JOHANNESBURG
The difficulties of the advance were now past, the country was almost
level beyond the drift station, and in the distance was a low line of
hills on which tall chimneys could be made out, the chimneys of the
mines, which had brought such wealth, not only to those who worked
them, but to the Transvaal, and which, owing to the greed and avarice
of Kruger and his associates, had finally brought ruin upon the
country. So far the resistance of the Boers had been feeble in the
extreme. From one point after another, carefully prepared in every way,
they had retreated with scarce a show of resistance, and although they
might nerve themselves to fight one battle in defence of their capital,
it was certain that Johannesburg, a far more important town, would fall
into the hands of the invaders without an effort.
Many of the Free State men had left the retreating forces of the
Transvaal and remained in their own country. Although they had, through
the malign influence of Steyn, thrown in their lot with their northern
kindred, there had from the first been no real heartiness between the
two sections, the Free State men declaring that they were sacrificed
by the Transvaalers, that the whole brunt of the war had fallen upon
them, that they were not consulted, and were treated rather as if
they had been born servants of the Transvaalers than as men who had
sacrificed everything for their sake. The Transvaal men, on the other
hand, accused the burghers of the Free State of being half-hearted
in the cause, of being backward in fighting, and not to be trusted,
accusations which were certainly unfounded. The one desperate attempt
for the capture of Ladysmith, had been made by the Free State men,
who had fought with greater courage and determination than the
Transvaalers had ever done.
Their country had been made the theatre of war. It was their railways
that had been destroyed, their property damaged, their farms burnt.
They had been placed along the Modder to bear the brunt of the British
fire, while the Transvaalers had been posted in a comparatively safe
position on the British flank. They a civilized people, had been lorded
over by one inferior to their foes in all respects except physical
strength. It was small wonder that, seeing how all the assurances that
they had received had been falsified, all their hopes disappointed, all
their feelings outraged, they should have refused to go north to aid in
the defence of the country, which had done so little to aid them. The
wonder rather is, that they did not retire altogether from the contest
and accept the inevitable, when further resistance could but bring ruin
upon them.
Advancing from the Klip River on the 29th, General Ian Hamilton found
the enemy in considerable force with guns on a range of hills to the
west. The position being too strong for cavalry to attack alone, two
brigades of infantry were sent to their assistance; and the Gordons
and the City Imperial Volunteers with the greatest gallantry stormed
the heights. The fighting of the Boers here showed how great was
their demoralization, there was no such resistance as that offered
by the men who held the kopjes of Belmont and Graspan. The Gordons
had nearly a hundred casualties, but this was caused to some extent
by their advancing in open order in line without a pause; while the
City Imperial Volunteers, who were exposed to an equally heavy fire,
advanced by rushes, the companies in the rear keeping up a heavy fire
against the Boers on the sky-line, and so shaking the accuracy of their
fire.
Had the Gordons used similar tactics they would probably have suffered
much less than they did. While this action was going on on their left
flank, Henry with the mounted infantry moved straight upon Germiston,
a point at which the lines from Natal and Johannesburg joined the main
line to Pretoria. This junction lay among the great mounds of mine
refuse; these were occupied by the Boers, and there was some sharp
fighting, but the enemy were soon driven off in gallant fashion by the
dismounted men. The feat was a daring one, as it was impossible to say
how large a body of the enemy had been lying among the tips. The way
being thus cleared, the main force advanced to Germiston.
The next day the 7th Division, with a brigade of cavalry and
the mounted infantry, were established on the heights north of
Johannesburg. Ian Hamilton's column was at Florida, three miles west
of the town. French and Hutton lay between the two forces. During the
day Dr. Krause, who had been left in temporary charge of Johannesburg,
came out to the head-quarter camp and agreed to surrender the town
on the following morning. Early on the 31st the formal surrender was
made, and Lord Roberts entered the town at noon with two divisions.
