Lieutenant-Colonel Peakman had succeeded the lamented Scott-Turner, and on Wednesday long before daybreak he led a picked force towards Webster"s Farm, to steal a march on the napping enemy. The napping enemy, however, was alive to the propriety of utilising but one eye in the lap of "Nature"s soft nurse." He could not see much with the open optic, but he could hear with the one ear he had taken the precaution of keeping open also. Of the good sense of this precaution Mr. Peakman was somewhat abruptly apprised by the crack and blaze of a hundred Mausers.
Nothing daunted he returned the salute right gallantly, and with a doggedness that obliged the Boers to retreat, firing as they went. The enemy"s gun at Oliphantsfontein soon chimed in with some well-directed sh.e.l.ls, one of which failed to burst and was secured intact as a valuable trophy. n.o.body was hurt, and the force got back to town without further molestation.
A concert was given in the evening at the Reservoir camp, the takings (20) going to the Widows" and Orphans" Committee. There was no lack of entertainment at all the camps, although the men did not feel so cheerful as their comic singing was intended to denote. Numerous presents continued to find their way to the redoubts. Cigars and tobacco, fruits from the De Beers horticultural department, and an odd pint of wine from the casks of the Colussus were periodically received to brighten the lives of the citizen soldiers. An odd bottle, or rather an odd dozen, of "Cape Smoke" found entry at times. Impure though the commodity was--there is no smoke without fire--a little of it on a raw morning was not amiss. Some erred, unfortunately, in not confining themselves to a _little_ of the lava. Eruptions often ensued. One gentleman, on a certain occasion, was so inflamed with martial ardour after a too copious indulgence in the "brandy" that it resulted in his discharge from the Town Guard--for over-doing his duty. He was one night on sentry duty and challenged an officer, one officer, whom he failed to identify, or compute--"in the dark," as he explained. Having courteously yelled out to the intruder to halt, and on being quietly a.s.sured that "a friend" went there, the alert sentry presented arms and called in solemn, stentorian accents upon his friend to "advance within six inches of the muzzle of this rifle and give the countersign!" It was due to a lucky accident that the officer knew the countersign, and was not buried next day. Another genial tippler disported himself during business hours in less serious fashion. He was not so fastidiously exact about killing his man by inches. On the contrary, when his "friend" had proclaimed himself a friend indeed, he was superciliously informed: "You have got to say "Tiger" before you come in here!" "Tiger" was the countersign; and it was only the humour of the incident that enabled the worthy sentry to keep the Marshal"s baton in his knapsack.
Under the direction of Major Gorle, the Army Service Corps was extremely energetic in the general regulation of foodstuffs. Colonel Kekewich seemed bent on starving us. Now, if there remained no less drastic alternative to surrender he could have starved us by consent. To the _principle_ of the ordinance there was no open opposition. But it was ridiculous to start starving us so soon, and we were far from imagining that it should ever be necessary to start at all. The _Commissariat_ was being largely extended, and the Colonel had drafted another proclamation. He had already taken care that the flour should be made to stretch for years--the colour of the bread never permitted us to forget that--and he now commanded that all the tea and coffee in town must be submitted for a.n.a.lysis. Every ounce of chicory in the city, he proclaimed, must be handed over to the _Commissariat_ within twenty-four hours; or, by Jingo!--Martial Law! The ladies clung to their caddies and protested; but in vain. The gallant Colonel insisted--reluctantly; he had a heart; but he had also, so to say, a partner (Mr. Gorle)--as inexorable as the "Mr. Jorkins" whom d.i.c.kens has immortalised. This arbitrary conduct on the part of Kekewich and Gorle did not stop at tea and coffee; it was only a beginning, a preliminary step in the military dispensation. How far the transactions of the firm would extend we were not yet to know; but the details of the ma.s.sacre at Magersfontein, which kept pouring in, indirectly suggested that the business might extend very far indeed. The losses sustained at Magersfontein were more appalling than we were at first led to believe. They were a bitter sequel to the memorable cannonade of ten days before. How inappropriate had been our jubilation! The citizens forgot their personal woes in sorrow for the brave men who after a series of brilliant successes had perished in the final effort. Magersfontein hit us hard, though we knew nothing of the "blazing indiscretions" connected with that fatal a.s.sault on positions of peculiar strength and impregnability. Its consequences meant another delay, perhaps a long one. Meanwhile our resolution grew stronger to hold Kimberley though the heavens should fall. Eating, after all, was a habit--a bad habit with some of us--which we could not give up in a day. But the story of Magersfontein diverted our thoughts from provisions. Let the Boers but come within range of our rifles, and then, ah, then there would be squalls! But would they do so; would they screw their courage to the sticking point? It was feared not, more particularly in view of the supposed existence of dynamite mines around Kimberley. The train was laid; the fuse was there to ignite the powder that would blow up a hostile army. The mere suggestion of such a _contretemps_ was enough to make the Boers think twice before drawing near enough to be shot at. Belief in the existence of these mines was widespread. How far it was warranted, it is hard to say. The enemy had heard something of them, and burning though was his desire to blow up the diamonds he did not quite court a flight towards heaven in their company. He had seen what dynamite applied to culverts and bridges could do, and doubtless fully measured the indignity of so disentegrating, not to say violent, a manner of quitting this world for a good one.
