, but not
feeling quite sure as to whether we should reach it before the enemy.
After travelling a couple of hours we observed half a dozen horsemen
appear against the skyline on our left. From the way they were spread
out we judged them to be English. To make sure we rode a little nearer.
On coming round one of the numerous undulating _bulten_, we saw three
horsemen making for us at full speed. We at once wheeled round and took
up a position behind some rocks. When the horsemen came closer we found
that they were Boers. They told us, however, that the men first observed
by us were really British, which accounted for their haste, and that the
whole column was following just behind.

Now that we had located the enemy we felt more at ease. The scouts were
riding near the road along which the wire ran, about seven miles from
the town. Cutting across in plain sight of the enemy, we fixed the
vibrator to the fence, and called up Heilbron. We heard the instruments
working in the office, but got no reply to our hurried call. The scouts
were about fifteen hundred yards away. We continued calling; they
continued approaching, carefully inspecting every foot of ground before
them. It seemed strange to us that the scouts of a column on the march
should search for the enemy within five hundred yards only of the main
body. But perhaps that is what they teach at Sandhurst. Presently the
head of the column came in sight from behind the rise. The scouts were
now within eight hundred yards. We quietly mounted our horses and rode
away. They gave no sign of having observed our movements. When some
distance away, we looked back and saw that the whole column had halted,
about seven thousand men.

We reached Heilbron to find the place practically deserted. Wishing to
see the enemy enter the town, we delayed our departure. Some hours
passed, and nothing happened to denote the proximity of the British. We
feared that they might be surrounding the town before entering it, so we
left for Frankfort, following the road taken by the President the night
before.

TAPPING THE WIRES

We had gone about a mile, when suddenly a score of horsemen made their
appearance on top of the rise before us. Not knowing whether they were
friends or foes, we swerved away to the left, regaining the road by a
detour. After sunset we saw a small bonfire blaze forth about three
miles away in the direction we were going. We hardly knew what to make
of such an u