THE WORLD PERIL OF 1910

BY

GEORGE GRIFFITH

AUTHOR OF"THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION, " "A CONQUEST OF FORTUNE, ""A MAYFAIR MAGICIAN, " "HIS BETTER HALF, " ETC. ETC. 

LONDON

F. V. WHITE & CO. LTD. 

14, BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W. C. 

1907

CONTENTS

 CHAP. PAGE

 PROLOGUE--A RACE FOR A WOMAN 1

 I. A MOMENTOUS EXPERIMENT 9

 II. NORAH'S GOOD-BYE 17

 III. SEEN UNDER THE MOON 24

 IV. THE SHADOW OF THE TERROR 31

 V. A GLIMPSE OF THE DOOM 37

 VI. THE NOTE OF WAR 47

 VII. CAUGHT! 55

 VIII. FIRST BLOOD 63

 IX. THE "FLYING FISH" APPEARS 72

 X. FIRST BLOWS FROM THE AIR 79

 XI. THE TRAGEDY OF THE TWO SQUADRONS 88

 XII. HOW LONDON TOOK THE NEWS 98

 XIII. A CRIME AND A MISTAKE 106

 XIV. THE EVE OF BATTLE 115

 XV. THE STRIFE OF GIANTS 123

 XVI. HOW THE FRENCH LANDED AT PORTSMOUTH 132

 XVII. AWAY FROM THE WARPATH 143

 XVIII. A GLIMPSE OF THE PERIL 151

 XIX. A CHANGE OF SCENE 160

 XX. THE NIGHT OF TERROR BEGINS-- 167

 XXI. --AND ENDS 176

 XXII. DISASTER 182

 XXIII. THE OTHER CAMPAIGN BEGINS 189

 XXIV. TOM BOWCOCK--PITMAN 195

 XXV. PREPARING FOR ACTION 201

 XXVI. THE FIRST BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON 208

 XXVII. LENNARD'S ULTIMATUM 215

 XXVIII. CONCERNING ASTRONOMY AND OYSTERS 223

 XXIX. THE LION WAKES 231

 XXX. MR PARMENTER SAYS 239

 XXXI. JOHN CASTELLAN'S THREAT 247

 XXXII. A VIGIL IN THE NIGHT 254

 XXXIII. MR PARMENTER RETURNS 261

 XXXIV. THE "AURIOLE" 268

 XXXV. THE "AURIOLE" HOISTS THE WHITE ENSIGN 273

 XXXVI. A PARLEY AT ALDERSHOT 281

 XXXVII. THE VERDICT OF SCIENCE 288

XXXVIII. WAITING FOR DOOM 295

 XXXIX. THE LAST FIGHT 298

 EPILOGUE--"AND ON EARTH, PEACE!" 305

THE WORLD PERIL OF 1910

PROLOGUE

A RACE FOR A WOMAN

In Clifden, the chief coast town of Connemara, there is a house at theend of a triangle which the two streets of the town form, the frontwindows of which look straight down the beautiful harbour and bay, whosewaters stretch out beyond the islands which are scattered along thecoast and, with the many submerged reefs, make the entrance sodifficult. 

In the first-floor double-windowed room of this house, furnished as abed-sitting room, there was a man sitting at a writing-table--not anordinary writing-table, but one the dimensions of which were more suitedto the needs of an architect or an engineer than to those of a writer. In the middle of the table was a large drawing-desk, and on it waspinned a sheet of cartridge paper, which was almost covered withportions of designs. 

In one corner there was what might be the conception of an enginedesigned for a destroyer or a submarine. In another corner there was asketch of something that looked like a lighthouse, and over against thisthe design of what might have been a lantern. The top left-hand cornerof the sheet was merely a blur of curved lines and shadings andcross-lines, running at a hundred different angles which no one, savethe man who had drawn them, could understand the meaning of. 

In the middle of the sheet there was a very carefully-outlined drawingin hard pencil of a craft which was different from anything that hadever sailed upon the waters or below them, or, for the matter of that, above them. 

To the right hand there was a rough, but absolutely accurate, copy ofthis same craft leaving the water and flying into the air, and justunderneath this a tiny sketch of a flying fish doing the same thing. 

The man sitting before the drawing-board was an Irishman. He was one ofthose men with the strong, crisp hair, black brows and deep brown eyes, straight, strong nose almost in a line with his forehead, thin, nervouslips and pointed jaw, strong at the angles but weak at the point, whichcome only from one descent. 

Nearly four hundred years before, one of the ships of the great Armadahad been wrecked on Achill Island, about twenty miles from where he sat. Half a dozen or so of the crew had been saved, and one of these was aSpanish gentleman, captain of Arquebusiers who, drenched and bedraggledas he was when the half-wild Irish fishermen got him out of the water, still looked what he was, a Hidalgo of Spain. He had been nursed back tohealth and strength in a miserable mud and turf-walled cottage, and, broken in fortune--for he was one of the many gentlemen of Spain who hadrisked their all on the fortunes of King Philip and the Great Armada, and lost--he refused to go back to his own country a beaten man. 

And meanwhile he had fallen in love with the daughter of his nurse, thewife of the fisherman who had taken him more than half dead out of theraging Atlantic surf. 

No man ever knew who he was, save that he was a gentleman, a Spaniard, and a Catholic. But when he returned to the perfection of physical andmental health, and had married the grey-eyed, dark-browed girl, who hadseemed to him during his long hours of sickness the guardian angel whohad brought him back across the line which marks the frontier betweenlife and death, he developed an extraordinary talent in boat-building, which was the real origin of the wonderful sea-worthiness of smallcraft which to this day brave, almost with impunity, the terrible seaswhich, after an unbroken run of almost two thousand miles, burst uponthe rock-bound, island-fenced coast of Connemara. 

The man at the table was the descendant in the sixth generation of theunknown Spanish Hidalgo, who nearly four hundred years before had saidin reply to a question as to what his name was:

"Juan de Castillano. "

As the generations had passed, the name, as usual, had got modified, andthis man's name was John Castellan. 

"I think that will about do for the present, " he said, getting up fromthe table and throwing his pencil down. "I've got it almost perfectnow;" and then as he bent down again over the table, and looked overevery line of his drawings, "Yes, it's about all there. I wonder what myLords of the British Admiralty would give to know what that means. Well, God save Ireland, they shall some day!"

He unpinned the paper from the board, rolled it up, and put it into thetop drawer of an old oak cabinet, which one would hardly have expectedto find in such a room as that, and locked the drawer with a key on hiskeychain. Then he took his cap from a peg on the door, and his gun fromthe corner beside it, and went out. 

There are three ways out of Clifden to the west, one to the southwardtakes you over the old bridge, which arches the narrow rock-walledgorge, which gathers up the waters of the river after they have hadtheir frolic over the rocks above. The other is a continuation of themain street, and this, as it approaches the harbour, where you may nowsee boats built on the pattern which John Castellan's ancestor haddesigned, divides into two roads, one leading along the shore of thebay, and the other, rough, stony, and ill-kept, takes you above thecoast-guard station, and leads to nowhere but the Atlantic Ocean. 

Between these two roads lies in what was once a park, but which is now awilderness, Clifden Castle. Castle in Irish means country house, andall over the south and west of Ireland you may find such houses as thiswith doors screwed up, windows covered with planks, roofs and eavesstripped of the lead and slates which once protected them from thestorms which rise up from the Atlantic, and burst in wind and rain, snowand sleet over Connemara, long ago taken away to sell by the bankruptheirs of those who ruined themselves, mortgaged and sold every acre ofground and every stick and stone they owned to maintain what they calledthe dignity of their families at the Vice-Regal Court in Dublin. 

