Here we have before us what made the complicated riddle of the Raid. Since it has defied all the Oedipuses of the century, we will not endeavour to unravel it. Did the Reformers set all their grievances aside before the paramount question, "Under which flag, Jameson?" or did they make use of the flag argument to cover a series of vacillations which prevented them from acting up to the rules of the conspiracy they themselves had set on foot? Did Mr. Rhodes engage in the plot for the sake of financial gain? Did he do so out of sympathy for the "cause," or did he attempt a magnificent political _coup_? And lastly--Did that unhappy scapegoat, the gallant Jameson, launch himself on the wild mistaken escapade to rescue his fellow-countrymen from oppression, to serve his private ends financial or political, or from the sheer spirit of adventure which, in some degree, animates every British heart? Who shall say? THE CRITICAL MOMENT It was arranged, as has been mentioned, that the rising at Johannesburg should take place on the night of the 4th of January. The arsenal at Pretoria was to be seized, and Dr. Jameson with his troops was to make his appearance, assist the Reformers in urging their claims, and, if necessary, save the women and children from possible violence. "According to the original plan," says Mrs. Lionel Phillips in her "South African Recollections," "what with the smuggled rifles, those in private hands, the spare weapons to be brought by Jameson's men, and those men (the Reformers) themselves, Johannesburg must have mustered a little army of not less than 5000 men, to say nothing of the guns which might possibly be captured in the arsenal. It was believed that with this force the town could be held against any attack that might be made by the Transvaal forces, and that, upon a failure in the first assault, the Boers would have adopted their well-known tactics of cutting off supplies, with a view to starving the town into submission. To meet this contingency the town was provisioned for two months, and it was supposed that the British Government would never sit still and allow the Uitlanders to be forced into capitulation in the face of the wrongs which they had suffered. In November, when Jameson came to Johannesburg, the supporting force had dwindled to 800. The telegrams apprising the Reformers of his advance spoke of 700, and in reality he started with less than 500 men."