ugh his field-glasses Jack made out a body of about sixty men
following a couple of guns. One of these was smaller than the other and
had no limber attached. The larger one, which was drawn by six horses,
galloped forward till within less than 1200 yards of the house and
commenced to unlimber.

"We'll just teach those fellows to keep at a more respectful distance,"
muttered Jack. "Put up your sights, Wilfred, and have a shot at them.
There is a good big lump to fire at, and with a little luck we might
pick a few of them off."

Both at once took a steady aim and fired, and a second later Jack seized
his glasses and saw one of the horses in the gun team rear up and fall
backwards.

Another and another shot followed, one of the gunners and a second horse
being hit. Then the gun was hurriedly limbered up again and galloped
back out of rifle fire. Ten minutes later there was a puff of smoke,
followed in about half a minute by a sharp report, and by the ominous
hum of a shell overhead.

"Ha, ha!" Jack chuckled coolly; "they'll want to do a deal better than
that to turn us out of this. Look out, here comes another!"

As he spoke there was a second puff, and this was followed by a
deafening thud overhead and by a loud explosion behind the house.

"Not a bad shot that," Jack remarked serenely. "It touched the roof,
ricochetted off, and burst away behind."

The next shot proved almost more alarming, for it was a shrapnel shell,
and exploded some hundred yards in front of the farmhouse, sending a
hail of bullets spattering in all directions.

"They've got the range now, and I think we had better get below," said
Jack. "We shall be quite safe from a rush, for the Boers cannot come
close while their friends are shelling us. I expect they will continue
firing till they have smashed the place to pieces, and then they will
gallop up full-tilt. That will be our time. We will lie low, and make
them think that the shelling has killed or wounded all of us. We will
hold our fire till they are at the railings, and then we will blaze into
them. I fancy we shall be safe enough till nightfall, but then, if help
does not reach us, it will go hard with us. Tim must have slipped into
the town by this, so we can hope for the best."

"I will play something for you, if you like," said Eileen Russel at this
moment. "You don't want any cheering up, but just to show you that I
feel quite safe in your hands, and have no fear of