The bitter wind of disappointment pierces even the cloak of sleep. Moreover, the night was cold and the wet clothes chilled and stiffened1 my limbs, provoking restless and satisfactory dreams. I was breakfasting with President Kruger and General Joubert. 'Have some jam,' said the President. 'Thanks,' I replied, 'I would rather have marmalade.' But there was none. Their evident embarrassment2 communicated itself to me. 'Never mind,' I said, 'I'd just as soon have jam.' But the President was deeply moved. 'No, no,' he cried; 'we are not barbarians3. Whatever you are entitled to you shall have, if I have to send to Johannesburg for it.' So he got up to ring the bell, and with the clang I woke.
The first light of dawn was just peering in through the skylight of the corrugated4 iron shed. The soldiers lay in a brown litter about the floor, several snoring horribly. The meaning of it came home with a slap. Imprisoned5; not able to come and go at will; about to be dragged off and put in some secluded7 place while others fought the great quarrel to the end; out of it all—like a pawn8 taken early in the game and flung aside into the box. I groaned9 with vexation, and, sitting up, aroused Frankland, who shared my blanket. Then the Boers unlocked the doors and ordered us to get ready to march at once.
The forage10 which we had spread on the floor rustled11, and the first idea of escape crossed my mind. Why not lie buried underneath13 this litter until prisoners and escort had marched away together? Would they count? Would they notice? I did not think so. They would reason—we know they all went in; it is certain none could have escaped during the night: therefore all must be here this morning. Suppose they missed me? 'Where is the "reporter," with whom we talked last evening?' Haldane would reply that he must have slipped out of the door before it was shut. They might scour14 the country; but would they search the shed? It seemed most unlikely. The scheme pleased my fancy exceedingly, and I was just resolving to conceal15 myself, when one of the guards entered and ordered everyone to file out forthwith.
We chewed a little more of the ox, slain17 and toasted the night before, and drank some rainwater from a large puddle18, and, after this frugal19 breakfast, intimated that we were ready. Then we set out—a sorry gang of dirty, tramping prisoners, but yesterday the soldiers of the Queen; while the fierce old farmers cantered their ponies20 about the veldt or closed around the column, looking at us from time to time with irritating disdain21 and still more irritating pity. We marched across the waggon22 bridge of the Tugela, and following the road, soon entered the hills. Among these we journeyed for several hours, wading24 across the gullies which the heavy rains had turned into considerable streams and persecuted25 by the slanting26 rays of the sun. Here and there parties of Boers met us, and much handshaking and patting on the back ensued between the newcomers and our escort. Once we halted at a little field hospital—a dozen tents and waggons27 with enormous red-cross flags, tucked away in a deep hollow.
We passed through Pieters without a check at the same toilsome plod28 and on to Nelthorpe. Here we began to approach the Dutch lines of investment round Ladysmith, and the advance of half an hour brought us to a very strong picket29, where we were ordered to halt and rest. Nearly two hundred Boers swarmed30 round in a circle and began at once—for they are all keen politicians and as curious as children—to ask questions of every sort. What did we think of South Africa? Would we like to go in an armoured train again? How long would the English go on fighting? When would the war end? and the reply, 'When you are beaten,' was received with shouts of laughter.
'Oh no, old chappie, you can never beat us. Look at Mafeking. We have taken Mafeking. You will find Baden Powell waiting for you at Pretoria. Kimberley, too, will fall this week. Rhodes is trying to escape in a balloon, disguised as a woman—a fine woman.' Great merriment at this. 'What about Ladysmith?' 'Ten days. Ten days more and then we shall have some whisky.' Listen. There was the boom of a heavy gun, and, turning, I saw the white cloud of smoke hanging on the crest31 of Bulwana.
'That goes on always,' said the Boer. 'Can any soldiers bear that long? Oh, you will find all the English army at Pretoria. Indeed, if it were not for the sea-sickness we would take England. Besides, do you think the European Powers will allow you to bully32 us?'
I said, 'Why bully if you are so strong?'
'Well, why should you come and invade our country?'
'So it is: but Natal is ours. You stole it from us. Now we take it back again. That's all.'
