"Does it always go on like that ?" he asked, when he heard the vicious hammer of the enemy's Maxim.

"Yes," somebody gloomily answered, "it always goes on like that, till at length we pretend to like it, and that we should feel dull if it were silent." Although the soldiers in Mafeking were disposed to grumble at the small part they seemed to be playing in the great tussle in which England was engaged, the authorities were satisfied that for so small a town to have kept occupied during the first critical month of the war 10,000--and at later stages never less than 2,000--Boers, was in itself no small achievement.

We women always had lots to do.

When the hospital work was slack there were many Union Jacks to be made--a most intricate and tiresome occupation--and these were distributed among the various forts.
We even had a competition in trimming hats, and a prize was given to the best specimen as selected by a competent committee.

In the evenings we never failed to receive the Mafeking evening paper, and were able to puzzle our heads over its excellent acrostics, besides frequently indulging in a pleasant game of cards.
In the meantime food was certainly becoming very short, and on April 3 I cabled to my sister in London as follows: "Breakfast to-day, horse sausages; lunch, minced mule, curried locusts.