| XIII. | In the Field again | ||
| XIV. | The Capture of Boers at Tweefontein | ||
| XV. | An Elusive Enemy | ||
| XVI. | A Surprise on the March | ||
| XVII. | Under the Red Cross Flag |
WITH THE FLYING COLUMN TO MAFEKING
| XVIII. | . A Strategic Secret | ||
| XIX. | The Departure from Kimberley | ||
| XX. | From Taungs to Vryburg | ||
| XXI. | Nearing the Goal | ||
| XXII. | We Repel an Attack and Join Forces with Plumer | ||
| XXIII. | The Fighting on the Molopo | ||
| XXIV. | Mafeking at Last | ||
| XXV. | A Memorial of the Siege | ||
| XXVI. | Good-bye to Mafeking |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIELD-MARSHAL LORD ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., V.C. MR. G. LENTHAL CHEATLE, F.R.C.S., CONSULTING SURGEON TO HER MAJESTY'S FORCES IN SOUTH AFRICA LIEUTENANT-GENERAL P.S. LORD METHUEN, K.C.V.O., C.B., C.M.G. BRIGADIER-GENERAL BRYAN MAHON, D.S.O. MAP OF MAHON'S MARCH [Transcibers note: This map, although listed, did not appear in the original and therefore does not in this copy] PLAN OF THE BATTLE ON THE MOLOPO ON MAY 16TH FACSIMILE OF SIGNED MENU OF THE RELIEF DINNER AT MAFEKING
Part I
ENGLAND IN TIME OF WAR
I
HOW THE RESERVES CAME UP
From a seat in the paymaster's office of the depôt barracks at Bury one afternoon in November, 1899, I could look either into the barrack yard or out along the Bolton Road. A four-wheeler clove its way through the crowd surrounding the gates, and the sentries presented arms to it. It contained my friend, the paymaster, who presently came upstairs carrying a bag in which were several hundred pounds sterling—the real sinews of war. This was the man whose business it was to call up the Reservists, and he had a very simple way of doing it. He had several books containing large forms divided by perforation into four parts. The first was a counterfoil on which was written the Reservist's name and the date of posting the order; the second was a railway warrant requesting the railway company to furnish him with a ticket available by the most direct route from his place of residence to the depôt; the third was the order requiring him to present himself at the barracks on or before a certain date; and the fourth was a money-order for three shillings, officially called an advance, but virtually a present from a considerate Government. On the 11th of the month the paymaster at Bury had signed about six hundred of these notices, and had seen them posted; on Sunday and Monday they had begun to fall like bombs on the breakfast tables of prosperous civilians all over the country; and soon the pieces of blue paper had made a sad disturbance in several hundreds of cottage homes, and added several hundred men to the strength of the 2nd Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. The business of the pay office, or at least my friend's part of it—a few subalterns rushing up in a hurry to get money for their various companies; eighty pounds for A, a hundred pounds for D, and so on—was soon over, and then he told me something of how the Reserve system works.
All the men in the Reserve have put in at least seven years' service. They go into the Reserve first for a term of five years at sixpence a day, and then (if they wish) for a term of four years at fourpence a day.