their fruitless sortie.

At once Sir George White saw his opportunity. It was the Boers, and
not the British, who now stood in peril of a sudden attack. There was
little sleep for French's men that night. At 4 a.m. next morning they
were again on the march for Elandslaagte.

About eight o'clock on one of those perfect mist-steeped summer
mornings that presage a day of burning heat, French's force came in
sight of the Boer laagers. As the mist cleared the enemy could be
spied in large numbers about the station and the colliery buildings
and over the yellow veldt. French ordered the Natal Battery to turn
its little seven-pounder on the station. One of the first shots told;
and the Boers came tumbling out of their shelter, leaving the
trainload of British soldiers, captured the previous night, free to
join their comrades. Soon afterwards the station was in the hands of
the British, as the result of a dashing cavalry charge.

But the Boers were only temporarily dislodged. Their long range guns
very soon shelled the station from the neighbouring kopjes with deadly
effect. French was compelled to withdraw. The stupidity of the enemy,
in leaving the telegraph wires uncut, enabled him immediately to
acquaint Sir George White with the peril of his situation. White's
orders were emphatic: "The enemy must be beaten and driven off. Time
of great importance." The necessary reinforcements were hurried to the
spot.

[Page Heading: IN HIS ELEMENT]

French did not wait for their arrival before striking at the enemy.