A WAR PICTURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7232, 19 October 1901, Page 4

A WAR PICTURE.

LIFE AT THE FROST. A A'IVID SKETCH. ("Rv " LIXK^MAX, 1 ' in "Bbckwoo-Vr, i Magazine.") CKTTTXG READY. TliFre- is unusual animatioiT this windy Miy morning at the fu.'ty. dusty little camp, squatting, like, a mushroom clump, alongside* the raihvny an ihe high veHK A irain or tiro >sCand in- the rcd-rocifed station, rio■dulmis and spiky-loviking trains, with mysterious things , bulging beneath tarpaulins, and red-nr>sed men, pierced with the cold of an early journey, clinging to the bulgeSj or lying so intermingled with wheels, boxas, waggon-shafts and other indefinite lumber, that, a person unused to supplying trains and their inhabitants would risk a little currency on their never being able to extricatß themselves. Over the -high sides of two or three tracks protrude the grave, inquiring faces of horses, their pointed ears turning in. a thousand directions in half as many seconds, as people dash a.bout noisily on the little platform, lifting and dropping wooden cases, shouting to friends or "s---sistants within a few feet of them, losing their own things, and finding the things of others in the way that people on platforms have done ever since such places have existed to render a habitable- globe less habitable. The secret is out — a, column is in process of formation, ,-vn-d the dusty littlecamp is being fed from the base,' thirty miles away, by means of this noisy station, like a patient through a cannula. Ths noise increases, down with a- clung fall in* iron sides of the trucks on the leading train. Some of the red-nosed men are uulacing the tarpaulins, which, released, flap and crack in the wind like the main-mils of a twenty-ton-ner. Off they come, and 10, beneath squat ugly khaki guns, nozzles upwards, as if yawning at being rudely awakened, three on a truck ; what potentialities that Jruck bears this day! One can never look at a gun at rest without saying to one's self, "When':" or at a gun' in the very act of belching its flame-girt horror, without ejaculating : " Kow !" I have heard a. whole-r egiment of wi.lookers do that in unison . Tftcre i% raws Ikm si eel and thunder in a cannon ; there is that of the uncanny, of which it is impossible to write, which, if/ written, would excite the derision of the very men who feel it most. Meanwhile, in camp, Colonel Jones :s standing at his tent door, watching the fighting portion of his command converging upon him from the four points of the conipass. A company is just marching dustily in from Platspruit, aen miles away ; another is expected from Zandkop on the cilia- side ; a. third from Paarde-Eand, a h:ll-top station wide of the line. These, with the three companies, the normal population of the camp, wiLl form his infantry, the backbone of his fighting body. On the round green Uosom of the veldt, mile-3 away, Ins keen eye perceives a square blank spc't, with smaller .spots in advance and around it. These, he knoAvs, are his cavalry on tluir way to join — two squadrons of the fanuuis del 25;! i Dragoons, who so far have ha.l the chancs of doing little more with their live horses than eat them in be-leagiu-ed Ladysmith. The black spots become invisible in un invisible clip; they ieappear, bigger and blacker, they will ba in soon, and old Jones wonders if old Brown is in command, hoping he is, because he hasn't set eyes on him since, let me see, those jolly days at Bareilly, where they two quarrelled complacently' over Miss I\;>--biiuon, the ConimU.viurier's d.nighter, unwitting that she was already secretly engaged to young Jenkins, of* the- 15th Bengal Lancers, ni:<l afiwid to- tell her father. Bin the ciiup ti'icady possesses cavalry, to wit, 150 men cf one of those 'harumscarum, dare-devil colonial corps which have dor.c ai::h fine service throughout the war — jolly, reckless fellows, the courage of ail n ; i lions, with men in the ranks who have fought in Cuba, in Texas, in Timbueti:o. A useful l;,t, thinks Colonel Jones, but somewhat of an ar.xicty to ins sealed pattern soldier's mind, not sufficiently regardl'ul of keeping touch with ploddine infantry, and apt, in cover the scenery" for miles with the sccii;-rhlniis sp?,y.acle of wild h(,r*e? scampering nudly befcre. a br«e of yelling irnopers — apt- also to return to camp, grinning, in the evenning, wit-h deceiised poultr-v danglirg from saddle "Us." By Mindown all units have been reported in camp, orders are issued for to-morrow's move, ar.d Colonel Jones, ».