the next morning the lads bade farewell to mr harvey and the three hunters, and then rode on with the regiment. the day passed as quietly as the preceding ones had done.
on the 20th the column was marching along a road commanded on both sides by rising ground. the troops as usual were marching at ease; one company was ahead of the line of waggons, two companies marched in straggling order by the side of the long teams, and the fourth company formed the rearguard.
suddenly, without the slightest warning, a flash of fire burst from the edge of the rise at either side. numbers of the men fell, and a scene of the wildest confusion ensued. some of the young soldiers ran for shelter underneath the waggons; others hastily loaded and fired in the direction of their unseen foes.
the colonel and officers strove to steady the men, and to lead them up the slope to attack the boers; but so deadly was the fire of the latter, and the men fell in such numbers, that the colonel soon saw that resistance was hopeless. many of the officers were killed or wounded by the first fire, and in five minutes after the first shot was fired 120 men were killed or wounded; and as the rest could not be got together to charge up the slope under the deadly fire of the boers, the colonel, who was himself wounded, surrendered with the survivors to the boers. two or three mounted officers only succeeded in getting through.
when the fire opened, dick and tom at once threw themselves off their horses, and, unslinging their rifles, opened fire. when they saw the bewilderment and confusion, and how fast the men were dropping under the fire of the boers, dick said to his friend,—
“it is all up, tom; it is simply a massacre. we will wait for a minute or two, and then mount and make a dash for it.”
their horses were both lying down beside them, for the lads had taught them to do this at the word of command, as it enabled them often, when out hunting, to conceal themselves in a slight depression from the sight of an approaching herd of deer. thus they, as well as their masters, remained untouched by the storm of bullets. the boers almost concealed from view, steadily picked off the men.
“it is of no use, tom; let us mount and make a bolt for it. they must surrender in a few minutes, or not a man will be left alive.”
they gave the word to their horses, and these leaped to their feet, and, as was their habit in the chase, dashed off at full speed the instant their masters were in the saddle. bending low on the necks of their horses, the lads rode at the top of their speed. several bullets came very close to them, but keeping closely side by side, to lessen the mark they presented to the enemy, they dashed on untouched. looking round, when they had proceeded some little distance, they saw that four boers had mounted and were in hot pursuit. their horses were good ones, in capital condition, and had done easy work for the last few days. the boers also were well mounted, and for three or four miles the chase continued, the dutch from time to time firing; but the lads were a good four hundred yards ahead, a distance beyond that at which the boers are accustomed to shoot, or which their guns will carry with any accuracy.
“we must stop this,” dick said, as they breasted an ascent. “if they should happen to hit one of our horses, it would be all up with us. dismount, tom, as soon as you are over the rise.”
as soon as they were out of sight of their pursuers, they reined up their horses and dismounted. they again made the animals lie down, and, throwing themselves behind them, rested their rifles upon them.
the boers, they had noticed, were not all together—two of them being about fifty yards ahead of the others. at full speed the leading pursuers dashed for the rise; as they came fairly in view, they were but fifty yards distant. the lads and their horses were almost hidden in the long grass, and the boers did not for a moment notice them. when they did, they instantly reined in their horses, but it was too late.
the lads had their rifles fixed upon them, the two shots rang out together, both the boers fell lifeless from the saddle, and the dutch horses dashed back along the track by which they had come.
the lads instantly reloaded; but they waited in vain for the coming of the other pursuers; these on seeing the horses galloping towards them after the shots had been fired had at once turned and rode off. after waiting for a little time to be sure that they were not going to be attacked, the friends mounted and rode on. they did not retrace their steps to see what had become of the other pursuers, as it was possible that these had imitated their own tactics, and were lying down by their horses, waiting to get a shot at them, should they ride back. they now continued their journey at an easy canter, and late in the evening entered the little town of standerton.
standerton presented a scene of unusual excitement; teams of waggons filled its streets, armed men moved about and talked excitedly, numbers of cattle and horses under the charge of kaffirs occupied every spare place near the town—it was an exodus. the loyal boers, who were at that time in an absolute majority throughout the colony, were many of them moving across the frontier, to escape the conflict which they saw approaching.
the more enlightened among these people had been fully conscious of the short-comings of their own government, prior to the annexation to england.
short as had been the period that had elapsed since that event, the benefits which had accrued to the country had been immense. the value of land had risen fourfold; english traders had opened establishments in every village, and the dutch obtained far higher prices than before for their produce, with a corresponding reduction in that of the articles which they had to purchase. peaceable men were no longer harassed by being summoned to take part in commandos or levies for expeditions against the natives. the feeling of insecurity from the threatening attitude of the zulus and other warlike neighbours was at an end, as was the danger of a general rising among the natives in the colony, who outnumbered the boers by ten to one.
thus the wiser heads among the boers bitterly regretted the movement which had commenced for the renewed independence of the country. they did not believe that it would be successful, because they could not suppose that england, having, by the repeated assertions of its representatives that the annexation was final and absolute, induced thousands of englishmen to purchase land, erect trading establishments, and embark their capital in the country, could ever desert and ruin them. they foresaw, moreover, that even should the rebellion be successful it would throw the country back a century, the rising trade would be nipped in the bud, the english colonists would leave the country, the price of land would again fall to a nominal sum, the old difficulties of raising taxes to carry on the government would recur, and restless spirits would again be carrying out lawless raids upon the natives, and involving them in difficulties and dangers.
