A GENTLEMAN IN KHAKI:

Evening Star, Issue 11278, 27 June 1900, Page 2

A GENTLEMAN IN KHAKI:

PUBLISHED »T.SPECIAL-ARB^SCII^iENT,

CHAPTER XLIX. j ÜBOINAM) OOES TO THE tfRONT. The little old man with the keen eyes | and rather grim-looking mouth stood swinging ft light caae, making every now and again a remark to his younger and taller j companion. There was little to distinguish them from the hundreds of British soldiers passing to and.fro on the business of the camp, and yet they were men whose names were on every lip, whose actions were being watched with almost, bated breath from every country under the sun. The older man wos the most popular and the most trusted lender in the British Army, his younger companion was the Conqueror of tlf? Soudan. When the news was flashed j round (lie earth that Roberts and Kitchener j had been ordered to the front t-lie Empire ' rose r.x one man in acclamation, while foreiirncTs,. taking it as the outward and visible sign of Kntlnrcu's determination "to see the tiling through," set up an international «S'i'e of ieotli-cii.'i.vhing and curses—all of u-V.Hi we may he. sure troubled "Bobs" but little, ;>ml Lord Kitchener, if possible, even les.'-. These same foreigners averred that in send ins; our two war lords we were playing our last card, which wasn't true at all, though even if it were it would be no matter for grief, seeing that we had only been holding buck for a bit onr ace and king of trumps. In Roberts, Kitchener, and Buller we had three of the greatest generals of the British Army, perhaps of any army, and we knew—we at Home who had regarded all our rebuffs with serenity and calm—that in the end they wonld pulsus through. Bnt that is not what we set onrfc to write '■ about. I The two generals were discussing the. qacs-1 tion of a certain appointment. | .''You knew Curtis," Lord Roberts said; I " and you think he'll dof' j "• Yes, lie was in the Soudan with me.' if licked a lot of those feMows into shape fucker than any man I ever knew Give <'' sri is the rough material and he'll make :vdkrs of them while other fellows are I thhki-v of it. »| "Th;>,t is good—then we'll give him this' Coinniul Corps, and join him to French's, lot." Kitchener nodded briefly. '" Will you see him now?" he asked. "Yes—send for him." i When Reginald arrived he found the two! generals' seated at a table littered with papers, some of which the Commander-in-Chief was signing. . "Ah, Curtis," the Grand Old Man of War said, as he. looked up, "you want employment. How came you to leave your regiment?" . ■ " "I left by order of Sir George White, my lord, attempting to carry despatches to General Buller. I was captured and sent to Pretoria, but escaped thence and reached Cbjeveley just in time to take part in the attacking Spion Kop, where I was wounded. After I recovered, being unable to return to my regiment, I had the honor, my lord, to ask for employment, and am here in obedience to Lord Kitchener's summons." Reginald had been found by Iris comrades wounded on the summit of Spion Kop, and had been carried down that fearful descent! by his two friends Cornleigh "and Lord Arthur. What had become of Cornelius j he could not discover, and both his friends'j assured him that when he was found he was I alone. ("Were there no dead Boers there?" he j had asked. .. j " None," they had assured him. He could only surmise that some Boers, perhaps fugitives hiding among the rocks, had removed the bodies, or had, perhaps, j carried himself to another part of the summit. Whether Cornelius were dead or alive he could not say. He had been detained a little time in the base hospital, and on his recovery had written to tlie new Comman-der-in-Chief. Lord Kitchener, who knew something of Curtis, had immediately seized upon him as a most likely man to aid in the training of one of the many volunteer corps t :■?'■?! b»ing raised, and had sent for him to Cap'; Town. But to return to the inter- ■ .'-i arc cured of your wound?" queried :*!" P. r;>ci!y, my lord. It was not serious. '■<■.:■. <-;:i"f irouble arose from the loss of b'ool v:v\ the. consequent weakness." "H::i. I. have been told ~w. c-n spr?k \h?. Dut.-h-is this ,<,■•" " I !:;>vft brrn complimented—lvy Butch-men—-in it, sir." i "Ha.' that, mny be useful. You can ride?" , .Reginald smiled quickly. ! "I will answer for that," broke in Kitch- : ener. "I should think Curtis could ride anything that, goes on four legs." ! " I have ridden some queer cattle in my time, my lord," assented Reginald. " You will accept command of a Colonial Corps—mounted?" N " I should be tie happiest man alive, mv lord." J

