The record-union., 1896-04-19


selves, or so knocked up with fatigue as
to be incapable of firing. Under these
circumstances of course, it was simply
impossible to try to outfank them.
They had every man of us completely
at their mercy unless a diversion had
been made from the other side.
well, this fight started in the early
dawn. It was bitterly cold. Ones
hands were numbed. There had been a
storm of rain during the night. The
sickening conviction had begun to
grow on us that Johannesburg was not
stirring a finger to help us. We kept
up a running fight under those condi-
tions against odds of ten to one, from
8 o'clock in the morning till half-past
IL On all sides men were heard ours
ing Johannesburg, though that was the
only thing in the way of complaint
that ever reached my ears, save the
cries for water of the wounded. Water,
however, we had none to give them.
We had not water to keep the MaXims
cCol, and they became jammed. With
the fire growing thicker every minute,
not an enemy visible, our position so
hemmed in that there was no cover
termined TO waste no more men, and or
dered a flag of truce to be hoisted.
LIKE ANTS OUT OF THE EARTH.
Did the burghers stop firing at
once?"
mot at once; not for ten minutes.
They had some artillery from Pretoria,
which had just come upon our left flank,
And now comes the bitter thing. When
the artillery first began to play away,
we said: Thank God. Here are those
johannesburg fellows at last We
thought they were our allies. When
they turned out to be the enemy, one
simply did not feel as though one cared
to hang on to life any longer How
ever, presently when the flag was well
seen, and our fire had entirely stopped,
up popped men in all directions and
came down upon us like swarms of ants
out of the earth. Where just before
there was not man to be seen, now the
whole countryside seemed suddenly
alive with them. Waving their rifles,
they rode down on US.
How did the column behave?"
"The men threw themselves down on
the ground, without caring a pin, and
me, What will they do with us?' and
| said, oh, we shall all be shot But as
it turned out, they treated us tremen-
dously we'll, gave us food, and did all
they could for us. Conditions were
agreed upon with Jameson and the
mems arms were taken away"
THATCHER'S RUSE.
And you?"
"As it happened, I was the only one
dressed differently from the others.
wore an ordinary rough brown jacket,
being the only volunteer from outside.
The rest wore dark gray uniform.
Captain White suggested to me that /
should try and gallop through the
lines, and go and tell johannesburg. /
saw that this would be simply impos-
sible The Beers were everywhere l
rode quietly off in the direction of
Commandant Cronje, who presently
hailed me and asked me why I was not
going with the others. I said I was in
a minute. The men with Cronje be-
gan handling their rifles They would
have put a bullet into me without
waiting l turned and rode after the
other prisoners, revolving other plans.
l.
Cronje when I met a gentleman whose
card I have in my pocket"
Here Captain Thatcher produced a
card, and put it on the table with the
remark: THAT piece of paper saved
me- On it was written Mr. w. Van
Klonowski, Krugersdorp," and across
the corner was simply the word
Press"
who is this Klonowski?'
HE was commanding the Pretoria
Artillery"
Had you ever seen him before?"
mo. I hailed him in the most
natural way with the remark that l
was the Times correspondent, and
had just arrived on the scene, had
missed the battle, and would he tell
me all about it. Certainly says he.
most anxious to describe the exploits
of the Beers. He took me alongside.
and we rode together into Krugers-
dorp, passing on the road Cronjr who
concluded / had surrendered To
Klonowski. All the way along the lat
ter gave me a stirring description of
the fight which I had been through,
and I asked him quantities of ques-
tions. / said / had been riding hard
and wanted food. He took me to his
house and gave me something to eat,
and then, for the first time, it struck me
that, after all. / should get through.
But how to get away through Krugers-
dorp without being stopped?
Have you got a monument or some
thing here?' said I ought to describe
that for the Times
ha oIo I
will show it to you
And in the end I managed to get
seen patroling the town of Krugersdorp
always in company with Klonowski.
When night fell I stole off to man I
knew in Krugersdorp, buried my
clothes, borrowed fresh ones from him
which fitted me very absurdly, he being
as short and fat as / am long and thin,
slept in shed, and next morning stroll
ed over to the railway station without
anyone stopping me. A train was just
starting for johannesburg | got in and
sat down. Opposite me was man who
said in the most ordinary way in the
world, How did you escape?' Escape
from what?' oh, 1 saw you riding
round the town yesterday with Sir John
Willoughby. You are one of Jameson S
officers l asked him who he was He
replied that he was q Government de-
tective but he added I will see you
through He was a good fellow, and so
he did,"
THE AFRICANDERS.
I'm one or two quarters some cold
water has been thrown on the heroism
of the column. What do you think of
it?"
Think! I think J never saw such a
splendid lot of fighters in my life, and
have been with some of the best fighters