lade our position in a most masterly manner; but before
they could get their guns there our artillery was at them, and the kopje
was literally ploughed up with shells. It was too warm a corner for any man
on earth to attempt to hold, and they soon took their departure, falling
back in good order, and leaving no dead or wounded behind them. The
Yeomanry had advanced on the kopje, under the protection of the shell
firing, and when close to the position they fixed bayonets and dashed up
the hill; but when they topped it they found that the Boers had retired. It
was a quick bit of work, neatly and expeditiously done. Had the Boers held
the hill long enough to get their guns in position they would have played
havoc with us, for they could then have swept our whole line. From morning
until night-fall we kept at them with our big guns; whenever a cloud of
dust arose from behind a range of kopjes we dropped shells in the middle of
it; wherever a cluster of Boers showed themselves for a second a shell
sought them out. No matter how well they were placed, they must have had a
lively time of it. During the Sabbath they scarcely used their guns at all,
but they opened on our troops with rifle fire as soon as they made a
forward move at any part of the line, showing clearly that they were
watching as well as praying. The day closed without incident of any
particular character; we had a few wounded, but no deaths, and could form
no idea how the Boers were faring. Now and again during the night one or
another of our guns would bark like sullen watchdogs on the chain, but the
Boer guns were still.

Monday morning broke crisp and clear, and once more the big-gun duel began,
only on this occasion the Boers made great use of a pom-pom gun This
spiteful little demon tossed its diminutive shells into camp with painful
freeness. They knocked three of the Worcesters over early in the day,
killing two and badly damaging the other. As on all other occasions in this
peculiar engagement, the Boer gunnery was simply superb; but their shells
were worthless. Shells grew so common that the "Tommies" scarcely ducked
when they heard the report of a gun they knew was trying to reach them, but
smoked their pipes and made irreverent remarks concerning things made in
Germany. About midday a party of Boers, who had somehow dodged round to our
rear, made a dashing attempt to raid some cattle that were grazing close
under our eyes; but they had to vanish in a h