obscure, but somebody replied: "He was
visiting the Kaiser." This was too much for our interlocutor; he pitied
our ignorance of the world, lamented our neglected education, and, as if
our weakness in arithmetic was peculiarly discreditable, deplored our
inability to put "two and two together."

Alarms were now nightmares of the past, and the people could pursue
their avocations undisturbed and undistracted. There was little firing
in the afternoon--nothing more deafening than a rifle-shot. A Boer, on
sniping bent, was hit by one of our sharpshooters; three men approached,
and two only were observed to rush back _with_ their shields. Of what
the British troops were doing we knew nothing. Thousands of them, it was
said, were congregated at Orange River (seventy miles away), and we were
curious to know when they were to "move on"; only curious--not
impatient. The summer was yet in its infancy (as also was the siege) and
our patience was destined to be lost soon enough. Meanwhile, we had not
much cause for complaint in the matter of food. Meat, some said, they
found it hard to procure; one young lady asserted positively that her
family had had no meat for dinner on Sunday, and that she herself had to
dine off "tea." She was the daughter of a public house, too! Just fancy
the daughter of a public house having to do with "tea" for dinner! Hers,
however, would have been a case of exceptional hardship; there was the
"half pound" for everyone who went shopping in time.

We were startled from our slumbers at an early hour on Saturday morning
by the booming of artillery and a succession of very distinct
explosions. The shells fell broadcast, and whistled--while we sought
vainly to see them--with a disconcerting whiz above our heads. Their
contact with mother earth resulted in a loud crash; it was hard to
believe that the theorist who opined that the Boers had "forgotten the
powder" (before) was a clever fellow. They had remembered it this time;
its odour was everywhere. It was our first real taste of a bombardment,
and a nauseating taste it proved. Men and women had a vague belief that
hundreds must be dead. Consternation reigned; and when it was reported
that a woman had been killed in Dutoitspan Road, the excitement was at
its height. The fatality sent a thrill of horror through the people, who
awaited in dread anticipation the news of further massacres. The victim
was a poor washerwoman, and the possibilities it conjured up bef