by common consent it was agreed that De Wet should never be handed up alive if it fell to the lot of the New Cavalry Brigade to bring him to his knees. In obedience to the superior command, the whole brigade in the afternoon sauntered on the four miles set down in the general's message. The day had been a repetition of the one which had preceded it--one of those burning karoo afternoons, which seem to sap the very soul out of all things living. The feeling of dejection which pervaded the staff seemed to have communicated itself to the whole column, and the New Cavalry Brigade slunk rather than marched into camp. It was not a cheerful camping-ground--a solitary farm-house of the poorest construction, and two shallow, slimy pools of water were the only attractions which it could claim. The men soberly fixed their horse-lines, and rolled over to sweat out the trials of the heat until sundown. The brigadier, who was still in his Achilles mood, retired to his waggon. The new brigade-major, who was the only man with any spirits left at all, busied himself with arranging for the night-pickets and nursing the Mount Nelson Light Horse. But over a bowl of tea, which the mess-servants arranged by four o'clock, the brigadier seemed to revive; and he had just become approachable when the colonel of the newly arrived contingent sauntered up to the mess-waggon,--a big, rather ungainly man, who arrived with all the self-assurance of one in authority. _Colonel_ (_looking round the group of officers at tea and singling out the Brigade-Major, whom he knew_). "Which is the brigadier?" _Brigadier_ (_who had totalled the new-comer's checks in one brief glance_). "I am that unfortunate. What can I do for you?" _C._ (_saluting casually_) "Glad to meet you, sir; I thought that I would come round to introduce myself--especially as I have some bad news!" _B._ "A truly noble action, and one which is likely to ingratiate you here. What is it?" _C._ "Nothing more or less than my men and horses are dead-beat. They will have to halt here at least two days before they will be fit to move. I have----" _B._ "My dear colonel, have some tea; or perhaps you would prefer some whisky-and-sparklet? You bring me the best news that I have heard to-day!" _C._ "Thank you, sir; but I am serious about----" _B._ "Of course, of course you are serious, and I should have been delighted to have left you and your regiment here as long as you pleased--the longer the better. Only I shall probably have orders to move with my whole force before daybreak, and that being the case, I am afraid that your 'robbers' will have to move too, 'dead-beat' or not." _C._ "But I assure you, sir----"