A hum of approval ran round the grinning circle. An old Boer came up. He did not understand what induced the soldiers to go in the armoured train. Frankland replied, 'Ordered to. Don't you have to obey your orders?'
The old man shook his head in bewilderment, then he observed, 'I fight to kill: I do not fight to be killed. If the Field Cornet was to order me to go in an armoured train, I would say to him, "Field Cornet, go to hell."'
'Ah, you are not soldiers.'
'But we catch soldiers and kill soldiers and make soldiers run away.'
'You English,' said a well-dressed man, 'die for your country: we Afrikanders live for ours.'
I said, 'Surely you don't think you will win this war?'
'Oh, yes; we will win all right this time, just the same as before.'
'But it is not the same as before. Gladstone is dead, they are determined35 at home. If necessary they will send three hundred thousand men and spend a hundred millions.'
'We are not afraid; no matter how many thousand penny soldiers you send,' and an English Boer added, 'Let 'em all come.'
But there was one discordant36 note in the full chorus of confidence. It recurred37 again and again. 'Where is Buller?' 'When is Buller coming?' These merry fellows were not without their doubts.
'He will come when the army is ready.'
'But we have beaten the army.'
'No, the war has not begun yet.'
'It's all over for you, old chappie, anyway.'
It was a fair hit. I joined the general laughter, and, reviewing the incident by the light of subsequent events, feel I had some right to.
Very soon after this we were ordered to march again, and we began to move to the eastward38 in the direction of the Bulwana Hill, descending39 as we did so into the valley of the Klip River. The report of the intermittent40 guns engaged in the bombardment of Ladysmith seemed very loud and near, and the sound of the British artillery41 making occasional reply could be plainly distinguished42. After we had crossed the railway line beyond Nelthorpe I caught sight of another evidence of the proximity43 of friends. High above the hills, to the left of the path, hung a speck44 of gold-beater's skin. It was the Ladysmith balloon. There, scarcely two miles away, were safety and honour. The soldiers noticed the balloon too. 'Those are our blokes,' they said. 'We ain't all finished yet,' and so they comforted themselves, and a young sergeant45 advanced a theory that the garrison46 would send out cavalry47 to rescue us.
We kept our eyes on the balloon till it was hidden by the hills, and I thought of all that lay at the bottom of its rope. Beleaguered48 Ladysmith, with its shells, its flies, its fever, and its filth49 seemed a glorious paradise to me.
We forded the Klip River breast high, and, still surrounded by our escort, trudged50 on towards the laagers behind Bulwana. But it was just three o'clock, after about ten hours' marching, that we reached the camp where we were to remain for the night. Having had no food—except the toasted ox, a disgusting form of nourishment—and being besides unused to walking far, I was so utterly51 worn out on arrival that at first I cared for nothing but to lie down under the shade of a bush. But after the Field-Cornet had given us some tea and bully beef, and courteously52 bidden us to share the shelter of his tent, I felt equal to further argument.
The Boers were delighted and crowded into the small tent.
'Will you tell us why there is this war?'
I said that it was because they wanted to beat us out of South Africa and we did not like the idea.
'Oh no, that is not the reason.' Now that the war had begun they would drive the British into the sea; but if we had been content with what we had they would not have interfered53 with us—except to get a port and have their full independence recognised.
'I will tell you what is the real cause of this war. It's all those damned capitalists. They want to steal our country, and they have bought Chamberlain, and now these three, Rhodes, Beit, and Chamberlain, think they will have the Rand to divide between them afterwards.'
'Don't you know that the gold mines are the property of the shareholders55, many of whom are foreigners—Frenchman and Germans and others? After the war, whatever government rules, they will still belong to these people.'
'What are we fighting for then?'
'Because you hate us bitterly, and have armed yourselves in order to attack us, and we naturally chose to fight when we are not occupied elsewhere. "Agree with thine adversary56 whiles thou art in the way with him.'"
'Don't you think it wicked to try to steal our country?'
'We only want to protect ourselves and our own interests. We didn't want your country.'
'No, but the damned capitalists do.'
'If you had tried to keep on friendly terms with us there would have been no war. But you want to drive us out of South Africa. Think of a great Afrikander Republic—all South Africa speaking Dutch—a United States under your President and your Flag, sovereign and international.'
