The camp had grown vastly in size during the eight weeks Yorke had been away. He went at once to the camp now occupied by General Pole-Carew's brigade. On his sending in his name, the general himself came to the door of his tent. "Well, Mr. Harberton," he exclaimed, "how on earth have you got back so soon? We heard from a telegram through Lorenzo Marques that you had escaped, but that was little more than a fortnight since, and I did not expect that you could have joined us again for another three weeks at least. You are just in time. We expect Lord Roberts to-morrow, and you may be sure that he will not lose a day when he arrives. By the way, Lucas has returned, and I am sorry to say that I have no vacancy on my staff; but I shall be seeing Lord Methuen this afternoon, and I will ask him, if he has an opportunity, to mention you to Lord Roberts, saying how you got into Kimberley and out again, and now have made your escape from Pretoria, and that your knowledge of Dutch makes you a most valuable staff-officer. Possibly the[Pg 301] chief may like to have you on his staff as interpreter and so on, for these Boers all make a point of pretending that they do not understand English, although there is no doubt that almost all of them in the Free State, and a considerable portion of the Transvaal men, do so. I suppose you would rather be on the staff than join your regiment?"
"I certainly would rather be with Lord Roberts, sir. I should be sure to see what is going on then, while I might not be so lucky if I were with the cavalry."
"I will speak to Lord Methuen about it. I have an hour to spare just at the present time, so you might tell me how you escaped from Pretoria. Of course, I know how you were taken."
Yorke gave an account of his adventures.
"Well, you are a lucky fellow in having two such followers as the Dutchman and the Kaffir. The last got you out of the hands of the Boers at Boshof, and now the Dutchman has got you out of Pretoria. You remind me of the Three Musketeers. I suppose you have read that story?"
"Yes, sir, and I always thought it ought to be called the Four Musketeers."
The general smiled. "That escape of yours at Colesberg was an exceptionally narrow thing," he said, "and I must really congratulate you on the way you managed it. Well, I suppose you will go to your regiment now. Give my compliments to the colonel, and say that I wish you to remain in camp for a few days, in case Lord Roberts may desire to hear from you something about the state of the prisons at Pretoria and what you saw as you came down."
"It is a good thing to have a fellow like you in the regiment, Harberton," the colonel said that evening after mess was over. "Your stories give us something fresh to think about, and anything that keeps us from talking of the eternal subject of what Lord Roberts is likely to do when he gets here is an unmixed pleasure. Besides, gentlemen, there is no saying what the fortunes of war may bring forth, and[Pg 302] some of us may see the inside of a Boer prison before it is all over. Now we know how Mr. Harberton got away, we may get some hints that may be useful to us—for instance, how he got through those wire fences."
"Yes, colonel," the major said; "but as we cannot any of us speak Dutch his example of the manner in which he made his way down would not be of any use whatever to us. A prisoner can think of a dozen ways of getting out of a prison; he might throttle a warder, dress himself up in his clothes, and march out. But what could he do after he was out? He couldn't buy as much as a crust of bread and cheese or a glass of beer, and the first time he opened his lips he would be seized."
"There would be difficulties, no doubt; but you know two or three officers have got away, and I am pretty sure none of them spoke Dutch. Now, if any of you gentlemen had taken such pains as Mr. Harberton to acquire the language you might have distinguished yourself as he has done. The regiment was out here before he landed, and there is not one of you who can put a sentence together in Dutch."
"Come, colonel, don't be too hard on us," one of the captains said. "We had no occasion to speak a word of Dutch at the Cape, and certainly we have had no opportunity since we left it."
"That is true enough," the colonel agreed; "but"—and he went on more gravely—"it has been evident for many months that war was probable, and it would have been well—I speak for myself as well as for you—if we had devoted an hour or two a day to getting up the language, for we should have known that it was sure to be useful in case of a campaign, and we have all frequently felt the difficulty of obtaining information from the farmers when scouting. We have missed a good opportunity, and very often time has hung heavy on our hands in spite of polo and other amusements. One does not expect to find many studious men in a cavalry regiment, still, I do wonder that none of us saw[Pg 303] what an advantage it would be to speak Dutch. Look at Mr. Harberton and see what he has gained by his industry. He has been employed on dangerous service, he succeeds in getting into Kimberley, he obtains a commission thereby, and now it has carried him safely through the Transvaal and Orange Free State, and will probably cause him to be selected for other special work."
"There is no credit due to me, sir," Yorke said. "I certainly did work at Dutch on the voyage out, but afterwards, being on a Dutch farm and scarcely hearing English spoken, I had to learn the language, and had continual opportunities of mastering it."
