very soon conviction came in a shell nicely aimed at the General in
person. It burst between French and his staff. "There are too many of
us riding together," was his only comment, as he moved forward to
reconnoitre the ground from the top of the nearest kopje.

Very soon the Horse Artillery had the gun silenced, and the whole
division swerved to the right just as the Boers drew off down stream
to wait for the English crossing. Immediately the whole division was
making for De Kiel's Drift further up stream. The banks proved to be
steep and difficult, but a ford was discovered. As the cavalry neared
the bank a party of Boers saw the ruse, and a neck-to-neck race for
the Drift began. By a piece of daring horsemanship our cavalry got
home first, and the Boers arrived too late to dispute their passage.
By mid-day the division was able to cross and bivouac on the right
bank, pending the arrival of the baggage train, left far behind.

[Page Heading: DELAYED TRANSPORT]

The Riet River is by no means a refreshing torrent; it winds its slow
way in muddy melancholy to the cleanly water of the Vaal. But at least
it contained water in which both men and horses could forget the heat
of the veldt. All day the weary cavalrymen waited for the supplies,
which did not come until they were attempting to snatch a few hours of
sleep. The transport horses stumbled and strained their way up the
banks in the early hours of the morning.

There was pleasant excitement in camp, however, when both Roberts and
Kitchener rode over to congratulate French on his progress, and wished
him "good luck" for the rest of the journey. But the delay in
transport was annoying to French. Neither the men nor their horses