That was a terrible night which followed. We had plenty of water; but
our scraps of food were sadly inadequate for the wants of the men, who,
many of them wounded, were sick and despondent, and dropped down here
and there to fall asleep as soon as their injuries were roughly dressed.
Meanwhile the walls were as strongly manned as could be contrived under
the circumstances; and the weary horses were now watered and given the
last handful of grain in the bags, after which they stood snuffing about
among the stones, every now and then uttering an impatient neigh--Sandho
as bad as any of them, though he had fared better, for I had given him
half my biscuits and a piece of bread-cake.
By nightfall the entrance had been strongly fortified with a massive
wall of stones, a narrow side-opening being left, large enough to admit
any straggler who might manage to reach our camp; and then all but the
sentries, after a last look at the Boers' fires in the distance, lay
down anywhere to sleep; but pain and weariness kept me as wakeful as a
group of officers, among whose voices I was glad to hear that of
Sergeant Briggs, who spoke the most cheerily of them all.
"If you'll not mind, gentlemen," he said, "I should like to say that our
position isn't so bad as you think."
"Why, it couldn't be worse," said the Major.
"Begging your pardon, sir, yes," said Sergeant Briggs. "We've plenty of
water, and our marksmen can keep the Boers at a distance as long as you
like. They won't face our rifles."
"But the horses, man!"
"They can be taken out to graze, sir, covered by our rifle-fire.
There's a good patch of green out yonder."
"But we can't go and graze," said another officer.
"No, sir; but we shall be hungry enough by to-morrow night to be ready
for a raid on the Boers' provision wagons. There'll be plenty, and we
must cut one out, fasten a dozen reins to it, and bring it up here."
"Humph! We might try," said the Major.
"And we will," said one of our captains. "Why, we might capture some of
their ammunition too," he added.
"Yes, sir. They've got pack-mules with their small-arms ammunition; and
with a bit of scheming and a night surprise it might be done," said the
Sergeant. "And there's another thing I had my eyes on to-day."
"What's that, Briggs?" said the Major.
"A train of bullocks, sir; and if one of you gentlemen can shoot the
train with a field-glass just before sunset to-morrow night, if we're
here, and give me half-a-dozen men and that black chap as come along
with young Mr Moray, I shouldn't wonder if we had grilled steak for
supper just by way of a change."
"Why, Sergeant," cried the Major, "if you're not our adjutant before
this war's over it shan't be my fault."
"Thank ye, sir," said Briggs stolidly; "but I should like to get the
beef for the boys and a load of mealies for the horses before we talk
about that. And now, if you wouldn't mind, I'll have a couple of hours'
sleep."
I felt for a few minutes so much brightened up that I was ready to go
off too; but the thoughts of poor Denham lying out dead or wounded
somewhere on the veldt kept me awake, and I was in greater pain than
ever from the blow I had received. And there I lay in my misery till
about midnight, when there was an alarm from the sentries of horsemen
approaching, and I sprang to my feet.