< he iurns into his biankeis, breathes a little prayer, more to FoniMie than hi-s Hal, as is ihe soldier's woiu, that chances wMI 1)3 iriven h.m to show what, manner of ni a n he R Arour.d the ever.ir.or camp fires his orders and he have been t!i>aused. ti n t i 1 fatigue and irate orderly sergea:.cs- ccmbine to silence every sound but ilie deep breathing of a thousand sleep ;r.--. Sieop well, oh c i. hi mn ! Yni are but a dde-shuw, no detp-seii cable viurales with the t.f.ws of your <;oni;eniiv.iion, the men in the bier arena have scarcely iinie to of y(.ui' sixpenny arrival in the greatfi-t war-show on earth ; but here you are, a,:l the >ame. a thousand 1 fighting men, co mean thing in your <iwn perspective, and ;>s prepared to. a::d as likely u> lose your live*! ant! f,-:ll etc nallv asleep as any cmongst the Titans 't-'lcep well . THI-: START. 'Tis a fine 'hunting nhr-i. ;u-d (,ff goes fho hu::r ;it dawn, a- chilly dawn, w.'i--h a mist Jik? the smoka t-f fine tobacco, curling around the pras-y humm-jeks of the VvlJt, and the air so 'still that the breath of the hor:-TS puffs upwaids in iittie blue jet-. The ■pr:>e t :sMon ii reams anyhow through tin 1 g.nj) i:i the wire cntiiuglement, from every spike of which hangs a diamond tii-op of (!(.w iind t.he <le]i'.:.ite tracery | of ;t \vt;. spiiin's web ; a cciiupaiiy iicrs, j a gun their. -,i i'irtniie.l oflicfr pushing icrj ward here, ;. :.oth;r there li-ying to turn his "' bobbery" horse, to f.et bark. With a rumble thimble and metallic jingle the two field-tfuus l)timp over the sun-baked ruts, ;nul behind them groans ;i. 4.7 naval gu-ii, l<i!i,' of snout, ok-pii.-iiiiine of carriage (Uid wheels, Jack ashore in every lurch of his rolling gait behind the plodding oxen. Tho cavalry, who 'have, fxtenrled on 'the uicvrj,. now cover the country in fi.!int fur Ihrea miles, with little clumps on; either ilnnk, and, seeing this, Cnli.nel Jones gives 1-he word, ;>.nd off again lumbers -the whole imravan, ilut* northwards, ilicading straight for— -what? Vdv ,i little laager of a hundred Boers, couifortiiljiy t-s-jdiiced in a. hollow designed for surprise, s:iy.s ilib Intelligence ofiieei.. The laager is thera right enough, its garrison «lim> as reported, ;i hundred men and n-o more, but within two hour*' ride there lies a town, at present- the two -hundredth that has dor.c duty as the iieu!<[uarters of the- Bom. Uovcrnmt'iit and army, and who knows but that liaiiJ-o:iip, vnmudiful Louis Both::-, yettii.g wiv.d v; uir venture, may i;-.-t descend to the a.-s nance or his out]!ust, turning our :-idt-show into something miu-re suited to the big arena, i:o p.lea*ant. prospect fcr .perfoianeis so modest as we? But possibilities as t-hene i\re not for the common- tar, and the culu-umer private soldier, j'';d to be stepping v, out ngusi across tiis I;.?'. h green veldt after his iu:ig term of luinl' ];ib:mr at. p;:t:oll.i;g and R'litry-goiui;, as -guardian of the line, gees ahe:ul uf iiiiu only ridge alter ridge cf grass, each with its little puckered eyebrow of itoiies atop, and tin* prospect' of en 'inimiisity cf fun wlwn the tinin for nulling the ia.-jgvr shall ari.ive. He ki:c-\vs (iluiugh Jio slmuiKl nut) that other tuiJuns-i/s sui'li xis his in 1 .'!), .ire ni.inhJii'g fnun vai.itnis jiuinls, ri-iiver->-inp upon the selfsame laager, Hud n> himself n-:d his pals, wiiii wealth of metaphor and prognostication unlimited, ha pictures the doomed Dutehmm therein as soo-rpions within a ri'.ig of rifle llanie, as c.'iickens already hatched. Clieery British soldier, til's is no place for Jn's eulogy, but. who cm help ad-miring hln plump £c! tlcnict'!:- of the uncertain uefore