Their eyes glittered. 'That's what we want,' said one. 'Yaw, yaw,' said the others, 'and that's what we're going to have.'
'Well, that's the reason of the war.'
'No, no. You know it's those damned capitalists and Jews who have caused the war.' And the argument recommenced its orbit.
So the afternoon wore away.
As the evening fell the Commandant required us to withdraw to some tents which had been pitched at the corner of the laager. A special tent was provided for the officers, and now, for the first time, they found themselves separated from their men. I had a moment in which to decide whether I would rank as officer or private, and chose the former, a choice I was soon to regret. Gradually it became night. The scene as the daylight faded was striking and the circumstances were impressive. The dark shadow of Bulwana mountain flung back over the Dutch camp, and the rugged57, rock-strewn hills rose about it on all sides. The great waggons were arranged to enclose a square, in the midst of which stood clusters of variously shaped tents and lines of munching58 oxen. Within the laager and around it little fires began to glow, and by their light the figures of the Boers could be seen busy cooking and eating their suppers, or smoking in moody59, muttering groups. All was framed by the triangular60 doorway61 of the tent, in which two ragged6, bearded men sat nursing their rifles and gazing at their captives in silence. Nor was it till my companions prepared to sleep that the stolid62 guards summoned the energy and wit to ask, in struggling English (for these were real veldt Boers), the inevitable63 question, 'And after all, what are we fighting for? Why is there this war?' But I was tired of arguing, so I said, 'It is the will of God,' and turned to rest with a more confident feeling than the night before, for I felt that these men were wearying of the struggle.
To rest but not to sleep, for the knowledge that the British lines at Ladysmith lay only five miles away filled my brain with hopes and plans of escape. I had heard it said that all Dutchmen slept between 12 and 2 o'clock, and I waited, trusting that our sentries64 would observe the national custom. But I soon saw that I should have been better situated65 with the soldiers. We three officers were twenty yards from the laager, and around our little tent, as I learned by peering through a rent in the canvas, no less than four men were posted. At intervals66 they were visited or relieved, at times they chatted together; but never for a minute was their vigilance relaxed, and the continual clicking of the Mauser breech bolts, as they played with their rifles, unpleasantly proclaimed their attention. The moon was full and bright, and it was obvious that no possible chance of success awaited an attempt.
With the soldiers the circumstances were more favourable67. Their tent stood against the angle of the laager, and although the sentries watched the front and sides it seemed to me that a man might crawl through the back, and by walking boldly across the laager itself pass safely out into the night. It was certainly a road none would expect a fugitive68 to take; but whatever its chances it was closed to me, for the guard was changed at midnight and a new sentry69 stationed between our tent and those near the laager.
I examined him through the torn tent. He was quite a child—a boy of about fourteen—and needless to say appreciated the importance of his duties. He played this terrible game of soldiers with all his heart and soul; so at last I abandoned the idea of flight and fell asleep.
In the morning, before the sun was up, the Commandant Davel came to rouse us. The prisoners were to march at once to Elandslaagte Station. 'How far?' we asked, anxiously, for all were very footsore. 'Only a very little way—five hours' slow walking.' We stood up—for we had slept in our clothes and cared nothing for washing—and said that we were ready. The Commandant then departed, to return in a few minutes bringing some tea and bully beef, which he presented to us with an apology for the plainness of the fare. He asked an English-speaking Boer to explain that they had nothing better themselves. After we had eaten and were about to set forth16, Dayel said, through his interpreter, that he would like to know from us that we were satisfied with the treatment we met with at his laager. We gladly gave him the assurance, and with much respect bade good-bye to this dignified70 and honourable71 enemy. Then we were marched away over the hills towards the north, skirting the picket line round Ladysmith to the left. Every half-mile or so the road led through or by some Boer laager, and the occupants—for it was a quiet day in the batteries—turned out in hundreds to look at us. I do not know how many men I saw, but certainly during this one march not less than 5,000. Of this great number two only offered insults to the gang of prisoners. One was a dirty, mean-looking little Hollander. He said, 'Well, Tommy, you've got your franchise72, anyhow.' The other was an Irishman. He addressed himself to Frankland, whose badges proclaimed his regiment73. What he said when disentangled from obscenity amounted to this: 'I am glad to see you Dublin fellows in trouble.' The Boers silenced him at once and we passed on. But that was all the taunting75 we received during the whole journey from Frere Station to Pretoria, and when one remembers that the Burghers are only common men with hardly any real discipline, the fact seems very remarkable76. But little and petty as it was it galled77 horribly. The soldiers felt the sting and scowled78 back; the officers looked straight before them. Yet it was a valuable lesson. Only a few days before I had read in the newspapers of how the Kaffirs had jeered79 at the Boer prisoners when they were marched into Pietermaritzburg, saying, 'Where are your passes?' It had seemed a very harmless joke then, but now I understood how a prisoner feels these things.
