brother Willem without being aware of it. He had come from Holland,
where he was studying, to take part in the war.

What a meeting with relatives and friends! How much there was to tell!
Even then we had not experienced very much, and how much more will our
burghers have to tell their dear ones on returning from their exile in
strange countries! There will, alas! be much sorrow, too; for many of
our friends and relatives have been killed in this war, and many more
will have yet to give their lives for their country!




III

THE EIGHT-DAY BATTLE OF THE TUGELA--TALK OF INTERVENTION--RELIEF OF
LADYSMITH


Before my knee was quite cured I returned to Ladysmith. The first thing
that caught my eye on my return to the camp was the balloon above
Ladysmith. It looked just like a large crocodile-eye as it followed all
my movements. When I went to look for my horse or to fetch water or
wood, there it stood, high up in the sky, and I felt as if it kept its
eye specially fixed on me, and as if I might expect a bomb at any
moment.

We had never in all our lives seen so many flies as at Ladysmith. We had
to hurry over our meals as they made eating almost an impossibility to
us. Fortunately, I was only a short time there, as towards the end of