’"Shall I go myself?" cried the Chief, advancing. ’But a brave fellow springs forward. It is Franck, who had already distinguished himself at Abraham’s Kraal. Waving his rifle with a grand gesture, he cried: "Vive la France!" ’He fell instantly, struck by two bullets. But the impulse had been given; the positions were resumed. ’On all sides, however, the "khakis" were closing in upon us. They fixed their bayonets and charged. Suddenly the General fell back without a word. He was dead.’ * * * * * Whatever the strength and vitality of a man may be, the inert body will fall when the soul takes flight. Villebois was the soul of the legion. Accordingly, when he was killed, the survivors surrendered, after four hours of heroic resistance. Out of twenty-seven Frenchmen, the General, Le Gilles and Robiquet were killed, Bardin, Bernard, Franck and the others were wounded. The English officers told us that they had been informed several days before of the arrival of 100 Frenchmen at Hoopstad, thus confirming the story of the Driefontein farmers. The Comte de Villebois, one of the youngest colonels in the French army, had been severely wounded as a sub-lieutenant in the army of the Loire in 1870. His conduct had been such as to merit the Cross of the Legion of Honour at the age of twenty. I will transcribe here, as a touching homage to his memory, the order of the day which Colonel de Nadaillac addressed to his regiment, informing them of the glorious death of their former chief: ’Colonel de Villebois-Mareuil, who had the honour of commanding the 130th Regiment, has died a soldier’s death in the Transvaal, shot through the breast by the fragment of a shell. ’Retiring at an early age, at his own request, he took his sword and the resources of his fine intelligence to the aid of the little Boer nation. ’His chivalrous soul could not resist the appeal of those generous sentiments which have so long been a tradition in our fair France. He wished to defend the weak against the strong. ’Let us respectfully salute this victim of the noblest French virtues, this valiant soldier who has fallen on the field of honour. ’The former Colonel of the 130th will be held in loving remembrance by us, and we offer the just tribute of our patriotic regrets to his memory. ’May God have mercy on the brave man who left child, friends, and fortune, to defend the oppressed. ’The death of Colonel de Villebois-Mareuil will be recorded in the regimental annals of the 130th.’ VII On the 18th we heard that De Wet, after his successes at Taba N’chu and Sanna’s Post, was at Wepener, where he had surrounded 2,000 men of Brabant’s Horse. * * * * * Without orders, and without precise tidings of any kind, we remain five days longer at Brandfort.