He gave the
order, "Opzaal!" and in less than eight minutes every one of his burghers
was on his horse, armed, provided with two days' rations of biltong,
biscuit, coffee, and sugar, and ready to proceed. De Wet himself leaped
into a light, ramshackle four-wheeler, and led the advance over the dusty
veld. Without attempting to proceed with any semblance of military order,
the burghers followed in the course of their leader, some riding rapidly,
others walking beside their horses, and a few skirmishing far away on the
veld for buck. The mule-teams dragging the artillery and the ammunition
waggons were not permitted by their hullabalooing Basuto drivers to lag
far behind the general, and the dust which was raised by this long
cavalcade was not unlike the clouds of locusts which were frequently
mistaken for the signs of a trekking commando. Mile after mile was rapidly
traversed, until darkness came on, when a halt was made so that the
burghers might prepare a meal, and that the general might hear from the
scouts, who were far in advance of the body. After the men and horses had
eaten, and the moon rose over the dark peak of Thaba N'Chu mountain, the
burghers lighted their pipes and sang psalms and hymns until the peaceful
valley resounded with their voices.
[Illustration: VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N'CHU]
Panting horses brought to the little stone farmhouse, where General De Wet
was drinking milk, the long-awaited scouts who carried the information
that the British force had evacuated Thaba N'Chu late in the afternoon,
and that it was moving hurriedly toward Bloemfontein.
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