It was during this battle that that wonderful artillerist, Major J.L. Pretorius put Long Tom to the test that I had so strongly advocated at Ladysmith and other places. The Boer officers were all convinced that it would be dangerous to fire Long Tom except when fastened down to a heavy wooden platform. To build these platforms to stand the work a great deal of labor, at least twenty-four hours of time, and a great deal of strong material were required. My contention was that Long Tom could be used as an ordinary field gun, and would do good work without a platform as well as with one. To have so used this big gun at Ladysmith would have kept the British guessing, and the results would have been very different. At Dalmanutha, Major Pretorius did not have time to finish the platform, so he took the chances of firing Long Tom as he stood without one, and the result was excellent. He found his shooting was just as accurate, and that the recoil was never more than two or three yards. Thereafter Long Tom was always used as an ordinary field gun, and Major Pretorius took him over the mountains by Lydenburg. With the exception of about twenty men, the Irish boys were all dismounted, having lost their horses near Pretoria. They were in position under Commandant Kruger, and when the English broke through our centre it looked as though they would be captured. They had to make about ten miles to reach Machadadorp, where they could take the train, and they barely made connection before the English arrived. The Boers scattered in all directions, some going towards Lydenburg, some to Neil Spruit, some to Devil's Kantoor, and others southward towards Ermelo and Carolina. President Kruger and the Government were at Neil Spruit. CHAPTER XIV. DARK PERIOD OF THE WAR--PRESIDENT KRUGER FORCED TO LEAVE FOR HOLLAND--LORD ROBERTS' ATTEMPTED ATTACK ON BOER WOMEN AND CHILDREN--LONG TREK THROUGH BUSH VELDT--ENGLISH FORTIFY--BATTLE OF RHINOSTER KOP--KITCHENER ORDERS ALL FARMS DESTROYED--ENGLISH SAVAGERY We now arrive at what I call the dark period of the war. For the first time I really felt that our situation was serious. The Boers were discouraged in spirit and much scattered, and several hundred of them deliberately rode into the English lines and surrendered. At one time it looked as if there would be a general surrender, but President Kruger was firm and said the war must go on. [Illustration: MISS ANNIE OLLIVIER OF PRETORIA A Typical Boer Girl]