It was about eleven o'clock when we reached Elandslaagte Station. A train awaited the prisoners. There were six or seven closed vans for the men and a first-class carriage for the officers. Into a compartment80 of this we were speedily bundled. Two Boers with rifles sat themselves between us, and the doors were locked. I was desperately81 hungry, and asked for both food and water. 'Plenty is coming,' they said, so we waited patiently, and sure enough, in a few minutes a railway official came along the platform, opened the door, and thrust before us in generous profusion82 two tins of preserved mutton, two tins of preserved fish, four or five loaves, half a dozen pots of jam, and a large can of tea. As far as I could see the soldiers fared no worse. The reader will believe that we did not stand on ceremony, but fell to at once and made the first satisfying meal for three days. While we ate a great crowd of Boers gathered around the train and peered curiously83 in at the windows. One of them was a doctor, who, noticing that my hand was bound up, inquired whether I were wounded. The cut caused by the splinter of bullet was insignificant84, but since it was ragged and had received no attention for two days it had begun to fester. I therefore showed him my hand, and he immediately bustled85 off to get bandages and hot water and what not, with which, amid the approving grins of the rough fellows who thronged86 the platform, he soon bound me up very correctly.
The train whereby we were to travel was required for other business besides; and I noticed about a hundred Boers embarking87 with their horses in a dozen large cattle trucks behind the engine. At or about noon we steamed off, moving slowly along the line, and Captain Haldane pointed88 out to me the ridge23 of Elandslaagte, and gave me some further account of that successful action and of the great skill with which Hamilton had directed the infantry89 attack. The two Boers who were guarding us listened with great interest, but the single observation they made was that we had only to fight Germans and Hollanders at Elandslaagte. 'If these had been veldt Boers in front of you——' My companion replied that even then the Gordon Highlanders might have made some progress. Whereat both Boers laughed softly and shook their heads with the air of a wiseacre, saying, 'You will know better when you're as old as me,' a remark I constantly endure from very worthy90 people.
Two stations beyond Elandslaagte the Boer commando, or portion of commando, left the train, and the care and thought that had been lavished91 on the military arrangements were very evident. All the stations on the line were fitted with special platforms three or four hundred yards long, consisting of earth embankments revetted with wood towards the line and sloping to the ground on the other side. The horsemen were thereby92 enabled to ride their horses out of the trucks, and in a few minutes all were cantering away across the plain. One of the Boer guards noticed the attention I paid to these arrangements. 'It is in case we have to go back quickly to the Biggarsberg or Laing's Nek,' he explained. As we travelled on I gradually fell into conversation with this man. His name, he told me, was Spaarwater, which he pronounced Spare-water. He was a farmer from the Ermolo district. In times of peace he paid little or no taxes. For the last four years he had escaped altogether. The Field Cornet, he remarked, was a friend of his. But for such advantages he lay under the obligation to serve without pay in war-time, providing horse, forage, and provisions. He was a polite, meek-mannered little man, very anxious in all the discussion to say nothing that could hurt the feelings of his prisoners, and I took a great liking93 to him. He had fought at Dundee. 'That,' he said, 'was a terrible battle. Your artillery? Bang! bang! bang! came the shells all round us. And the bullets! Whew, don't tell me the soldiers can't shoot. They shoot jolly well, old chappie. I, too, can shoot. I can hit a bottle six times out of seven at a hundred yards, but when there is a battle then I do not shoot so well.'
