was threatened by burgher forces on
the north-west side, and it was immediately decided by a number of
members who heard of Colonel Rhodes' action to despatch a messenger
ordering the troop not to proceed more than ten miles from the town,
but to reconnoitre and ascertain what Dr. Jameson's position was,
with the reservation that, should it be found that he actually needed
help, such assistance as was possible should of course be given him.
As a matter of hard fact it would not have been possible for the
troop to reach Dr. Jameson before his surrender, so that the action
taken upon the only message received from the invading force had no
practical bearing upon the results.

At daybreak on Thursday morning Mr. Lace and the despatch rider sent
by the British Agent to deliver the High Commissioner's proclamation
and the covering despatch were passed through the Dutch lines under
the authority of the Commandant-General, and they delivered the
documents to Dr. Jameson in person. In reply to Sir Jacobus de Wet's
appeal Dr. Jameson said, 'Tell Sir Jacobus de Wet that I have
received his despatch; and that I shall see him in Pretoria
to-morrow.' Mr. Lace briefly informed him of the position, as he had
undertaken to do. The presence of a Boer escort and the shortness of
the time allowed for the delivery of the messages prevented any
lengthy conversation. Dr. Jameson made no comment further than to
say, 'It is too late now,' and then asked the question, 'Where are
the troops?' to which Mr. Lace replied, 'What troops do you mean? We
know nothing about troops.' It did not occur to Mr. Lace or to
anyone else that he could have meant 'troops' from Johannesburg. With
the receipt of Dr. Jameson's verbal reply to the British Agent's
despatch-carrier the business was concluded, and the escort from the
Boer lines insisted on leaving, taking with them Mr. Lace and the
despatch-rider. He offered no further remark.

Footnotes for Chapter V

{22} The telegram originally read 'within twenty-four hours,' but
it was considered impossible to guarantee the time exactly, and the
alteration as above given was made, the word 'within' being
inadvertently left standing instead of 'with.'

{23} Captain Ferreira, at one time in command of the guard over the
Reformers, informed the writer that he had formed one of the cavalry
escort. 'It is a good story,' he said, 'but what fools we would have
been to send our guns shut up in trucks through a host