Chapter 6

A MONTH UNDER SHELL FIRE

The first siege-baby--An Irish-American deserter--A soldierly grumble--Boer cunning and Staff-College strategy--An ammunition difficulty--The tireless cavalry--A white flag incident--What the Boer Commandant understood--The Natal summer--Mere sound and fury--Boer Sabbatarianism--Naval guns at work--"Puffing Billy" of Bulwaan--Intrepid Boer gunners--The barking of "Pom-Poms"--Another reconnaissance--"Like scattered bands of Red Indians"--A futile endeavour--A night alarm--Recommended for the V.C.--A man of straw in khaki--The Boer search-light--Shelling of the hospital--General White protests--The first woman hit-- General Hunter's bravado--"Long Tom" knocked out--A gymkhana under fire--Faith, Hope, and Charity--Flash signals from the south--A new Creusot gun 69