Not a flash or twinkle betrayed the fierce
bands who lurked among the boulders. The force returned to camp no
wiser than when it left.
There was one sight visible every night to all men which might well
nerve the rescuers in their enterprise. Over the northern horizon,
behind those hills of danger, there quivered up in the darkness one
long, flashing, quivering beam, which swung up and down, and up
again like a seraphic sword-blade. It was Kimberley praying for
help, Kimberley solicitous for news. Anxiously, distractedly, the
great De Beers searchlight dipped and rose. And back across the
twenty miles of darkness, over the hills where Cronje lurked, there
came that other southern column of light which answered, and
promised, and soothed. 'Be of good heart, Kimberley. We are here!
The Empire is behind us. We have not forgotten you. It may be days,
or it may be weeks, but rest assured that we are coming.'
About three in the afternoon of Sunday, December 10th, the force
which was intended to clear a path for the army through the lines
of Magersfontein moved out upon what proved to be its desperate
enterprise. The 3rd or Highland Brigade included the Black Watch,
the Seaforths, the Argyll and Sutherlands, and the Highland Light
Infantry.