The Union-jack was hoisted with the same ceremony as had accompanied
its unfurling at Bloemfontein. Lord Roberts remained there but a short
time, and then rode out to the suburb of Orange Grove, three miles to
the north of the town, which was left in charge of Wavell's Brigade,
while Mackenzie of the Seaforth Highlanders was appointed military
governor.
Lord Roberts had now a serious decision to make. The departure of the
main army to the north had emboldened the Boers of the Orange Free
State to undertake operations at several points against the line of
communications. The speed at which the army had advanced had rendered
it impossible for stores sufficient for their needs to be pushed up
along the single line of railway, and at the utmost only a day's
consumption for the army could be brought up in twenty-four hours. The
army was therefore literally living from hand to mouth, and the blowing
up of a single important culvert or small bridge that would even for
one day arrest the transit of trains would have had the most serious
consequences. Lord Roberts had therefore to decide whether to content
himself for a short time with the capture of Johannesburg, until the
safety of his communications was assured, and a supply for a further
advance accumulated, or to push forward at once to Pretoria.
He chose the latter alternative. Delay would enable the Boers to
recover from the demoralization which the complete failure of all
their elaborate plans for checking the advance had brought about, to
clear Pretoria of its stores, and above all to carry off the British
prisoners, some four thousand in number, with them. The latter was a
very serious consideration, as the possession of so large a number of
prisoners might have been used by the Boers as a lever to extort more
favourable terms than they could otherwise have looked for.
Yorke had ridden in with Lord Roberts's staff. As soon as the cheering
that greeted the hoisting of the British flag had ceased, and the
general was moving on, Yorke's eyes, as he looked round over the crowd,
fell upon a group of familiar faces, and turning he rode up to them.
"You do not recognize me, Mr. Chambers?" he said, as he dismounted.
"Why, it is Harberton," the latter exclaimed. "No, we none of us
recognized you, though we looked very narrowly at the mounted officers
with the two divisions; but we did not think of seeing you on the
general's staff. Besides, your uniform makes all the difference; you
were a Dutch farmer, you know, when we saw you last. We are glad indeed
to see you, as glad, I think, as to see the dear old flag hoisted."
While he was speaking Yorke had shaken hands with him, his wife and
daughters. "Now, of course, you are coming to us," Mr. Chambers went on.
"I do not know what we are going to do at present, sir," Yorke replied;
"I do not even know whether we shall stay in the town to-night.
However, I will ask leave when the day's work is over, and I hope to
be able to join you this evening, by which time I shall know something
of what the movements are likely to be."
"And of course, you will bring your two men with you?"
"With pleasure, sir. If I manage to come, they will certainly be able
to do so."
"Then we may expect you anyhow this evening?"
"Certainly; I have no doubt at all about getting away."
Yorke remounted his horse and rode after the general. General Roberts's
quick eye had noticed him ride up to the party; he turned round when
Yorke rejoined the staff and motioned to him to come up to him.
"So you have found some friends, Harberton?"
"Yes, sir; they were Mr. Chambers and the family, the gentleman I was
able to render some service to when his house was attacked."
"And I suppose he wanted you to go home with him?"
"He did ask me, sir, but of course I said that it was out of the
question."
"I am going out to Orange Grove," the general went on, "and it will
certainly be two or three days before we advance again. I don't know
that I can do without your services altogether, Harberton, for there
will be a good deal to be seen to, but I can certainly spare you now,
and as long as I stay here it will be sufficient if you come at nine
in the morning, and you will always be able to get away by five or six
o'clock in the evening."
"Thank you very much indeed, sir."
And Yorke rode back to the square. His friends were just taking their
place in their carriage when he arrived, and were much pleased when
he told them what the general had said. "I will follow you at once,
Mr. Chambers, when I have found Hans; he and the Kaffir will be just
behind. There, I can see him now, with the other orderlies and spare
horses."
He rode at once to the party. Hans was riding one of the horses and
the Kaffir was leading the other. "This way, Hans. We are to stop at
Mr. Chambers's to-night; you know the way." The carriage had waited
till he returned, and he rode by its side out to Parfontein.
