Hour after hour the Boers kept on throwing heavy shells on to the kopje, while the shelter was so good that not a single life was lost; but the casualties from the shattering shells provided the doctor and his aids with quite sufficient work, and it was with a sigh of relief that he ceased attending to the last man brought in, for with darkness the firing ceased.
Then came the night full of alarms with the terrible anxiety and expectation of the assault which did not come. For, as it proved, the Boers had been furnished with too awful a lesson in the former attack to venture upon another surprise, with its many accidents and risks to themselves. They preferred to wait for daylight, and with the first pale streaks of dawn the bombarding began once more, and went on briskly till an hour after sunrise, when the lookouts from the top of the kopje passed the words, “Here they come.”
Just about the same time the scouts came running in bearing the same warning, and now the kopje guns began to play their parts more effectively.
For from three directions, covered by their own pieces, quite a cloud of the Boers could be seen approaching fast to get within rifle-range, dismount, and then begin a careful skirmishing advance, seizing every spot that afforded cover, completely surrounding the defenders, and searching the kopje from side to side with a terrific fire.
This was vigorously replied to; but the advance was never for a moment checked, the manoeuvring of the enemy being excellent, and their skill in keeping hidden and crawling from place to place exasperating to the defenders, for in spite of careful aiming and deliberation the Boer losses were remarkably small.
“They mean it this time, Bob,” said Lennox sadly.
“Yes, they mean it; and somehow I don’t feel up to the work at all. I didn’t know I was so weak. Feel your wounds much?”
“Horribly. I can only use my glass and watch the stubborn brutes coming on.”
“Same here. I’ve had six shots at ’em, and then I handed the rifle back to the Tommy who lent it to me.”
“How many times did you hit?” asked Lennox.