days' fighting. The few white farmers had gone, of course, but, happily,
I came upon a Kaffir kraal, and a Kaffir chief himself came out to look
at me. The Cape boy who was with me asked if he had seen any English
troops that way. "Yes, there were many, many, many, hardly an hour's
ride further on. But he was hungry, hungry--he, the chief--and so were
his wives--four of them--all of them." He spoke the pretty Zulu
language--it is something like Italian.

We went on. The track went steep down hill to a spruit where the water
lay in pools. And there on the opposite hill was that gallant little
British Army, halted in a position of extreme danger, absolutely
commanded on all sides but one, and preparing for tea as unconcernedly
as if they were in a Lockhart's shop in Goswell Road. Almost as
unconcernedly--for, indeed, some of the officers showed signs of their
long anxiety and sleeplessness. When I came among them, some mounted men
suddenly showed themselves in the distance. They took them for Boers. I
could hardly persuade them they were only our own Carbineers--the
outposts through whom I had just ridden. Three of our own scouts
appeared across a valley, and never were Boers in greater peril of
being shot. I think I may put their lives down to my credit.

The British private was even here imperturbable as usual. He sat on the
rocks singing the latest he knew from the music-halls. He lighted his
fires and made his tea, and took an intelligent interest in the
slaughter of the oxen, for all the world as if he were at manoeuvres on
Salisbury Plain. He is really a wonderful person. Filthy from head to
foot, drenched with rain, baked with sun, unshorn and unwashed for five
days, his eyes bloodshot for want of sleep, hungry and footsore, fresh
from terrible fighting, and the loss of many friends, he was still the
same unmistakable British soldier, that queer mixture of humour and
blasphemy, cheerfulness and grumbling, never losing that
imperturbability which has no mixture of any other quality at all. The
camping ground was arranged almost as though they were going to stay
there for ever. Here were the guns in order, there the relics of the
18th Hussars; there the Leicesters, the 60th, the Dublins, the Royal
Irish Fusiliers, and the rest. The guards were set and sentries posted.
But only two hours later the whole moved off again for three miles'
further advance to get them well out of the mountains. Why, on that
perilous mar