"I thought you were on General Pole-Carew's staff, Mr. Harberton?"
"So I was, sir; but when Lord Roberts arrived the day after my return
to camp, he took me as an extra aide-de-camp and interpreter, as
Pole-Carew's Brigade was not coming on at the time."
"We were very anxious about you; but we had a letter from von Rensburg,
telling' us cautiously that our friends had arrived there safely,
and had gone on by train to Colesberg. In a second letter, he said
that there had been a fray in that town, and from the description, he
believed that you and your men were concerned in it; but whoever it
was, they had got away. That was the last we heard."
"We did get off safely," Yorke said, "and made our way up to the
Modder, and then went on with the general. Of course we were at
Paardeberg and at the entry into Bloemfontein. Then I was sent up to
Mafeking with the relieving column, with whom I entered the town. I
started again that night with despatches, giving particulars as to
the siege and our march. As you may imagine I did not let the grass
grow under my feet, as I was most anxious to rejoin the army before
it arrived here. It was a close thing, for I only overtook it at Klip
River Station three days ago. You have had no more trouble here, I
hope, sir?"
"None at all; we have not heard of the matter since. Not only were
the three fellows here sent away, but we gave such information that
those who got away in the carts were arrested in the course of the day
and all five were together sent down to Portuguese territory, so that
the mouths of all who knew anything of the gold here were effectually
silenced."
"I am very glad to hear that, sir. I have all along feared that the
men who escaped might have got together another band and renewed the
attempt."
"They would not have caught us napping again, for I arranged, as I told
you I should do, for three of the engineers to sleep in the house. I
had intended to move into the town; but when I found that all those
fellows had been sent away, I had no longer any anxiety."
"Do you think there will be any more fighting before we get to
Pretoria, sir?"
"There may be some fighting, but nothing serious. The Boers who came
through the town in their retreat were perfectly disheartened; they
abused their commanders, declared that they had been grossly deceived,
and that it was of no use trying to stop the Rooineks, for that they
would not attack them in the positions they had fortified, but went
round at the sides, and they were obliged to retreat at once to save
their guns and waggons."
By this time they arrived at the house.
"That is not the horse you rode when you were here," Mr. Chambers
remarked as they alighted.
"No, sir; Mr. von Rensburg, when I started for Kimberley on my way to
Mafeking, insisted on lending me this horse, as both of my own were
worn out by the work they had had. It is a splendid animal, and has
carried me nobly, as you may imagine when I tell you that, after a
very rapid march from Kimberley to Mafeking, I started early the next
morning and rode down to Boshof and then up to Kroonstad, a distance of
over four hundred miles, in less than nine days. He said that I was to
ask you to take care of it until there was an opportunity of sending it
down to Bloemfontein, or until he came up here, which he was going to
do as soon as the roads were open."
"That I will do willingly. I dare say I shall hear from him now that
the line is open again, and it will be possible to send letters."
They now sat down to lunch, and after the meal Yorke gave the details
of his journey down, and of the struggle in the yard of the inn at
Colesberg.
"That was a fortunate escape indeed," Mr. Chambers said, "and
wonderfully well managed."
"I can't think how you do such things," Mrs. Chambers remarked. "You
do not look more than eighteen, and yet you seem to be as cool and as
quick in deciding what is best to be done as if you had been employed
in dangerous work for many years."
"I don't think age makes much difference, Mrs. Chambers," Yorke
laughed. "The games that one plays at school make one quick. A fellow
sends down a ball at your wicket, and while it is on its way, which is
not much above a second, you have to decide what to do with it, whether
you will block it, or drive it, or cut it to leg. It is the same with
football, and at boxing or single-stick you have to guard a blow and
return it before, as one would imagine, you had time to think. In fact,
you don't know yourself that you think. I should say that a fellow is
quicker and cooler when he leaves school or college than he can be
years afterwards, when he has altogether got out of the way of using
his wits in a hurry."