On Friday a party of the Lancashire Regiment went out to cut off a Boer water supply at Curtis Farm. A body of the Light Horse with guns accompanied them--as a hint to the enemy that intervention would be resented. The Boer ignored the hint and lost no time in lodging his protest against our infringement of "the game"s" rules. The "Lanks.,"
however, were not to be deterred; they stuck stoically to their work until their object was accomplished. Our guns had meanwhile kept hurling defiance at the enemy; but there were no casualties on either side.
These aquatic operations seriously inconvenienced the Boers; they compelled them to make wide _detours_, to travel a long distance for water around the great ring which encircled Kimberley; the short cuts were dangerous. A sad thing happened when night came. A corporal in charge of a piquet went out to inspect his men. Unfortunately the sentry on duty was unaware of the fact, and on the corporal"s return he was mistaken in the darkness for a marauding Boer--with the pitiable result that the sentry shot him dead.
In the morning we had news again. It was simply the _truth_ concerning Colenso; fiction could not improve a deal on the loss of ten or twelve British guns. We were unaccustomed to so much candour in the matter of reverses, and this brutal revelation of the truth overwhelmed and astonished us--though we could scarcely pretend that we had not _asked_ for it. A "Slip" unfolded the tale in all its naked veracity. It was _news_, fair and square value for the "thruppence," as siege value goes; but we were in no mood to appreciate the novelty of that; the circ.u.mstances were too distressing. Buller was roundly abused, and his staff also were included in a comprehensive denunciation; so that whoever was at fault in the Colenso collapse did not escape the wrath of Kimberley. As one of the Pitts (was it one of the Pitts?) has aptly said: "there are none of us infallible, not even the youngest of us."
Not even Lord Methuen, as we had sadly discovered. The brightness of our Christmas prospects was beginning to fade.
It faded a great deal when typhoid fever broke out in the Light Horse camp. The outbreak was attributed to the uncertain water we had to use, since the purer supply had been cut off. The new water was none too good. We had been repeatedly warned to boil it before drinking it, and were now adjured to do so. A large number heeded the warning, but the perverse majority heeded it not; they did not find it convenient to spare fuel to boil what was not essential to the creation of the "cup that cheers" when there is milk in it. Scurvy was playing havoc with the native population. These trials and tribulations did not enhance our festive dispositions on the eve of Christmas. A programme of sports attracted all the Tapleys; but there was little until evening, when the scramble for the good cheer that was _not_ in the shops had begun, to enable one to remember that Yule was nigh.
The scene was one that will be long remembered in the Diamond City. It was only the very large stores that had anything to sell. Before the war broke out Abrahams and Co. had purchased an immense stock of foodstuffs; but a great hole had been made in it, and it was to be much greater _after_ Christmas. It was at Abrahams", therefore, that the mult.i.tude swarmed. The traffic in sweet peas, jams, and raisins was heavy. Boer meal with imported raisins in it was the richest possible pudding! The sale of sweets was unprecedented--so unprecedented that toothache was an epidemic until French relieved it. How the shop a.s.sistant clung to his reason is a mystery which has yet to be solved. Behind the counter he was hampered by the local _elite_: Judges, Doctors, Directors, etc., who would never say die (from hunger) while they lived. Outside the counter the madding throng felt likewise. But the great ones were able to help themselves; they inspected the shelves, perused the labels of every antiquated sauce and pickle bottle in stock since the "early days," and placed the best of these relics of a pre-consolidated era in heaps aside for Monday"s dinner. There were special constables on duty within and without the store, which was as full as an egg; and when after a while it was apparent that this congestion r.e.t.a.r.ded business, the hundred Christians nearest the door were hustled into the street with all the "good will" in the world. But the relief came too late; the clock struck nine ere half the mult.i.tude were served--or even formally satisfied that blood is not in turnips. Of the merry season we were wont to enjoy, the busy throng was the sole reminiscence. Its good things were absent. But that bitter truth did not make less keen our hunt the slipper pursuit of Christmas fare.
