boers to complete all their
+preparations, and to choose their own time for war. But though we have
+made a horrible mistake, do not think, chief, that there is any doubt
+about our conquering at last; the men who now govern our country are
+men and not cowards, and will not, as that other government did, go on
+their knees to the Boers, and even if they would do so, the people
+would not sanction it."
+
+"If what the chief has heard is correct," Chris said as they rode along
+the next morning, "we must get back again as soon as we can. The Boers
+may be lying, and, of course, they would make the best of things to the
+Swazis. It certainly sounds as if not only at Ladysmith, but at all
+other places, things are going badly at present. However, in another
+couple of days we shall not be far from the bridge. The chief said that
+the frontier was only a few miles away, and our own men tell us that it
+is a very hilly country on the other side, just as it is here. We have
+certainly come faster that we had expected. Thanks to their good
+feeding, the horses have all turned out well. If it is really only two
+days farther, we shall get there in just three weeks from starting."
+
+They had not brought the same ponies all the way; as soon as one showed
+signs of fatigue, it was changed for another with the arrangement that,
+should they return that way, they would take it back and give the chief
+a present for having seen that it was taken care of. The four natives,
+although well contented with the way in which they were fed and cared
+for, were much puzzled at the eagerness of their employers to push on,
+and the disregard they paid to all the information obtained for them of
+opportunities for sport. Several times they had said to Jack: "How is
+it the baas does not stop to shoot? There are plenty of deer, and in
+some places lions. There are zebras, too, though these are not easy to
+get at, and very difficult to stalk. Why do you push on so fast that
+the ponies have to be left behind, and others taken on? We cannot
+understand it. We have been with white men who came into our country to
+shoot, or to see what the land was like, but they did not travel like
+this. Besides, we shall soon be in the land of the Boers, and as the
+English are at war with them, they will shoot them if they find them."
+
+Jack had only been told that his masters were going to strike a blow at
+the Boers, and had not troubled himself as to its nature. He had seen
+how they had defeated much larger parties than their own, and had
+unbounded confidence in them. He therefore only said:
+
+"The baas has not told me. I know that all the gentlemen are very
+brave, and have no fear of the Boers. I do not think that we need fear
+that any harm will happen. They shoot enough for us to eat heartily,
+they buy drink for us at every kraal they stop at, and if they have
+seen no game they buy a sheep. What can we want more? They have got you
+guns, but you have never needed to use them; perhaps you may before you
+get back. If the Boers meddle with them you will be able to fight."
+
+The prospect of a chance of being allowed to fight against the Boers
+would alone have inspired the four natives to bear any amount of
+fatigue without a murmur, and each day's march farther north had
+heightened their hopes that they might use their guns against their old
+enemies. It was on the twenty-first day after starting that, from a
+hill commanding a broad extent of country, they caught sight of a train
+of waggons, and knew that their journey was just at an end. They had
+debated which side of the Komati river would be the best to follow, and
+had agreed to take the eastern bank.
+
+The Boer territory extended a few miles beyond this. Komati-poort was
+close to the frontier. As they knew nothing as to the construction of
+the bridge beyond the fact that it was iron, and were not even sure
+whether it was entirely on Boer ground, or if the eastern bank of the
+river here belonged to the Portuguese, they decided that at any rate it
+was better to travel as near the frontier as possible, as, were they
+pursued they could ride at once across the line. Not that they believed
+that the Boers would respect this, but they would not know the country
+so well as that on their own side, and would not find countrymen to
+join them in the pursuit.
+
+Keeping down on the eastern side of the hills, they continued until
+they could see the white line of steam that showed the direction in
+which a train from the south-east was coming, and were therefore able
+to calculate within half a mile where the bridge must be situated. They
+camped in a dry donga, and next morning at daybreak left their horses
+behind them in charge of the men and walked forward. A mile farther
+they obtained a view of the bridge. It stood at the point where the
+river, after running for some little distance north-west, made a sharp
+curve to the south. The bridge stood at this loop. If the object had
+been to render it defensible, it had been admirably chosen by these
+Boers who laid out the line to the Portuguese frontier, for from the
+other side of the bank the approach could be swept by cannon and even
+musketry on both flanks.
+
+Lying down, they took in all the details of the construction through
+their glasses, and then, choosing their ground so that they could not
+be seen by any on the bridge, they kept on until they were able to
+obtain a view from a distance of a quarter of a mile. The examination
+that was now made was by no means of a satisfactory nature. Near the
+bridge there were sidings on which several lines of loaded trucks
+stood. An engine was at work shunting. At least a score of natives were
+at work under the direction of Portuguese, while several men, who were
+by their dress evidently Boers, were pointing out to the officials the
+trucks they desired to be first forwarded. Three or four of these
+carried huge cases, two of them being each long enough to occupy two
+trucks.
+
+"There is no doubt those are guns," Chris said. "If we can do nothing
+else, we can work a lot of damage here, which will be some sort of
+satisfaction after our long ride. As to our main object, things don't
+look well."
+
+Half a dozen armed Boers could be made out stationed at the Portuguese
+side of the bridge, and as many more at the opposite end. Two
+lately-erected wooden huts, each of which could give shelter to some
+fifty men, stood a short distance beyond the bridge, and it was evident
+by the figures moving about, and a number of horses grazing near, that
+a strong party was stationed there to furnish guards for the bridge.
+
+"I am afraid we cannot do it," Peters said, after their glasses had all
+been fixed on the bridge for several minutes; "at least, I don't see
+any chance. What do you say, Chris?"
+
+"No, I am afraid there is none. If we were to crawl up to them to-night
+and shoot down all at this end of the bridge, we should be no nearer.
+You see, there are a line of huts on this side, and two or three
+better-class houses. No doubt the railway officials and natives all
+live there; they would all turn out when they heard the firing, and the
+Boers would come rushing over from the other side. It would be out of
+the question for us to carry forward those four boxes to the middle of
+the bridge, plant them over the centre of the girders, and light the
+fuses. A quarter of an hour would be wanted for the business at the
+very least, and we should not have a minute, if there is as good a
+guard by night as there is by day. It is likely to be at least as
+large, perhaps much more than that. The thing is impossible in that
+way. However, of course we can crawl up close after dark and satisfy
+ourselves about the guard.
+
+"If it is not to be managed in that way, we must go down to the river
+bank and see whether there is anything to be done with one of the
+piers. If that is not possible, we must content ourselves with smashing
+things up generally on this side. Several of the trucks look to me to
+be full of ammunition, and there are eight with long cases which are no
+doubt rifles. We all remember that terrific smash at Johannesburg, and
+though I don't say we could do such awful damage as there was
+there--for there were I don't know how many tons of dynamite exploded
+then, I think about fifty--still, it would be a heavy blow. Any amount
+of stores would be destroyed, some thousand of rifles, and, for aught I
+know, all those waggons with tarpaulins over them are full of
+cartridges. However, the bridge is the principal thing. We will stop
+here for an hour or two and examine every foot of the ground, so as to
+be able to find our way in the dark. We need not mind about the trucks
+now, we can examine their position to-morrow if we have to give up the
+idea of the bridge."
+
+On returning to their horses they had a long talk. Chris was deeply
+disappointed, but the others, who had never quite believed that his
+scheme could be carried out, were greatly delighted at the knowledge
+that at any rate they might be able to do an immense deal of damage to
+the enemy. As soon as it became quite dark, they set out again; they
+did not take their rifles with them, but each had his brace of
+revolvers. They had no intention of fighting, except to secure a
+retreat. Before starting, each had wound strips of flannel round his
+boots, so that they could run noiselessly. Brown had in the first place
+suggested that they should take their boots off, but Chris pointed out
+that if they had to run in the dark, one or other of them was sure to
+lame himself by striking against a stone or other obstacle. There were
+several large fires in the shunting yard, and at each end of the
+bridge, and at the Boer barracks. Crawling along on their hands and
+knees they were completely in the shade, and managed to get within some
+twenty or thirty yards of the Boers, who were sitting smoking and
+talking. They were all evidently greatly satisfied with news that they
+had heard during the day. Listening to their talk, they gathered
+something of what had happened since they left Estcourt. Colenso had
+been evacuated by us, an armoured train coming up from Estcourt had
+been drawn off the line, and most of the soldiers with it had been
+killed or captured. The last news was that the British had sallied out
+from Estcourt, which was now surrounded, and had attacked the Boers
+posted in a very strong position near a place called Willow Grange, but
+had been repulsed, principally by the artillery, with, it was said,
+immense loss. This was not pleasant hearing for the listeners. The
+Boers then had a grumble at being kept so far away from the fighting.
+It was not that they were so anxious to be engaged, as to get a share
+of the loot, as it had been reported that something like twenty
+thousand cattle and horses had been driven off from Natal.
+
+Then their conversation turned upon a point still more interesting to
+the listeners. A commando had started from Barberton, a border town
+some thirty or forty miles to the west, into Swaziland. A native had
+mentioned to one of the Boers there that four Englishmen had passed
+north. They had stopped at his chief's kraal. They were all quite
+young, and had five natives with them, and three pack-horses. They had
+come to shoot and see the country, they said; but they had spoken with
+one of the men with them, who said that so far they had not done much
+hunting, only enough for food; he supposed that they were going to
+begin further on. The Boer had an hour later ridden down to Barberton
+with the news, and it had been at once resolved to send off a commando
+of a hundred men to search the hills, for there was a suspicion that
+the hunters were British officers who had come up to act as spies.
+
+"Our cornet had a telegram this afternoon," one of them said, "that we
+were to be specially vigilant here, and we must keep a sharp lookout at
+night. I don't suppose they are on this side of the river. They may be
+going to pull up the railway, or blow up a culvert somewhere between
+this and Barberton. Four men with their Kaffirs might do that, but they
+certainly could not damage this bridge."
+
+At ten o'clock most of the party retired into a small shed a few yards
+away, but two remained sitting by the fire, and were evidently left on
+guard, for they kept their rifles close at hand. The lads now crawled
+away some distance, and then made their way down a steep bank to the
+river. It was a stream of some size, running with great rapidity, and
+it did not take them long to decide that it would be impossible to swim
+out with the cases and place these in such a situation that the
+explosion would damage the structure. They then moved quietly up to the
+spot where the end of the last span touched the level ground; it rested
+upon a solid wall built into the rock, and ran some forty feet above
+their heads. They were now just under where the Boers were sitting,
+could hear their voices, and see the glow of their fire. They were
+unable to make out the exact position of the girders, but they had,
+when watching it, obtained a general view of the construction.
+
+It consisted of two lines of strong girders on each side, connected by
+lattice bars, with strong communications between the sides at each
+pier. The depth of the girders was some twenty feet. After cautiously
+feeling the wall and finding that there were no openings in which their
+explosives could be placed, they crawled away noiselessly, ascended to
+the bank again a couple of hundred yards from the bridge, and returned
+to their camping ground. They observed as they went that there were
+still fires burning in the station yard, that some Kaffirs were seated
+near these, and as, in the silence of the night, a faint sound could be
+heard like that of a distant train, they had no doubt that they were
+waiting up for one to arrive. Indeed, before they had reached the
+camping place they saw a train pass by. It had no lights save the
+head-lights and that of the engine fire, and they therefore had no
+doubt that it was another train with stores.
+
+When they reached their tents they had a long consultation. No fire had
+been lighted. The horses had been taken some way up a little ravine
+down which a stream of water trickled; here the four natives had taken
+up their post. These had only come down in the middle of the day to
+fetch their food, which Jack cooked over the spirit stove. This was
+alight when the lads returned, but was carefully screened round by
+blankets so that not the slightest glow could be seen from a distance.
+
+"What do you think of it, Chris?" Brown said.
+
+"I don't know what to think about it. I have no idea what effect
+dynamite would have when exploded at a distance of thirty or forty feet
+below a bridge. Certainly it would blow the roadway up, but I have very
+great doubts whether it would so twist or smash the main girders as to
+render the bridge impassable. The distance to the first pier is not
+great, and unless one entirely destroyed the bridge, I should say that
+it could be repaired very soon--I mean, in a week or two--by a strong
+gang. If the girders kept their places, two or three days' work might
+patch it up temporarily. If it were destroyed altogether as far as the
+first pier, it would stop the cannon getting over till a temporary
+bridge is constructed; but by rigging up some strong cables, they could
+pass cases of musket ammunition across the gap in the same way, you
+know, as I have seen pictures of shipwrecked people being swung along
+under a cable in a sort of cradle. What do you think, Peters?"
+
+"Two hundred pounds of dynamite would do a lot of damage, Chris. I
+should think that it would certainly bring the wall down."
+
+"I have no doubt that it would do that, Peters, but the ironwork goes
+some ten yards farther, and no doubts rests on the solid rock. I expect
+the wall is put there more to finish the thing off than to carry much
+of the weight. Again, you see it is only a single line, and not above
+ten feet wide, which is against us, for the wider the line the better
+chance it has of being smashed by an explosion some forty feet below
+it. Well, we will have another look at the bridge and the waggons
+to-morrow. Of course the bridge is the great thing if it can be
+managed, though I don't say that blowing up the yard would not be a
+good thing if we can't make sure of the other. Anyhow, we need not feel
+down-hearted about it. We came up here on the chance, and even though
+we may not be able to do exactly what we want, we ought to manage to do
+them a lot of damage."
+
+After eating their supper they turned in to their two little tents. The
+spirit-lamp had been extinguished, and as they had not the least fear
+of discovery, they did not consider it necessary to place a sentinel.
+In the morning they were out again early and at their former post of
+observation.
+
+"What are they up to now?" Brown said an hour later when he saw a party
+of Boers come down the opposite side close to the bridge, carrying
+posts and planks.
+
+Chris made no answer, he was watching them intently. They stopped near
+the bank of the river close to the bridge. Then some of them set to
+work to level a space of ground, while others made holes at the corners.
+
+"I am afraid that it is all up with our plans as far as the bridge is
+concerned. They are going to put up a hut there, and I have not the
+least doubt it means they are going to station a guard under the
+bridge. If they do it that side, they are probably doing the same on
+this, only we can't see them. The Boers are stupid enough in some
+things, but they are sharp enough in others, and it is possible that
+the commando from Barberton has come upon one of the kraals where we
+slept, and asking a lot of questions about us, they have found out that
+we had four heavy boxes with us, and the idea may have struck them that
+these contained explosives. If that did occur to them, it is almost
+certain that a man has been sent off at once to Barberton with orders
+to telegraph here and to other bridges, to take every precaution
+against their being blown up. Anyhow, there is a hut building there,
+and I don't see that it can be for any other purpose."
+
+After three hours' work the hut was completed, and a party of eight men
+brought down blankets and other kit. Two of these at once ascended the
+bank with their rifles and sat down at the foot of the wall.
+
+"That ends the business," Chris said. "However, I will creep round to a
+point where I can get a view of this side of the bridge. Possibly they
+have only taken precautions on their own side, for we were travelling
+for some time in the Swazis' country to the west of the Komati, and
+that is where they will have heard of us." He crawled away among the
+rocks, and rejoined his companions an hour later.
+
+"It is just the same this side. They have settled the question for us.
+Now we will give our attention to the waggons."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+AN EXPLOSION
+
+
+Having given up all hopes of blowing up the bridge, Chris and his
+comrades turned their whole attention to the lines of waggons. The
+train that had come in on the previous evening had added to the number,
+although it had taken some of them away with it up country. They now
+made out that there were eight waggons piled with cases, that almost
+certainly contained rifles; six with tarpaulins closely packed over
+them, and these they guessed contained ammunition boxes; four, each
+with two large cases that might contain field guns; while the two with
+what they were sure were big guns still remained on the siding.
+
+"I should say that about four or five pounds of dynamite would be an
+abundance for each of those ammunition waggons; less than that would
+do, as we could, by slitting the tarpaulins, put a pound among the
+cases, and if one case were exploded it would set all the others off.
+There is no trouble about them. I will just take a note. They are on
+the second siding; there are eight other waggons in front of them and
+six behind, so we cannot make any mistake about that. There must be a
+good heavy charge under the rifle trucks, for we shall have to blow
+them all well into the air to bend and damage them enough to be
+altogether unserviceable. As for the guns, and especially the heavy
+ones, it is a difficult question. Of course, if we could open the cases
+and get at the breech-pieces, and put dynamite among them, we could
+damage all the mechanism so much that the guns would be useless until
+new breech-pieces were made, which I fancy must be altogether beyond
+the Boers; but as there is no possibility of opening them, we must
+trust to blowing the guns so high in the air that they will be too much
+damaged for use by the explosion and fall. We have got altogether two
+hundredweight; now two pounds to each ammunition waggon will take
+twelve pounds. What shall we say for the rifles?"
+
+"Ten pounds," Brown suggested.
+
+"That would take eighty more pounds," Willesden objected, "which would
+make a big hole in our stores."
+
+"We must have a good charge," Chris said. "Suppose we say nine pounds
+to each, that will save eight pounds; fifteen pounds apiece ought to
+give the eight cases which we suppose hold field-guns a good hoist;
+that will leave us with over a hundred pounds, fifty for each of the
+big guns. Now that we have seen all that is necessary, we may as well
+be off and begin to get ready."
+
+The covers were taken off the boxes of dynamite, and these were
+unscrewed, and the explosive was with great care divided into the
+portions as agreed upon. Two of the cases furnished just sufficient for
+the ammunition waggons and the two big guns, the other two for the
+smaller cannon and the trucks with the rifles. The charges were sewn up
+in pieces of the canvas, the smaller charges for the ammunition boxes
+being enclosed in thinner stuff that had been sewn under the canvas
+used in packing; the fuses and detonators were then cut and inserted.
+Chris was perfectly up in this work, having performed the operation
+scores of times in the mines. The length it should burn was only
+decided after a discussion.
+
+There would be in all nineteen charges to explode, and these were in
+three groups at some little distance from each other, all the cannon
+being on the same siding. It would be necessary, perhaps, to wait for
+some time till all these were free from observation by natives or
+others who might be moving about the yard, then a signal must be given
+that they could all see. It would not take long to light the fuses, for
+each of them would be provided with a slow match, which burns with but
+a spark, and could be held under a hat or an inverted tin cup till the
+time came for using it. The question was how far must they be away to
+ensure their own safety, and Chris maintained that at least four or
+five hundred yards would be necessary to place them in even comparative
+safety from the rain of fragments that would fall over a wide area.
+Finally it was agreed to cut the fuses to a length to burn four
+minutes; this would allow a minute for any hitch that might occur in
+lighting them, and three minutes to burn. It was of course important
+that they should be no longer than was absolutely necessary, as there
+existed a certain risk that one of the little sparks might be seen by a
+passing Kaffir, or, as was still more probable, the smell of burning
+powder should attract attention. It was agreed that Chris should light
+the fuses at the cannon, which were farthest from the others, that
+Peters should see to the six rifle trucks, and Willesden and Brown
+attend the eight trucks with the ammunition, one to begin at each end
+of the line.
+
+When each had finished his work, he was to run straight away in the
+direction of the encampment, and all were to throw themselves down when
+they felt sure that the time for the explosions had arrived. As soon as
+all was over they were to meet at their place of encampment. Tents and
+all stores were to be removed before the work began to the ravine where
+the horses were, the men with them being charged to stand at the
+animals' heads, as there would be a great explosion, and the horses
+might break loose and stampede. The matter that puzzled them the most
+was how, when they reached their respective stations--separated from
+each other by lines of waggons, and in some cases by distances of a
+couple of hundred yards--they were to know when the work of lighting
+the fuses was to begin. It could not be done by sound, for this would
+reach the ears of any awake in the yard or the sentries at the bridge.
+Chris at last suggested a plan.
+
+"When we start, Jack shall be stationed at a point on the hillside high
+enough for us to see him from all points of the yard. We will show him
+the exact spot while it is light. When we start he shall go down with
+us to the edge of the yard, and as we separate will turn and go up to
+the point we had shown him. He will be ordered to walk up quietly, and
+not to hurry; that will give us ample time to get to our stations
+before he reaches his. We must all keep our eyes fixed on that point.
+He will take the dark lantern with him; when he gets there he must turn
+the shade off, so as to show the light for a quarter of a minute. That
+will be our signal to begin. It is most unlikely that anyone else will
+see it, but even if they did they would simply stare in that direction
+and wonder what it was. Of course, only a flash would be safer; but
+some of us might not see it, and would remain waiting for it until the
+other explosions took place."
+
+All agreed that this would be a very good plan. Chris crawled up with
+Jack until he reached a spot where he commanded a perfect view of the
+yard, and explained to him exactly what he was to do. He had already
+been told what was going to take place. Knowing that the Kaffirs have
+very little idea of time, he said: "You will hold it open while you say
+slowly like this, 'I am showing the light, baas, and I hope that you
+can all see it.' You will say that over twice and then turn off the
+light, and lie down under that big rock till you hear the explosion.
+Wait a little, for stones and fragments will come tumbling down. When
+they have stopped doing so make your way straight to where the horses
+are; you will find us there before you. Now, repeat over to me the
+words you are to say slowly twice."
+
+Jack did so, and finding on questioning him that he perfectly
+understood what he was to do, Chris went back with him to the
+encampment, where they remained quietly until the sun set and darkness
+came on. Then, according to arrangement, the four natives came in and
+carried all the things back to the ravine, and laid them down ready to
+pack the horses as soon as their masters returned.
+
+The day passed slowly to the lads. All were in a state of suppressed
+excitement, an excitement vastly greater than they had felt during
+their two fights with the Boers.
+
+"How they will wonder who did it when they hear the news down in
+Natal!" Peters said.
+
+"I don't expect they will hear much about it," Chris said. "You may be
+sure the Boers will not say much; they make a big brag over every
+success, but they won't care to publish such a thing as this. Probably
+their papers will only say: 'An explosion of a trifling nature occurred
+on the Portuguese side of Komati-poort. Some barrels of powder
+exploded; it is unknown whether it was the result of accident or the
+work of spies. Due precaution will be taken to prevent the recurrence
+of the accident. Beyond a few natives employed at the station, no one
+was hurt.'"
+
+The others laughed. "I suppose that will be about it, Chris. However, I
+have no doubt that that commando from Barberton will keep a very sharp
+look-out for us as we go back."
+
+"Yes, but they won't catch us. We won't venture into Swaziland again,
+but will make our way down on the Portuguese side, following the
+railway till we are fairly beyond the mountain range. We can ride fast
+now that we have got rid of the dynamite. It will be some time before
+they get the news about what has happened here, for the telegraph wires
+are sure to be broken and the instruments smashed. I really think that
+our best way will be to ride straight down to Lorenzo Marques. When we
+get there we can very well state that we had been ordered to leave
+Johannesburg, and that, as the trains are so slow and so crowded with
+fugitives, we had ridden down. I don't suppose that we shall attract
+the least notice, for we know that a great many of those who had
+intended to stay have been ordered off. That way we shall get back to
+Natal in a few days and avoid all danger." The others agreed that this
+would be a capital plan; and the distance by the road, which they had
+crossed a few miles to the south, and which runs from Lorenzo Marques
+up to Ladysdorp and the Murchison and Klein Lemba gold-fields, would
+not be above seventy miles. They would wait till daybreak showed them
+the amount of damage that had been done, and then start, and would be
+down at Lorenzo Marques in the evening, when, even if the news of the
+explosion reached the town, the Boers' suspicions that some Englishmen
+were in the hills, and that it was probably their work, would not be
+known. Not until ten o'clock was a move made. Then they took up the
+packages of dynamite, and, accompanied by Jack, made their way
+noiselessly down to the railway yard.
+
+Here they separated. Chris, aided by Jack, carried the big packets for
+the large guns and for the eight smaller ones. They met no one about,
+and depositing their packages in the right position under them--the
+fuses had been already inserted--they returned to the spot they had
+left. In a minute or two they were joined by the others. Peters had
+placed his parcels under the eight trucks with rifles; Willesden and
+Brown had cut holes in the tarpaulins of the ammunition trucks, and
+thrust down their charges well among the boxes. All was ready. While
+the others stood closely round him Jack opened the lantern just widely
+enough for them to light their slow matches.
+
+"Now, you are not to hurry back to the place, Jack; we shall all be on
+the look-out for you by the time you get there. You know your
+instructions; you are to turn round, open the slide of the lantern, say
+the words I told you over twice slowly, then shut the lantern and get
+under that great boulder lying against the rock. You will be perfectly
+safe in there."
+
+"I understand, baas," he said, and at once turned and went off. The
+others hurried to their respective posts, and then turned round and
+gazed at the spot where the light would be shown. In their anxiety and
+excitement the time seemed interminable, and each began to think that
+the native had somehow blundered; at last the light appeared, and they
+turned at once to their work. Half a minute sufficed to light the
+fuses, and then they hurried away cautiously until past all the
+waggons, and then at full speed along the hillside, their
+thickly-padded shoes making no noise upon the rocks. Knowing that they
+were sure to be confused as to the time, they had calculated before the
+sun had set how far they could run in three minutes, which should be,
+if all went well, the time they would have after leaving the yard. They
+thought that even on the rough ground, and in the dark, they could make
+a hundred and fifty yards a minute, and at about four hundred and fifty
+from the waggons there was a low ridge of rock behind which they would
+obtain protection from all fragments blown directly outwards.
+
+Chris was the first to arrive, for the trucks with the cannon were
+those farthest away from the bridge, and he was able to run for some
+distance along the line before making for the elope, and therefore
+travelled faster than his companions, who had farther to run on broken
+ground. In half a minute they rushed up almost together.
+
+"Throw yourselves down," Chris shouted; "we shall have it directly."
+
+Twenty seconds later there was a tremendous roar and a blinding crash,
+and they felt the ground shake. Almost simultaneously came eight
+others, then in quick succession followed six other reports, and
+mingled with these a confused roar of innumerable shots blended
+together. There was a momentary pause, and then a deafening clatter as
+rifles, fragments of iron and wood came falling down over a wide area.
+Several fell close to where the lads were crouched against the rock,
+but none touched them. For a full half-minute the fragments continued
+to fall, then the boys stood up and looked round. It was too dark to
+see more than that the yard was a chaos; the long lines of waggons, the
+huts and buildings, had all disappeared; loud shouts could be heard
+from the other side of the bridge, but nearer to them everything was
+silent. There was no doubt that the success of the attempt was
+complete, and the lads walked back quietly until they were at the spot
+where the horses had been placed, Jack overtaking them just as they
+reached it.
+
+"It was terrible, baas," he said in an awed voice. "Jack thought his
+life was gone. Things fell on the rock but could not break it."
+
+"Nothing short of one of those big cannon would have done that, Jack.
+Well, we shall see in the morning what damage is done."
+
+The four natives, although they had been warned, were still terribly
+frightened. The horses had at the first crash broken away and run up
+the ravine, but they had just brought them down again, still trembling
+and lathering with fear. For some minutes the boys patted and soothed
+them, and accustomed to their voices and caresses they gradually
+quieted down, but were very restless until day began to break. The boys
+had no thought of sleep. The lamp was lit and tea made, and each of the
+Kaffirs was given a glass of spirits and water, for they had brought up
+a bottle with them in case of illness or any special need; and it was
+evident from their chattering teeth and broken speech that the natives
+needed a stimulant badly. Before it became light the horses were
+saddled, and the five natives told to take them along the hill a mile
+farther. When they had seen them off the lads returned to their former
+post above the station. They had several times, when they looked out
+during the night, seen a great light in that direction, and had no
+doubt that some of the fallen huts had caught fire.
+
+[Illustration: "THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS ROAR AND A BLINDING CRASH."]
+
+Prepared as they were for a scene of destruction, the reality far
+exceeded their expectations. All the waggons within a considerable
+distance of the explosions were smashed into fragments, their wheels
+broken and the axles twisted. The ammunition trucks had disappeared,
+and many close to them had been completely shattered. Those in which
+the muskets had been were a mere heap of fragments; the rest of the
+trucks lay, some with their sides blown in, others comparatively
+uninjured. Some were piled on the top of others three or four deep;
+their contents were scattered over the whole yard. Boxes and cases were
+burst open, and their contents--including large quantities of tea,
+sugar, tinned provisions in vast quantities, and other stores--ruined.
+
+Some still smoking brands showed where the huts had stood, and the dead
+bodies of some twenty natives and several Portuguese officials, were
+scattered here and there. The bodies of eight Boers were laid out
+together by the bridge, and forty or fifty men were wandering aimlessly
+amid the ruins. A huge cannon stood upright nearly in the centre of the
+yard. It had fallen on its muzzle, which had penetrated some feet into
+the earth. They could not see where its fellow had fallen. Five others,
+which looked like fifteen-pounders, were lying in different directions,
+the other three had disappeared. Rifles twisted, bent, and ruined were
+lying about everywhere.
+
+"It is not as good as the bridge," Chris said after they had used their
+glasses for some time in silence, "but it is a heavy blow for them, and
+I should think it will be a week before the line can be cleared ready
+for traffic. Even when they begin they will feel the loss of so much
+rolling-stock. There were five engines in the yard. Every one of these
+has been upset, and will want a lot of repairs before it is fit for
+anything again. I wish I had a kodak with me to take a dozen
+snap-shots, it would be something worth showing when we get back. Well,
+we may as well be moving. The Boers look as if they were stupefied at
+present, but they will be waking up presently, and the sooner we start
+for Lorenzo Marques the better."
+
+Half an hour later they had mounted and were on their way, travelling
+slowly till they came upon the road, and then at a fast pace. Jack rode
+the spare horse, the other natives rode the ponies in turn, those on
+foot keeping up without difficulty by laying a hand on the saddles.
+Sometimes they trotted for two or three miles, and then went at a walk
+for half an hour, and stopped altogether for four hours in the heat of
+the day, for they were now getting on to low land, being only some
+three hundred feet above the sea. They reached Lorenzo Marques at about
+nine o'clock in the evening, and failing to find beds, for the town was
+full of emigrants from the Transvaal, they camped in the open. In the
+morning they sold the two ponies, and were fortunate in finding a
+steamer lying there that would start the next day. Being very unwilling
+to part with their horses they arranged for deck passages for them,
+taking their own risk of injury to them in case of rough weather
+setting in. Every berth was already engaged, but this mattered little
+to them, as they could sleep upon the planks as well as on the ground.
+
+They found that there was some excitement in the town, as there was a
+report that there had been an explosion and much damage done near
+Komati-poort. No particulars were, however, known, as the railway
+officials maintained a strict silence as to the affair. It was known,
+however, that the telegraphic communication with the Transvaal was
+broken, and that three trains filled with Kaffir labourers, and
+accompanied by a number of officials and a company of soldiers, had
+gone up early that morning. Among the fugitives strong hopes were
+expressed that the damage had been serious enough to interrupt the
+traffic for some little time, and to cause serious inconvenience to the
+Boers, and some even hazarded the hope that the bridge had suffered.
+This, however, seemed unlikely in the extreme.
+
+Fortunately the weather was fine on the run down to Durban, and the
+passage of three hundred miles was effected in twenty-four hours. It
+was now just a month since they had left Maritzburg, and as soon as
+they landed with their horses and followers they learned that much had
+taken place during that time.
+
+They had started on the 10th of November. The Boers were then steadily
+advancing, and so great did the danger appear, that Durban had been
+strongly fortified by the blue jackets, aided by Kaffir labour. On the
+25th Sir Redvers Buller had arrived, and by this time a considerable
+force was gathered at Estcourt. The British advance began from that
+town on the following day. The place had been entirely cut off, Boers
+occupying the whole country as far as the Mooi river. General Hildyard,
+who commanded at Estcourt, had been obliged to inarch out several times
+to keep them at a distance from the town, and one or two sharp
+artillery engagements had taken place, the Boers being commanded by
+General Joubert in person. They had always retired a short distance,
+but their movements were so rapid that it was useless to follow; and
+the troops had each time fallen back to Estcourt. On the 28th the Boers
+had blown up the bridge across the Tugela, and our army was moving
+forward, and a great battle was expected shortly. On landing Chris rode
+at once to the address given by his mother, and found that she had
+sailed for Cape Town a week before. Riding then to the railway, he
+found that the line was closed altogether to passenger traffic, but
+that a train with some troops and a strong detachment of sailors was
+going up that evening. Learning that a naval officer was in command, as
+the military consisted only of small parties of men who had been left
+behind, when their regiments left, to look after and forward their
+stores, he went to him. He had, before landing, donned his civilian
+suit.
+
+"What can I do for you, sir?" the officer, who was watching a party
+loading trucks with sheep, asked.
+
+"My name is King, sir. I have just returned from an expedition to
+Komati, I and three friends with me, and we have succeeded in blowing
+up a large number of waggons containing a battery of field artillery,
+two very heavy long guns, which, by the marks on the case, came from
+Creusot, some eight or ten thousand rifles, and six truck-loads of
+ammunition."
+
+"The deuce you have!" the officer said, looking with great surprise at
+the lad who told him this astonishing tale. Then sharply he added: "Are
+you speaking the truth, sir? You will find it the worse for you if you
+are not."
+
+"What I say is perfectly true," Chris said quietly. "We only arrived an
+hour since from Lorenzo Marques. This open letter from General Yule
+will show you that the party of boys of whom I was the leader, have
+done some good service before now."
+
+The officer opened and read the letter. "I must beg your pardon for
+having doubted your word," he said, as he handed it back. "After
+adventuring into a Boer camp, and giving so heavy a lesson to a
+superior force of the enemy, I can quite imagine you capable of
+carrying out the adventure you have just spoken of. Now, sir, what can
+I do for you?"
+
+"I have come to ask if you will allow myself and my three friends to
+accompany you."
+
+"That I will most certainly. And indeed, as you have a report to make
+of this matter to General Buller, you have a right to go on by the
+first military train. Is there anything else?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I should be greatly obliged if you will authorize the
+station-master to attach a carriage to the train to take our five
+horses."
+
+"I will go with you to him," the officer said. "I can't say whether
+that can be managed or not."
+
+The station-master at first said that it was impossible, for his orders
+were for a certain number of carriages and trucks, and with those
+orders from the commanding officer he could not add to the number.
+
+"But you might slip it on behind, Mr. Station-master," the officer
+said. "There are four gentlemen going up with a very important report
+to Sir Redvers Buller."
+
+"I would do it willingly enough," the station-master said, "but the
+commanding officer is bound to be down here with his staff, and he
+would notice the horses directly."
+
+"They might be put in a closed van, sir," Chris urged. "And as there
+are so many full of stores, it would naturally be supposed that this
+was also loaded with them."
+
+The official smiled. "Well, young gentleman, I will do what I can for
+you. As the officer in command of the train has consented, I can fall
+back upon his authority if there should be any fuss about it. The train
+will start at eight this evening; you had better have your horses here
+two hours before that. Entrain them on the other side of the yard, and
+I will have the waggon attached to the train quietly as soon as you
+have got them in. The general is not likely to be down here till half
+an hour before the train starts, and it is certainly not probable that
+he will count the number of carriages."
+
+It was now half-past five, and Chris joined his friends, who were
+waiting with the horses and Kaffirs near the station. They had hardly
+expected him so soon, as they did not know that his mother had left.
+
+"Good news," he said. "There is a through train going up this evening,
+and I have got permission for us and the horses to go; but they must be
+put in a truck by half-past six, and we may as well get them in at
+once. We still have our water-skins; the Kaffirs had better get them
+filled at once, and a good supply of mealies for the horses on the way;
+there is no saying how long we may be. Willesden, do you run into a
+store and get a supply of bread and a cold ham for ourselves; a good
+stock of bread for the Kaffirs, and a jar of water, and a hamper, with
+a lock, containing two dozen bottles of beer, the mildest you can get,
+for them. We are sure to get out for a few minutes at one of the
+stations, and can then unlock the hamper and give them a bottle each.
+It would never do to leave it to their mercy; they would drink it up in
+the first half-hour, and then likely enough quarrel and fight. For
+ourselves, we will have a small skin of water and, say, three bottles
+of whisky. The carriage is sure to be full, and it will be acceptable
+in the heat of the day tomorrow. The remainder of our supply of tea and
+so on, and the lamp and other things, had better all go in with the
+horses, and everything we do not absolutely want in the train with us;
+there will be little room enough. Get an extra kettle, then we can not
+only make ourselves a cup of tea or cocoa on the road, but give some to
+any friend we may make; besides, it is sure to come in useful when we
+get to the front."
+
+"I will see to all that."
+
+"If you will, take Jack with you to carry the things you buy."
+
+"I had better take two of them; it will be a good weight."
+
+"Very well, take one of the Zulus; the other can lead the spare horse,
+and likely enough we shall have some trouble in getting them into the
+waggon."
+
+That work, however, turned out more easy than he had expected. The
+station-master pointed out the waggon that he was to take, which was
+standing alone on one of the lines of rails. They all set to work, and
+were not long in running it alongside an empty platform, from which the
+horses were led into it without trouble, being by this time accustomed
+to so many changes that they obeyed their masters' orders without
+hesitation. They had, too, already made one railway journey, and had
+found that it was not unpleasant. The station-master happened to catch
+sight of them, and sent two of the porters to take the waggon across
+the various points to the rear of the train, where it was coupled. The
+water-skins had been filled and the horses given a good drink before
+entering the station, and the stores, waterproofs, and other spare
+articles stowed with the horses. The shutter was closed, and the
+Kaffirs told that on no account were they to open it or show their
+faces until the train had left the station.
+
+In a few minutes Willesden came up with the two natives heavily laden.
+As soon as the stores and natives were all safely packed away and the
+door of the van locked by one of the porters, the lads went out and had
+a hearty meal at an hotel near the station. When they returned a large
+number of soldiers and sailors were gathered on the platform. Their
+baggage had already been stowed, and they were drawn up in fours,
+facing the train, in readiness to enter when the word was given, the
+officers standing and chatting in groups. The station was well lighted,
+as, in addition to the ordinary gas-lamps, several powerful oil-lamps
+had been hung up at short intervals. The naval men were in the front
+part of the train, and on Chris walking up there the officer in command
+beckoned to him.