After talking for an hour Yorke walked up with Mr. Chambers to the
engine-houses.
"I hope we shall be getting to work soon," the latter said.
"I am afraid it will be some time before you do," Yorke replied. "The
country is still in a very disturbed state all down the line, and one
may almost say, as far as Cape Town; and I am afraid that it will be a
long time before the Boers accept their defeat as final, and that they
will carry on a partisan war for many months. It will be impossible to
guard every foot of line for nearly a thousand miles, and it will be
constantly cut. As they are all mounted, there will be no overtaking
the raiding parties with infantry, and we have nothing like enough
cavalry to police such an enormous extent of country. It will take a
long time, I should think many months, before we shall be able on the
single line of railway to do more than feed the troops, and until all
resistance is crushed out it does not seem to me to be possible for the
fugitives to return."
"Well, we must wait as patiently as may be. I am glad to see, by
the news that we have received through Lorenço Marques, that our
shareholders in England have neither lost heart nor patience, and that
the fall in the value of stocks and mines has been much smaller than
might have been expected. I own that I have had great fears of late
that the Boers would, when they saw matters going against them, smash
up the machinery and blow up the mines as far as they could. There
was great danger of it at one time, and indeed yesterday I feared
the worst. The rabble of the town, encouraged by Judge Koch, seemed
bent upon violence; Botha and his troops had retired, and there was
no authority whatever to keep order. Dr. Krause did all he could, and
when a mob, composed almost entirely of the lowest class of Irish and
Germans, went out to the Robinson mine the prospect looked desperate.
But Mr. Tucker, the manager, showed great tact and firmness; and he was
well backed by Krause, who pointed out to the mob that if the British
troops when they entered to-day found that the mines had been damaged,
they would probably have the whole of the lower portion of the town
burned, and every man who could not prove that he had taken no part in
the affair, shot; and therefore, as there was everything to lose and
nothing to gain by the destruction of the mines, it would be nothing
short of madness for them to commit so useless a piece of mischief.
"Happily he succeeded, and the mob returned to the town, and there is
nothing to prevent us from going to work again as soon as we can get
hands. Of course the mine has been somewhat damaged by our picking out
all the richest deposits during the last month's working; but as I have
no doubt I shall be able to get a few hands, as many men have remained
here, to drive headings and open new ground, I do not suppose that
there will be any falling off in our output when we once set to work in
earnest."
That evening, after the ladies had retired, Mr. Chambers said: "Now,
as to yourself, Yorke. From what you said, I fancy you do not think of
remaining in the army after this affair is over?"
"No, sir. Owing to the death vacancies, I am now senior second
lieutenant of the 9th Lancers, and might get my step any day. But the
pay even of a first lieutenant will go but a very short way towards
the expenses of a subaltern in a crack cavalry regiment, and even if I
changed into the infantry, I could still hardly make ends meet. I came
out here, as I frankly told you, in order to make money. My father's
income as a clergyman will die with him; and above all things I am
anxious to be able to assure the future of my mother and sisters."
"That you can do at present," Mr. Chambers said quietly.
Yorke looked at him in surprise.
"You do not suppose," the director went on, "that such services as
you rendered to the company, and to myself and family, are to be
passed over as if they had never occurred. I have taken all possible
precautions to ensure the safety of the treasure, but I do not say
that they would have sufficed had those twelve men had possession of
the house for forty-eight hours. When they found that they could not
bale out the water, they would naturally have supposed that it was fed
from the cistern, or the pipe from the mine. They would have found out
the latter, and by turning on the kitchen tap could have emptied the
former; then they could have baled out the water and got at the top of
the safe. They would have had trouble with it, but among desperadoes
of that kind, and especially in a mining district, there would be sure
to be several who would understand the use of dynamite; at any rate,
sooner or later they would have blown it open and got at the gold.
"I have written a letter to the directors at home, saying that you have
saved two hundred and fifty thousand pounds worth of gold in an attack
made upon the house by a band of ruffians, with the connivance of my
three male servants, who were cognizant of the existence of the store.