CHAPTER XI
_Week ending 30th December, 1899_
Christmas Eve--a memorable day in its own way--dawned in due course. It was not the siege alone, with its attendant inconveniences, that made it memorable. It was not that the season accentuated the want of _enough_ to eat; nor was it the absence of the time-honoured turkey that tried us most. There was something else besides, namely, the capers of the sun.
Thermal phenomena are of course not strictly pertinent to my story. But I feel impelled to digress for a little and warm, as it were, to this new element of discomfort, provided doubtless as a Christmas Box by the thoughtful clerk of the weather. To those of us who were enjoying our first taste of a sunny southern summer the heat of the day was excruciating; it literally took one"s breath away. A man could not even read; he tried to, in the hope of falling asleep incidentally. But in vain. "Nature"s soft nurse" was not to be cajoled by artifice. There was no air, no breeze to fan her softness. The thermometer registered on its imperturbable face one hundred and seven in the shade, at which experts who had pa.s.sed the whole of their summers in the furnace of the Diamond City inveighed against the slowness of the instrument and its lapse from the path of rect.i.tude. The cant of the day ordained the twenty-fifth of December the "hottest day of the year." Well, the newcomers felt that if it were to be redder than the twenty-fourth they might jump into the Kimberley mine, without danger of landing on their feet, and enjoy a better pudding in a better and (perhaps) cooler world. It was a day to make one fed in all seriousness that life is not worth living; and to a man fresh from over-sea the a.s.sociation of Christmas with such weather--to say nothing of the victuals!--was the acme of satire. There is no whiteness in the African Christmas, and for the first time in their lives the newcomers sighed for a "green" one! A "green" one would cool the atmosphere, and a cooler atmosphere would content us. We would gladly let the turkey and the pudding pa.s.s if the Turkish Bath would go too. Had the shade of _Santa Claus_, or the flesh and blood of anybody, come loaded with poultry for our "stockings," we should not have said, thank you. Our appet.i.tes were gone. They were gone, and all we asked was that they should be restored for Christmas Day--just as if _Claus_ had indeed made amends for the cruel kindness of the "Clerk!" It was kind of Sir Alfred Milner to arrange a congratulatory flash of compliments (by signal from Modder River) and to wish us all sorts of luck. One sort would have sufficed: the kind contained in a record output of rain.
Would it come? First it would--and then it would not. A duststorm intervened by way of compromise; it was a breeze--hot, choking, blinding, but still a breeze. We got thunder and lightning, too; but the rain hesitated--as if it knew there was little left to soak in Kimberley. It ultimately relented, however, and came down in torrents through the night.
Christmas Day itself! It had come, cool, delicious; the change, the metamorphosis in the weather, the disappearance of the azure sky was strange and lovely. Those shifting, hustling clouds, how pleasant they were to look at. The day was the ant.i.thesis of its predecessor--the mildest we had had for a long, long time. It was a relief to find that the "hottest day of the year" was a figurative expression used to denote the middle of summer. Our fears of cremation were entirely dissipated--as sometimes happens in the case of pa.s.sengers to the Cape who, sweltering in a broiling sun _outside_ the tropics, marvel how they are to toe the _Line_.
It thus came to pa.s.s that our interest in breakfast was after all considerable. I shall confine my congratulations to the genius of one resourceful landlady who furnished, in addition to "mealie-pap" allowed by "Law," some illicit t.i.t-bits of meat, as a surprise! But she did not cease staggering humanity until a small dish of b.u.t.ter was produced.
Real b.u.t.ter!--the lady"s character made her word sacred. It was an astounding phenomenon in itself, but the sharing of it in a season of famine with poor relations like her boarders was the kindest cut of all.
b.u.t.ter it was; we remembered the taste, and there was the circ.u.mstantial evidence of our eyes. We had once been taken in by dripping; but there was no mistaking the species in the dish on Christmas morning. There it was in all its luscious sallowness, and the smacking of our lips betokened an appreciation of all that we had lost in the weeks gone by.
