Were they coming on again?
They showed no signs of it.

And yet they waited in groups, and looked up towards the beetling crags above them.

What were they waiting for?
The sudden crash of a murderous Mauser fire upon the summit, with the rolling volleys of the British infantry, supplied the answer.
Only now must it have been clear to Clements that he was not dealing merely with some spasmodic attack from his old enemy De la Rey, but that this was a largely conceived movement, in which a force at least double the strength of his own had suddenly been concentrated upon him.

His camp was still menaced by the men whom he had repulsed, and he could not weaken it by sending reinforcements up the hill.

But the roar of the musketry was rising louder and louder.