" You are not the only one," said Lord Boberts, with a quiet smile. "But Lord Kitchener gives me a good account of your abilities in turning rough material into good soldiers. Now this Colonial Corps is newly raised, is good stuff, but untrimmed. You shall have the command, and see to it that whan I call for you and your men they are ready. You have three weeks yet before "

He glanced at Lord Kitchener, and closed his lips sharply. " I shall rank yon as colonel temporarily, Curtis, and your SOO shall be raised to 1,000 if the men come forward. You know General French?" "Well, my lord. I fought under him at Elandslaagte." " Good; you will fight under him again ere long, but of that not a word-" Reginald bowed himself out in a fever of delight at the prospect before him. Lord Boberts turned to his Chief of Staff. " You will be ready by the tenth, of February. Kitchener." "Yes." "It is safe so far," went on the Chief, mv-fingly; " but much depends oa secrecy —much." " It is safe so far," said Kitchener primly. " Nohofly knows of it but yon and I, and we are not likely to send it to the Press." Lord Koberts chuckled. " By the way, we must have French from Colcsberg," said Kitchener. " Yes." " He is «>ne-of the. few whtt-uaderstand the business." "Yes." . "We will send for Jam <afc-tbe- iairfc minute." " Y<ra would not teH even hjmr" " Not tfll you say to Mm '6O yo«rway to KinberkyP We>ane*<4najtriae> «ulowaia-

A Story of the South African War, BY JOHN OAKLEY. (Author of' A Eight for a Name,'' Marian Throlger's Three Lovers,' etc., etc) COPYRIGHT.

timates—that way we stand a chance of surprising the Boers." They bent again over their maps, and went through, their plan of campaign point by point. "'lt must not break down at any part," said Lord Roberts. . "It will not break down," replied Kitchener, quietly. "We shall relieve Kimberley on February 16th." • And the iron face of the man as he spoke took on the look of one who held men and the world/in the hollow of his hand, and knew he could bend Fate itself and Destiny to the carrying out of his immovable will. CHAPTER L. lIOW KIMBERLEY SAW THE BRITISH. Nobody but those who have endured it can appreciate to the full the terrors of life in a besieged town, or the heroism of a long-protracted defence—the continuous roar of tlie guns which surround the town with a ring of fire, the falling of the deadly missiles, here, there, perhaps next at your very feet; the sight of dead and wounded carried,.in almost continual procession through the streets; the. wrecked and battered houses; the breathless, ceaseless fear of a night, attack ; and, worst of all perhaps, as the siege goes on, the eternal sameness, the ravages of disease, and the torments'of hunger. Outside, a deadly, implacable foe; inside, suffering and impotence—for the knowledge that the enemy are there, and that you dare not venture out to fight, is not the least of the evils of a siege. The history of the British Army is full of heroic defences, of slender fortifications held gamely against tremendous odds, and in Kimberley, Mafeking, and Ladysmith the South African conflict has furnished three of war's most splendid stories.

And, like Ladysmith, Kimberley had to learn the bitterness of ho]te deferred. They know that within a few miles of them lay a big British force unable to help them, because the enemy were for the time being the stronger.

It was the morning of the. fifteenth of February. Kimberley knew that help was not far off, but whether it was to be a matter of days or of weeks they did not know. They would not have believed an archangel had he come to them with word that it was to be a matter of hours only—that, ere the darkness came, the townspeople would see the khaki uniforms of the relieving force. " Another woman and two more children shot yesterday," said Colonel Kekewich to Cecil Rhodes, as they stood together in one of the trenches, discussing the position "Bead?" asked Mr Rhodes. " No—fortunately."

