[Sidenote: Storm ends a desultory movement.] The attack on Colenso was not pressed. Ladysmith was fighting for its life; thousands of British soldiers were burning to give Sir George White the best aid that could be given, by a vigorous assault upon Colenso, which by all appearances was not strongly held, and from which we now know that the Boers had withdrawn 7,000 men, and yet there was nothing more than a long-range interchange of fire. General Clery in command--for General Buller was seemingly not present--rode out well in advance of his men, but even this daring and calculated exposure of himself and his staff did not draw the Boers. It was a melancholy day, unsatisfactory in every sense, and, had the enemy's assault on Ladysmith succeeded, would have provoked bitter outcry at home, where the difficulties which faced the relief column were, perhaps, not fully appreciated. As the afternoon closed upon the desultory and ineffective demonstration, the storm broke over the country with appalling violence. Thunder and lightning, hail and rain, raged over the frowning heights before the British soldiery, and intense darkness put a stop to the one-sided engagement. Dripping and depressed, the men marched back to camp, uncertain as to the fate of Ladysmith. Rain and gloom continued all next day, broken only by a flash of sunlight, which brought yet more disquieting news. The fresh message from Sir George White was this:-- "January 6, 3·15 p.m. Attack renewed. Very hard pressed." [Illustration: THE UNION JACK AT LADYSMITH: The flag which was never hauled down throughout the siege.] [Sidenote: The flag still flying in Ladysmith.] The Boer guns could not be heard, so that, for all men knew, the garrison had fallen. Yet one of those strange rumours, which in the old-world days told the Greeks, as they joined battle at Mycale, that their countrymen, hundreds of miles away, had on the same day beaten back the barbarian, ran swiftly through the camp. How or whence it comes, this sudden and unaccountable second-sight, no man can tell, and psychologists can but conjecture. For the story told with substantial truth that at 5 p.m. of the previous day, at which precise hour General Ian Hamilton and the Devons had sent the foe reeling down from Wagon Hill, the Boers had been repulsed and 400 of the enemy taken prisoners. Not till the following day was definite news forthcoming. Then it was known that with terrible loss the heroic garrison had driven back the Boers and kept the British flag flying over Ladysmith. Ian Hamilton, the wounded of Majuba, had been the hero of the defence. Satisfaction reigned in the camps, though there were some who asked, when the losses were known, how it would be if the Boers repeated their assault. But now the signs of immediate movement filled the air and fixed all attention. The relief army was preparing to strike its second blow. [Illustration: INDIANS CARRYING A WOUNDED OFFICER IN A DOOLIE.]