John Castellan took the lower road, looking for duck. The old house hadbeen the home of his grandfather, but he had never lived in it. The ruinhad come in his father's time, before he had learned to walk. He lookedat it as he passed, and his teeth clenched and his brows came togetherin a straight line. 

Almost at the same moment that he left his house an Englishman came outof the Railway Hotel. He also had a gun over his shoulder, and he tookthe upper road. These two men, who were to meet for the first time thatday, were destined to decide the fate of the world between them. 

As John Castellan walked past the ruined distillery, which overlooks thebeach on which the fishing boats are drawn up, he saw a couple of duckflying seaward. He quickened his pace, and walked on until he turned thebend of the road, at which on the right-hand side a path leads up to agate in the old wall, which still guards the ragged domains of ClifdenCastle. A few hundred yards away there is a little peninsula, on whichstands a house built somewhat in bungalow fashion. The curve of thepeninsula turns to the eastward, and makes a tiny bay of almost crescentshape. In this the pair of duck settled. 

John Castellan picked up a stone from the road, and threw it into thewater. As the birds rose his gun went up. His right barrel banged andthe duck fell. The drake flew landward: he fired his left barrel andmissed. Then came a bang from the upper road, and the drake dropped. The Englishman had killed it with a wire cartridge in his choked leftbarrel. 

"I wonder who the devil did that!" said Castellan, as he saw the birdfall. "It was eighty yards if it was an inch, and that's a good gun witha good man behind it. "

The Englishman left the road to pick up the bird and then went down thesteep, stony hillside towards the shore of the silver-mouthed bay in thehope of getting another shot farther on, for the birds were nowbeginning to come over; and so it came about that he and the Irishmanmet within a few yards of each other, one on either side of a low spitof sand and shingle. 

"That was a fine shot you killed the drake with, " said the Irishman, looking at the bird he was carrying by the legs in his left hand. 

"A good gun, and a wire cartridge, I fancy, were mainly responsible forhis death, " laughed the Englishman. "See you've got the other. "

"Yes, and missed yours, " said the Irishman. 

The other recognised the tone as that of a man to whom failure, even inthe most insignificant matter, was hateful, and he saw a quick gleam inhis eyes which he remembered afterwards under very differentcircumstances. 

But it so happened that the rivalry between them which was hereafter tohave such momentous consequences was to be manifested there and then ina fashion much more serious than the hitting or missing of a brace ofwild fowl. 

Out on the smooth waters of the bay, about a quarter of a mile from thespit on which they stood, there were two boats. One was a light skiff, in which a girl, clad in white jersey and white flannel skirt, with awhite Tam o' Shanter pinned on her head, was sculling leisurely towardsthe town. From the swing of her body, the poise of her head andshoulders, and the smoothness with which her sculls dropped in the waterand left it, it was plain that she was a perfect mistress of the art;wherefore the two men looked at her, and admired. 

The other craft was an ordinary rowing boat, manned by three lads outfor a spree. There was no one steering and the oars were going in andout of the water with a total disregard of time. The result was that hercourse was anything but a straight line. The girl's sculls made nonoise, and the youths were talking and laughing loudly. 

Suddenly the boat veered sharply towards the skiff. The Englishman puthis hands to his mouth, and yelled with all the strength of his lungs. 

"Look out, you idiots, keep off shore!"

But it was too late. The long, steady strokes were sending the skiffpretty fast through the smooth water. The boat swerved again, hit theskiff about midway between the stem and the rowlocks, and the nextmoment the sculler was in the water. In the same moment two guns and twoducks were flung to the ground, two jackets were torn off, two pairs ofshoes kicked away, and two men splashed into the water. Meanwhile thesculler had dropped quietly out of the sinking skiff, and after a glanceat the two heads, one fair and the other dark, ploughing towards her, turned on her side and began to swim slowly in their direction so as tolessen the distance as much as possible. 

The boys, horrified at what they had done, made such a frantic effort togo to the rescue, that one of them caught a very bad crab; so bad, indeed that the consequent roll of the boat sent him headlong into thewater; and so the two others, one of whom was his elder brother, perhapsnaturally left the girl to her fate, and devoted their energies tosaving their companion. 

Both John Castellan and the Englishman were good swimmers, and the racewas a very close thing. Still, four hundred yards with most of yourclothes on is a task calculated to try the strongest swimmer, and, although the student had swum almost since he could walk, his muscleswere not quite in such good form as those of the ex-athlete ofCambridge who, six months before, had won the Thames Swimming ClubHalf-mile Handicap from scratch. 

Using side stroke and breast-stroke alternately they went at it almoststroke for stroke about half a dozen yards apart, and until they werewithin thirty yards or so of the third swimmer, they were practicallyneck and neck, though Castellan had the advantage of what might becalled the inside track. In other words he was a little nearer to thegirl than the Englishman. 

When circumstances permitted they looked at each other, but, of course, neither of them was fool enough to waste his breath in speech. Still, each clearly understood that the other was going to get the girl firstif he could. 

So the tenth yard from the prize was reached, and then the Englishmanshook his head up an inch, filled his lungs, rolled on to his side, andmade a spurt with the reserve of strength which he had kept for thepurpose. Inch by inch he drew ahead obliquely across Castellan's courseand, less than a yard in front of him, he put his right hand under thegirl's right side. 

A lovely face, beautiful even though it was splashed all over with wetstrands of dark chestnut hair, turned towards him; a pair of big blueeyes which shone in spite of the salt water which made them blink, looked at him; and, after a cough, a very sweet voice with just asuspicion of Boston accent in it, said:

"Thank you so much! It was real good of you! I can swim, but I don'tthink I could have got there with all these things on, and so I reckon Iowe you two gentlemen my life. "

Castellan had swum round, and they took her under the arms to give her arest. The two boys left in the boat had managed to get an oar out totheir comrade just in time, and then haul him into the boat, which wasnow about fifty yards away; so as soon as the girl had got her breaththey swam with her to the boat, and lifted her hands on to the gunwale. 

"If you wouldn't mind, sir, picking up those oars, " said theEnglishman, "I will get the young lady into the boat, and then we canrow back. "

Castellan gave him another look which said as plainly as words: "Well, Isuppose she's your prize for the present, " and swam off for the oars. With the eager help of the boys, who were now very frightened and verypenitent, the Englishman soon had the girl in the boat; and so it cameabout that an adventure which might well have deprived America of one ofher most beautiful and brilliant heiresses, resulted in nothing morethan a ducking for two men and one girl, a wet, but somehow notaltogether unpleasant walk, and a slight chill from which she had quiterecovered the next morning. 

The after consequences of that race for the rescue were of course, quiteanother matter. 

CHAPTER I

A MOMENTOUS EXPERIMENT

On the first day of July, 1908, a scene which was destined to becomehistoric took place in the great Lecture Theatre in the Imperial Collegeat Potsdam. It was just a year and a few days after the swimming racebetween John Castellan and the Englishman in Clifden Bay. 

