outposts had of their presence was the rush of feet and loom of figures
in the cold misty light of dawn. The occupants of the sangars were
killed to a man, and the assailants rushed onwards. As the sun topped
the line of the veld half the kopje was in their possession. Shouting
and firing, they pressed onwards.

But the Worcester men were steady old soldiers, and the battalion
contained no less than four hundred and fifty marksmen in its ranks. Of
these the companies upon the hill had their due proportion, and their
fire was so accurate that the Boers found themselves unable to advance
any further. Through the long day a desperate duel was maintained
between the two lines of riflemen. Colonel Cuningham and Major Stubbs
were killed while endeavouring to recover the ground which had been
lost. Hovel and Bartholomew continued to encourage their men, and the
British fire became so deadly that that of the Boers was dominated.
Under the direction of Hacket Pain, who commanded the nearest post, guns
of J battery were brought out into the open and shelled the portion of
the kopje which was held by the Boers. The latter were reinforced, but
could make no advance against the accurate rifle fire with which they
were met. The Bisley champion of the battalion, with a bullet through
his thigh, expended a hundred rounds before sinking from loss of blood.
It was an excellent defence, and a pleasing exception to those too
frequent cases where an isolated force has lost heart in face of a
numerous and persistent foe. With the coming of darkness the Boers
withdrew with a loss of over two hundred killed and wounded. Orders had
come from Clements that the whole right wing should be drawn in, and in
obedience to them the remains of the victorious companies were called
in by Hacket Pain, who moved his force by night in the direction of
Rensburg. The British loss in the action was twenty-eight killed and
nearly a hundred wounded or missing, most of which was incurred when the
sangars were rushed in the early morning.

While this action was fought upon the extreme right of the British
position another as severe had occurred with much the same result upon
the extreme left, where the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment was stationed. Some
companies of this regiment were isolated upon a kopje and surrounded
by the Boer riflemen when the pressure upon them was relieved by a
desperate attack by about a hundred of the Victorian Rifles. The gallant
Australians lo