As a rule it was a peaceful interval as regards
shelling. Herds of mules were driven along the dusty streets to be
watered; cattle and goats returned from the veldt, where they had been
grazing in close proximity to the town, as far as possible out of sight;
foot-passengers, amongst them many women, scurried along the side-walks
closely skirting the houses. Then, when daylight had completely faded,
all took shelter, to wait for the really vicious night-gun, which was
usually fired between eight and nine with varying regularity, as our
enemies, no doubt, wished to torment the inhabitants by not allowing
them to know when it was safe for them to seek their homes and their
beds. There was a general feeling of relief when "Creechy" had boomed
her bloodthirsty "Good-night." Only once during the whole siege was she
fired in the small hours of the morning, and that was on Dingaan's Day
(December 16), when she terrified the sleeping town by beginning her
day's work at 2.30 a.m., followed by a regular bombardment from all the
other guns in chorus, to celebrate the anniversary of the great Boer
victory over the Zulus many years ago. Frequent, however, were the
volleys from the trenches that suddenly broke the tranquillity of the
early night, and startling were they in their apparent nearness till one
got accustomed to them.
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