There were four people present. The doors were locked and guarded by twosentries outside. The German Emperor, Count Herold von Steinitz, Chancellor of the Empire, Field-Marshal Count Friedrich von Moltke, grandson of the great Organiser of Victory, and John Castellan, werestanding round a great glass tank, twenty-five feet long, and fifteenbroad, supported on a series of trestles. The tank was filled with waterup to within about six inches of the upper edge. The depth was ten feet. A dozen models of battleships, cruisers and torpedo craft were floatingon the surface of the water. Five feet under the surface, a grey, fish-shaped craft with tail and fins, almost exactly resembling those ofa flying fish, was darting about, now jumping forward like a catpouncing on a bird, now drawing back, and then suddenly coming to astandstill. Another moment, it sank to the bottom, and lay there as ifit had been a wreck. The next it darted up to the surface, cruised aboutin swift curves, turning in and out about the models, but touching none. 

Every now and then John Castellan went to a little table in the cornerof the room, on which there was a machine something like a typewriter, and touched two or three of the keys. There was no visible connectionbetween them--the machine and the tank--but the little grey shape inthe water responded instantly to the touch of every key. 

"That, I hope, will be enough to prove to your Majesty that as submarinethe _Flying Fish_ is quite under control. Of course the real _FlyingFish_ will be controlled inside, not from outside. "

"There is no doubt about the control, " said the Kaiser. "It ismarvellous, and I think the Chancellor and the Field Marshal will agreewith me in that. "

"Wonderful, " said the Chancellor. 

"A miracle, " said the Field Marshal, "if it can only be realised. "

"There is no doubt about that, gentlemen, " said Castellan, going back tothe machine. "Which of the models would your Majesty like to seedestroyed first?"

The Kaiser pointed to the model of a battleship which was a very goodimitation of one of the most up-to-date British battleships. 

"We will take that one first, " he said. 

Castellan smiled, and began to play the keys. The grey shape of the_Flying Fish_ dropped to the bottom of the tank, rose, and seemed all atonce to become endowed with human reason, or a likeness of it, which wasso horrible that even the Kaiser and his two chiefs could hardly repressa shudder. It rose very slowly, circled among the floating models abouttwo feet under the surface and then, like an animal smelling out itsprey, it made a dart at the ship which the Kaiser had indicated, andstruck it from underneath. They saw a green flash stream through thewater, and the next moment the model had crumbled to pieces and sank. 

"Donner-Wetter!" exclaimed the Chancellor, forgetting in his wonder thathe was in the presence of His Majesty, "that is wonderful, horrible!"

"Can there be anything too horrible for the enemies of the Fatherland, Herr Kanztler, " said the Kaiser, looking across the tank at him, with aglint in his eyes, which no man in Germany cares to see. 

"I must ask pardon, your Majesty, " replied the Chancellor. "I wasastonished, indeed, almost frightened--frightened, if your Majesty willallow me to say so, for the sake of Humanity, if such an awful inventionas that becomes realised. "

"And what is your opinion, Field Marshal?" asked the Kaiser with alaugh. 

"A most excellent invention, your Majesty, provided always that itbelongs to the Fatherland. "

"Exactly, " said the Kaiser. "As that very intelligent American officer, Admiral Mahan, has told us, the sea-power is world-power, and there youhave sea-power; but that is not the limit of the capabilities of MrCastellan's invention, according to the specifications which I haveread, and on the strength of which I have asked him to give us thisdemonstration of its powers. He calls it, as you know, the _FlyingFish_. So far you have seen it as a fish. Now, Mr Castellan, perhaps youwill be kind enough to let us see it fly. "

"With pleasure, your Majesty, " replied the Irishman, "but, in case ofaccident, I must ask you and the Chancellor and the Field Marshal tostand against the wall by the door there. With your Majesty'spermission, I am now going to destroy the rest of the fleet. "

"The rest of the fleet!" exclaimed the Field Marshal. "It isimpossible. "

"We shall see, Feldherr!" laughed the Kaiser. "Meanwhile, suppose wecome out of the danger zone. "

The three greatest men in Germany, and perhaps on the Continent ofEurope, lined up with their backs to the wall at the farther end of theroom from the tank, and the Irishman sat down to his machine. The keysbegan to click rapidly, and they began to feel a tenseness in the air ofthe room. After a few seconds they would not have been surprised if theyhad seen a flash of lightning pass over their heads. The _Flying Fish_had sunk to the bottom of the tank, and backed into one of the corners. The keys of the machine clicked louder and faster. Her nose tiltedupwards to an angle of about sixty degrees. The six-bladed propeller ather stem whirled round in the water like the flurry of a whale's flukein its death agony. Her side-fins inclined upwards, and, like a flash, she leapt from the water, and began to circle round the room. 

The Kaiser shut his teeth hard and watched. The Chancellor opened hismouth as if he was going to say something, and shut it again. The FieldMarshal stroked his moustache slowly, and followed the strange shapefluttering about the room. It circled twice round the tank, and thencrossed it. A sharp click came from the machine, something fell from thebody of the _Flying Fish_ into the tank. There was a dull sound of asmothered explosion. For a moment the very water itself seemed aflame, then it boiled up into a mass of seething foam. Every one of the modelswas overwhelmed and engulfed at the same moment. Castellan got up fromthe machine, caught the _Flying Fish_ in his hand, as it dropped towardsthe water, took it to the Kaiser, and said:

"Is your Majesty convinced? It is quite harmless now. "

"God's thunder, yes!" said the War Lord of Germany, taking hold of themodel. "It is almost superhuman. "

"Yes, " said the Chancellor, "it is damnable!"

"I, " said the Field Marshal, drily, "think it's admirable, alwayssupposing that Mr Castellan is prepared to place this mysteriousinvention at the disposal of his Majesty. "

"Yes, " said the Kaiser, leaning with his back against the door, "thatis, of course, the first proposition to be considered. What are yourterms, Mr Castellan?"

Castellan looked at the three men all armed. The Chancellor and theField Marshal wore their swords, and the Kaiser had a revolver in hiship pocket. The Chancellor and the Field Marshal straightened up as theKaiser spoke, and their hands moved instinctively towards their swordhilts. The Kaiser looked at the model of the _Flying Fish_ in his hand. His face was, as usual, like a mask. He saw nothing, thought of nothing. For the moment he was not a man: he was just the incarnation of anidea. 

"Field Marshal, you are a soldier, " said Castellan, "and I see that yourhand has gone to your sword-hilt. Swords, of course, are the emblems ofmilitary rank, but there is no use for them now. "

"What do you mean, sir?" exclaimed the Count, clapping his right hand onthe hilt. After what he had seen he honestly believed that this Irishmanwas a wizard of science who ought not to be trusted in the same roomwith the Kaiser. Castellan went back to his machine and said:

"Draw your sword, sir, and see. "

And then the keys began to click. 

The Field Marshal's sword flashed out of the sheath. A second later theChancellor's did the same, and the Kaiser's right hand went back towardshis hip pocket. 

Castellan got up and said:

"Your Majesty has a revolver. Be good enough, as you value your ownsafety, to unload it, and throw the cartridges out of the window. "

"But why?" exclaimed the Kaiser, pulling a Mauser repeating pistol outof his hip-pocket. "Who are you, that you should give orders to me?"