" It's curious, too," the Colonel continued, after a pause, occupied with the ignition of a cigar—" the shell that struck the woman was the last they sent us. They have not even said ' Good morning ' yet, and it is now long after noon."

Rhodes nodded carelessly. "Perhaps (heyre changing the position of the guns," he said. "How's the food?" The Colonel shrugged his shoulders. " Things are going from bad to worse," he replied. " Twelve more cases of fever yesterday, and the children,' poor little beggars; are dying off like flies. Another week and I shall have to reduce rations again, and then " "And then?" " It will be a matter of days." Rhodes let another cigar. "Kay a fortnight," he said. "A lot may happen in a fortnight." ""All. I have sent Fraser out towards Alexandersfontein to do a bit of scouting. If he seer, any signs of the Boers he will turn them back."

lie hud hardly spoken when a man came running towards them along the trench. '•Well?" queried the Colonel. "From Major Fraser, sir," said the man, with «. military salute. "Reports that he has reached Alexandersfontein without opposition—found laager deserted—quantity of stores left behind." " I told you a lot might happen in a fortnight, Kekewich," said Rhodes, smiling. But the Colonel, knowing the wilinesa of the Boers, looked disturbed and anxious. He walked back into the town, and sounded the alarm, then despatched scouts on the track of Major Fraser, with orders to return at once if they saw aught suspicious. " You fear a trap?" queried Rhodes. The Colonel nodded briefly. "Let's go and 'interview the signaller," •said Rhodes. As they walked along, Rhodes with his usual calm serenity, the Colonel with the nervous, jerky steps of an anxious man, a messenger came towards them from the signaller, who was perched on one side of the fortifications. "What is it?" asked the Colonel. "Reports, sir, large body of mounted troops passing from the south-east." " Just as I feared," said. the Colonel. " Fraser will be cut off." He hastened his steps towards the redoubt, followed by Rhodes. Hullo!" exclaimed the latter suddenly, "has the man gone daft?" He.might well ask the question, for the signaller, who had been gazing steadily through his glasses across the veldt, suddenly flung them down, and began to execute a wild Red-Indian sort of waT-dance. Half way through he saw the Colonel and Mr Rhodes coming towards him, and began to wave his arms frantically, as. if urging them to greater speed. The Colonel broke forthwith into a ran. "Colonel! Colonel!" gasped tho man, almost breathless. "Out there—out there " "Yea—the, .Boers—how " "No, Colonel, THE BRITISH." *«• ' . Rhodes swung himself up the earthworks and seized, the glasses. " Look," he said, handing them to the Cojooel; "a. British column—they've driven the Boers off. They'll be here in haK an hour." The Colonel, with pale face and quivering lips, took a long gaze; then he beckoned the messenger. "Pass the word through the town," he said. " There is a British army in sight, and the Boers have vanished!" \i The man plunged headlong down the slope, and the next minute was careering wildly through the, town, shouting to every one he met: " The British are here—the British are here." The news passed round like wildfire; Uie people came running from their holes and tunnels in the diamond mines, thronging into the streets, shaking on* another by the hand, and uttering all sorts of madness in the snddenness of their

Tbe«eene-tbat followed as General French

ES^ 6 into the town, Mr Rhodes, on one side and Colonel Kekewieh. on the other, the. bronzed horsemen of his column following behind, baffles description. Hats and flags and.handkerchief*;; even coats, arid shawls, were waved with frantic enthusiasm; fathers held aloft their-children to gaze upon 1 the slowly moving procession of grim; imperturbable 'horsemen;' women, aye, and men, too, for thematter of that, wept from very joy; while the town baud, t which had been hastil ysummbned to meet the relieving force, played 'God save the Queen' over and over again, with the strangest variations, born of individual excitement and conjoint dementia. French dined at the Kimberley Glubr-a memorable dinner party, destined to rank in history with the ball before Waterloo and other deathless incidents of warfare. "The bless hor,"\;was the toast given by Mr, Cecil Rhodes. "We have had a grim four months, but we would do as much again for the old flag."- ' CHAPTER LI. TO THE BOER LAAGER, .'..;.'• It.was aterrible night that in the.camp atMageisfonteiri. Man after man came rushing in from the advanced posts reporting British armies in every direction, while along the wires from the farthest northern limits of the Boer camp came almost frantic appeals from General Ferreira for assistance. A big force of cavalry, he reported, had entered Kimberley, another whs advancing from the south-east, and already a Boer commando of eighty men had been cut.to pieces. Lord Roberts's move had come like a holt from the blue, and had struck with unerring precision. " Did I not tell you that Kitchener's tactics were the tactics of the steam said Hausman, -with grim humor. "Now what to do—stay and be crashed, or go and be "