+
+"I will take you in the carriage with me, Mr. King. We want very much
+to hear your story, and there is plenty of room for you. Your three
+companions will go in the next two compartments, which will contain
+junior officers and midshipmen, and I am sure that they too will be
+very welcome. Before we board the train I will get you all to go and
+sit at the windows at the other side. If you will bring your friends up
+I will introduce them to their messmates on the trip. As soon as we
+have all entered, we shall be at the window saying good-by to our
+friends, and no one will catch sight of you. It is just as well, for
+although I feel perfectly justified in taking you on to make your
+report to the commander-in-chief, my senior might fuss over it; and
+although he might let you go on, there would be a lot of explanations
+and bother. Have you got your horses in?"
+
+"Yes, sir; we were able to manage that capitally."
+
+"Then you had better bring your comrades up at once, Mr. King, and I
+will introduce them to those they will travel with." Chris brought up
+his three friends and introduced them to the officer, who then took
+them to the group of youngsters.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "these three gentlemen will travel in your
+compartment. They have seen a great deal of the war, and belong to one
+of the mounted volunteer corps. They have a wonderful story to tell
+you, and I am sure you will be delighted with their companionship. They
+will take their seats just before the men entrain. They must occupy the
+seats near the farther window, and as you will no doubt all be looking
+out on this side, they will probably not be noticed, which would be all
+the better, as it is a little irregular my taking them up."
+
+By this time a considerable number of people were crowded in the
+station, friends of the officers and comrades of the sailors, who
+looked enviously at those going forward, while they themselves might
+possibly not get a chance of doing so. A quarter of an hour later the
+officer said:
+
+"I am going to give the order to entrain. This is my compartment. You
+and your friends had better slip into your places at once."
+
+As soon as they had got in the order was given, and with the regularity
+of a machine the three hundred men entered the train. As soon as they
+had done so the officers took their places. The crowd moved up on to
+the platform, and there was much shaking of hands, cheering, and
+exhortations to do for the Boers. Suddenly there was a backward
+movement on the part of the spectators, and the commanding naval
+officer on the station, with several others and a group of military
+men, came on to the platform. They were received by the officers in
+command of the sailors and soldiers, and walked with them along the
+platform talking. This was evidently a matter of ceremony only. The
+usual questions were put as to the stores, and after standing and
+chatting for eight or ten minutes the officers took their places in the
+train, the engine whistled, and the train moved on, amid loud cheering
+both from those on the platform and the men at the windows. As soon as
+they were fairly off, Chris's friend said:
+
+"I have already introduced you to these officers, Mr. King, but I have
+not told them any of your doings. I can only say, gentlemen, that this
+young officer is in command of a section of Volunteer Horse, and has
+done work that any of us might be proud indeed to accomplish. The best
+introduction I can give him, before he begins to tell his story, is by
+reading a letter with which General Yule has furnished him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+BACK WITH THE ARMY
+
+
+While the letter was being passed round from hand to hand, a good deal
+to Chris's discomfort, he had time to look more closely than he had
+done before at his travelling companions. Three of them were young
+lieutenants, the fourth an older man, shrewd but kindly faced. In
+introducing him, his friend said: "This is our medico, Dr. Dawlish. I
+hope that you will have no occasion to make his professional
+acquaintance." When they had all read the letter, the senior lieutenant
+said: "Now, Mr. King, we won't ask much of you to-night; we shall have
+all to-morrow to listen to your story. We have all had a pretty hard
+day's work, and shall before long turn in. Perhaps you will tell us to
+begin with what your corps is, and how you became the officer."
+
+"There are twenty-one of us, sir, and we are all about the same age. We
+were great friends together at Johannesburg, where our fathers were for
+the most part connected with mining. As things went on badly, we
+decided to form ourselves into a corps if the war broke out. They chose
+me as their leader--for no particular reason that I know of--and with
+the understanding that if I did not quite give satisfaction, I should
+resign in favour of one of the others. We all came down with our
+families from Johannesburg when war was declared, and were grossly
+insulted and ill-treated by the Boers, several of the ladies, among
+them my mother, being struck on the face with their whips; which, you
+can imagine, quite confirmed our determination to fight against them.
+We had all obtained our parents' consent, and when we got to
+Pietermaritzburg, proceeded to get our horses and equipments. That is
+all."
+
+"A great deal too short, Mr. King," the lieutenant said. "We want to
+know what steps you took, and how you managed it. Did you come down all
+the way by train?"
+
+Chris related the events of the journey with more detail, and how, all
+being well furnished with money, they had lost no time in getting all
+they required, and going back by train to Newcastle.
+
+"That is a good point to leave off," the officer said. "Tomorrow
+morning we will take your story in instalments, and I do hope you will
+give us the details as minutely as you can. They will greatly interest
+us, as we are going in for that sort of thing, and it will show us what
+can be done by a small number of young fellows accustomed to the
+country, well-mounted, and, I am sure, from what General Yule says,
+remarkably well led." All were provided with flasks, and after sampling
+the contents of these, they wrapped themselves in their rugs and were
+soon fast asleep. The other three lads did not get off so easily, the
+younger officers were all so delighted at the prospect of soon being
+engaged that they were in no way inclined to sleep, and it was not
+until the seniors had long been soundly off that they too agreed to
+postpone the rest of the boys' narrative until the next morning. The
+train travelled very slowly, and Pietermaritzburg--a distance of
+seventy miles--was not reached until day was breaking. Here there was a
+long pause, and all alighted to stretch their limbs. The lads ran to
+the end of the train; Jack was looking out.
+
+"I thought that we should stop here, baas," he said; "and I have got
+the kettles boiling and ready."
+
+"Good man!" Chris said. "How have the horses passed the night?"
+
+"They have been very quiet, baas."
+
+"That is good to know. Take the kettles off and put three good handfuls
+of tea in each."
+
+"Yes, baas."
+
+"When they are emptied, fill them with fresh water and put them again
+on the stove. When they boil, bring them to our carriages, having of
+course put some tea in before you take them off the lamp. Now, give me
+one of those large loaves and the ham, and all the mugs and knives. We
+will start breakfast first in my compartment, Willesden; we will pass
+you in the ham when we have done with it. Anyhow, the kettles will hold
+enough for a mug for everyone in our three compartments, and by the
+time we have drunk that the second lot will be boiling. Open a couple
+of tins of milk, Jack, and then you can bring them along when you have
+taken the kettles. There is no extraordinary hurry, for I heard them
+say that we should wait here at least an hour."
+
+There was some amusement among the soldiers and sailors as Jack,
+carrying the kettles, and Chris, Willesden, Brown, and Peters with ham,
+bread and butter, tin mugs, plates, and three open tins of preserved
+milk, came along down the platform.
+
+"What have you got here?" the doctor asked in surprise, as they arrived
+at the carriage.
+
+"Breakfast," Chris said. "It is in the rough, but you will get it
+rougher than this before you get to Ladysmith."
+
+"Why, you must be a conjurer. Where did you get the water from? We were
+just discussing whether we should go out and try to fight our way to
+those barrels of beer where the Tommies are clustered, or content
+ourselves with spirit and water, a drink I cannot recommend in the
+morning."
+
+There were exclamations of pleasure from all in the carriage as Jack
+was handing in the things.
+
+"We shall not want the ham, Mr. King," the senior lieutenant said. "We
+provided ourselves with a great basket of eatables and a few bottles of
+wine, but the idea of making tea in the train did not, I think, occur
+to any of us."
+
+Chris was not allowed to cut his ham, for the basket contained pies,
+chicken, and other luxuries; but the tea was immensely appreciated. By
+the time that the first mugs were empty Jack arrived with the fresh
+supply, and long before the train started breakfast was over, pipes had
+been lighted, and all felt thoroughly awake and cheery. "Do you always
+travel so well provided, Mr. King?" the doctor asked.
+
+"We always carry tea, preserved milk, and preserved cocoa, and two or
+three gallons of paraffin for cooking with. In case we can't find wood
+for a fire, it makes all the difference in the world in our comfort."
+
+"Now, Mr. King, we must waste no more time; so please begin at once, or
+there will be no time to hear all your story. Tell us something about
+your expedition to Komati-poort. The other we shall hope to hear on
+another occasion in our camp, where we shall all be glad to see you at
+any time."
+
+Chris then related the idea he had formed at Maritzburg, of blowing up
+the bridge, and how he had carried out the adventure. He passed very
+briefly over the journey, but described fully how they had been obliged
+to relinquish their original project, owing to the bridge being so
+strongly guarded at both ends; and how, failing in that respect, they
+had determined to do as much damage as possible to the great assemblage
+of waggons filled with arms and military stores; and fully detailed the
+manner in which this had been accomplished, and the aspect of the yard
+on the following morning.
+
+"Splendidly planned and carried out!" the commander of the party
+exclaimed, and the others all echoed his words. It was astonishing
+indeed to think that such a plan should have been conceived and carried
+out by a lad no older than some of their junior midshipmen, and
+assisted by only three others of the same age.
+
+"The day before we started," the doctor said, "I saw in one of the
+Durban papers a telegram from Lorenzo Marques saying that there had
+been an explosion at Komati-poort, where a few waggons had been injured
+and two natives killed, but that the Boers had suffered in any way, and
+that the damage would be repaired and the line opened for traffic in a
+few hours."
+
+"There is only one word of truth in that, sir," Chris said smiling,
+"and that is that no Boers suffered. I am convinced that is strictly
+true, for the eight Boers at the bridge were certainly instantaneously
+killed; and of the natives, whom I am sorry for, there were certainly
+eighteen killed, together with some eight or ten Portuguese employés.
+If I could by any possibility have got the natives out of the way I
+would have done so. As to the Portuguese I do not feel any great
+regret, for I believe all the officials in the custom-house on the
+railway are bribed by the Boers to break the official orders they
+receive as to observing strict neutrality, and aid in every way in
+passing the materials of war into the Transvaal."
+
+There was no time for further conversation, for they were now within a
+short distance of the Tugela, and the train was winding its way between
+steep hills which could have been held successfully by a handful of men.
+
+"The only wonder to me is," another officer said, "that the Boers did
+not take up and drag away the rails all the way from here to Estcourt.
+If they had lifted them out of their sleepers, they had only to harness
+a rail behind each horse and trot off with it. I know that there is a
+considerable amount of railway material at Durban, but I doubt if there
+is anything like sufficient to make twenty miles of road. And the
+business would have been still more difficult if the Boers had
+collected the sleepers in great piles and burned them. Of course they
+have destroyed a good many culverts and the bridge at Estcourt. It is
+wonderful that the railway people should have managed to get up a
+temporary trestle bridge so soon, and to make a deviation of the line
+to carry the trains over. It does their engineers immense credit. This
+pass is widening," he added after putting his head out of the window.
+"I fancy we shall be at Chieveley in a few minutes."
+
+The train came to a stand-still at a siding a short distance outside
+the station, which was crowded by a long line of waggons with stores of
+all kinds. A number of sailors were unloading shells for their guns,
+and a crowd of Kaffirs, under the orders of military officers, were
+getting out the stores. As they alighted, after hearty thanks to the
+officer whose kindness had been the means of their getting forward so
+promptly, and who now went to report his arrival to Captain Jones, who
+was superintending the operations of the sailors, Chris and his party
+hurried to the rear waggon. It was a work of considerable difficulty to
+get the horses out, and could not have been accomplished had there not
+been a stack of sleepers near the spot. A number of these were carried
+and piled so as to make a sloping gangway, by which the horses were
+brought down. The sleepers being returned to their places, Chris and
+his friends mounted and rode to the camp, which was placed behind a
+long, low ridge which screened it from the sight of the enemy on the
+opposite hills, although within easy range of their heavy guns.
+
+Here before daybreak on the 12th, Major-general Barton's Fusilier
+brigade, with a thousand Colonial Cavalry, three field batteries, and
+the naval guns, had marched north, and were the following night joined
+by another brigade with some cavalry. The next day the big naval guns
+had opened fire; but although their shell had reached the lower
+entrenchments of the Boers, their batteries on the hill had proved to
+be beyond their range even with the greatest elevation that could be
+given to them, while the Boer guns carried far beyond the camp.
+
+Chris had learned at Estcourt, where the train stopped a few minutes,
+that Captain Brookfield's troop formed part of the Colonial Horse that
+had advanced with General Barton's brigade, and they soon discovered
+their position. Leaving the horses with the natives, they went to his
+tent.
+
+"I am delighted to see you back," he exclaimed as they entered. "I
+heard in confidence from one of your party, when they joined me a week
+back, that you had gone on a mad-brained adventure to try and blow up
+the Komati-poort bridge. I was horrified! I had, of course, given you
+leave to act on your own responsibility, but I never dreamt of your
+undertaking an expedition of that sort. Of course you found it
+impossible to get there. A lad told me that you had reckoned on being
+away six or seven weeks, and it is less than a month since the date on
+which he told me you left. Anyhow, I heartily congratulate you on all
+getting back."
+
+"We got there, sir, but nothing could be done with the bridge, it was
+so safely guarded. However, we did blow up two big cannon and a battery
+of small ones, some ten thousand rifles, and an enormous quantity of
+ammunition."
+
+"You don't say so, Chris? Then you had better luck than you deserved.
+One of the correspondents told me this morning that there was news in
+the town by a telegram from Lorenzo Marques that there had been an
+accidental explosion at Komati-poort, but it did not seem to be
+anything serious. Tell me all about it."
+
+"I congratulate you most heartily," he said, when Chris had finished
+the story. "Of course you have written a report of it?"
+
+"Here it is, sir. I have made it very brief, merely saying that I had
+the honour to report that, with Messrs. Peters, Brown, and Willesden, I
+succeeded in blowing up, with two hundredweight of dynamite, the things
+I have mentioned to you, destroying a large quantity of rolling stock,
+badly damaging five locomotives, and destroying roads and sidings to
+such an extent that traffic can hardly be resumed for a fortnight. Is
+the general here, sir?"
+
+"No, but he will be here this afternoon. Now, I will not detain you
+from your friends. No doubt they saw you ride in, and will be most
+anxious to hear of your doings. You will hardly know them again. When
+they came up to join us they adopted the uniform of the corps, feeling
+that it would be uncomfortable going about in a large camp in civilian
+dress. They brought with them uniforms for you all, for they seemed
+very certain that you would return alive."
+
+"I am very glad of that, sir, for the soldiers all stared at us as we
+came up here. I suppose they took us for sight-seers who had come up to
+witness the battle."
+
+As they left the tent they found the rest of their party, gathered in a
+group twenty yards away, and the heartiest greeting was exchanged. The
+delight of the party knew no bounds when they found that their four
+friends had not had their journey in vain. They had two tents between
+them, and gathering in one of them they listened to Peters, who told
+the story, as Chris said he had told it twice, and should probably have
+to tell it again. The four lads at once exchanged their civilian
+clothes for the uniforms that had been brought up. They were, like
+those of the other Colonial corps, very simple, consisting of a loose
+jacket reaching down to the hip, with turned-down collar and pockets,
+breeches of the same light colour and material, loose to the knee and
+tighter below it; knee boots, and felt hats looped up on one side.
+
+The first step when they were dressed was to mount an eminence some
+distance in rear of the camp, whence they had a view of the whole
+country. In front of them was a wide valley with a broad river running
+through it. Beyond it rose steep hills, range behind range. It was
+crossed by two bridges, that of the railway, which had been blown up
+and destroyed, and the road bridge, which was still intact; though, as
+Sankey, who had accompanied them, told them, it was known to be mined.
+To the left of the line of railway was a hill known as Grobler's Kloof,
+on the summit of which a line of heavy guns could be seen. There were
+other batteries on slopes at its foot commanding the bridge, to the
+right of which on another hill was Fort Wylie, and in a bend of the
+river by the railway could be seen the white roof of the church tower
+of Colenso. There was another battery behind this, and others still
+farther to the right on Mount Hlangwane. Heavy guns could be seen on
+other hills to the left of Grobler's Kloof; while far away behind
+Colenso was the crest of Mount Bulwana, from which a cannonade was
+being directed upon Ladysmith and an occasional white burst of smoke
+showed that the garrison were replying successfully. On all the lower
+slopes of the hills were lines, sometimes broken, sometimes connected,
+rising one above another. These were the Boer entrenchments, and Cairns
+said that he heard that they extended for nearly twenty miles both to
+the right and left.
+
+"It is believed that we don't see anything like all of them," he went
+on, "but we really don't know much about them, for the Boers only
+answer occasionally from their great guns on the hilltops, and although
+yesterday the sailors fired lyddite shells at these lower trenches,
+there was no reply."
+
+"It is an awful place to take," Chris said, after examining the hills
+for a quarter of an hour with his glasses. "We have seen that the Boers
+are no good in the open, but I have no doubt they will hold their
+entrenchments stubbornly, and it is certain that a great many of them
+are good shots. I have gone over the ground at Laing's Nek, and that
+was nothing at all in comparison to this position. Do you know how many
+there are supposed to be of them, Cairns?"
+
+"They say that there are about twenty-five thousand of them, but no one
+knows exactly. Natives get through pretty often from Ladysmith, but
+they know no more there than we do here. They are all jolly and
+cheerful there, in the thought that they will soon be relieved."
+
+"I hope that they are not counting their chickens before they are
+hatched," Chris said. "I doubt very greatly whether we shall carry
+those hills in front of us, and if we do the ranges behind are no doubt
+fortified. How about crossing the river?"
+
+"There are several drifts. There is one about four miles to the left of
+the bridge, called Bridle Drift. Waggon Drift is about as much farther
+on. There is a drift just this side of where the Little Tugela runs
+into it, and one just farther on; there is Skeete Drift and Molen
+Drift, with a pontoon ferry; there is an important one called
+Potgieter's Drift, where the road from Springfield to Ladysmith
+crosses; and another, Trichardt's, where a road goes to Acton Homes. I
+know there are some to the right, but I don't know their names."
+
+"Well, that is comforting, because even if we take Colenso there would
+be no crossing if the bridge is mined. And as the town will be
+commanded by a dozen batteries, we should not gain much by its capture.
+Well, I tell you fairly that I am well satisfied that we belong to a
+mounted corps and shall be only lookers-on, for even if we win we shall
+certainly lose a tremendous lot of men. Is there no way of marching
+round one way or the other?"
+
+"I believe not. The only way at all open seems to be round by Acton
+Homes; that is a place about fifteen miles west of Ladysmith, and on
+the principal road from Van Reenen's Pass. From there down to Ladysmith
+the country is comparatively open, but it is a tremendously long way
+round. I don't know how far, but I should say forty or fifty miles; and
+certainly the road will in many places be commanded by Boer guns; and
+they will most likely have fortified strong positions at various
+points. But, of course, the great difficulty will be transport; I am
+sure we have nothing like enough to take stores for the army all that
+distance. Besides, Chris, I don't see that we should gain any advantage
+from going to Ladysmith that way, we should be as far as ever from
+thrashing the Boers, and certainly could not remain in Ladysmith; we
+should eat up all the provisions there in no time."
+
+"I don't like the outlook at all," Peters said.
+
+"Ah, there is a general officer with a staff riding into the camp. Most
+likely it is Buller. We had better go down, for if Brookfield gives in
+my report he may want to speak to me."
+
+The party went down the hill. When they reached their camp they were at
+once sent for to Captain Brookfield's tent.
+
+"I am glad that you are back," he said. "Sir Redvers Buller has just
+ridden up on to the ridge, I will speak to him as he comes down. You
+had better come with me and stand a short distance off. Bring your
+rifles with you, and stand in military order; you three in line, and
+Chris two paces in front of you."
+
+Having got their rifles they followed Captain Brookfield till he
+stopped at the foot of the slope below the point where the general and
+his staff were standing. Their leader advanced some fifty yards ahead
+of them. In a quarter of an hour the party were seen descending the
+hill. Captain Brookfield stepped forward and saluted the general as he
+came along a horse's length in front of his staff. Sir Redvers checked
+his horse a little impatiently.
+
+"What is it sir?" he said sharply. "I cannot attend to camp details
+now."
+
+"I command the Maritzburg Scouts," Captain Brookfield said. "Three of
+my men, with Mr. King, who commands the section to which they belong,
+have just returned. I wish to hand you Mr. King's report; it contains
+news which is, I think, of importance."
+
+"Give it to Lord Gerard," the general said briefly, motioning to one of
+the officers behind him. "Please see what it is about, Gerard." And he
+then moved forward again, briefly acknowledging Captain Brookfield's
+salute. He had gone, however, but twenty yards when Lord Gerard rode up
+to him and handed to him the open dispatch.
+
+"It is of importance, sir."
+
+Supposing that it was merely the report of four scouts who had gone out
+reconnoitring, and with his mind absorbed with weightier matters, the
+general had hardly given the matter a thought. Without checking his
+horse he glanced at the paper, and then abruptly reined in his charger
+and read it through attentively. Then he turned to where Captain
+Brookfield was still standing and called him up.
+
+"I do not quite understand this report, sir," he said. "Is it possible
+that your men have been up to Komati-poort? I gathered from your words
+that they had merely returned from reconnoitring."
+
+"No, sir; they only came in this morning by the train from Durban with
+the naval detachment with details."
+
+"But how in the world did they get to Komati-poort?"
+
+"They started from Maritzburg, sir, and rode up through Zululand and
+Swaziland. Their object was to blow up the bridge, and to stop supplies
+of munitions of war continuing to pass up through Lorenzo Marques. I
+may say that they acted on their own initiative. The section to which
+they belong is composed entirely of gentlemen's sons from Johannesburg;
+they provide their horses and equipment, and draw no pay or rations,
+and when they joined my corps made it a condition that so long as not
+required for regular work they should be allowed to scout on their own
+account."
+
+Before calling up Captain Brookfield the general had handed back the
+despatch to Lord Gerard, with the words, "Pass it round."
+
+"Are those your men?" the general said, pointing to the little squad.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Sir Redvers rode up to them, and on returning their salute, said: "You
+have done well indeed, gentlemen; it was a most gallant action. Have
+you your own horse with you?" he asked Chris.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Then mount at once and join me as I leave camp. Then you can tell me
+about this matter on my way back."
+
+Chris was soon on horseback. He waited at a short distance while the
+general talked with General Barton, and as soon as he saw him turn to
+ride off cantered up and joined the staff. The general looked round as
+he did so. He beckoned to him to come up to his side.
+
+"Now, sir, let me hear more about this. The captain of the troop that
+you belong to, tells me that you and twenty other young fellows, all
+from Johannesburg, formed yourselves into a party of scouts, and are
+making war at your own expense, and that although in a certain way you
+joined his troop you really act independently when it so pleases you."
+
+"Yes, sir. We and our families have received great indignities from the
+Boers; and although we are conscious that we should be of little use as
+troops, we thought that we could do service as scouts on our own
+account, and have been lucky in inflicting some blows on them. I was
+fortunate enough to attract Colonel Yule's attention at Dundee, and he
+furnished me with an open letter addressed to you, and to officers
+commanding stations, saying that we had done so."
+
+"Have you it about you?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Sir Redvers held out his hand, and Chris handed him the letter. "So you
+went into the Boer camp! Do you speak Dutch well?"
+
+"Yes, sir; we all speak Dutch fairly, and most of us Kaffir also, that
+was why we thought that we should be more useful scouting; until now we
+have all been dressed as young Boers, and could, I think, pass without
+suspicion anywhere."
+
+"Now as to this other affair," Sir Redvers said, returning Colonel
+Yule's letter. "You had better take this, it will be useful to you
+another time. Now tell me all about it. Was it entirely your own idea?"
+
+"I first thought of it, sir, and my three friends agreed to go with me.
+I did not want a large number. We started from Maritzburg with our own
+Kaffir servant, and two Zulus and two Swazis to act as guides, two
+ponies, each of which carried a hundredweight of dynamite; we had also
+a spare riding horse."
+
+He then related their proceedings from the time of their start to their
+arrival at Komati-poort; their failure at the bridge in consequence of
+the strong guard that the Boers had set over it; and how, finding that
+the main object of their journey could not be carried out, they
+proceeded to wreck the station yard and its contents.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. King," the general said, when Chris concluded by
+mentioning briefly how they had ridden down to Lorenzo Marques, and
+taken a ship to Durban, and come up by train. "I saw the telegram of
+the accident at Komati-poort. I imagined that it was probably more
+severe than was stated, but certainly had no idea that such wholesale
+damage had been effected, or that it was the work of any of our people.
+I think that it would be unwise for me to take any public notice of it
+at present; possibly there may be another attempt made to destroy that
+bridge. If nothing more is said about it, the Boers may in time cease
+to be careful, and a few determined men landed at Lorenzo Marques may
+manage to succeed where you were unable to do so. It would be worth any
+money to us to put a stop to the constant flow of arms and ammunition
+that is going on via Lorenzo Marques. I consider your expedition to
+have been in the highest degree praiseworthy, and to have been
+conducted with great skill."
+
+"My father is a mining engineer, and managing-director of several mines
+round Johannesburg, general. I have been working there under him and
+learning the business, and therefore know a good deal about dynamite,
+and what a certain quantity would effect."
+
+"Have you thought of going into the army? because if so, I will appoint
+you and your three friends to regiments at once, and you will be
+gazetted as soon as my report goes home."
+
+"I am very much obliged to you, general, but I have no thought of
+entering the army. I will, of course, mention it to my friends. I have
+never heard them say anything on the subject. We are fighting because
+we hate the Boers. No one can say, unless he has been resident there,
+what we have all had to put up with, for the past year especially. On
+the way down the Boers not only threatened to strike us, but struck
+many of the ladies, my mother among them, besides robbing everyone of
+watches and all other valuables. If it had not been for that, some of
+us might have changed our minds before we got down here. That settled
+the matter. And besides, sir, I hope that we shall be able to do more
+good in our own way than if we became regular officers, as we know
+nothing about drill and should be of very little good, whereas we do
+understand our own way of fighting. I can say so without boasting, for
+we have twice thrashed the Boers; once when they were twice our number,
+and the other time when they were nearly four times as strong as we
+were."
+
+"Go on doing so, Mr. King; go on doing so, you cannot do better.
+However, if any of your three friends, or all of them, choose to accept
+my offer, it is open to them."
+
+They were by this time close to Frere, and the general went on: "I am
+sorry that I cannot ask you to dine with me this evening, as we shall
+all be too busy for anything like a regular meal, for in a few hours
+there will be a general advance. Good-evening. When I am less busy I
+shall be glad to hear about those two fights that you speak of. You
+colonists have taught us a few lessons already."
+
+Chris saluted, wheeled his horse round, and cantered back to Chieveley.
+There was much satisfaction among the whole of the party when Chris
+related what General Buller had said. None of his three companions had
+any desire to accept a commission. Willesden's father was a doctor with
+a large practice in Johannesburg, and the lad himself was going home
+after the war was over to study for the profession and to take his
+medical degree; while Brown and Peters were both sons of very wealthy
+capitalists.
+
+"If I could not have done any fighting any other way I should have
+liked a commission very much. Of course I could have thrown it up at
+the end of the war. But I would a great deal rather be on horseback
+than on foot, and I own I have no inclination to fight my way across
+those hills. Talana was a pretty serious business, but it was child's
+play to what this will be."
+
+"Very well," Chris said; "I did not think that any of you would care
+for it, although I could not answer for you. There is no need for hurry
+in sending in a reply; there will be time to do that when we get into
+Ladysmith. Then I will get Captain Brookfield to draw up the kind of
+letter that ought to be sent, for I have not the least idea how I
+should address a commander-in-chief. Of course, a thing of this sort
+ought to be done in a formal sort of way; I could not very well say,
+'My dear general, my three friends don't care to accept your kind
+offer. Yours very truly.'" There was a general laugh, and then they
+talked over the coming fight, for it was now generally known that the
+attack was to be made in a couple of days at latest. The next morning
+General Buller's column started before daybreak, and were by nine
+o'clock encamped on the open veldt three miles north of Chieveley;
+Barton's brigade having already marched out to the site of a new camp,
+some five thousand yards south of Colenso. Although well within reach
+of their guns, the Boers made no effort to hinder the operation, or to
+shell the camp after it was formed. It was evidently their policy to
+conceal their guns until the last moment, and although a very heavy
+bombardment of their positions was maintained all day by the naval
+guns, no reply whatever was elicited, though through the glasses it
+could be seen that much damage was being done to the entrenchments.
+
+"I don't like this silence," Chris said, as he and some of the others
+were standing watching the hills in front of them. "It does not seem
+natural when you are being pelted like that not to shy something back.
+I am afraid it will be a terribly hot business when they do open fire
+tomorrow."
+
+There had been a discussion that morning whether the four natives Chris
+had engaged for his expedition should be taken on permanently, and they
+unanimously agreed that they should be. It was quite possible that all
+the colonial corps would at some time be called upon to act as
+infantry, and it would be a good thing to have six men to look after
+the twenty-five horses while they were away. Then, too, it would be
+very handy to have a stretcher party of their own. On the question
+being put to them, the four men had willingly agreed to follow the
+party whenever they went into a fight, to take two stretchers with
+which they could at once carry any who might be wounded back to camp.
+They were all strong fellows belonging to fighting peoples, and would,
+the boys had no doubt, show as much courage as the Indian bearers had
+displayed at Dundee and Elandslaagte. In the evening Captain Brookfield
+sent for Chris.
+
+"The orders for to-morrow are out," he said, "as far as we are
+concerned. A thousand mounted infantry and one battery are to move in
+the direction of Hlangwane--that is the hill, you know, this side of
+the river to the right of Colenso. We shall cover the right flank of
+the general movement and endeavour to take up a position on the hill,
+where the battery will pepper the Boers on the kopjes north of the
+bridge. Two mounted troops of three and five hundred men will cover the
+right and left flanks respectively and protect the baggage. Half my
+troop are to accompany Dundonald, the other half will form a part of
+the force guarding the left wing. Your party will be with this force.
+You have had your share of fighting, and none of the others have yet
+had a chance."
+
+"Very well, sir, I shall not be sorry to be on this duty; for naturally
+we shall have a good view of the whole fight, while if we were engaged
+we should see nothing except what was going on close to us."
+
+"Yes, it will be something to see, Chris, and something to hear, for I
+doubt whether there has been so heavy a fire as that which will be kept
+up to-morrow, ever since war began. We have some twenty-three thousand
+men, and the Boers more than as many, and what with magazine-guns,
+machine-guns, and fast-firing cannon of all sizes, it will be an
+inferno."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE BATTLE OF COLENSO
+
+
+By daybreak next morning the whole force was under arms. General
+Hildyard in the centre was to attack the iron bridge at Colenso.
+General Hart's Irish brigade was to march towards Bridle Drift, and
+after crossing to move along the left bank of the river towards the
+kopjes north of the iron bridge. General Barton was to move forward
+east of the railway towards Hlangwane Hill, and to support General
+Hildyard, or the Colonial troops moving against that hill as might
+appear necessary, while General Lyttleton's brigade, half-way between
+those of Hildyard and Hart, were to be prepared to render assistance to
+either as might be required. One division of the artillery was to
+follow Lyttleton's brigade. The six naval guns were to advance on his
+right. The sixth brigade were to aid General Hart, and three batteries
+of Royal Artillery to move east of the railway, under cover of the
+sixth brigade, to a point from which they could prepare the way for
+Hildyard's brigade to cross the bridge.
+
+The action began before six o'clock, the naval guns opening with
+lyddite on the trenches on Grobler's Hill, and those between it and
+Fort Wylie. No reply whatever was made by the Boers, and the troopers
+standing by their horses' heads in readiness to mount should any party
+of Boers make a raid on the camp, began to wonder whether the enemy had
+not retreated. Hildyard's men advanced in open order close to the
+railway; the Queen's own, with the West York in support, on the right
+of the railway; and the Devons, with East Surrey behind them, on the
+left. They marched as steadily and in as perfect alignment as if on
+parade, eight paces apart. Hart's Irish brigade, far away to the left,
+were in close order. The cavalry could be seen proceeding at a trot
+towards Hlangwane, General Barton's brigade still bearing to the east;
+and Colonel Long and Colonel Hunt with their batteries, without waiting
+for their protection, galloped straight forward, and, taking up a
+position almost facing Fort Wylie, a few hundred yards beyond the
+river, opened a heavy fire; the six naval guns, which were drawn by
+bullocks, being still a considerable distance behind them.
+
+Still the Boer guns remained silent. But at half past six their
+musketry opened suddenly upon the Queen's Own, the Devons, and the
+guns, in one continuous roar. It came not only from the entrenchments
+on the face of the hill, but from trenches close down by the river, and
+from the houses of Colenso, from some railway huts, and from the bushes
+that fringed the south bank of the river, which had been believed to be
+wholly unoccupied. Five minutes later their cannon joined in the roar,
+with machine-guns, one-pounder Maxims, and the great Creusots and
+Krupps. And yet through this storm of lead and iron our soldiers went
+on quietly and steadily. The very ground round them was torn up by
+bullet and ball. Many fell, but there was no flinching; while on their
+right, Long's batteries, though swept by a hail of missiles from unseen
+foes, maintained a continuous fire at Fort Wylie.
+
+"It is awful!" Peters exclaimed as he lowered his glasses. "I thought
+it would be dreadful, but I never dreamt of anything like this. Look at
+the bodies dotting the ground our men are passing over, and yet the
+others go on as if it was a shower of rain through which they were
+passing. I can't look at it any longer."
+
+"It is as bad for the artillery," Chris said, with his glasses still
+riveted upon them. "I saw a lot of the horses go down before they were
+unlimbered, and I can see the men are falling fast. Surely they can
+never have been meant to go within five or six hundred yards of
+magazine rifles. I thought everyone had agreed that artillery could not
+live within range of breech-loaders. Why doesn't Barton's brigade move
+down towards them, and try and keep down the fire? How is Hart getting
+on?"
+
+But it was not easy to see this even with glasses. They had not become
+engaged until a little later than the others, but as they approached
+the river an equally terrible fire opened upon them. Being in
+comparatively close order, they suffered more heavily than Hildyard had
+done. Presently they came upon a spruit which they took to be the main
+river, and under a tremendous fire from the Mausers and guns, dashed
+across it, and swinging round their left made for the drift, sweeping
+before them a number of Boers who had been hidden in the long grass.
+Trenches were there line after line, but over these the four
+regiments--the Connaught Rangers, the Border regiment, the Inniskilling
+and Dublin Fusiliers--dashed forward with such fury that the Boers did
+not stop to meet their bayonets. By a quarter-past seven the enemy had
+been driven across the Tugela. Without hesitation the Irish dashed into
+the river. Many fell headlong, for along the bottom barbed wires had
+been stretched. Worse still, it was found that instead of being two
+feet deep, as was expected, it was eight feet; for the Boers had
+erected a dyke across the river a little lower down, and had dammed the
+water back.
+
+Some swam across with their rifles and ammunition, but it was a feat
+beyond all except the strongest swimmers, and after maintaining
+themselves for some time they were forced to retire. The naval guns did
+their best to assist them, and silenced some of the Boer cannon that
+were pounding them, but they failed to draw the Boer fire upon
+themselves. It was only in the centre that even partial success was
+gained. Hildyard's men had reached but not captured Colenso bridge. In
+spite of the tremendous fire, some of the soldiers tried to make their
+way along it, but were recalled; for they were deprived of the support
+of the artillery that should have covered their passage, had no hope of
+Hart bringing his brigade round to clear the enemy out from the kloofs
+on the opposite side, and but little of aid from Lyttleton, who had
+been obliged to move farther to the left to lend assistance to Hart.
+Some of the Scottish Fusiliers had joined them from Barton's brigade,
+but the brigade itself was far away.
+
+Terrible as the fighting was at all points, it was the batteries down
+by the river that most engaged the attention of the anxious spectators.
+Desperate attempts were being made to get the guns back. Almost all the
+horses had been killed, but the drivers of the teams of the ammunition
+waggons, the few survivors of the officers, and several of the
+general's staff dashed recklessly forward under a hail of fire. Horse
+and man went over, but two of the guns were carried off. Fortunately,
+the naval battery and the third field battery had not been taken so far
+forward, and were withdrawn with comparatively little loss; and the ten
+guns stood alone and deserted by the last of the party as it seemed.
+Then, to the surprise of the watchers, one of them spoke out, for four
+of the men who worked it had stood to their charge to the last. Again
+and again it sent its shrapnel among the Boer trenches. One fell and
+then another, but two remained. They continued to fire until the last
+round of reserve ammunition was finished. Then those who were near
+enough to make out their figures saw them take their stand, one on each
+side of the gun, at attention, until both fell dead by the side of the
+piece they had served so well. Even on the right, where success might
+really have been hoped for, everything had gone badly. The dismounted
+Colonials had fought their way gallantly up the slopes of the
+Hlangwane, and nearly reached the crest. But they were not seconded by
+Lord Dundonald's cavalry; Barton's brigade, which was charged with
+aiding them, were kept at a distance, and the Colonials were at last
+forced to fall back.
+
+Great as was the loss at other points, the failure to capture this hill
+was really the greatest misfortune of the day. From its position on the
+south of the river, and in a loop, batteries erected on its summit
+would have taken all the Boer defences on the lower slopes of the hills
+in flank, and it would have covered the crossing of the river at
+Colenso. Cut off by the river from the rest of the Boer position it
+could hardly have been retaken, and its fire would have searched the
+valley up which the roadway ran almost as far as Mount Bulwana.
+
+Renewed attempts were made for some time to carry off the guns, but
+early in the afternoon the general saw that it was but a waste of life
+to persevere further, and orders were despatched for the troops to
+retire. It had been a day of misfortunes, and yet a day of glory, for
+never had the fighting power of British troops been more splendidly
+exhibited, never were greater deeds of individual daring performed;
+never had troops supported with heroic indifference so terrible a fire.
+Undoubtedly the English general had greatly underrated the fighting
+powers of the Boers and the amount of artillery to which he was
+exposed. Had he not done so, he would scarcely have distributed his
+force over so wide a face, or attacked at three points nearly four
+miles apart, but would have prepared for the grand assault by seizing
+Hlangwane and firmly establishing some of his batteries there, even at
+the cost of two or three days' labour, and only attempted to cross the
+river when the movement would have been covered by their fire.
