But even then all was not over. The great, the supreme effort to recapture Wagon Hill came at four o'clock in the afternoon. The lightning flashed, the thunder rolled, the hail clattered and splashed, the guns blazed, vomited, and growled, and the silky whistle of bullets made a flute-like treble to the awful orchestra of sound. In the midst of the uproar the Boers again obstinately advanced up the heights, firing deliberately as they came. On their heads poured the wrath of the British guns, and among their numbers rained the ceaseless bullets of the Infantry; but they steadily moved up, doggedly determined once more to reach the crest of the hill. They came nearer and ever nearer till, on a sudden, they flung themselves upon the Devons, who, cheering wildly, rushed into their midst and dispersed them. One short moment--one wild, valiant rush, and then--then the trusty British bayonets dripped with gore, and the Boers--all that were left of them, a racing, disorganised rabble--surged madly down the hill! The worst was over; the British conquerors rushed after the retreating foe. The Devons, led by their intrepid commander, charged down the slope, and this time, with a wild exultant yell--which echoed like a tocsin among the caves and the boulders and the honeycombed banks of the river--effectually drove the fleeing herd from the scene of carnage. The lost ground was recovered, but the lost lives.... Yes; they, too, live in the glorious annals of British history. Captain Lafone, Lieutenants Field and Walker were among the slain; and Lieutenant Masterton was wounded. The splendid charge cost the Devons all the company officers--fifteen killed and forty wounded! [Illustration: THE GREAT ASSAULT ON LADYSMITH--THE DEVONS CLEARING WAGON HILL. Drawing by W. T. Maud.]