In the Ranks of the C.I.V. | Page 9

dawn.
CHAPTER III.
PIQUETBERG ROAD.
Piquetberg Road--A fire--Kitless--A typical day--A bed--"Stableman"--
Picket--A rebel--Orders for the front, with a proviso--Rain--An
ungrateful patient--"Bazing"--Swimming horses--My work--The
weather--A blue letter.
When I woke up on the morning of the 22nd of March, the legend
"Piquetberg Road" was just visible on a big white board opposite the
carriage. So this was our destination. There was a chill sense in every
one of not having got very far towards the seat of war--indeed, we were

scarcely eighty miles from Capetown; but our spirits were soon raised
by the advent of some Tommies of the Middlesex Militia, who spoke
largely of formidable bodies of rebels in the neighbourhood, of an
important pass to guard, and of mysterious strategical movements in
the near future; so that we felt cheerful enough as we detrained our
guns and horses, harnessed up, and marched over a mile and a half of
scrub-clothed veldt, to the base of some steep hills, where we pitched
our camp, and set to work to clear the ground of undergrowth. We were
at the edge of a great valley, through which ran the line of railway,
disappearing behind us in a deep gorge in the hills, where a little river
ran. This was the pass we were to help to guard.
Below in the valley lay a few white houses round the station, a farm or
two dotted the distant slopes, and the rest was desert scrub and veldt.
Now that the right section had parted from us, we had two officers,
Captain Budworth commanding, and Lieutenant Bailey; about sixty
men, two guns, two ammunition waggons, and two transport waggons,
with their mules and Kaffir drivers, under a conductor. Our little square
camp was only a spot upon the hill-side, the guns and horse-lines in the
middle, a tent for the officers on one side, and a tent at each corner for
the men. Here we settled down to the business-like routine of camp life,
with great hopes of soon being thought worthy to join a brigade in the
field.
The work was hard enough, but to any one with healthy instincts the
splendid open-air life was very pleasant. Here are some days from my
diary:--
"March 23.--Marching order parade. Drove centres of our sub-division
waggon.
"I have got a saddle for my own horse at last, and feel happier. Where it
came from I don't know.
"I am 'stableman' for three days, and so missed a bathing parade to-day,
which is a nuisance, as there is no means of washing here nearer than a
river some distance off, to which the others rode. While they were

away there was an alarm of fire in the lines of the Middlesex Militia,
next to ours. Bugles blew the 'alarm.' The scrub had caught fire quite
near the tents, and to windward of us. There were only four of us in
camp, one a bombardier, who took command and lost his head, and
after some wildly contradictory orders, said to me, 'Take that gun to a
place of safety.' How he expected me to take the gun by myself I don't
know. However, the fire went out, and all was well.
"I forgot to say that on the day we left Stellenbosch, a mail at last came
in, and I got my first letters. They came by the last mail, and we have
evidently missed a lot. Also a telegram, weeks old, saying Henry (my
brother) had joined Strathcona's Horse in Ottawa and was coming out
here. Delighted to hear it, but I shall probably never see him.
"By the way, I am parted from all my kit at present. Having had no
saddle, I have been used to put it on the transport waggon of our
sub-division, but this went with the other section for some inscrutable
reason, or rather didn't go, for it was wrecked by a train when crossing
the line. I heard vaguely that the contents were saved and sent on with
the right section, but am quite prepared to find it is lost. Not that I miss
it much. One wants very little really, in this sort of life. Fortunately I
kept back my cloak and blanket. A lovely night to-night: Williams and
I have given up tents as too crowded, and sleep under the gun; to-night
we have built a rampart of scrub round it, as there is a fresh wind.
"March 28.--Marching order parade at eight. I was told to turn out as a
mounted gunner, which is a very jolly job. You have a single mount
and ride about as ground-scout, advance-guard, rear-guard, etc. We had
a route-march over the pass through the mountains, a lovely ride,
reminding me of the Dordogne. We came out into a beautiful valley the
other side,