They were still some miles from home, and the plain was open.

What could be done to give them some relief?
And at that very moment there came the opportune and unexpected answer.
That plume of engine smoke which the watcher had observed in the morning had drawn nearer and nearer, as the heavy train came puffing and creaking up the steep inclines.

Then, almost before it had drawn up at the Ladysmith siding, there had sprung from it a crowd of merry bearded fellows, with ready hands and strange sea cries, pulling and hauling, with rope and purchase to get out the long slim guns which they had lashed on the trucks.

Singular carriages were there, specially invented by Captain Percy Scott, and labouring and straining, they worked furiously to get the 12-pounder quick-firers into action.

Then at last it was done, and the long tubes swept upwards to the angle at which they might hope to reach that monster on the hill at the horizon.