Many, alas! missed more than their b.u.t.ter. Speaking generally, the "Xmas breakfast consisted of black tea, khaki bread, and golden syrup--an appetising rainbow on a "merry" morning. The _menu_ at dinner was little better; it stirred up sad recollections of the past. Pudding (worthy of the name) was nowhere. We had imitations; apologies for puddings, plain--and hard--as a pikestaff, were everywhere. They were not essentially cheap, because eggs, the chief ingredient, were fabulously fresh. As for the geese that laid not, well, they did not cackle either; their bones had long since been mumbled. But there were self-denying citizens who actually preserved some beer and stout for Christmas Day!
These good stoics--stoical only to be epicurean--were proud of their will-power. Indeed they ostentatiously affected intoxication and horrified everybody--with their bad acting.
For the men who were obliged to spend the day in camp there was not much to live for in the eating line. So everyone thought, at least, when the fight for leave of absence had begun. But Mr. Rhodes, with characteristic thoughtfulness, sent a lot of nice things to the camps, which changed the situation and made men regret their anxiety to spend Christmas at home. The quant.i.ty of what was styled Cape brandy consumed in camp baffles computation. The effects of the swim were bad, too--not because there were so many drunk--Christmas comes but once a year--but because of the awful aftermath. Numbers were ill, very ill, indeed; and it was a blessing, all things considered, that none were dead. In the camps, life, although boisterous, was not exactly merry; but it was a Christmas, as was afterwards declared with chivalrous unanimity, than which n.o.body had ever spent a better. n.o.body had ever felt so sick the next morning, and that was most likely the standard by which the measure of the merriment was gauged.
His Excellency"s congratulations were the innocent cause of a little friction. Had it not been for _his_ example the "compliments of the season" might have been left unsaid; good taste and good sense would have conspired to let them lapse. There was something incongruous about wishing a man a happy Christmas. Let a man be ever so sympathetic and cordial; let him mean--not wisely but too well; let his accents ring true as steel: it was still difficult to convince one that there was no suggestion of sarcasm in the greeting. But the Governor had changed the situation; he had set the fashion--had reminded us that the fashion with its conventions and courtesies was an element, a blessing, of our civilisation; and that we were not permanently outside the pale. It was nevertheless trying to be taken by the hand and wished "a merry Christmas" by every brazen Napper Tandy in the town. It was, as I have said, all the fault of the Governor; the custom was adhered to in deference to His Excellency rather than with _malice prepense_ on the part of a friend to indulge in wanton candour. There _were_ monsters who out of sheer, cra.s.s good nature did offend; but even they took care to couple with their "remarks" an apologetic laugh, which was intended to convey that the joke, though carried far, was just a joke. The wags--the species was not yet extinct--were especially felicitous. They treated the subject as a very original piece of humour indeed. Their treatment of it gained them an occasional cuff in the ear, and they had to be discriminative in their choice of victims. Everybody was not to be wished "returns of the day" with impunity.
The happiest people in the world on Christmas Day were the wise and simple natives. They foregathered in the streets and revelled to their hearts" content. All day long they sang, danced, and laughed; they held orgies (in honour of the Colonel) and _corroborees_ of the kind described by _de Rougemont_--the Washington of France. The antics of our dusky tragedians and comedians made a striking spectacle, and were quite as entertaining as the performances of the highly rated Harrys, Irving and Lauder. There was a moral in the orgies--though we did not draw it.
The natives were happy; short commons did not trouble them or mar their enjoyment in the slightest. With us it was far otherwise; _we_ had antic.i.p.ated a different Yuletide; the natives had not. The natives made the most of theirs; we the least of ours. Some of us had dreamt of dining in Europe. Others of us had visions of beer drinking at the coast. A great many would fain have taken the waters of Modder River.
But all were disappointed, dour, and sorrowful--all save our true philosopher, the native.
The twenty-sixth of December is proverbially a sad day. It was so with us, but not sadder than the day before. A few sh.e.l.ls were sent out among the Boers to ascertain how they got Christmas over them; and they by way of reply made some good practice on the Premier Mine. A water-pipe was mutilated, and a man standing near had the pipe knocked out of his mouth by a piece of sh.e.l.l. A good deal of desultory firing went on for several hours. The enemy"s guns were obviously handled by men who knew what they were about, and we soon afterwards definitely learned (what we had long suspected) that there were French and German experts behind them. The remainder of the day was dusty, stormy, and uninteresting.
