men that morning, so determined they
seemed. On we went, and faster and thicker the bullets came, spending
themselves in the sand at our feet. At last we reached the kopje, and
rested at the foot a short while, and then up we went. Lieutenant Brine
and myself reached the top in advance of the others. As soon as we
popped our heads over the top, five of the Northamptons popped their
heads over the other side, facing us with their rifles, at the present,
and it was hard to convince them we were friends, so excited were they.
We were not allowed to remain at peace long, for evidently some one had
spied us. Ping, ping, came the Mauser bullets; swish, swish, the
Martinis. We soon got to rather close quarters and were able to do some
good shooting. I was still close to Mr. Brine, and we had been talking
some few minutes, when some one spied him and he had two or three
narrow escapes. He moved to what he thought was a safer place, and had
about four shots, which all told. He gave me the range, and was just
taking aim a fifth time when a Martini bullet pierced his throat, and he
fell to rise no more. That was the first death I saw, and I felt
somewhat sick. Soon, however, we charged, and up went the _white flag_;
but it was the most difficult piece of work I ever saw, trying to stop
our men in the middle of a charge. However, they were stopped in time,
and instead of being killed, the remaining Boers were taken prisoners.
The battle over, we returned to camp, and then came the sad duty of
burying our fourteen dead comrades. There were not many dry eyes, but I
venture to say there were many thankful hearts.'

=Mr. Lowry's Adventure on the Veldt.=

The Rev. E.P. Lowry had a very trying experience in connection with this
battle. He had marched out with the colonel of the Grenadiers, intending
to return to camp as soon as the railway line was reached; but it was
impossible to find his way back in the darkness, and he therefore went
on with the men. Presently the bullets were whistling all around him,
and as soon as the heaviest fighting on the left was over, he busied
himself among the wounded. Feeling however, that he could do nothing
more, and that he had better be in camp to receive the wounded, he
determined to make the best of his way back. But he was wrongly
directed, and got lost on the veldt. Hour after hour he wandered about,
but could find no trace of the camp, into which he had marched in the
dark the previous night,