I have recommended that at least five per cent of the sum thus saved to
the shareholders shall be voted to you, a recommendation which I have
no doubt whatever will be granted; especially as the very existence of
this money is still unknown to them, as I have not ventured to say a
word in my letters concerning it, because all of them were liable to be
opened by the Boer authorities. I should say that if they are at all
liberally inclined they will vote you a larger percentage; but at five
per cent the sum would amount to twelve thousand five hundred pounds,
which will, you see, enable you to ensure the future of those dear to
you."
Yorke was silent with astonishment for half a minute, and then said
earnestly: "It is too much, sir; it would be out of all reason. I had
no thought of doing more than saving yourself and the ladies from those
ruffians, and no thought of reward ever entered my head."
"That may be, Mr. Harberton, but that is no reason whatever against
your accepting the money that you have fairly earned. It is not what
you feel about it, but what the shareholders and I--as I am a very
considerable shareholder myself--feel in the matter. There will be
nearly two hundred and forty thousand pounds to divide between us--a
sum wholly unexpected by them, and saved for them by you. It is a
matter of only the barest justice, and I am sure they will feel as
I do. I have, of course, written a full account of the affair--how,
although an escaped prisoner and in danger every moment of detection,
you went out of your way on hearing of this plot to hasten here;
how you in the first place overpowered and disarmed my treacherous
servants, and then warned me; how you and your two men killed no fewer
than ten out of the twelve men who attacked us; and how without your
interposition the ruffians would unquestionably have killed me, my
wife, and daughters before ransacking the place for the treasure--a
matter, by the way, that would have been a considerable inconvenience,
to put it in no stronger form, to the company, as they would have found
it difficult to replace me by anyone having at once so intimate a
knowledge of the mine and so large an interest in its success.
"And now we come to my personal interest in the matter. I wish to make
you an offer. I have no son, nor have I a nephew nor any near relative
who could stand to me in the place of one. I propose, therefore, that
you shall be trained up to take my place, so to speak, to act here as
my assistant, to learn the business thoroughly, for which you would
have ample opportunities, as I am inspector of several other mines,
in which I have also interests. When matters have quite settled
down, which may not be for another year or so, you can act as my
_locum-tenens_, for I shall certainly go to England with my family for
two or three years. I may return again for a year or so, and shall then
finally retire. By that time you will be fully competent to fill my
place here as managing director, and I shall transfer enough shares in
the company to you to qualify you for the post.
"This is no new idea on my part. I have for some months past been
thinking over returning to settle in England, but I have seen no way
of doing so without seriously inconveniencing the company. I now see a
way by which it can be managed. I have spoken of my plans to my wife,
and she most cordially approves of them, and it now only awaits your
decision. I may say that I hold twenty thousand shares in the company,
and that I consider that as managing director you ought to hold at
least five thousand, and that number I shall transfer to your name. I
am perfectly confident that you will do full justice to my choice of
you as my successor here, and you will not be long in acquiring the
necessary knowledge. I shall regard you as an adopted son if you will
allow me to do so, and I can answer that my wife and daughters will
gladly accept you in that position. I may tell you that you will not be
entirely cut off from your family, as you will be able to take three
months' holiday every year if you like to do so, which will give you
over six weeks at home, and perhaps you may bring one of your sisters
out with you to keep house until you marry. What do you say to this?"
"I don't know what to say, sir; your kindness is so great I hardly feel
that I can take advantage of it."
"My dear lad, place yourself in my position for a moment. Imagine that
there had been a plot to kill your father and mother and two sisters,
and that that plot failed by the interposition of a stranger. What
would you have felt towards that man? Is there anything that you would
not do for him? And if you had been a rich man, as I am, would you not
have felt that the gift of five thousand shares--which originally cost
me five shillings each, although they are now worth more than as many
pounds--would have been an inadequate expression of your gratitude?"
Yorke was silent, and after a moment's pause Mr. Chambers went on.