The other man, who understood a little English, grinned at this, and muttered something in Dutch.
'What does he say?' I inquired.
'He says "He too,"' replied Spaarwater. 'Besides, we cannot see your soldiers. At Dundee I was looking down the hill and saw nothing except rows of black boots marching and the black belts of one of the regiments94.'
'But,' I said, 'you managed to hit some of them after all.'
He smiled, 'Ah, yes, we are lucky, and God is on our side. Why, after Dundee, when we were retiring, we had to cross a great open plain, never even an ant-hill, and you had put twelve great cannons95—I counted them—and Maxims96 as well, to shoot us as we went; but not one fired a shot. Was it not God's hand that stopped them? After that we knew.'
I said: 'Of course the guns did not fire, because you had raised the white flag.'
'Yes,' he answered, 'to ask for armistice97, but not to give in. We are not going to give in yet. Besides, we have heard that your Lancers speared our wounded at Elandslaagte.' We were getting on dangerous ground. He hastened to turn the subject. 'It's all those lying newspapers that spread these reports on both sides, just like the capitalists made the war by lying.'
A little further on the ticket collector came to join in the conversation. He was a Hollander, and very eloquent98.
'Why should you English take this country away from us?' he asked, and the silent Boer chimed in broken English. 'Are not our farms our own? Why must we fight for them?'
I endeavoured to explain the ground of our quarrel. 'After all British government is not a tyranny.'
'It's no good for a working-man,' said the ticket collector; 'look at Kimberley. Kimberley was a good place to live in before the capitalists collared it. Look at it now. Look at me. What are my wages?'
I forget what he said they were, but they were extraordinary wages for a ticket collector.
'Do you suppose I should get such wages under the English Government?'
I said 'No.'
'There you are,' he said. 'No English Government for me,' and added inconsequently, 'We fight for our freedom.'
Now I thought I had an argument that would tell. I turned th the farmer, who had been listening approvingly:
'Those are very good wages.'
'Ah, yes.'
'Where does the money come from?'
'Oh, from the taxes ... and from the railroad.'
'Well, now, you send a good deal of your produce by rail, I suppose?'
'Don't you find the rates very high?'
'Ya, ya,' said both the Boers together; 'very high.'
'That is because he' (pointing to the ticket collector) 'is getting such good wages. You are paying them.' At this they both laughed heartily100, and Spaarwater said that that was quite true, and that the rates were too high.
'Under the English Government,' I said, 'he will not get such high wages; you will not have to pay such high rates.'
They received the conclusion in silence. Then Spaarwater said, 'Yes, but we shall have to pay a tribute to your Queen.'
'Well, what about that ironclad?'
'A present, a free-will offering because they are contented—as you will be some day—under our flag.'
'No, no, old chappie, we don't want your flag; we want to be left alone. We are free, you are not free.'
'How do you mean "not free"?'
'Well, is it right that a dirty Kaffir should walk on the pavement—without a pass too? That's what they do in your British Colonies. Brother! Equal! Ugh! Free! Not a bit. We know how to treat Kaffirs.'
Probing at random101 I had touched a very sensitive nerve. We had got down from underneath the political and reached the social. What is the true and original root of Dutch aversion to British rule? It is not Slagters Nek, nor Broomplatz, nor Majuba, nor the Jameson Raid. Those incidents only fostered its growth. It is the abiding102 fear and hatred103 of the movement that seeks to place the native on a level with the white man. British government is associated in the Boer farmer's mind with violent social revolution. Black is to be proclaimed the same as white. The servant is to be raised against the master; the Kaffir is to be declared the brother of the European, to be constituted his legal equal, to be armed with political rights. The dominant104 race is to be deprived of their superiority; nor is a tigress robbed of her cubs105 more furious than is the Boer at this prospect106.
