Those of the second watch were ready to
reinforce the men on duty, while the third were only to turn out if
summoned by the alarm-bell. All the defences had, indeed, been brought
to a wonderful pitch of perfection by the C.O. First there was a network
of rifle-pits, which gave the Boers no peace day or night, and from
which on one side or the other an almost incessant sniping went on.
These were supplemented by dynamite mines, the fame of which had
frightened the Boers more than anything else, all connected with
Headquarter Staff Office by electric wires. In addition there was
barbed-wire fencing round the larger earthworks, and massive barricades
of waggons and sandbags across the principal streets. All this looked
very simple once erected and in working order, but it was the outcome of
infinite thought and ever-working vigilance. Then there was a complete
system of telephones, connecting all the redoubts and the hospital with
the Staff Office, thereby saving the lives of galloping orderlies,
besides gaining their services as defenders in a garrison so small that
each unit was an important factor. Last, but certainly not least, were
the bomb-proof shelters, which black labour had constructed under
clever supervision all over the town, till at that time, in case of
heavy shelling, nearly every inhabitant could be out of harm's way.
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