Lord Methuen"s guns made a noise on Wednesday. Their booming, with intervals of silence, went on all day; from Kimberley sh.e.l.l after sh.e.l.l could be seen bursting in all directions. Our confidence began to revive; indeed it had never waned so far as the capabilities of the Column were concerned; and we were satisfied that a second a.s.sault on Magersfontein would be crowned with success. The excuses advanced on behalf of those most responsible for the failure of the first attack were legion. That they had not been given half enough men for the job was a favourite plea; and Buller (who had his hands full in Natal) was reviled for not supplying more. The indications of a renewal of active hostilities, however, which Wednesday brought, enkindled hope again and promised a happy New Year. It was still a sore point with us to see the exchange of signals going on night after night; to think that we--the people!--should be kept in ignorance of their meaning. But it was in harmony with the Military methods in general; and some people vowed that if ever the hat went round for the Colonel they would not put a cent in it, so help them! How much the Colonel was perturbed by this dire threat there was no evidence to show. But a Proclamation was soon forthcoming--which would certainly not conduce to the filling of the hat. His (the Colonel"s) proclamations had for the most part made us swear by him; the one of which I now speak made us swear _at_ him! And our language will be pardoned when I explain that the decree struck at the one commodity it was in our power to get enough of. There _was_ such a commodity, and that was bread. Until this atrocious edict saw the light it had been our privilege to, enjoy _carte blanche_ in bread. It was the last of our privileges--too simple and sacred, one would have thought, for even an autocrat to have dared to trample on.
Flour, meal, Kafir corn, mealies, etc., were also to be controlled by the socialists (they had red flags up); but the main insult, added to the injury already inflicted by the quality of the State loaf, lay in the suggestion that we ate too much bread, and that we were in future to be limited to _fourteen ounces per diem_! Already limited to nothing at all in vegetables and to a glorified _bite_ of beef, it was not surprising that an angry chorus of protest was raised against the Government. People asked, in their indignation, if they really lived in a British Colony? Could such an interference with the freedom of the subject be brooked for five minutes? Of course the query was beside the question, but everybody was beside himself with rage. Where was the Military despotism to stop? In the meantime, while men in the street raved, shrewd housewives were acting. At the first note of alarm they had started scouring up their pans and determined to encourage thrift by baking their own bread. They would thus supplement their allowance of the readymade article, and by the same token snap their fingers at that "a.s.s" _in excelsis_--Martial Law. But they reckoned without their host; there is nothing asinine about _Martial_ Law; a closer perusal of the proclamation would have taught them that Kekewich and Gorle were old soldiers; that anybody buying meal or flour could not buy bread, and _vice versa_. Even "mealie-pap," _ad lib._, we had perforce to forego; the "Law" allowed it but once a day. Then there was a worse feature than this limitation indicated. "Mealie-pap" without milk was bad enough; minus sugar it was unthinkable. But the "Law" would not permit us to sweeten the "pap" any more--that is to say, the reduced allowance of sugar was all too little for neutralising the insipidity of black tea.
We were also restricted to a fixed complement per unit of tea and coffee--as much as we required in any circ.u.mstances, but, ironically enough, a little more than we required of the stimulants in their undiluted nastiness. An elaborate system was set up garnished with red tape, and a large clerical staff filled the Town Hall for the purpose of receiving affidavits, affirmations, and of issuing "permits" to all and sundry who might feel averse from succ.u.mbing to a sudden, in contra-distinction to a slow, starvation. The possession of a "permit"
ent.i.tled the holder to purchase the "regulation" quant.i.ty of provisions for one week, at the expiry of which period he or she would be required to have his or her "permit" renewed, if he or she desired a renewed lease of life. The tumult at the Town Hall was remarkable; the people swarmed there like locusts; the ordeal one had to undergo for a "permit"
involved cruelty to corns. Matters improved when the excited mult.i.tude were at length persuaded that one representative of each family sufficed to conduct negotiations in respect of their right to vegetate.
No storekeeper could supply more than the exact quant.i.ty specified in a "permit," nor dare he refuse to sell on a false plea.
All these drastic changes were the outcome of the Colonel"s proclamation. His action was p.r.o.nounced grossly unconst.i.tutional. What our Rulers meant by it, what such arbitrary interference with the liberty of the stomach portended, we could not tell. Some ascribed it to pure "khaki cussedness"; others maintained that the Military aimed at stretching the duration of the Siege to six months--that they might be lifted by a short cut to promotion. Such were our views of collectivism; and if the Military left ear did not tingle it must have been frost-bitten.
