The Mafeking correspondent of the Times, in a long despatch
dated January 3rd and published on Tuesday, gives a curiously interesting study of Colonel Baden-Powell. So far from being the joyous farceur as described in so many accounts, the defender of Mafeking is said to be a silent man, of unbending reserve, outwardly maintaining an impenetrable screen of self-control, and observing with a cynical smile the foibles and caprices of those around him. "Every passing townsman regards him with curiosity mixed with awe. He does not go about freely, since he is tied to his office through the multitudinous cares of his command, and he is chiefly happy when he can snatch the time to escape upon one of those nocturnal silent expeditions "—espionage excursions to the Boer lines—which have enabled him so often to forestall their next move and counteract their next attack.
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