e was broken by no large event. The Boers, discouraged by
their want of success on 9th November, went on from day to day
shelling the town with the guns already in position, and mounting
others on the hills with which to make the bombardment more
effective. They hoped to do slowly at a safe distance what they had
failed to accomplish by a more daring procedure. The period,
notwithstanding, is full of minor incidents, the record of which
must be read with the greatest interest. Mr. Pearse wrote:--

_November 15._--Half an hour after midnight all Ladysmith woke from
peaceful slumber on troubled sleep at the sound of guns, from which
shells came screaming about the town and into camps that had not been
reached by them before. What it all meant nobody could say, but the
firing did not cease until every Boer cannon round about our position
had let off a shot. Some of us began to dress, thinking that the misty
diffused moonlight was the coming of dawn. Women, huddling in shawls and
wraps, rushed off with children in their arms to "tunnels" by the
riverside, and there would have been something very like a panic among
civilians if soldiers had not reassured them. The staff officer, who had
been upon the watch for possibilities, until he heard the first Boer gun
fire, and then got into pyjamas for a good night's rest, saying, "There
will be no attack now," was a philosopher. Everybody cannot look at
things in that cool way when shells are flying about, but a good many of
us went back to bed again on discovering what the time was, puzzled to
account for the evening's extraordinary freak, but confident that it
would not be repeated until daybreak. That brought drizzling rain and
mists that have veiled the hills all day, putting a complete stop to all
hostilities. We know nothing yet that can account for the firing of so
many guns, and only attempt to explain it on the supposition that our
enemies, being apprehensive of a renewal of yesterday's attack, were
startled by some false alarm. Not knowing from which direction the
expected blow might be struck, they fired guns all round to keep
everybody on the alert.

_November 16._--We are becoming accustomed to the daily visitation of
shells that do not burst, and perhaps familiarity is beginning to breed
carelessness. If so, the 40-pounder on Lombard's Kop gave us timely
reminder this morning that he is not to be ignored with impunity. One
shell thr