he wins, his grim certainty that he is wiuuiiiff when he is already b?aten ! And now behold him footing it smartly over the grass, helmet awry; to turn the sidelong ray? of the two hours' old sun« l<il>a>L-co smoke aud badinage issuing alternately from his mouth, in one extreme corner of which hang? his (short pipe, with inverted bawl. Suddenly there is a distant sound ahead, which sends an electric s-hock through a-' I the lines of marching men. At home in London town we- would know well enough what it was — a boy on the trot d<rawiiur hTs stick along the area railings ; but out here we know what it is. too. a sc!M - e of Mausers in action. So ho ! The cavalry have -drawn them already : precious little surprise there is going to' be about this. Soms put their pipes away, others, -w'h-n Iwd nnf. heen smoking, pull onh urn] lig-bh their*, ami all increase the pace up the rise, until halted by command. THE FIRST SHOTS. From the to.y> one can fee — nothing. The hurried click-clack is still audible, apparently coming from a low, stonetopped ridge overhanging a. farm about two miles ahead, but not a living swill is ■in sight, Boer or Britcn. Then." as from the very ground itself, a galloping rider appears" speeding towards us. "Bring up the gun," says Colonel Jones, standing by his horse, telescope to eye ; no need to ask "which gun?" the old salt behind the team of bullocks has lurched up the rise and is alongside in no time. "Action front!" Round swings the twenty-foot tuba, there is a business-like bustle amongst the gunners, and "old Nelson" is ready, gaping cavernously, the cynosure of every eye. The horseman dashes up to the colonel, his horse trembling and sweating. " Thirty Boers en that ridge, sir ; our men, have dismounted in the bellow." "Let drive," says Jones m*er his shoulder to the eager youth in charge of the big gun ; spruce "lord of the thunder, this is a happy moment for thee! The officer runs to his charge, the massive breech opens and shuts with a- dang like that of the aoor of a safe, there's a squinting along the twenty feet of kha-rki stet 1, a breathless pause, and then—! No wcrd can picture the catastrophe Arheri heavy ordnance speaks at closequarters. Earth, air, and sky are momentarily no more, every sense is slain, even that cf hearing ; the very horses do not start and rear as they do at less«r sounds, but stand with trembling legs and distended eyes. But the echoes die away, -ar.d! only the thiu dry shriek of the receding* shell is heard*, high in the air. All glasses are levelled at the ri-dgs from which no sound of. rifle fire comes, for the Boers musfe cower 'tight to the earth with that thing in the air, as a covey of parttklgeß crouches when the peregrine's call is heard above them. A good shot! Up rises a warm brown column of earth from the very eyebrow of the ridge, and after an interval back conies the faint roar of the exploding projectile. Another shell is sent howling ort it cway, falling this time orcr the crest line, only the sound of its burst reaching our ears. Up from the ground below, again, little spots appear and begin to creep upwards ; the cavalry scouts are going to try their luck once more. They creep higher ajid higher, backed up by many other spots ; they top the ridge and disappear over it. Then a heli'o begins to wink its bright eye at us ; " all clear," " limber up," en we go again. But the damage is done. Back to the laager fly those thirty Bojrs. "The Biitish are coming, Commandant!