"That is all very well," the colonel said, "but there are many fellows who, had they been in your position, would not have learned much. You tell me that your cousin is English, and certainly your man Hans speaks our language, and thus you could, had you chosen, have got on very fairly without Dutch, and though you may disclaim any credit, that does not in any way alter the fact."
"I thought I heard firing as we came along this morning. Has there been any, sir?" Yorke asked, in order to change the conversation.
"Yes, the fighting began again on the 3rd. Macdonald with the Highland Brigade, two squadrons of ours, a field-battery, and some engineers, moved down to Koodoosberg Drift seventeen miles away. On the 6th the engineers began to erect a fort, but the Boers soon mustered very strongly, and the position was commanded by a kopje to the north. Skirmishing went on all day, and yesterday two batteries of horse artillery and a brigade of cavalry reinforced Macdonald. The fighting has gone on all day, but our guns have, we hear, gradually driven the Boers back. I expect the force will be recalled when Lord Roberts arrives to-morrow. I imagine it was only intended to keep the Boers' attention occupied in that direction and lead them to believe that the intention was to turn their position on[Pg 304] their right flank, and so relieve Kimberley without having to again attack their position at Magersfontein. Of course none of us know what Lord Roberts's plans are, but I hardly think that, if he had intended to carry out that line of attack, he would have called the Boers' attention to the fact until he was perfectly ready to begin."
"There must be a very large force here now, colonel, judging from the size of the camp."
"Yes, in addition to the division that fought their way here, there are now, counting those at the stations between this and De Aar, three others—some twenty-five thousand infantry; and we have now ninety-eight guns altogether. Counting our cavalry, which now musters nearly five thousand sabres, there must be over forty thousand men between Orange River Station and this place—a very different force from that with which Methuen attempted to relieve Kimberley in the first place. Cronje will have all his work cut out for him to keep his grip on the town."
The next morning Lord Roberts, with Lord Kitchener and his staff, reached the Modder River. Their arrival created immense enthusiasm among the troops. Lord Roberts had long been the popular hero of the British army. Not only had he accomplished all that he had undertaken—and his name been associated with the long series of successes in India—but his care for the comfort of the soldiers, his kindness of heart and cheeriness of manner, had won their affection, and every soldier felt that under "Bobs"—the name by which he was universally known among the rank and file—they would speedily turn the tables on the Boers. The arrival of Lord Kitchener on the scene was of scarcely less importance than was that of the commander-in-chief. He had in Egypt shown not only the qualifications necessary for a leader of men, but an extraordinary power of organization, and since his arrival at the Cape a month previously he had effected wonders.
When he landed there was practically no transport, and the[Pg 305] consequence was that the army had to depend entirely upon the railway, and could not have moved more than two or three days' march away from it. Now an immense train had been organized, and the army could, if necessary, cut itself loose from the railway, and depend for ten days or a fortnight upon its own supplies. His position as chief on Lord Roberts's staff went far to ensure that no mistake would occur, that every movement would be effected as perfectly as human fore-thought could arrange it, and that every detail would be seen to, every contingency prepared for. In character, however, the two great leaders differed greatly. With every faculty concentrated upon his work Lord Kitchener never spared himself, and he expected an equal devotion to duty from all under his command, officers and men alike. He was a man of iron, one who could make but small allowance for the weakness of others, would admit of no carelessness, and had no sympathy with the love of amusement and the easy-going manner of doing work that were characteristic of no inconsiderable proportion of the younger officers of the army.
He was admired and respected, but he had not Lord Roberts's knack of making himself loved by all with whom he came in contact. The twenty years of scouting, campaigning, and working in Egypt had given him something of the nature of the Arabs and natives with whom he had been associated. His face afforded no index to his thoughts. He spoke but little, but it was always to the point; his eyes had the faraway look of one constantly scanning the distance for the approach of an enemy; his anger expressed itself only in a few quiet words that cut like whips. His appearance in camp was at once the sign for additional activity, sharper discipline, and an increased attention to duties of all kinds. No better right hand could have been chosen by Lord Roberts for the work to be done, and wherever things went a little wrong it needed but Kitchener's presence to set them right again.
[Pg 306]
Not a day was lost. Lord Roberts arrived on the morning of the 8th, and the next evening the force from Koodoosberg returned to camp, and a series of orders were that day quietly issued. On the 11th the cavalry division under General French, with seven batteries of horse artillery, and two field-batteries, left the Modder River camp for Ramdam, a large pool near the Riet River, five miles south of the village of Koffyfontein; and General Tucker, with the 7th Infantry division, marched to the same point from the railway-station of Enslin and Graspan; the other divisions were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to move. That morning one of Lord Roberts's aides-de-camp rode into the camp of the 9th Lancers and asked for Lieutenant Harberton, to accompany him at once to head-quarters, as Lord Roberts wished to speak to him.