+
+The Boers were quick in discovering the importance of the hill, and
+speedily covered its face with such entrenchments, that not until after
+long weeks of effort and failure was an attack again attempted against
+it; and the success of that attack opened the way to Ladysmith. But had
+the general's orders been carried out at all points it would probably
+have been captured. Hart's brigade was to have begun the attack, but
+owing to the map with which he was furnished being defective, his
+troops losing their way in the spruit, and their being led in far too
+close a formation under the enemy's fire, its attempt failed; this
+being, however, largely due to the astuteness of the Boers in damming
+back the river and rendering the ford impracticable. The impetuosity of
+the officers commanding two of the batteries of artillery, in pushing
+their guns forward unattended by infantry as ordered, not only caused
+the loss of ten guns and of nearly all the men who worked them, but
+deprived Hildyard's column of the protection they would have had in
+crossing the bridge, and rendered the undertaking impossible; while the
+failure of Barton's brigade to give assistance either to Hildyard or to
+the assailants of Hlangwane, contributed to the one failure, and
+entirely brought about the other.
+
+General Buller and General Clery had been wherever the shots were
+flying the thickest. Three of the former's staff, Captains Schofield
+and Congreve, and Lieutenant Roberts, son of Lord Roberts, had ridden
+forward as volunteers to try and get the guns off. Roberts was fatally
+wounded, Congreve was wounded and taken prisoner, and Schofield alone
+escaped unharmed with the two guns that were saved.
+
+The day had been almost more terrible for the troops who remained
+unoccupied near the baggage than for those actually engaged in the
+terrible light. The latter, animated by excitement and anger at their
+inability to get at the foe, had scarce time to think of their danger,
+and even laughed and joked in the midst of the hail of bullets, but the
+watchers had nothing to distract them during the long hours. With their
+glasses they could plainly see that no advance had been made at any
+point. To them it seemed incredible that any could come back from that
+storm of fire. From time to time they learned from wounded men brought
+up by the bearers, who fearlessly went down into the thick of the fire
+to do their duty, news of how matters were going on in the front.
+
+Gladly, had they received orders to do so, would they have dashed down
+to try and carry off the guns. Many shed tears of rage as they heard
+how the Irish strove in vain to cross the deep river, and how many were
+drowned in their attempts to swim it. They expected, when in the
+afternoon the troops came in, that they would see an utterly dispirited
+body of men, and were surprised when the Irish, who were the first to
+return to camp, marched along smoking their pipes and joking as if they
+had returned from a day of triumph rather than of failure. They were
+animated by a knowledge that they had done all that men could do, had
+proved they were worthy successors of their countrymen who had won
+glory in so many hard-fought fields, and that no shadow of reproach
+could fall upon them for their share in the day's work. Although they
+had suffered far more heavily than the other brigade, they returned
+more cheerfully. And yet there was no depression anywhere evinced,
+although there was anger, fierce anger, that they had not been able to
+get at the enemy, and a grim determination that next time they met,
+things should go differently.
+
+A good many prisoners had been lost. Parties had spread along among the
+bushes that lined the river, and maintained a steady fire against the
+Boer entrenchments facing them. Some of these had not heard the bugle
+sounding the retire. When they were aware what was being done some had
+left their shelter and rushed across the open ground to join the
+columns, the majority being shot down as they did so. Others had waited
+among the bushes, intending to try after nightfall; but as soon as we
+fell back the Boers had again crossed the river and spread along its
+banks, and had thus made prisoners those who were in hiding there or in
+the little dongas. Among those so captured were fourteen of the Devons
+and as many gunners, with Colonel Hunt, Colonel Bullock, Major
+MacWalter, and Captains Goodwin, Vigors, and Congreve; the total loss
+in killed, wounded, and prisoners amounted to about one thousand five
+hundred, of whom nearly half belonged to the Irish brigade. That
+evening the searchlight, which had been placed on a lofty hill visible
+from one end of the high kopjes held by the garrison of Ladysmith,
+flashed the news that the attack had failed, and that the garrison must
+be prepared to hold out for some time yet.
+
+The news of the reverse created a tremendous sensation throughout
+Natal, where it had been confidently anticipated that the army would
+brush aside without difficulty the opposition of the Boers, relieve
+Ladysmith and, advancing sweep the invaders out of the colony. In
+England, too, the sensation was scarcely less pronounced, and for the
+first time the gravity of the war in which we were engaged was
+recognized. Hitherto it had been thought that fifty thousand men would
+suffice to bring it to a successful conclusion; now it was perceived
+that at least double that number would be required. The offers of the
+colonies to aid the mother country with troops had hitherto been coldly
+received, but these were now accepted thankfully, and although our
+military authorities would not as yet recognize that the volunteers
+could be relied upon as a real fighting force, there was a talk that
+some of the militia regiments might be embodied, and a large number of
+reservists were at once summoned back to the ranks.
+
+At the front matters went on as before. It was now known how it was
+that the guns had advanced so far. Colonel Long had sent forward some
+of his mounted men with two officers. The Boers allowed them to
+approach the river bank without firing a shot. One of the scouts
+actually rode across the bridge to the other side, and returning to the
+battery they reported that there were no Boers about, and it was only
+after receiving this message that Colonel Long took the guns forward to
+within six hundred yards of the river, and twelve hundred of Fort Wylie.
+
+The wounded were all taken to Frere or Estcourt, where hospitals had
+been prepared. Hart and Lyttleton's brigades were sent back to Frere,
+and the camp at Chieveley was moved nearer to the station, both for
+convenience of supply, and because the position now taken up was a more
+defensible one, and was less exposed to the fire of the big Boer guns;
+large numbers of transport animals and waggons were brought up country.
+It was known that a newly-landed division under General Sir Charles
+Warren was now coming up, one regiment, the Somersets, arrived in camp
+two or three days after the battle, and the loss of the cannon was to
+some extent retrieved by the arrival of a 50-lbs. howitzer battery.
+
+It was but dull work in camp. The more impetuous spirits were longing
+to be employed in annoying the Boers by frequent surprises at night;
+but as these could have achieved no permanent advantage, and must have
+been attended with considerable loss of life, Sir Redvers Buller set
+his face against any such attacks, and went steadily on with his
+preparations. As troops came up anticipations of a certain success when
+the next forward movement was made were generally entertained. Chris
+and his companions passed the time pleasantly enough. Being old friends
+they had plenty to talk about, and occasional scouting expeditions to
+the east gave them a certain amount of employment. Not having been
+engaged in the attack on Hlangwane, they did not participate in the
+soreness felt by the rest of the colonials at their failure to capture
+the hill, owing to the want of support from Lord Dundonald's cavalry or
+Barton's brigade.
+
+The chagrin felt at the mistake that had been made in not making this
+the prime object of attack was general, for the Boers could be seen
+working unceasingly at their entrenchments. They had not only made a
+ford by throwing great quantities of rock and stones into the channel,
+but had also built a bridge, so that the force on the hill could be
+speedily reinforced to any extent, and what could have been effected on
+the day of the attack by half a battalion of infantry would now be a
+very serious undertaking even by a whole division.
+
+The lads were chatting one day over the chances of the next fight, most
+of them taking a very sanguine view.
+
+"What do you say, Chris?" one of them said after the discussion had
+gone on for some time. "You have not given us your opinion."
+
+"My opinion does not agree with yours," Chris replied. "After what I
+saw the other day, I think the difficulties of fighting our way over
+those mountains are so enormous that I doubt whether we shall ever do
+it."
+
+There was a chorus of dissent.
+
+"Well, we shall see," he said. "I hope that we shall do it just as much
+as you do, but it is tremendous business. I have no doubt Sir Redvers
+will go on trying, but I should not be surprised if at heart he has
+doubts that it can be done. The Boers have more guns that we have, and
+any number of those Maxims and Hotchkiss that keep up a stream of
+balls. The Boers' trenches enable them to fire at us without showing
+anything but a head, except when they stand up or have to move across
+the open. If we drive them out of one position they have others to fall
+back upon. It is not one natural fortress that we have to take, but a
+dozen of them. They know every foot of the country they occupy, while
+we know nothing but just what we can see at a distance."
+
+"Well, if Sir Redvers thought as you do, why should he go on hammering
+at it?"
+
+"For several reasons, Peters. In the first place, if Ladysmith saw that
+there was no chance of rescue it would at last give in; and in the
+second place, if there was an end of all attempts to relieve the place
+England would go wild with indignation; and in the third place, and by
+far the most important, Sir Redvers knows that he is keeping from
+twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand of the Boers inactive here, and
+so relieving the pressure on our troops on the other side. We know
+regiments are arriving from England at the Cape every day. When they
+get strong enough to invade the Orange Free State and take
+Bloemfontein, and march north, the Boers here will be hurrying away to
+defend their homes. Of course the Free Staters will go first, but the
+Transvaalers will have to follow. We hear that Methuen has been beaten
+at Magersfontein, and that he has been brought to a stand-still within
+the sound of the guns round Kimberley, just as we are here, and that
+the Boers have a very strong position there also. So at present the
+advance is as much checked there as it is here. Gatacre has had a
+misfortune too, so that we are all in the same boat. I saw a
+Pietermaritzburg paper in the naval camp just now; there are about
+twenty thousand men on the sea at the present moment, besides those in
+the colony, and two more divisions are being formed. So it is safe to
+come right in the long run. But at present, if those twenty-five
+thousand Boers opposite to us were not there now, they would be riding
+all over Cape Colony, and if Buller were not to keep on hammering away
+here a good many of them would be off at once. They say Ladysmith can
+hold out for another three months. By that time there ought to be such
+a big force in the Orange State that the Boers won't dare to stop here
+any longer, and no end of loss of life will be avoided.
+
+"I never thought that you were a croaker before," Field said, "except
+just before the last fight; but certainly things have gone very badly
+lately. Three disasters in seven or eight days are a facer; but I
+cannot think that we shall not succeed next time. When Warren's
+division is up Buller will have over thirty thousand men with him, in
+spite of our losses the other day, and we ought to be able to do it
+with that."
+
+"Well, we shall see, Field. I hope you are right."
+
+The news of Methuen's repulse and the terrible losses in the Highland
+brigade, and of Gatacre's disaster, cast a greater gloom over Buller's
+army than their own failure had done. The one topic of conversation
+among the officers was, what would be the feeling in England, and
+whether there would be any inclination to patch up another
+dishonourable peace like that after Majuba. But the feeling wore off as
+day after day the news came that the misfortunes had but raised the
+spirit and determination of the people of Great Britain to carry the
+war through to the bitter end; that recruiting was going on with
+extraordinary rapidity; that fresh regiments had been ordered out; that
+Lord Roberts had been appointed to the supreme command in South Africa,
+and that Lord Kitchener was coming out as chief of his staff. The fact,
+too, that the volunteers had been asked to send companies to the
+regiments to which they were attached, that the City had undertaken to
+raise a strong battalion at its own expense, that the Yeomanry were to
+furnish ten thousand men, and that public, spirit had risen to fever
+heat, soon showed that these apprehensions were without foundation, and
+that Britain was still true to herself, and was showing the same
+indomitable spirit that had carried her through many periods of
+national depression, and brought her out triumphant at the end.
+
+Christmas passed cheerily; no gun was fired on either side, although
+the Boers worked diligently at their trenches; and our men feasted as
+they had not done since they landed at Durban. Bacon, milk, fresh
+bread, beef, and a quart of beer were served out for each man, and on
+these men and officers made a memorable meal; the latter producing the
+last bottles of wine and spirits that had been specially sent up to
+them from Maritzburg. And on that and the following day there were
+sports--lemon-cutting, tent pegging, races for the cavalry; athletic
+sports, tugs-of-war, mule and donkey races for the infantry. The drums
+and fifes played national airs, and the sailors bore their full share
+in the fun. As time went on the preparations for the next move
+advanced. None were more pleased at the prospect of active work again
+than the Colonial Volunteers, who had several times entreated to be
+allowed to get out and drive back the bands of plundering Boers, who
+were still wasting the farms and destroying the farmhouses and
+furniture of the loyalists.
+
+On the 27th a small party of Captain Brookfield's scouts had been sent
+out to reconnoitre the windings and turnings of the Tugela to the east,
+to ascertain as far as possible what the Boer positions were on that
+side, and whether they had placed bodies of skirmishers on the south
+side of the river as they did opposite Fort Wylie. Included in the
+party, which was a hundred strong, was the Johannesburg section. When
+well away from the camp they were broken up into small parties, the
+better to escape the observation of the Boers on the Hlangwane and
+other heights. The instructions given by their commander were that they
+should take every advantage of ground to conceal their movements from
+the enemy, but where the ground near the river was level and fit for
+galloping they should dash across it, and, if not fired at, should
+skirt along the banks, mark if there were any tracks by which horses or
+cattle had at some time come down to the water, and observe if similar
+tracks were to be seen on the opposite bank, as this would show that,
+though possibly only in dry weather, the river was fordable there.
+Where the ground was too broken and rock-covered to permit of horses
+passing rapidly across it, they were to dismount and crawl down the
+river to make their observations.
+
+Only a small portion of the troop had been engaged on this work, the
+main body were to keep along on the hills, maintaining a vigilant watch
+over the country to the south and east as well as that around them, as
+many parties of marauding Boers were known to be still across the
+river. Knowing the sharpness of the lads, Captain Brookfield had told
+off their section to explore the river bank, a choice which excited no
+jealousy among the rest, as these were hoping for a brush with some
+wandering party of Boers, and the satisfaction of rescuing cattle and
+goods they might be carrying off. His instructions to Chris were that
+he was to detach two of his party at each mile, choosing points where
+they could best make their way to the river unobserved. As he himself
+with the main body would go up considerably farther, each pair, when
+they had searched their section, were to ride a mile or so back from
+the river and fall in with the main body on its return.
+
+Riding rapidly along, Chris carried out his instructions, until, when
+some twelve miles from the camp, he remained with only Sankey with him.
+The country they had passed was rolling, and from time to time he had
+caught sight of small parties of Captain Brookfield's scouts. Arriving
+at a spot where there was a slight depression running down towards the
+river, he said, "We may as well follow it, Sankey. It will deepen into
+a donga presently, no doubt, and we can leave our horses there and go
+on on foot. It looks to me as if this had been used as a path. Of
+course it may only have been made by cattle going down to the water,
+but it may lead to a drift. If it is, we must be all the more careful,
+for it is just at these points that the Boers are very likely to be on
+the look-out."
+
+They rode for some distance and then dismounted, knee-haltered their
+horses and moved forward cautiously. Chris still believed they were on
+a track, but the heavy rains of the week before had sent the water
+rushing down it in a torrent, which would have destroyed any marks
+there might have been. When they could see the opening to the river in
+front of them they climbed the side of the donga. All seemed quiet, and
+stopping and taking advantage of the bushes, they crept forward to the
+edge of the water. There was no sign of a break in the opposite bank.
+
+"There is no drift here," Chris said. "If there had been there would be
+a pass cut or worn down on the other side. Now let us push on, but
+don't show yourself more than you can help, any Boer lurking on the
+other side could hardly miss us. A hundred and fifty yards, I should
+say, is about the width."
+
+After walking some little distance along they suddenly came upon
+another break in the bank.
+
+"There is a break opposite, Sankey. Ten to one this is a drift. The
+question is, how deep is it? You can see the river is not as high as it
+was by four feet, and I dare say that it will be lower yet if we get
+another week of fine weather. It's very important to find out. I will
+try to ford it; it's hardly likely there are any Boers so far down, but
+have your rifle ready, and keep a sharp look-out on the opposite side."
+
+A minute later they went down the slope. "Keep back under the shelter
+of these bushes as soon as I go in, Sankey." Then he stepped into the
+water and waded out. In a few yards it was up to his waist; then it
+deepened slowly. He was a third of the distance across when two rifles
+cracked out from some bushes on the opposite bank. Chris felt a sudden
+smart pain in his ear. He instantly threw himself down in the water,
+and diving, made for the shore, allowing the stream to take him down.
+Swimming as hard and as long as he could, he came for a moment to the
+surface, turning on his back before he did so, and only raising his
+mouth and nose above water. He took a long breath and then sank again,
+swimming this time towards the shore. His breath lasted until he was in
+water too shallow to swim farther, and, leaping to his feet, he dashed
+up the bank and threw himself down. He heard two bullets hum close to
+him, but the Boers had not been looking in his direction, and only
+caught sight of him in time to take a snap shot. He crawled along
+through the high, coarse grass, feeling very anxious as to what had
+become of Sankey. He had heard the report of the Boer rifles, but there
+came no reply from his friend, who would assuredly have been lying in
+shelter in readiness to shoot as soon as he saw a flash on the opposite
+bank. Could he have forgotten to take cover the instant he himself
+entered the water, could he possibly have remained standing there
+watching him? Two shots had been fired: one had certainly hit his ear;
+had the other been aimed at Sankey? He crawled along until he came to
+the point where he could see down on to the road. To his horror Sankey
+was lying there on his back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+PRISONERS
+
+
+The exclamation that burst from Chris's lips as he saw Sankey on the
+ground was answered by another from his friend.
+
+"Thank God that you are there, Chris. I have been in an awful state
+about you. I saw you go down into the water just as I was bowled over.
+I made sure that you were killed, and I was in a state, as you may
+imagine, till I heard two more shots. That gave me a little hope; for
+as you had not been killed in the first, you might have escaped the
+others."
+
+"But what is the matter with you, Sankey. Where are you hit?"
+
+"I am hit in the arm. I can't tell much about it. I only know that I
+went slap down; and there is certainly something the matter with my
+shoulder. Like an idiot I did not take shelter as you told me, but I
+was watching you so anxiously I never thought about it. If I had not
+been a fool I should have jumped up and got under cover at once; but I
+fancy I must have knocked my head as I fell. At any rate, I did not
+think about moving till I heard those two shots."
+
+"It is just as well that you didn't," Chris said. "They could have put
+half a dozen bullets in you with their Mausers before you had moved a
+foot. The question is, what is to be done?"
+
+"Have you got your rifle, Chris?"
+
+"Yes, I stuck to that, and I expect it is all right; these cartridges
+are quite water-tight. The question is how to get you out of their line
+of sight."
+
+"The best plan will be for me to roll over and over," Sankey said. "I
+expect it will hurt a bit, but that is no odds."
+
+"No, no; don't do that yet. Let us think if we can't contrive some plan
+of attracting their attention."
+
+"Don't do anything foolish, Chris," Sankey said earnestly. "I would
+rather jump up and make a run for it than that anything should happen
+to you."
+
+"I will be careful, Sankey. The first thing to do is to find out
+whether there are only two of these fellows or half a dozen. Where I am
+lying now the ground is a foot lower than it is just at the edge of the
+bank. I will put my cap on my rifle and raise it so as just to show."
+
+The instant he did so three or four rifles cracked and two bullets
+passed through the cap. As it dropped a shout of triumph rose from the
+Boers. He at once crawled forward, and as he did so five of them ran
+down the bank and as many more stood up, believing that both the scouts
+had been killed.
+
+Throwing the magazine into play Chris fired three shots in close
+succession, and then rolled over two or three yards, half a dozen
+bullets cutting the grass at the spot he had just left. Peering
+cautiously out again he saw that the Boers had all disappeared except
+two, one of whom lay apparently dead just at the edge of the water; the
+other was sitting down, but was waving a white handkerchief.
+
+"I am not going to shoot you," Chris muttered, "though I know the
+fellows with you would put a bullet at once into Sankey if they thought
+that he was alive. Hullo, there!" he shouted in Dutch; "I will let you
+carry off your wounded man and the dead one if you will let me carry
+off my dead comrade." The answer was three bullets, but he had drawn
+back a yard or two before he spoke and was in shelter. The thought of
+firing again at the wounded man did not enter Chris's mind, and he
+crawled back to the spot where he had before spoken to Sankey. The
+latter was looking anxiously up.
+
+"Are you all right?" he asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I wish you would not do it," Sankey said angrily. "If you do I
+will get up, and they can either pot me or take me prisoner."
+
+"Don't be an ass, Sankey. I am going on all right. I have shot two of
+them; there are about a dozen of them over there, I should say. Now let
+us talk reasonably. Of course, if I was sure they would not cross, I
+would make off to where the horses are, ride out, and meet Brookfield
+and the others as they come back. The orders were that we were to join
+them in about an hour and a half, which would give them time to go
+seven or eight miles farther, and for us to do our work thoroughly. But
+I am afraid that if I went away the Boers would presently guess I had
+done so, and would come across and carry you off. But though it would
+be no joke for you to be taken prisoner to Pretoria, it would be a good
+deal better than for you to have two or three more rifle bullets in
+your body, which I am sure you would have were you to move. So we must
+risk it. Anyhow, I will stop for another hour. There will be plenty of
+time then for me to make off and meet the others."
+
+Chris crept forward again and watched the opportunity. Half an hour
+later he saw what he thought was a head appear, and at once fired,
+rolling over as before the instant he had pulled the trigger. Three or
+four shots answered his own almost instantly and there was a laugh that
+told him that they had practised the same trick that he had done, and
+had only raised a hat to draw his shot. Again there was silence for
+some time. Then he went back and told Sankey that he was about to start.
+
+"All right, Chris; I shall be very glad when you have gone. You will
+get hit sooner or later if you go on firing, and I shall be a great
+deal more comfortable when you are once off. I don't believe they will
+venture across the drift; they know how straight you shoot."
+
+Chris crawled back for some distance, and then got down into the road.
+He had scarcely done so when a shot rung out fifty yards away. His
+right leg gave way and he fell, and with a shout of triumph two Boers
+ran up to him. Chris did not attempt to move. The rifle had flown from
+his hand as he fell, and lay some five or six yards away.
+
+"I surrender," he said when they ran up to him.
+
+"Well, rooinek," they exclaimed, "you are a brave young fellow to make
+a fight alone against a dozen of us. It would have been wiser if you
+had gone away when you were lucky enough to get up the bank without
+being hit. What was the use of staying by your dead comrade?"
+
+"He is not dead," Chris said. "He is hit in the arm or shoulder, but he
+knew if he moved he would be hit again to a certainty."
+
+"But where are you hurt?"
+
+"In the calf of my leg."
+
+"It is lucky for you," the Boer said, "that I stumbled just as I fired.
+Now, get up and I will carry you across the drift."
+
+They helped him up, and the other assisted him on to his shoulders. The
+man's clothes were wet.
+
+[Illustration: "WITH A SHOUT OF TRIUMPH THE TWO BOERS RAN DOWN."]
+
+"Did you swim the river?" Chris asked.
+
+"No, there is a drift a mile lower down. It is a bad one, but we
+managed to get across. We knew that you were alone, and as you seemed
+determined to remain here, we made sure of getting you."
+
+As they came near to Sankey, Chris called out, "You can get up, Sankey;
+they have beaten us."
+
+"I am very glad to hear your voice," Sankey replied as he raised
+himself into a sitting position. "When I heard that shot behind me I
+made sure it was all up with you. Where are you hit?"
+
+"Only in my calf. Luckily this gentleman who is carrying me stumbled
+just as he fired, and I got the ball there instead of through my head.
+It serves me right for not having thought before that some of them
+might cross somewhere else and take us in rear. Well, it can't be
+helped; it might have been a good deal worse."
+
+The other Boer had picked up the two rifles. They now entered the
+river. The stream in the middle was breast-high, and the Boer with the
+rifles told Sankey to hold on to him, which he was glad to do, for the
+force of the stream almost took him off his feet. The other Boers had
+now left their hiding-places, and received them when they reached the
+opposite bank. The one who seemed to be their leader said not unkindly,
+"You have given us a great deal of trouble, young fellows, and killed
+one of our comrades and badly wounded another."
+
+"If you had left us alone we should have been very glad to have let you
+alone," Chris said.
+
+The Boers laughed at the light-heartedness of their prisoner, and then
+examined their wounds. Chris had, as he said, been hit in the calf. The
+ball had entered behind, and had come out close to the bone. Chris
+believed that he could walk, but thought it best to affect not to be
+able to do so. The wound had bled very little, and the two holes were
+no larger than would be made by an ordinary slate-pencil. Sankey had
+been hit just below the shoulder. The ball had in his case also gone
+right through, and from the position of the two holes it was evident
+that it must have passed through the bone. The Boers bandaged the
+wounds, and told them to lie down under the shade of a bush, and then
+took their places near the bank to watch the drift again.
+
+"I suppose we have a journey to Pretoria before us," Sankey said. "I
+don't care so much about myself, because that is only the fortune of
+war, but I am awfully sorry that you are taken, Chris, and all through
+my beastly folly in not taking shelter as you told me."
+
+"Oh, we may just as well be together, Sankey. Besides, I don't mean to
+go to Pretoria, I can assure you. I believe I could walk now if I
+tried; but you may be sure I don't mean to try. I should advise you to
+avoid making any movement with your arm; make them put it in a sling.
+When they start with us, we had better be sent up with wounded
+prisoners rather than with the others. They won't look so sharply after
+the wounded, and it will be very hard if we cannot manage to slip away
+somehow. I hope the others will find the horses all right, or that if
+they don't the horses will find their own way back."
+
+"Oh, they are safe to find them," Sankey said confidently. "There will
+be a hunt for us when it is found that we have not joined the others.
+Anyhow, they will search to-morrow. I am quite sure that some of our
+fellows will be out the first thing in the morning, and I dare say they
+will take a couple of the natives with them. If they start at the point
+where we turned off they will track the horses down that donga without
+any difficulty, and even if they have strayed away they will soon have
+them."
+
+"Yes, I suppose they will be all right," Chris agreed. "Of course we
+have got the spare horses, but we should miss our own, and I think they
+are as fond of us as we are of them."
+
+As the sun got low two of the Boers brought up four ponies which were
+grazing some little distance from the river. They lifted Chris on to
+one, and helped Sankey to mount another, and then taking their seats on
+the other horses, rode off at a walk, and arrived an hour and a half
+later at a camp in a hollow behind Fort Wylie. Here they were put into
+a large tent, where some thirty wounded prisoners were lying. A German
+surgeon at once examined and again bandaged their wounds.
+
+"You are neither of you hurt badly," he said in English. "A fortnight
+and you will have little to complain of. These Mauser bullets make very
+slight wounds, except when they hit a vital spot. You are a good deal
+better off than most of your comrades here."
+
+As it was now dark they lay down at once, after taking a basin of
+excellent soup. The German ambulance was scrupulously clean. The more
+serious cases were put in beds, those less severely wounded lay on the
+ground between them; for the number of wounded to be dealt with was
+very large, and in the tents in which the Boers were treated were many
+terribly mangled by fragments of shrapnel and lyddite shells. The boys
+were some time before they went off to sleep, for their wounds smarted
+a good deal. However, they presently fell off, and it was broad
+daylight when they woke. Chris lay where he was, while Sankey got up
+and went round the tent. The men all belonged to either the Devon or
+the Queen's Own regiment. Most of them were awake, and all asked
+anxiously for news from Chieveley, and looked disappointed when they
+heard that it was likely to be some time before a fresh attempt was
+made to relieve Ladysmith.
+
+"They are all right there. Of course they were disappointed that we did
+not get in, but they have provisions enough to last for some time yet."
+
+"The Boers don't seem to think so," one of the men said. "As they were
+carrying us in here I heard one of them say that they had certainly got
+Ladysmith now, for the provisions there were pretty nearly exhausted,
+and in a few days they would have to surrender. If they did not, they
+meant to carry it by assault."
+
+"I don't think they will do that," Sankey said confidently.
+
+"Not they," the soldier replied scornfully. "They will find that it is
+a very different thing meeting our chaps in the open to what it is
+squatting in a trench, and blazing away without giving us as much as a
+sight of them. It is a beastly cowardly way of fighting, I calls it. I
+was not hit till just the end of the day, and I had been blazing away
+from six in the morning, and I never caught sight of one of them. I
+should not have minded being hit if I could have bowled two or three of
+them over first."
+
+After breakfast the surgeon said to the two lads: "You will be sent off
+in half an hour; all the slight cases are to go on. There may be
+another battle any day, and room must be made for a fresh batch of
+wounded."
+
+"Very well, sir," Chris replied, "as we have to go, it makes no
+difference to us whether it is to-day or next week."
+
+"You are colonists, I suppose, as you have not the name of any regiment
+on your shoulder-straps?"
+
+"Yes, sir; we belong to Johannesburg. I know your face. You are Dr.
+Muller, are you not?"
+
+"Yes; I do not recognize you."
+
+"I am the son of Mr. King, sir; and my comrade is the son of Dr.
+Sankey."
+
+"I know them both," the doctor said. "I am not one of those who think
+that the Uitlanders have no grievances, and I am not here by my own
+choice. But I was commandeered, and had no option in the matter. Well,
+I am sorry for you lads. For though I believe that in the long run your
+people will certainly win, I think it will be a good many months before
+they are in Pretoria. They fight splendidly. I watched the battle until
+the wounded began to come in, and the way those regiments by the
+railway advanced under a fire that seemed as if nothing could live for
+a minute, was marvellous. But brave as they are, they will never force
+their way through these hills. They will never get to Ladysmith. Well,
+perhaps we shall meet some day in Johannesburg again."
+
+"Yes, doctor. I suppose we shall be taken up in waggons?"
+
+"You will, for a time, certainly. But I don't know about your friend."
+
+"Oh, do order him to be sent up with me, doctor, that is, if it will
+not hurt him too much. You see, his wound is really more serious than
+mine, as the ball has gone through the bone."
+
+"Yes. I have a good many cases of that sort, but all seem to be healing
+rapidly. However, I will strain a point and give instructions that he
+is to be among those who must go in the waggons."
+
+"Thank you, sir," both boys said; and Sankey added: "We are great
+friends, sir. Though I don't care for myself, it would be a great
+comfort to us to be together, and my wound really hurts me a good deal."
+
+"I have no doubt it does," the surgeon said. "You can't expect a ball
+to pass through muscle and bone without causing pain."
+
+Half an hour later some natives came into the tent, and under the
+directions of the surgeon carried out Chris and three others whose
+wounds were all comparatively slight, and placed them in a waggon which
+already contained eight other wounded prisoners. Sankey, with his arm
+in a sling, walked out and was lifted into the waggon, into which he
+could indeed scarcely have climbed without assistance. Seven more were
+collected at other tents, and the waggons then moved off and joined a
+long line that were waiting on the road. Some more presently came up,
+and when the number was complete, the native drivers cracked their
+whips with reports like pistols, and the oxen got into motion. Some
+twenty mounted Boers kept by the side of the waggons. They followed the
+road until within four or five miles of Ladysmith, then turned off,
+crossed the Klip river, and came to a spot where a hospital camp had
+been erected; here they halted for the night.
+
+The wounded were provided with soup and bread, and such as were able to
+walk were allowed to get out and stroll about. The surgeon who
+accompanied the train and the doctor in charge of the hospital attended
+to all the serious cases, and these were carried into the tent for the
+night thus making room for the others to lie at length in the waggons.
+Only three of these contained British wounded, the others were all
+occupied by Boers. Chris and Sankey excited the admiration of the
+wounded soldiers by conversing with the Boers and the natives in their
+own languages. Most of the Boers, indeed, could speak English
+perfectly, but did not now condescend to use it. Some even refused to
+speak in Dutch to the lads, as their dislike to the colonists who had
+taken up arms against them was even more bitter than that which they
+felt for the soldiers.
+
+For six days they travelled on, at the end of that time Chris felt sure
+that he could walk without difficulty. He had, at very considerable
+pain to himself, each night undone his bandage, and had with his finger
+scratched at the two tiny wounds until they were red and inflamed, so
+that on the two occasions on which they were examined by the doctor,
+they appeared to be making but little progress towards healing. The
+inflammation was, however, only on the surface, and after several
+furtive trials, Chris declared that he was ready for a start. A move
+was generally made before daylight, in order that a considerable
+portion of the day's journey should be got over before the heat became
+very great.
+
+"Are you quite sure, Chris?"
+
+"I am as sure as anybody can be who has not actually tried it. I may be
+a little stiff at the start, but I believe that once off, I shall be
+right for eight or ten miles; and after the first day, ought to be able
+to do double that."
+
+They had been travelling at the rate of about twelve miles a day, and
+halted that night near Newcastle. Chris heard from the guards that they
+would only go as far as Volksrust, and there be put in a train. The
+reason why this had not been done before was that the railway was fully
+occupied in taking down ammunition and stores, and that no carriages or
+trucks were available. The watch at night was always of the slightest
+kind. The Boers had no thought whatever that any of the wounded would
+try to escape. Two were posted at the leading waggon, which contained
+stores and medical comforts that might, if unguarded, be looted by the
+native drivers. The rest either slept wrapped up in their blankets, or
+in any empty houses that might be near.
+
+At nine o'clock the boys told the others in the waggon that they were
+going to escape. They had before informed them of their intention to do
+so, somewhere along the road, and had taken down the names and
+regiments of all of them, with a note as to their condition, and the
+addresses of their friends. These they had promised to give to the
+commanding officers if they got safely back. They had filled their
+pockets with bread, all those in the waggon having contributed a
+portion of their ration that evening. After a hearty shake of the hand
+all round, and many low-muttered good wishes, they stepped out at the
+rear of the waggon, with their boots in their hands. It was a light
+night, and the figures of the two men on sentry over the store waggon
+could just be made out. There was no thought of any regular sentry
+duty, no marching up and down among the Boers; the two men had simply
+sat down together to smoke their pipes and chat until their turn came
+to lie down. The lads therefore struck off on the opposite side of the
+waggon, and making their way with great caution to avoid running
+against any of the Boers, they were soon far enough away to be able to
+put on their boots and walk erect.
+
+"How does your leg feel, Chris?"
+
+"It feels stiffer than I expected, certainly, but I have no doubt it
+will soon wear off. We must take it quietly till it warms up a bit."
+
+Gradually the feeling of stiffness passed off, and going at a steady
+but quiet pace they made their way along the road, to which they had
+returned after they had gone far enough to be sure that they were
+beyond the hearing of the Boers and Kaffirs. From time to time they
+stopped to listen for the tread of horses, which could have been heard
+a long way in the still night air, but they were neither met nor
+overtaken. After walking for five hours they came upon a stream that,
+as they knew, crossed the line at Ingagone station and ran into the
+Buffalo. They had gone but ten miles, and decided to leave the road
+here, follow the stream up half a mile, and then lie up. Chris admitted
+that he could not go much farther, and as they would not cross another
+stream for some distance they could not, even putting his wound aside,
+do better than stop here. Sankey was equally contented to rest, for his
+arm, which he still carried in a sling, was aching badly.
+
+"It does not feel sore," he said, "or inflamed, or anything of that
+sort; it just aches as if I had got rheumatism in it. I dare say I
+shall have that for some time; I have heard my father say that injuries
+to the bones were often felt that way for years after they were
+apparently well, the pain coming on with changes of weather. However,
+it is no great odds."
+
+Neither wanted anything to eat, but had taken long draughts when they
+first struck the stream, and as soon as they found a snug spot among
+some bushes a short distance from the water they lay down and were soon
+asleep. They remained quiet all the day, only going out once after a
+careful look round to get a drink of water. Starting again as soon as
+darkness closed in they walked on, with occasional rests, until within
+a few miles of Glencoe, having followed the line of the railway, where
+they had no chance whatever of meeting anyone. Here they again halted
+at a stream. They had agreed that they would on the following night
+cross the line between Glencoe and Dundee, and take the southern road
+by which the British force retired after the battle there. By that
+route they would be altogether out of the line of Boers coming from
+Utrecht or Vryheid towards the Boer camps round Ladysmith. Their stock
+of food was, however, now running very short, and they ate their last
+crust before starting that evening. This they did earlier than usual,
+as they were determined if possible to get some bread at Dundee. They
+knew that a few of the residents had remained there, and probably there
+would not be many Boers about, for as Dundee lay off the direct line
+from Ladysmith to the north there would be no reason for their stopping
+there. Sankey had insisted on undertaking this business alone.
+
+"It is of no use your talking, Chris," he said positively; "I can run
+and you can't. I may not be able to run quite as fast as I could; but I
+don't suppose this arm will make much difference, and anyhow, I could
+swing it for a bit, and I would match myself against any Boer on foot.
+We will cross the line, as we agreed, about a mile from Dundee. When we
+strike the southern road you can sit down close to it, and I will go
+in."
+
+"I don't like it," Chris said, "but I see that it would be the best
+thing. I wish we had our farmer's suits with us, then I should not fear
+at all."
+
+"I don't think that makes much odds, Chris, lots of the Boers have
+taken to clothes of very much the same colour; really, the only
+noticeable thing about us is our caps. If I come upon a loyalist I will
+see if I can get a couple of hats for us, either of straw or felt would
+be all right. Well, don't worry yourself; it will be a rum thing if I
+can't bring you out something for breakfast and dinner to-morrow."
+
+"Don't forget a little bit extra for supper to-night, Sankey," Chris
+laughed; "that crust went a very short distance, and I feel game for at
+least a good-sized loaf."
+
+Although he said good-bye to his friend cheerfully, Chris felt more
+down-hearted than he had done since he had said farewell to his mother
+more than two months before, as Sankey disappeared in the darkness,
+leaving him sitting among some bushes close to the road. His last words
+had been, "It is somewhere about nine o'clock now; if I am not back by
+twelve don't wait any longer. But don't worry about me; if I am caught,
+I have no doubt sooner or later I shall give them the slip again, but I
+don't think there is any real occasion for you to bother. Unless by
+some unlucky fluke, I am safe to get through all right." Then with a
+wave of his hand he started confidently along the road.
+
+He met no one until he was close to the town. The first thing he had
+determined upon was to get hold of a hat somehow. The houses were
+scattered irregularly about in the outskirts of the town; but very few
+lights were to be seen in the windows.
+
+"Of course they have all been plundered," he said to himself; "but if I
+only had a light I have no doubt I should be able to find an old hat
+somewhere among the rubbish, but in the dark there is no chance
+whatever." Presently he saw a light in a window in a detached house of
+some size. He made his way noiselessly up and looked in. A party of
+five or six Boers were sitting smoking round a table. "The place has
+not been sacked," he said to himself; "therefore there is no doubt the
+owner is a traitor. It is a beastly custom these Boers have of wearing
+their hats indoors as well as out, still there are almost sure to be
+some spare ones in the hall. A Boer out on the veldt would not be
+likely to possess more than the hat he wears, but a fellow living in
+such a house as this would be safe to have a variety for different
+sorts of weather. At any rate I must try."
