The Two Companies Were Withdrawn, And Lost Heavily In
The Open As They Crossed It.
An incessant rattle and crackle of
rifle fire came from all round, drawing very slowly but steadily
nearer.
Now and then the whisk of a dark figure from one boulder to
another was all that ever was seen of the attackers. The British
fired slowly and steadily, for every cartridge counted, but the
cover of the Boers was so cleverly taken that it was seldom that
there was much to aim at. 'All you could ever see,' says one who
was present, 'were the barrels of the rifles.' There was time for
thought in that long morning, and to some of the men it may have
occurred what preparation for such fighting had they ever had in
the mechanical exercises of the parade ground, or the shooting of
an annual bagful of cartridges at exposed targets at a measured
range. It is the warfare of Nicholson's Nek, not that of Laffan's
Plain, which has to be learned in the future.
During those weary hours lying on the bullet-swept hill and
listening to the eternal hissing in the air and clicking on the
rocks, the British soldiers could see the fight which raged to the
south of them. It was not a cheering sight, and Carleton and Adye
with their gallant comrades must have felt their hearts grow
heavier as they watched. The Boers' shells bursting among the
British batteries, the British shells bursting short of their
opponents.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 138 of 842
Words from 36982 to 37236
of 225456