*' "Enteric seize them!" grumbles that officer, a gallant man, and a bibulous, who has held hi? laager here for six mr.nths undisturbed, with maledictions when news comes of other laagers evaporating: into the thin air of "handsupdorp." Grumbling still, the stout dopper beckons N to two trusty burgkers, and bids them speed to headquarters' to tha Commandant-General, that handsome, untruthful man, asking for reinforcements, or, at any rate, for order?. But there is no time to wait for either ; the British are inconveniently close, and enteric can hardly seize them before they airive at that ridge dominating the camp. The commandant points one finger at the ridge in question, and in a twinkling his men are upon it ; no ward of command, no standing upon the order of their go ing. just going, and in the very cunningest manner, here a man, there a man, wriggling around hummocks, tiotting up little rain-washed dongas, little, but gcod enough to hide a Dutchman, galloping across hollows, finally dismounting just under the crest, and crawling each man- tr> a stone. There is a ha«ty adjustment v.f b.indolier?, in go the clips, and the ridge is occupied and ready ; the English, for all their Zeiss glasses, have not seen so much as the crown of a hat. nor will they unless a man drops his when the time comes to bolt. CARRYING THE HILL. But look, ovir the rise a thousand yards ahead, appfar not hats, but helmets," one, two, three. hikl mpie to follow, then faces, then burly English budiev. The crouching Boers grunt; "wait," growls a voice, ar.d t-h-sy wait. The * ilen.ee is intense, and, to the c-ncom.iT>-. reassuring ; a dozen helmets appear, ail at identically the same interval the Gne from tha other ; there is a pau«, and then tituppy-trppity the advanced scout.n cy.'iiter over the ridge in full view. " Now " growls -the sa.:n« voice ; there is a. Rat-rle ar.'d a r«;Ur, around the approaching horttnien spurt a hundred little geysers of yellow dust. One man is down, no. it is his h-ov.s? only : the rider haps to hi." feet ami ral.bit-wiie, behind an ant-h;.ip, the others, as if pulled by one siring* >wing round ar.-i are over the ridge again befi.re you can say kinfe, at nnyrate> be fora the M:;usn-.s tan be recharged. But the burjrhtis nic not to l>:>ve all ttie shouting, and are x>on lying as flat ax iiotir.dei'.-i behind their stones. ;is the British gcr.-uls, having found a good spot, begin to p-eppi-T t lie ridge : buzz. buz/., cjmj the bullets, nit-Mug the 'stores with a -sirack that makes the squab faces behir.d t:;sm shrink ai;.l shut. Even thro ai-smounted pig is seeking to take ijvr:::>3 from behind Tuis ant-heap icr lhi.~ shin horse, which lies lik* an inverted taiile, all four leg? st. ft in- tli'O air. and a grind .■hot iie is, v-er-dom him. Now, too, away on ths righ-r, out of range, a cc'Hsidirr.ibUj pnriy of horsemen is si-taling fa.U- ever the grj.s.s, like a shadow of v windswept <;loud, appearing, disappearing over the billowy rises and th 3 dips. They ;u\s g-aH(ipra-<j for the right of tha ridge two miles aiwr.y, thus outflanking the Beers, who hold the left thereof. They reach its foot, spread rapidly upward'?, fan-wise, aa;d iv a, few moments aro en the summit; time to go, burghers, if you mean to gn. " Gn," ru.ir.-i th-a 4.7 from uway back in the haze; " Go,' 1 yells tha immense projectile irom the heights above, from middle air, fn.-m the liven earth, as i-3 plunges with upioar terrific, asnid whirling stones and steel <tnd sheets of crimsca, flams ten yards in front of a sangar. The squab faces blanch as they press tuemsclves against the gnuind in homage to that awful avatar. " Go,"' ugaiu commands ths angry far-off tailor with thunderous voice ; they go; crawling and sidling" down the hill, pate faces over shoulder, distended eyc-s marking the unseen track of the o:i---coming shell, in the air. " Jiook where itcomes again.'' It bursts over the crest lino, hurling its fragments after the flying lmn. The latter ie-aeh tluir ponies, leap into the saddle, and are on' like the wina, bending low over the saddle bow, still iooking backwards. A dozen bullets from the cavalry now on their left, f-ighing over them like a little breeze, s2nd 'them laster, as bending yet lower they speed up the opposite vjdge, halt on i-ta summit a secend, unit disappear altogether, like dab-chicks on a. posi'd. Ou rolls the British column, oiiie, two --one, twe — us irresistible in its tsii;alL way w-< ttlxe immense purpose it le-pre:-«Mila, "no hurry, no lagging, no super-tlumi-i display of interest j now maddening to iin -enemy miißt be >ih-» attady middle-c-lassi ii'.-?lenuiiMiaO'ii, wiutui, having with lilils pciher agreed that a thing, a ridge, a country, an empire is desirable, Eir-signt-M-ay proceeds to take it, ths more certa-mly and eik-nlly the more buffets come in the taking. But the Boer in flight is in his element, and never- so full of resource and nerve. Hu is, ther-sfitre, iliu must recuperative s-j-klier on tuilh, given a strong mun, wilh

