from sun or rain, and with
nothing to eat but bully beef and hard-tack biscuits. Always their
glasses were sweeping the enemy's position, as the officer on a ship's
bridge examines the horizon; every little movement of men or cattle was
carefully noted.

Presently I had an illustration of the spirit in which lives are taken
in war, a demonstration of what had been happening to myself a few
minutes before. Out of the shoulder of a hill three Boers came on
ponies, and began to walk leisurely across to the next kopje. Now
immediately in front of our hill was another and smaller one, too
inconsiderable to be occupied permanently, but useful for commanding the
Boer front at rifle range. As we lay watching the three specks crossing
the field, "Sergeant," said the officer, "take a few men down to that
kopje, and see if you can't get a shot at the fellows." And off went the
sergeant and a dozen men, as pleased as Punch.

Some time elapsed before they reached the hillock, and still the three
Boers moved slowly and unsuspectingly across our view. After an anxious
pause the rifles cracked out, one after another, like a rip-rap, and at
the same time the Boers seemed to fly instead of to crawl. I then saw
through my glasses that one of the men pitched backwards from his horse,
which still fled, riderless now, beside the others, who were soon out of
range. The men beside me cheered, but ten minutes ago I had been in a
position exactly similar to that of the Boers; we are all egoists in
such a case; it was myself that I saw out in the plain, my own pony
rushing away scared; and I did not join in the acclamations. But all is
changed in war-time; men are no more than game; the excitement is the
old savage one--the lust of blood and the chase.

Late on the Tuesday night we heard that the attack was to be made early
on the morrow. So we rose at three and rode out in the starlight through
the busy camp, where the flashlights were talking and the fires blazing.
I rode round to the south about eight miles, and presently the whole
Boer position stood out black before the fires of dawn, and when the sun
came up it showed one division of our troops--the Sixth--creeping round
to the south where the enemy's position terminated in seven small
kopjes. It was beautiful to see the division advance down the slope with
the screen of mounted infantry opening out in front like a fan, with
another and more slender screen, like another fan, in front of t