" There is time yet," said Cronje. ." God • —yes. We must trek at oncej this very night, this very hour, and make for Paardeberg. The wires are ours yet. If we can hold out until Be la Rey and'Joubert's men arrive. They do it in four days. Wire to Ferreira to make at once for Boshof, and hold it hi force if ho csji. if not he is to get across-the Ynal, aid await orders." -

In a few minutes his commands" had been obeyed, and the message from the doomed camp at Magers.fontein flashed north and south. ■ ■

" We shall do it, we shall do it vet," he cried.

But Hausman shook his head. "The,blow- comes from the hand of a master," ho mattered. "He has already, foreseen too much not to foresee this also. It is the beginning of the end."' Nevertheless, he was faithful to his masters of the moment, and work*! with almost friglitful energy, seconding the efforts, of Cronje to make all ready for trek. And he sent to President Kriiper an urgent message' that unless ten ihotisand of Joubert's men were at Winhurg wi'Lin three days the Britishwould have V. dear pathway to the Vaal River, Joubert srat;k out against it, averring that Ladysniith was on the pohit of surrender, and Kruvrer supported him. But Steyn was a Free Stater, and he told them his. men would mutiny if they were not sent to defend their hr.d against the invader; indeed, omino-is reports were already coming m fivm. Xa.al of Unrest and discontent among ' tire'-allies of the Transvaal. They yielded at last—Krnger and Jonbert—but. with heavy hearts. " It is the beginning of the end," muttered Joubert in his beard; The Piesifent went home to; his honest old vrouw.' "We must make ready for tte trek..you and I," he said, " for the end is very nigh." And the faithful friends of the old man who looked upon him that night v. lihpercd among themselves that he had aged ten years since the morning. . CHAPTER LIL, THE TEEK TO rAARDEBERG. As Hausman had said, the men.who had forged the bolt which thrust the Boers out of Magersfontein, and threw open the gates of Kimberley, were not the men to lose sight of the chances ahead. The flight of Cronje and his men had been splendidly managed, and bravely carried out. It; had but one flaw—it was begun hours too late. What might have been a trap for the British became a Sedan for the Boers. The army in the trenches at Magersfontein numbered from seven thousand to eight thousand men, part of whom were sent north, in order to retard, if possible, the movements of General French, and to meet and co-operate with the forces Joubert might send from Natal, while Cronje himself, with about 5,000 men, made straight for Paardeberg. " The devil of it is," said Albrecht, as he and Hausman rode side by side in the rear of the big guns, which the oxen were laboriously dragging across the veldt,.: "The devil of it is that we have close upon four hundred women and children with us, and -". " Four hundred women and children! God in Heaven, what madness. The men who brought them here ought to be cow-hided!" " You think that-—" " I think we are doomed," said Hausman. " I know this Kitchener. Do you think he drove us out of Magersfontein as Methuen did out of Belmont simply that we might fall back and occupy a stronger position? Not he." "No?" "What sort is this Paardeberg place?" " Good—distinctly. # We have already some trenches there, with the river on our flank, and a clear rood to Bloemfontein ahead. If I could' have all my guns and forty-eight hours to mount them I would engage to hold out against Roberts for throe months." "Food?" " Ay, there'b the rub; but we have enough for a week or two, and by that time Joubert ought to be here." "Where are your guns?" ; • " We buried four of the biggest at Magersfontein, and we have fifteen with us." "Those fifteen will be a drag on you." " We shall get to Paardeberg. We want to get no further." " Not Bloemfontein ?" " Bloemfontein is no good to us. It could not stand a siege—it has neither forts nor provisions. .The battle must be fought here —it' is at Paardeberg that we shall defend Bloemfontein." "Suppose the British, reach Pawdeberc first?" " Nonsense," said Albrecht. laughing. " They -will spend, a couple of days bombarding Magersfontein, and then make a desperate attack on it to find it empty. Then they will begin to ask where we hia^e'gone, and they will come .here to find us holding the centre, Joubert our right, and Be la Key-our left.":, -:.-. v " General French ?" , "■..-:• " Will probably be locked up mKimber--ley with that verdonuned Rhodes, ..and. the last state of the town will be worse than the first." ;v ... • ..' •.-. ■ ' : '7 ; '"••.'■;.• li was a tremendoius column" that was creeping with roch swift slowness across

