CONDEMNED TO DEATH
Half an hour passed in silence, which was broken only by the footsteps
of the sentries as they tramped, or rather loitered, up and down, or
by the occasional fall of some calcined masonry from the walls of the
burnt-out house. What between the smell of smoke and dust, the heat of
the sun on the tin roof above, and the red-hot embers of the house in
front, the little room where Bessie was shut up grew almost unbearable,
and she felt as though she should faint upon the sacks. Through one of
the cracks in the waggon-house wall there blew a slight draught, and by
this crack Bessie placed herself, leaning her head against the wall
so as to get the full benefit of the air and to command a view of the
place. Presently several of the Boers came into the waggon-house a
