A long message was heliographed through just before sunset, and rumours of ill news are whispered about with bated breath by people who wish to establish a reputation for early knowledge, but at the risk of being charged before a court-martial with the dissemination of news calculated to cause despondency.  We had a case of that kind the other day when Foss, the champion swimmer of South Africa, was rightly convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for deprecating the skill of our generals in conversation with soldiers.  Tommy may hold his own opinions on that point, but he resents hearing them expressed for him through a pro-Boer mouthpiece, and this man may consider himself lucky to escape summary chastisement as a preliminary to the durance vile which is intended to be a wholesome warning for others of like tendency.

And indeed the garrison and civilians of Ladysmith, who now began to feel the sharp pinch of hunger, had need to silence any whose voices might be raised to rob them of their attenuated hopes.  No official statement had yet been made on the subject, but it was already becoming evident that they had yet a time of painful waiting before relief could come.  To the hundred days which they had trusted might complete the period of their trial a score were to be added before their sufferings could be forgotten in the joy of deliverance.

CHAPTER XII

AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS

Boer paean of victory—­Rations cut down—­Sausage without mystery—­The “helio” moves east—­Sick and dying at Intombi—­Famine prices at market—­Laughter quits the camps—­A kindly thing by the enemy—­Good news at last—­Heroes in tatters—­The distant tide of battle—­Pulse-like throb of rifles—­Two sons for the Empire—­British infantry on Monte Cristo—­Boer ambulances moving north—­“’Ave you ’eard the noos?”—­Rations increased—­Bulwaan strikes his tents—­“With a rifle and a red cross”—­Buller “going strong”—­Cronje’s surrender—­A sorry celebration—­“A beaten army in full retreat”—­“Puffing Billy” dismantled—­General Buller’s message—­Relief at hand.

Sir Redvers Buller’s third attempt to force his way through to Ladysmith failed on 8th February, when he withdrew his forces from Vaalkranz to the south side of the Tugela.  Their success was announced by the Boers about Ladysmith in their own way.  At half-past two on the morning of 9th February, night was rent by the sudden glare of a search-light from Bulwaan, and soon came the scream of shells hurtling over the town.  It was the Boer paean of victory, and it sent the people hurrying to their underground refuges, to which the unco’ guid had given the name of “funk-holes,” but did no damage.  Its purport was half-divined by the defenders.  The news was still said to be good, but there were head-shakings, and even the stoutest optimism found itself unequal to the strain when it was announced that rations were to be cut down.