y, but not
officially. It was broken to us gently, and at first as if he had been
successful, so that we all thought peace was to follow soon.

How we rejoiced!

But a few days later De Wet's official report was read out to us, and
then our courage sank indeed. What was the good of our fighting if the
Colony would not help us?

The disappointment was not great enough to make us lay down our arms,
but we knew it would be many a long day before peace was in the land.
How long should we still be chased from place to place? When would there
be rest for our exhausted bodies? And how we longed for our dear ones,
if only we should find them alive!

CONCLUSION

BATTLE OF STOMPIES--IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY

We stayed fully three weeks at Tafelkop. I was appointed commissary of
the Krugersdorp commando, and rode round to all the farms to procure the
needful for our commando. As General De la Rey had been camping close by
at Rietfontein for some time, there was not much left to commandeer,
unless we deprived the women whose husbands were in the veld of the
necessaries of life.

Our lager was moved from Tafelkop to Rietpan, from whence a few hundred
of our horsemen started with some guns and a few trolleys for Groot
Kafferkraal, in Hartbeestfontein district. General De la Rey had come
over to organize the expedition in person, and accompanied General Kemp.
I went with a man called Jooste to the neighbourhood of Lichtenberg and
Klein Kafferkraal to commandeer cattle. There I heard many tales of the
enemy's behaviour as they passed through a week before.

For some reason or other the houses there had not been burnt, perhaps
owing to the verbal negotiation between Botha and Kitchener. I know of
only one house that was burned down there. That was the finest house in
the neighbourhood and belonged to Willem Basson. Mrs. Basson herself
told me how it happened. Her husband had fled with the cattle when the
enemy came along. The soldiers asked her for money. They said such a
fine house must contain a great deal of money, and when she refused they
became most impertinent. The finding of a packet of dynamite in the
coach-house afforded a fine excuse. The dynamite was used by Basson for
the making of wells. On finding the packet they shouted 'Hurrah!' and
rushed off with it to the camp close to the house. They came back after
a while and stormed the house, smashing the windows with stones. Truly a
heroic storming of a fortr