It was not destined, however, that De Wet should be allowed to escape with his usual impunity.  On the 27th, two days after his retreat from Frederickstad he was overtaken—­stumbled upon by pure chance apparently—­by the mounted infantry and cavalry of Charles Knox and De Lisle.  The Boers, a great disorganised cloud of horsemen, swept swiftly along the northern bank of the Vaal, seeking for a place to cross, while the British rode furiously after them, spraying them with shrapnel at every opportunity.  Darkness and a violent storm gave De Wet his opportunity to cross, but the closeness of the pursuit compelled him to abandon two of his guns, one of them a Krupp and the other one of the British twelve-pounders of Sanna’s Post, which, to the delight of the gunners, was regained by that very U battery to which it belonged.

Once across the river and back in his own country De Wet, having placed seventy miles between himself and his pursuers, took it for granted that he was out of their reach, and halted near the village of Bothaville to refit.  But the British were hard upon his track, and for once they were able to catch this indefatigable man unawares.  Yet their knowledge of his position seems to have been most hazy, and on the very day before that on which they found him, General Charles Knox, with the main body of the force, turned north, and was out of the subsequent action.  De Lisle’s mounted troops also turned north, but fortunately not entirely out of call.  To the third and smallest body of mounted men, that under Le Gallais, fell the honour of the action which I am about to describe.

It is possible that the move northwards of Charles Knox and of De Lisle had the effect of a most elaborate stratagem, since it persuaded the Boer scouts that the British were retiring.  So indeed they were, save only the small force of Le Gallais, which seems to have taken one last cast round to the south before giving up the pursuit.  In the grey of the morning of November 6th, Major Lean with forty men of the 5th Mounted Infantry came upon three weary Boers sleeping upon the veld.  Having secured the men, and realising that they were an outpost, Lean pushed on, and topping a rise some hundreds of yards further, he and his men saw a remarkable scene.  There before them stretched the camp of the Boers, the men sleeping, the horses grazing, the guns parked, and the wagons outspanned.

There was little time for consideration.  The Kaffir drivers were already afoot and strolling out for their horses, or lighting the fires for their masters’ coffee.  With splendid decision, although he had but forty men to oppose to over a thousand, Lean sent back for reinforcements and opened fire upon the camp.  In an instant it was buzzing like an overturned hive.  Up sprang the sleepers, rushed for their horses, and galloped away across the veld, leaving their guns and wagons behind.  A few stalwarts remained, however, and their numbers were increased by those whose horses had stampeded, and who were, therefore, unable to get away.  They occupied an enclosed kraal and a farmhouse in front of the British, whence they opened a sharp fire.  At the same time a number of the Boers who had ridden away came back again, having realised how weak their assailants were, and worked round the British flanks upon either side.