+
+He took off his boots, and then stole up to the front door and turned
+the handle noiselessly. As he expected, no light was burning there, but
+the door of the room in which the men were sitting was not quite
+closed, and after he had stood still for a minute, his eyes, accustomed
+to the greater darkness outside, took in his surroundings. To his great
+delight he saw that four or five hats of different shapes and materials
+were hanging there, and a heap of long warm coats were thrown together
+on a bench. Looking round still more closely he saw five or six rifles
+in the corner by the door, and to these were hanging as many
+bandoliers. He first took down two felt hats of different sizes, and
+picked out two of the coats; then, with great care to avoid any noise,
+he took two rifles with their bandoliers from the corner and crept out
+through the door, which he closed behind him carefully; for if they
+found it open the Boers might look round and discover that some of
+their goods were missing, whereas any one of them coming casually out,
+even with a light, would not be likely to notice it. He put on one of
+the bandoliers, then a coat, and then slung one of the rifles behind
+him; then, after putting on his boots he went out with the other
+articles and hid them inside the gate of an evidently deserted house a
+hundred yards from the other. He felt sure that even when the loss was
+discovered there would be no great search made for the thief. It would
+be supposed that some passing Kaffir had come in and stolen the things,
+and they would consider that, until the following morning, it would be
+useless to look for him. Feeling now perfectly confident that he could
+pass unsuspected, he entered the principal street. Here there were a
+good many Boers about, but none paid the slightest attention to him.
+Presently he came to a store that was still open. The owner was of
+course Dutch. He had been a pronounced loyalist when Sankey was last in
+Dundee, but had evidently thought it prudent to change sides when the
+British left. Sankey had been in the shop twice with Willesden, and had
+found the man very civil, and, as he thought, an honest fellow, but
+with so much at stake he dared not trust him now. Food he must have,
+that was certain, but if he had to obtain it by threats, he must do it
+at one of the outlying houses. It would be dangerous anyhow, for,
+though he could frighten a man into giving him what he required, he
+could not prevent him from giving the alarm afterwards. While he was
+looking on a mounted Boer stopped at the shop door. He dismounted at
+once, and lifted a large bundle from his saddle.
+
+"Look here!" he said to the shopkeeper. "I have just come into the
+town, having ridden up from near Greytown. I picked up some loot at a
+house that had been deserted. Here are twenty bottles of wine and a lot
+of tea--I don't know how much. There was a chest half-full, and I
+emptied it into a cloth. What will you give me for them? I am riding
+home to Volksrust. I want three loaves and a couple of bottles of dop
+[Footnote: The common country spirit.], and the rest in money." The
+bargaining lasted for some minutes, the storekeeper saying that the
+wine was of no use to him, for no Boer ever spent money on wine; the
+tea of course was worth money, but he had now a large stock on hand,
+and could give but little for it. However, the bargain was at last
+struck. The Boer brought out the bread and two bottles of spirits and
+placed them in his saddle-bag, then he went back into the shop to get
+the money. The moment he entered Sankey moved quietly up to the other
+side of his horse, transferred the bottles of spirits to his own
+pocket, and then, thrusting the loaves under his coat, crossed the
+street, and turned down a lane some twenty yards farther on. He had
+gone but a few steps when he heard a loud exclamation followed by a
+torrent of Dutch oaths. He stood up for a moment in a doorway, and
+heard the sound of heavy feet running along the street he had left,
+with loud shouts to stop a thief who had robbed him. The instant that
+he had passed Sankey walked on again, and in five minutes was in the
+outskirts of the town. He made his way to the place where he had hidden
+the other things, and taking them up, walked briskly on until he came
+to the bushes where his friend was anxiously expecting him. As he
+uttered his name Chris sprang out.
+
+"I had not even begun to expect you back, Sankey. How have you done? I
+see that you have got on another hat and a coat."
+
+"That is only a part of it. I have got three loaves and two bottles of
+dop, and a coat and a hat for you, and a rifle and ammunition, as well
+as clothes for myself and the gun that you see over my shoulder."
+
+"But how on earth did you do it, Sankey?"
+
+"Honestly, my dear Chris, perfectly honestly. The rifles and clothes
+were fairly spoils of war, the loaves and spirits were stolen from a
+thief, which I consider to be a good action; but let us go on, I will
+tell you about it as we walk. Here is your bandolier, slip that on
+first; there is your coat and hat. Now I will put the sling of the
+rifle over your shoulder. There you are, complete, a Boer of the first
+water! I will carry the bottles and the bread. Now, let's be going on."
+
+Then he told Chris how he had obtained his spoil, and they both had a
+hearty laugh over the thought of the enraged Dutchman rushing down the
+street shouting for the eatables of which he had been bereaved.
+
+"It was splendidly managed, Sankey. I shall have to appoint you as
+caterer instead of Willesden. He pays honestly for all he wants for the
+mess, but I see that if we entrust the charge to you, we shall not have
+to draw for a farthing upon our treasure chest. And how is your arm
+feeling?"
+
+"I have almost forgotten that I have an arm," Sankey said. "I suppose
+the excitement of the thing drove out the rheumatics."
+
+"We might have some supper," Chris suggested.
+
+"No, no, we must wait till we can get water. I can't take dop neat."
+
+"But how are you going to mix it when you do get water?"
+
+"I had not thought of that, Chris," Sankey said in a tone of disgust.
+"Well, I suppose we shall be reduced to taking a mouthful of this
+poison, and then a long drink of water to dilute it. We shall not have
+very far to go, because, if you remember, we crossed a little stream
+three or four miles after we rode out from Dundee. I am as hungry as a
+hunter, but it would destroy all the pleasure of the banquet if we had
+to munch dry bread with nothing to wash it down." After walking two
+miles farther they came upon the stream and going fifty yards up it, so
+as to run no risk of being disturbed, they sat down and enjoyed a
+hearty meal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+SPION KOP
+
+
+"It is almost a pity that you did not commandeer two ponies and saddles
+while you were about it," Chris laughed, as they set off again feeling
+all the better for their meal. "We only want that to complete our
+outfit."
+
+"You should have mentioned it before I started, Chris. There is no
+saying what I might not have done; and really, without joking, a pony
+is one of the easiest things going to steal when there are Boers about.
+They always leave them standing just where they dismount, and will be
+in a store or a drinking-place for an hour at a time without attending
+to them."
+
+"It is not the difficulty, but the risk; for even if a thief gets off
+with a pony, he is almost sure to be hunted down. It is regarded as a
+sort of offence against the community, and a man, whether a native or a
+mean white, would get a very short shrift if he were caught on a stolen
+horse."
+
+"Yes, I know. Still, for all that, if I could come upon a saddled pony,
+and there was a chance of getting off with it, I should take it without
+hesitation as a fair spoil of war."
+
+"Yes, so should I, for the betting would be very strongly against our
+running across its owner; and in the next place, it would greatly
+increase our chance of getting safely through. It is the fact of our
+being on foot that will attract attention. We could walk about a camp
+full of Boers without anyone noticing it, but to walk into the camp
+would seem so extraordinary, that we should be questioned at once. A
+Boer travelling across the country on foot would be a sight hitherto
+unknown."
+
+"There I agree with you; and I do think that when we get to Helpmakaar,
+which we can do to-morrow evening if we make a good long march
+to-night, we had better see if we can't appropriate a couple of ponies.
+We can walk boldly into the place, and no one would notice we were
+new-comers. There are sure to be ponies standing about, and it will be
+hard if we cannot bag a couple. Then we can ride by the road south from
+there to Greytown, and after crossing the Tugela, strike off by the
+place where we had the fight near Umbala mountain, which would be a
+good landmark for us, and from there follow our old line back to
+Estcourt. It would be rather shorter to go through Weenen, but there
+may be Boers about, and the few miles we should save would not be worth
+the risk."
+
+They made a long journey that night, slept within seven or eight miles
+of Helpmakaar, and started late in the afternoon. When near the town
+they left the main road, passed through some fields, and came into the
+place that way, as had they entered by the road they were likely to be
+questioned. Once in the little town, they walked about at their ease.
+It did not seem that there were any great number of Boers there, but
+the town was well within the district held by them, and such loyalists
+as remained were sure to be keeping as much as possible without their
+houses. In front of the principal inn were nearly a score of Boer
+ponies, but the lads considered it would be altogether too risky to
+attempt to take a couple of these, as their owners might issue out
+while they were doing it; however, they stood watching. For some time
+there was a sound of singing and merriment within, and for a quarter of
+an hour no one came out.
+
+"If we had taken a couple of ponies at first," Sankey said savagely,
+"we might have been two miles away by this time."
+
+"Yes; I don't know that it is too late now. Wait till they strike up
+another song with a chorus, none of them are likely to leave the room
+while that is going on, and it will drown the sound of hoofs."
+
+There were few people about in the streets; and even had anyone passed
+as they were mounting, he could not tell that they were not the
+legitimate owners.
+
+"If anyone should come out," Chris said, "don't try to ride away. We
+should have the whole lot after us in a minute, and it is not likely we
+should have got hold of the fastest ponies. Besides, they would shoot
+us before we got far. So if anyone does come out and raises an alarm,
+jump off at once and run round the nearest corner, and then into the
+first garden we come to. We should be in one before they could come
+out, mount their ponies, and give chase. Once among the gardens we
+should be safe. If the man who comes out does not shout we would pay no
+attention to him, but ride away quietly. If the ponies don't happen to
+belong to him or some friend of his, he would not be likely to
+interfere, for he would suppose that we were two of the party who had
+left the place without his noticing them. But if he gives a shout, jump
+off at once, and rush round the corner of the nearest house."
+
+They waited for a minute or two, and then two Boers came out, mounted a
+couple of the ponies, and rode quietly down the street. At that moment
+another song was struck up. "That is lucky. If anyone comes out and
+sees us mounting he will take us for the two men who have just ridden
+off." Then they strolled leisurely across the street, took the reins of
+two of the ponies, sprang into the saddles, and started at a walk,
+which, twenty yards farther, was quickened into a trot. The two men had
+fortunately gone in the other direction. Once fairly beyond the town,
+they quickened their pace. "Now we are Boers all over," Chris said
+exultantly; "but there is one thing, Sankey, we must be careful not to
+go near any solitary farmhouse. There must still be some loyal men left
+in these parts, and if we fell in with a small party of them the
+temptation to pay off what they have suffered might be irresistible."
+
+"Yes, Chris; but they certainly would not shoot unless certain of
+bringing us both down, for if one escaped, he would return with a party
+strong enough to wipe them out altogether. However, we need not trouble
+about that for the present, though no doubt it will be well to be
+careful when we are once across the Tugela."
+
+"Well, we shall be there long before morning; it is not more than
+seven-or eight-and-twenty miles."
+
+They rode fast, for it was possible that when the loss of the ponies
+was discovered someone who might have noticed them go down the street
+might set the Boers on the track, and in that case they would certainly
+be hotly pursued. The ponies, however, turned out to be good animals,
+and as the lads were at least a couple of stones lighter than the
+average Boer, they could not be overtaken unless some of the ponies
+happened to be a good deal better than these.
+
+After riding at full speed for eight or nine miles, they broke into a
+walk, stopping every few minutes to listen. They knew that they would
+be able to hear the sound of pursuit at least a mile away, and as their
+ponies would start fresh again, they were able to take things quietly.
+So sometimes cantering sometimes walking, they reached the river at
+about one o'clock in the morning. On the opposite bank stood the little
+village of Tugela Ferry. Here there was a drift, and there was no
+occasion to use the ferry-boat except when the river was swollen by
+rain. It now reached only just up to the ponies' bellies; they
+therefore crossed without the least difficulty, and after passing
+through the village, left the road, and struck off across the country
+to the south-west. When four or five miles away they halted at a donga,
+and leading the ponies down, turned them loose to feed, ate their
+supper, and were soon asleep.
+
+It was no longer necessary to travel by night, and at eight o'clock
+they started again. They kept a sharp look-out from every eminence, and
+once or twice saw parties of mounted men in the distance and made
+detours to avoid them. So far as they were aware, however, they were
+not observed. The distance to be ridden from their last halting-place
+was about thirty-five miles, and at one o'clock they were within five
+miles of Estcourt. On an eminence about a mile in front of them they
+saw a solitary horseman.
+
+"That is evidently one of our scouts," Chris said. "I dare say there is
+a party of them somewhere behind him. If I am not mistaken I can see
+two or three heads against the sky-line--they are either heads or
+stones. We should know more about it if the Boers hadn't bagged our
+glasses when they took us."
+
+Two or three minutes later Sankey said, "Those little black spots have
+gone, so they were heads. I dare say they are wondering who we are, and
+put us down either as Boers or as loyal farmers, though there cannot be
+many of them left in this district."
+
+Presently from behind the foot of the hill six horsemen dashed out. The
+lads had already taken the precaution of taking off their hats and
+putting on forage-caps again.
+
+"It is always better to avoid accidents," Chris said. "It would have
+been awkward if they had begun to shoot before waiting to ask
+questions, especially as we could not shoot back. They are Colonials;
+one can see that by their looped-up hats, which are a good deal more
+becoming than those hideous khaki helmets of our men."
+
+The horsemen had unslung their guns, but seeing that the strangers had
+their rifles still slung behind them with apparently no intention of
+firing, they dropped into a canter until they met the lads.
+
+"Who are you?" the leader asked. "Do you surrender?"
+
+"We will surrender if you want us to," Chris said; "though why we
+should do so I don't know. We belong to the Maritzburg Scouts, and were
+taken prisoners, being both wounded, eight or nine days ago; and, as
+you see, we have got away."
+
+"I dare say it is all right," the officer said; "but at any rate we
+will ride with you to Estcourt."
+
+"We shall be glad of your company, though I don't suppose we shall be
+identified until we get to Chieveley. Will you please tell us what has
+taken place since we left?"
+
+"That, I think had better be deferred," the officer said dryly. "We
+don't tell our news to strangers."
+
+"Quite right, sir."
+
+"It is evident that you are not Dutch," the officer went on; "but there
+is more than one renegade Englishman fighting among the Boers, and
+except for your caps you certainly look as if you belonged to the other
+side rather than to ours."
+
+"Yes, they are Boer coats, Boer ponies, and Boer guns," Chris said. "We
+have taken the liberty of borrowing them as they borrowed our guns and
+field-glasses. Whether they borrowed our horses we shall not know till
+we get back. You see," he went on, opening his coat, "we still have our
+uniforms underneath. Who is at Estcourt now? Ah, by the way, we are
+sure to find some officers in the hospital who know us."
+
+The officer by this time began to feel that the account Chris had given
+him of himself was correct, and when they arrived at Estcourt it was
+rather as a matter of form than anything else that he accompanied him
+to the hospital. Upon enquiry Chris found that among the wounded there
+was one of the naval officers he had travelled with from Durban. Upon
+the surgeon in charge being told that he wished to see him, he was
+allowed to enter with the officer. The wounded man at once recognized
+him.
+
+"Ah, King," he said, "I am glad to see you again. Have you brought me
+down a message from Captain Jones or any of our fellows?"
+
+"No; I am very sorry to find you here, Devereux, but I am glad to see
+you are getting better. I have really come in order that you might
+satisfy this gentleman, who has taken me prisoner, that I am King of
+the Maritzburg Scouts."
+
+"There is no doubt about that. Why, where have you been to be taken
+prisoner?"
+
+"Oh, it was a fair capture. I was with one of my section caught while
+out scouting, and have got away in Boer attire, and as we were riding
+in we met this officer's party some five miles out, and not unnaturally
+they took us for the real thing instead of masqueraders."
+
+[Illustration: "PRESENTLY FROM BEHIND THE FOOT OF THE HILL SIX HORSEMEN
+DASHED OUT."]
+
+"I can assure you that King is all right," the sailor said. "He came up
+in the train with three of his party from Durban."
+
+"Thank you," the officer said with a smile. "I am perfectly satisfied,
+and was nearly so before I came in here. Well, I wish you good-day,
+sir, and hope we may meet again," and shaking hands with Chris he left
+the tent.
+
+Chris remained chatting for a few minutes more with the sailor.
+
+"I suppose there is no great chance of getting a bed here?" he said, as
+he rose to go. "We have had two pretty long days' ride, and I don't
+care about going on to Chieveley."
+
+"Not a chance in the world, I should think."
+
+"Well, it does not matter much. We have been sleeping in the open for
+the past five nights, and once more will make no difference. We are
+just back in time, Sankey," he said when he joined his friend outside.
+"Devereux tells me that there is a big movement going on, and that a
+severe fight is expected in a day or two. He hears that the baggage
+train has been moving to Springfield, so that it will be somewhere over
+in that direction; and I suppose we are going to move round to Acton
+Homes and force our way into Ladysmith through Dewdrop. You know, they
+say that it is comparatively flat that way."
+
+They got rid of their long coats and fastened them to their saddles;
+then led their ponies to the station, and leaving them outside entered.
+An enterprising store-keeper had opened a refreshment stall for the
+benefit of the troops passing through, or officers coming down from the
+front to look after stores or to visit friends in hospital. Chris had
+explained their position to Devereux, and the latter had said: "Then I
+suppose they have eased you of all your money?"
+
+"Yes; they did not leave us a penny."
+
+"There is my purse with my watch in that little pocket over my bed," he
+said. "You must let me lend you a sovereign till I see you again." And
+Chris had thankfully taken the money.
+
+They now had what to them was a gorgeous feast; some soup, cold ham,
+and a bottle of wine. They gave what little remains they had of bread
+to the ponies, and then led them a quarter of a mile out of the town
+and camped out with them there, the Boer coats coming in very useful.
+The next morning they started at daybreak, and arrived at their camp at
+Chieveley just as their friends were sitting down to breakfast. They
+were received with a shout of welcome, and a torrent of questions was
+poured upon them.
+
+"I will leave Sankey to tell you all about it," Chris said. "I must go
+and report myself to Brookfield and get our names struck off the list
+of missing. I shall not be five minutes away."
+
+The captain received Chris as heartily, though not so noisily, as his
+comrades had done.
+
+"We have been very anxious about you," he said, after the first
+greeting. "When we came back to the point where you left us, and did
+not find you there, we thought there might be some mistake, and that
+you had ridden on. We picked up all the others, but were not uneasy
+until we got into camp, and found that you did not return. Then two of
+your friends took fresh horses and rode out again, taking two of your
+blacks with them. The blacks found the place where you had left us, and
+following your tracks down came on your horses. Then they went on till
+they saw the river in front of them. The blacks traced your footsteps
+along near the bank till they came to a spot where there was evidently
+a drift, as a road was cut down to the water on both sides. They then
+crawled along till they could look down into the road. They were some
+time away, and returned with the news that they had seen below them on
+the road a patch of blood and the mark of a body in the mud, another
+step they said had gone down to the water, and had not come back.
+Crawling along by the edge of the bank they found some empty
+cartridges. They said whoever had been up there had crawled once or
+twice to the edge above the sunken road where the other was lying, and
+that he had then gone back from the river and afterwards down into the
+road. A little farther there seemed to have been a fall, and then two
+men with big feet came to the spot, and, they asserted, carried the one
+who had fallen there down to the other; but they could not see what had
+happened then, for it was evident that the Boers were in force on the
+other side of the river, and they dared not go down farther to examine
+the tracks. Enough had been seen, however, to show that you must both
+have been wounded. It was pretty certain that you had not been killed,
+for if so the Boers would not have troubled to carry your bodies across
+the drift. Now, Chris, let us hear your story."
+
+"If you don't mind, Captain Brookfield," Chris said with a smile, "I
+will put off telling it for another half-hour. The fact is, breakfast
+is ready, and I have only had one square meal since I went away, and
+that was yesterday at Estcourt."
+
+"Go, by all means," the captain laughed. "I breakfasted half an hour
+before you came in, and forgot that it was possible that you had not
+done so." It was a full half-hour before Chris returned, and when he
+did so he left Sankey still telling the story of their adventures,
+which had made very little progress, as he had declared that he could
+not enjoy his breakfast if he was obliged to keep on talking all the
+time. When Chris, on his part, had told the story to Captain
+Brookfield, the latter said:
+
+"I can't say that I am altogether surprised to see you back, though I
+certainly did not expect you for a long time, for I felt sure that if
+you and Sankey were not seriously wounded you would manage to give them
+the slip before you got to Pretoria; and I thought we should hear the
+first news of you at Durban, for it would be shorter and easier for you
+to make your way down again to Lorenzo Marques than to follow this
+line."
+
+"We should certainly have gone that way if we had not escaped until we
+were near Pretoria, but it was a great deal easier to slip away from
+the waggons than it would have been if we had been once put into the
+train. I hope, sir, we have not been returned as missing, for it will
+have frightened our mothers terribly if we have been."
+
+"No; I thought that there was no occasion to give your names until you
+had been away for a month. If you were not heard of by that time, I
+should consider it certain that you were dead or at Pretoria. I knew
+that, as you say, it would be a terrible shock to your mothers if they
+were to see your names among the missing; while it could do no harm to
+anyone if I kept it back for a month, and put you down as missing the
+first time after the corps were engaged. Well, you are just back in
+time for a big fight, though we are not likely to take any part in it.
+It is supposed to be a secret as to the precise position, but orders
+have been privately circulated this morning. Dundonald with the regular
+cavalry, the Natal Horse, and the South African Light Horse went on
+four days ago, with one or two other colonial corps, and occupied
+Springfield, and the baggage train followed them; and after occupying
+the place, instead of waiting for infantry to come up, he moved on to a
+river. Some of his men, with extraordinary pluck, swam across and
+managed to bring the ferry-boat over under a very heavy fire. Then a
+number of them crossed, scattered the Boers like chaff, and took
+possession of a rough hill called Swartz Kop, and held it till support
+came up. It was a capitally managed affair, and one cannot but regret
+that the same care was not shown at Hlangwane. We are to go on this
+afternoon, but as we are not in Dundonald's brigade I expect that our
+duty will be, as it was in the last fight, to guard the baggage."
+
+"But what will Dundonald's brigade do?"
+
+"The general opinion is, that they will push round to Acton Homes. I am
+not sure that the whole force is not going that way. It would be a
+grand thing if it could be done; but I doubt whether the train could
+carry enough stores, for it would be a long way round, and we should
+probably have to fight two or three times at least, and it might take
+us five or six days."
+
+"Then most of the infantry have gone on already?"
+
+"Yes, Hart's and Hildyard's brigades have marched straight from Frere.
+By the way, did you hear of the Boer attack on Ladysmith on the night
+of the 6th?"
+
+"No; that was the night we were at Glencoe. On our way up we did hear
+some very heavy firing. At least, we were not certain that it was
+firing, and rather thought it was a distant thunder-storm."
+
+"The firing began at two o'clock in the morning," Captain Brookfield
+said, "and was so heavy that everyone turned out. It lasted four hours,
+and there was no doubt that the Boers were making a determined attack.
+Everyone wondered that we did not at once make a diversion. When the
+day broke it could be seen that numbers of mounted Boers were hurrying
+off from their camps among the hills towards Ladysmith, but it was not
+until two in the afternoon that five battalions of infantry marched
+down towards Colenso, and the naval guns opened in earnest on their
+lines. It had the effect of bringing the Boers scurrying down again to
+their trenches. Our fellows marched in open order and worked their way
+nearly down to Colenso, which was more strongly garrisoned than it had
+been at the time of our last attack. No doubt they had seen us
+preparing to advance, and strongly reinforced the garrison. Our guns
+were taken a long way down, and at six o'clock their trenches were
+bombarded; then it came on to rain, and the Boers ceased to fire, and
+at seven o'clock our men turned into camp. The firing in Ladysmith had
+ceased some time before that."
+
+"And what had taken place there?" Chris asked anxiously, "for I know
+the place has not fallen or we should have heard of it."
+
+"No, they beat the Boers off splendidly. However, they had hard work to
+do it, for the heliograph flashed a signal at about nine o'clock in the
+morning to say that they had so far beaten off the enemy, but were much
+pressed. We heard the next day that this had indeed been the case.
+Caesar's Camp had been taken and retaken several times--by our men at
+the point of the bayonet, by the Boers, by rushing up in overwhelming
+numbers. It is said that we have twelve hundred casualties, and the
+Boers at least fifteen hundred, of whom a large number were bayoneted.
+They say the loss fell chiefly upon the Free Staters, who were put in
+the front by the Transvaal people. They fought pluckily, and several of
+their commanders were among the killed. I should think that they would
+hardly try it again. A native got through two days afterwards with a
+despatch. We have not heard what it contained, but we fancy from what
+has leaked out that our defences were very weak."
+
+"We ought to take a lesson from the Boers," Chris said. "I saw
+something of their trenches as we went up the railway valley, and they
+are wonderful."
+
+"Yes, we must do the Boers the justice to say that they are not afraid
+of hard work. Ever since they first came here they have been at work
+everywhere every day in the week, including Sundays. Of course, as we
+are not standing on the defensive, there is no occasion for us to
+construct works to the same extent; but I cannot myself understand why
+we do not throw up batteries for our guns, pushing forward zigzags
+every night, and advancing the batteries until we can plant all our
+naval and field guns within a hundred yards of Colenso, when we should
+be able to smash their entrenchments in no time, and effectually cover
+an advance across the bridge or one of the drifts. When I was in the
+army it was always said that the next war would be fought with the
+spade as much as with the rifle, but so far we have seen nothing
+whatever of the spade, except just by the guns. We were also taught
+that strong positions held by steady troops armed with magazine guns
+and supported by good artillery were absolutely impregnable against
+direct attack. I grant that Dundee and Elandslaagte, and Belmont and
+Enslin on the other side, seemed to contradict that idea, but our
+experience here is all the other way; and if we keep on knocking our
+heads against those hills I suppose the axiom is likely to be finally
+confirmed."
+
+"Then you don't think that we are going to fight our way into
+Ladysmith, Captain Brookfield?"
+
+"Not direct into Ladysmith. Possibly we may work our way round; but
+after what we saw of the fire from their position, trench above trench,
+and miles upon miles in length, my own conviction is, that allowing to
+the utmost for the gallantry and devotion of our men, we shall never
+win our way across those hills."
+
+"Then we move off at two o'clock, sir?"
+
+"Yes, fresh batches of waggons are going on, and we are to escort them,
+and if we reach Springfield by to-morrow night we may think ourselves
+lucky, for some of the officers who went with the first lot have come
+back, and say that the roads are simply awful--there are dongas to be
+passed where the waggons sink up to their axles--and that at one point
+ninety oxen were fastened to a single waggon and could not pull it out
+from a hole in which it was sunk, and there it would be now if one of
+the Woolwich traction engines hadn't got hold of it and drawn it out.
+They are doing splendid work, and if the War Office authorities can but
+take a lesson to heart, the next war we go into we shall have five
+hundred of them and not a single transport animal. They would cost
+money, no doubt, but they would eat nothing and drink nothing; they
+would only require to be oiled and cleaned occasionally to keep them in
+order, and when they were wanted they would do the work without our
+having to hunt the world over for transport animals. They would save
+their cost in one war; there would be a thousand drivers and stokers
+instead of twenty thousand camp followers; it would not matter whether
+the country was burnt up dry or deep in grass, they would drag their
+fuel with them; and would save the artillery horses by dragging the
+guns till they were in the neighbourhood of an enemy. It might not look
+so pretty or picturesque as the present system, but it would be
+enormously more useful, and in the long run vastly more economical. I
+should like to see Kitchener put at the War Office with authority to
+sweep it out; Hercules in the Augean stable would be nothing to it."
+
+Chris laughed at the earnestness and vehemence with which the commander
+spoke.
+
+He went on. "I am an old army man, and have been as staunch a believer
+in army traditions as any man, but I tell you fairly that I am
+disgusted at the amount of routine work, delay, and, if I may use the
+word, priggism, that I see going on. I am not surprised that the
+Colonials to a man are convinced that they would manage matters
+infinitely better if they were left to themselves. They would harass
+the Boers night and day, sweep their plundering parties out of the
+land, make a circuit no matter how far into Zululand, and come down
+behind and cut the line of railway, and blow up the bridges, and worry
+them out of the colony. I don't say they would succeed, but I am sure
+they would try, and I believe firmly that five thousand mounted
+Colonials fighting in their own way would relieve Ladysmith and clear
+Natal sooner than we with thirty thousand shall do. I am not saying
+that they would succeed in a Continental war, though they would
+certainly harass and bother any regular force four times their own
+strength. To succeed they would require guns and a greater degree of
+discipline than they have got, but such a force would be absolutely
+invaluable as an assistant to a regular army. Don't repeat what I say,
+Chris; there is a good deal of soreness of feeling on both sides
+already, and I don't want any utterance of mine to add to it. Still, I
+can assure you it has been a relief to me to let the steam off."
+
+At the appointed hour the Maritzburg Scouts and another Colonial corps
+started with a train of two hundred waggons, and with immense exertion
+made eight miles before it became dark. The men were more often on foot
+than in their saddles, sometimes roping their horses to the sides of
+the waggons to aid the oxen, sometimes putting their shoulders to the
+wheels, or working with a score of others with railway sleepers that
+had been brought for the purpose, to lever the axles out of deep holes
+into which the wheels had sunk.
+
+"I don't think I ever knew what it was to be really dirty before,"
+Field said, as they finally dismounted and prepared to camp. "I thought
+I did know something about mud, but I can see that I did not. I feel
+that I am a sort of animated pie, and could be cooked comfortably in an
+oven. If we could but get a big fire and stand round it, our crust
+might peel off; and I really don't see any other way. There is one
+advantage in it, and that is that we shall be able to skirmish, if
+necessary, across either a sandy or muddy country, without the
+possibility of our being made out more than fifty yards away by the
+keenest-sighted Boer. What do you propose, Captain Chris? If there were
+running water near, the course would be clear. We would lie down by
+turns, and be rolled over and over, and thumped with stones, and rubbed
+with anything that came handy till we were in a state of comparative
+cleanliness."
+
+"Why running water?" Chris asked. "Why not a pond?"
+
+"A pond!" Field said, contemptuously. "Why, sir, before our section
+alone was washed, the water of anything short of a lake would be solid."
+
+There was a general burst of laughter.
+
+"Well, Field, you do us almost as much good as a wash," Peters said.
+"Anyhow, we are better off than the others. We have got our tents and
+our spirit-lamp, and can have our tea with some degree of comfort,
+which is more than the others will be able to do. Now, as we have not
+running water, I think we might as well scrape as much of this mud off
+as we can."
+
+"I would almost rather remain as we are," Field said. "Hitherto I have
+felt rather proud of our appearance. As we only got our uniforms when
+we came up here, and have always had our tents to sleep in, we looked a
+great deal cleaner than the average. Now we shall be conspicuous for
+our dirtiness."
+
+"In spite of what Field says, I will adopt your suggestion, Peters. We
+had better help the Kaffirs to get up our tents first," Chris said,
+"then we can do the scraping while they are getting our supper ready.
+It is very lucky that we had the water-skins filled before starting. We
+should hardly taste the tea if it had been made from water from any of
+these spruits."
+
+The tents were erected, and then jack-knives were taken out; and giving
+mutual aid to each other, they succeeded in removing at least the main
+portion of the mud. That done, they sat down to supper. Fortunately,
+the rain that had come down steadily the greater portion of the day had
+now ceased, and with a tin of cocoa and milk, and some fried ham and
+biscuits, they made an excellent meal. Their less fortunate comrades
+brought their kettles, which were boiled for them one after another,
+until all who had waited up in hopes of their turn coming had been
+served. As they carried tea and their ration bread, they were able to
+make a fairly comfortable meal, instead of going supperless to bed,
+which they would otherwise have done, as few would have cared after
+their hard work to go out into the veldt to gather soaked sticks, which
+they would hardly have been able to light had they found them. A small
+ration of spirits and water was given to each of the five natives, and
+then the lads crept into their tents feeling that after all, things
+might have been much worse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+SPION KOP
+
+
+The country immediately round Springfield was level and well
+cultivated, with pretty farmhouses and orchards scattered about. Some
+little distance to the west rose two hills, Swartz Kop, which had been
+occupied by the mounted infantry, and Spearman's Hill, named from a
+farm near its base. Here General Buller had established his
+head-quarters. Spearman's Hill, which was generally called Mount Alice,
+was a very important position, and here the naval guns were placed,
+their fire commanding the greater portion of the hills on the other
+side of the Tugela, and also Potgieter's Drift, where it was intended
+the passage of the river should be made. Swartz Kop was a less
+important position, though it also dominated a wide extent of country;
+but as ridges on the other side covered some important points from its
+fire, Mount Alice was selected as the position for the naval battery,
+and also for the signallers, as from here a direct communication could
+be kept up by heliograph and flash-light with one of the hills held by
+the defenders of Ladysmith.
+
+[Illustration: THE NAVAL GUNS ON MOUNT ALICE]
+
+It was late on the 16th when the convoy which the Maritzburg Scouts
+were escorting arrived at Springfield. All day they had heard the boom
+of artillery and the rattle of machine-guns and musketry along the line
+of hills on the other side of the Tugela and from the heights of Mount
+Alice, and groaned in spirit as they laboured at their work of
+assisting the waggons, that they were thus employed when hard fighting
+was going on within eight miles of them.
+
+At half-past two that day Lyttleton's brigade had moved forward along
+the foot of Mount Alice to force the passage of the river at
+Potgieter's drift. As soon as the Boers caught sight of them, they
+could be seen galloping forward to take their places in the trenches.
+
+A thunder-storm that burst and a torrent of rain screened the movements
+of the advancing troops from view for some time, and enabled them to
+near the river without having to pass through any shell fire from the
+Boer batteries on the hilltops. Between Mount Alice and the river the
+brigade passed across meadows and ploughed fields. They reached the
+ferry, but the boat was stuck fast, and an hour was lost at this point
+before a party of sailors and colonial troops accustomed to such work
+came forward to the aid of the Engineers, and speedily got it into
+working order. But in the meantime the Scottish Rifles and the Rifle
+Brigade had moved along the banks to the drift. Although usually almost
+dry, the water was now coming down it breast-deep. Two gallant fellows
+went across, and when they found the line of shallow water they
+returned and guided their comrades over. The rush of the water was so
+great that many would have been swept away; but, joining hands, they
+crossed in a line, and although this was broken several times, it was
+always reformed, and not many lives were lost.
+
+As soon as some of the troops had passed, they lined the bank until the
+two battalions were over, and then advanced over some low hills,
+clearing out a few Boers who occupied some advanced trenches. By six
+o'clock the ferry-boat began to carry the main body across, taking over
+half a company at a time; but it was not until half-past three in the
+morning that the horses, waggons, the guns of the brigade, and a
+howitzer battery were on the northern bank, and the whole brigade
+established on a ridge a mile beyond the river.
+
+The Maritzburg Scouts were delighted at receiving orders on the morning
+after their arrival at Springfield that they were to move forward at
+once and encamp close to Spearman's Farm, and to furnish orderlies for
+carrying messages for the general. They started at once, and after an
+hour's fast riding arrived at the point assigned to them.
+
+Twenty men and an officer were at once sent to the farmhouse. They took
+with them three tents which they had brought in the regimental waggon,
+and erected these some fifty yards from the house; the rest of the
+troop established their camp at a point indicated by a staff officer a
+quarter of a mile away. It had been two o'clock in the morning before
+the convoy had reached Springfield, and horses and men were alike tired
+out; and as soon as breakfast had been prepared and eaten most of the
+troopers turned in to sleep. Chris and half a dozen of his party,
+however, obtained leave from Captain Brookfield to ascend Mount Alice
+and see what was going on. From half-past five a tremendous fire had
+been kept up on the Boer positions. The naval guns were distributing
+their heavy lyddite shells among the entrenchments distant from three
+to six miles, and occasionally throwing up a missile on to the summit
+of the lofty hill known as Spion Kop away to the left front. Not less
+steadily or effectively the howitzer battery was pounding the Boer
+position.
+
+At eight o'clock the lads reached the top of Mount Alice, and watched
+with intense interest the picturesque and exciting scene. Here they
+were far better able than they had been when at Chieveley to see the
+general aspect of the country. On the right from Grobler's Kloof hill
+after hill, separated apparently by shallow depressions, rose, and from
+the higher points occasional flashes of fire burst out as the guns
+tried their range against those on Mount Alice, whose heights, however,
+they failed to reach. Spion Kop stood out steep and threatening, its
+summit being some hundred feet higher than that of Mount Alice. They
+could now see that it was not, as it had appeared from the distance, an
+isolated and almost conical hill, but was, in fact, connected with
+hills farther to the left by a ridge of which it was the termination.
+
+Immediately behind it was a deep valley, and the ascent from this side
+was to some extent commanded by the guns on Mount Alice and Swartz Kop.
+Between Spion Kop and the river there was a flat belt of country, and
+it was along this that Lord Dundonald had ridden with his brigade of
+cavalry to Acton Homes, where he was still stationed. The point of
+greatest interest, however, was at Trichardt's Drift, lying six miles
+west of Mount Alice. From their look-out they could make out the
+division under the command of Sir Charles Warren advancing to the ford.
+As far as they could see, no serious opposition was being offered; they
+could, however, in the intervals of silence of the guns, hear a
+dropping musketry fire in that direction, and a few rounds of shot from
+Warren's field-guns, but it was evident that only a small party of the
+enemy could be disputing the passage.
+
+Peters, who was intently watching what was going on through his
+glasses, said: "They are at work at two points on the river. I think
+they are building bridges."
+
+The naval guns dropped a few shells among the farm buildings and
+orchards facing the spot where the troops were gathered, as a hint to
+the Boers that it was well within their range, and that they had best
+abstain from interfering with what was going on. In an hour from the
+time the troops reached the bank two bridges had been thrown across the
+river, and the passage began. By ten o'clock the whole were across, the
+firing soon after ceased, and Warren's troops bivouacked quietly. It
+was all over for the day, and the lads returned to their camp. The next
+day passed quietly, except that in the afternoon the Boer entrenchments
+near Spion Kop and Brakfontein, a hill facing the position occupied by
+Lyttleton's brigade, were pounded by the naval guns and howitzers. A
+message was heliographed from Ladysmith that two thousand Boers were
+seen moving towards Acton Homes, and as the occupation of that village
+was of no value until the infantry arrived there, the cavalry were
+recalled to a position where they could protect Warren's left flank
+from attack.