I mused107 on the tangled74 skein of politics and party principles. This Boer farmer was a very typical character, and represented to my mind all that was best and noblest in the African Dutch character. Supposing he had been conducting Mr. Morley to Pretoria, not as a prisoner of war, but as an honoured guest, instead of me, what would their conversation have been? How excellently they would have agreed on the general question of the war! I could imagine the farmer purring with delight as his distinguished charge dilated108 in polished sentences upon liberty and the rights of nationalities. Both would together have bewailed the horrors of war and the crime of aggression109; both would have condemned110 the tendencies of modern Imperialism111 and Capitalism112; both would have been in complete accord whenever the names of Rhodes, Chamberlain, or Milner were mentioned. And the spectacle of this citizen soldier, called reluctant, yet not unwilling113, from the quiet life of his farm to fight bravely in defence of the soil on which he lived, which his fathers had won by all manner of suffering and peril114, and to preserve the independence which was his pride and joy, against great enemies of regulars—surely that would have drawn115 the most earnest sympathy of the eminent116 idealist. And then suddenly a change, a jarring note in the duet of agreement.
'We know how to treat Kaffirs in this country. Fancy letting the black filth walk on the pavement!'
And after that no more agreement: but argument growing keener and keener; gulf117 widening every moment.
'Educate a Kaffir! Ah, that's you English all over. No, no, old chappie. We educate 'em with a stick. Treat 'em with humanity and consideration—I like that. They were put here by the God Almighty118 to work for us. We'll stand no damned nonsense from them. We'll keep them in their proper places. What do you think? Insist on their proper treatment will you? Ah, that's what we're going to see about now. We'll settle whether you English are to interfere54 with us before this war is over.'
The afternoon dragged away before the train passed near Dundee. Lieutenant119 Frankland had helped to storm Talana Hill, and was much excited to see the field of battle again under these new circumstances. 'It would all have been different if Symons had lived. We should never have let them escape from under our guns. That commando would have been smashed up altogether.'
'But what about the other commando that came up the next day?'
'Oh, the General would have managed them all right. He'd have, soon found some way of turning them out.' Nor do I doubt he would, if the fearless confidence with which he inspired his troops could have protected his life. But the bullet is brutally120 indiscriminating, and before it the brain of a hero or the quarters of a horse stand exactly the same chance to the vertical121 square inch.
After Talana Hill was lost to view we began to search for Majuba, and saw it just as night closed in—a great dark mountain with memories as sad and gloomy as its appearance. The Boer guards pointed out to us where they had mounted their big cannons to defend Laing's Nek, and remarked that the pass was now impregnable. I could not resist saying, 'This is not the only road into the Transvaal.' 'Ah, but you English always come where we want you to come.'
We now approached the frontier. I had indulged in hopes of leaving the train while in the Volksrust Tunnel by climbing out of the window. The possibility had, however, presented itself to Spaarwater, for he shut both windows, and just before we reached the entrance opened the breech of his Mauser to show me that it was fully122 loaded. So prudence123 again imposed patience. It was quite dark when the train reached Volksrust, and we knew ourselves actually in the enemy's country. The platform was densely124 crowded with armed Boers. It appeared that two new commandos had been called out, and were waiting for trains to take them to the front. Moreover, a strong raiding party had just come back from British Swaziland. The windows were soon blocked with the bearded faces of men who gazed stolidly125 and commented freely to each other on our appearance. It was like being a wild beast in a cage. After some time a young woman pushed her way to the window and had a prolonged stare, at the end of which she observed in a loud voice (I must record it)—'Why, they're not so bad looking after all.' At this there was general laughter, and Spaarwater, who was much concerned, said that they meant no harm, and that if we were annoyed he would have everyone cleared away. But I said: 'Certainly not; let them feast their eyes.' So they did, for forty minutes by the clock.
Their faces were plain and rough, but not unkindly. The little narrow-set pig-eyes were the most displeasing126 feature. For the rest they looked what they were, honest ignorant peasants with wits sharpened by military training and the conditions of a new country. Presently I noticed at the window furthest from the platform one of quite a different type. A handsome boyish face without beard or moustache, and a very amiable127 expression. We looked at each other. There was no one else at that side of the carriage.
'Will you have some cigarettes?' he said, holding me out a packet. I took one, and we began to talk. 'Is there going to be much more war?' he inquired anxiously.
I said, 'You have not been at the front yet?'
'No, I am only just commandeered.'
'How old are you?'
'Sixteen.'
'That's very young to go and fight.'
He shook his head sadly.
'What's your name?'
'Cameron.'
