confined and limited, that (with columns at our rear) we could not
venture to delay there a day or two. So we had to cross one of these
lines the same night. We decided upon the Springfontein-Bethulie line
and thither directed our steps.

At about 8 A.M. we came in sight of the line, at a point six miles from
Springfontein Junction. The sun had already risen. It was a bright
morning, but our prospects were dark and ominous. We were confronted by
a line studded with blockhouses and fenced in on both sides, while two
armoured trains were belching forth clouds of steam and smoke in the
distance. Behind us, and not far to our rear, the British columns were
drawing nearer. We could but choose between two alternatives--surrender,
or cut the wire at any cost. The former we could hardly give a thought;
the latter must be done, and was successfully executed.

Our first attempt failed. The burghers, who had no cover, retreated when
fire was opened upon them from the blockhouses. We fell back to a small
hill not far from the line, and there we made up our minds that we
_shall_ cross. Commandant Louis Wessels--certainly one of the most
intrepid and fearless officers of the whole Boer Army--made direct for
the two railway gates, near which a blockhouse had been erected. These
gates he opened, so that the burghers could proceed without any
obstruction. Then in the face of blockhouses on every side, guards and
armoured trains, we passed over the line. We were exposed to a shower of
bullets, and to a terrific pom-pom fire, from the armoured train, but,
to our amazement, without any effect. But for a few horses shot down, we
would have achieved our object without any losses. The men marvelled and
said Providence had protected them; the enemy probably attributed it to
ill-luck and bad shooting. Both may be correct.