Yorke congratulated himself now that he had, two days after Magersfontein, bought the entire kit of an officer who had been killed there, and this included a tunic, breeches, and gaiters that had never been worn. In these he hurriedly attired himself for the first time and then mounted his horse, which had been standing ready saddled in case he should receive any order, and accompanied the aide-de-camp. On reaching the head-quarter camp they dismounted, an orderly took their horses, and the officer, entering the tent of the commander-in-chief, returned at once telling Yorke that he was to enter.
"Lord Methuen has given me an outline of your services, Mr. Harberton," Lord Roberts said kindly. "The story is really a remarkable one, and shows a singular amount of enterprise, courage, and coolness on the part of so young an officer. What is even more to the point at the present moment is, you have shown you can speak Dutch well—at any rate, well enough to pass as a Boer, and that you can also converse to some extent to Kaffirs in their own tongue. Captain Watermeyer is the only member of my staff who[Pg 307] can speak Dutch well, and I am sure he will be glad of your assistance in examining prisoners, farmers, or natives; therefore, I have much pleasure in appointing you as an extra aide-de-camp."
"Thank you, sir, I feel it is a high honour indeed that you have conferred upon me."
"It is a well-deserved one; and as you made the journey to Kimberley, and also, as I hear, have followed the road down from Pretoria through Johannesburg to Bloemfontein, you will be valuable for other purposes besides those of an interpreter, and I consider myself fortunate in obtaining your services. Colonel Chamberlain, will you tell Captain Watermeyer that I wish to see him?"
On the arrival of that officer Lord Roberts said: "Captain Watermeyer, I have appointed Lieutenant Harberton an extra aide-de-camp. He speaks Dutch well, and you will, I am sure, find him of great assistance when you have to question prisoners or other Dutch who may be brought into camp. When not required for such work he will perform the usual duties of an aide-de-camp. Will you kindly introduce him to the other members of my staff, and request Colonel Pretyman to arrange for his tenting and other accommodation? I hear, by the way, Mr. Harberton, that you have a Dutch servant who has proved himself a most faithful and valuable man, and also a Kaffir groom who went with you into Kimberley, and aided in effecting your escape from Pretoria. You will, of course, bring them with you in the same capacity here."
Lord Methuen was entering the tent as Yorke went out, and the latter thanked him warmly for his kindness in recommending him to the commander-in-chief.
"It is to General Pole-Carew that you are chiefly indebted," the general said; "he has seen much more of you than I have. I heard from him the full story of your adventures, and it was a pleasure to me to report your conduct[Pg 308] to Lord Roberts. Pole-Carew told me that he was sorry he could not have your services in future—first, as his staff is complete, and in the second place, as he will remain here with his brigade, with the force under my command."
Yorke then went off with Captain Watermeyer. "I remember your face well, Mr. Harberton," the latter said; "I know Major Mackintosh, who obtained a commission for you in his corps. I was not a member of it, for I was in the Cape Town Highlanders. I saw you several times at the hotel where you were then stopping."
"I remember you perfectly now, sir; but the khaki and helmet make such a difference that until you spoke I did not recognize you."
"Well, we have both got on since then; it had certainly never occurred to either of us that we should both be here as members of the commander-in-chief's staff."
"No, indeed," Yorke replied, "nothing could have been more unlikely—at any rate, as far as I was concerned."
"Well, as for the tenting, you may as well share mine, as I am alone at present and shall be glad of company."
Matters were quickly arranged with Colonel Pretyman, the head-quarters commandant. Captain Watermeyer's offer obviated all difficulty with regard to tentage, and Yorke would, of course, mess with other officers of the staff.
"I am afraid, Mr. Harberton," the officer said, "that you will not draw any extra pay as assistant aide-de-camp, though, possibly, with the addition of the word 'interpreter' in general orders, an allowance will be obtainable."
"That is a matter of comparative indifference to me, I have resources of my own that will enable me for at least some time to defray the extra expenses of the mess."
"That will not be very heavy," Colonel Pretyman said with a smile; "certainly as long as we are on the march you will find but few luxuries, though, when we are in towns, we indulge a little. As a whole, I should say that we live no better than the infantry messes, certainly not so well as the[Pg 309] cavalry do now, though they too will have to leave the best part of their stores behind them when we once move."
"And about my servant, sir, who is now a trooper in my regiment?"
"He will draw rations and mess with the orderlies. There will be no difficulty about your Kaffir groom, several of us have Cape boys in the same capacity, and of course, he will go in with them."
As two or three officers had come in while they were talking, Yorke, knowing how busy the colonel was, at once left and rode back to the camp of the Lancers, and after getting his things together returned to the head-quarter camp with Hans and Peter. On the following morning Lord Roberts and his staff moved to Ramdam, while the cavalry w............