"Only a man, your Majesty, " replied Castellan, with a bow and a smile;"a man who could explode every cartridge in that pistol of yours at oncebefore you had time to fire a shot. You have seen what has happenedalready. "

William the Second had seen enough. He walked to one of the windowsopening on the enclosed gardens, threw it open, dropped the pistol out, and said:

"Now, let us have the proof of what you say. "

"In a moment, your Majesty, " replied Castellan, going back to hismachine, and beginning to work the keys rapidly. "I am here, an unarmedman; let their Excellencies, the Chancellor and the Field Marshal, attack me with their swords if they can. I am not joking. I am stakingmy life on the success or failure of this experiment. "

"Does your Majesty consent?" said the Field Marshal, raising his sword. 

"There could be no better test, " replied the Kaiser. "Mr Castellan makesan experiment on which he stakes his life; we are making an experimenton which we stake the welfare of the German Empire, and, perhaps, thefate of the world. If he is willing, I am. "

"And I am ready, " replied Castellan, working the keys faster and fasteras he spoke, and looking at the two swords as carelessly as if they hadbeen a couple of walking sticks. 

The sword points advanced towards him; the keys of the machine clickedfaster and faster. The atmosphere of the room became tenser and tenser;the Kaiser leaned back against the door with his arms folded. When thepoints were within three feet of Castellan's head, the steel began togleam with a bluish green light. The Chancellor and the Field Marshalstopped; they saw sparkles of blue flame running along the sword blades. Then came paralysis! the swords dropped from their hands, and theystaggered back. 

"Great God, this is too much, " gasped the Chancellor. "The man isimpregnable. It is too much, your Majesty. I fought through the war of'70 and '71, but I surrender to this; this is not human. "

"I beg your pardon, Excellency, " said Castellan, getting up from themachine, and picking the two swords from the floor, "it is quite human, only a little science that the majority of humanity does not happen toknow. Your swords, gentlemen, " and he presented the hilts to them. 

"Bravo!" exclaimed the Kaiser, "well done! You have beaten the two bestsoldiers in the German Empire, and you have done it like a gentleman. But you are not altogether an Irishman, are you, Mr Castellan?"

"No, sir, I am a Spaniard as well. The earliest ancestor that I knowcommanded the _Santiago_, wrecked on Achill Island, when the Armada camesouth from the Pentland Firth. The rest of me is Irish. I need hardlysay more. That is why I am here now. "

The Kaiser looked at the Chancellor and the Field Marshal, and theylooked back at him, and in a moment the situation--the crisis upon whichthe fate of the world might depend--was decided. It was not a time whenmen who are men talk. A few moments of silence passed; the four menlooking at each other with eyes that had the destinies of nations in thebrains behind them. Then the Kaiser took three swift strides towardsCastellan, held out his hand, and said in a voice which had an unwontednote of respect in it:

"Sir, you have convinced me. Henceforth you are Director of the Navaland Military operations of the German Empire, subject, of course, to theconditions which will be arranged by myself and those who are entrustedwith the tactical and strategical developments of such plan of campaignas I may decide to carry out on sea and land. And now, to put itrudely--brutally, if you like, your price?"

Castellan took the Kaiser's hand in a strong, nervous grip, and said:

"I shall not state my price in money, your Majesty. I am not working formoney, but you will understand that I cannot convert what I have shownyou to-day into the fighting reality. Only a nation can do that. It willcost ten millions of marks, at least, to--well, to so far develop thisexperiment that no fleet save your Majesty's shall sail the seas, andthat no armies save yours shall without your consent march over thebattlefields of the world's Armageddon. "

"Make it twenty millions, fifty millions, " laughed the Kaiser, "and itwill be cheap at the price. What do you think, Herr Kantzler andFeldherr?"

"Under the present circumstances of the other monarchies of Europe, yourMajesty, " replied the Chancellor, "it would be cheap at a hundredmillions, especially with reference to a certain fleet, which appears tobe making the ocean its own country. "

"Quite so, " said the Field Marshal. "If what we have seen to-day can berealised it would not be necessary to pump out the North Sea in order toinvade England. "

"Or to get back again, " laughed the Kaiser. "I think that is what yourgrandfather said, didn't he?"

"Yes, your Majesty. He found eight ways of getting into England, but hehadn't thought of one of getting out again. "

Since the days of the Prophets no man had ever uttered more propheticwords than Friedrich Helmuth von Moltke spoke then, all unconsciously. But in the days to come they were fulfilled in such fashion that onlyone man in all the world had ever dreamed of, and that was the man whohad beaten John Castellan by a yard in the swimming race for the rescueof that American girl from drowning. 

CHAPTER II

NORAH'S GOOD-BYE

The scene had shifted back from the royal city of Potsdam to the littlecoast town in Connemara. John Castellan was sitting on a corner of hisbig writing-table swinging his legs to and fro, and looking a littleuncomfortable. Leaning against the wall opposite the windows, with herhands folded behind her back, was a girl of about nineteen, an almostperfect incarnation of the Irish girl at her best. Tall, black-haired, black-browed, grey-eyed, perfectly-shaped, and with that indescribablecharm of feature which neither the pen nor the camera can do justiceto--Norah Castellan was facing him, her eyes gleaming and almost blackwith anger, and her whole body instinct with intense vitality. 

"And so Ireland hasn't troubles enough of her own, John, that you mustbring new ones upon her, and what for? To realise a dream that was neveranything else but a dream, and to satisfy a revenge that is threehundred years old! If that theory of yours about re-incarnation is true, you may have been a Spaniard once, but remember that you're an Irishmannow; and you're no good Irishman if you sell yourself to theseforeigners to do a thing like that, and it's your sister that's tellingyou. "

"And it's your brother, Norah, " he replied, his black brows meetingalmost in a straight line across his forehead, "who tells you thatIreland is going to have her independence; that the shackles of theSaxon shall be shaken off once and for ever, even if all Europe blazesup with war in the doing of it. I have the power and I will use it. Spaniard or Irishman, what does it matter? I hate England and everythingEnglish. "

"Hate England, John!" said the girl. "Are you quite sure that it isn'tan Englishman that you hate?"

"Well, and what if I do? I hate all Englishmen, and I'm the firstIrishman who has ever had the power to put his hatred into acts insteadof words--and you, an Irish girl, with six generations of Irish blood inyour veins, you, to talk to me like this. What are you thinking about, Norah? Is that what you call patriotism?"

"Patriotism!" she echoed, unclasping her hands, and holding her righthand out towards him. "I'm as Irish as you are, and as Spanish, too, forthe matter of that, for the same blood is in the veins of both of us. You're a scholar and a genius, and all the rest of it, I grant you; buthaven't you learned history enough to know that Ireland never wasindependent, and never could be? What brought the English here first?Four miserable provinces that called themselves kingdoms, and allfighting against each other, and the king of one of them stole the wifeof the king of another of them, and that's how the English came. 

"I love Ireland as well as you do, John, but Ireland is not worthsetting the world swimming in blood for. You're lighting a match-box toset the world ablaze with. It isn't Ireland only, remember. There areIrish all over the world, millions of them, and remember how the Irishfought in the African War. I don't mean Lynch and his traitors, but theDublin boys. Who were the first in and the last out--Irishmen, but theyhad the sense to know that they were British first and Irish afterwards. I tell you, you shall be shot for what you've done, and if I wasn't thedaughter of your father and mother, I'd inform against you now. "

"And if you did, Norah, you would do very little good to the Saxoncause, " replied her brother, pointing with his thumb out of one of thewindows. "You see that yacht in the bay there. Everything is on board ofher. If you went out into the street now, gave me in charge of theconstabulary, to those two men in front of the hotel there, it wouldmake no difference. There's nothing to be proved, no, not even if myown sister tried to swear my life and liberty away. It would only bethat the Germans and the Russians, and the Austrians, and the rest ofthem would work out my ideas instead of me working them out, and itmight be that they would make a worse use of them. You've half an hourto give me up, if you like. "

And then he began to collect the papers that were scattered about thebig drawing-table, sorting them out and folding them up and then takingother papers and plans from the drawers and packing them into a littleblack dispatch box. 

