ly the cause of her
weeping was explained, as an elderly man came round the corner of the
house with both his hands roughly tied up with bandages covered with
blood--a sight which caused the young woman to sob with renewed vigour.
After a little talk with the man, who, in spite of his injuries, seemed
perfectly well, the latter went away, and I entered into conversation
with the weeping female, whom I found to speak good English, and to be
the daughter of the wounded warrior, Hoffman by name and German by
birth. They were Transvaal subjects, and her father had been among the
first of the burghers to turn out when hostilities threatened. She then
proceeded to tell me that she and her mother and a numerous collection
of young brothers and sisters had trekked in from their home in the
Transvaal to spend the Sunday in the laager with their father. On their
arrival early that morning, they learnt, to their horror, that he had
been wounded, or, rather, injured, late the night before, as the
mutilated state of his hands arose from a shell exploding in the
high-velocity Krupp gun just as he was loading it. She told me her
father was one of the most valued artillerymen on the Boer side, and
that he was also an adept in the art of making fireworks, his last
triumph in this line having been at Mafeking on the occasion of the
celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Fully appreciating the
value of his services, the Transvaal authorities had from the
commencement given him the most arduous tasks, and always, she
indignantly added, in the forefront of the battle. As regarded the
present accident, she said her father had repeatedly told the
authorities these particular shells were not safe to handle. Apparently
the safety-bolt was missing from all of them, making them when loaded as
brittle as an eggshell. This young lady and her mother were certainly
very anti-Boer in their sympathies, though terribly afraid of allowing
their feelings to be known. All that day and the next they spent in the
laager, looking after the injured _pere de famille_, whom, by the way, I
got quite friendly with, but who, I think, was rather relieved to see
his family depart. I rather regretted them, as Miss Hoffman used to
bring me a lot of gossip overheard in the laager, where she assured me
public opinion was running very strongly against me, and that all were
of opinion the General should certainly not allow me to join my friends
in Mafeking.

The