.the irejjjt,_ The to a man, but right ahead of the fighting force a score, or two s of\vaggons hunkered sluggishly on, beating this women and cffildrev whose lives had neen selfishly; and wickedly jeopardised, by the;men -vjho had brought them thithei-r ; Albrecht had urged again and again that they should be: left in the laagers at Magersfonteifl; but the women,civhose minds hud been-poisbnedTjy the filthy" lies of British cruelty' which, the" corrupted administration"; of whiclj. Steyn .was the head: had for■-. months '■"- systematically poured into, the ears of the simple Free Staters, pleaded earnestly to lie allowed to accompany the trek; Crofeje-, who. knew that the women would receive the best of treatment at the haftdsof never theless decided to ta£ertTiem with him, lookins upon them as pawns in the game, on -the off chance" that "the British wouH hot' dare to. kicur the odium of having bombarded women and children.! Albrecht urged,that at all events they should- be. sent with the N force going north,- but Cronje coldly told him that, those mentvrould have to-meet French, and that with himself would be the safer.- - \ , , ■".;•' Many writers have described Cronje as hermc because of his ten days' stand at Paardeberg, but that, jtct of dragging the women and children beneath the very *uns of the British was .ail but a stupendous crime. It may be (hat he expected to escape; perhaps he thought that while he was holding the Britislrat Paardeberg the women could have .been sent forward to Bloemfontein; and, as. it turned out the women and children did not suffer. But history, when it comes.to sum up the war, will count this act ofCrbnje's among the many, crimes against civilisation of which tho Boers were guilty. And I may add, parenthetically here, though it is anticipating: events a bit,, that Cronje did nothing to clear his reputation when he.refused Lord Roberts's safe-con-duct through the lines for the helpless follower* of the Boer camp. That was only what one might have expected from the icy,;, half-savage nature of the man. He feared that some of the women might tell Roberts in what dire straits be was, and thus instigate the British; to attack. For on Cronje's part it was all a fight for time, in the hope that. Joubcrt. would come from Natal with; an overwhelming force. But _we have surely forgotten our two Germans. . -,.'...'...'.'' "How are things going m Natal?" Albrecht naked. - I( " But ' P°°rty>" replied his companion. "Buller keejps hammering away, for although wo repulse him,-we can strike no blow at him. He will, be at it again as soon I as he hears of this. And that is where we shall break down, if break down we do," ,1 "Won't Joubcrt send us the men we I ask for?" . "I don't know," replied Hausman. "If he did, could they get here in time?" ' " Yes; we shall have four or five days ere the British will discover' whither we have gone, and God in Heaven, what's that ?'' Far down towards the rear of the column came the sounds of rifle fire and the hoarse shouts of startled men,; and then the crisp, whip-like rattle of the Maxims.' ! <( " It is the British," said Hausman; quietly. I was right and you were wrong. .It is i they who have laid the trap, and .we who are the victims. We shall be at Cape. Town, you and I, ere the month is out.'! 'j Cronje, astride a powerful bay:-steed, j flashed past thern, signing them to follow j ■him. - : ■" ■■' *»■ ' ••■•: •■■ ■ .v . ■ 1

