ent storm gave De Wet his
opportunity to cross, but the closeness of the pursuit compelled him to
abandon two of his guns, one of them a Krupp and the other one of the
British twelve-pounders of Sanna's Post, which, to the delight of the
gunners, was regained by that very U battery to which it belonged.

Once across the river and back in his own country De Wet, having placed
seventy miles between himself and his pursuers, took it for granted that
he was out of their reach, and halted near the village of Bothaville to
refit. But the British were hard upon his track, and for once they were
able to catch this indefatigable man unawares. Yet their knowledge of
his position seems to have been most hazy, and on the very day before
that on which they found him, General Charles Knox, with the main body
of the force, turned north, and was out of the subsequent action. De
Lisle's mounted troops also turned north, but fortunately not entirely
out of call. To the third and smallest body of mounted men, that under
Le Gallais, fell the honour of the action which I am about to describe.

It is possible that the move northwards of Charles Knox and of De Lisle
had the effect of a most elaborate stratagem, since it persuaded the
Boer scouts that the British were retiring. So indeed they were, save
only the small force of Le Gallais, which seems to have taken one last
cast round to the south before giving up the pursuit. In the grey of the
morning of November 6th, Major Lean with forty men of the 5th Mounted
Infantry came upon three weary Boers sleeping upon the veld. Having
secured the men, and realising that they were an outpost, Lean pushed
on, and topping a rise some hundreds of yards further, he and his men
saw a remarkable scene. There before them stretched the camp of the
Boers, the men sleeping, the horses grazing, the guns parked, and the
wagons outspanned.

There was little time for consideration. The Kaffir drivers were already
afoot and strolling out for their horses, or lighting the fires for
their masters' coffee. With splendid decision, although he had but forty
men to oppose to over a thousand, Lean sent back for reinforcements
and opened fire upon the camp. In an instant it was buzzing like an
overturned hive. Up sprang the sleepers, rushed for their horses, and
galloped away across the veld, leaving their guns and wagons behind.
A few stalwarts remained, however, and their numbers were increased by
those whose horses h