he amelioration of its conditions. The railway
between Maritzburg and Estcourt was cut, and further aggressive action
seemed to be brewing. All news from Ladysmith came out either by
pigeon-post or by Kaffir runners, who, in a manner peculiar to
themselves, managed to get through the enemy's lines. Food in the
beleaguered town was still moderate in price, meat being tenpence a
pound and bread threepence. A good deal of concern prevailed because the
country between Ladysmith and the south was fast being taken possession
of by the enemy, and the peaceful farmers and loyalists in the vicinity
were shaking in their shoes, spending days and nights in an agony of
suspense as to their future and the safety of their belongings.

[Illustration: SIGHTING A NAVAL FIELD GUN.

Photo by Gregory & Co., London.]

The people in the neighbourhood of Willow Grange at this time had some
exciting and alarming experiences. The Boers bound for Maritzburg, of
course, made their way into such farms as suited them. They had encamped
themselves on the surrounding kopjes, and these soon became living
hives, moving hills, of horses, cattle, and human beings, dotted with
some fourteen or fifteen ambulances carrying red-cross flags. They
endeavoured to make themselves agreeable to such of the inhabitants as
remained, assuring them that they did not intend to hurt those who sat
quietly on their farms, though they meant to loot and raid everything
from deserted homesteads. Here is a description given at the time by an
owner of a farm who entertained Field-Cornet Joubert to breakfast--a
plucky lady who determined to show that the Boers had no terrors for
her.

"We hurried breakfast, and had hardly finished when the yard was full of
men, galloping all through the trees. I went out, and was fiercely
greeted with, 'Where are the other two men? We have taken three
prisoners (Thorneycroft's scouts) out of five, and two are here.'

"They rode into the stable, looked through my outside bedroom door,
dairy, and every conceivable place. Luckily, the men got clear.

"Shortly afterwards the Boers began to pass, cutting fences and riding
in all directions, anywhere through the homestead; no discipline
whatever, just like a pack of hounds when the fox is lost. They lined
our kopjes overlooking Willow Grange, Weston, and Estcourt. They could
hear the cannon at Ladysmith, and were not more than a mile from the
house. But as scouts our boys are not in it. No stra