We must fight a rear-guard action," he said, as they joined hini. " I will go behind and keep those verdommed rooineks off as long as I can. Albrecht, see to your guns—at all hazards they must go forward. Colo-' nel Hausman/go to the front and urge the' column on.. You .mu*i-stop-for nothing—for nothing, mind. -If .anyd^e, leave :th«m dead; abandon all you' m'ust>--waggons oxen, anything—but we must reach Paardeberg to-morrow.- Send-all the men you can -to the rear." . -j And he rode on to plunge into the thickest of the fight, for, callous and calcuiaiing as he was, he was no coward. CHAPTER LIII. V THE TRAPPING OF GENERAL CROXJS. Cronje and two Germans were seated in a little, cave which had been scooped out of the high bank of the river. .. It was .the sixth day of their ..defence J ofPaarde;berg,. and though they/.had.done,literally, wonders in the way of digging trenches and hollowing out refuges from the'aH-but ceaseless stream of lyddite which the British were pouring in, the outlook was growing blacker every hour. ''You won't surrender, General," said Albrecht, half inquiringly. " 1 won't," replied Cronje, without removing his pipe from his mouth, closing his lips tightly over its long, bent stem. . " What is your idea, Hausman?" asked Albrecht. ..•■.■■ The colonel shrugged his shoulders care--lessly. .-■ ■ ■ "They captured eightr of our waggons during the trek, and we have two more lays' rations, and about a week's ammunition. De Wet that Roberts has smashed the reinforcements from Natal, while hel Himself is -held by a bigger force than his own. That r was his last message, wasn't it?" ' ■ :•■■- Cronje nodded half sullenly. To this man the thought that he had been outwitted by the very people he had hoped to trap, and whom all his life he had despised, was very bitter. "French is hovering on the outskirts of the British with those cavalry of his, better and bigger and quicker—and quicker, mind, than our own." " Ja—De Wet says that." "And the British are pushing their trenches forward a hundred yards a day." " Ja—l am told so:" A shell fell into the water about eight yards from them, sending heavenwards a vast fountain, arid then another lit on the bank above them, and bounded off, exploding in mid-air, filling their j little cave with iron fragments and evil-smelling fumes. The two Germans flung themselves on their faces, but Cronje sat unmovedJ -. He was a fatalist, and believed that ho' would die .at" his appointed time to the minute, neither, beforenor after, whatever "he "or the Britist might attempt.. .-. Some hoarse cries and shouts a little to their right, and then the picture :6f three mangled bodies, one" yet writhing" in the death-throes, sailing by on the breast of the stream, showed that at all events one British shell had : not missed its mark. .: Hausmau left the.jcave after a while/"and tried" to creep along trenches,, but he was; driven, back, two shell* alighting; almost at his feet, while another pierced'the cover of a waggon, and rejifc the vehicle! to Jfiag-, ments.. - ■ ■, .; ;. ; r •.'-,.••'. ■'' "It's awful," he said, as he got hack.. "At least a score;'ofTraggoiis"are in flames, and your two days' r&Bpns are dissolving in smoke-"' .• .'"•. ■/".;"- '...-. • But it was at nigfit that the full Wrrara • of the sitaataoa werevroaliaed, . Most of tho men were deadtrreeTy and pould seep- even through thai a\vM;9mybut it wag broken and fifcriil slunvDW, ie&'resfcfal ahio6fc.'t'>ad absolute wakefulness, :.. It was riot- sleep, indeed, but stupor bom of physical .collapse.AH. night long the ceaseless, booming tif this British gctia broke the-sUgaee ef. tfc iwW^.