Mr. Rhodes liked the latest inscription on the Statute book as little as anybody else. On Thursday he contributed one thousand pounds to the Widows" and Orphans" Fund. We liked this liberality, and there was a consensus of opinion that the _Colossus was_ a "wonder." During the day a Despatch Rider brought him a bundle of newspapers, which he rather indiscreetly handed to the _Advertiser_, to dole out at retail rates on sheets of notepaper. Thus "news much older than our ale went round"--but no; the papers were dated only three weeks back, and we had had no ale for at least a month. Any intelligence of the outside world, however, was interesting (save what we read of Belmont). The details of Buller"s repulse at the Tugela did not make good reading. What we read of streams of transports laden with troops was better; as also was the item that Warren--who knew much of Boer wiles--was steering through the Karoo. We took it that he was to join Methuen, but were afterwards annoyed to learn that his destination was Natal. The situation in Natal appeared to be serious. Still, our opinions of our spoonfeeders remained unaltered; we still a.s.sumed that they suppressed or minimised the seriousness of things in Kimberley. Our att.i.tude was perhaps uncharitable, and deserving of the rope--of half-hanging at least; but the weather was so hot; we felt so hungry and thirsty. There was no need to starve us, to deny us bread; we believed that we might be safely granted a slice or two more--until the British flag was hoisted in Pretoria. We had, it is true, rather hugged the delusion that it would have been up for Christmas Day. But even in the light of that error of judgment we could appreciate the puerility of conserving supplies as if the dogs of war were to go on barking until doomsday.
A special meeting of the City Council was held in the afternoon; and although opinions were divided as to the precise form its protest against the new order of things should take, n.o.body doubted that it was for such a purpose the meeting was convened. We were all wrong. It was simply resolved at the Town House to wish the Queen a Happy New Year; and thereby demonstrate not only the unswerving loyalty of her distant subjects, but their _sang froid_ also in days of stress and danger. It was an excellent idea; the taking off of hats to the Queen was general.
The Colonel signalled to Lord Methuen; that gentleman communicated with Sir Alfred Milner; and he in turn cabled Kimberley"s sentiments to Her Majesty. There was no mention of the bread; it was an omission; but it might have sounded "conditional," irrelevant, or even have detracted from the value of our good wishes; and it was hardly worth risking being suspected of loyalty to one"s bread--unb.u.t.tered! Besides, our friend the enemy (the Colonel, not the Boer) personally supervised the despatch of messages, and he was quite artful enough to suppress reference to eating matters if he thereby served the "Military Situation."
Friday was quiet--in the cannonading line; the wind and dust were bellicose enough. Fodder was scarce, and the animal creation was sharing with us the privations of a siege. Hundreds of horses were turned out to "gra.s.s." To be reduced to dependence on Karoo gra.s.s was a sad fate for the poor quadrupeds. On a billiard table they could have feasted their eyes at least on green; but the veld could not offer even that ocular consolation. Hay and straw were at a premium; the "fighting" horses had first call, and they were numerous enough to make hard the lot of the steeds of peace. The poor cart horses were sadly neglected; it was pitiful to behold their protruding ribs, their forlorn looks. Every sort of garbage was raked up to keep them alive--second-hand straw hat mashes being the most notable repasts in vogue. Cab-men were obliged to descend from their boxes and face the dignity of labour with a pick and shovel.
The dearth of fodder brought down the prices of beasts, and thenceforward they were sold for songs--ditties to the tune of thirty shillings. Half-a-dozen horses were on one occasion sold for seven pounds--animals that were worth a great deal more each. The purchasers took risks of course. But the booming of cannon was still to be heard in the land--it boomed all the afternoon--and the possibility of keeping the quadrupeds alive until the Column came to the rescue was not yet despaired of.
Sat.u.r.day was the seventy-seventh day of our investment, with relief not yet in sight. True, it was within hearing; but so it had been three weeks before, on Magersfontein day. We were weary of this interminable thunder, which showed us no results. Colonel Kekewich was as reticent as ever. Of guesswork there was plenty. Had Methuen not had time sufficiently to augment his forces to cut his way through. The troops were in the country; we were placated with the information that they were "falling over one another in Cape Town." This comforting gem glittered less in our minds as the days sped past, and the prospects of a speedy liberation receded correspondingly. The delay was to us incomprehensible. We fell back on our old theory, that the more protracted the Siege the greater the fame and honour for the men to whose "prentice hands had been committed the destinies of a free community. It was hard to believe that these armed martinets could play with their responsibilities in such a crisis. Did they realise its gravity? Were facts being witheld? Was the true and actual condition of the city as regards provisions and the contingencies to which their scarcity might lead--were these things being properly represented to the public and to Sir Redvers Buller? In our wisdom we feared not.
Scepticism and suspicion, born of disappointment, were in our hearts.
