Lancers the whole division now swept on in perfect order, led by the
Greys. "So the whole division swung up the plain at the gallop. It was
a thrilling time never to be forgotten," wrote Boyle. So wild was the
Boer fire that our casualties only amounted to four men wounded and
two horses wounded.

The plain once cleared, a halt was made for the guns to come up, to
hold the enemy on the left. When the Artillery had joined the main
force, the advance was again begun. The plain once crossed, the smoke
stacks of Kimberley came into view. At sight of these dingy symbols of
the commerce they had risked all to save, the men raised a tired
cheer. Kimberley was relieved--although the nervous operators to whom
French attempted to heliograph the fact, persisted in pessimistically
believing that he was the enemy.

By far the worst of the work was now over. Before French reached
Kimberley, however, the Boers made a last effort to stay his
victorious advance. But they were driven back with heavy loss. Only
the frightful condition of his horses prevented French from turning
rout into annihilation. But his worn-out animals were quite beyond
pursuing even a beaten enemy.

At length, Kimberley, seeing the huge sand cloud on the horizon, came
to the conclusion that it enveloped the horsemen, not of Cronje but of
French. About six o'clock in the evening an officer rode out of the
besieged city to meet the soldier who had saved it. At 7--just one
hour after the moment of French's historic promise, the General
entered Kimberley with his Staff. He dined that night at De Beer's
Sanatorium.