one for cavalry, and the troopers fought dismounted, with intervals of
twenty or thirty paces between the men. Exposed all day to rifle and
shell fire, unable to advance and unwilling to retreat, it was only
owing to their open formation that they escaped with about thirty
casualties. With Boers on his front, his flank, and even on his rear,
French held grimly on, realising that a retreat upon his part would mean
a greater pressure at all other points of the British advance. At night
his weary men slept upon the ground which they had held. All Monday and
all Tuesday French kept his grip at Kameelsdrift, stolidly indifferent
to the attempt of the enemy to cut his line of communications. On
Wednesday, Hamilton, upon the other flank, had gained the upper hand,
and the pressure was relaxed. French then pushed forward, but the horses
were so utterly beaten that no effective pursuit was possible.

During the two days that French had been held up by the Boer right wing
Hamilton had also been seriously engaged upon the left--so seriously
that at one time the action appeared to have gone against him. The fight
presented some distinctive features, which made it welcome to soldiers
who were weary of the invisible man with his smokeless gun upon the
eternal kopje. It is true that man, gun, and kopje were all present
upon this occasion, but in the endeavours to drive him off some new
developments took place, which formed for one brisk hour a reversion
to picturesque warfare. Perceiving a gap in the enemy's line, Hamilton
pushed up the famous Q battery--the guns which had plucked glory out of
disaster at Sanna's Post. For the second time in one campaign they were
exposed and in imminent danger of capture. A body of mounted Boers with
great dash and hardihood galloped down within close range and opened
fire. Instantly the 12th Lancers were let loose upon them. How they must
have longed for their big-boned long-striding English troop horses
as they strove to raise a gallop out of their spiritless overworked
Argentines! For once, however, the lance meant more than five pounds
dead weight and an encumbrance to the rider. The guns were saved, the
Boers fled, and a dozen were left upon the ground. But a cavalry charge
has to end in a re-formation, and that is the instant of danger if
any unbroken enemy remains within range. Now a sleet of bullets hissed
through their ranks as they retired, and the gallant Lord Airlie, as
modest and brave a