+
+On the 19th, Warren pushed forward a portion of his force with a view
+to driving back the Boers' right and gaining the main road leading
+through Dewdrop to Ladysmith, while Woodgate's brigade watched Spion
+Kop. Fighting went on all day, the British forcing the enemy back step
+by step. On the 20th it began early and continued the whole day. Every
+inch of the ground was contested stubbornly by the Boers, but the Irish
+Brigade, who were in the hottest position, pressed them back fiercely
+with sudden rushes, and, had the rest of the division kept up with
+their advance, might have cleared the way through the enemy's centre.
+But the cannonade to which the advancing troops were exposed was
+terrible. Maxims and Nordenfeldts, the heavy cannon, and the
+field-pieces captured from us a month before, hurled shot and shell
+incessantly among them, while the rattle of the Boer rifles was
+continuous. Still, fair progress was made, and with less loss than
+might have been expected in such strife. Two officers only were killed,
+Captain Hensley of the Dublin Fusiliers, and Major Childe, who was a
+most popular officer. He had a presentiment that he would fall, and
+actually asked a friend the evening before to have a tablet placed over
+his grave with the inscription, "Is it well with the child? It is well."
+
+At three o'clock the fighting slackened, and a heavy thunderstorm
+seemed to be the signal for firing to cease. Later Sir Charles Warren
+summoned all the officers commanding corps, and pointed out that there
+was not sufficient food remaining to allow of the wide circuit by Acton
+Homes to be carried out, and gave his opinion that now they had won so
+much ground, it was better to continue to advance by the shorter line
+on which they were pushing, but that in order to do this it was
+necessary that Spion Kop, whose fire would take them in the rear,
+should be captured. This was unanimously agreed to, and General Warren
+then saw the commander-in-chief, and obtained his consent to the change
+of plans. It was not, however, considered necessary to take Spion Kop
+until the troops had farther advanced. All Sunday, fighting was
+continued as before, but the progress made was slower, as the Boers
+were largely reinforced and fresh guns brought up.
+
+The 22nd was comparatively quiet. The situation was not improving. Five
+miles of rough ground had been won in as many days' fighting, but the
+force was becoming lengthened out and the line weaker. Lyttleton's
+force had to guard the line from Potgieter's Drift to Warren's right
+against any attempt of the Boers to cut the lines of communication.
+Woodgate was similarly employed in keeping the line from Trichardt's
+Drift to Warren's left, and it became increasingly evident that not
+much further progress could be made until the left of the advance was
+protected by the establishment of guns on the great hill. It was then,
+on the 23rd, decided that Woodgate's brigade should assault Spion Hop
+that night. It was known that it was not strongly held.
+
+Starting at six o'clock, the column made its way slowly and with vast
+difficulty up the ascent. This was everywhere rugged and rocky, and in
+many places so precipitous that men had to be pushed or pulled up by
+their comrades.
+
+Colonel Thorneycroft led the way with a few men, finding out the spots
+at which an ascent was practicable, and scouting on either side to
+discover if Boers were hidden; behind him followed Woodgate leading his
+men. He was in bad health and quite unfit for such a climb, but in
+spite of remonstrances he had insisted upon going, although he was
+obliged to be assisted at the more difficult places. The distance was
+not more than six miles, but it was not until nearly ten hours after
+starting that the summit was gained. The hilltop was enveloped in mist,
+and they were unseen until the Lancashire Fusiliers, who were leading,
+were within fifty yards of the top. Then a Boer challenged them, and
+directly fired his rifle. Almost instantly a dozen of his comrades
+joined him, and bringing their magazines into play opened a fierce
+fusillade. But the aim was hurried, they could scarce see their foes,
+and the Lancashire men, cheering loudly, rushed up to the crest without
+loss.
+
+The Boers did not await their arrival; only one of them was bayoneted
+before he turned to fly, and but two or three were overtaken by the
+eager soldiers. As soon as the Boers had gone, the troops set to work
+to construct breastworks to hold the spot they had gained against any
+attempts of the Boers to recapture. The ground was too rocky for
+digging, and the stones that were scattered thickly about were used for
+the purpose; but long before the breastwork could be completed a
+dropping fire was opened by the enemy. The morning was gray and misty,
+and the clouds hung heavily on the hilltop. As these cleared off
+slowly, it could be seen that the position was less favourable than it
+had seemed, for the flat crest extended some distance beyond the point
+they had entrenched, and from the rocks and low ridges a hot fire broke
+out. Before the mist cleared off, the Boers had crept up in
+considerable force, and were, it was evident, preparing to retake the
+position that had been wrested from them.
+
+By six o'clock the scattered fire had grown into a continuous roar, the
+Boers occupying not only the nek itself, but the flanks of the hill.
+Several times our men made rushes to endeavour to clear off the foe,
+but these proved too costly, and they were now lying or kneeling behind
+the unfinished barricade. In a very short time the clouds had lifted
+sufficiently for the Boer artillery to discover the exact position, and
+from the hills on three sides a terrible fire of shot and shell, from
+cannon great and small and machine-guns, rained upon them. Again and
+again parties of men started to their feet and dashed forward to drive
+the hidden Boers facing them from their hiding-places. Sometimes they
+succeeded for a time, but their numbers thinned so fast that the
+survivors were forced to fall back again. To add to the horror of the
+situation, the shot from our own guns also fell among the defenders,
+the officers commanding the batteries not having been informed of the
+intention to occupy the hill, and knowing nothing of the situation.
+Scores of men were killed or wounded, but the position was held
+unflinchingly.
+
+At ten o'clock General Woodgate was mortally wounded by the fragment of
+a shell that struck him in the eye, and Colonel Crofton took the
+command. He at once flashed a message to General Warren, stating that
+Woodgate was killed, and that reinforcements must be sent at once;
+General Coke was therefore ordered to take the Middlesex and Dorset
+regiments, and assume the command. Immediately afterwards Warren
+received an order from General Buller to appoint Lieutenant-colonel
+Thorneycroft, who was colonel of a colonial force, to take the command.
+It was now hoped that all was well there. Unfortunately, neither Buller
+nor Warren was able to give his undivided attention to the struggle on
+the mountain, for Lyttleton's brigade had advanced before daybreak
+against the eastern slopes of the hills running north from Spion Kop.
+They advanced briskly, their Maxims clearing out the Boers, from whose
+fire they suffered but little; but they sustained some loss from the
+shell fire from Mount Alice, the sailors having been as uninformed of
+the advance the brigade were to make as they were of the capture of
+Spion Kop. The Scottish Rifles and the 3rd King's Royal Rifles pushed
+on rapidly and gained the spur farthest north. Had there been guns on
+Spion Kop the object of the movement would have been attained, and the
+advance by direct road on Ladysmith have become a possibility; but no
+guns had reached the summit, and the troops there were so far from
+being able to render assistance that they were with difficulty
+maintaining their desperate resistance. As the two rifle regiments were
+therefore exposed to a concentrated fire from the Boer batteries, and
+were without support, they were directed to withdraw, but the order had
+to be repeated three times before it was obeyed. The fire slackened at
+this point to some extent in the afternoon, no farther advance being
+attempted, but it raged as hotly as ever on the summit of Spion Kop.
+
+As neither General Buller nor Warren had come up to see the state of
+things on the all-important position of Spion Kop, General Coke went
+down in the evening to explain the situation. He stated that unless the
+artillery could silence the enemy's guns the troops could not support
+another day's shelling. In the evening two naval twelve-pounders, the
+R. A. mountain battery, and one thousand two hundred men as reliefs,
+started to ascend the hill and to strengthen the entrenchments. On the
+way up they met Colonel Thorneycroft and the rest of the force coming
+down, that officer, who had displayed splendid gallantry throughout the
+day, having decided on his own responsibility that the position could
+not be longer held. Strangely enough, the news of the retirement was
+not communicated to General Buller, who, after reporting in his
+despatches written next morning that Spion Kop was firmly held, was
+riding to the front when he for the first time learned the news.
+Altogether it was a day of strange blunders, redeemed only by the
+splendid bravery of the troops engaged. The news came as a heavy blow
+to the army, but it was supposed that a fresh attempt would be made to
+capture the position by ascending the northern spurs that had been
+carried and held for a time by the two rifle battalions. But while
+soldiers think only of the chances of battle, and burn to engage the
+enemy, a feeling only accentuated by previous failures, generals in
+command have to take other matters into consideration. They may feel
+that they may conquer in the next fight, but what is to follow? In this
+case the chances of success would be smaller than before, the loss more
+serious, for the Boers from all parts had united to oppose us. Many of
+the cannon had been brought over from the positions from which
+Ladysmith was bombarded. The advantage of surprise gained by the long
+march from Chieveley had been lost; more serious still was it that a
+large proportion of the provisions, brought at the cost of so much
+labour and exhaustion of the transport animals, was consumed, and what
+remained would be insufficient had fresh battles to be fought to
+capture the positions, one behind another, held by the Boers.
+
+General Buller was the last man to retire as long as there was a hope
+of success. He knew that not only at home, but all over the civilized
+world, men were anxiously awaiting the news of his second attempt to
+relieve Ladysmith, and it must have been hard indeed for him to have to
+acknowledge a second reverse; but in spite of this he sternly
+determined to fall back. The movement was admirably executed; every
+horse, waggon, gun, and soldier was taken safely across the Tugela
+without hindrance by the Boers, a fact that showed how deeply they had
+been impressed with the valour of our soldiers. Sullenly and angrily
+the troops marched away. Had they had their will they would have hurled
+themselves against the Boer entrenchments until the last man had
+fallen. To them the necessities of the situation were as nothing; to
+retreat seemed an acknowledgment that they had been beaten, a feeling
+that is seldom entertained by British soldiers. Their losses had been
+heavy, but there were still enough of them, they thought, for the work
+they had to do, and it was with a deep feeling of unmerited humiliation
+that they received the order to retire.
+
+The feeling, however, was not of long endurance, for two days later,
+when they had settled down in camp near the Tugela and round Spearman's
+Farm, the general rode through the lines, congratulating the troops on
+the valour they had displayed, and promising them that ere long they
+would be in Ladysmith.
+
+"I shall be heartily glad when we are there," Chris said when he heard
+what the general had promised, "not only for the sake of the town, but
+for our own. We are really doing no good here. It is hateful to look on
+when other fellows are fighting so desperately. If it were not that the
+orders were strict against the mounted Colonial corps going out over
+the country, to clear the scattered Boers out, we might be doing useful
+service; and as soon as Ladysmith is relieved--that is to say, if we
+can hold out till we get there--I should certainly vote that we come
+back here instead of staying with the army, and go on again on our own
+account."
+
+"I quite agree with you," Carmichael said. "Still, it is something to
+have seen two big fights."
+
+"Yes," Brown grumbled, "but if we tell anybody that we were there,
+naturally the first question will be, 'What part did you take in it',
+and we shall have to own that we took no part at all, and only looked
+on at a distance at the other fellows fighting. I call it sickening."
+
+"Well, never mind, Brown," Chris said; "after all, during this
+business, we have killed twice our own number of Boers at the least,
+and if everyone had done as much the Boers would be pretty well
+extinct."
+
+"Yes, there is certainly something in that," Brown admitted, "but if we
+had been allowed to scout on our own account it would be hard if we had
+not killed twice as many more by this time."
+
+"We certainly might have done so, but you must remember, also, that a
+great many of us might have been killed too. One cannot always expect
+to have the luck we had in those two fights; and, I am sure, we should
+bitterly regret gaps being made in our number."
+
+"That we should," Harris said warmly. "We were all good friends before,
+but nothing to what we are now after living so long together, roughing
+it and sharing each others' dangers. For my part I would rather go
+without any more fighting than that any of us should go down."
+
+"I agree with you thoroughly, Harris," Chris said. "As most of us are
+likely to remain out here for life, we shall often meet, and I do hope
+that when we talk of these times we shan't have our pleasure marred by
+having to say how we miss so and so, and so and so. I should be sorry
+even to lose one of our blacks. They have stuck to their work well, and
+are always cheerful and willing in the worst of weather and under the
+most miserable conditions. I should really be very sorry if any of them
+were killed."
+
+It needed but a day or two for the troops to recover their
+cheerfulness. It was certain that they would soon be launched against
+the enemy again, and it was known that General Buller would himself
+command. The ground was now more known than it was before, the plans
+could be better laid, and all looked forward confidently to the next
+engagement.
+
+No thanks were due to the weather for the renewed spirits of the men.
+It rained almost unceasingly. The flat ground on which the troops were
+encamped was a sea of mud. There was one good effect in this: there was
+water in all the spruits, and the men were able to indulge in a wash-up
+of their clothes and an occasional bath; and although they had to put
+their clothes on wet, they were scarcely more damp than when they took
+them off. There was other work to be done. Two naval guns, a mountain
+battery, and some large cannon were with great labour got up on the top
+of Swartz Kop.
+
+The lads had given up the two tents allotted to them to let the rest of
+the men have more room, and they now felt the full benefit of their
+little shelter tents. The allowance throughout the rest of the camp was
+sixteen men to a tent. On coming in and out, as the men were muddy up
+to the knees, it was impossible to keep these even tolerably clean, and
+the discomfort of so many men crowded together and obliged to live,
+eat, and sleep in such confined quarters was very great indeed.
+
+The lads on the other hand, suffered from none of these inconveniences,
+and except that they could not stand up, and could only sit upright in
+the middle of the tent, they were perfectly comfortable. The tents were
+about seven feet wide on the ground, and as much long. Their natives
+had cut and brought in bundles of grass, which made them soft beds, one
+on each side of the tent. A blanket was stretched on each bed, another
+doubled lay over it. It was a strict rule that everyone should take off
+his boots on entering his tent, and leave them just inside the
+entrance. They had purchased at the sale of the effects of some of the
+officers killed in action some more blankets and rugs, and these were
+thrown over the entrance to the front of the tents at night, and made
+them perfectly warm and comfortable. A trench some eighteen inches deep
+was dug round each tent, and this kept the floor fairly dry.
+
+Some blankets had been given to the Kaffirs, who constructed a little
+shelter, in which they squatted by day and slept at night, and in which
+cooking operations were carried on. The lads had no occasion to feel
+dull, for they now knew many officers in the line regiments, and among
+the Colonial troops, as well as the naval brigade; and "Brookfield's
+boys", as they were generally called, were always welcome, and it was
+seldom that more than half of them dined in their own camp. Chris could
+always have been an absentee, for the sailors had told to each other
+the story of his attempt to blow up the bridge at Komati-poort, and he
+received any number of invitations. But he by no means liked to have to
+retell the story, and generally made some excuse or other for remaining
+in camp.
+
+Another battery of artillery arrived on the 31st of January, and on the
+3rd of February there were sports in the camp of the South African
+Light Horse, and a camp-fire sing-song afterwards. The men were all now
+in high spirits, for it was certain that in a day or two another attack
+would be made. On Sunday, February 4th, it was known that the move
+would commence the next day.
+
+General Buller's plan was to make a strong feint against Brakfontein,
+the highest hill of the ridge connected with the Spion Kop range, while
+the real attack was to be delivered against an isolated hill named Vaal
+Krantz, which, as viewed from Swartz Kop and Mount Alice, seemed to be
+the key to the whole position, and it was thought that its possession
+would open the way for a direct advance to Ladysmith. All was now in
+readiness for the attack, and the sailors had with steel hawsers, and
+the aid of the troops, got four more naval guns on to Swartz Kop.
+
+Before daybreak the troops were ready to advance. The regular cavalry
+were near the base of Swartz Kop, while all the Colonial Horse, under
+Lord Dundonald, were near Potgieter's Drift. At six o'clock the cavalry
+went forward, but not far, for the morning was so misty that the
+artillery could not make out the Boer positions until an hour later,
+when a tremendous fire was opened from Mount Alice, Swartz Kop, and
+guns placed on a lower spur of Spion Kop. While this was going on, a
+bridge was thrown by the Engineers across another drift. Major-general
+Wynne led the Lancashire brigade in the direction of Brakfontein. They
+went forward in skirmishing order, supported by five field batteries
+and the howitzer battery, all of which kept up an incessant fire of
+lyddite, shell, and shot against the Boer position, their fire being
+guided by an engineer officer in a balloon, who was able from a lofty
+altitude to signal where the Boers were clustering most thickly.
+
+When another bridge had been completed General Lyttleton advanced with
+his brigade across it, and as the feint against Brakfontein had
+succeeded in gathering the greater portion of the Boers at the spot
+they supposed to be most in danger, the Lancashire brigade was
+withdrawn, retiring in excellent order, the movement being covered by
+an incessant firing of the guns with them, which completely dominated
+those of the Boers. Lyttleton's brigade now pressed forward under a
+storm of musketry and shell from machine and other guns, which were
+answered even more thunderously by the British artillery. The din was
+tremendous--greater even than any that had been previously heard. It
+seemed impossible that men could live for a moment in such a storm of
+missiles. But they pressed on unfalteringly, and the batteries with
+them as steadily maintained their fire, though shells fell continually
+round and among them. The batteries that had gone out with the
+Lancashire Brigade now directed their fire against Vaal Krantz, having
+moved across from Brakfontein under a tremendous fire. One of the
+waggons lost all its horses; but the five artillerymen with it manned
+the wheels and brought it safely out of fire.
+
+At three o'clock Lyttleton's brigade advanced in earnest, and dashed
+forward at the double against Vaal Krantz, heedless of the rifle fire
+from the hills on both flanks and from the front. The defenders soon
+lost courage, as they saw the Durhams and 3rd King's Royal Rifles
+dashing up the hill with bayonets fixed, and scarce two hundred of them
+remained till the British gained the crest. These were speedily
+scattered or bayoneted.
+
+The position when won was found to be unsatisfactory, for it was
+dominated by a hill beyond, which could not be seen from the British
+look-out stations, and the cannon of Spion Kop were able to sweep the
+plateau. At one time the Boers gathered and made an effort to retake
+the hill, but two more battalions were sent up to reinforce the
+defenders, and the enemy were driven back and the fire gradually
+languished. The troops remained on the ground they had won during the
+night. From prisoners they learned that four thousand Boers occupied
+Doornkloof, the hill on their flank, and that the whole of the
+Transvaalers under Joubert were gathering in their front.
+
+The baggage waggons were all collected by the river in readiness to
+advance; but the way was not yet sufficiently cleared for them, and the
+Boer guns on Brakfontein and Spion Kop commanded the road which they
+would have to traverse. It was evident to all that no advance was
+possible until the guns on these heights had been silenced or captured.
+For the same reason the two brigades of cavalry had remained inactive.
+During the night the Boers set fire to the grass on Vaal Krantz, and by
+the assistance of the light kept up a shell and Maxim fire upon the
+troops holding it. By morning they had brought up one of their big
+hundred-pound Creusot guns on to Doornkloof, and it added its roar to
+the chaos of other sounds. Under the shelter of its fire and that of
+the other guns the Boers made several attempts to recapture the hill,
+but were smartly repulsed each time they advanced.
+
+All day Tuesday and Wednesday the uproar of battle never ceased. We
+could advance no farther. The Boers could not drive us back, although
+they made a very determined night attack on Hildyard's brigade. That
+afternoon General Buller held a council of war, at which all the
+generals were present. Their opinions were unanimous that the Boer
+position could not be forced without terrible loss, and that when they
+arrived at Ladysmith they would but add to the number shut up in that
+town, as it might be found as difficult to force their way out as to
+arrive there. General Hart pleaded to be allowed to make an attempt on
+Doornkloof with his brigade; but, strongly held as that position was,
+it was deemed impossible that it could be captured by a single brigade.
+The original intention was that guns should be taken up on to Vaal
+Krantz, and that with their assistance a strong force would wheel round
+and take Doornkloof in the rear; but owing to the discovery that the
+former hill was dominated from several points, it was found
+impracticable to carry the plan into execution. Orders were therefore
+given for the supply column, which had advanced some distance, to
+retire.
+
+As the movement was being carried out, the Boers kept up a heavy fire
+upon the waggons and on the hospital, which, relying upon the
+protection of the Red Cross flag, had advanced within range, but here,
+as upon almost every occasion, the enemy paid no respect whatever to
+the Geneva emblem, although when, as once or twice happened, one of our
+shells fell near an ambulance of theirs, they had sent in indignant
+protests against our conduct. All that night and the next day the
+movement to the rear continued, and not only were the infantry moved
+across the Tugela, but the guns on Swartz Kop and Mount Alice were
+removed, and orders were given for a general retirement to Springfield,
+a proof that the next attack would be made in an entirely different
+direction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A COLONIST'S ADVENTURE
+
+
+In the morning after the battle orders were issued for the greater part
+of the troops to return to Chieveley, and among the first to leave were
+the Maritzburg Scouts. They were heartily glad to be off. During the
+three preceding days the position of the cavalry had been a galling
+one. They had seen nothing of the fighting, being kept down at
+Potgieter's Drift in readiness to advance the moment that orders came.
+They had nothing to do but to stand or sit down near their horses,
+watching the fire from the enemy's batteries on the hills, and the
+bursting of our lyddite shells among them, the outburst of
+brownish-yellow smoke rendering them easily distinguishable from the
+sudden puffs of white vapour caused by the explosion of the shrapnel
+shells of the artillery. How the battle was going was only known from
+the wounded men brought down from the front. The reports at first were
+encouraging, but it became evident on the following days that no
+progress was being made.
+
+Each evening when the sun set both the colonial and regular cavalry
+returned to their camp, for it was certain that they could not act at
+night. When it became known on Wednesday evening that a retreat was
+ordered, the news came almost as a relief, for the suspense had been
+very trying.
+
+After dinner Chris went into the tent where the officers of the troop
+were gathered. As usual, the talk was of the battle, but in a short
+time Captain Brookfield said:
+
+"Let us try and get away from the subject. We have talked of nothing
+else for the past three days, and I defy anyone to say anything new
+about it; it is not a pleasant subject either. Richards, you were in
+the last war, I know, and took part in the defence of Standerton.
+Suppose you tell us about that; it is one of the few pleasant memories
+of that time."
+
+"I don't know that there is much to tell you about it, but I will let
+you know how I came to take share in it. That was an exciting time for
+me, for I was never so near rubbed out in all my life. Just before the
+last business broke out I happened to be returning from Pretoria,
+intending to sell for anything that I could get a large farm that I
+owned in the Leydenburg district. Of late the Boers had been getting so
+offensive in their manner that I thought something would come of it,
+and made up my mind to sell out at any price and return to Natal. When
+I rode into Leydenburg I found that two hundred and fifty men of the
+94th Regiment were starting next day with a large train of waggons for
+Pretoria. As I was frequently in the town, and had made the
+acquaintance of several of the officers, I thought it would be pleasant
+to ride down with them, as it made no difference whether I got into
+Pretoria a day or two earlier or later. The general idea was that war
+would come of it, but no one thought it would begin without the usual
+notice and warning.
+
+"I told the officers that I would not trust the Boers further than I
+could see them, for that a more treacherous set of fellows are not to
+be found on the surface of the earth. Still, I must own that I had no
+more idea that an attack would be made upon us than they had. Well, you
+all know what came of it. We were going along a hollow with rising
+ground on either side when, without the slightest warning, a tremendous
+fire was opened from both flanks. It can hardly be said that there was
+any resistance. The troops were strung out along the line of waggons;
+numbers were shot down before a single musket was fired in defence. The
+main body, such as it was, fought stoutly, but as they could only catch
+an occasional glimpse of the heads of the enemy, while they were
+themselves altogether exposed, there could be but one end to it. A
+hundred and twenty men were killed or wounded in a few minutes, and to
+save the rest from a similar massacre the officer who commanded
+surrendered.
+
+"I fired a few shots at first, but as soon as I saw how it would end I
+rode for it. I was with the rear-guard when the firing began, and so
+took the back track. As soon as the firing ceased I saw half a dozen
+Boers galloping after me. My blood was up, as you may imagine, and on
+getting to a dip I jumped off my horse, left it in shelter, and threw
+myself down on the crest of the hollow, and as they came within range I
+picked off the one who was nearest to me. That brought the others up
+with a round turn. They retired a little way, then dismounted and
+separated, and proceeded to stalk me. We exchanged shots for an hour or
+two. I killed another, and got, as you see by this scar on my cheek, a
+graze. However, I think they would have tired of the game first. But
+suddenly I saw a dozen Boers galloping across the country in our
+direction. They were doubtless a party who had arrived too late to take
+part in the fight, if you can call such a treacherous massacre a fight,
+and hearing the sound of shots were riding to see what was going on.
+
+"I saw that things were getting too hot, and ran down to my horse again
+and rode along in the hollow, which fortunately hid me from the sight
+of either the men I had been fighting or those riding up. I had
+therefore about a quarter of a mile start when I heard a shout, and
+knew that they were after me. After what had happened I did not dare
+ride for Middleburg, as there was no saying whether that place might
+not have already risen; so there was nothing to depend upon but the
+speed and bottom of my horse. It was a fairly good animal, but nothing
+particular. It had had an easy time of it while on the march, for we
+had only done some fourteen or fifteen miles a day. I might have had
+hopes that I should outride the men in pursuit of me, but they would be
+joined by more men on fresh horses from any Boer farmhouse or village
+we came near. Besides, the news of this intended attack on the convoy
+must have been known far and wide. Occasionally a shot was fired, but
+as I was riding at a gallop, and the Boers were doing the same, I had
+no great fear of being hit. I gained a little at first, but after two
+hours' riding they were about the same distance behind as when they had
+first started on the chase.
+
+"I felt that my horse was beginning to fag a bit, but the sun was
+setting, for the attack had taken place in the afternoon. I kept on
+till it was too dark for me to make out my pursuers, some of whom were
+not more than three hundred yards behind me; then, while my horse was
+going at full gallop I leapt of? without checking him, a trick that
+most hunters can do. I chose the spot because I could make out that
+there was some low scrub close to the road. Stooping among this I ran
+forward. I was glad to hear that my horse was still galloping at the
+top of his speed, and, deprived of my weight, would probably get a good
+bit farther before he was taken, if he did but keep on. This I hoped he
+would do, for he had evidently entered into the spirit of the chase,
+and had laid back his ears whenever the Boers raised their voices in a
+yell or a rifle was fired. They were yelling pretty hard when they
+passed me, urging their horses on in the belief that the chase was
+almost at an end. I heard no more of the Boers that time, for as soon
+as they had gone on I ran at the top of my speed for some distance, and
+then broke into a trot, and by the morning must have been thirty miles
+away.
+
+"I decided to make for Standerton, for there I felt sure I should be
+safe, for at that place was a considerable English population, and they
+would certainly hold out. I had a Colt's rifle with me and a brace of
+revolvers, for even when I went down to Leydenburg I heard that several
+Englishmen had been maltreated, and one or two shot by Boers they met.
+I tramped for four days, and as the attack on our troops had been made
+on the 20th of December, it was now Christmas-eve. I had not ventured
+to go near a Boer farm, for fortunately I had shot a springbok, and was
+therefore under no trouble as to food; but on the previous day I had
+not come across water, and the heat was terrible, so I felt that
+whatever came of it I must go and ask for a drink. I saw a farmhouse
+about nine in the morning and made for it. As I approached, a woman
+came out of the door and, seeing me, re-entered, and two Boers with
+their guns in their hands ran out.
+
+"Who are you?" they shouted. Of course I speak Dutch as well as
+English, and shouted back that I only wanted some water.
+
+"'Are you an Englishman?' they shouted again.
+
+"'Yes, I am,' I said; 'but what difference does that make?' I saw their
+guns go up to their shoulders, and flung myself down, and their shots
+went over my head. It was my turn now, and I fired twice, and the two
+Boers rolled over. I walked forward now ready to fire on an instant, as
+there might be more of them. Some women ran out but no man, and I went
+straight up. They were screaming over the bodies of the men, and heaped
+curses on me as I came up. I slung my rifle behind me, and taking out
+my pistols I said, 'Your men brought it on themselves. I only asked for
+water, and they fired at me. I don't want to hurt any of you, but if
+you attack me I must protect myself.' Several times I thought they
+would have done so, but the sight of my pistols cowed them, I walked
+straight into the house, dipped a pannikin into a pail of water, took a
+long drink, then I filled my water-bottle, and went out. Though they
+cursed me again, they did not attempt to stop me, as I rather feared
+they would; but I understood it when, before I had gone fifty yards, I
+heard a horse's hoofs, and looking round saw a girl riding at full
+speed across the veldt. She had no doubt gone to fetch the men who were
+away or to the next farm to summon assistance. The draught of water had
+done me a world of good, and I soon broke into a run, though I did not
+conceal from myself that I was in a bad fix. Once out of sight of the
+farm I changed my course, and did so several times in the course of the
+next two hours; then, on getting to the crest of high ground, I saw a
+river half a mile away. This, I felt sure, was Broot Spruit. Before
+starting to walk down I looked round, and a little over a mile away
+could see a party of some fifteen Boers. I ran at full speed down the
+slope, and could see no other place where I could make a fight of it;
+but many of the rivers have, like those here, steep banks, and I could
+at least sell my life dearly. It could only be for a time, for some of
+the Boers would cross the spruit and take me in rear. Still, there was
+nothing else to be done.
+
+"When I reached the bank I gave a shout of satisfaction. The river was
+in flood; there must have been rain up in the hills, and you know how
+quickly the streams rise. Unless the Boers knew of some very shallow
+place, there would be no crossing it; for it was running like a
+mill-stream, and except at some waggon drift the banks were almost
+perpendicular. At any rate I could not hope to swim half across before
+the Boers came up, and so I must fight it out where I was. I had
+scarcely found a point where I could get a comfortable foothold on the
+bank, with my head just above the level, when the Boers appeared on the
+top of the hill. They stopped for a minute and then broke up, and
+scattering rode forward. They felt sure that I must have made for the
+river, as there was no other place where I could be concealed. When
+they came within a couple of hundred yards of it they dismounted, and
+three or four came forward on foot. When the nearest was within a
+hundred yards of me I fired.
+
+"At so short a distance, and with so good a rest, I could not miss, and
+before the smoke cleared away I winged another, and the rest ran back
+hastily. I sent a shot or two among them as they were consulting, with
+the result that they rode off three or four hundred yards farther back.
+They did not attempt to return my fire, for, except when I raised my
+head for a moment, they could see nothing of me. They doubtless learned
+from the women that I had a Colt's rifle and a brace of revolvers, and
+that if they were to make a rush across the open not many of them were
+likely to reach me. After a talk two or three of them mounted their
+horses and rode so as to strike the river both above and below me,
+intending no doubt to cross if they found a place where there was a
+chance of doing so. I felt pretty sure that they would do nothing till
+it was dark, then they would crawl up and make a rush; I was certain,
+anyhow, that they would not give it up, as there were two of their
+number lying on the veldt besides the two at the farmhouse. There was,
+however, more pluck in them than I had given them credit for, for about
+mid-day they began to advance, crawling along the ground as if stalking
+a quarry. The men who had gone out on horseback had all returned, but
+just as the others started crawling up three of them galloped away down
+stream. I determined at once to shift my position a bit, so as to put
+off the evil hour. I pulled a stone as big as my head out of the clay
+of the bank and put it on the edge where my head had been, and then got
+down into the water. It was waist-deep at a couple of feet from the
+bank, which above was too steep to walk along. I had gone a hundred
+yards when I saw, seven or eight inches above the water-level, a hole,
+and pushing my arm in I found it was a place where a good bit of the
+bank had caved in. Laying my gun and pistols down on a ledge I felt
+about farther. At the top it went in nearly three feet, and was higher
+at the back than it was at the water's edge. At any rate it afforded a
+good chance of safety. Holding the revolvers, the chamber of the rifle,
+and my ammunition above water, I stooped until I could get into the
+hole, which was but just wide enough for the purpose; then I pushed
+myself back to the end. I found there was just height enough for me to
+sit with my mouth above water. The back sloped so that I had to dig my
+heels into the clay to prevent myself from slipping forward.
+
+"It was not a comfortable position, but that was a secondary
+consideration. I had noticed as I came along that the river was already
+falling, so that I had no fear of being drowned as long as I kept my
+position. With some trouble I fastened my pistols and ammunition on the
+brim of my hat; the rifle I was holding between my knees. There I sat
+hour after hour. Fortunately, being pretty near midsummer day, the
+water was not cold. I had at least the consolation of knowing what a
+state of fury the Boers must be in. They would have seen by my
+footsteps where I had entered the river, just below where I had been
+standing. No doubt they would have gone along the top of the bank to
+see if I had come out of the water again, and when they reached their
+friends on horseback and heard that I had not swum down the river, they
+would have concluded that I must have been drowned. Had I managed to
+cross, they would have seen me climb the opposite bank.
+
+"In an hour the water had fallen to my shoulders, and when it became
+dark it was but waist-deep where I was sitting. To make a long story
+short, by midnight the water was below my feet and still falling
+rapidly. I waited a couple of hours and then started to cross. It was
+about fifty yards wide, and I was fully half-way over before it reached
+my chin. The stream had lost much of its force, and I had no difficulty
+in swimming across the rest of the way, though the water was deep until
+I was within a couple of yards of the bank. Then I climbed the bank and
+made off. I saw nothing more of my pursuers, and three days later I
+arrived at Standerton, and remained there til the end of the war, for
+the gallant little town repulsed all attempts of the Boers to capture
+it."
+
+"That was a narrow escape indeed, Richards," Captain Brookfield said.
+"If you hadn't had your wits about you the Boers would certainly have
+got you. It was a first-rate hiding-place, but I don't think many of us
+would have thought of adopting it. Now, will someone else give us a
+yarn?"
+
+Two or three more stories were told, and then the party broke up,
+feeling all the better for having for an hour avoided the standing
+topic. Two days later all were settled at Chieveley again, and it was
+generally believed that the next attack would take place very shortly,
+and that it would probably be directed against Colenso. That evening a
+farmer came into camp. His horse had dropped dead a mile away. He
+stopped, as he passed through the tents of the scouts, and asked where
+he could find the general. Captain Brookfield, who heard the question,
+stepped out from his tent with Chris, to whom he had been talking.
+
+"Why, Searle, is it you? I thought the voice was familiar to me. What
+is it?"
+
+"I have ridden in to get help. The other day a raiding party of Boers
+came down through Inadi, and riding in between Dingley Dell and Botha's
+Castle--you know the hill--swept off a quantity of cattle. They have
+not penetrated so far before, and no one about thought that there was
+any danger while you were attacking them up here. One of the farmers
+rode to Greytown for help. Most of the young men there had joined one
+or other of the colonial troops, but fifteen of us said that we could
+go out. It seemed that there were not more than some fifteen or twenty
+Boers. Well, I can't tell you all about it, for, as it is a matter of
+life and death, I have not a moment to lose. However, we came up to
+them north of Botha's Castle. We had a sharp fight. Two of our men were
+killed and five of the Boers; the rest rode off. We set to work to
+bunch all the cattle, and as we were at it we were attacked suddenly by
+a party sixty or seventy strong. The fellows that we had driven off had
+evidently come across them and brought them down upon us. We made a
+running fight, but our horses were not so fresh as theirs; and seeing
+that they had the speed of us we made for an empty farmhouse, and as
+they rode up we brought down several of them.
+
+"There was a wall round the yard, and the Boers drew off for a bit to
+consider. Then they dismounted and planted themselves round the house
+in such shelter as they could find within two or three hundred yards,
+and the affair began in earnest. The first day they kept up a heavy
+fire, to which we could make but little reply, for it was certain death
+to lift a head above the wall or to show one's self at a window even
+for a moment. We lost three men that way. During the night they tried
+to carry the place, but we were all at the wall; and had the best of
+it, as we had only to show our heads, while they were altogether
+exposed. There was not much firing next day, and it was evident that
+they meant to starve us out. There was not a scrap of food to be found
+in the place; but fortunately there was a small thatched kraal inside
+the yard which gave some forage for the horses. The next day we killed
+one of them for food.
+
+"That night we agreed that when the Boers saw that we did not surrender
+in a day or two they would be sure that we must be eating the horses,
+as any food we brought with us must be exhausted, and they would then
+make a determined attack; for we knew we had killed eight or ten of
+them, and that they would not go away. So we decided that the only hope
+was for one of us to ride here; we tossed up who should try to get
+through the Boers, and the lot fell upon me. I took the best of the
+horses. We had agreed from the first that this would have to be done,
+and had given what scraps of bread we could spare to it; besides which,
+they were all in fair condition, as the yard was strewn with rubbish,
+and some party of Boers had ripped up all the beds and straw mattresses
+and scattered the contents about.
+
+"Some of them were sure to be on watch, and I rode at a walk. I made
+for the north, as that side was less likely to be watched. I had gone
+about two hundred yards when a man jumped up just in front of me. My
+rifle was ready, and before he could lift his I shot him, and then
+clapped spurs to nay horse. There was a tremendous hubbub; shots were
+fired at random in all directions, but I doubt whether they could have
+seen me after I had gone fifty yards. I rode for a quarter of a mile
+due north, and then turned west. I had no fear of being overtaken, for
+although the Boers would all have their horses close, in readiness to
+mount if we should try to break out, I must have got a good quarter of
+a mile start, and they were not likely to keep up the chase long, as
+they could not tell which way I might have doubled, and if they pursued
+far, it would be in the direction of Greytown. It was about a
+seventy-mile ride, and as I started about twelve, I have done it in
+nine hours. I foundered the horse, but fortunately he did not drop till
+I was within half a mile of the camp. Now, where can I find the
+general?"
+
+"You will find him at Frere, but I am afraid it will be of no use. We
+have tried him again and again--at least, one or other of us have done
+so--to let us go out scouting, but he will not hear of it, though the
+whole of us Colonials are terribly sore at leaving the whole country at
+the mercy of the Boer marauders; and now that we shall probably be at
+work here again directly, he is less likely than ever to let anyone go."
+
+"You can't go without orders, I suppose?"
+
+Captain Brookfield shook his head. "We are just as much under orders as
+the regular troops are, and it would be a serious matter indeed to fly
+in the face of his repeated orders on this subject." The farmer made a
+gesture of despair.
+
+"Captain Brookfield," Chris said, speaking for the first time, "I think
+that by the terms of our enlistment in your corps we were to be allowed
+to take our discharge whenever we asked for it?"
