ours would rank with the charge of the Light Brigade. We hoped
Chamberlain would die soon after us, so that we could meet his soul in
the great Beyond and drag it through a sieve.

What was our surprise to find when it grew light that there had never
been an Englishman near! The whole thing from beginning to end was only
another false alarm, and all our valour had been wasted.

This kind of alarm was rather frequent at the time. A burgher woke up
one night to find himself being roughly shaken and someone shouting in
his ear--

"What are you doing? Get up, quick! Don't you hear the alarm?"

"Yes, another false one, I daresay," turning over for another nap.
Happening to open his eyes, he became aware for the first time that he
was speaking to no one less than General Joubert himself!

The poor fellow did not argue the point any further, but forthwith fled
into the night, glad to get off at that price.

One morning two of us were returning from our usual swim when suddenly
we saw the whole camp a beehive of commotion, burghers running to and
fro, saddling their horses, shouting at each other, and generally
behaving with a great lack of decorum--like madmen, in fact, or members
of the Stock Exchange. Hastening on, we heard that the enemy were coming
out to attack us. We hastily seized our nags, and in five minutes were
on top of the nearest hill between ourselves and the enemy, who could be
seen approaching three thousand yards away. We formed ourselves into
groups, and each group packed itself a low wall of the loose stones