Scarcely had the massacre begun when Mrs. Fox received a bullet wound
as she sat in the wagon, and fell backwards, badly hurt.

Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre were naturally alarmed at finding
themselves suddenly in a position of such great danger. But they were
soldiers' wives, and soon all fear vanished, and having made Mrs.
Smith's children comparatively safe in a corner of the wagon they
stepped out to render aid to the wounded. It was a terrible sight for
them. The ground was strewn with dead and dying, and nearly every face
was familiar to them. Regardless of the bullets that whizzed past
them--one grazed Mrs. Smith's ear they tore up sheets to make bandages,
and passing from one wounded man to another, stanched the flow of blood
and bound the wounds.

At last, when it became clear to the mortally wounded colonel that the
annihilation of his force would be the result of a continuation of the
fight, the 'Cease fire' was sounded, and the outnumbered British
delivered up their arms.

The soldiers' work was finished; Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Maistre had still
much to do. On the battle-field the wounded lay thick, and for hours
the two brave women worked at their self-appointed task. Many a dying
lad had his last minutes made happy by their kindly words and actions.

From December 20 until March 31, 1881, the three women remained
prisoners in the hands of the Boers. They might, had they cared to do
so, have led lives of idleness during their imprisonment, but, instead,
they were busy from morning until night nursing the wounded. Mrs.
Fox's courage was indeed wonderful, for the wound she had received in
the attack was very serious, and the doctors had told her that she
could not expect to live long. Her husband, too, had been severely
wounded early in the fight, but nevertheless she was as indefatigable
as Mrs. Maistre and Mrs. Smith in doing good. The three women were
adored by the wounded soldiers, for whom they wrote letters home,
prepared dainty food, and read.

When peace was declared the three brave women returned to England, and
Mrs. Smith was decorated with the medal of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem. She was reported, in the application that was made on her
behalf, to have been 'unremitting in her attention to the wounded and
dying soldiers during the action, and that her conduct while living
under canvas was beyond all praise. She did the utmost to relieve the
sufferings of the men in hospital,