On we moved until stopped, not by a sentinel—­it was much too cold that night to expect an attack—­but by a network of barbed wires, by which the hill and camp were fenced in.  Quickly the wires were cut.  That done, some of the burghers charged the tents, while the rest made for the enemy’s trenches on top of the hill.

How awful a surprise!  Taken unawares, the foe ran to their strongholds, but only to meet death there, for these were already in possession of our men.  Myburgh, a Gastron burgher, so very brave, was the first and only one to receive a mortal wound—­other men were slightly wounded in that hand-to-hand struggle.  At dawn the hill and the camp were in our possession, for the enemy, after a loss of 9 killed and wounded, thought it best to resist no longer.

With the occupation of the hill it was possible to reach the village.  The British allowed the burghers to pass their skanzes without shooting at them.  But no sooner had they entered the village than a heavy fire from the forts was directed against them.  They were not slow to respond to this reception, and that so effectively that the commanding officer was soon willing to entrust himself with his 130 men to our keeping.  All was over.

At 3 P.M. we departed.  The English commandant and his men accompanied us for some distance, and then we dismissed them after their having promised that they would remain strictly neutral.

CAPTAIN SPANDOW SURPRISED.

While operating in the Cradock district I learnt that a certain Captain Spandow, with about ninety men, was on the track of a small party of Boers.  Only ninety!  The small number tempted us to try to effect their capture, which, as a rule, was not a very difficult nor dangerous operation.  Taking forty burghers I started at midnight, and at dawn found myself still six miles from the enemy.  Lest they should escape I took twelve men with the best animals, and with these proceeded ahead, so as to engage the enemy until the rest, whose horses were very tired, should come to our assistance.

About half an hour after sunrise we unexpectedly lighted on the pickets of the enemy, who camped for the night in the Waterkloof valley, twenty miles from Cradock.  The pickets were charged and captured, and we seized a position hardly 200 yards from the English, who had off-saddled at a wall.

A brisk firing from both sides then ensued.  The wall served the enemy in good stead.  From there they could fire volley after volley on us.  But gradually we crept nearer, until at last a few of the burghers had passed the wall, and were now on the side of the enemy, so that the wall could afford them no cover.  While the men were trying to get on the other side of the wall, one of my adjutants—­Hugo, a lad of thirteen summers—­was killed, and two others wounded.  But the British, now exposed to a cross-fire, suffered heavily.  Several of them dropped down, either dead or wounded.