* ■ -*- *-* y -*- • __ — - - a long strong tongue to meet him in cursu, to turn him, or at taasb stop him with horrible revilings. and, "With re genius too common among Boer leaders to be properly termed genius, to point ouO to him, a position f 1.3 good or better than the one h« has quitted. Nor do tfowe particular Beers lack pucli a leader • they are stopped afld turned like a pack of riotous hounds ott a false scent by the huntsman's rating, and mildly consent to lie alcng the hill-crest for positively this night only. So throughout the bitter cold night they he, blanketless, foodles-s, not over sanguine of their commandan t'a bhsphemous-pentateuchical promises of help on the morrow, a. Lin© of shivering Micawbers, tinder the winter moon. Meantime the side-show 'methodically occupies their late ridge, mietjh-cddcal-Jy dines, and methodically lays itself disvm to slumber, all but the sentries, who stnmd, riflo over shoulder, looking like blnck pumps against the sky, thinking of the village pub, with its warm red blinds, and its amber beer, glowing with, ruby and. opal lights when held between the eye and lino roasting fire. THE MORNING. Who has not felt a longing to apostrophise that romantic, unoaony, desperately uncomfortable hour which precedes dawn? Old Jones, muffled to the tips of his ears, is ready; old Nelson is ready, with an icicle dependent from the end of his twenty-foot nose, sniffing the morning air with an elevation of 3000 yds, that being the distance of the ridge in front. During the night more than one message, flashed 1 deviously by limelight, has been received from the other three columns engaged 1 iv the converging movement. If this commando cam only be induced to stay where ifc is for the present, by judicious coquetting on its front, the other columns may make up lost -time this day, and by evening the cordon be completed. The only force in position to do this being Colonel j Jones's, he, on this frosty morning ,ponderously determines to coquet, starting his delicate advances by sending his cavalry forward to "draw" the ridge in front. THE HORSEMEN. They go -warily, every horse stepping like Agag, ears cocked, held short by the head, fearing the worst. A reconnaissance must be agony to a horse, with his uncanny preinonitipro of danger, and his anxious. responding to anything tense in the atmosphere. But the ridge ahead is silent j higher and higher work the scouts, the taut reins relax, finally the leading men, as if by common impulse, take the bull by the horns, aaid trot briskly to the summit. Ifc is empty. What game is Brother Boer up to, that he lets the first trick go so easily? On go the cavalry main body, over the crest, disappearing from view down the reverse slope. There is a pause, the intense silence of the early morning on the veldt rendered more intense by the stamp, of a horse and the rattle of his head-chain. Then^ like the roll' from, at tenor-drum, the sound that all have been awaiting comes pulsating through the frosty air, rub-a--dub-a-dub-a-dub, the querulous rattle of Mausers making the most of their time, with a transient target in front of them. Ifc comes from a long, low spur to our right front, pointing sideways like ai huge index linger across the slope down which ,our cavalry have trotted, and separated from it by a rocky stream. Back like the wind thunder the fatter, re-appearing on the crest like a. mob of wild horses— no place for cavalry, an open slope under hot fira from across* a stony spruit. Old Jones snorts like a war-horse. *' I must have that spur," says he, as indeed he must, seeing that it leads cunningly up to high ground from which the enemy can utterly command and enfilade our