They tell of him that, one day at the officers' mess, after a
particularly lively brush with the Boers, the quartermaster asked him
if he had lost anything.
"Yes," replied Haig solemnly, "my Bible!"
Not once did his countenance relax its gravity, as he met the grinning
faces across the table.
But despite their chaffing, there was not a man there who did not
respect the courage of his convictions, no less than the bravery of the
man himself. Almost daily he risked his life in these cavalry
operations--until the "Haig luck" became a watchword.
The end of the South African War found Haig promoted to acting Adjutant
General of the Cavalry, and soon after his return home he was made
Lieutenant Colonel, in command of the Seventeenth Lancers. This was in
1901.
About this time he paid a visit to Germany, then at peace and
professing a warm affection for England. One result of this visit was
a letter which showed him possessed with wonderful powers of analysis
and foresight. He practically predicted the war that was to come. He
summed up his observations in a long letter to a friend which, in the
light of events of the War, is little short of uncanny. It gave the
German plan with a mastery of detail, shrewd prophecy, and earnest
warning. The future commander-in-chief of the British armies in France
was convinced of the certainty of the conflict and besought the
authorities to make better preparation--but his warnings fell upon deaf
ears.
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