for the ornamental guard rail and one of the veranda posts
were broken-down, the climbing roses which had been trained to screen
the railing were crushed and trodden into the earth, and the whole stoep
was choked with the bodies of Tembu warriors who had evidently met death
in a desperate attempt to force their way into the house through the
barricaded doors and windows.

But the barricades no longer existed, having evidently been consumed in
the conflagration that followed the collapse of the flaming roof, and
now only the charred and blackened remnants of the door and window
frames remained; beyond them appeared a small heap of white ashes, among
which could be detected here and there a few fragments of what had once
been picture frames, the metal-work of furniture, or the unconsumed end
of a roof timber. With a strong effort of will I compelled myself to
pass through one of the window openings, and entered what had been the
drawing-room. A strong odour of fire still clung to the place, but
there was not much debris, for the room had been by no means crowded
with furniture. I was obliged to pick my way with care, for the floor
was burned completely through in some places, while in others it was so
deeply charred that my feet broke through upon encountering them. I
persevered, however, for near the middle of the room I perceived a mound
of ashes of exceedingly suggestive shape and dimensions, and I was
anxious to ascertain what lay beneath. And, combating the almost
invincible repugnance to close investigation which seized me, I
presently discovered that the heap concealed, as I had suspected, a
half-consumed human body, so dreadfully disfigured that it was only with
the utmost difficulty I presently succeeded in identifying it as the
remains of a Tottie. The metal blade and shank of a Tembu spear--the
wooden shaft of which had been consumed by fire--transfixed the throat,
and my father's roer, with its stock deeply charred, was still grasped
in what remained of the left hand. It was the only body in the room.

From this room I passed into the hall. This was in a similar condition
to that of the drawing-room, except that it contained the remains of two
bodies, one close to the doorway and the other at the point where the
passage leading from the rear entrance of the building opened upon the
hall. The body near the front doorway I identified as that of Nesbitt--
by the watch which was lying close beside it, and