ier and his
staff rode on, and it was a pleasant meeting between the two officers.
And pleasanter still when the cloud of dust that heralded our force
appeared on the crest of the southern ridge and the long column began to
pour down the slope and to cross the drift. Soon it was filling the
valley and mingling with the other force already encamped, and now
everyone is busy washing or eating near the picturesque little cluster
of Kaffir kraals and big shady trees; for the region of karoo and
shadeless plain has been left far behind. Our supplies are practically
exhausted; the horses are eating their last ration to-day; but Mafeking
is only eighteen miles distant, waiting for our help. There is something
inspiring in that knowledge, and in the news of the grand little
garrison's latest success; and everyone is anxious to push on and get
the inevitable fight over.

To-day we rest under the trees and dream through the music of singing
birds, with perhaps a thought for yesterday and the fellow-travellers
whose journey ended so suddenly. But for the soldier, more than for
anyone, the watchword is "No regrets"; and as for to-morrow, who can
tell the issue?

XXIII

THE FIGHTING ON THE MOLOPO

At daybreak on Wednesday, May 16th, the two columns under Colonel
Mahon's command moved from Jan Massibi's in two parallel lines along the
northern bank of the Molopo River. As the sky brightened before us
Mafeking was eagerly looked for, but for a long time each successive
rise only showed us another beyond which hid the desired view. The
country consisted of a succession of ridges lying at right angles to our
line of march, and as each one rose before us the staff galloped forward
to the summit, only to see another lying beyond. But at last, while some
of us were buying eggs at a Kaffir kraal, a more adventurous person
climbed upon a rubbish heap and shouted "There's Mafeking!" There was a
rush for the coign of vantage, and a great levelling of glasses. There
it lay, sure enough, the little town that we had come so far to see--a
tiny cluster of white near the eastward horizon, glistening amid the
yellowish-brown of the flats. We looked at it for a few moments in
silence, and then Colonel Mahon said, "Well, let's be getting on"; and
no one said anything more about Mafeking, but everyone thought a
great deal.

[Illustration: Sketch Map of Fight at ISRAEL'S FARM. on May 16th]

There was a difficulty about water, and it was f