ded Ladysmith on
every side, and shelled it persistently, and yet here were the British
troops, seemingly as steadfast as during the early days of the siege.

But wounds and disease had slowly thinned their ranks, and against the
20,000 or more of the enemy there were scarcely 8000 to man a huge
circle of trenches. What could they do against the odds opposed to
them? It was almost an impossible feat that was expected of them, but
for all that, each and every one of our sturdy lads, as he sat in the
trenches that night, listening intently and vainly endeavouring to
pierce the gloom, swore solemnly to himself that the task should be
accomplished. For many weeks they had laughed at and kept a horde of
Boers at bay, and now, when they were in a tight corner and in
difficulties, they would teach the enemy that they yet had teeth to
show, and good strength to use them.

And down beyond the flats stretching away from the heights of Caesar's
Camp, and in all the laagers surrounding the beleaguered garrison, bands
of stern, resolute Boers collected together in absolute silence in the
darkness. There was no need for words. Their plans had long since been
arranged. They were the pick of all the forces from the Transvaal and
the sister republic, and for the most part they had volunteered to
attack and capture the camp, or die in the attempt. Rough, bearded men
of middle age, they numbered amongst their ranks commandants,
field-cornets, and officers of the Boer army. At a peremptory order
from Pretoria, and because they could no longer put up with the
humiliation of thus being laughed at by a handful of men, they had set
themselves the dangerous task of a grand assault. It would be warfare
after a method hateful to them one and all, for the comfortable shelter
of a big boulder was more to their liking. But a desperate position
called for stern measures, and, like the brave men they were, they
prepared for the work, determined to do or die in the attempt.
Collecting together in silence, they for the most part removed their
boots, and just before the darkness lifted they set out across the
grassy plain, and without so much as a sound commenced to scale the
heights of Wagon Hill and Caesar's Camp. Without firing a shot those at
the western end of the heights clambered up till they were almost upon
the trenches, when they were discovered by an outpost of the
Manchesters, who gave the alarm. Instantly a hail of lead was pour