a cavalryman
was firing his revolver at a Boer armed with a rifle, and a hundred paces
away a burgher was fighting with a British officer for the possession of a
sword. Over from the hills in the south came the dull roar of Boer cannon,
followed by the reports of the shells exploding in the east near the
waterworks. British cannon opened fire from a position near the white
smoke-stack and scores of bursting projectiles fell among the waggons at
the spruit. Oxen and horses were rent limb from limb, waggons tumbled over
on their sides; boxes of provisions were thrown in all directions, and out
of the cloud of dust and smoke stumbled men with blood-stained faces and
lacerated bodies. Terrified and bellowing oxen twisted and tugged at their
yokes; horses broke from their fastenings in the waggons and dashed hither
and thither, and weakling donkeys strove in vain to free themselves from
waggons set on fire by the shells. Explosion followed explosion, and with
every one the mass became more entangled. Dead horses fell upon living
oxen; wheels and axles were thrown on the backs of donkeys, and plunging
mules dragged heavy waggons over great piles of _debris_.

The cannon on the southern hills became more active and their shells
caused the landscape surrounding the waterworks to be filled with geysers
of dust. Troops which were stationed near the white smoke-stack suddenly
spurred their horses forward and dashed northward to seek safety behind a
long undulation in the ground. The artillerymen in the hills followed
their movements with shells, and the dust-fountains sprang up at the very
heels of the troops. The cannon at the drift joined in the attack on the
horsemen scattered over the slope, and the big guns at the waterworks
continued to reply vigorously. The men in the spruit were watching the
artillery duel intently as they sped up and down the bottom of the
water-less stream, searching for points of vantage. A large number of them
moved rapidly down the spruit towards its confluence with the Modder River
in order to check the advance of the troops driven forward by the
shell-fire, and another party rushed eastward to secure positions in the
rear of the British cannon at the waterworks. The banks of the stream
still concealed them, but they dared not fire lest the enemy should
disturb their plans. On and on they dashed, over rocks and chasms, until
they were within a few hundred yards of a part of the British force.
Slowly t