"But, John, John, " she said, crossing the room, and putting her hand onhis shoulder. "Don't tell me that you're going to plunge the world inwar just for this. Think of what it means--the tens of thousands oflives that will be lost, the thousands of homes that will be madedesolate, the women who will be crying for their husbands, and thechildren for their fathers, the dead men buried in graves that willnever have a name on them, and the wounded, broken men coming back totheir homes that they will never be able to keep up again, not only hereand in England, but all over Europe and perhaps in America as well!Genius you may be; but what are you that you should bring calamity likethis upon humanity?"

"I'm an Irishman, and I hate England, and that's enough, " he repliedsullenly, as he went on packing his papers. 

"You hate that Englishman worse than you hate England, John. "

"And I wouldn't wonder if you loved that Englishman more than you lovedIreland, Norah, " he replied, with a snarl in his voice. 

"And if I did, " she said, with blazing eyes and flaming cheeks, "isn'tEngland nearer to Ireland than America?"

"Geographically, perhaps, but in sentiment--"

"Sentiment! Yes, when you have finished with this bloody business ofyours that you have begun on, go you through Ireland and England andEurope, and ask the widows and the fatherless, and the girls who kissedtheir lovers 'good-bye, ' and never saw them again, what they think ofthat sentiment! But it's no use arguing with you now; there's yourGerman yacht. You're no brother of mine. You've made me sorry that wehad the same father and mother. "

As she spoke, she went to the door, opened it and, before he couldreply, slammed it behind her, and went to her room to seek and find awoman's usual relief from extreme mental tension. 

John Castellan went on packing his papers, his face grey, and hisfeatures hard-set. He loved his beautiful sister, but he thought that heloved his country more. When he had finished he went and knocked at herdoor, and said:

"Norah, I'm going. Won't you say 'good-bye?'"

The door was swung open, and she faced him, her face wet with tears, hereyes glistening, and her lips twitching. 

"Yes, good-bye, John, " she said. "Go to your German friends; but, whenall the horrors that you are going to bring upon this country throughtheir help come to pass, remember you have no sister left in Ireland. You've sold yourself, and I have no brother who is a traitor. Good-bye!"

The door swung to and she locked it. John Castellan hesitated for amoment or two, and then with a slow shake of his head he went away downthe stairs out into the street, and along to the little jetty where theGerman yacht's boat was waiting to take him on board. 

Norah had thrown herself on her bed in her locked room shedding thefirst but not the last tear that John Castellan's decision was destinedto draw from women's eyes. 

About half an hour later the encircling hills of the bay echoed theshriek of a siren. She got up, looked out of the window, and saw thewhite shape of the German yacht moving out towards the fringe of islandswhich guard the outward bay. 

"And there he goes!" she said in a voice that was almost choked withsobs, "there he goes, my own brother, it may be taking the fate of theworld with him--yes, and on a German ship, too. He that knows everyisland and creek and cove and harbour from Cape Wrath to Cape Clear--hethat's got all those inventions in his head, too, and the son of my ownfather and mother, sold his country to the foreigner, thinking thosedirty Germans will keep their word with him. 

"Not they, John, not they. The saints forgive me for thinking it, butfor Ireland's sake I hope that ship will never reach Germany. If itdoes, we'll see the German Eagle floating over Dublin Castle beforeyou'll be able to haul up the Green Flag. Well, well, there it is; it'sdone now, I suppose, and there's no help for it. God forgive you, John, I don't think man ever will!"

As she said this the white yacht turned the southern point of the innerbay, and disappeared to the southward. Norah bathed her face, brushedout her hair, and coiled it up again; then she put on her hat andjacket, and went out to do a little shopping. 

It is perhaps a merciful provision of Providence that in this human lifeof ours the course of the greatest events shall be interrupted by themost trivial necessities of existence. Were it not for that theinevitable might become the unendurable. 

The plain fact was that Norah Castellan had some friends andacquaintances coming to supper that evening. Her brother had left at afew hours' notice from his foreign masters, as she called them, andthere would have to be some explanation of his absence, especially as afriend of his, Arthur Lismore, the owner of the finest salmon streamsfor twenty miles round, and a man who was quite hopelessly in love withherself, was coming to brew the punch after the fashion of hisancestors, and so, of course, it was necessary that there should benothing wanting. 

Moreover, she was beginning to feel the want of some hard physicalexercise, and an hour or so in that lovely air of Connemara, which, asthose who know, say, is as soft as silk and as bright as champagne. Soshe went out, and as she turned the corner round the head of the harbourto the left towards the waterfall, almost the first person she met wasArthur Lismore himself--a brown-faced, chestnut-haired, blue-eyed, younggiant of twenty-eight or so; as goodly a man as God ever put His ownseal upon. 

His cap came off, his head bowed with that peculiar grace of deferencewhich no one has ever yet been able to copy from an Irishman, and hesaid in the strong, and yet curiously mellow tone which you only hear inthe west of Ireland:

"Good afternoon, Miss Norah. I've heard that you're to be left alone fora time, and that we won't see John to-night. "

"Yes, " she said, her eyes meeting his, "that is true. He went away inthat German yacht that left the bay less than an hour ago. "

"A German yacht!" he echoed. "Well now, how stupid of me, I've beentrying to think all the afternoon what that flag was she carried whenshe came in. "

"The German Imperial Yacht Club, " she said, "that was the ensign she wasflying, and John has gone to Germany in her. "

"To Germany! John gone to Germany! But what for? Surely now--"

"Yes, to Germany, to help the Emperor to set the world on fire. "

"You're not saying that, Miss Norah?"

"I am, " she said, more gravely than he had ever heard her speak. "MrLismore, it's a sick and sorry girl I am this afternoon. You were thefirst Irishman on the top of Waggon Hill, and you'll understand what Imean. If you have nothing better to do, perhaps you'll walk down to theFall with me, and I'll tell you. "

"I could have nothing better to do, Norah, and it's yourself that knowsthat as well as I do, " he replied. "I only wish the road was longer. And it's yourself that's sick and sorry, is it? If it wasn't John, I'dlike to get the reason out of any other man. That's Irish, but it'strue. "

He turned, and they walked down the steeply sloping street for severalminutes in silence. 

CHAPTER III

SEEN UNDER THE MOON

It was a few minutes after four bells on a grey morning in November 1909that Lieutenant-Commander Francis Erskine, in command of his Majesty'sFishery Cruiser, the _Cormorant_, got up on to the navigating bridge, and, as usual, took a general squint about him, and buttoned the topbutton of his oil-skin coat. 

The _Cormorant_ was just a few yards inside the three-mile limit onFlamborough Head, and, officially, she was looking for trespassers, whoeither did not fly the British flag, or flew it fraudulently. There wereplenty of foreign poachers on the rich fishing grounds to the north andeast away to the Dogger, and there were also plenty of floating grogshops from Bremen and Hamburg, and Rotterdam and Flushing, and a goodmany other places, loaded up to their decks with liquor, whose missionwas not only to sell their poison at about four hundred per cent. Profitto the British fishers on the Dogger, but also to persuade them, at aprice, to smuggle more of the said poison into the British Islands to bemade into Scotch and Irish whisky, brandy, Hollands, gin, rum, and evengreen and yellow Chartreuse, or any other alcoholic potion which simplywanted the help of the chemist to transform potato and beet spirit intoanything that would taste like what it was called. 

