inclined to pity the poor beggars. Defiance, in the circumstances, could
only mean annihilation for them. Kimberley reasoned thusly: Kimberley
reasoned well.

Saturday made it still clearer that the ineffable enemy, so far from
being frightened, was obdurate yet. Large commandoes of Boers had joined
the besiegers during the night. All day long they toiled like Trojans,
digging trenches. At Oliphantsfontein they erected a new camp and made
their fortifications unassailable. We could only conclude that they
purposed making a stand. The fatuousness of such a course was clear to
us; for with the aid of the Relief Column we would presently be in a
position to attack the Boers from many sides; to hem them in; to cut off
retreat; and to kill or make prisoners of them all. It was a bold
conviction; we still viewed things through Napoleonic glasses.

It was stated that President Steyn was outside, to stimulate the
burghers with his presence and eloquence. The news was interesting, and
the hope was fairly general that no worse fate would be his than that of
a prisoner of war. There were also some particulars of the Modder River
fight; the Boers had been driven from their kopjes; hundreds had been
shot; thousands made prisoners; and whips of guns captured. This was not
quite a proper version of what happened at the Modder (it is
questionable whether we were ever made acquainted with the actual
facts); but we believed it all; it sounded well. One of the funny
features of the siege in its earlier stages was the readiness on the one
hand with which a practical community swallowed good news, however
false; and the stern disinclination evinced on the other to be "taken
in" by the truth when it chanced to leak out and happened to be
disagreeable.