About the middle of December, in the early morning, General Beyers, with his 350 men, charged over a half mile of open ground and came into close fighting quarters with Clements' force. Kopje after kopje was taken, and at times the Boers and English were within two yards of each other, yet the former continued to kill and drive till they completely routed the whole force and killed and captured nearly 800 men. The Boers did not know where Clements' cannon were, or they would have captured them, too. General Beyers' attack was a little previous, because General de la Rey had not had time enough to reach the charging point before Beyers had finished his work. Clements and his whole command, together with his cannon, would have been captured without doubt, had General Beyers delayed his charge for twenty minutes. But it was dark and very difficult for two forces to work in perfect unison. At any rate General de la Rey had the position he wished, and General Clements was in rapid retreat. All this took place in the middle of December, yet the war was over, for Lord Roberts, the Mighty, the High, the Great Financier and Politician, had so declared nearly four months previously, and Conan Doyle had countersigned his declaration. Before the end of December and the end of the year 1900, many Free Staters with General George Brand and General Hertzog, both able and determined officers, had crossed into the Colony, and other forces had entered Griqualand West, where some convoys were taken. So there was daily fighting in Cape Colony, the Free State and the Transvaal, and the Boers were successful in all the main engagements, this, too, in the face of the fact that the war was declared at an end both by Lord Roberts and Conan Doyle. [Illustration: EIGHT BOER SISTERS OF WELLINGTON, CAPE COLONY] CHAPTER XVI. BOERS BECOME AGGRESSIVE--AMERICAN GOVERNMENT COMES TO ENGLAND'S ASSISTANCE AND FURNISHES HORSES, MULES AND MEN. The year 1901 began well, and the month of January was a very lively one, as there was hot fighting in every direction throughout the land and as far south as Cape Town. The English were alarmed; affairs in South Africa looked dubious and dark. The Boers were becoming more aggressive, Johannesburg was in a constant state of excitement, expecting every moment to be attacked and captured; the people were calling for protection, Kitchener was clamoring for re-enforcements from England, and England was calling for help from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Canada, India, New Zealand and Australia. At the same time Lord Roberts was pulling the ropes for his earldom, and $500,000 for his proclamations annexing the Free State and the Transvaal, and declaring the war at an end. The English were short on horses and mules and these she must have at any cost, otherwise they were swamped. There was but one country in the world from which she could hope to get them, and that was the last country in the world that should supply them.