ation as a horsemaster does not stand so high as his fame as a
cavalry leader. But besides the horses there was urgent need of every
sort of supply, from boots to hospitals, and the only way by which
they could come was by two single-line railways which unite into one
single-line railway, with the alternative of passing over a precarious
pontoon bridge at Norval's Pont, or truck by truck over the road bridge
at Bethulie. To support an army of fifty thousand men under these
circumstances, eight hundred miles from a base, is no light matter, and
a premature advance which could not be thrust home would be the greatest
of misfortunes. The public at home and the army in Africa became
restless under the inaction, but it was one more example of the absolute
soundness of Lord Roberts's judgment and the quiet resolution with which
he adheres to it. He issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of the
Free State promising protection to all who should bring in their arms
and settle down upon their farms. The most stringent orders were issued
against looting or personal violence, but nothing could exceed the
gentleness and good humour of the troops. Indeed there seemed more need
for an order which should protect them against the extortion of their
conquered enemies. It is strange to think that we are separated by only
ninety years from the savage soldiery of Badajoz and San Sebastian.

The streets of the little Dutch town formed during this interval a
curious object-lesson in the resources of the Empire. All the scattered
Anglo-Celtic races had sent their best blood to fight for the common
cause. Peace is the great solvent, as war is the powerful unifier.
For the British as for the German Empire much virtue had come from
the stress and strain of battle. To stand in the market square of
Bloemfontein and to see the warrior types around you was to be assured
of the future of the race. The middle-sized, square-set, weather-tanned,
straw-bearded British regulars crowded the footpaths. There also
one might see the hard-faced Canadians, the loose-limbed dashing
Australians, fireblooded and keen, the dark New Zealanders, with a Maori
touch here and there in their features, the gallant men of Tasmania, the
gentlemen troopers of India and Ceylon, and everywhere the wild South
African irregulars with their bandoliers and unkempt wiry horses,
Rimington's men with the racoon bands, Roberts's Horse with the black
plumes, some with pink puggarees, s