night, when your only chance is to see people against the sky, the lower
you are the better. These points and others you discuss in whispers,
crouched in the dark hollows, and then creep forward again.

"Vice and I crawled to the top of our ridge at last just as morning was
breaking. There were bushes and rocks to hide among, and the clouds had
all gone, and day broke clear. The deep river ravine lay right below us,
and as the light penetrated, the first thing we saw was a small shelter
tent with a cart or waggon by the side of it. We grinned and nudged each
other and wagged our heads at the discovery, but kept them carefully
hidden. Farther west was a detached kopje, the site of a permanent Boer
picket, according to the Kaffir; but there was no regular laager. There
were no horses grazing about, no cattle, no smoke, none of the usual and
inevitable signs. A picket! Yes. Pushed out from Koodoosberg, the big
hill which rises abruptly from the plain three or four miles off, but no
real occupation. After studying the country yard by yard with our
glasses, and making a few notes about the lie of the land and the names
and positions of farms, we creep off and get back to camp by mid-day."

The results of these exciting little prowls, when worth while, are sent
in to the General, and from the mass of evidence thus placed before him
he is supposed to be able to define the enemy's position and movements.

Chester Master and our little body were paid a pretty compliment by the
General the other day; for the Major having written to ask if we might
join him, Methuen replied that he was sorry to have to refuse, but that
we were doing invaluable work, and he really couldn't spare us.

Well, fare you well. We hear of heavy reinforcements arriving. They will
be very welcome. Magersfontein, Colenso, Stormberg; we could do with a