position. Who* better to. give it to him than those jolly harum-scarums, the Colonial Irregulars ? There is a bustle in their lines at the ord^r to move out, a few moments* hurried conversation between old Jonas and their white-moustached commander, then out they go, bump, bump, gingle, giugle, sombrero hats flapping as the price increases, down into the valley and over the spruit, then with a hurroosh and a scamper up the opposite slops, for the razor-back of the spur, whilst the big gun lobs his shells deftly over them, dotthiw the razor-back with columns of powdery earth and smoke. The Boers, whose 'nerves arc not as good as they were in those halcyon days in Natal, do not await the rush, but fly on the wings of terror down to a big donga they know tif at the base of the spur. There, with the courage of ruts in- a. 'hole, they turn and begin to pepper the ridge-. JACK AND HIS GUN. The latter replying with interest, there is a iiuc set-to oi musketry, which comes pealiuo- across the valley to us on our hill, like the sound of rain upon a tin roof. The Boers have their backs to the wall, •!.vidently ; or, can it be that they are being re-inforoedV Out with the telescope. Ah! what is that winding down the mountain side beyond. i:ow hidden behind a spur, now appearing over the smooth slope like a j long black caterpillar. Boers, by all that is unfortunate, and in strength — 500" at least. See also on the high ridges in prolongation of the mountain, more Boers, dotting the tky-liue for miles, motionless a-i statues, no doubt scanning tht* punchbowl bdow them with field-glasses, ready enough if wanted. 'The commando on the mountain disappears on the va«t rescesscs and kloofs" at its base. The storm breaks ; there is a roar from 'the razor-back, an angry spitting reply from the donga- - worse, from the height commanding tho crest of the spur on its right. From our ridge we can see black spots hurrying over the lofty downs; they have outrhir.ku! cur fellows, by jingo ! Now, Nelson! Th? old suit gravely swings round ln-if-right. takes one- careful squint at the spelling figures, then boom! "Bang in the middle of them !" yells everyone-. Well clone, the spruce lord of thunder. Boom, pud bnom again, befcre the firft shell can land. Not for nothing has the big gun the- magic letters Q.F. (quick-firing) emblazoned on its breech-lock. Ho can hurry, when there is nee-1. can the old siit/ It is too much for the Boers; they check and dawdle undecidedly, a splendid target! Boom! a. bull's-eye; they turn and flee whence they came ; the flank is clear again. But the gallant colonials have not got off scot-free either ; «n officer aud tvn> men are lying dead, gripping the long grass. No mere side sh-o-w for them, their little part is played. They are buried where they fell, and We from the ridge note in silence through our glasses the picks min-s and falling «s the grave is dug, mi id later the little group that stands aivuml it, commending to (4od the vanished ethereal of the oarth.lv which lies so pale Avithin it. Oh, the" pity of it ! Others are jolted into us severely wounded ; one dips as' soon its the white-covered waggon creeps beneath imr lines. At nightfall he. tc<>. is laid t<> red, and a sudden si-ltnc-2 falls i.-.n chattering groups around the fire? as the '' Last Post " calls with an intiiity of pathos from the little valley be-; hind' up to his ascending snul. Good-bye ! good-bye! Your duty clone-, comrade turn into rest. awaiting the tremendous reveille which shall waken all men. On the approach ■cf night the colonel sends orders to those on the- spur to evacuate, and to retire on the main position. . . . There is a sudden exclamation from a sentry, and a bustle at the signal station. Is that not a lamp flashing away close by to the north-west, blinksf-b'.ink" blink-a-b'link? So the column on our left is in touch, after all ; now we shall see what we shall see. Dawn ;»gain--;u> hzy, sfrg^nt-nddf-n dawn this time, but all men astir and ready at the first j-treak, locking towards the ridge from whence the Iv.mp was banking last night. Hen- they com-, nv'kmg best pue across the rolling veldt, iisr?-'. foot, and artillery ; their advance s^uts

