hit; and, judging by its
battered walls, the Dutch Reformed Church went nearer to demolition than
any other. No structure with any pretensions to size escaped. The Town
Hall was subjected to a fierce assault; for into the Market Square, to
the right and left of the hall, in front and in rear, the shells fell in
abundance. But the solid walls of the building were not tested, which
was strange in view of its exposed position and the large area it
covered. Inside, the busy officials were hard at work, pandering to the
needs of the hungry throng who sought dispensations from starvation,
and who dared not venture out again lest they should die hungry withal.
The Town Hall towered impregnable--impervious to the myriad
battering-rams that yearned to lay it low. As if it had occurred to them
that the chances rather favoured finding the Mayor at home, the Boer
gunners subsequently launched through the roof of his store in Jones'
Street a shower of shrapnel which riddled the occupants of a compartment
in the upper storey. The Mayor, fortunately, was not one of these; when
the smoke cleared away it was found that the injured consisted of some
handsome wax figures. At Beaconsfield a youth was struck, and another
projectile went so near to putting a poor old woman, who lay upon a sick
bed, beyond the borders of eternity that her feeble limbs were deprived
of the couch's solace. An Indian subject of the Queen had his bungalow
shattered. Not even the hallowed sanctuary of the "Law's" guardians was
held sacred, for a missile telescoped a policeman's helmet--which,
happily, was off its head at the moment.

All day long existence was made well-nigh unendurable. None knew the
moment when an account of one's individual stewardship might be
demanded. It is in trials of this kind that mankind is most vividly
impressed with the reality of being in life and death simultaneously.
That these trials surpassed any that had hitherto ruffled the noiseless
tenor of our way was a truism. But coming at a moment when our nerves
were sufficiently unstrung by the dearth of tonics, they were doubly
enervating. Stomachal grievances were forgotten, and few ventured to
desert the imaginary security of their homes to face the risks the
redress of grievances would entail. Thus did the hours creep on until
darkness with its interregnum of peace had fallen on the city.

But the interregnum was of brief duration, for, to our unspeakable
horror, the bombardment w