The little party had been distributed for digging as well as the darkness and their ignorance of their exact position to the Boers would permit.

Twice the sound of the picks brought angry volleys from the darkness, but the work was never stopped, and in the early dawn the workers found not only that they were secure themselves, but that they were in a position to enfilade over half a mile of Boer trenches.

Before daybreak the British crouched low in their shelter, so that with the morning light the Boers did not realise the change which the night had wrought.

It was only when a burgher was shot as he filled his pannikin at the river that they understood how their position was overlooked.

For half an hour a brisk fire was maintained, at the end of which time a white flag went up from the trench.