practicability of reversing this order of things was tested by our
gunners. The effect was not clearly apparent, but our shell excited
commotion--it wakened somebody, for the Boers could be seen moving
about. Retaliation soon followed; on the Brickfields again, a choice of
objective which was quite inexplicable. There was nothing there to hit
but bricks. The enemy--perhaps obsessed by the thought that he had
filled us with terror--may have assumed that the place was being used as
a refuge. Some believed that the Town Hall was _aimed_ at, for our
confidence in the skill of the Boer gunners had yet to ripen fully. The
firing was continued for some hours until the venue was changed to
Kenilworth, with no better success than before.

We had a fair supply of ammunition for such guns as we possessed, and in
order to make it last as long as possible, economy was rigorously
observed. One day, however, De Beers astonished the Colonel by offering
to _manufacture_ shells, _ad lib_. The Colonel smiled; he was inclined
to regard the proposal as a joke of the Company's Chairman. But he was
persuaded to permit the test of a few samples made in the workshops, and
lo!--to his infinite astonishment the results were all that could be
desired. The missiles conducted themselves properly, and--contrary to
"expert" opinion--burst at the right moments. There being plenty of the
requisite raw material, a hundred shells were made in a day. This was a
great advantage and was appreciated to the full. Mr. Rhodes knew the
Boers loved him, and, by way of reciprocity, he had engraved on the base
of each shell: "With compliments from C.J.R." His initials sufficed;
the Boers knew him well. The conceit excited much mirth in town, as it
doubtless did among the enemy.

Another letter in the afternoon; from the Boer General to Colonel
Kekewich. It concerned the Dutch again. The Colonel--patient