rk bracing and congenial, and the
prospect of "potting a Boer" not at all bad. With the Light Horse were
soon to be associated some hundreds of the Cape Police (who came in from
Fourteen Streams); and the combined forces inflicted considerable
damage, and were a perennial source of irritation to the enemy all
through. De Beers came out strong in another direction by heading the
list of subscriptions to a Refugee fund which had been opened. The
amount subscribed ran up to four figures. Much distress prevailed, and
the Refugee committee set about distributing the fund to the best
advantage. The ladies came out strong here, and gave yeomen
service--scooping out flour, meal, tea, and sugar to the needy, and in
sifting and rejecting, with rare acumen, the bogus claims of the "Heaps"
who affected humble poverty.

The Summary Commission sat for the first time, and with a courageous
disregard for the despotism of red tape, proceeded to business. The
first case called was that of one, Pretorious, whose open and vehement
condemnation of the war, and the policy that led to it, had rendered him
an object of suspicion. A search of his house had resulted in the
discovery of a revolver and two rifles, with ammunition to suit all
three. The Proclamation had been very clear as to the seriousness; of
this offence, and the penalty it entailed. The Court pronounced the
accused guilty, and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment. The cases
of minor offenders were postponed, and some of the prisoners awaiting
trial were released on bail. The fate of Pretorious was paraded by
mischief-makers as something which had produced a salutary effect in the
Dutch element at large. It induced them to cultivate a remarkable
reticence; but reticence is not essentially a product of good
government.

On Wednesday, the Boers--in so far as their demeanour could be gauged
from a distance--betrayed a tendency to wax indignant with us and our
determination to fight. Large numbers of them perambulated to and fro,
keeping nicely out of rifle range. A section of the Town Guard went out
to the Intermediate Pumping Station, and sought to entice them into
battle; but they were not to be drawn. The Beaconsfield Town Guard was
afterwards deputed to try its powers of persuasion--to no purpose. The
armoured train was finally resorted to as a decoy; but beyond eyeing it
from a distance--and if looks could smash, it would have been reduced to
small pieces--the Boers mad