pointing out various faint ridges, and explaining that _there_ the
Gordons had made their splendid charge, or, again, that farther back
General French had encountered such a stubborn resistance, and so on,
_ad libitum_. In response I gazed with enthusiastic interest, but the
flat, hideous country, which guards its deeply buried treasure so
closely, seemed so alike in every direction, and the operations of the
victorious army covered so wide an area, that it was difficult to make a
brain picture of that rapid succession of feats of arms. At the station
itself the "Tommys" buzzed about like bees, and the officers were having
tea or dinner, or both combined, in the refreshment-room. One overheard
scraps of conversation, from a subaltern to his superior officer: "A
capital bag to-day, sir. Forty Mausers and ten thousand rounds of
ammunition." Then someone else remarked that a railway-train from the
South passed yesterday, riddled with bullets, and recounted the
marvellous escape its occupants had had, which was not encouraging in
view of our intended journey over the same route. A young man in
uniform presently entered with a limp, and, in answer to inquiries, said
his wounded leg was doing famously, adding that the bullet had taken
exactly the same course as the one did not six weeks ago--only then it
had affected the other knee; "so I knew how to treat it, and I am off to
the Yeomanry Hospital, if they will have me. I only left there a
fortnight ago, and, by Jove! it was like leaving Paradise!" Another
arrival came along saying the Boers had received a proper punishing for
their last depredations on the railway, when De Wet had brought off his
crowning _coup_ by destroying the mail-bags. But this gentleman had
hardly finished his tale when a decided stir was observable, and we
heard a wire was to hand saying the same De Wet was again on the move,
and that a strong force of men and guns were to leave for the scene of
action by our train to-night. At this juncture, seeing there was no
prospect of any immediate departure, I installed myself comfortably with
a book in the waiting-room, and was so absorbed that I did not even
notice the arrival of a train from Heidelberg, till the door opened, and
my nephew, the Duke of Marlborough, looked in, and we exchanged a
surprised greeting, being totally unaware of each other's whereabouts.
Except for meeting Winston in Pretoria, I had not seen the face of one
of my relations for more t