oek, and took part in the siege of Colonel Dalgety at
Jammersbergsdrift. He had stood at my side at Thaba'Nchu and on the
banks of the Zand River. I had always found him the most willing and
reliable of officers, and he had won the respect and trust of every man
who knew him.

He was faithful to the end. Although he might well have joined our
enemies, he preferred to set the seal of fidelity upon his life by his
imprisonment. Long may he live to enjoy the trust of the Afrikander
people!

I remained late that evening in the town. It was somewhat risky to do
so, as the place was full of English inhabitants, and of Afrikanders who
did not favour our cause. In fact, I was surrounded by men who would
have been only too pleased to do me an injury.

I said farewell to Kroonstad at ten o'clock that night, and was carried
to Rhenosterriviersbrug, thirty-four miles from Kroonstad, by the last
train that left the town. But before I departed, I took care that the
bridge over the Valsch River should be destroyed by dynamite.

In the meantime, those portions of the Heilbron and Kroonstad commandos
which had gone into Natal at the beginning of the war, received orders
to leave the Drakensberg. Obeying these orders they joined me, and, with
my other troops, had occupied splendid positions on either side of the
railway line. Commandant General Louis Botha was also there with his
Transvaal burghers, having arrived in the Free State a few days
previously. Captain Danie Theron was still with me as my trustworthy
scout, and he constantly kept me informed of Lord Roberts' movements.

For a few days Lord Roberts remained at Kroonstad, but about the 18th
of May he again began to move his enormous forces. He sent out four
divisions. The first he despatched from Kroonstad to Heilbron; the
second from Lindley to the same destination; the third from Kroonstad to
Vredefort and Parijs, and the fourth from Kroonstad along the railway
line.

The two Governments had agreed that Commandant General Louis Botha
should cross the Vaal River, and that we Free-Staters should remain
behind in our own country. And this was carried out, with our full
approval.

The Governments had also decided that even if the English entered the
Transvaal, the Free State commandos were not to follow them. I had long
ago wished that something of this nature should be arranged, so that we
might not only have forces in front of the enemy, but also in their
rear. Thus the