by a halo of white smoke, came into view.  The scene was very picturesque.  No cloud obscured the star-bespangled sky or the crescent of the Queen of the Night.  Still far away, the lights of the little town were a beacon to guide us.  The noise and cries of the camp were carried to us on the gentlest of night breezes, and, to complete the calm beauty of the surroundings, the deep, slow chime of a church-bell struck our ears.

We had reached our destination, and were in a few minutes driving through the quiet little street, pulling up in front of the Central Hotel, kept by a colonial Englishman and his wife.  The former had been commandeered twice during the war, but he hastened to assure us that, though he had been at the laager, and even in the trenches before Mafeking, he had never let off his rifle, and had given it up with great pleasure to the English only the day before.  This old-fashioned hostelry was very comfortable and commodious, with excellent cooking, but it was not till the next day that we realized how pretty was the town of Zeerust, and how charmingly situated.  The houses, standing back from the wide road, were surrounded by neat little gardens and rows of cypresses.  Looking down the main street, in either direction, were purple, tree-covered hills.  A stream wound its way across one end of the highway, and teams of sleepy fat oxen with bells completed the illusion that we had suddenly been transported into a town of Northern Italy or of the Lower Engadine.  However, other circumstances contributed to give it an air of depression and sadness.  On the stoeps of the houses were gathered groups of Dutch women and girls, many of them in deep mourning, and all looking very miserable, gazing at us with unfriendly eyes.  Fine-looking but shabbily-clad men were to be met carrying their rifles and bandoliers to the Landrost’s late office, now occupied by Colonel Plumer and his Staff.  Sometimes they were leading a rough-coated, ill-fed pony, in many cases their one ewe lamb, which might or might not be required for Her Majesty’s troops.  They walked slowly and dejectedly, though some took off their hats and gave one a rough “Good-day.”  Most of them had their eyes on the ground and a look of mute despair.  Others, again, looked quite jolly and friendly, calling out a cheery greeting, for all at that time thought the war was really over.  I was told that what caused them surprise and despair was the fact of their animals being required by the English:  “requisitioned” was the term used when the owner was on his farm, which meant that he would receive payment for the property, and was given a receipt to that effect; “confiscated,” when the burgher was found absent, which signified he was still on commando.  Even in the former case he gave up his property sadly and reluctantly, amid the tears and groans of his wife and children, for, judging by the ways of his own Government, they never expected the paper receipt would produce any