"Beast of a morning, Castellan, " he said to his first officer, whom hewas relieving, "dirty sea, dirty sky, and not a thing to be seen. Youdon't have worse weather than this even off Connemara, do you?"

"No, " said Castellan, "and I've seen better; but look you, there's thesky clearing to the east; yes, and there's Venus, herald of the sun:and faith, she's bright, too, like a little moon, now isn't she? Isuppose it'll be a bit too early for Norah to be looking at her, won'tit?"

"Don't talk rot, man, " replied the Lieutenant-Commander. "I hope yoursister hasn't finished her beauty sleep by this time. "

The clouds parted still wider, making a great gap of blue-grey sky tothe eastward, as the westward bank drifted downward. The moon sent asudden flood of white light over their heads, which silvered the edgesof the clouds, and then turned the leaden waters into silver as it haddone to the grey of the cloud. 

"She'd wake fast enough if she had a nightmare or a morning mare, orsomething of that sort, and could see a thing like that, " exclaimedCastellan, gripping the Lieutenant-Commander by the shoulder with hisright hand, and pointing to the east with his left. "Look, man, look! Byall the Holy Powers, what is it? See there! Thanks for the blessedmoonlight that has shown it to us, for I'm thinking it doesn't mean anygood to old England or Ireland. "

Erskine was an Englishman, and a naval officer at that, and thereforehis reply consisted of only a few words hardly fitted for publication. The last words were, "What is it?"

"What is it?" said Castellan with a stamp of his feet on the bridge, "what is it? Now wouldn't I like to know just as well as you would, anddon't you think the Lords of the British Admiralty would like to know alot better? But there's one thing I think I can tell you, it's one ofthose new inventions that the British Admiralty never buy, and let go toother countries, and what's more, as you've seen with your eyes, as Ihave with mine, it came out of the water on the edge of that moon-litpiece, it flew across it, it sighted us, I suppose, it found it had madea mistake, and it went down again. Now what do you make of that?"

"Combination of submarine and airship it looks like, " said Erskine, seriously, "and if that doesn't belong to us, it's going to be fairlydangerous. Good Lord! a thing like that might do anything with a fleet, and whatever Power owns it may just as well have a hundred as one. Lookhere, Castellan, I'm going straight into Scarborough. This is a lot moreimportant than the Dogger Fleet. There's the _Seagull_ at Hull. She canrelieve us, and Franklin can take this old coffee-grinder round. You andI are going to London as soon as we can get there. Take the latitude, longitude, and exact time, and also the evidence of the watch if any oneof them saw it. "

"You think it's as serious as that?"

"Certainly. It's one of two things. Either that thing belongs to us orit belongs to a possible enemy. The Fleet, even to a humble fisherycruiser, means the eyes and ears of the British Empire. If that belongsto the Admiralty, well and good; we shall get censured for leaving theship; that's the risk we take. If it doesn't, the Naval Board maypossibly have the civility to thank us for telling them about it; but ineither case we are going to do our duty. Send Franklin up to the bridge, make the course for Scarborough, get the evidence of any of the watchwho saw what we have seen, and I'll go and make the report. Then you cancountersign it, and the men can make theirs. I think that's the best wecan do. "

"I think so, sir, " said the Lieutenant, saluting. 

The Lieutenant-Commander walked from port to starboard and starboard toport thinking pretty hard until the navigating lieutenant came to takecharge of the bridge. Of submarines he knew a good deal. He knew thatthe British navy possessed the very best type of this craft whichnavigated the under-waters. He had also, of course, read the aërialexperiments which had been made by inventors of what the newspaperscalled airships, and which he, with his hard naval common-sense, calledgas-bags with motor engines slung under them. He knew the deadlypossibilities of the submarine; the flying gas-bag he looked upon as gasand not much more. The real flying machine he had considered up till afew moments ago as a dream of the future; but a combination of submarineand flying ship such as he and Castellan, if they had not both beendrunk or dreaming, had seen a few moments ago, was quite another matter. The possibilities of a thing like that were absolutely limitless, limitless for good or evil, and if it did belong to a possible enemy ofBritain, there was only one conclusion to be arrived at--The IsleInviolate would be inviolate no more. 

Lieutenant Franklin came on to the bridge and saluted; he returned thesalute, gave the orders for changing the course, and went down to hiscabin, muttering:

"Good Lord, if that's only so. Why, half a dozen things like that couldfight a fleet, then go on gaily to tackle the forts. I wonder whether myLords of the Naval Council will see me to-morrow, and believe me if theydo see me. "

By great good luck it happened that the Commander of the North-easternDistrict had come up from Hull to Scarborough for a few days' holiday. When he saw the _Cormorant_ steam into the bay, he very naturally wantedto know what was the matter, and so he went down to the pier-head, andmet the _Cormorant's_ cutter. As Erskine came up the steps he recognisedhim and saluted. 

"Good-morning, sir. "

"Good-morning, Erskine. What's the matter? You're a little off yourground, aren't you? Of course, there must be a reason for it. Anythingserious?" replied the District Commander, as he held out his hand. "Ah, good morning, Castellan. So you've both come ashore. Well, now, what isit?"

Erskine took a rapid glance round at the promenaders who were comingdown to have a look at the cruiser, and said in a low tone:

"Yes, sir. I am afraid it is rather serious; but it is hardly the sortof thing one could discuss here. In fact, I was taking theresponsibility of going straight to London with Castellan, to present areport which we have drawn up to the Board of Admiralty. "

The District Commander's iron-grey eyebrows lifted for the fraction of aminute, and he said:

"H'm. Well, Erskine, I know you're not the sort of man to do that sortof thing without pretty good reason. Come up to the hotel, both of you, and let us go into it. "

"Thank you, sir, " replied Erskine. "It is really quite fortunate that wemet you here, because I think when you've seen the report you will feeljustified in giving us formal leave instead of French leave. "

"I hope so, " he replied, somewhat grimly, for a rule of the Service hadbeen broken all to pieces, and his own sense of discipline was sorelyoutraged by the knowledge that two responsible officers had left theirship with the intention of going to London without leave. 

But when he had locked the door of his sitting-room at the hotel, andheard the amazing story which Erskine and Castellan had to tell, and hadread their report, and the evidence of the men who had also seen thestrange apparition which had leapt from the sea into the air, and thenreturned to the waters, he put in a few moments of silent thinking, andthen he looked up, and said gravely:

"Well, gentlemen, I know that British naval officers and British seamendon't see things that are not there, as the Russians did a few years agoon the Dogger Bank. I am of course bound to believe you, and I thinkthey will do the same in London. You have taken a very irregular course;but a man who is not prepared to do that at a pinch seldom does anythingelse. I have seen and heard enough to convince me for the present; andso I shall have great pleasure, in fact I shall only be doing my duty, in giving you both leave for a week. 

