the wolf or to wait and see if he would not come out
of his lair.

But the wolf, on this occasion, was not to be enticed
out on any pretext; and moreover it was probable
that Lord Roberts would be able to send a relieving
force from Bloemfontein; so I decided to attack at
once. First, however, I despatched some of my best
scouts in the direction of Bloemfontein and Redders-
burg, while I ordered the commandos under Generals
Piet de Wet and A. P. Cronje to take up positions to
the east and south-east of the capital.

Early in the morning of the 7th of April I made an
attack on two points: one to the south-west, the
other to the south-east of Dalgety's fortifications,
opening fire on his troops at distances of from five to
fifteen hundred paces. I dare not approach any nearer
for lack of suitable cover. The place was so strongly
fortified that many valuable lives must have been sac-
rificed, had I been less cautious than I was.

After a few days I received reinforcements, and was
thus enabled to surround the English completely. But
their various positions were so placed that it was im-
possible for me to shell any of them from both sides,
and thus to compel their occupants to surrender.

Day succeeded to day, and still the siege continued.

Before long we had captured some eight hundred of
the trek-oxen, and many of the horses of the enemy.
Things were not going so badly for us after all; and
we plucked up our courage, and began to talk of the
probability of a speedy surrender on the part of the
English.

To tell the truth, there was not a man amongst us
who would have asked better than to make prisoners
of the Cape Mounted Rifles and of Brabant's Horse.
They were Afrikanders, and as Afrikanders, although
neither Free-Staters nor Transvaalers, they ought, in
our opinion, to have been ashamed to fight against us.

The English, we admitted, had a perfect right to
hire such sweepings, and to use them against us, but

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