+
+"That was so, Chris, but--"
+
+"Then I beg now, sir, to tender our resignation from the present
+moment."
+
+"But Chris, you have but twenty men, and by what Searle says, there are
+sixty or seventy of them."
+
+"Of whom ten or so have been killed. Well, sir, we have fought against
+nearly a hundred before now, and got the best of it; besides, we shall
+have the help of the little party shut up. However, now that we have
+resigned, that is our affair. I suppose that if we rejoin you, you will
+have no objection to re-enlist us?"
+
+Captain Brookfield smiled. "I should have no objection certainly,
+Chris, but General Buller might have."
+
+"I don't suppose he will know of our having been away, sir; he has
+plenty more serious things to think of than the numerical strength of
+your troop, and as the news of a skirmish some thirty miles north of
+Greytown is not likely to be reported in the papers, or at any rate to
+attract his attention, I don't think you need trouble yourself on that
+score. Besides, if it was reported, it could only be said that one of
+the besieged party escaping, returned with a small body of volunteers
+he had collected; and the name of the Maritzburg Scouts would not be
+mentioned. I am sure that Mr. Searle would impress the necessity for
+silence about that point, on his friends."
+
+"Well, I accept your resignation, Chris; a headstrong man will have his
+way; and indeed I have great faith in your accomplishing, somehow, the
+relief of this party."
+
+The farmer had listened with surprise to this discussion between the
+lad and Captain Brookfield. The latter now turned to him and said:
+
+"This young gentleman is the commander of twenty lads of about his own
+age. They have been in two serious fights, and in both cases against a
+Boer force much superior to themselves in numbers, and I have as much
+confidence in them as in any men in my troop. They are all good shots,
+and admirably mounted, and you can be perfectly sure of them, and can
+take my assurance that if any twenty men can relieve your friends, they
+will do so."
+
+"Will you be able to ride back again with us, sir? I can mount you."
+
+"Certainly I can, if my friend Captain Brookfield can furnish me with a
+meal before I start."
+
+"That I will with much pleasure. How long will it be before you are
+ready, Chris?"
+
+"Half an hour, sir. I left them all rubbing down their horses when I
+came in here a quarter of an hour ago, and it will take but a very
+short time to pack up and start."
+
+"Very well; I dare say that Mr. Searle will be ready by that time.
+Breakfast shall be ready for you in ten minutes, Searle, and while you
+are eating it I will tell you enough of these gentlemen's doings to
+reassure you, for I see that you do not feel very confident that they
+will be able to tackle the Boers."
+
+"After what you have said, Captain Brookfield, I can have no doubt that
+they will do all they can, but it seems to me that twenty men--or
+twenty boys--are no match for fifty or sixty Boers. While they were
+speaking, Chris had returned to his camp. The lads were all engaged in
+rubbing up their saddlery.
+
+"You can knock off at once," Chris said; "I have need for you. You no
+longer belong to the Maritzburg Scouts."
+
+There was a general exclamation of astonishment.
+
+"What do you mean, Chris?"
+
+"I mean that I have resigned in my own name and yours, and Captain
+Brookfield has accepted the resignation."
+
+"Are you really in earnest, Chris?"
+
+"Very much so; but I will not keep you in suspense. A small party of
+Greytown men are besieged near Botha's Castle; one of them has just
+ridden in for help. But you know well enough that Buller will not hear
+of detached parties going out all over the country; and Captain
+Brookfield told the farmer that it was of no use his going to the
+general, and that none of the Colonial troops could leave the camp
+without orders. As it was evident that there was nothing more to be
+done, and we could not leave the man's friends to be massacred, the
+only thing to do was to give in our resignation at once; and of course,
+now that it is done and accepted, we are at liberty to mount and ride
+off where we please. When we have done our work we will come back and
+reenlist, and no one will be any the wiser. We shall start in half an
+hour. We need not take the tent poles, or anything but a blanket and a
+waterproof sheet."
+
+There was lively satisfaction at the news that they were again going to
+be employed in what they considered their proper work.
+
+"What shall we do about the men and stores?" Willesden asked; "you know
+that those two big boxes of the things we ordered at Maritzburg arrived
+yesterday."
+
+"I think, Willesden, we will take Jack and the two Zulus, and leave
+Japhet and the Swazis here in charge of the stores, and blankets, and
+other things we leave behind us. Captain Brookfield will keep an eye on
+them for us. The farmer is going to ride back with us on one of the
+spare horses, and the three natives can ride the others. There is a
+hundredweight of biscuits in the sack that came with the boxes; each of
+us can take five pounds in his saddle-bag, a tin of cocoa and milk, and
+a pound or two of bacon. Jack can take a kettle and frying-pan, and the
+natives their blankets and twenty pounds of mealie flour for themselves
+and five times as much mealies for the horses. We can get them at the
+stores that were opened a few days ago."
+
+Some of the men from the other tents walked over on seeing the tents
+pulled down and the waterproof sheets and blankets rolled up, and
+asked: "Where are you fellows off to?"
+
+"We have resigned; we are sick of doing nothing."
+
+As it was known that they drew neither pay nor rations, the news did
+not create much surprise.
+
+"You are lucky fellows," one said. "We get no share of the fighting and
+a full share of the hardships; still, I wonder you do not stop till we
+are in Ladysmith."
+
+"When is that going to be?" Field asked innocently. "We have been told
+that we shall be in Ladysmith in a week many times since we first came
+up here in the middle of December, and we are no nearer now than when
+we arrived here. Do you think that you could guarantee that we should
+be there in another week? because, if so, we might put off going."
+
+The trooper shook his head with a laugh. "That is a question no man in
+camp can answer," he said. "Perhaps in a week, perhaps in a fortnight,
+perhaps," he added more gravely, "never. We know by the messages they
+flash out that they are nearly at the end of their food, and if we
+don't get there in a fortnight or thereabout, our motive for going on
+may be at an end. In that case I suppose we shall wait here till
+Roberts has relieved Kimberley and marches on Bloemfontein. That will
+send all the Free Staters scurrying back in a hurry, and even the
+Transvaalers will begin to think that it is time to go. Then I suppose
+we shall advance and clear Natal out."
+
+"Well, perhaps we may be back again to help you by that time," Field
+answered; "but we are heartily tired of this place, and of watching the
+Boers making their positions stronger and stronger every day."
+
+"It is about the same with us all," the trooper grumbled, "and I for
+one wish that I could go down with you to Maritzburg and have a week
+off. It would be such a comfort to sleep in a dry bed and to dress in
+dry clothes, that I doubt whether I should ever have the strength of
+mind to come back again. I wish that the general would issue an order
+dismounting us all and filling up the gaps in the line regiments with
+us. Then at least we should have a chance of fighting, which does not
+seem likely ever to come to us here. You are not going to leave those
+big boxes behind you, are you?"
+
+"Yes, we are going to leave them in the care of the captain, with a
+note saying that if we do not turn up again before Ladysmith is
+relieved, they are to be handed over to the poor beggars there."
+
+"There is one thing I cannot say, and that is that we have been short
+of food, for the Army Service Corps has done splendidly, and no one has
+ever been hungry for an hour, except when on a long march or engaged in
+a battle. If everything had been worked as well, we should certainly
+have no reason whatever to complain. If I were my own master, and could
+afford it, I would go down to Durban and take a passage for myself and
+my horse for Port Elizabeth, and then go up and enlist in one of the
+yeomanry corps with Roberts. When he once starts there will be plenty
+of movement on that side; while here, even if we get to Ladysmith, we
+may be fixed there for no one can say how long. You see what it is
+here, and if the Boers don't lose heart, and defend the Biggarsberg and
+the Drakensberg, we shall find at least as much difficulty there as we
+shall here. It is quite certain that the Ladysmith men will take a long
+time to recover from what they have gone through; and as for the
+cavalry, I fancy their horses have been eaten. If they had been out
+here with us, instead of being cooped up in there, we should have been
+able to make it hot for the Boers when they retire, and to keep them on
+the run, but with so small a force as we have we should hardly be able
+to do so. Besides, they have so many lines of retreat. The Free Staters
+can go over to the left to Van Reenen and the other passes; another
+commando can go east; there are plenty of fords on the Buffalo; and
+they would retire on Vryheid, while the main body could make a stand at
+the Biggarsberg; and as they always seem able to carry their cannon off
+with them, our cavalry would do nothing without artillery and infantry."
+
+There had been no pause in the work of preparation while they were
+talking, and the horses were now saddled, the food divided, the
+saddle-bags packed, and the blankets and waterproofs strapped on. Chris
+went across to Captain Brookfield's tent. "We are all ready for a
+start, sir."
+
+The officer looked at his watch. "It is three minutes under the
+half-hour, Chris. How much ammunition are you taking with you?"
+
+"A hundred and fifty rounds each, sir, of which I don't suppose we
+shall use above ten at the outside. Still, there is never any saying;
+and if we should get besieged we shall want it all. Your horse is ready
+for you, Mr. Searle."
+
+"And I am ready too," the farmer said, getting up from the table and
+stretching himself. "I ought not to have sat down. I could ride as far
+as most at twenty, but I have not done so much for the last fifteen
+years, and I feel stiff in every limb. However, I shall be all right
+when I have gone a few miles, and that wash I had before breakfast has
+done me a world of good. Now, sir, I am ready, and whether we shall
+succeed or not, I thank you with all my heart for coming with me."
+"Good-bye, Chris!" Captain Brookfield said. "I expect you will all turn
+up again, like bad pennies, before many days have gone."
+
+"I hope so, sir," Chris said. "I should be sorry to miss the end here
+after having seen it so far."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A RESCUE.
+
+
+When Chris went out with Captain Brookfield and the farmer, the lads
+had shaken hands with all their friends, and were standing by the side
+of their horses ready to mount. Jack and the two Zulus were standing a
+few yards behind them. Japhet had brought up the other spare horse.
+
+"It is a nice piece of horse-flesh," the farmer said as he looked at it
+critically.
+
+"Yes, it was bred by Duncan. We purchased pretty well the pick of those
+he brought down the country."
+
+"That accounts for it. They are in good condition, too."
+
+"Yes; our horses all get two feeds of mealies a day, or, when it is
+wet, one feed of mealies and a hot mash made of mealie flour, besides
+what they can pick up, for we don't draw horse rations. Now, sir, we
+will be off;" and he gave the word "Mount!"
+
+The lads all in a second swung into their saddles.
+
+"Good-bye, lads, and good luck!" Captain Brookfield said; and the men
+standing by broke into a hearty cheer.
+
+There was a strong suspicion that the party were not going down to
+Maritzburg. It was felt that they were not the sort to throw it up
+before Ladysmith was relieved. And their suspicions were heightened
+when they saw the farmer mount and ride by the side of Chris.
+
+"It is all gammon about their resigning, is it not, Brookfield?" one of
+the officers said, as they stood looking after them. "Why should they
+have left two of their men here with some of their traps and stores if
+they had not been coming back? They would naturally give them all away.
+Besides, I noticed that farmer come in on foot half an hour ago; there
+was no talk of their leaving before he arrived, and he has gone off
+with them on one of their horses."
+
+Captain Brookfield smiled.
+
+"All I know about it officially is that this morning Mr. King resigned
+in the name of himself and his party; and as you know, I told you when
+they first joined us, they did so on the explicit understanding that
+they should be allowed to resign when they chose, and that provision
+was inserted when they were sworn in."
+
+"That is all you know officially?"
+
+"Yes. If they are missed, and the question is asked me what has become
+of them, that is the answer I shall give. What else I know I must for
+the present keep to myself."
+
+"I suppose we shall see them back soon?"
+
+"Well, I consider that that is within the limits of possibility."
+
+"I suppose that you have formed no plan yet, Mr. King?" the farmer
+said, when they had left the camp.
+
+"No; my present idea is to follow the line half-way down to Frere. If
+we were to strike off towards the country at once, we should, of
+course, be noticed; so I would rather get three miles on. You say it is
+about seventy miles?"
+
+"About that."
+
+"Well, allowing for a halt, we can do it in twelve hours; that would be
+just as it is getting dark. Of course we shall not show ourselves till
+they begin to attack the house. I hope we shall find your friends still
+holding out."
+
+"I hope so indeed. You see, the Boers were quiet when I started, and I
+should hardly think that they would make an attack again after I left.
+They seemed to have settled down to starve us out; but it is quite
+possible that now I have got away they will grow nervous lest I should
+bring help up, and are very likely to make another attempt this
+evening. They would be pretty sure to succeed this time, for there are
+only seven of us left there; and though they could make a good fight in
+daylight, they would have no real chance if the Boers went at them in
+earnest, which they are sure to do next time. We agreed before I
+started that it would not do to try to defend the yard. After I left
+they were going to pile everything movable against the doors and
+windows and fight hard to keep the Boers out, and would then go
+upstairs and sell their lives dearly."
+
+"How far are the Boer horses out?"
+
+"About five hundred yards away, in a dip. We know they always keep
+three or four men on guard there, for we have seen them come out of the
+hollow sometimes."
+
+"And the cattle, have they driven them off yet?"
+
+"Yes; four of the Boers and twenty or thirty natives went straight on
+with them as soon as they had driven us into the farmhouse. I am afraid
+there is no use thinking of getting them back."
+
+"It depends upon how far they have gone," Chris said. "The rains have
+brought the grass up, and as likely as not they may halt when they get
+to some good pastures and wait till the others join them. It is not
+likely that all that gang came from one place."
+
+"I expect that they have been gathered up from lonely farmhouses where
+they have escaped the commandos, and they will want to divide their
+plunder between them; they don't trust each other a bit, and each would
+cheat his fellows of his share if he could. So I should think that what
+you suggest is likely enough, and that it has been arranged to wait
+when they come to a good place till the others arrive. But you are not
+thinking of rescuing them, are you?"
+
+"If we thrash the Boers at the farm I shall certainly have a try. We
+did carry off two or three thousand head about two months ago from the
+hands of at least as large a party as this, and I don't see why we
+should not do it again. It was near Mount Umhlumba."
+
+"Was it your party that did that?" the farmer exclaimed. "Why, it was
+the talk of the whole district, and some of the cattle belonged to a
+friend of mine. He told me how he had been saved from ruin. Well, sir,
+after that I shall feel more confident than I acknowledge I have been
+up to now. Captain Brookfield told me about your going into the Boer
+camp in disguise, and to Komati-poort, and how you surprised a party of
+Boers looting a farm near Dundee; but he did not mention that. In fact,
+he had only just finished telling me the other affairs when you came in
+saying that you were ready to start. Well, well, it is wonderful that a
+party of young gentlemen like yours should have done such things!"
+
+They did not hurry their horses, but for the most part went at the
+steady canter to which the animals were most accustomed; occasionally
+they would walk for a bit.
+
+At Weenan, where they crossed the Bushman river, they halted for half
+an hour, and for double that time after crossing the Mooi at Intembeni;
+then as the sun began to lose its power they went fast, until, when
+they reached one of the farthest spurs of Botha's Castle, the farmer
+said:
+
+"When we get over the next rise we shall see the house."
+
+Chris gave the order to dismount, and, going forward on foot, they
+threw themselves down when close to the crest, and crawled forward
+until they obtained a fair view. Sankey and Chris were again provided
+with glasses, having bought them on the day before starting at the sale
+of the effects of several officers who had fallen in a fight at Vaal
+Krantz, and all gazed intently for some time at the house. "Thank God
+they are all right so far!" Chris said to the farmer. "I can see the
+Boers lying all round the house, and that dark clump is their horses;
+so our ride has not been in vain. I suppose it is about a mile and a
+half from here. I don't see the gate into the yard. Which side is it?"
+
+"That corner of the house hides it. It is on the eastern side."
+
+"It will be quite dark in an hour; when it is so, we will move down a
+bit farther, then we will halt till we hear them attacking. We must not
+go nearer, for the moon will be up by that time. If I had known that we
+should have got here before dark, we need not have troubled to bring
+the Zulus. I intended to send them forward to see how matters stood,
+then they could have guided us right up to the gate. However, as they
+have all got guns, and can shoot, it will add to the panic our attack
+will create, and they will all be pleased at the chance of at last
+getting a shot at the Boers. They were complaining to me the other day
+that they were very happy in all other respects, but they were very
+much disappointed at not having had a fight."
+
+The natives were indeed delighted when, on Chris rejoining them, he
+told them that they should take their share in the attack on the Boers.
+Chris and his friends all threw themselves on the ground, after sending
+up Jack to the crest to keep watch. But the farmer said, "I dare not
+lie down; if I did, I should never get up again."
+
+He had, indeed, to be lifted off his horse when they dismounted.
+
+"I can quite understand that," Chris said. "I feel stiff and tired
+myself, and you must be almost made of iron to have ridden one hundred
+and forty miles almost without halting."
+
+"If anyone had told me that I could do it, I should not have believed
+him. Of course one is on horseback a good many hours a day. Often,
+after going round the farm, I start at two or three o'clock and ride
+into Greytown and back; but that is only a matter of some fifteen miles
+each way. Still, when one has got seven men's lives depending upon one,
+one makes a big effort."
+
+"I tell you what, Mr. Searle. The best thing you can do is to strip and
+lie down. I will set the two Zulus to knead you. You will find yourself
+quite a new man after it."
+
+"That is a good idea, King, and I will adopt it."
+
+For half an hour the two men rubbed and kneaded the farmer's muscles
+from head to foot, exerting themselves until the perspiration streamed
+from them. Then one of them brought up one of the water-skins and
+poured the contents over him.
+
+"That has certainly done me a world of good," the farmer said when he
+had dressed himself. "I don't say the stiffness has all gone, but I
+certainly don't feel any worse than I did when I got to your camp. I
+should never have thought of it myself."
+
+"It is what is done after a Turkish bath," Chris said. "I have had them
+often at Johannesburg. The natives do something of the same sort. They
+make a little hut of boughs, and fill a hole in the middle with hot
+stones and pour water over them, and steam themselves, and I believe
+get rubbed too."
+
+As soon as they considered it dark enough to be perfectly safe, they
+led their horses down until they judged that they were within half a
+mile of the house, then dismounted and waited. Chris had already made
+all arrangements. Carmichael, who was the leader for the time being of
+one of the sections of five, was with his party to ride straight for
+the Boers' horses directly the attack began. The firing at the house
+would act as a guide to the spot where they were placed, and he was, if
+possible, to attack them from behind. He was to shoot down the guards,
+but not to pursue them if the horses bolted on hearing the attack on
+the house.
+
+"What you have to do is to stampede them," Chris said. "As soon as you
+have got them on the run, keep them going, and if they scatter, do you
+scatter too. The Boers without their horses will be at our mercy. Don't
+stop till you have driven them five miles away. Then you can halt till
+morning. As you come back, you are likely enough to hear firing, and
+can then ride towards it and join us. But don't get within rifle-shot
+of the Boers. I don't want any lives thrown away. If you hear three
+shots at regular intervals during the night ride towards the sound. I
+may want you here."
+
+It was just ten o'clock when there was a violent outburst of fire at
+the farmhouse, and all sprung into their saddles.
+
+"Now, Carmichael, do you gallop on. Get as close as you can to the
+horses without being observed. Go at a walk the last hundred yards or
+so; the horse guards are not likely to hear you, they are sure to be up
+on the edge of the dip watching the farm. Stay quiet till you hear our
+yell, and then go straight in to them. In that case you may manage
+without their getting a shot at you, for as likely as not they will
+have strolled up without their rifles."
+
+As soon as Carmichael's little party had started, Chris moved on with
+the rest at a walk.
+
+"There is no occasion to hurry," he said. "It will take the Boers some
+time to force their way in, and the hotter they are at work the less
+likely they will be to hear us." In two or three minutes he ordered
+them to canter. "It is of no use charging; I expect that they are all
+inside the yard." It was, however, at a fast pace that they rode up
+towards the wall. Chris blew his whistle, and the cheer of the whites
+and the warcry of the two Zulus burst out at the top of their voices.
+
+"Give it to them hot, lads!" Chris shouted, for the benefit of the
+Boers. "Kill every man-jack of the scoundrels!" And at once nineteen
+rifles opened upon the dark figures clustered round the house. "Use
+your magazines," Chris shouted again. "Don't let a man of them get off."
+
+Appalled by the sudden attack, ignorant of the number of their
+assailants, and mown down by the terrible fire, the Boers on the two
+sides of the house exposed to it did not think of resistance, but all
+who could do so made a rush round to the other sides, and, joining
+their companions there, clambered over the wall and made for their
+horses; but these had already gone. As Chris had anticipated, the four
+guards were watching the farmhouse, and did not hear the approach of
+Carmichael's party. As Chris's whistle sounded these galloped forward,
+and at their volley three of the Boers fell, the other fled. At once
+with loud shouts they charged in among the ponies, who were already
+kicking and plunging at the sudden sound of firearms. A minute later
+they were all in full flight, followed by the five lads shouting and
+yelling. The firing had been unnoticed by the Boers round the house,
+and these, when on arriving at the hollow they found their horses gone,
+gave vent to their alarm and rage in many strange oaths, and then
+scattered in flight all over the country.
+
+"It is of no use trying to pursue," Chris said, as soon as it was found
+that all the Boers, save those lying dying or dead, had escaped from
+the yard. "We should only ruin the horses, and they have done a big
+day's work already."
+
+The besieged could be heard hastily removing the barricades against the
+door, and in two or three minutes ran out, almost bewildered at the
+suddenness of their relief, when they thought that nothing remained to
+be done but to sell their lives dearly. A few hurried words explained
+the position to them, and their gratitude to Chris and his party was
+unbounded. Their first step was to attend to the fallen Boers. Of these
+there were eighteen wounded and eleven killed, and as soon as all in
+their power had been done for the former, and they had been carried
+into the house, a blazing fire was lit in one of the rooms and the
+party all gathered there.
+
+"Now, Mr. King," Searle said, "you are the baas of this party; what do
+you think had best be done?"
+
+"I think the first thing," Chris said, "is to post half a dozen men,
+three or four hundred yards away, round the house. We must not run the
+risk of the tables being turned on us by the Boers crawling up and
+surprising us; they may still be hanging about in numbers. Peters, you
+take Harris, Bryan, and Capper, and the two Zulus, and post them round
+the house. The natives' ears are much sharper than yours are, and if
+either of them thinks he hears anything let them crawl out in that
+direction and reconnoitre. When I whistle, do you come in to me,
+leaving the others on guard, then I will tell you what we have decided
+upon."
+
+The four named at once went outside, and, calling the natives, left the
+yard. Jack had already filled the kettles the colonists had brought
+with them, and placed them over the fire.
+
+"While the tea is getting ready," Chris said, "we had better give a
+good feed of mealies to all the horses. How many of yours are there
+left?" he asked one of the colonists.
+
+"All the twelve we had at first were unwounded this evening, but I
+can't say whether any of them have been hit since. The wall was too
+high for bullets to touch them as long as the Boers were outside, but
+most likely as we were firing through the window we may have hit some
+of them."
+
+"I don't suppose you did so, because I fancy that directly the Boers
+began fighting here the horses bunched in one corner of the yard. Well,
+will you feed them also, and see how many are uninjured. That is a
+matter of importance, for our horses will scarcely be fit for work in
+the morning. Do you think yours may be?"
+
+"Yes, I think so; we have only been shut up three days, and they have
+had a good deal of pickings, what with the beds and what was lying
+about in the yard before; and a good feed now will certainly set them
+up. What do you propose to do?"
+
+"Well, I want in the first place to get enough of the Boer ponies in to
+mount us all, and in the second to overtake and cut the Boers off if
+possible, and lastly to rescue the cattle. Five of our party are away
+after the horses, but their object was to scatter them. They were to
+halt about five miles away, and if they heard three rifle shots at
+regular intervals they were to ride towards them."
+
+"Do you want them in here? if so, I will go out and give the signal. We
+have taken it by turns to sleep, so we are all fairly fresh."
+
+"Yes, I want them in, but I specially want them to collect and drive in
+a score of the Boer ponies."
+
+"At daybreak we will all go," another of the farmers said, "and lend a
+hand."
+
+"With this moon we ought to be able to find some of the men without
+waiting for daylight," Chris said. "It would be an immense thing if we
+could be after them before they have got too long a start."
+
+"It would indeed. Well, we will feed our horses at once, and by the
+time we have had a cup of tea they will be ready to start. If we have
+luck, we ought not to be away more than a couple of hours."
+
+"It would make our success pretty well a certainty if we could get the
+ponies by that time," Chris said.
+
+In less than half an hour the seven farmers started. Only one of the
+horses had been killed, and they rode away at a rate that showed that
+the others were none the worse for their three days on somewhat short
+rations.
+
+"Now," Chris said, after seeing them off, "we will get a couple of
+hours' sleep. I wish Peters and his party could do the same, but it
+would not do to trust to the Boers not coming back again."
+
+All were asleep in a few minutes, but an hour later they heard a shot
+fired, followed by several others. They leapt to their feet, seized
+their rifles, and ran out into the yard. There was, however, no
+repetition of the firing, and a few minutes later Peters came in and
+reported that the Zulus had discovered a number of Boers making their
+way cautiously forward. Both had fired, and some shots had been
+returned, but the Boers had at once drawn off.
+
+"I don't suppose we shall hear any more of them. They hoped they might
+catch us asleep. Now they find that we are on watch. I expect they will
+give up the idea and make off. It is a nuisance having been disturbed,
+but I am not sorry for it, for the Boers will have lost a couple of
+hours, and even if the horses do not come in we shall still have a
+chance of overtaking them. Now, Peters, you had better get forty winks;
+I will go out with Brown, Field, and Sankey, and relieve the three out
+there. I don't suppose they will come in, but they can take a nap where
+they are. You need not send out when the farmers come back; we shall
+see them."
+
+Chris had been nearly two hours on watch when he made out in the bright
+moonlight a number of horses and mounted figures going towards the
+house. He at once woke the sleepers and called the others in, and by
+the time they reached the farm some thirty unmounted ponies, followed
+by Carmichael's party and the farmers, came up.
+
+"We have been longer than we expected," one of the latter said as he
+dismounted, "but we were lucky at last in finding this lot together in
+a kloof. Have you seen anything of the Boers? We thought we heard a few
+shots."
+
+"Yes, they came here and tried to turn the tables on us; but we had the
+Zulus and some of the scouts out. When they found that we were watchful
+they decamped. Now, Carmichael, go in with your party and get a cup of
+tea."
+
+"What! are we going to start again?" Carmichael asked rather dismally;
+"we were only just getting off to sleep when Willesden, who was on
+watch, heard three shots."
+
+"Some of us have only had an hour's sleep, Carmichael. But there is
+another day's work before us, and after that you may sleep for
+twenty-four hours if you like."
+
+"Oh! I suppose I can do it if the others can; still, after seventy-five
+miles here, five miles out, and something like five miles chasing the
+horses, and five miles back again, I think we have done a pretty good
+day's work."
+
+"No doubt you have," Chris said, "a thundering good day's work; but a
+fellow is not worth calling a fellow if he can't manage to do two days'
+work at a stretch for once in a way. At any rate, the horses will be
+fresh, which is of much more importance than our being so; they have
+had three days' perfect rest. Now, while you are having your tea we
+will see about the other arrangements. Of course Mr. Searle will stop
+here; he has done double the work that we have. His friends can do as
+they like. Naturally we shall be glad to have them with us, but that is
+as they choose."
+
+"Of course we will go with you," one of the colonists said.
+
+"Thank you! At any rate two of you had better stop with Mr. Searle.
+There are the wounded Boers to look after. I see there is a waggon in
+the yard; I should think they had better be put in that and carried to
+Greytown. If we recover the cattle, we will drive them down there."
+
+None of the farmers was willing to stay, and at last they had to decide
+the question by lot.
+
+"Now," Chris said, "you gentlemen know the country a great deal better
+than we do, and can tell us which way they are most likely to take
+their cattle."
+
+"They are sure to go north, there is no other way for them to go. If
+the whole party were together and mounted, they might go up through
+Zululand; as it is, they would not venture to do that. They will cross
+the Tugela, I should say, between the point where the Mooi runs into it
+and its junction with the Buffalo, and go up through Colsie, and then
+either through Helpmakaar or Lazarath."
+
+"Well, I hope we shall catch them long before they get to the Tugela."
+
+"I expect the cattle will be somewhere near Inadi; there is some good
+grazing along there, and as all the loyalists have cleared off long ago
+they will have no fear of being disturbed."
+
+The saddles were transferred from their own horses to the Boer ponies,
+and it was finally arranged that the waggon with the wounded should not
+start until their return. Jack and the two Zulus were left with them,
+and even should another party of Boers come along the six men would be
+able to defend themselves till the others returned. Half an hour after
+the arrival of Carmichael's party they started in pursuit, and directed
+their course for Inadi, as it would have been useless to search for the
+Boers, and it was certain that these would make for the point where it
+had been arranged that the cattle should cross. It was some fifteen
+miles away, and they were confident that they would arrive there before
+the Boers, who, bad walkers at the best of times, and disheartened by
+their failure, at the loss of many of their companions and of all their
+horses, would not have got more than half-way by the time they started.
+
+It was half-past two when they left, and when they approached Inadi day
+was breaking. They had put on their Boer hats, and knew that the men in
+charge of the herd would take them to be some of their own party until
+they were quite close. To their satisfaction they saw the herd grazing
+half a mile south of the village, and it was not until they were within
+a hundred yards of the spot where the smoke of a fire showed that the
+guard were posted, that they saw any movement. Then a man rose to his
+feet, and, looking at them earnestly, gave a shout of alarm. The others
+leapt up at once and ran towards their ponies; these were fifty yards
+away, and before they could reach them Chris and his party dashed up,
+rifle in hand. "Surrender," he shouted in Dutch, "or we fire! Down with
+your rifles!"
+
+Seeing that resistance was useless the Boers threw down their weapons,
+and in a minute were tied hand and foot with the ropes from their
+saddles. They were then lashed to bushes at some little distance from
+each other, so as to prevent their rolling together and loosening each
+other's cords. The natives with them had at the first alarm fled at
+full speed, and were already out of sight. Then the whole party rode to
+a ridge a quarter of a mile back, dismounted at its foot, and crawled
+up to the crest. A mile away some fifty men could be seen wearily
+making their way on foot towards them.
+
+"We have done quite enough in the way of fighting," Chris said, "and I
+should think that they have had more than enough; we will get them to
+surrender if we can. We will wait till they are within forty or fifty
+yards and then fire a few shots over their heads, and see what comes of
+it. We have good cover here, and they are in the open. They will know
+very well that there is not a chance of their getting away, for, as we
+have horses and they have none, we could defend any eminence we chose
+to occupy, and ride off to another if they were likely to take it.
+Besides, they would never be able to cross the river under our fire."
+
+When the Boers were within eighty yards half a dozen rifles were
+discharged. They at once threw themselves on the ground.
+
+"I will give them a chance of talking it over," Chris said, "then I
+will hail them."
+
+A pause ensued, and the Boers could be heard talking excitedly
+together. When he thought that he had given them time enough to
+appreciate their condition, Chris shouted in Dutch:
+
+"Hullo, Boers! We don't want to have to kill you all, which we could
+certainly do. You must see that you are at our mercy. If you choose to
+surrender you may go home; if you don't, we shall let you lie there as
+long as you like, and shoot you down when you get on your feet. I will
+give you five minutes to make up your minds."
+
+At the end of that time one of the Boers held up his rifle with a white
+flag tied to it.
+
+[Illustration: "ONE OF THE BOERS HELD UP HIS RIFLE WITH A WHITE FLAG
+TIED TO IT."]
+
+"That is not good enough for us," Chris shouted. "That trick has been
+tried too often. If you surrender, you will take off your bandoliers
+and belts and leave them and your rifles behind you, and come forward
+unarmed."
+
+There was a shout of fury among the Boers as they found that their
+treacherous design had failed in success.
+
+"I will give you another five minutes," Chris shouted; "and if you
+don't do as I tell you we shall open fire on you."
+
+Before that time was up the Boers were seen to be taking off their
+bandoliers, and one by one they rose and came forward in a body without
+their rifles. Chris allowed them to come half-way, so that they could
+not, when they found themselves in superior force, run back to their
+arms again. He gave the word, and his party rose to their feet.
+
+"Now," he said, as the Boers came up, "you will turn all your pockets
+inside out. I have not the least doubt that you are all taking off
+mementos of your visit here."
+
+Indeed, the pockets of the prisoners were all bulging out. Sullenly the
+Boers obeyed the order. The collection was a miscellaneous one. They
+had between them the spoil of a dozen farms. Women's finery formed a
+large proportion of their loot, and was evidently intended for their
+wives at home. Besides this were spoons, forks, and cutlery, chimney
+ornaments, children's clothes, several purses, and packets of spare
+cartridges.
+
+"That will do very nicely," Chris said, when it had been ascertained
+that all the plunder had been disgorged. "Now, gentlemen, you are at
+liberty to go, and I wish you a pleasant walk home. It is only about a
+hundred miles. Your friends with the cattle shall join you at once. I
+have no doubt that you will be able to obtain food from your countrymen
+as you go along. You are sure to find friends at all the villages, and
+some of you may get ponies at Helpmakaar."
+
+Then, paying no attention to the curses and threats of the Boers, the
+party rode forward and collected the Boer guns, emptied the bandoliers
+and belts, and then rode back to the cattle and released the four Boers
+with them, and, pointing to their comrades, told them to rejoin them.
+Then they collected the cattle, and, driving them before them, rode
+off. When they had gone five miles away they halted, and the farmers
+undertaking to keep watch by turns, the lads, throwing themselves down,
+were in a few minutes fast asleep.
+
+In four hours they were roused, and continued their course till they
+reached the farm. Here they rested till the next morning, then at
+daybreak the wounded Boers were placed in a waggon; the ammunition was
+divided among the farmers; and the rifles taken from the Boers, and
+those that belonged to the killed and wounded, amounting in all to
+eighty-one, were, after the charges had been carefully drawn, also
+placed in the waggon, Chris saying, "They would be useless to us, and
+they may be useful to you, for they will arm all the people in
+Greytown; and with eighty magazine rifles you ought to be able to beat
+off any parties you may meet. As the cattle are all branded you will
+have no difficulty in returning them to their owners; as to the Boer
+ponies and saddles, no doubt there are many who have lost their horses
+who will be glad of them."
+
+Then, after renewed expressions of gratitude from the farmers, the
+party separated, the colonists going south to Greytown, while the
+scouts rode west by the line they had come, and late that evening
+arrived at Chieveley. They had intended to halt after crossing the
+Bushman's river at Weenan, but they heard the sound of artillery and
+knew that Buller was again moving forward.
+
+Their return created quite an excitement in the camp of the Maritzburg
+Scouts, and innumerable questions were asked.
+
+"We have been on a little business of our own," Chris said. "Beyond the
+fact that it has been successful we have nothing to say. You know how
+strict the orders are against scouting, and therefore I can only say
+that we wanted to give our horses a change of food, and have taken them
+three days off."
+
+"Your horses don't look any better for the change, anyhow," one of the
+troopers said. "They look as if they had been worked off their legs."
+
+"Yes, they look a little drawn, but in a couple of days they will feel
+the benefit of it; they were getting too fat before. Some day we may be
+able to tell you more about it, but just at present we feel that it is
+as well to keep the matter to ourselves. What has been doing here? We
+heard the firing; that brought us in, or we should not have been back
+till to-morrow."
+
+"Nothing particular, except that we have been battering them all along
+the line. No move has been made yet, but the general idea is that we
+shall this time make a try at Hlangwane to-morrow."
+
+"I hope we shall take it," Chris said. "We shall have a good deal more
+trouble about it than we should have had at the attack in December,
+when it was virtually in our hands, whereas now it looks stronger than
+any point along the line."
+
+Chris, however, was much more communicative to Captain Brookfield, who
+said as he entered his tent, "Well, Chris, did you get there in time?"
+
+"Yes, sir; we caught them as they were attacking the house at ten
+o'clock that night. They were too busy to notice us, and we killed
+eleven and wounded eighteen, and stampeded their ponies. They bolted on
+foot, but came back in hopes of surprising us two hours later, which I
+need hardly say they failed to do. Then they made off for the place
+where the herds they had captured were waiting for them. We drove their
+ponies in, as our own were too much done up to go on, and intercepted
+the Boers close to Inadi, and made them surrender. We took their guns,
+ammunition, and loot from them, and let them go. There were forty-nine
+of them altogether, and we did not see what we were to do with them. We
+could not have brought them here without the whole thing being made
+public, and we were certainly not disposed to escort them down to
+Maritzburg. They will have at least a hundred miles to tramp home. We
+recovered all the cattle, about two thousand head. We gave them to the
+farmers to find their proper owners, and thirty of the Boer horses that
+we captured. I dare say they will pick up some more of them; for as we
+were in a hurry, we only drove in as many as we wanted. We have no
+casualties. It could hardly be called a fight, it was a sudden
+surprise, and they did not stop to count us."
+
+"Bravo! bravo, Chris! And now I suppose you are going to enlist again?"
+"Yes, sir, if you will take us."
+
+"Certainly I will. Fortunately Buller was at Frere until they moved on
+again yesterday, and nobody has missed your little camp as far as I
+know, so I don't think that there is any chance of questions being
+asked. I will swear you all in again if you will bring the others
+round."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+RAILWAY HILL
+
+
+There was little talking that evening. As soon as the tents had been
+erected, a cup of cocoa and a biscuit taken, all turned in, and even
+the constant booming of the artillery and the occasional sharp crack of
+musketry had no effect whatever on their slumbers. Just before Chris
+lay down, however, an orderly told him that Captain Brookfield wished
+to see him.
+
+"I have just received orders, Chris, that our brigade of cavalry is to
+turn out tomorrow morning to support the infantry. Hildyard, Lyttleton,
+and Barton are going. Their object is to carry Cingola, which is the
+small peak at the end of the nek extending from it to the high peak of
+Monte Cristo. The duty of the mounted infantry will be to clear the
+eastern side of the southern end of the range, and to hold the nek
+separating it from the highest peak, and so prevent the Boers from
+their main position reinforcing the defenders of the lower peak. I
+think that your party had better remain in camp, for after doing over
+seventy miles today they won't be fit for work tomorrow."