"You must think of us as well as of yourself. It will be a grievous
disappointment to us if you refuse. Even in a pecuniary sense, I
consider that my offer to you is an advantageous one to my family. My
stake in this mine and others is a very large one; every penny that
I have is invested in this way. At the present value of shares they
are worth over three hundred thousand pounds. It would be an enormous
advantage to have here a gentleman on the accuracy of whose reports
I could implicitly rely, and who would, which is not always the case
with managers of mines, frankly say if the prospects of any of them
were falling off or improving. It is my personal knowledge of the real
state of things that has enabled me to do so well--to get out of mines
whose prospects are not favourable, and buy into others, perhaps at
very low prices, likely to do really well when fully opened. I should
not, of course, wish to obtain reports other than those sent by you to
the boards of the various companies, but from what I personally know
of the mines I should be able to draw very valuable deductions from
those reports, and see the drift of them much better than men wholly in
ignorance of the workings to which they relate."
"You need say no more, Mr. Chambers," Yorke said; "I accept most
gratefully your splendid offer, and will endeavour to make myself
worthy of it. But I hope that you will allow me to attend to my present
duties until, at least, we have captured Pretoria. I could not in
honour go to Lord Roberts and say that on the eve of possibly a great
battle I desire to resign my commission. The war may continue in a
partisan struggle for months, or even for years; but with Pretoria once
taken it seems to me that there must be an end to fighting on a great
scale, and that I might therefore, without feeling that I could be
blamed for doing so, leave the army."
"By all means, Yorke; for, now that you have agreed to my proposal, I
can henceforth call you so. If it had been a matter even of months I
could have waited, but I believe that it is one of days only. There
may be a great battle, for, insignificant as has been the resistance
of the Boers to your advance, it is difficult to believe that, with
the example of what Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking have done, all
unprepared as they were, they can retire from a town that they have for
the past four or five years been fortifying."
"It is hard to believe that they could be so cowardly, sir, especially
as they would know that a lengthened resistance here would enable
the Burghers of both states to rally, and by cutting the line of
communications speedily reduce the besiegers to the greatest straits;
and indeed, even if they could only hold out for a week, the position
of the army would become extremely serious. One thing is certain, that
if they do not fight there they will never fight with any chance of
success again. They may cut off convoys, blow up culverts, and harass
us terribly, but it will no longer be a war, but merely the efforts of
bands of mounted bandits."
"Now we will join the ladies," Mr. Chambers said.
"My dear," he said when he entered the room, "you will be glad to hear
that Yorke has accepted our proposal."
"I am glad indeed," Mrs. Chambers said, shaking Yorke warmly by the
hand. "I began to think that we should never be able to get away from
here, and now I feel that there is a prospect some day of our doing so.
My husband would never have gone until he felt sure that he could leave
everything in the hands of one whom he could absolutely trust. Girls,
you will, I am sure, be glad to know that henceforth Mr. Harberton
will stand almost in the position of a brother to you. You have often
lamented that you had no brother; I don't think you could have had one
whom you could have liked better, certainly not one who could have done
more for you. And now, in another year, we shall be able to go home, as
you have always wished to do."
The girls both looked greatly pleased.
"I am glad Mr. Harberton," the elder said. "We both feel how much we
owe to you; and if you will let us, I am sure we shall both, as mother
says, come to look upon you as a brother."
"It is very kind of you to say so," Yorke said; "and as a beginning,
I hope you will in future call me by my Christian name. I hate being
called Mr. Harberton."
"It will be much pleasanter calling you Yorke," the girl said; "and, of
course, you must call us Dora and Mary. And it will be so nice, when we
go to England, to meet your father, and mother, and sisters. Of course,
we have many acquaintances there among father's business friends, but
it will be pleasant meeting people who can be real friends, and can
talk about something else than mines, and levels, and reserves, and
money."
"I have a bit of news to tell you, Hans, which I think will please you
and Peter," Yorke said when, later in the evening, he went out to have
a talk with them.