'That's not a Dutch name?'
'No, I'm not a Dutchman. My father came from Scotland.'
'Then why do you go and fight against the British?'
'How can I help it? I live here. You must go when you're commandeered. They wouldn't let me off. Mother tried her best. But it's "come out and fight or leave the country" here, and we've got nothing but the farm.'
'The Government would have paid you compensation afterwards.'
'Ah! that's what they told father last time. He was loyal, and helped to defend the Pretoria laager. He lost everything, and he had to begin all over again.'
'So now you fight against your country?'
'I can't help it,' he repeated sullenly129, 'you must go when you're commandeered.' And then he climbed down off the footboard, and I did not see him again—one piteous item of Gladstone's legacy—the ruined and abandoned loyalist in the second generation.
Before the train left Volksrust we changed our guards. The honest burghers who had captured us had to return to the front, and we were to be handed over to the police. The leader of the escort—a dear old gentleman—I am ignorant of his official rank—approached and explained through Spaarwater that it was he who had placed the stone and so caused our misfortunes. He said he hoped we bore no malice130. We replied by no means, and that we would do the same for him with pleasure any day. Frankland asked him what rewards he would get for such distinguished service. In truth he might easily have been shot, had we turned the corner a minute earlier. The subaltern apparently131 contemplated132 some Republican V.C. or D.S.O. But the farmer was much puzzled by his question. After some explaining we learnt that he had been given fourteen days' furlough to go home to his farm and see his wife. His evident joy and delight were touching133. I said 'Surely this is a very critical time to leave the front. You may miss an important battle.'
'Yes,' he replied simply, 'I hope so.' Then we said 'good-bye,' and I gave him, and also Spaarwater, a little slip of paper setting forth that they had shown kindness and courtesy to British prisoners of war, and personally requesting anyone into whose hands the papers might come to treat them well, should they themselves be taken by the Imperial forces.
We were then handed to a rather dilapidated policeman of a gendarme134 type, who spat135 copiously136 on the floor of the carriage and informed us that we should be shot if we attempted to escape. Having no desire to speak to this fellow, we let down the sleeping shelves of the compartment and, as the train steamed out of Volksrust, turned to sleep.
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stiffened
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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corrugated
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| adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词) | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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7
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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8
pawn
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| n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押 | |
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9
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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10
forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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13
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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14
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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15
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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16
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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17
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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18
puddle
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| n.(雨)水坑，泥潭 | |
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19
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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20
ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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21
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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22
waggon
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| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
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23
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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24
wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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25
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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26
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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27
waggons
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| 四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 )； 铁路货车； 小手推车 | |
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28
plod
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| v.沉重缓慢地走，孜孜地工作 | |
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29
picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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30
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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31
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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32
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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33
natal
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| adj.出生的，先天的 | |
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34
grunts
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
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35
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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36
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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37
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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38
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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39
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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40
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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41
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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42
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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43
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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44
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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45
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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46
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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47
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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48
beleaguered
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| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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49
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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50
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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52
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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53
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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54
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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55
shareholders
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| n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 ) | |
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56
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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57
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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58
munching
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
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59
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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60
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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61
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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62
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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63
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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64
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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65
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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66
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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67
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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68
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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69
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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70
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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71
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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72
franchise
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| n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权 | |
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73
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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74
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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75
taunting
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| 嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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76
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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77
galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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78
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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81
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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82
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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83
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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84
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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85
bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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86
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87
embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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88
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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89
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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90
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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91
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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93
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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94
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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95
cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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96
maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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97
armistice
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| n.休战，停战协定 | |
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98
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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99
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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100
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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101
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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102
abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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103
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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104
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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105
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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106
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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107
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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108
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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110
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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111
imperialism
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| n.帝国主义，帝国主义政策 | |
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112
capitalism
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| n.资本主义 | |
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113
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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114
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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115
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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116
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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117
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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118
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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119
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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120
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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121
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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122
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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123
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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124
densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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125
stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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126
displeasing
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| 不愉快的，令人发火的 | |
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127
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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128
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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129
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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130
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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131
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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132
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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133
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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134
gendarme
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| n.宪兵 | |
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135
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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136
copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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