moving it in line of quarter-columns, and being as
particular about the 'dressing' as if he were on Laffan's Plain. His
command hardly appreciated this smartness at the time. But all were
finally rewarded by the arrival of the transport with tents and
baggage, and every one spent the night in comparative luxury.

CHAPTER VII.

VAAL KRANTZ.

'The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft agley.
And lea'e us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy.'

_Burns._

On January 30th we were reinforced by a draft of 400 men, principally
militia reservists, who were brought up by Captain Venour. They were a
welcome addition, being a physically fine body of men, and, although
their training was naturally not so good as that of their 'regular'
comrades, they proved equally brave and ready to follow their
officers.

The battalion shifted its camp on January 29th to Spearman's Hollow,
where it stayed a week. It was here that Sir Redvers Buller visited
every brigade in turn, and made his speech stating that the fighting
around Spion Kop had enabled him to discover the key to Ladysmith. He
had earned the gratitude of the men by putting them on extra rations,
and was always a warm favourite with the rank and file, who love a
brave man and instinctively know one.

On February 2nd the regiment left Spearman's Hollow for Spearman's
Hill, and, on the afternoon of Sunday, February 4th, marched with the
rest of the brigade towards Potgieter's Drift. The trek was a short
one, and at 6 p.m. we bivouacked behind Swaartz Kop. At nightfall the
officers were assembled and informed of the proposed operations for
the next day. The idea was to make a feint attack on Brakfontein and
then assault Vaal Krantz, the capture of which, it was thought, would
break the enemy's line.

We rose at dawn on the 5th, had a comfortable breakfast, and only
moved off about 7 a.m., just as the heavy artillery on Mount Alice and
Swaartz Kop began the fight by shelling Brakfontein. The hills around
rolled with the thunder of the guns, while the faint echoes of the
lyddite explosions on the distant ridges formed a piano accompaniment.
With this music in its ears, the battalion marched through the gap
between Mount Alice and Swaartz Kop by the road leading to Potgieter's
Drift. There was a short halt made at the gap, from which a splendid
view of the battlefield was obtainable. Immediately below