"I will order the _Seagull_ up from Hull, she's about ready, and I thinkI can put an Acting-Commander on board the _Cormorant_ for the present. Now, you will just have time for an early lunch with me, and catch the1. 17, which will get you to town at 5. 15, and you will probably findsomebody at the Admiralty then, because I know they're working overtime. Anyhow, if you don't find Sir John Fisher there, I should go straight tohis house, if I were you; and even if you don't see him, you'll be ableto get an early appointment for to-morrow. "

"That was a pretty good slice of luck meeting the noble Crocker, wasn'tit?" said Castellan, as the train began to move out of the station, about three hours later. They had reserved a compartment in the corridorexpress, and were able to talk State secrets at their ease. 

"We're inside the law now, at any rate. "

"Law or no law, it was good enough to risk a court-martial for, " saidErskine, biting off the end of a cigar. "There's no doubt about theexistence of the thing, and if it doesn't belong to us, which is a factthat only my Lords of the Naval Council can know, it simply means, asyou must see for yourself, that the invasion of England, which has beena naval and military impossibility for the last seven hundred years orso, will not only become possible but comparatively easy. There'snothing upon the waters or under them that could stand against a thinglike that. "

"Oh, you're right enough there, " said Castellan, speaking with his softWest of Ireland brogue. "There's no doubt of that, and it's the verydevil. A dozen of those things would play havoc with a whole fleet, andwhen the fleet's gone, or even badly hurt, what's to stop our goodfriends over yonder landing two or three million men just anywhere theychoose, and doing pretty well what they like afterwards? By the Saints, that would be a horrible thing. We've nothing on land that could standagainst them, though, of course, the boys would stand till they felldown; but fall they would. "

"Yes, " said Erskine, seriously. "It wouldn't exactly be a walk over forthem, but I'm afraid there couldn't be very much doubt at the end, ifthe fleet once went. "

"I'm afraid not, " replied Castellan, "and we can only hope that ourLords of the Council will be of the same opinion, or, better still, that the infernal thing we saw belongs to us. "

"I hope so, " said Erskine, gravely. "If it doesn't--well, I wouldn'tgive half-a-crown for the biggest battleship in the British Navy. "

CHAPTER IV

THE SHADOW OF THE TERROR

By a curious coincidence which, as events proved, was to have someserious consequences, almost at the same moment that Commander Erskinebegan to write his report on the strange vision which he and hisLieutenant had seen, Gilbert Lennard came out of the Observatory whichMr Ratliffe Parmenter had built on the south of the Whernside Hills inYorkshire. 

Mr Ratliffe Parmenter had two ambitions in life, one of which he hadfulfilled. This was to pile millions upon millions by any possiblemeans. As he used to say to his associates in his poorer days, "You'vegot to get there somehow, so get there"--and he had "got there. " It isnot necessary for the purpose of the present narrative to say how he didit. He had done it, and that is why he bought the Hill of Whernside andabout a thousand acres around it and built an Observatory on the topwith which, to use his own words, he meant to lick Creation by seeingfurther into Creation than anyone else had done, and that is just whathis great reflector had enabled his astronomer to do. 

When he had locked the door Lennard looked up to the eastward where themorning star hung flashing like a huge diamond in splendid solitudeagainst the brightening background of the sky. His face was the face ofa man who had seen something that he would not like to describe to anyother man. His features were hard set, and there were lines in his facewhich time might have drawn twenty or thirty years later. His lips madea straight line, and his eyes, although he had hardly slept three hoursa night for as many nights, had a look in them that was not to beaccounted for by ordinary insomnia. 

His work was over for the night, and, if he chose, he could go down tothe house three-quarters of a mile away and sleep for the rest of theday, or, at any rate, until lunch time; and yet he looked another longlook at the morning star, thrust his hands down into his trouserspockets and turned up a side path that led through the heather, andspent the rest of the morning walking and thinking--walking slowly, andthinking very quickly. 

When he came in to breakfast at nine the next morning, after he had hada shave and a bath, Mr Parmenter said to him:

"Look here, young man, I'm old enough to be your father, and so you'llexcuse me putting it that way; if you're going along like this I reckonI'll have to shut that Observatory down for the time being and take youon a trip to the States to see how they're getting on with theirtelescopes in the Alleghanies and the Rockies, and maybe down South tooin Peru, to that Harvard Observatory above Arequipa on the Misti, as asort of holiday. I asked you to come here to work, not to wear yourselfout. As I've told you before, we've got plenty of men in the States whocan sign their cheques for millions of dollars and can't eat a dinner, to say nothing of a breakfast, and you're too young for that. 

"What's the matter? More trouble about that new comet of yours. You'vebeen up all night looking at it, haven't you? Of course it's all rightthat you got hold of it before anybody else, but all the same I don'twant you to be worrying yourself for nothing and get laid up before thetime comes to take the glory of the discovery. "

While he was speaking the door of the breakfast-room opened and Auriolecame in. She looked with a just perceptible admiration at the man who, as it seemed to her, was beginning to show a slight stoop in the broadshoulders and a little falling forward of the head which she had firstseen driving through the water to her rescue in the Bay of Connemara. Her eyelids lifted a shade as she looked at him, and she said with ahalf smile:

"Good morning, Mr Lennard; I am afraid you've been sacrificing yourselfa little bit too much to science. You don't seem to have had a sleep forthe last two or three nights. You've been blinding your eyes over thosetangles of figures and equations, parallaxes and cube roots and thatsort of thing. I know something about them because I had some struggleswith them myself at Vassar. "

"That's about it, Auriole, " said her father. "Just what I've beensaying; and I hope our friend is not going on with this kind of businesstoo long. Now, really, Mr Lennard, you know you must not, and that's allthere is to it. "

"Oh, no, I don't think you need be frightened of anything of that sort, "said Lennard, who had considerably brightened up as Auriole entered theroom; "perhaps I may have been going a little too long without sleep;but, you see, a man who has the great luck to discover a new comet issomething like one of the old navigators who discovered new islands andcontinents. Of course you remember the story of Columbus. When hethought he was going to find what is now the country which has had thehonour--"

"I know you're going to say something nice, Mr Lennard, " interruptedAuriole, "but breakfast is ready; here it comes. If you take my adviceyou will have your coffee and something to eat and tell us the rest ofit while you're getting something that will do you good. What do youthink, Poppa?"

"Hard sense, Auriole, hard sense. Your mother used to talk just likethat, and I reckon you've got it from her. Well now, here's the food, let's begin. I've got a hunger on me that I'd have wanted five dollarsto stop at the time when I couldn't buy a breakfast. "

They sat down, Miss Auriole at the head of the table and her father andLennard facing each other, and for the next few minutes there was asemi-silence which was very well employed in the commencement of one ofthe most important functions of the human day. 

When Mr Parmenter had got through his first cup of coffee, his twopoached eggs on toast, and was beginning on the fish, he looked acrossthe table and said:

"Well now, Mr Lennard, I guess you're feeling a bit better, as I do, andso, maybe, you can tell us something new about comets. "

"I certainly am feeling better, " said Lennard with a glance at Auriole, "but, you see, I've got into a state of mind which is not unlike thephysical state of the Red Indian who starves for a few days and thentakes his meals, I mean the arrears of meals, all at once. When I havehad a good long sleep, as I am going to have until to-night, I might--infact, I hope I shall be able to tell you something definite about thequestion of the comet. "

"What--the question?" echoed Mr Parmenter. "About the comet? I didn'tunderstand that there was any question. You have discovered it, haven'tyou?"

