out
the menu, and the only non-existent delicacy was "fresh butter." This
commodity existed in tins, but I must confess the sultry weather had
anticipated the kitchen, in that it usually appeared in a melted state.

The most formidable weapon of the Boers was, naturally, the big siege
Creusot gun. The very first day I arrived in Mafeking "Creechy"
discharged a shell that killed a trooper of the Protectorate Regiment,
who happened to be standing up in the stables singing a song, whilst
four or five others were seated on the ground. The latter were
uninjured, but the dead man was absolutely blown to bits, and one of his
legs was found in the roof. A few days after two more shells landed in
the market-square, one going through the right window of the chemist's
shop, the other demolishing the left-hand one. Some of the staff were
actually in the shop when the second shell came through the window, and
were covered with dust, broken bits of glass, and shattered wood, but
all providentially escaped unhurt. Others were not so fortunate, for a
nigger in the market-square was literally cut in half, and a white man
100 yards away had his leg torn off. Again, in Mr. Wiel's store a shell
burst while the building was full of people, without injuring anyone;
but one of the splinters carried an account-book from the counter and
deposited it in the roof on its outward passage. Indeed, not a day
passed but one heard of marvellously narrow escapes.

As the heat increased, the shelling grew certainly slacker, and, after
an hour or two spent in exchanging greetings in the early morning, both
besieged and besiegers seemed to slumber during the sultry noonday
hours. About four they appeared to rouse themselves, and often my
telephone would then ring up with the message: "The gun is loaded, and
pointed at the town." Almost simultaneously a panting little bell, not
much louder than a London muffin-bell, but heard distinctly all over the
town in the clear atmosphere, would give tongue, and luckless folk who
were promenading the streets had about three seconds to seek shelter,
the alarm being sounded as the flash was seen by the look-out. One
afternoon they gave us three shots in six minutes, but, of course, this
rapid firing was much safer for the inhabitants than a stray shot after
a long interval, as people remained below-ground expecting a repetition
of that never-to-be-forgotten crashing explosion, followed by the
sickening noise of the spl