e silence of the
night a resonant metallic rattle, the thud of a falling man, an empty
clatter! They had walked into a line of meat-cans slung upon a wire. By
measurement it was only ninety yards from the trench. At that instant a
single rifle sounded, and the Canadians hurled themselves down upon the
ground. Their bodies had hardly touched it when from a line six hundred
yards long there came one furious glare of rifle fire, with a hiss like
water on a red-hot plate, of speeding bullets. In that terrible red
light the men as they lay and scraped desperately for cover could see
the heads of the Boers pop up and down, and the fringe of rifle barrels
quiver and gleam. How the regiment, lying helpless under this fire,
escaped destruction is extraordinary. To rush the trench in the face of
such a continuous blast of lead seemed impossible, and it was equally
impossible to remain where they were. In a short time the moon would be
up, and they would be picked off to a man. The outer companies upon the
plain were ordered to retire. Breaking up into loose order, they made
their way back with surprisingly little loss; but a strange contretemps
occurred, for, leaping suddenly into a trench held by the Gordons, they
transfixed themselves upon the bayonets of the men. A subaltern and
twelve men received bayonet thrusts--none of them fortunately of a very
serious nature.

While these events had been taking place upon the left of the line,
the right was hardly in better plight. All firing had ceased for the
moment--the Boers being evidently under the impression that the whole
attack had recoiled. Uncertain whether the front of the small party on
the right of the second line (now consisting of some sixty-five Sappers
and Canadians lying in one mingled line) was clear for firing should
the Boers leave their trenches, Captain Boileau, of the Sappers, crawled
forward along the bank of the river, and discovered Captain Stairs
and ten men of the Canadians, the survivors of the firing line, firmly
ensconced in a crevice of the river bank overlooking the laager, quite
happy on being reassured as to the proximity of support. This brought
the total number of the daring band up to seventy-five rifles.
Meanwhile, the Gordons, somewhat perplexed by the flying phantoms who
had been flitting into and over their trenches for the past few minutes,
sent a messenger along the river bank to ascertain, in their turn, if
their own front was clear to fire,