78 Pages - The Black Vault

very frowzy Boer commandant, I was gloomily takingoff the saucy warm spotted waistcoat knitted for meby my sister, I noticed our friends of the previousevening in very animated and friendly conversationwith the burghers, and “Pappa” was, curiouslyenough, carrying a rifle and bandolier and my newfield-glasses. He was laughing and pointing towardssomething lying on the ground, through which hefinally put his foot. This, to my horror, I recognisedas my unhappy camera. Here, I suppose, my mindmust have slightly wandered, for I found myself repeatingsome Latin lines, once my favourite imposition,but gorgotten since my school-day s---“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes . ...”when suddenly the voice of the field cornet brokeinto my musing with “Your breeches too, captain. ”Trekking all that day on foot, sockless, and in theboots of another, I had much to think of besides mythrobbing head. The sight of the long Boer convoywith guns, which had succeeded so easily in crossingthe drift I was to have held, was a continual reminderof my failure and of my responsibility for the dreadfullosses to my poor detachment, I graduallygathered from the Beers what I had already partlyguessed, namely, that they had been fetched andguided all round our camp by friend Brink, had surroundedit in the dark, crawling about in the bush onthe river bank, and had carefully marked down ourtwo poor sentries. These they had at once shot on thealarm being given, and had then rushed the campfrom the dense cover on three sides Towatds eveningmy head got worse, and its rhythmic throbbingseemed gradually to take a meaning, and hammered17-.