Again and again the Boers are described in the Press
as "canting hypocrites" or their thanksgivings to God as
"sanctimonious". What right have we as Christians to bring such
wholesale charges against our Christian enemies? Several thousand
burghers advanced from Jacobsdal to reinforce Cronje, and as it marched
the entire force sang the Old Hundredth in unison. There is something
splendid and majestic in such a spectacle as this. Let us as Englishmen
fight our best against these men and defeat them thoroughly, but do not
let us sneer at their religious enthusiasm!
On December 10th, as we were standing on a siding at De Aar, a telegram,
arrived ordering us to leave for Modder River in the morning. We were
delighted at the prospect of getting rid of our enforced inaction at De
Aar. The air was full of rumours about an impending attack on Cronje's
position, and we fully expected to be in time for the fight and probably
to be employed as stretcher-bearers during the battle. Alas! our hopes
were all in vain. Next day, some miles below Modder River, our engine
with its tender suddenly left the metals. The stoker jumped off, but the
engine fortunately kept on the top of the embankment and nobody was
hurt. We none of us knew how or why the accident had occurred, but one
of the officials suspected very strongly that the rails had been
tampered with.
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