morning news came to us that Wepener had been relieved by Brabant and Hart,
and that the Boers who had invested that place were drawing off in our
direction, so that our right flank needed strengthening. The Boers
displayed no sign of quitting their position, though they must have known
that Brabant and Hart would be on their track from the south-east, and
General French from the north-west. They held their ground with a grim
stubbornness against overwhelming odds of men and guns, and dropped shells
amongst us in a way that made one feel that no spot could be labelled
"absolutely safe."

At about 7 p.m. we sent a force out south, consisting of about 4,000 men,
under General Boyes. Amongst that force were the West Kents, Staffords,
Worcesters, Manchesters, all infantry. The Imperial Yeomanry and mounted
infantry also accompanied the expedition. But there was little for them to
do except hold the enemy in check, which they did. There were some
phenomenally close shaves during the day. On one occasion the enemy got the
range of one of our guns with their pom-pom, and the way they dropped the
devilish little one-pound shells amongst those gunners was a sight to make
a man's blood run chill. The little iron imps fell between the men, grazed
the wheels, the carriage, and the truck of the gun; but

He, watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps.

Nothing short of angel-wings could have kept our fellows safe. The men knew
their deadly peril, knew that the tip of the wand in the Death Angel's hand
was brushing their cheeks. One could see that they knew their peril. The
hard, firm grip of the jaw, the steady light in the hard-set eyes, the
manly pallor on the cheeks, all told of knowledge; yet not once did they
lose their heads. Each fellow stood there as bravely as human flesh and
blood could stand, and faced the iron hail with unblenching courage and