Our conclusions may not have been sound; we lacked a proper knowledge of the difficulties confronting the army; but we _did_ feel that if the real state of affairs had been explicitly indicated to the Commander-in-Chief, a column would have reached Kimberley sooner. We were not so far away from Orange River, where thousands of troops had been ma.s.sing for weeks. We were not so far _out_ of the way as Mafeking.
Nor were we like the defenders of Ladysmith entombed within towering kopjes. No; to snap _our_ bonds was a relatively easy task. Little provision had been made for a prolonged investment, and we had fifty thousand stomachs to cater for. So much was plain. If Kimberley were to be sacrificed to the "interests," forsooth, of the campaign, British honour would be tarnished. Such a procedure would be not only brutal, but a tactical blunder as well. We felt strongly that the relief of Kimberley was an indispensable preliminary to success, and, by reason of our proximity to the Free State border, the way that would soonest bring the war to a successful issue--
But hark! Wherefore that wild halloo. Ah, there was news, charming news.
Lord Roberts had set sail for South Africa, to take over supreme command. Hurrah for good old "Bobs!" We felt instinctively, or somehow, that the little General could be trusted to dig for diamonds. The news of "Bobs" made a c.h.i.n.k in the cloud and disclosed its silver lining.
Kitchener, who accompanied Lord Roberts as Chief of Staff, had shown in his generation some skill as a pioneer of deserts; the Karoo would be child"s play to him. The Soudan was a region in which our interest was rather academic; but the killing of the Khalifa was announced and applauded with the rest. Oom Paul"s political extinction would soon follow, and Kimberley would emerge with a whoop from captivity.
CHAPTER XII
_Week ending 6th January, 1900_
The last day of the year and the distant thunder of artillery burst upon us simultaneously. That the peace of the Sabbath should be broken by music not exactly sacred (or melodious) was strange. The old year would be rung out in a few hours, in company with our Utopian expectations.
All our hopes of a rare New Year were, like our Christmas phantasies, dashed to the ground. The morrow promised to be rare enough in a melancholy sense, but it would not be New Year"s Day. There was but one ray of comfort to sustain us, namely, the approach of the hero of Candahar; for although a certain period of waiting had yet to be endured--ere _another_ famous march could be accomplished--the coming of Roberts disposed us to think kindly of Job. At the same time we prayed that the need for patience would not last too long. Any nonent.i.ty--be he General or Private--who could bring relief to Kimberley would eclipse the fame of a bigger man than "Bobs."
Pa.s.sing by the Town Hall one could not fail to be struck by the contrast between its desolate appearance on Sunday afternoon and the bustle of its precincts on week days. The building had only recently been erected and was situated in the centre of the Market Square. The Square itself was an exceptionally s.p.a.cious one, and the Hall added an ornament to the city, which was the more imposing and conspicuous in that it practically stood alone as such. It was a magnificent structure, quite new, as I have stated; but it probably saw more wear and tear during the Siege than it would otherwise have seen in the course of half a century.
A few days prior to our investment the building had been completed, and, immediately after, a two days" holiday had been proclaimed by the Munic.i.p.al Authorities--dear old servants of the people! No Czar"s writ ran in Kimberley then. Amid the plaudits of the democracy the Hall had been duly declared "open." The Mayor, in the blazing dignity of his Magisterial robes, surrounded by the wealth and intelligence of the city, had delivered an historical address. The Councillors had followed, and the several ex-Mayors since the year of one had expatiated felicitously on the architecture of the "Ornament," the merits of the architect, and the enterprise of the contractors. "There was a sound of revelry by night"--for two consecutive nights. Two awfully fancy dress b.a.l.l.s were given; and had the shade of the d.u.c.h.ess of Richmond waltzed from the heavens to the waxed floor of the hall, it would have a.s.sumed flesh and blood again on beholding the picturesque costumes of every age and court presented to its spectral view. I will not prolong a description of those halcyon days of Munic.i.p.al splendour in these of common khaki. Let it suffice to add that the "lamps shone o"er fair women and brave men." The "cannon"s opening roar" was soon to be heard in the land; but all unmindful of the nation of farmers the "shopkeepers" tripped it on the toe.
