The old hopeful elasticity seemed gone.
Dickenson noted this, and called Lennox's attention to it.

"Yes," he said; "but the first shouts will rouse them, and they'll fight
as well as ever."

"Of course," said Dickenson. "Still, one can't help feeling dull."

There was no attack that night; but the scouts had reports to make of
the advance of the enemy from all the laagers, and the next morning soon
after sunrise half-a-dozen Boers rode up under the white flag--their
leader being blindfolded and led into the colonel's presence, with the
other officers gathered round.

"I have come from our general with a message," said the Boer officer
shortly. "He knows that you are all nearly starved, and that the kopje
is covered with sick and wounded. He tells me to say he does not wish
to attack and shoot you all down, though you deserve it. He says he
will be merciful, and gives you ten minutes to consider whether you will
haul down and surrender. What am I to tell him?"

"Tell the officer who sent you that we do not want ten seconds to
consider, and that we do not know how to haul down the British colours.
Let him come here and drag them down himself."

"What do you mean?" said the man roughly, and opening his eyes wider
than was his wont in wonder.

"War!" cried the colonel sternly, and he signalled to those who had
brought the messenger to re-tie the bandage across his eyes and lead him
back through the lines.

Two hours later a heavy gun began the attack, one which was to be no
night surprise entailing a heavy loss to the assailants, but a slow,
deliberate shelling of the gallantly defended place to destruction;
while now the difficulty was felt by the garrison for the first time of
how to reply, for the new guns which had come upon the scene were served
with smokeless powder, and the best glasses failed to show whence the
bursting shells had come.

The officers had nothing to do on the kopje but keep going about among
their men in the trenches and behind the walls, to say a few encouraging
words and insist upon them not exposing themselves, for it was waste of
cartridges to use a rifle; while the firing from the big gun and its
smaller brothers too was infrequent for the reasons above given. Hence
it fell about that more than once the officers paid what may be called
visits from time to time, just to exchange a few words, and on one of
these occasions Captain Roby, who walked fairly well with a stick,
joine