I then made a general flank movement to the right with the remaining troops.
Colonel Grey succeeded in shelling the Boers out of their advanced position during the next half-hour, and blew up the battery house.
Flank movement.
Under this cover the column moved off as far as the first houses of the Randfontein group of mines, the Boers making no attempt to intercept the movement.
Night was now fast approaching, and still there were no signs of the promised help from Johannesburg. I determined, therefore, to push on with all speed in the direction of that town, trusting in the darkness to slip through any intervening opposition.
Two guides were obtained, the column formed in the prescribed night order of march, and we started off along a road leading direct to Johannesburg.
At this moment heavy rifle and Maxim fire was suddenly heard from the direction of Krugersdorp, which lay 1-1/2 miles to the left rear.
We at once concluded that this could only be the arrival of the long-awaited reinforcements, for we knew that Johannesburg had Maxims, and that the Staats'-Artillerie were not expected to arrive until the following morning. To leave our supposed friends in the lurch was out of the question. I determined at once to move to their support.
[Long awaited! Why, this was only 6 hours since the cyclists left.]
Leaving the carts escorted by one troop on the road I advanced rapidly across the plateau towards Krugersdorp in the direction of the firing, in the formation shown in the accompanying sketch.