Well, we were besieged; and the great Hall was adapted to very different uses. It was made headquarters. Within its walls the Town Guard were formally "sworn in," and supplied with hats, rifles, bandoliers, and ammunition. Hundreds of distressed refugees congregated there, for one of the Offices of the building had been transformed into a benevolent grocery shop, presided over by benevolent ladies. There also did ma.s.s some thousands of natives to gather their picks and shovels and pay. The Town Hall was the pivot round which revolved all sorts and conditions of men. Overrun inside and outside by roadmakers, citizen soldiers, and munic.i.p.al officers (whose military dignity had raised their souls above scavenging), it was bad enough. But when the rich and poor of all cla.s.ses and s.e.xes were forced to join in the scramble for a bit to eat, it was worse. Until the "permit" system had come into vogue, money could buy much (of what was going); but the "permit" system lowered mammon to his rightful level. Money for the moment had lost its value; a "permit" was all-important--even Croesus himself would have starved without one. To procure these useful scrips all sorts of formalities had to be entered into, and the amount of time lost in waiting to prove one"s right to live was provocative of many an oath, at the expense of the British army. Kafirs, coolies, Europeans of all nations, the wealthy the poor, and the lowly--all struggled to procure the precious "permit," as if they were at all hazards determined to gain one week"s respite before finally succ.u.mbing to hunger"s pangs.
It must be owned that the work was carried on more smoothly when the black sheep were separated from the white, and when different days were a.s.signed for attending to the residents of each of the respective wards into which the town was divided. The incompetence of the military in civil affairs added to the grievances of the people; complaint against the administration of the "Law" was as loud as the clamour against the "Law" itself. The bother entailed in the procuring of authority to purchase food, and in the purchase of it, was extreme. The food was not worth it; but life is precious (or was then), and one had in a very literal sense to live. A man had sometimes to stand from six to eight o"clock in the morning to buy his paltry bit of offal, hoof, or fat, as the case might be, and after he had rested on his feet for two hours his turn would come to draw his miserable allowance--if somebody else had not drawn it for him. Such accidents happened often enough to make a good many foreswear meat altogether. Usually, however, the unfortunate would be consoled with a "precedence ticket"--for next day! so that he could live on the certainty of a succulent morrow. From ten o"clock to four might be pa.s.sed in waiting for one"s grocery ticket; and, finally, from four to six could be whiled away at the crowded store in a frantic effort to catch the State a.s.sistant"s eye. Oh, it was a happy epoch in our lives--an epoch during which vows were registered against being "let in" for such happiness again, or against living it through while a "bare bodkin" was left unconfiscated.
It was the last day of the year, with nothing to elate us but the coming of Bobs. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; ours were so ill that but for Bobs they must have ceased to beat. It was disconcerting to learn that Warren was in Natal, for it had been stated that Methuen was merely waiting Sir Charles to join him ere again attempting to fight his way to Kimberley.
New Year"s Day! New Year"s Day, indeed! Our Scotchmen sighed. Black tea for breakfast on New Year"s Day was too much for them, and not a few of them (and others) felt constrained to take kopje dew instead. They drank brandy--so labelled in the tavern, but more widely notorious as "lyddite" in the town. Brandy had crimes committed in its name, and lyddite was a happy and appropriate appellation. Even _vinegar_ could not counteract the effects of lyddite (i.e. bottled lyddite). As for the materials used in the manufacture of this explosive, well--necessity is the mother of invention; and the invention was well protected. It was only noted that methylated spirits and certain chemicals were scarce; and a suspicion prevailed that these were lyddite ingredients--a suspicion which afterwards proved to be well-founded when publicans were prosecuted for using them as such. One of the peculiarly lamentable features of the Siege was a certain tendency on the part of men, who drank little or nothing in normal times, to dissipate in desperation on this unique brand of brandy.
It was dry bread with many on New Year"s Day. Even syrup was extinct.
Nothing remained, to be taken or left (they were generally left), but a few jars of treacle. Dripping graced the table, but n.o.body touched it; it was too ghastly pale for a subst.i.tute, too unctuous for anything. The poor Native"s breakfast was of "mealie-pap" exclusively; and from a hygienic standpoint he was perhaps better off than any of us.
Many things occurred to make the day interesting, or say, rather, out of the common; but the palm was easily carried off by the Colonel"s "gift."
I have had occasion to allude to the parsimonious action of the military in curtailing the allowances paid to natives for captured cattle and thereby paralysing the incentive that usually induces humanity (black or white) to face danger. This untimely experiment in economics had discouraged the Natives and practically sent them out on strike. There were no cattle coming in, and so the Colonel thought it would be a good thing to reduce our meat ration from half a pound to a _quarter_, and that of little boys and girls with capacious stomachs to two ounces! I must leave to the imagination of the reader the effect of this proceeding on the part of the man who made and administered Martial Law.