are already within hail. The colonel trots down the slope to meet the commanding officer, his plan already made. There are some farms nestling below the long slope, of which the spur seized yesterday is the summit, and they are known to contain supplies and forage, possibly women, all three munitions of war to the enemy — 'the. latter, perhaps, the most valuable. THE CHARGE. So in these farms below us is something- worth &»e taking, and the colonel means to take it. The spur must be recaptured as a preliminary. The Mounted Infantry of the new column shall try their luck this time. Away over on the spur the Boers are standing up, watching our movements, being particularly, thick on a little stony knob half-way up the sweeping slope, making the summit look quitebristly 'wi-rh. its crowd 1 <*f iiny upi-ight figures. The two field guns, arrived with the reinforcement, mark them for their own, and bellow simultaneously at the precise moment chosen by old Nelson up on the ridge for his sonorous "Begone!" The figures disappear before the projectile can reach them, shell follows shell as the Mounted Infantry move out to their appointed task. iThey are in good hands, are those "mounted foot"; no more dashing commander than- their gallant captain, late of the Hussars, has ever galloped before his men. See how they extend whilst at a fast trotf, which, as they breast the opposite slope, obanges to a canter, then a gallop, then a twift irresistible! rush, as they near the summit. They are upon it in a twinkling, despite an agitated pop! pop! from the boulders which cover it — a gallant sight, beholding ■which the breath ds held in anxiety and admiration. Not legitimate Mounted Infantry work, an Aldershob critic would say, this charging of kopjes. Perhaps not, bub something very much better, my purist friend — soldiers' work ; the work of the handy man, who, seeing, a job ahead, does it in the quickest possibles-time without reference to a text-book. This time the Boers, thoroughly unnerved, do not stay in their flight, but gallop madly back to the high hills beyond, pursued 'by the shells from the 4.7 to the extreme limit of his range. One, dropping a few yards in front of the mob, turns them as a flock of sheep are turned by the dog. They race up a donga to the lef b and pull up out of range bub in full view, on the side of a mighty green down. Oh for that missing northeasterly column of ours. Would British troops but a.ppear where they should appear, on the higher ridge behind them, that commando would be on the march to Handsupdorp to-night. But the farms are clear at arijxate. No women, <w»Jy » confused mass "of bedding, furniture, and-house-hold goods ; the buildings are fairly stuffed with the stuffy belongings of a Boer family or families. In one room alone there are. seven beds ranged alongside one another; a regular barracks this farm, and an ordnan.ee store to boot, for the lofts are full of foddter and. mealies, refreshing for man and beast. Out with them all, no time to dawdle with that commando angrily looking on from the shelf above. Already a few' of the more adventurous spirits have crept forward and begin to snipe at the groups around the farms. It is now near closing-time for our sideshow. The big area calls two out of the four performers in it to more heroic "turns," and the other two must -,returti whence they came, to duties even less tinselled and exciting— the dull daily round and common task of guarding the linea of communication. Once more, then, see the column on the march, baggage in. front this time, stepping it out for home, pipes alight, helmets awry as before, one, two— one, two — as imperturbable with purpose defeated behind them aa when it was unknown before them. Is not this a more unique traib than the other in the psycholo-. gy of rations, and to a foer more dishear>, ening? Curses on this wooden, batteringram of a people ; they falter neither in defeat or victory j can nothing shake them?