+
+"We should not like to be left behind here, sir, and the hill is not
+very far away, so that it would not be hard work for the horses. No
+doubt we should be dismounted a considerable part of the day."
+
+"Then you would rather go, Chris?"
+
+"Much rather, sir. We should all be terribly disappointed if we could
+not go out the first day that there has been a chance of our doing
+something."
+
+"It is always as well to be on the right side, but I hardly think so
+many troops will really be required; and I think it is a symptom that a
+serious attack will be made in a day or two on Monte Cristo and
+Hlangwane. You see, the possession of Cingola and Monte Cristo will
+take us pretty well round its flank, and I do not expect the Boers will
+be so much prepared there as they are in front."
+
+An hour before daylight all were out engaged in grooming their horses,
+which, having received a hot mash of mealie flour directly they came in
+on the previous evening, looked better than could have been expected
+after their hard work on two days out of three. By the time they had
+finished, the natives had breakfast ready, and they had scarcely eaten
+this when a trumpet sounded to horse. Five minutes later the mounted
+infantry belonging to the regular regiments and the Colonial Horse
+formed up, and, led by Lord Dundonald, marched north-east, followed by
+the three infantry brigades and some batteries of artillery. When
+within a couple of miles of the nek, the mounted infantry galloped
+forward, and selecting a spot where the ascent was gradual, pushed
+rapidly up the hill until they reached its brow. Here the horses were
+placed in a depression, and the men scattered themselves across the
+crest. They were but just in time, for a considerable force of Boers
+from Monte Cristo were hurrying along to assist the defenders of
+Cingola, it having now become evident to them that this was the point
+to which the infantry moving across the plain were making.
+
+A brisk fire was opened as they approached, and the Boers at once
+stopped in surprise, for as they came along they had been unable to see
+that the cavalry had quitted the rest of the column, and had therefore
+no idea whatever that their way to Cingola was barred. As the rapid
+fire showed them that the nek was held in force, they did not think it
+prudent to advance farther, but after an exchange of fire fell back to
+Monte Cristo. The task of the infantry was now comparatively easy.
+Cingola was not held in any great force; and seeing that their retreat
+along the nek was cut off, and that they could not hope to resist the
+strong force that was approaching, the enemy contented themselves with
+keeping up a brisk fire for a time, and then retreated hastily down the
+northern face of the hill, and scattered among numerous kopjes between
+it and the river. Lyttleton and Hildyard's brigades occupied the peak,
+and Barton, with the Fusilier battalions, remained to the left of its
+base.
+
+As the mounted infantry had, before opening fire, taken shelter behind
+bushes and rocks, there were only two or three casualties, and they
+were much disappointed that the affair had been so trifling. It was
+afternoon now, and for the rest of the day comparative quietude
+reigned, although Monte Cristo threw an occasional shell on to the
+crest of Cingola. The mounted infantry remained all night in their
+position, acting as an advanced guard to the infantry; but they had
+orders to descend the hill before daybreak and return to Chieveley,
+there being no water obtainable for their horses, and their services
+not being required for the succeeding operations. The next morning
+(Sunday) a battery of field-artillery, which had been taken half-way up
+Cingola, began to shell Monte Cristo, and as if this had been the
+signal, the whole of the artillery on the plain opened a terrific fire
+on the entrenchments of Monte Cristo, Hlangwane, and Green Hill, which
+was close to Monte Cristo.
+
+On the morning of the 18th, Lyttleton and Hildyard's brigades moved
+forward to storm the precipitous peak, and Barton's brigade marched
+against the tangled and difficult ground that surrounded Green Hill.
+The Queen's on the right and the Scotch Fusiliers on the left led the
+attack against the peak. The hillside was partly wooded, but although
+the smokeless powder gave little indication as to the progress the
+troops were making, occasional glimpses of the Boers flitting among the
+trees showed that these were falling back. The roar of musketry was
+continuous, as Hildyard's brigade and Lyttleton's were both engaged.
+For a short time there was a pause, and then Lyttleton's men, having
+gathered at the edge of a wood some couple of hundred yards from the
+summit, advanced with a rush up the terribly steep rocks. The Boers
+fired hurriedly, but the bullets flew for the most part far over the
+heads of the Queen's, and then, fearful of being caught by Hildyard's
+men, who were also rapidly coming up, they fled hastily.
+
+The opposition had finally been trifling. The vast majority of the
+Boers had cleared off, and the rest, after emptying their magazines,
+had followed their example before the troops gained the summit, upon
+which a heavy cannonade was at once opened from Grobler's Hill, Fort
+Wylie, and other Boer positions. This, however, gradually slackened
+under the storm of lyddite shells with which they were pelted by the
+naval guns, and the important position of Hlangwane was at last
+secured, and no time was lost in getting up guns and preparing for a
+farther advance. Barton's brigade had been equally successful in their
+attack, and half an hour after the capture of Monte Cristo the
+Fusiliers crowned the summit of the wood-covered Green Hill.
+
+The Boers' defences were now examined, and proved to be of a most
+formidable nature. On the south face of the hill the trenches were in
+tiers, line behind line. Most of them were fully six feet deep, and in
+many cases provided with shelter from the weather by sheets of
+corrugated iron, taken from the roofs of the houses in Colenso. In some
+cases these were supported by props, and covered with six feet of
+earth. These had evidently been used for sleeping and living places.
+The ground was strewn with straw, empty tins, fragments of food, bones,
+cartridge-cases, old bandoliers, and large quantities of unopened
+tinned food and sacks of mealie flour. Here and there were patches of
+dried blood, showing where the wounded by our shell had been brought
+in, and laid down until they could be removed to the hospital under
+cover of night. On the plateau the scene was similar. Here every
+irregularity of ground had been utilized, and long lines of trenches
+intersected it, showing that the Boers had intended to make a desperate
+resistance even after we had won our way up the hill. These were in a
+similar state of litter and disorder.
+
+Although they had saved their guns, they had left behind them large
+quantities of ammunition and provisions in the hurried flight,
+necessitated by our attack being delivered in a direction from which no
+danger had been apprehended, Four waggons full of ammunition had been
+left by them in a kloof near the river. These had been observed by the
+Engineers in the balloon, and their position had been signalled to the
+naval brigade, who, turning their guns upon them, before long succeeded
+in blowing them up.
+
+When the infantry prepared for their final rush the Boers appeared,
+indeed, to be entirely disconcerted at an attack from an altogether
+unexpected direction. While for weeks they had been working incessantly
+to render the hill impregnable, they had prepared it only on the face
+against which they made sure the British infantry would dash itself.
+Nevertheless, in this, as in every action, the Boers, as soon as they
+saw that there was a risk of the position being taken, began early to
+make preparations for retreat. While keeping up a very heavy musketry
+fire on the woods through which the British infantry were advancing,
+they began to withdraw their guns.
+
+The speed and skill with which on every occasion throughout the war
+they shifted heavy pieces of artillery from one point to another, or
+withdrew them altogether, was a new feature in warfare. Except when the
+garrison of Ladysmith, on two occasions of night sorties, surprised and
+destroyed three of their guns, they scarcely lost a piece either in the
+numerous actions during our advance to Ladysmith, or in their final
+retreat from that town. And similarly on the other side, of the very
+large number of guns employed at the fight on the Modder, at
+Magersfontein, and in the siege of Kimberley the whole were, with the
+exception of a few pieces captured when Cronje was surrounded,
+withdrawn in spite of the hurried evacuation of their position, a feat
+almost unparalleled even in an army accompanied only by
+field-artillery, and extraordinary indeed in the case of works mounting
+heavy siege-guns.
+
+No farther advance was made till the afternoon, when General Buller
+arrived on the summit of Green Hill, and seeing that Hlangwane was not
+entrenched on its northern side, which was completely turned by our
+advance, sent Barton's brigade against it. But the loss of Monte Cristo
+had for the time quite taken the fight out of the Boers, and after
+maintaining a brisk fire for a short period, they evacuated the
+position as soon as the infantry neared the summit, and, hurrying down
+the western slope, crossed the Tugela. Three camps full of provisions,
+blankets, and the necessaries of Boer life fell into the hands of the
+captors, together with a large amount of rifle and Maxim ammunition.
+The place had been turned into a fortress. Trenches and some
+breastworks covered all the approaches by which the Boers might look
+for an attack, and as the whole mountain was covered with huge
+boulders, they were able to withstand even the storm of lyddite shell
+that was poured upon them.
+
+On the following day Hart's brigade received orders to advance towards
+Colenso. This was still held in force by the Boers, but was now
+commanded by guns that had been got up the slopes of Hlangwane, and on
+Tuesday morning General Hart captured the position without serious
+loss, the Boers suffering severely from our shrapnel fire as they
+retreated, some by the iron bridge and others by a ford. Thorneycroft's
+Mounted Infantry, which was called up in the evening, took advantage of
+the discovery that a drift existed there, and a squadron forded the
+river in spite of a scattered fire from the Boers on the opposite bank.
+Another portion of the colonial force occupied Fort Wylie, a redoubt
+that had been thrown up by our troops when they occupied Colenso, but
+had been abandoned when the advance of the Boers to cut the line
+between Colenso and Frere forced them to retire.
+
+The next morning Thorneycroft's regiment crossed, and, moving to the
+left, seized the kopjes facing Grobler's Kloof; the Boers, still
+suffering from the effect of their unexpected reverses, offered no
+resistance, but, abandoning all their camps, trenches, and redoubts,
+retired at once to the hill. The Scouts had followed Thorneycroft's
+Horse in support, and now, placing their horses under shelter in the
+abandoned entrenchments, prepared to act as infantry should the Boers
+take the offensive. This, however, they showed no intention of doing,
+and in the afternoon the troops who had crossed were able to examine
+the deserted camps. They presented very much the same appearance as
+those on Monte Cristo and Hlangwane. Many of them appeared to have been
+occupied by men of a better position, as many articles of luxury,
+choicer food, wearing apparel, newspapers, Bibles, fruit, and other
+signs of comfort littered the places; but even here dirt had reigned
+supreme. Although they must have been inhabited for a long time, it
+could be seen that no attempts had been made to clear away the refuse,
+or to make them in any degree tidy. As was natural, the effect of the
+heat of the sun on scraps of food, vegetables, and refuse of all kinds
+caused a sickening stench, and the soldiers spent as short a time as
+possible over their investigations. One article which would have been
+found in a British camp was altogether absent from those of the enemy,
+and it was a joke among our troops that the only piece of soap ever
+captured was found in the pocket of a dead Boer, and that its wrapper
+was still unopened.
+
+The strength of the position was, however, even more surprising than
+the state of filth; every trench was enfiladed by another, great
+boulders were connected by walls of massive construction, this being
+specially the case where guns had been placed in position. Colenso
+itself had been in a similar manner rendered almost impregnable to a
+frontal attack, and could hardly have been captured by an assaulting
+force until Hlangwane had been taken.
+
+The hills beyond the railway still covered the road bridge by their
+fire, and had the troops marched across it they would have suffered
+severely. Accordingly a pontoon train was sent through an opening in
+the Hlangwane range, and a bridge thrown over the Tugela north of Fort
+Wylie. The Dorsets, Middlesex, and Somersets crossed at once, and,
+ascending the kopjes, extended their line south until they were in
+communication with Thorneycroft's men, holding therefore the railway
+line along the river bank nearly half the distance between Colenso and
+Pieters station. Other regiments and artillery followed.
+
+It was now six days since the advance had commenced, and for the past
+four fighting had been almost continuous. On Wednesday the three
+regiments advanced towards Grobler's Hill in order to ascertain what
+force was occupying it. They met with no opposition until they reached
+the lower slopes, nor could any Boers be seen moving. Then suddenly a
+heavy fire broke out from the boulders which covered the whole face of
+the hill, and afforded such perfect shelter that it had not been
+considered necessary to form entrenchments. As only a reconnaissance,
+and not an attack, had been ordered, the force retired, the Somersets,
+who were the leading regiment, having nearly a hundred casualties. The
+other regiments had as many more between them. The next day a
+continuous fire from all the points held by the Boers showed that large
+reinforcements had reached them. The Lancashire Brigade, under Colonel
+Wynne, started at two o'clock that afternoon to carry the kopjes up the
+Brook Spruit, which ran in the rear of Grobler's Kloof. The Royal
+Lancasters led the way, but as soon as they left the shelter of the
+ridges by the side of the railway they were exposed to a terrible fire,
+both in front and from Grobler's Kloof. The artillery on Hlangwane, and
+those still on the plain, endeavoured to silence the enemy's guns, but
+though they poured numbers of lyddite and shrapnel shells among them
+they were unable to do so. The Lancasters advanced with the greatest
+coolness up the spruit, followed by the South Lancasters. As they
+pressed forward they were met by a heavy rifle fire both from the
+kopjes in front and on the left. The Boers stuck to the hill until the
+Lancasters were within a hundred yards, then most of them slunk off.
+Not knowing this, the Lancasters lay under shelter for a few minutes
+until their ammunition pouches had been replenished, then, being joined
+by the South Lancasters and King's Royal Rifles, they rushed to the
+crest.
+
+For the past two days the Dublin Fusiliers had been lying near Colenso.
+They had suffered very heavily in the first attack at Potgieter's
+Drift, but they now volunteered to take Grobler's Hill; and this, aided
+with the fire of the artillery and Colonel Wynne's brigade, they did in
+gallant style, the Boers being evidently nervous that they might find
+their retreat cut off should the Lancasters advance farther up the
+spruit.
+
+On Friday afternoon the Irish Brigade advanced along the line, and then
+turned off towards Railway Hill, a steep jagged eminence almost
+triangular in shape, with one angle pointing towards the river. The
+sides were broken with sharp ledges covered with boulders. The railway
+passed through this, separating the last jagged ledge from the higher
+portion of the hill, which rises almost precipitously. Running back
+several hundred yards at the base of this line was a dip full of thorn
+trees. This deep winds round the rear of the hill, and here there was a
+large Boer Camp.
+
+A little farther to the rear was another steep hill, on which the
+enemy's Creusot guns were now mounted. Several trenches were cut
+alongside the hillsides, and on the crest were some strong redoubts. It
+was a most formidable position, but as it seemed to bar all progress
+farther up the line, it was necessary to carry it at all costs. The
+mounted infantry had, after the skirmish towards Grobler's Kloof,
+returned to the camp, as the country was so terribly broken as to be
+altogether impracticable for mounted men.
+
+On Thursday, Captain Brookfield had obtained a pass for himself and
+three other officers to go to Hlangwane to view the operations, but one
+of these being unwell, Captain Brook-field invited Chris to take his
+place. After inspecting the plateau, they made their way down to the
+left. Hearing that an attack was about to be made on Railway Hill, they
+clambered down until they reached a point where, seated in an open spot
+among the trees, they could command a view of what was passing.
+
+"It is an awful place," Chris said, "and it seems to me almost
+impossible to be carried."
+
+"It is an awful place," Captain Brookfield agreed. "This is one of the
+times, Chris, when one feels the advantage of belonging to a mounted
+corps, for without being less brave than other men, I should regard it
+as an order to meet certain death were I told to attack that rugged
+hill. Ah, there are the Irish Brigade!"
+
+The storming party consisted of the Inniskillings, with companies of
+the Dublins, the Connaught Bangers, and the Imperial Light Infantry.
+From a building called Platelayer's House at the mouth of the spruit,
+to the foot of the hill, the ground was perfectly open to the point
+where the left face of Railway Hill rose steeply up, and across this
+open ground, a distance of half a mile, the assailants had to march.
+
+"Here they come!"
+
+As, in open order, with their rifles at the trail, the Inniskillings
+appeared in view, a terrible fire broke out from every ledge of Railway
+Hill, while the cannon joined in the roar. The guns on Hlangwane, and
+those on the slopes nearer the river, with Maxims and quick-firing
+guns, replied on our side.
+
+"It is awful," Chris said, speaking to himself rather than to the
+captain who was standing beside him. "I don't think that even at
+Badajos, British soldiers were ever sent on a more desperate
+enterprise. It looks as if nothing could live under that fire even now;
+what will it be when they get closer?"
+
+Not a shot was fired by the advancing infantry in reply to the storm of
+bullets from the Boer marksmen. Every round of ammunition might be
+wanted yet, and it would only be wasted on an invisible foe. They took
+advantage of what little shelter could be obtained, sometimes close to
+the river bank, sometimes following some slight depression which
+afforded at least a partial protection. At last they reached a deep
+donga running into the river; this was crossed by a small bridge, and
+in passing over it they had to run the gauntlet of the Boer fire. Many
+fell here, but the stream of men passed on, and then at a double rushed
+to a sheltered spot close to the foot of the ascent, where they had
+been ordered to gather. Here they had a breathing space. Their real
+work was yet to begin, but already their casualties had been numerous.
+The Inniskillings alone had lost thirty-eight killed and wounded. Not a
+word had been spoken among the little group on the hill, for the last
+ten minutes; they stood with tightly-pressed lips, breath coming hard,
+and pale faces looking at the scene. Occasionally a short gasp broke
+from one or other as a shell burst in the thick of the men crossing the
+little bridge, a cry as if they themselves had been struck. When the
+troops gained their shelter there was a sigh of relief.
+
+"They will never do it," Captain Brookfield said decidedly. "It would
+need ten times as many men to give them a chance."
+
+This was the opinion of them all, and they hoped even now that this was
+but the advance party, and that ere long they would see a far larger
+body of men coming up. But there were no signs of reinforcements, and
+at five o'clock the troops were re-formed and the advance began. They
+dashed forward up the hill under a heavy fire, to which the supporting
+line replied. The boulders afforded a certain amount of shelter, and of
+this the Inniskillings took every advantage, until they reached the
+last ledge with comparatively little loss. But the work was still
+before them. Leaping over, they rushed down on to the railway line.
+Here a wire-fence arrested their course for a moment, and many fell
+while getting through or over it. Then they ran across the line, passed
+through a fence on the other side, and dashed up the steep angle of the
+hill to the first trench. Hitherto the fire of the Boers had been far
+less destructive than might have been expected, their attention being
+confused and their aim flurried by the constant explosion of lyddite
+shell from the British batteries. They had but one eye for their
+assailants, the other for the guns, and as each of the heavy pieces was
+fired, they ducked down for shelter, only to get up again to take a
+hasty shot before having to hide again.
+
+Thus, then, they were in no condition to reckon the comparatively small
+numbers of their assailants, and as they saw the Irishmen dashing
+forward, cheering loudly, with pointed bayonets, they hesitated, and
+then bolted up the hill to the next trench. Instead of waiting until
+the supports had come up for another rush, the Irishmen with a cheer
+dashed across the trench in hot pursuit. But the next line was far more
+strongly manned, and a storm of bullets swept among them. Still, for a
+time they kept on, but wasting so rapidly that even the most desperate
+saw that it could not be done; and, turning, the survivors retreated to
+the trench that they had already won, while the supports fell back to
+the railway, both suffering heavily in the retreat. No fewer than two
+hundred of the Inniskillings had fallen in that desperate charge, their
+colonel and ten officers being either killed or wounded, while the
+Dublins also lost their colonel.
+
+All through the night the trench was held sternly, in spite of repeated
+and desperate efforts of the Boers to dislodge its defenders. Nothing
+could be done for those who lay wounded on the hill above. Morning
+broke, and the fight still continued. At nine o'clock another desperate
+charge was made; but the Boers were unable to face the steady fire that
+was maintained by the defenders of the trench, and they again turned
+and ran for their shelters. Just as this attack was repulsed,
+Lyttleton's brigade arrived on the scene, exchanging a hearty cheer
+with the men who had so long borne the brunt of this terrible conflict.
+The Durham Light Infantry at once relieved those in the trenches, and
+these descended the hill for the rest that was so much needed. All that
+day the fighting continued, and while Lyttleton's men held to the
+position on Railway Hill, there was fierce fighting away to the left,
+where the Welsh Fusiliers and other regiments were hotly engaged. The
+roar of artillery and musketry never ceased all day, but towards
+evening white flags were hoisted on both sides, and a truce was agreed
+upon for twelve hours to bury the dead.
+
+The scene of the conflict presented a terrible sight. The hillside
+between the two trenches was strewn with dead and wounded. The
+sufferings of the latter had been terrible. For six-and-thirty hours
+they had lain where they fell, their only relief being a little water,
+that in the short intervals during the fighting some kindly Boers had
+crept down to give them. The truce began at four o'clock in the morning
+of Sunday the 25th, and the foes of the previous day mingled with each
+other in the sad work, conversing freely with each other. The Boers
+expressed their astonishment that such an attempt should ever have been
+made, and their stupefaction at the manner in which the Irish had
+pressed on through a fire in which it had seemed that no human being
+could have existed for a minute. When informed of the relief of
+Kimberley, and the fact that Cronje was hopelessly surrounded, they
+scoffed at the news as a fable, and were so honestly amused that it was
+evident they had been kept absolutely in the dark by their leaders.
+Captain Brookfield and his party had remained at the lookout until
+darkness set in. After the first exclamation of pain and grief as they
+saw the attack fail, and the fearfully thinned ranks run back to
+shelter, there had been little said. "It was impossible from the
+first," Captain Brookfield sighed as they turned. "If the relief of
+Ladysmith depends on our carrying that hill, Ladysmith is doomed to
+fall."
+
+They returned to the spot where they had left their horses in charge of
+two of the blacks, and rode back to Chieveley. It was a sorrowful
+evening. The men's hopes had risen daily as position after position had
+been carried, and now it seemed that once again the enterprise had
+hopelessly failed. On Monday there was a continuation of the lull of
+firing. Many of the officers in camp who were off duty rode up to
+examine the scene of the fight, and they were not surprised when they
+saw the infantry recrossing the pontoon bridge. All wore a dejected
+aspect, but especially the men who had fought so heroically and, as it
+now seemed, in vain. They sat watching until the last soldier had
+crossed, and then rode to the top of Hlangwane. All Chris's party had
+come out, and those who had not before seen the view waited there for a
+couple of hours, ate some refreshment they had brought with them,
+discussed the difficulties that lay in the way of farther advance, and
+the probable point against which General Buller would next direct his
+attack.
+
+"Hullo!" Chris exclaimed suddenly, "that pontoon train is not coming
+back to camp. Do you see, after moving to the point where it passed
+through this range, it has turned to the north again and not to the
+south. Hurrah! Buller is not going to throw up the sponge this time.
+The Boers have not done with us yet." This indeed was the case. The
+general, seeing that Railway Hill was too strong to be carried by
+assault, unless with an enormous loss of life, had caused the river to
+be reconnoitred some distance farther up, and this had resulted in the
+discovery of a spot where, with some little labour, the troops could
+get down to the river and a pontoon bridge be again thrown. Such a spot
+was found by Colonel Sandbach of the Royal Engineers, and a strong
+working party was at once set to work to make a practicable approach.
+The point lay some three or four miles below Railway Hill, and the most
+formidable of the obstacles would therefore be turned. That night the
+troops crossed, and the Boers--who were in ignorance of what had been
+going on, the point chosen for the passage being at the bend of the
+river and hidden by an intervening eminence from their positions--were
+astonished at finding a strong force again across the river.
+
+As soon as the news reached the camp that the army was again crossing,
+satisfaction took the place of the deep depression that had reigned
+during the past two days, and the situation was eagerly discussed.
+Those who at all knew the country were eagerly questioned as to the
+ground farther on near the line of railway. All these agreed that the
+hill called Pieter's was a formidable position, almost, though not
+perhaps quite, as strong as Railway Hill, but that beyond it the line
+ran through a comparatively open country, and that if this hill could
+be captured the relief of Ladysmith would be ensured. The Scouts had
+not escaped altogether scatheless. At the reconnaissance towards
+Grobler's Hill, Brown, Harris, and Willesden had all been wounded, but
+none very seriously, although at first it was thought that Willesden's
+was a mortal injury, for he had been hit in the stomach. The doctors,
+however, assured his anxious comrades that there was every ground for
+hope, for very many of those who had been so injured had made a speedy
+recovery.
+
+"Poor old Willesden!" Field had said as they talked it over; "it is
+hard that he should have been hit in the stomach, for he was a capital
+hand at taking care of it."
+
+"And of ours too, Field. He has been a first-rate caterer. I do hope he
+will pull through it." The lad himself had not seemed to suffer much
+pain, and three days later the surgeon had been able to assure his
+friends that as no fever had set in they had little fear of serious
+consequences ensuing. The boys had not been allowed to see him. Captain
+Brookfield, however, reported that he was going on capitally, but was
+in a very bad temper because he was allowed to eat nothing but a piece
+of bread and a sip of milk, while he declared himself desperately
+hungry, and capable of devouring a good-sized leg of mutton.
+
+"I don't think you need worry about him," he said to Chris; "the doctor
+told me that in a fortnight he would be very likely to be about again,
+and none the worse for the wound, the bullet having evidently missed
+any vital point, in which case its passage would heal as quickly as the
+little wounds where the bullet enters and passes out usually do."
+
+Harris had his arm broken just above the elbow, and Brown a flesh wound
+below the hip. He was the stoutest of the party, and jokingly said, as
+he was carried back, that the bullet had passed through the largest
+amount of flesh in the company. Chris once or twice went into the
+hospitals with a doctor whose acquaintance he had made. They offered a
+strong contrast to the scene that had taken place after the battle of
+Elandslaagte, as in the hospitals at Chieveley and Frere everything was
+as admirably arranged as they would have been in one of a large town.
+In the daytime the sides of the marquees were lifted to allow of a free
+passage of air. The nurses in their neat dresses moved quietly among
+the patients with medicines, soups, jellies, and other refreshments
+ordered for them. There were books for those sufficiently convalescent
+to be able to read them, and those who wished to send a letter home
+always found one of the nurses ready to write at their dictation. By
+some of the bedsides stood bouquets of flowers sent by the ladies of
+Maritzburg, and all had an abundance of delicious fruit from the same
+source.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+MAJUBA DAY
+
+
+"Did you hear of that plucky action of Captain Philips, of the Royal
+Engineers, last night?" an officer who had just ridden in from the
+front asked Chris that evening.
+
+"No; I heard that the Boers set up a tremendous musketry fire in the
+evening after the truce was over, but no one that I have spoken to knew
+what it was about."
+
+"Well, we ourselves didn't know till next morning. The general idea was
+that it was a Boer scare. They thought that we were crawling up to make
+a night attack, and so blazed away for all they were worth. We found
+out afterwards that Philips had conceived the idea that it was possible
+to destroy that search-light of the Boers. He had learned from
+prisoners that it was the last they had with them, and although we have
+not made any night attacks yet, it was possible we might do so in the
+future, and so he made up his mind to have a try to smash it up. He
+took with him eight blue-jackets, crawled along in the dark beyond our
+lines, and got in among the Boers. He had taken particular notice of
+points he should have to pass, boulders and so on, and he found his way
+there without making a blunder. There were plenty of Boers round, but
+no one just at the search-light. The blue-jackets all understood the
+working of their own search-lights; but the Boers have no electric
+lights, you know, and work their signals with acetylene, and so they
+stood on guard while Philips opened the lamp, took out the working
+parts, whatever they are, and shut the lamp again. Just as they had
+done so they heard four Boers who had been sitting talking together get
+up. He and his party dropped among the bushes and lay there quiet while
+the Boers came up to the lamp.
+
+"'We are to keep it going to-night,' one of them said, 'for they may
+take it into their heads to make an attack, thinking that after having
+had a truce all day we shall not be expecting trouble, and they may
+catch us unprepared. I expect our German officer in a few minutes; he
+said he would be here about ten o'clock, for the rooineks are not
+likely to move until they think we are asleep.'
+
+"They moved away again, and Philips and his men stole quietly off, but
+before they rejoined our fellows they heard a sudden shot, and in a
+minute a tremendous rifle fire broke out. Evidently the German had
+arrived and found the search-light would not act, and they concluded at
+once that we were marching against them, and for twenty minutes every
+man in the trenches blazed away at random as fast as he could load. I
+should say that they must have wasted a hundred thousand cartridges. As
+there was no reply they began to think that they had been fooled. Our
+fellows were just as much puzzled at the row, and fell in, thinking
+that the Boers might possibly be going to attack them. However, matters
+quieted down, and it was not until the next morning that anyone knew
+what it had all been about."
+
+"That was a plucky thing indeed," Chris said; "though, as I should
+hardly think we should attack at night, it may not be of much service,
+for the Boers have long since given up trying with their feeble
+flash-lights to interrupt our night signalling with Ladysmith,
+especially as, now the weather is finer, we can talk all day if we like
+with our heliograph."
+
+Chris was just turning in when Captain Brookfield came to the entrance
+of his tent. "I have just heard, Chris, that the pontoon bridge has
+been successfully thrown across just below the cataract, and that the
+troops are all crossing. I just mention it to you. I cannot get away
+myself, but if I find you and your boys are--not here in the morning, I
+shall say nothing about it. We certainly shall not be wanted. The
+orders are out, and there is no mention of our corps nor any of the
+mounted colonials."
+
+"Thank you, sir! I am very much obliged." Chris went round to the tents
+and told the others that they must be up an hour before daybreak and be
+ready to start at once, as there would probably be another very big
+fight. Then he told the natives, who were, as usual, still talking
+together in their tent, that they were all going off very early, and
+that chocolate must be ready at daybreak, and the water-skins filled,
+as the horses would probably be out all day.
+
+"Will you want anything cooked, baas?" Jack asked.
+
+"No; we will take some tins with us. There is going to be another big
+fight to-morrow; as we are all going, you can go too if you like. We
+shall want you for the horses. Three of you can stop with them at a
+time, and the others can go and see what is doing, and then change
+about, you know, so that you can all see something. The spare horses
+must have plenty of food left them, and must have a good drink before
+we start."
+
+They were all astir in good time. The natives had made some hot cakes,
+and these they ate with their chocolate. Then they saw that the horses
+had a good feed, and a stock of biscuit and tinned meat for themselves
+was put into the saddle-bags, and when daylight broke they were across
+the plain and arrived at the dip in the hills through which the pontoon
+train had gone. Knowing where the cataract was, they were able to
+calculate pretty accurately where they had best dismount. This they did
+in a small clump of trees. Then each took a tin of meat and a couple of
+pounds of biscuit in his pocket. "Now," Chris said to the natives, "you
+had better all stay here quietly till you hear firing begin; then,
+Jack, you can go with the two Zulus. You can stay and look on till the
+middle of the day. When the sun is at its highest you must come back
+and let Japhet and the Swazis go. At sunset you must all be here again,
+and wait till we come. Perhaps we may be back sooner, and if so we
+shall ride away at once; and those of you who are away when we start
+must go back to camp at once if you find that the horses have gone when
+you get here. Now let's be off."
+
+They made their way up the hills, well pleased that there were enough
+trees and bushes to shield them from observation. The roar of artillery
+and the rattle of musketry had been going on for some time, but not
+with the fury that marked the commencement of an attack. A fortnight
+before it would have seemed to them that a great battle was in
+progress, but by this time they were accustomed to the almost incessant
+fire, and knew that although the cannonade was heavier than usual, no
+actual fighting was going on. They met no officers as they went along,
+nor did they expect to do so, for none of these would be able to leave
+their regiments, as even were these not included in the force told off
+to assault, they might be called upon later in the day. At last they
+reached the top of a hill whose face sloped steeply down to the river,
+and from here they could obtain a view of the Boer position, and of the
+line of railway up and down.
+
+To the right was Pieter's station, with a steep hill of the same name
+rising close to it. To the left of this was another strongly-posted
+hill, while beyond it was the scene of the fighting on Friday and
+Saturday, Railway Hill, which had been rechristened Hart's Hill, in
+honour of the commander of the brigade that had fought so valiantly. It
+was evident that at these three points the whole of the fighting force
+of the Boers had gathered. A heavy rifle fire was being kept up against
+the British infantry, whose passage of the river had now been
+discovered, and who were lying crouched behind boulders and other
+shelter.
+
+They now saw that the guns had all been brought forward during the
+night, had taken up commanding positions, and were pouring a terrible
+fire into the enemy's encampment at a distance of little over a mile.
+The enemy's guns were replying, but at this short range the naval guns
+were able to fire point-blank, and their shells ripped the defences
+erected to shelter the Boer camp into fragments, and carried
+destruction everywhere.
+
+On a kopje about a quarter of a mile behind and above them General
+Buller and his staff had taken up their position, and the lads kept
+themselves well within the trees to avoid observation.
+
+"See, Chris, there are some of our fellows creeping along by the side
+of the river. They must be hidden from the sight of the Boers. I expect
+they will be the first to begin."
+
+All their glasses were turned upon the column of men. They were two
+battalions of the eth Brigade and the Dublin Fusiliers, and these,
+under General Barton's command, made their way down the river bank for
+a mile and a half. Then the lads saw that they were leaving the river
+and crossing the line of railway.
+
+"They have evidently gone down there," Sankey said, "because that spur
+just this side must hide them from the Boers on Pieter's Hill."
+
+The column were lost sight of for upwards of an hour, and then they
+appeared on the opposite crest, five hundred feet above the line; then
+they were lost sight of again as they passed beyond the crest.
+
+"That is a splendid move!" Chris exclaimed. "By working round there
+they will gain the top of Pieter's Hill, and come down like a
+thunderbolt upon the Boers."
+
+The roar of artillery continued unabated. Clouds of yellowish-brown
+smoke floated over the Boer entrenchments, lit up occasionally by a
+vivid flash of a bursting lyddite shell. So terrible was the
+bombardment that the rifle fire of the Boers against the troops
+crouching behind their shelters was feeble and intermittent, as they
+dared not merge from their shelter-places to lift a head above their
+line of trenches. It was a long time before Barton's troops were again
+seen. Doubtless they had orders to wait for a time when they had gained
+their desired position, in order to allow the bombardment to do its
+work, and prepare the way for the assault of the other positions by the
+fourth and eleventh brigades. It was not, indeed, until the afternoon
+that the lads saw Barton's brigade sweeping along to the attack of
+Pieter's Hill.
+
+The Boers saw them now, and could be seen leaping out of their
+entrenchments, regardless of the redoubled fire of the artillery now
+concentrated upon them, and climbing up the hill to oppose this
+unexpected attack. But before they could gather in sufficient numbers
+the British were upon them, keeping up a terrible fire as they
+advanced. The Boers, however, fought sturdily. Many, indeed, had
+already begun to make their way along the southern face of the hill,
+either to join their comrades on the hill between Pieter's and Hart's,
+or to escape up the valleys between them, and so make their way to
+Bulwana, where a large force was still encamped.
+
+"We may as well help," Chris said; "the general can but blow us up."
+
+Delighted to be able to do even a little towards the success of the
+day, the party at once picked up their rifles lying beside them.
+
+"It is about a thousand yards, I should say, to the middle of the hill.
+Take steady aim and try and pick them off as they leave their trenches."
+
+The firing began at once slowly and steadily, and occasionally there
+was an exclamation of satisfaction when a bullet found its mark. Five
+minutes later a dismounted staff-officer came down to the trees behind
+them.
+
+"What men are these?" he asked; "the general wishes to know."
+
+"We are the Johannesburg Scouts," Chris said.
+
+"Are you in command, sir?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then, will you please to accompany me at once to the general."
+
+On arriving at the spot where the general was standing a little in
+advance of his staff, the latter at once recognized Chris. "Oh, it is
+you, Mr. King!" he said. "I was afraid some of the men had left their
+stations. And what are you doing here?"
+
+"We are trying to lend a hand to the troops over there, and as we are
+all good shots, I think we are being of some assistance."
+
+"You had no right to leave the camp, sir. I suppose you call this
+independent service?"
+
+"I do, general. I hope that we are affording some help here, and we
+should not be doing any good in camp; and as we have been nearly out of
+it through all this fighting, and there were no orders for the corps to
+do anything to-day, we thought we might be of use."
+
+"You did wrong, sir," the general said, his face relaxing into a smile
+at the lad's defence of himself. "Well, as you are there, you may as
+well stop."
+
+"Thank you, sir!" Chris said, saluting, and then hurried off to rejoin
+his comrades.
+
+"He is a plucky boy," the general said to his staff. "I heard the other
+day--though not officially, so I was not obliged to take notice of
+it--that he, with the twenty lads with him, rode out to a place seventy
+miles away, and rescued some farmers who were besieged by Boers,
+defeated their assailants, killed and wounded more than their own
+number, made the rest of them, still double their own strength, lay
+down their arms, and recaptured nearly two thousand head of cattle they
+had driven off. The news came to me from the mayor of Maritzburg, who
+had heard of it from a friend who had ridden in from Grey town. He
+wrote to me expressing his admiration at the exploit. I sent privately
+to their captain and questioned him about it, intending to reprimand
+him severely for letting them go; but he said that they had all
+resigned, as they had a right to do, for they are all sons of
+gentlemen, and draw no pay or provisions, and that he had therefore no
+control whatever over their actions after they left camp. I told him
+not to say anything about his having seen me, for that, as they had
+returned, I should be obliged to take notice of the matter if it came
+to be talked about. That young fellow who came here is the one who,
+with three of the others, tried to blow up the bridge at Komati-poort.
+He could not do that, but he played havoc with a large store of rifles,
+ammunition, and six or eight guns. After that I could not very well
+scold him." And he again turned his glass on the opposite hill.
+
+Here the fighting was almost over, and in a very short time all
+resistance had ceased. Some of the Boer guns on the next hill had now
+been turned round, and opened upon the captured position, which took
+their own in flank. An aide-de-camp was sent off to order some of the
+guns to be taken, if possible, up to the top of Pieter's Hill, and
+after immense exertions two batteries were placed there. As soon as
+this was accomplished, orders were sent for the rest of the infantry to
+advance. General Warren was in command, and the fourth brigade, under
+Colonel Norcott, and the eleventh, under Colonel Kitchener, now moved
+forward, taking advantage of what shelter could be obtained as they
+advanced. At the same time a strong force of colonial infantry moved to
+the right to attack the Boer trenches farther up the line of railway,
+and were soon hotly engaged. The defenders of Hart's Hill, and the
+position between that and Pieter's, opened a heavy fire as soon as the
+British infantry showed themselves; but their morale was so shaken by
+the terrific bombardment to which they had been subjected, by the loss
+of Pieter's Hill, and by the rifle fire now opened by its captors, that
+their fire was singularly ineffective. Many men dropped, but the loss
+was comparatively much smaller than that suffered by the Irish division
+when moving across the open on the 23rd.
