the Motherland I thanked these men for thus rallying around our
common flag in the hour of peril, and tenderly urged them to be as
loyal to the Christ as to their Queen, the meaning look and hearty
hand-grip spoke more eloquently to me than any words. In almost
every case the responsive heart was there. Of these Canadians--the
first contingent--our generals speak in terms of highest praise;
but already some twenty have been killed and nearly seventy
severely wounded. The Dominion mourns to-day her heroic dead as we
mourn ours. They sleep side by side beneath these burning sands;
but thus are forged the more than golden chains which bind the
hearts of a widely-sundered race to the common throne around which
we all are rallying.'[8]

The scene here depicted is one which must be imagined not once but many
times during that terrible march from the Modder to Bloemfontein. It
tells in simple but eloquent language how Christian kindliness tried to
assuage human woe.

[Footnote 8: _Methodist Times_.]




Chapter IX

KIMBERLEY DURING THE SIEGE AND AFTER


The siege of Kimberley began on Sunday, October 15, 1899, and continued
until Thursday, February 15, 1900. It was somewhat unexpected, for