, and they
speeded the cable on its long journey to the newspaper office on the
Thames Embankment.

[Picture: "Tommies" seeking shelter from "Long Tom" at Ladysmith]

When one descended to the streets again--there are only two streets which
run the full length of the town--and looked for signs of the siege, one
found them not in the shattered houses, of which there seemed
surprisingly few, but in the starved and fever-shaken look of the people.

The cloak of indifference which every Englishman wears, and his
instinctive dislike to make much of his feelings, and, in this case, his
pluck, at first concealed from us how terribly those who had been inside
of Ladysmith had suffered, and how near to the breaking point they were.
Their faces were the real index to what they had passed through.

Any one who had seen our men at Montauk Point or in the fever camp at
Siboney needed no hospital list to tell him of the pitiful condition of
the garrison. The skin on their faces was yellow, and drawn sharply over
the brow and cheekbones; their teeth protruded, and they shambled along
like old men, their voices ranging from a feeble pipe to a deep whisper.
In this pitiable condition they had been forced to keep night-watch on
the hill-crests, in the rain, to lie in the trenches, and to work on
fortifications and bomb-proofs. And they were expected to do all of
these things on what strength they could get from horse-meat, biscuits of
the toughness and composition of those that are fed to dogs, and on
"mealies," which is what we call corn.

That first day in Ladysmith gave us a faint experience as to what the
siege meant. The correspondents had disposed of all their tobacco, and
within an hour saw starvation staring them in the face, and raced through
the town to rob fellow-correspondents who had just arrived. The
new-comers in their turn had soon distributed all they owned, and came
tearing back to beg one of their own cigarettes. We tried to buy grass
for our ponies, and were met with pitying contempt; we tried to buy food
for ourselves, and were met with open scorn. I went to the only hotel
which was open in the place, and offered large sums for a cup of tea.

"Put up your money," said the Scotchman in charge, sharply. "What's the
good of your money? Can your horse eat money? Can you eat money? Very
well, then, put it away."

The great dramatic moment after the raising of the siege was the entrance
into Ladysmith