+
+Taking advantage of every shelter, the troops moved steadily forward,
+maintaining a heavy fire whenever they did so, and winning their way
+steadily. Colonel Kitchener's Brigade pressed on towards Hart's Hill,
+which on the side by which they now attacked was far less formidable
+than that against which the Irish had dashed themselves. It had never
+entered the Boer's minds that they would be attacked from this side,
+and their most formidable entrenchments had all been placed to resist
+an assault from Colenso. Arrived at its foot, the troops were in
+comparative shelter among the boulders that covered the slopes. Foot by
+foot they made their way upwards, until at last they gathered for a
+final assault, and then with a loud cheer scrambled up the last slope
+and with fixed bayonets drove the Boers in headlong flight. A similar
+success attended the eleventh brigade, who just at sunset carried the
+centre position, and a mighty cheer broke out all along the line at the
+capture of what all felt to be the last serious obstacle to their
+advance to Ladysmith. On the right, the Colonial troops had driven the
+Boers in front of them for nearly three miles, capturing entrenchment
+after entrenchment, until they arrived at Nelthorpe station. The three
+camps of the Boers contained an even larger amount of spoil than had
+been discovered in those of Monte Cristo and Hlangwane. It seemed that
+they had been perfectly confident that the positions were impregnable,
+and had accumulated stores sufficient for a prolonged residence. It was
+evident, too, that the wealthier men with them had preferred this
+situation to the more exposed camps on the summit of the hills. The
+amount of provisions and stores of all kinds was large, Great
+quantities of rifle ammunition were found in every trench. Clothes of a
+superior kind proved that their owners had been residents of
+Johannesburg or Pretoria, and of a different class altogether from the
+farm-labourers and herdsmen who formed the majority of the Boer army.
+The haste with which they had fled, when to their astonishment they
+discovered that the British attack could not be repulsed, was shown by
+the fact that a good many watches were found on bed-places and rough
+tables where they had been left when the Boers rushed to arms, and in
+the hurry of flight had been forgotten.
+
+The number of rifles that had been thrown away was very large. Among
+the dead bodies found were those of two women, one quite young and the
+other over sixty. It was notorious that women had more than once been
+seen in the firing ranks of the Boers, and there were reports that
+Amazon corps were in course of formation in the Transvaal, the Boers,
+perhaps, remembering how sturdily the women of Haarlem had fought
+against the Spaniards in defence of their city.
+
+So complete had been the panic evinced by the headlong fight of the
+enemy that the general opinion was that it would be some time before
+they would again attempt a stand against our men, and that unless any
+entrenchments higher up the valley were held by men who had not
+witnessed what had taken place, and were commanded by leaders of the
+most determined character, Ladysmith would almost certainly be relieved
+within a couple of days, and the rescuing army would be thus rewarded
+for its toils and sacrifices.
+
+In a state of the wildest delight the lads returned to the spot where
+they had left their horses, where they found that Japhet and the two
+Swazis had arrived just before them. They and the Zulus were exhibiting
+their intense satisfaction at the defeat of the Boers by a wild
+war-dance. The party rode fast back to camp, for their spirits did not
+admit of a leisurely pace, and they left the natives to follow them
+more deliberately. The news had already been received in camp by the
+return of officers who witnessed the scene from a point near to that
+which the lads had attained, and its occupants were in a frenzy of
+delight. The Colonial corps were especially jubilant. This was the
+anniversary of Majuba Hill, the blackest in the history of the Colony,
+and one that the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange State always
+celebrated with great rejoicings, to the humiliation of the British
+Colonists. Now that disgrace was wiped out. A position even stronger
+than that of Majuba, fortified with enormous pains, defended by
+artillery and by thousands of Boers, had been captured by a British
+force, and although it was as yet unknown in camp, the old reverse had
+been doubly avenged by the surrender on that day of Cronje and his army.
+
+Late that evening an order was issued that Lord Dundonald with a
+squadron of Lancers and some Colonial corps, in which the Maritzburg
+Scouts were included, were to reconnoitre along the line of railway.
+All felt sure that no serious opposition was likely to be met with; the
+defeat of the Boers had been so crushing and complete that assuredly
+few of the fugitives would be found willing to again encounter the
+terrible artillery fire, followed by the irresistible onslaught of the
+infantry. That evening, in spite of the scarcity of wood, bonfires were
+lighted, and the Scouts gathered round them. Every bottle of spirits
+and wine that remained in the camp was broached, and a most joyous
+evening was spent.
+
+"I shall be able to breathe freely;" one of the colonists, a man from
+Johannesburg, said, "on Majuba Day in future. I have made a point for
+years, whenever I wanted to do any business in Natal, to put it off
+till that date, so that I could get out of the Transvaal. When I could
+not manage it, I shut myself up and stopped in bed all day, though even
+there I used to grind my teeth when I heard the brutes shouting and
+singing in the streets. Still, to me it was not half such a humiliation
+as surrender day. The one was a piece of carelessness, a military
+blunder, no doubt; the other was a national disgrace. And though I saw
+Majuba myself, it did not affect me half as much as did the abject
+backing down of the British Government after they had collected an army
+at Newcastle in readiness to avenge Majuba. We could not believe the
+news when it came. The fury of the troops was unbounded, and I would
+not have given a farthing for the lives of any of the men who were the
+authors of the surrender, had they been in the camp that day."
+
+"What were you doing there?" Chris asked.
+
+"I had a farm near Newcastle at that time, and two of my waggons had
+been taken up by the military for transport purposes. I was not on the
+hill, as you may suppose, or I might not be here to tell the story. I
+went forward with Colley. It was just the same then as it was at the
+beginning here. There were plenty of colonists ready to take up arms,
+but the military authorities would have none of them; they could manage
+the thing themselves without any aid from civilians. They knew that the
+natives had over and over again beaten the Boers, and what natives
+could do would be, merely child's play to British soldiers. Sir George
+Colley was a brave officer, and I believe had proved himself a skilful
+one, but he knew nothing whatever of the Boer style of fighting, while
+we colonists understood it perfectly, and could match them at their own
+game. As it turned out, the British soldiers on that occasion did not,
+and it made all the difference. If Sir George Colley had accepted a few
+hundreds of us, who knew the Boers well, as scouts and skirmishers, the
+affair would have turned out very differently; for, as you know, they
+did not succeed through the whole affair in taking one of the places
+held by our colonists.
+
+"Well, we started from Newcastle, and the blundering began from the
+first. It was but twenty-five miles to Laing's Nek. At the time we
+started there was not a Boer there, for they were doubtful which line
+we should advance by. That twenty-five miles could have been done in a
+day, and there we should have been with our difficulties at an end; the
+baggage and stores could have come up in two or three days, and then
+another advance could have been made. Instead of that, six days were
+wasted in going over that miserable bit of ground. The Boers, of
+course, took advantage of the time we had given them to prepare and
+entrench Laing's Nek. I don't think that troubled the military
+authorities at all; an entrenchment thrown up by farmers and peasants
+could be but a worthless affair, and would not for a moment check the
+advance of British infantry. The consequence of all this was that we
+got the licking we deserved. Their entrenchment at the crest of the
+ridge was held by something like three thousand men. Colley had but
+three hundred and seventy infantry, a force in itself utterly
+inadequate for the work in hand. But, seeing some parties of Boer
+horsemen riding about, he thought it necessary to leave a strong body
+for the defence of his baggage, and accordingly sent only about two
+hundred and fifty men forward to attack the place.
+
+"Well, we among the waggons hadn't a doubt how it was going to turn
+out. The one battery with us opened fire upon the entrenchment, but you
+who know what their entrenchments are will guess that there was little
+damage done; and when the soldiers went up the hill the Boers held
+their fire until they were close, and then literally swept them away,
+and, leaping over the entrenchments, took many of them prisoners. None
+would have got away at all if a few mounted infantry, who had managed
+to get up the Nek at another point, hadn't charged down and so enabled
+the survivors to escape. One hundred and eighty out of the two hundred
+and fifty were killed or taken prisoners. Colley at once fell back four
+miles. The Boers on their part, making sure that they had got him safe,
+sent a strong force round, and this planted itself on the road between
+him and Newcastle, but before they did so some small reinforcements
+joined us. Three or four days passed, and then we Colonials quite made
+up our mind that there was nothing for it but surrender. Colley
+determined at last to try and open the road back, and with about two
+hundred and fifty men, with four cannon--two of them mountain
+guns--moved out. Some sixty soldiers were left on a commanding spot to
+cover the passage of the Ingogo. As soon as the force under Colley had
+got to the opposite crest of the ravine through which the river runs,
+they were attacked in great force. They took shelter among the
+boulders, and fought as bravely as it was possible for men to fight.
+The guns, however, were useless, for in half an hour every officer, man
+and horse, was killed or wounded. However, the Boers could not pluck up
+courage to make a rush, and the little force held on till it was dark,
+by which time more than two-thirds of them were killed or wounded. A
+lot of rain had fallen, the Boers thought that the Ingogo could not be
+forded, and so, believing they would have no trouble in finishing the
+little force in the morning, they were careless. Colley, however, sent
+down and found that the water had not risen so high as to make it
+impossible to pass, and in the darkness, covered by the blinding rain
+that was falling, he and the survivors moved quietly off, crossed the
+river, picked up the party left on the eminence commanding it, and
+returned to camp.
+
+"It was certain now that unless succoured our fate was sealed, but
+fortunately Evelyn Wood came up to Newcastle with a column that had
+been pressing forward from the sea. Colley, of course, ought to have
+waited for him to arrive before he moved at all, and if he had done so,
+things might have turned out very differently. But he made the mistake
+of despising the Boers, and thinking that it was nothing but a walk
+over. When they heard that the column had reached Newcastle the Boers
+cleared off the line of communication, and Colley rode into Newcastle
+and saw Wood. We felt that we were well out of a bad business; and were
+sure that the Boers, who are no good in attack, however well they fight
+behind shelter, would not venture to attack us, and that even if they
+did so we could keep them off till help came. But Colley could not let
+well alone. Instead of waiting till Wood came up and joined him, lie
+thought he might make a good stroke on his own account, and so retrieve
+the two defeats he had suffered; so when the 92nd Regiment came up he
+determined to seize Majuba Hill.
+
+"It was well worth seizing, for it completely commanded the Boer's
+position on Laing's Nek, and had the whole force come up the Boers must
+have fallen back directly it was captured. However, Colley decided not
+to wait, and with about five hundred and fifty men and officers he
+started at night. The hill was only four miles off as the crow flies,
+but the ground was frightfully cut up, and it was not until after six
+hours of tremendous work that they reached the summit. Two hundred men
+were left at the bottom of the hill to keep open communications with
+the camp.
+
+"From a hill close to the camp we could make out what was going on.
+Soon after daybreak we saw a party of mounted men ride towards the
+hill, where they usually stationed vedettes. They were fired at as they
+approached, and directly a turmoil could be seen on Laing's Nek.
+Waggons were inspanned, and we thought at first that they were all
+going to move off, but this was not so. They were only getting ready to
+go if they failed to recapture the hill, and in a short time we could
+see all their force moving towards it. Well, from where we were it
+seemed that the force on Majuba could have kept a hundred thousand
+Boers at bay, and so they ought to have done.
+
+"For a time the Boers did not make much progress. With glasses, puffs
+of smoke could be made out all along the crest, and among the rocks
+below. The firing began in earnest at seven, and between twelve and one
+the Boer fire had ceased and ours died away. We thought it was all
+over, and went back to our waggons again. Soon after one o'clock there
+was a sudden outburst, and the men with the glasses observed that the
+Boers were close up to the top of the hill. A few minutes later it was
+on the plateau itself that the firing was going on.
+
+"Colley had not known the Boers. No doubt his men were completely done
+up with their six hours' toil among the hills and six hours' fighting,
+and I don't think a tenth of them were ever engaged, for Colley thought
+it was impossible that the position could be stormed; so he only kept a
+handful of men at the edge of the plateau and allowed the rest to lie
+down and sleep. Certainly that was the case when the Boers, who had
+been crawling up among the rocks and bushes, made their rush.
+
+"Well, you all know what happened. The few men on the edge were cut
+down at once. The Boers dashed forward, keeping up a heavy fire. Our
+fellows jumped up, but numbers were shot down as they did-so, and in
+spite of the efforts of their officers, a panic seized them. They had
+far better rifles than the Boers, and had they been steady might still
+have driven them back; but only a few of them ever fired a shot, and
+but one Boer was killed and five wounded; while on our side eight
+officers, among them Colley himself, were killed, and seven taken
+prisoners. Eighty-six men were killed, one hundred and twenty-five
+wounded, fifty-one taken prisoners, and two missing. A few managed to
+make their way down the hill, and joined the party that had been left
+there at the bottom.
+
+"These were also attacked, but beat off the Boers, and, maintaining
+perfect order, fought their way back to camp. You can imagine the
+consternation there was when the hideous business became known. We fell
+back at once to Newcastle, and mightily lucky we thought ourselves to
+get there safely. Fresh troops came up, and we were on the point of
+advancing again, confident that, after the lesson the Boers had given
+us, things could be managed better. Suddenly, like a thunderclap, the
+news came that the British Government had surrendered to the Boers,
+given up everything, abandoned the colonists, who had so bravely
+defended their towns, to their fate; and, with the exception of making
+a proviso that the natives should be well treated--but which, as
+nothing was ever done to enforce it, meant allowing the Boers to
+enslave and ill-treat them as they had done before--and another
+proviso, maintaining the purely nominal supremacy of the Queen, the
+treaty was simply an entire and abject surrender.
+
+"There is not a colonist who, since that time, has not known what must
+come of it, and that sooner or later the question whether the Dutch or
+the British were to be masters of the Cape would have to be fought out.
+But none of us dreamt that the British Government would allow the Boers
+to import hundreds of thousands of rifles, two or three hundred cannon,
+and enormous stores of ammunition in readiness for the encounter. Well,
+they have done it, and we have seen the consequences. Natal has been
+overrun, and a considerable portion of Cape Colony. We have lost here
+some ten thousand men, and half as many on the other side, and we may
+lose as many more before the business is finished. And all this because
+a handful of miserable curs at home twenty years ago were ready to
+betray the honour of England, in order that they might make matters
+smooth for themselves at home." Just as the story came to an end the
+assembly blew in the camp of the Scouts, and on running in the men
+found that Captain Brookfield had received an order to mount at once
+and ride to join the cavalry under Lord Dundonald at the front, as a
+reconnaissance was to be made in the morning. Five minutes later all
+were in the saddle and trotting across the plain towards Colenso, as
+they were to follow the line of railway up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+LADYSMITH
+
+
+It was exciting work as the mounted horse under Lord Dundonald rode
+along. As far as could be seen from the various points in our
+possession the passage was clear, but experience had taught how the
+Boers would lie quiet, even when in large numbers, while scouts were
+passing close to them. At Colenso Colonel Long had sent two mounted men
+on ahead of his battery. They had been permitted to pass within a
+hundred yards of thousands of Boers among the bushes on the river bank,
+and had even crossed the bridge and returned without a rifle shot being
+fired or a Boer showing his head. And it was on their report that there
+were apparently no Boers in the neighbourhood that the batteries were
+pushed forward into the fatal trap prepared for them. So Chris and his
+companions, at the rear of the colonial cavalry, trotted along ready at
+a moment's notice to swing round their rifles for instant action. They
+watched every stone and clump of bushes on the slopes of the valley for
+any foe that might be lurking there, and who at any moment might pour
+out a rain of bullets into the column. Very few words were spoken on
+the way, the tension was too great. They knew that Ladysmith had
+telegraphed that the Boers appeared to be everywhere falling back. But
+a few thousands of their best fighting men might have remained to
+strike one terrible blow at the troops who in open fight had shown
+themselves their superiors, and had driven them from position after
+position that they believed impregnable. However, as one after another
+of the spots where an ambuscade would be likely to be laid passed, and
+there were still no signs of the enemy, the keenness of the watch began
+to abate, and the set expression of the faces to relax. Then as the
+hills receded and the valley opened before them a pleasurable
+excitement succeeded the grim expectation of battle. The task that had
+proved so hard was indeed fulfilled; the Boers were gone, and the siege
+of Ladysmith was at an end. As they emerged from the valley into the
+plain in which Ladysmith is situated, there was an insensible increase
+of speed; men talked joyously together, scarcely waiting for replies;
+the horses seemed to catch the infection of their riders' spirits, and
+the pennons of the Lancers in front to flutter more gaily. Onward they
+swept, cantering now until they approached the town.
+
+Then men could be seen running towards the road; from every house they
+poured out, men and women, some waving hats and handkerchiefs, some too
+much overpowered by their feelings for outward demonstrations. As the
+columns reached this point they broke into a walk, and answered with
+ringing cheers the fainter but no less hearty hurrahs of those they
+came to rescue; and yet the troopers themselves were scarcely less
+affected than the crowd that pressed round to shake them by the hand.
+They had known that provisions were nearly exhausted in the city, and
+that for some time past all had been on short rations; but they had not
+dreamt of anything like this. It seemed to them that they were
+surrounded by a population of skeletons, haggard and worn, almost too
+weak to drag themselves along, almost too feeble to shout, their
+clothes in rags, their eyes unnaturally large, their hands nerveless,
+their utterances broken by sobs. They realized for the first time how
+terrible had been the privations, how great the sufferings of the
+garrison and people of Ladysmith. For the soldiers were there as well
+as the civilians. There was little military in their appearance; there
+was no uniformity in their dress, save that all were alike ragged,
+stained and destitute of colour.
+
+Could their rescuers have seen them, themselves unseen, a few days
+earlier, they would have been even more shocked. Then the listlessness
+brought about by hope deferred, and of late almost the extinction of
+hope, weakness caused by disease and famine, had been supreme; and had
+the Boers had any idea of the state to which they were reduced, a
+renewal of the attack of the eth of January could hardly have failed of
+success. The last few days, however, had revived their hopes. They had
+learned by the ever-nearing roar of the cannon that progress was being
+made, and for the past four days had from elevated points near the town
+been able to make out the movements of our troops on the positions they
+had captured. They had seen the Boers breaking up their camps, carrying
+off their stores either by waggon across the western passes or by the
+trains from Modder Spruit. They had seen the cannon being withdrawn
+from their positions on the hills, and felt that their deliverance was
+at hand.
+
+Through an ever-increasing crowd the column moved on.
+
+[Illustration: THE RELIEF OF LADYSMITH.]
+
+From barrack and hospital, from dwelling-house and the dug-out
+shelter-caves on the railway bank people flocked up. Sir George White
+and his staff, the mayor, and the town guards, every officer and
+soldier, joined in the greeting. But no stay was made. After a few
+minutes' talk with Sir George White, Lord Dundonald gave the order, and
+the cavalry moved forward, and as soon as they were free from the crowd
+trotted on at a rapid pace in hopes of overtaking the retiring Boers,
+and glad that the scene to which they had looked forward with such
+pleasant expectations was at an end. There had not been a dry eye among
+them. None could have witnessed the sobbing women, the men down whose
+cheeks the tears streamed uncontrolledly, and have remained himself
+unmoved.
+
+"It is terrible," Chris said to Sankey, who was riding next to him. "I
+could not have imagined anything so dreadful as their appearance. I did
+not realize what it was like when, two or three months before I left
+Johannesburg, I read in Motley's book about the war in the Netherlands
+of the state of things in Leyden when the Prince of Orange burst his
+way through to their rescue, and of the terrible appearance of the
+starved inhabitants, but now I can quite understand how awfully bad it
+was. It must have been even worse then. Here there were some rations
+distributed--little enough, but some. There the people had nothing but
+the weeds they gathered, and boiled down with the scraps they could
+pick up. There they died in hundreds of actual starvation; it cannot
+have been quite so bad here. But as we see, though there has been just
+enough food to keep life together, that has been all, and it has been
+from disease brought on by famine, and not by famine itself, that they
+have died. Then, too, shells were always falling among them, and at any
+moment they might be attacked. I expect that anxiety and fever have had
+as much to do with it as hunger."
+
+"Yes, Chris. You know, when we were grumbling sometimes at not being
+employed in the fighting, we have wished we had stopped in Ladysmith,
+and gone through the siege there; now, one can thank God that one did
+not do so. We have pictured to ourselves everyone actively employed,
+the vigilance at all the outposts, the skirmishing with the Boers who
+crept up too closely, the excitement of repelling their attack, and all
+that sort of thing. It is all very good to read about, but now we know
+what it really meant one sees that we were a pack of fools to have
+wished to be there."
+
+"Yes; I suppose one never knows what is good for one, Sankey. Now as I
+look back I think that we have been extraordinarily fortunate. We have
+had some fights, just in the way we had expected, and, thanks
+principally to our being so well mounted, we have done very well. We
+have lived well; I don't say we have not had a certain amount of
+discomfort, but of course we expected that. What I am most pleased at
+is that not one of us has been killed, and only a few of us wounded,
+the only serious one being Willesden, and he is fairly on the way to
+recovery. For boys we have done a very good share, and I expect that
+now we have driven the Boers back here, and Kimberley has been
+relieved, and there is a tremendous force gathering on that side, it
+will soon be over."
+
+"Yes, I think with you, Chris. And I fancy that the others are all
+beginning to long for the end of it. I should say that those whose
+people have gone to England may stop on for a bit, but the rest of us
+will go to our friends at Durban or the Cape, at any rate for a time,
+till we see how things go. We know that Lord Roberts has got Cronje
+surrounded and shut up. I expect that is one of the reasons that the
+Boers have been moving from here. The Free Staters will certainly wish
+to get back to defend Bloemfontein, and the Transvaal people must feel
+that it is no use stopping here when their own country will be shortly
+invaded."
+
+"Yes; I expect that is the reason for their shutting up as suddenly as
+they have done after fighting so hard for the first five or six days of
+our advance."
+
+On arriving at Modder Spruit it was found that the last train had left
+an hour before; they pushed on, however, until a smart fire from a hill
+in front of them, which was evidently held in force, broke out
+suddenly, and two cannon from another eminence joined in. Having thus
+discovered that the Boers were not entirely evacuating the country, but
+intending to defend the Biggarsberg, at any rate until a strong force
+came up, Lord Dundonald returned to Ladysmith. In the afternoon General
+Buller rode over attended by only one or two of the staff. He stayed
+but a very short time, to learn from General White the state of
+affairs, and then returned.
+
+"Do you think that we shall pursue at once, sir?" Chris asked Captain
+Brookfield.
+
+"Not at once, Chris. Practically, as you see, there is not a soldier
+here fit to carry arms, nor a horse fit for work, and I should say that
+it will be a month before General Buller can reckon upon any assistance
+from the garrison. As to his own army, I expect he will keep the main
+portion round Chieveley. No doubt he will bring the greater part if not
+all the garrison of Ladysmith back to Frere and Estcourt, both to get
+them out of the pestilential air here and for convenience of feeding
+them. The civilian population will leave, of course, as soon as they
+possibly can. I should think that Buller will leave in garrison here an
+infantry brigade, part of the cavalry, and two or three batteries, and
+this with the sick who cannot be moved, will be about as much as our
+transport will be able to manage until the railway bridge is repaired
+and the line put in running order. Till that is done there is no
+possibility of a general advance; and indeed there will have to be a
+great accumulation of stores here, as this will then become our base
+instead of Chieveley.
+
+"No doubt a great deal will depend on how things are going on the other
+side. Now that Roberts has as good as captured Cronje and his force he
+will of course advance to Bloemfontein and occupy it. He will then be
+no more able to advance farther than Buller can--in fact, less able.
+Our line of railway is secured, and we can be fed by it; but at present
+we have not crossed the Orange River from the south, and the railway
+between that and Bloemfontein is in the hands of the Boers, and we know
+that they have blown up the bridges across the river. Until these are
+restored, and the line secure in our hands, Roberts's army will have to
+live on the stores that they have brought with them. Then the work of
+forming a base depot from the coast will begin, and it needs something
+enormous in the way of provisions and carriage to supply an army of
+sixty or seventy thousand men, all of whom must as they advance be fed
+from Bloemfontein.
+
+"As long as he is stationary there it is likely enough that the bulk of
+Joubert's army will cling to Natal, knowing well enough that before we
+shall be in a condition to move forward they can entrench their
+positions on the Biggarsberg and the Drakenberg until they are quite as
+formidable as those we have been knocking our heads against. I should
+not be at all surprised if it is a couple of months before Roberts is
+in a position to advance. Of course at present we have no idea what the
+plans are, but likely enough at least half the force here may be sent
+down to Durban, and then by water to East London, and from there to
+Bloemfontein by rail. It would be ridiculous for us to renew the sort
+of fighting we have been doing when the enemy are sure to clear out
+when Roberts crosses the Vaal, and Natal be thus freed without any
+further loss of life. Possibly the troops may not be sent round by sea,
+but will remain here until Roberts gets as far as Kroonstadt. Then, no
+doubt, a division will be sent down through Bethlehem to Harrismith,
+and so open Van Reenen's Pass, in which case the troops from here can
+go up by train to Bethlehem. At any rate, I am afraid that most of us
+will remain here for at least two months.
+
+"You see, most of the colonial irregulars were enlisted for only three
+months, and that is up already, and no doubt a great many of them will
+not extend their time, and I don't suppose the military authorities
+will want them to do so. There is no doubt that while mounted men were
+invaluable in the fighting in Cape Colony, and will be so in the Orange
+Free State, they are of very little use in this mountainous country in
+the north of Natal--they are so many more mouths to be fed, man and
+beast, without any corresponding advantage. They have done splendidly
+where they have had a chance, and the Imperial Light Horse have
+suffered heavily, but as a whole I think that we should have been more
+useful as infantry than as mounted men. Infinitely more useful if,
+instead of being kept at the head-quarters of the army as we have been,
+for no possible reason that anyone can see, we had all been scattered
+over the country to the east, in which case we should have kept the
+marauding Boers from wandering about, should have saved hundreds and
+hundreds of loyal farmers from being ruined, and the loss of many
+thousands of cattle and horses, which will have to be paid for after
+the war is over. I do not think that there is a single colonist who is
+not of opinion that the way in which we have been kept inactive from
+the beginning of the war, instead of being employed as irregular
+cavalry should have been, in protecting the country, preventing the
+Boers from drawing supplies, and forcing them to keep in a body as our
+own troops have done, has been a stupendous mistake."
+
+Chris repeated this conversation to his comrades. "I think," he said,
+"that if there is no chance of doing anything for another two or three
+months, we might as well break up. I have no doubt a good many of the
+Colonials will re-enlist. Numbers of them are working men, either from
+Johannesburg or belonging to Natal; they would find it very difficult
+to get work here, and the five shillings a day pay is therefore of the
+greatest importance to them. But it is different with us. We don't draw
+pay, we simply agreed to band ourselves together to have an opportunity
+of paying out the Boers for their treatment of us. At the time we
+agreed to that, we had no idea that they would invade Natal. Of course
+that was an additional inducement to us to fight. As loyalists, and
+capable of bearing arms, it would have been our duty, even if we had no
+personal feeling in the matter, to enlist to help to clear the country
+of the enemy who invaded it. Now that Ladysmith is rescued and there
+are certainly enough troops in South Africa to finish the business up,
+I do not see that it is our duty to continue our service. Anyhow, I
+have pretty well made up my mind to resign and go round to Cape Town.
+There I am almost sure to find my mother, and perhaps my father, for we
+know that they have expelled almost all the English remaining about the
+mines, and he may have been among them."
+
+"I agree with you heartily," Sankey said. "At any rate, I should vote
+for our breaking up for the present. It will be beastly for us to have
+to stop here doing nothing for another month or two, and then perhaps,
+when Buller moves forward to join Roberts, to be told that the colonial
+force will no longer be required."
+
+Twelve of the others expressed similar opinions. The friends of the
+eight who did not do so had returned to England. Carmichael was one of
+these. "Well," he said after a pause, "I do not say that you are not
+quite right, but I have no one to go to here. My people went home as
+soon as they reached Durban. If I were to join them I might hear when I
+landed that the war was just over, and that they had either started to
+come back again, or were on the point of doing so. I was born out here,
+and have never seen any of my relations in Scotland. Though I should
+like very much to spend a few months in the old country, it would not
+be worth while going home for so short a time; for I am sure my father
+will hurry back to his work at the mines as soon as Johannesburg is
+taken by us. I fancy all those who have not spoken are in about the
+same situation that I am."
+
+There was a murmur of assent. "I don't say," he went on, "that I should
+care, any more than you do, to stop here for the next two months. The
+smell of dead horses and things is enough to make one ill. The water of
+the river is poisonous, for we know the Boers used to throw their dead
+animals in it on purpose. So I shall go down to Maritzburg and wire to
+my people where I am, and ask for orders. There remains, Willesden said
+the other day, still about £80 apiece at the bank, and I expect we
+shall get as much for the horses as we gave for them, so that we who
+have no friends here could live very comfortably for two or three
+months, or have enough to pay our passage home in case they send for
+us. I shall tell them to telegraph, so in a week after sending off my
+wire I shall get an answer."
+
+The others who had no friends in South Africa expressed their intention
+of doing the same.
+
+"I don't think we need bother about the horses," Chris said; "being
+such good animals, I have no doubt that there are plenty of officers in
+the cavalry regiments here who will be glad to buy them as remounts for
+the money we gave for them. That would save us all the trouble of
+getting them down by train to Maritzburg and selling them there. Well,
+then, as there are no dissentients, I will tell Captain Brookfield what
+we have settled."
+
+"I quite agree with you," the officer said when Chris had told him of
+their intentions. "In the first place, it would be a serious waste of
+time for you to remain here. Still, that is of comparatively little
+consequence, but I do think that it would be a grievous pity for you to
+risk your lives further. You have done wonderfully good service. You
+have had an experience that you will look back upon with satisfaction
+all your lives. You have done your duty, and more than your duty. You
+have before you useful lives, and have amply shown that in whatever
+position you may be placed you will be a credit to yourselves and your
+friends. Therefore, Chris, I think in every respect your decision is
+right. It will be some relief to me, for to tell you frankly, when you
+started on that expedition to Komati, and the other day, when you all
+rode off to the farm, I felt that it would probably be my duty to write
+to some of your parents to tell them of your deaths. Therefore, by all
+means give me your resignations. I dare say that a good many of the men
+in my own and other corps will be leaving also; and in that case those
+who remain will, I should think, be formed into one strong regiment,
+which will be of a good deal more use than half a dozen small corps."
+
+It was agreed among the party that as they had decided to go they might
+as well go at once.
+
+"I hear," Chris said, "that General Buller is going to make a formal
+entry here on Saturday, and that the garrison will line the road. I
+don't know whether Dundonald's brigade will have anything to do with
+it; but if he does, Brookfield will certainly like to make a good show.
+So until that is over I won't do anything about the horses."
+
+On the day appointed the garrison turned out to receive the general and
+the troops who had struggled so long and gallantly to effect their
+rescue, and the Devons, Gloucesters, Rifles, Leicesters, Manchesters,
+Liverpools, sappers, artillerymen, and the Naval Brigade marched out
+from their camps and lined the road as far as the railway-station,
+where the remnant of the cavalry brigade were drawn up. At eleven
+o'clock Sir George White, Sir Archibald Hunter, and Colonel Duff and
+his staff rode up and took their place in the front of the shattered
+tower of the town-hall. Here, too, Captain Lambton and many other
+officers took their place. Not far from these were a score of civilians
+who had not shared in the general exodus that had been going on from
+the day on which the town was relieved, but had delayed their departure
+in order to witness the historical scene. At last the head of the
+column was seen approaching. Lord Dundonald's men had ridden down on
+the previous day, and the mounted Colonial Volunteers had now the
+honour of forming the general's escort. They led the way, and after
+them came General Buller with his escort. The Dublin Fusiliers were
+placed at the head of the column in acknowledgment of the gallantry
+displayed by them in every fight; then came the men of Warren's,
+Lyttleton's, and Barton's brigades, with their artillery. Great indeed
+was the contrast between the sturdy, bronzed, and well-fed soldiers who
+cheered as they marched, many of them carrying their helmets on their
+bayonets, and the lines of emaciated men through whom they passed.
+These cheered too, but their voices sounded strange and thin, and many,
+indeed, were too much overcome by weakness and emotion to be able to
+add their voices to the shouts. The enthusiasm of the troops rose to
+the highest when they passed a group of women and children, who, with
+streaming eyes, greeted them as they passed.
+
+The pipes of the Highlanders and the beating of drums added to the roar
+of sound. The contrast between the dress of rescuers and rescued was as
+great as their personal appearance. Sir George White's men had of late
+had but little work, and had prepared for the occasion to the best of
+their power, as if for a review at Aldershot. They had done what they
+could. Their khaki suits had been washed and scrubbed until, though
+discoloured, they were scrupulously clean. The belts, accoutrements,
+and rifles had all been rubbed up and scoured. On the other hand, the
+uniforms of regiments that marched in were travel-stained, begrimed
+with the dust of battle and the mud of bivouac, until their original
+hue had entirely disappeared. They looked as if they had at first been
+dragged through thorn bushes and then been given a mud-bath.
+
+Captain Lambton rode forward to meet the sailors of the Terrible with
+the guns that had done such service, followed by the howitzers which
+had almost equally contributed to the final success of the operations.
+He was loudly cheered by the sailors, and the heartiest greetings were
+exchanged between him and their officers. Both in attack and defence
+the Naval Brigade had performed inestimable services.
+
+Behind the column came a large body of men in civilian dress. Their
+appearance was as unkempt as that of the troops, but among these there
+was no approach to military order, and yet their heroism had been in no
+way inferior to that of the troops. These were the stretcher-bearers,
+who had in every fight carried on their work of mercy under the
+heaviest fire, and that without the excitement that nerves soldiers to
+face danger. Many of them had fallen while so engaged, but this had in
+no way unnerved their companions, who had not only carried on the work
+during daylight, but had often laboured all night until the last
+wounded man had been found and carried down to the hospital. When the
+names of the heroes of the force that relieved Ladysmith are recounted
+those of the stretcher-bearers are worthy of a place among them.
+
+After the troops had been dismissed and matters had settled down a
+little, Chris went over to the camp of the cavalry brigade, and spoke
+to the first officer he met. "I have come across, sir," he said, "to
+ask if any of you wish to buy remounts. The party to which I belong
+have twenty-five horses; they are exceptionally good animals, and cost
+us sixty pounds apiece last October. We furnished our own equipment. As
+we are all sons of gentlemen at Johannesburg, we did not much mind what
+we paid. Anyhow, we are ready to sell them at the price we gave for
+them."
+
+"We all want remounts badly enough," the officer said. "Will you come
+in with me to the colonel?"
+
+Entering the mess tent, where the colonel and several officers were
+standing talking, Chris's guide introduced him to them, and repeated
+the offer he had made. "Well, at any rate, Leslie," the colonel said,
+"you and Mainwaring may as well go down and look at the horses; it
+would certainly be a comfort to get remounts, for more than half of our
+chargers are gone, and the rest are skeletons. I can't ask you, Mr.
+King, if you would like to take anything to drink. I suppose it will be
+another ten days before we are in a position to be able to offer even
+the smallest approach to hospitality."
+
+"I quite understand that, sir," Chris said. "In that respect we have
+been nearly as badly off at Chieveley. We have had plenty to eat and
+drink, but a cup of tea or chocolate has been the only refreshment we
+have been in a position to offer to a visitor, for the line has been so
+fully occupied with government transport that it has been next to
+impossible to get up any private stores. I am afraid that very little
+in that way can be brought up here until the bridge is repaired and the
+line in working order, for it is as much as the transport will be able
+to do to bring food enough from Chieveley for the troops and people
+here."
+
+The two officers were more than satisfied with the appearance of the
+horses. On their report all their comrades went down, and eleven of the
+animals were at once taken; a visit to the camps of two other regiments
+resulted in the sale of the remainder. None of the officers was able to
+pay in gold, as the paymaster's department had not a coin left, though
+small payments were made to the men until nearly the end of the siege.
+Chris, however, readily accepted their drafts and cheques, as these
+could be paid into the bank at Maritzburg.
+
+"That is all done," he said to his friends. "Now we will get rid of our
+remaining stores which the men brought up yesterday. I propose that
+instead of selling them we divide them into three and send them down to
+the three cavalry messes. I am sorry we have not a few bottles of
+spirits left, but the tea, and chocolate, and sugar, and so on, will be
+very welcome to them."
+
+The six natives carried the things down, and brought back with them
+notes of warm thankfulness from the colonels.
+
+"How about our saddles, Chris?"
+
+"We can take them with us to Maritzburg. We can hand over the kettles
+and so on, and the waterproof sheets, to Brookfield's men who remain
+here, and the blankets can be given to the natives when we get there."
+
+The next day, after a hearty farewell from Captain Brookfield and their
+comrades, who sent them off with a ringing cheer, the party started,
+marching by the side of one of the waggons that had brought up stores;
+in this they placed their saddles and blankets. When they arrived at
+Chieveley they had no difficulty in getting a place in a covered truck.
+In this they travelled to Maritzburg. Here they stayed for three or
+four days; then, after making a handsome present in addition to what
+they had promised to the natives, and further gladdening their hearts
+by giving them their blankets, Chris and those who were going down said
+good-bye to Carmichael and his party, with hopes that they would all
+meet again at Johannesburg before long. Three or four whose friends had
+remained at Durban stayed there, the rest took passage together for
+Cape Town.
+
+At Maritzburg Chris had found a letter awaiting him from his mother,
+saying that his father had a fortnight before joined her there, as the
+Boers had commandeered the mines and had ordered him to leave, as he
+would not work them for their benefit and so provide funds for the
+support of the Boer army. She said that they intended to leave at once
+for England, and that he was to follow them when he gave up his work
+with the army. He therefore, with Field, Brown, and Capper, continued
+the voyage straight on to England, and joined his parents in London,
+where he enjoyed a well-earned rest, his pleasure being only marred by
+the necessity for telling the story of his adventures again and again
+to the relations and friends of his parents.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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