starved wreck of a man one day, and he
asked him what was the first thing he wanted when the relief came
through. He expected to hear him say food of some sort. But no; this
absent-minded beggar said, 'The first thing, sir, medical comforts for
the sick.' He then asked him what was the next thing he should like. He
thought he would say food _this_ time; but no, his reply was, 'The
English mail.' He then asked what would he like after that, and the
soldier replied that he would then have his food.[17]

Of such stuff were British soldiers made in Ladysmith, and of such stuff
are they, with all their faults, the wide world over!

[Footnote 17: Burnley _Express_, May 5, 1900.]

=Lads, We are Going to be Relieved To-day.'=

But the time of deliverance was drawing near. Hope deferred had made the
heart sick. Time after time had Buller's guns seemed to be drawing
nearer, and time after time had the sound grown faint in the distance.
They were on quarter rations again, and that meant that Colonel Ward,
careful man as he was, had feared a longer delay. One of the
chaplains--he has told the writer the story himself, but prefers that
his name be not mentioned--was lying on his back in his tent at Intombi,
reading the morning service to those gathered round. He was weak from
disease and starvation, and it was no easy task to stand or walk. As he
read the Psalm for the day (Ash Wednesday, Psalm vi.), it seemed to him
a very message from God. His eye caught the tenth verse, 'All mine
enemies shall be confounded and sore vexed: they shall be turned back,
and put to shame suddenly.' He read it again and again. Surely God was
speaking to him through His Word. 'Turned back,' he said to himself;
'ashamed _suddenly_.' It seemed as though it was a personal
illumination from God. He rose to his feet, and going into the tent
which contained the worst cases, he said, 'Lads, I've come to tell you
we are going to be relieved to-day or if not to-day, at any rate very
soon--_suddenly_. Listen, lads; this is my message from God.' And he
read them the passage. Every face brightened as he read, and his own was
doubtless lit up with a light from another world.

That night, as he was lying down worn out with fatigue and excitement,
he heard a British cheer, and everybody rushed out to inquire what it
meant. There in the far distance a column of mounted troops, were slowly
marching along. Who were they--British? 'No,' said one of the soldiers;
'