"What is that, master?"
"I am going to stay out here, Hans! and to be assistant to Mr. Chambers
on the mine."
"That is good news indeed, Master Yorke. Then you are not going to be a
soldier any more?"
"Only till we get to Pretoria, then I am going to resign my commission
and come back here."
"And are you going to live in this house, master?"
"Yes, it has been arranged so, Hans; and that you shall take the place
of the man we tied up, that is, you will have charge of the stables;
and Peter will be there too, unless he makes up his mind to join his
tribe again."
"I shall not do that, baas, as long as you will keep me. Some day I
will go down and buy a wife, and build a little house near here. I have
been so long in towns that I do not want to be a wild fellow again, and
live in village kraals, and eat mealies, and have nothing to do but to
walk about and carry a gun on my shoulder. A stupid life that; much
rather live with baas."
The army remained but two days at Johannesburg, when, supplies having
arrived, on the 3d of June, an advance was made to Leeuwkop, a distance
of twelve miles. On the morning after the arrival at Johannesburg,
Major Weston, with two hundred Lancers, had started to endeavour to
damage the line of railway between Pretoria and Komati Poort, so as to
cut off the retreat of the Boers, but they came across a strong body of
the enemy, and were forced to retire, after having suffered nineteen
casualties. French, with a portion of the cavalry, started on the 2nd,
made a wide sweep round to the west of Pretoria, and after repulsing an
attack by a strong force, established himself to the north of the town.
On the 4th, the main army advanced. The Boers for a short time held the
river called Six Miles Spruit, but they were soon driven off. Some
guns opened to check the pursuit, but our batteries were brought up,
and speedily silenced them.
The Boers, however, menaced the flank as it advanced; and Ian
Hamilton's Division, which was marching to the left of the main
body, moved against them, and they fell back to Pretoria. As the
army approached the town, a heavy rifle-fire was for a time opened
from a ridge on which stood the great southern fort. But as the
latter remained silent, it was evident that its guns had been already
withdrawn, and that the opposing force was but a rear-guard posted to
check our advance while the town was evacuated. This and the field-guns
that supported it were soon driven off. Pole-Carew's Division, which
had now come up, swept over the slopes; the forts were found to be
abandoned, and the goal of the long march lay defenceless before them.
Here a halt was made for the night.
After dusk, an officer with a flag of truce was sent in from the
Mounted Infantry, who had taken up their post within a mile of the
town, to demand its surrender. No reply was given; but at ten in the
evening, the military secretary to Commandant-general Botha, with
another general, brought in a letter proposing an armistice. Lord
Roberts answered that surrender must be unconditional, and that an
answer must be sent in before five in the morning, as the troops had
been ordered to advance at daybreak. Before the time named, on the 5th
of June, Botha sent in to say that he was not prepared to defend the
place farther, and that he entrusted the women, children, and property
to our protection. The troops at once moved up close to the town, and
at three o'clock Lord Roberts arrived at the head of two divisions.
The British flag was hoisted, and the troops marched past. The general
established his head-quarters at the British Agency. The 15th Brigade
was told off to garrison the town, Major-general Maxwell being
appointed military governor. A hundred and fifty-eight officers and
over three thousand men were found in the prisons, but nine hundred
had been carried off by the Boers in their retreat. Orders were given
that these released prisoners should at once be reclothed and armed,
and sent down to form part of the force guarding the line of railway.
Mr. Kruger had fled before the arrival of the British army, and showed,
by leaving his wife behind him, as also did General Botha, that he had
no belief whatever in the atrocious calumnies the former had invented
regarding the conduct of our troops. Before leaving, Kruger carried off
the money in the banks, and the state treasure, and did not even pay
the officials the salaries due to them. After all his boasting, that if
the British ever entered Pretoria they would find him sitting in front
of his house, his despicable conduct when danger approached was only
what was to be expected from a man whose folly and ambition had brought
ruin on the people over whom he ruled, and who had trusted him only too
blindly.