rket prices, there was
consolation in store. Colonel Ward had taken care that there should be a
reserve of raisins and other things necessary for the compounding of
plum-puddings; and officers of the Army Service Corps were able to
report for Sir George White's satisfaction that sufficient could be
issued for every soldier in this force to have a full ration. The only
thing wanting was suet, which trek oxen do not yield in abundance after
eking out a precarious existence on the shortest of short commons; and
half-fed commissariat sheep have not much superfluous fat about them.
What substitutes were found it boots not to inquire too curiously,
seeing that Tommy did not trouble to ask so long as he got his Christmas
pudding in some form. There was no rum for flavouring, as all liquors
have to be carefully hoarded for possible emergencies. So for once the
British soldier had to celebrate Christmas according to the rules of
strict temperance. Yet he managed to have a fairly festive time for all
that.

Boer guns sent us greeting in the shape of shells that did not explode.
When dug up they were found to contain rough imitations of plum-pudding
that had been partly cooked by the heat of explosion in gun barrels. On
the case of each shell was engraved in bold capitals, "With the
Compliments of the Season." This was the Boer gunner's idea of subtle
irony, he being under the impression that everybody in Ladysmith must be
then at starvation point. In all probability it did not occur to him
that he was throwing into the town a number of curious trophies which
collectors were eager to buy on the spot for five pounds each, with the
certainty of being able to sell them again if they cared to at an
enormous profit some day. After wasting some ammunition for the sake of
this practical joke, our enemies began a bombardment in earnest. Most of
this was directed at the defenceless town. One shell burst in a private
house, wounding slightly the owner, Mrs. Kennedy, whose escape from
fatal injuries seemed miraculous, for the room in which she stood at
that moment was completely wrecked, the windows blown out, and furniture
reduced to a heap of shapeless ruin.

Shells notwithstanding, the troops had their Christmas sports following
a substantial dinner of roast beef and plum-pudding. There were high
jinks in the volunteer camps, where Imperial Light Horse, Natal
Carbineers, and Border Mounted Rifles, representing the thews and sinews
of Co