he troops besieged in
the various towns in the Transvaal.

Mr Humphreys and Jackson rode over to Newcastle to see them start, and
the lads sat chatting to them on their horses, as the column filed by.

"I don't like the look of things, father," Dick said, "and if you had
seen the way the Boers polished off the 94th, I am sure you wouldn't
like it either. If we are attacked by them, the troops would, for the
most part, be wanted to guard this huge baggage-train, and I am sure,
from what I have seen of the Boers, the only way to thrash them is to
attack them quickly and suddenly. If you let them attack you, you are
done for. Their shooting is ten times as good as that of the troops;
they are accustomed, both in hunting and in their native wars, to depend
each man on himself, and they would hang round a column like this, pick
the men off at long distances, and fall upon them in hollows and bushes;
while, whenever our fellows tried to take the offensive, they would
mount their horses and ride away, only to return and renew the attack as
soon as the troops fell back to the waggons. Besides, with such a train
of waggons we can only crawl along, and the Boers will have time to
fortify every position. I wonder, at any rate, that General Colley does
not push forward in light marching-order and drive the Boers at once out
of Natal, and cross the river into the Transvaal; then he would have a
flat, open country before him, and could bring the waggons up
afterwards."

"What you say seems right enough, Dick," his father answered; "but
General Colley has the reputation of being an excellent officer."

"I have no doubt that he is an excellent officer, father; but he has had
no experience whatever in the Boers' style of fighting; he knows that
they have often been defeated by natives, and I fancy he does not value
them highly enough. They cannot stand a quick, sudden attack, and
that's how the natives sometimes defeat them, but at their own game of
shooting from behind rocks I believe that they are more than a match for
regular troops. However, we shall see. As I am not going as a
combatant I shall be able to look on quietly, and fortunately the Boers
are not like Zulus, and there is no fear of non-combatants and prisoners
being massacred. If there were, I tell you fairly, father, that I would
cry off, and let the waggons go without me, for I do believe that things
will not turn out well."

"Well, I hope you are wrong, Di