Very late that same evening, just as I was going to bed, I received a
message from Colonel Baden-Powell, through one of his Staff, to say he
had just been informed, on trustworthy authority, that no less than
8,000 burghers composed the force likely to arrive on the morrow, that
it was probable they would rush the town, and that the garrison would be
obliged to fight its way out. He concluded by begging me to leave at
once by road for the nearest point of safety. Naturally I had to obey. I
shall never forget that night: it was cold and gusty after a hot day,
with frequent clouds obscuring the moon, as we walked round to Major
Gould Adams's house to secure a Cape cart and some Government mules, in
order that I might depart at dawn. At first I was ordered to Kanya, a
mission-station some seventy miles away, an oasis in the Kalahari
Desert. This plan gave rise to a paragraph which I afterwards saw in
some of the daily papers, that I had left Mafeking under the escort of a
missionary, and some cheery spirit made a sketch of my supposed
departure as reproduced here. Later on, however, it was thought
provisions might run short in that secluded spot, so I was told to
proceed to Setlagoli, a tiny store, or hotel as we should call it, with
a shop attached, thirty-five miles south in Bechuanaland, on the main
road to Kimberley, from which quarter eventually succour was expected.
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