action; the others were under the immediate control of their sergeants.
They split up into small parties, and swept the very edge of the kopjes,
peering into gullies, climbing the outer hills, working along the ravines
with a courage and thoroughness that would have done credit to the oldest
scouts in all the Empire. Yet nothing came of their investigations for
quite a long time. The enemy did not mean to be drawn, and remained
passive, so that the West Australians at last became a little bit reckless,
and were consequently not so guarded as they might have been. All at once a
body of scouts ran upon a large body of the enemy near Pottsberg Farm, in a
deep and shady ravine. The enemy were trying to evade notice, but that was
now impossible. In a moment rifles were ringing on the air, and after that
first volley the little band of Australians wheeled and galloped for the
open country. To have remained there would have meant certain death to
every one of the half-dozen who comprised the picket, so they did their
duty--they fired and rode for the veldt. In a few seconds Boers were
dashing out of the kopjes on all sides, trying to cut the small band of
Australians off or shoot them down. But the Australians knew their game;
they opened out, so that each man was practically riding alone.

The Boers could do little with them. Those who stood by the guns noticed
that very large numbers of men in the Boer ranks were either niggers or
half-castes, and it was also very noticeable that they knew but little
about the use of the rifle. They fired high and wide, and notwithstanding
the fact that they poured their ammunition away in wholesale fashion, they
did little harm worth mentioning, although many of them fired at little
more than pistol range. They were simply crazed with excitement, and did
not succeed in cutting off a single member of that adventurous band.
Whenever an Australian found himself in a tight place he simply dug his
spurs into his horse's flanks, lifted his rifle, and blazed into the ranks
of the foe. If his horse was shot dead under him he coo-eed to his mates,