Happily Boers do not do such things.
A Kaffir brought in a newspaper only two days old.

It said Gatacre had suffered a reverse on the Free State frontier.

There was nothing about the German Emperor, and no football news.
In the late afternoon I rode up to the Manchesters' lines on Caesar's Camp, our nearest point to Colenso.

But they knew no more than the rest of us, except that an officer had counted the full tale of guns fired in the morning--137.

The view on all sides was as varied and full of growing association as usual, but had no special interest to-day, and I hurried back to inquire again after Mr.George Steevens, who is down with fever, to every one's regret.
_December 14, 1899._ After the high hopes of the last few days we seem to be falling back, and to get no nearer to the end.