Yeomanry at Lindley. To understand the urgent necessity for this detour we must return to Senekal. [Illustration: OFFICERS OF THE SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS Photo by Gregory & Co., London] THE BATTLE OF BIDDULPH'S BERG (28TH AND 29TH OF MAY) So soon as General Rundle entered Senekal--on the 26th of May--he proceeded to make inquiries as to the whereabouts of General Colvile, whom he believed to be at Lindley, some forty miles north-east of him. It so happened that General Colvile had just vacated that place and continued his march in the direction of Heilbron. No sooner was his back turned than the Boers pounced on Lindley, and not only pounced, but contrived to make themselves instantly aggressive. As ill luck would have it, the Duke of Cambridge's Yeomanry under Colonel Spragge, who had been sent from Kroonstad to join General Colvile's force, were caught by the enemy a few miles short of their destination. They were in the awkward position of having missed General Colvile and lost a _pied-à-terre_ at Lindley. In this dilemma a message was sent to General Rundle informing him of the desperate quandary. The General, instantly reviewing the critical state of affairs, devised a strategical plan which, he thought, would serve--far off as he was--to extricate the entangled forces who were demanding his assistance. He was aware that a posse of Boers was within some six miles of him, circling around towards Bethlehem in the east, and he conceived the scheme of attacking these with such force and determination as to press them hard and force them in their turn to appeal for help from the hordes that were infesting Lindley to the annoyance and dismay of the not yet united British forces who had prayed his aid. This device was masterly in the extreme, as it, so to speak, forced the masses of the enemy to come south in all haste, and thus saved risks of failure which might have resulted from a long movement of infantry over a distance of about forty miles. So, leaving General Boyes with three battalions in occupation of Senekal, General Rundle, with a force consisting of 2nd Grenadier Guards, 2nd Scots Guards, 2nd East Yorkshire, under General Campbell, the 2nd West Kent Regiment, the 2nd and 79th Batteries Royal Field Artillery, and the 4th and 7th Battalions of Imperial Yeomanry--marched off towards the east over some miles of open country over which the tall grass, bleached now by many days of scorching sun, waved thickly round their knees. In the distance were three ominous hills--such hills as the Dutchmen delight in--fronted by a lower eminence which was occupied by the enemy. These espied the coming of the British, and promptly betook themselves to their main position on two of the hills, Biddulph's Berg and Tafel Berg. From these points of vantage they greeted the Kent and Derbyshire Yeomanry, who had advanced to reconnoitre, with a storm of bullets which at once laid low many a brave fellow. Still the Derbyshire