nd when at last
he was discovered he was sitting in a humble room with two little
children upon his knees. The officer who found him apologised for
intruding, but said that important business required attention. Lord
Roberts merely looked up smiling and said, 'Don't you see I am engaged?'

But Lord Roberts is not only a Christian man, he is a great soldier.
This is what concerns the country most; only in his kindliness and
Christianity we have the assurance that he will never unnecessarily
sacrifice life, and that he will enter upon no enterprise upon which he
cannot ask the blessing of God. To our chaplains and other Christian
workers his sympathy and help have been invaluable.

It is outside the purpose of this book to follow the general in his
movements, or to discuss the scheme which turned the victorious Cronje
into a vanquished and captured foe. Suffice it to say that that great
flanking movement--perhaps the greatest on record--has won the
admiration of all military critics, and, brilliantly conceived, was as
brilliantly carried out.

There was a stir at the Modder River for some little time before the
actual advance took place. Lord Roberts had come and gone. Various
little attacks on some part of the enemy's position--some real, some
only feints--had taken place. Every one wondered, none knew what would
be the next order of the day. For two months they had been waiting at
the Modder River, and they were heartily tired of their inaction. Even
the shells from Magersfontein, which had fallen every day but Christmas
Day, had become a part of the daily monotony. It had been a glorious
time for Christian workers, and that was all that could be said.

But even the Christians were longing for an advance. By-and-by came the
summons to the cavalry, and off they went, not knowing whether it was
for an ordinary reconnaissance or for something more serious, and little
dreaming what they would be called upon to do. For them until
Bloemfontein was reached all definite Christian work was at an end. All
that the Christians could do was to get together for a short time among
the rocks, when the long day's work was done, to talk and pray. And yet
these cavalry men look back upon those few moments snatched from sleep
as among the most precious in the whole war. They had been in the saddle
for many hours at a stretch; on one occasion at any rate the saddles had
not been taken off the horses for thirty-six hours.

=Religious