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At the farm of a certain Andries Bester, near by, some seventy head of cattle in very good condition were found dead, piled up to the level of one of the kraal walls, showing the struggle which some thirty others had in escaping over the mound of dead cattle to the outside of the kraal.

"They followed me because they loved me, and they fearlessly risked their lives for me several times." The good Major was full of sympathy, and made provision for the decent burial of my poor comrades at Lydenburg. Bester and I were now conducted under an escort of 150 soldiers with fixed bayonets to the village, which was two and a half miles off.

I met the burghers under Commandants Cilliers, Bester, Mentz, and Van Coller. S.J.M. Wessels. Here again it was unanimously decided not to surrender the independence, and Commandants Mentz, Van Coller and Bester were the representatives chosen. The fifth meeting I held with the commandos under General Johannes Hattingh, on the 1st of May, on the Weltevrede Farm, under the chairmanship of Mr.

Commandant H.P.J. Pretorius, seconded by General C. Botha, presented the proposal, as read by the Commission. General Nieuwouwdt also withdrew his proposal, but it was at once taken over by General C.C.J. Badenhorst, seconded by Commandant A.J. Bester, of Bloemfontein. The meeting then adjourned till the afternoon. In the afternoon at 2.05 it again met.

Bester, the neighbour in the next cottage, had stepped in with her youngest on her hip and was talking breathlessly. She paused to drop her curtsy as Betty entered, and old Doby stood up and made his salute with a trembling hand, "She'll know," he said. "Gentry knows the ins an' outs of gentry fust. She'll know the rights." "What has happened?" Mrs. Bester unexpectedly burst into tears.

"The following chief officers have been chosen as Representatives for the commandos of the districts: Hoopstad, Boshof, and parts of Winburg and Bloemfontein, districts to the west of the railway line. General C. Badenhorst. Commandant J. Jacobsz. Commandant A. Bester. Any answer, previous to noon of the 11th inst., will reach me at Brandfort. "Commander-in-Chief, Orange Free State Armies."

Our only gun was placed on the side of a high kop on our western wing. Our men did not number more than a thousand the other burghers had remained behind as a rear-guard at Bester Station. With three batteries of guns the English marched to the attack, the troops leading the way, the guns some distance behind.

N.B. Gildenhuis, and the secretary Mr. H.M.G. Davis. The elected representatives were General Badenhorst and Commandants A.J. Bester and Jacobsz. This was my last meeting, and it also decided on maintaining the independence.

For a long time the face puzzled him, but at last he remembered having seen a counterfeit presentment of it, or one very similar, in a photographic group of the Bester family. A Bester would know every rock and cranny of that hill with a familiarity which would make light or darkness indifferent to him.

I replied that I was not hurt, though it was a miracle that I was still alive, for a bullet had struck my chest, and would have penetrated had my pocket-book not stopped it. The fact was, that my pocket-book had served the providential service of the proverbial bible or pack of cards. Bester was with me, and not seeing my other adjutants, I enquired what had become of them.