■while in &e4aager the thu&6«* of -(&*-<&{]». as they, burst, the crackling df■ the. fchrning waggons, the cries and oaths of and the fearful shrieking jpfthe woinfei and children rendered it a Ter^ableilnfemo.- '] And through it all'Ci;6nje an ice-bound majn,. returning" to all appeals that.be would surrender and end .the : Jivrag death an immovable, half-heroic, half-sullen "No." ■■•■; - : ■■■■-:>:■■_:.■ ■/'-, >■'■-': " Thf? reinforcements conie not," Hausman said to him. "They.wHl come," replied Cronje. . " We have over a thousand killed:" "We have over four thousand • left—-4ml forty thousand over th6r6,"' waving his hand towards the north. ... The two men were silent for five minutes. Cronje was the first to speak. ■ "-. "-',- "Take a white flag, Hausman," he i»id. " And go you to' the British camp/' "To surrender?". asked Hausman, , halfeagerly. " Allermachtij—no! To ask Kitchener for an armistice." The German laughed aloud, though. r*irthlessly. "Do you know Kitchener, General?" he asked. -.'. "Ja." ".He will never consent." " Perhaps, but it is worth trying. Go:" " I am at your orders, General," said the German, with a military salute. " Tell him," said Crohje, slowly, his dark eyes flashing with cunning—"tell him we have a hundred and fifty killed, and ask for an armistice—twenty-four hours to .bury them."'-. " There are none unburied, General;" je= sponded Hausman: "By your orde.y|sU the dead were thrown into the river."' M ';/ / "I know," cried Cronje, turning -halfsavagely upon him—" I know. I don't want the armistice for a funeral—l wajjt to gain time. During that, twenty-four hours we shall dig—ja—but trenches, not graves, and our friends will come from the north. Go." "It is useless, General." " N,o; they will fear the outcry of those verdommed fools, their little Englanders." "Kitchener will? I thought you didn't know Kitchener, General. The man Kitchener ftfars is: not born yet." " Lord Roberts may be there." * " That will make no difference. Lord Roberts at home and Lord Roberts on the field are two different men." " Boh. Tell him there are women and children herein. Go." Hausman parleyed no further, but set out on his mission. Cronje climbed to the Summit of a high hillock, and, lying flat on his face, watched through a pair of field-glasses the progress of his messenger. As Hausman, holding aloft the white flag, stepped out on to the flats that divided the British positions from the Boers' death-trap, there was an almost instant silence. A couple of shells that had been fired simultaneously with his appearance burst behind him, but he kept steadily : onward. The British awaited him with almost bated breath. • Was it surrender at last? When Hausman had gone about a couple of hundred yards atall, alert figure, clad in khaki,, and followed at a short distance by a couple of officers, came from the British trenches towards him. The two men met about midway between the camps, rather nearer the British than, the Boer lines. "From General Cronje," said Hausman, with a military salute. ; "General Kitohener, at your service," said the British officer, returning the salute. "But I must tell you that I can hear no message from General Cronje save that which conveys his intention'to surrender unconditionally." .."..That is not the object of my I my lord."" ..-'".' |

Lord Kitchener replied nothing—he merely waited. " General Cronje bade me inform you that he. has one hundred and fifty killed." . . Still Lord Kitchener remained impassively silent.'

" And I am to ask you to grant a.twentyfour hours' armistice, in order that we may bury the dead."

"Not a minute. Not a minute," replied Lord Kitchener, quickly. "You will be given time to return to your lines, not a minute more."

"I was to tell'you,, my lord, that there •were women and children in the camp." "I will inform the Commander-in-Chief." "May I await his decision, my lord?" Lord Kitchener sent one of his officers to a field telegraph station which was in communication with Lord Roberts's quarters. The officer returned in a few minutes with the reply.

" The Commander-in-Chief," he says, " will grant a free conduct to all women and children from the Boer camp, with a pass to any part of the country, in order that they may return home." "You hear, sir," said Kitchener. " That is your answer to General Cronje's request 1'" "Precisely." »•■ An hour later the bombardment had recommenced with redoubled fury, Cronje sullenly refusing to allow the women and children to go forth, though he was urged to it by many of his most important officers. ( To be continued.)