farther north the loyal portion of the dutch remained quiet during the trouble; but around standerton, utrecht, and other places near the frontier large numbers of them crossed into natal, with their wives and families, their cattle and horses, and there remained until the end of the war. the english settlers, almost to a man, abandoned their farms, and either retired into natal or assembled in the towns and formed themselves with the traders there into corps for their defence. the manner in which throughout the war these little bodies uniformly succeeded in repulsing every attempt of the boers to capture the towns showed how easily the latter could have been defeated, had the british government acted with energy when a sufficient force had been collected on the frontier, instead of losing heart and surrendering at discretion. it is not too much to say that, had the british government stood altogether aloof, the colony of natal, with the english settlers and loyal boers, could single-handed have put down the insurrection in the transvaal.
the news which the lads brought to standerton of the unprovoked attack upon, and massacre of, the 94th caused a wild feeling of excitement. a crowd rapidly gathered round the lads, and so great was the anxiety to hear what had taken place that dick was obliged to mount on a waggon, and to relate the whole circumstances to the crowd.
englishmen living at home in the happy conviction that their own is the greatest of nations can form little idea of the feelings of men in a colony like the cape, where our rule is but half-consolidated, and where a dutch population, equal in numbers, are sullenly hostile, or openly insolent. the love of the old flag and the pride of nationality are there very different feelings from the dull and languid sentiment at home; and the news of this bloody massacre, at a time when hostilities had not commenced on either side, and when no overt act of rebellion had taken place, caused every eye to flash, and the blood to run hotly in men’s veins.
those who had hitherto counselled that the english settlers should remain neutral in the contest were now as eager as the rest in their demands that the place should be defended. there was but one company of british troops in the town; but within an hour of the story of the massacre being known 150 men had put down their names to form a corps; officers were chosen, and these at once waited upon the captain in command of the troops, and placed themselves under his orders.
the next morning scores of men set to work throwing up a breastwork round the place, cutting holes in the walls and houses for musketry, and preparing to defend the little town to the last against any attack of the boers.
the moment that he had heard from the lads of the disaster to the 94th, the officer in command despatched a horseman to carry the news at full speed to sir g. pomeroy colley, who was advancing towards newcastle with the troops from natal.
the same night a messenger rode in, saying that the boers had raised their flag at pretoria, had killed several english there, and were preparing to attack the little british force encamped at a small distance from the town; that at potchefstroom they had also attacked the troops; and that the insurrection was general.
the next morning the lads mounted and proceeded on their way, and reached home late that evening, to the immense delight of their parents.
the news of the rising created a fever of excitement throughout natal. h.m.s. boadicea landed a rocket-battery and a naval brigade, who at once marched up towards the front; and sir g.p. colley, who commanded the forces, hurried every available man towards newcastle, as the boers were advancing in force towards the frontier, and were preparing to invade natal.
every day brought fresh news from the transvaal. the little towns where the british were centred, isolated and alone as they were in the midst of a hostile country, in every case prepared to defend themselves to the last; and at potchefstroom, wackerstroom, standerton, leydenberg, and other places the boers, attempting to carry the towns were vigorously repulsed. the news that a large force of boers was marching against newcastle caused great excitement in that portion of natal; here large numbers of dutch were settled, and the colonists were consequently divided into hostile camps. large numbers of british colonists sent in their names as ready to serve against the boers; but the english military authorities unfortunately declined to avail themselves of their services, on the ground that they did not wish to involve the colonists in a struggle which was purely an imperial one. for, were they to do so, the dutch throughout the colony and in the orange free state might also join in the struggle, and the whole of south africa be involved in a civil war.
there was much in this view of the case; but had a strong corps of colonists been attached to the force of general colley, it is pretty certain that it would have escaped the disaster which subsequently befell it; for, being for the most part excellent shots and accustomed to the chase, they would have met the boers with their own tactics, and thus, as the english settlers in the garrisons in the transvaal showed themselves far better fighters than their dutch antagonists, so natal, where large numbers of young colonists had served against the zulus, secoceni, moirosi, and in other native troubles, could, if permitted, have furnished a contingent which would have entirely altered the complexion of the struggle.
upon the very day after the return of their sons, mr humphreys and his friend jackson, furious at the two attacks which had been made by the boers upon the parties accompanied by their sons, rode into newcastle and inscribed their names in the list of those willing to serve against the enemy. they also offered their waggons and cattle to the authorities, to facilitate the advance of the british troops.
this offer was at once accepted, and it was arranged that on the 26th the carts still on the farm should go down to pieter-maritzburg, and mr humphreys wrote a letter to mr harvey, telling him that he was, upon his arrival, after clearing the waggons of the goods that he had brought down from the interior, to place them at once at the disposal of the authorities for the transport of military stores to newcastle. bill harrison was to go down with the carts, and to be in charge of them and the waggons on their upward march.
christmas was held with great festivity, to celebrate the return of the lads. mr and mrs jackson and tom, and four or five young settlers in neighbouring farms were invited by mr humphreys to spend the day with him. at his request they came early, and after the service of the church had been read by him the day was spent in festivity. the young men rode races on their horses, shot at marks for prizes of useful articles, presented by mr humphreys, and at five o’clock sat down to a christmas dinner.
the holly, the mistletoe, and above all the roaring fire were absent, but the great kitchen was decked with boughs. the roast beef, plum-pudding, and mince-pies were equal to the best at home, and no pains were spared to recall home customs on the occasion.
at one o’clock there had been an equally good dinner given to the labourers and their families belonging to the farms of mr humphreys and his guests, and in the evening all assembled in the great kitchen, and to the tunes of a violin, played by one of the young colonists, a merry dance was kept up for some hours. the next morning harrison started with the remaining waggon and several carts for pieter-maritzburg, and the lads were supposed to resume regular work on the farms.