"I have made a certain discovery, Mr Parmenter, " said Lennard, with agravity which made Auriole raise her eyelids quickly, "but whether Ihave found a comet so far unknown to astronomy or not, is quite anothermatter. Thanks to that splendid instrument of yours, I have found asomething in a part of the heavens where no comet, not even a star, haseven been seen yet, and, speaking in all seriousness, I may say thatthis discovery contradicts all calculations as to the orbits andvelocities of any known comet. That is what I have been thinking aboutall night. "

"What?" said Auriole, looking up again. "Really something quiteunknown?"

"Unknown except to the three people sitting at this table, unlessanother miracle has happened--I mean such a one as happened in the caseof the discovery of Neptune which, as of course you know, Adams atCambridge and Le Verrier at Paris--"

"Yes, yes, " said Auriole, "two men who didn't know each other; bothlooked for something that couldn't be seen, and found it. If you've doneanything like that, Mr Lennard, I reckon Poppa will have good cause tobe proud of his reflector--"

"And of the man behind it, " added her father. "A telescope's like a gun;no use without a good man behind it. Well, if that's so, Mr Lennard, this discovery of yours ought to shake the world up a bit. "

"From what I have seen so far, " replied Lennard, "I have not theslightest doubt that it will. "

"And when may I see this wonderful discovery of yours, Mr Lennard, " saidAuriole, "this something which is going to be so important, thissomething that no one else's eyes have seen except yours. Really, youknow, you've made me quite longing to get a sight of this stranger fromthe outer wilderness of space. "

"If the night is clear enough, I may hope to be able to introduce you tothe new celestial visitor about a quarter-past eleven to-night, or to bequite accurate eleven hours, sixteen minutes and thirty-nine secondsp. M. "

"I think that's good enough, Auriole, " said her father. "If the heavensare only kind enough, we'll go up to the observatory and, as Mr Lennardsays, see something that no one else has ever seen. "

"And then, " laughed Auriole, "I suppose you will have achieved thesecond ambition of your life. You have already piled up a bigger heap ofdollars than anybody else in the world, and by midnight you will haveseen farther into Creation than anybody else. But you will let me havethe first look, won't you?"

"Why, certainly, " he replied. "As soon as Mr Lennard has got thetelescope fixed, you go first, and I reckon that won't take very long. "

"No, " replied Lennard, "I've worked out the position for to-night, andit's only a matter of winding up the clockwork and setting thetelescope. And now, " he continued, rising, "if you will allow me, I willsay--well, I was going to say good-night, but of course it'sgood-morning--I'm going to bed. "

"Will you come down to lunch, or shall I have some sent up to you?"said Auriole. 

"No, thanks. I don't think there will be any need to trouble you aboutthat. When I once get to sleep, I hope I shall forget all thingsearthly, and heavenly too for the matter of that, until about sixo'clock, and if you will have me called then, I will be ready fordinner. "

"Certainly, " replied Auriole, "and I hope you will sleep as well as youdeserve to do, after all these nights of watching. "

He did sleep. He slept the sleep of a man physically and mentally tired, in spite of the load of unspeakable anxiety which was weighing upon hismind. For during his last night's work, he had learnt what no other manin the world knew. He had learnt that, unless a miracle happened, orsome almost superhuman feat of ingenuity and daring was accomplished, that day thirteen months hence would see the annihilation of everyliving thing on earth, and the planet Terra converted into a dark andlifeless orb, a wilderness drifting through space, the blackened anddesolated sepulchre of the countless millions of living beings which nowinhabited it. 

CHAPTER V

A GLIMPSE OF THE DOOM

After dinner Lennard excused himself, saying that he wanted to make afew more calculations; and then he got outside and lit his pipe, andwalked up the winding path towards the observatory. 

"What am I to do?" he said between his teeth. "It's a ghastly positionfor a man to be placed in. Fancy--just a poor, ordinary, human beinglike myself having the power of losing or saving the world in his hands!And then, of course, there's a woman in the question--the EternalFeminine--even in such a colossal problem as this!

"It's mean, and I know it; but, after all, I saved her life--though, ifI hadn't reached her first, that other chap might have got her. I loveher and he loves her; there's no doubt about that, and Papa Parmenterwants to marry her to a coronet. There's one thing certain, Castellanshall not have her, and I love her a lot too much to see her made MyLady This, or the Marchioness of So-and-so, just because she's beautifuland has millions, and the other fellow, whoever he may be, may have acoronet that probably wants re-gilding; and yet, after all, it's onlythe same old story in a rather more serious form--a woman against theworld. I suppose Papa Parmenter would show me the door to-morrow morningif I, a poor explorer of the realm of Space, dared to tell him that Iwant to marry his daughter. 

"And yet how miserable and trivial all these wretched distinctions ofwealth and position look now; or would look if the world only knew andbelieved what I could tell it--and that reminds me--shall I tell her, orthem? Of course, I must before long; simply because in a month or sothose American fellows will be on it, and they won't have any scrupleswhen it comes to a matter of scare head-lines. Yes, I think it may aswell be to-night as any other time. Still, it's a pretty awful thing fora humble individual like myself to say, especially to a girl one happensto be very much in love with--nothing less than the death-sentence ofHumanity. Ah, well, she's got to hear it some time and from some one, and why shouldn't she hear it now and from me?"

When he got back to the house, there was a carriage at the door, and MrParmenter was just coming down the avenue, followed by a man with asmall portmanteau in his hand. 

"Sorry, Mr Lennard, " he said, holding out his hand, "I've just had awire about a company tangle in London that I've got to go and shake outat once, so I'll have to see what you have to show me later on. Still, that needn't trouble anyone. It looks as if it were going to be asplendid night for star-gazing, and I don't want Auriole disappointed, so she can go up to the observatory with you at the proper time and seewhat there is to be seen. See you later, I have only just about time toget the connection for London. "

Lennard was not altogether sorry that this accident had happened. Naturally, the prospect of an hour or so with Auriole alone in histemple of Science was very pleasant, and moreover, he felt that, as themomentous tidings had to be told, he would prefer to tell them to herfirst. And so it came about. 

A little after half-past eleven that night Miss Auriole was lookingwonderingly into the eye-piece of the great Reflector, watching a tinylittle patch of mist, somewhat brighter towards one end than the other;like a little wisp of white smoke rising from a very faint spark thatwas apparently floating across an unfathomable sea of darkness. 

She seemed to see this through black darkness, and behind it a swarm ofstars of all sizes and colours. They appeared very much more wonderfuland glorious and important than the little spray of white smoke, becauseshe hadn't yet the faintest conception of its true import to her andevery other human being on earth: but she was very soon to know now. 

While she was watching it in breathless silence, in which the clickingof the mechanism which kept the great telescope moving so as to exactlycounteract the motion of the machinery of the Universe, sounded like theblows of a sledge-hammer on an anvil, Gilbert Lennard stood beside her, wondering if he should begin to tell her, and what he should say. 

At last she turned away from the eye-piece, and looked at him withsomething like a scared expression in her eyes, and said:

"It's very wonderful, isn't it, that one should be able to see all thatjust by looking into a little bit of a hole in a telescope? And you tellme that all those great big bright stars around your comet are so faraway that if you look at them just with your own eyes you don't even seethem--and there they look almost as if you could put out your hand andtouch them. It's just a little bit awful, too!" she added, with a littleshiver. 

"Yes, " he said, speaking slowly and even more gravely that she thoughtthe subject warranted, "yes, it is both wonderful and, in a way, awful. Do you know that some of those stars you have seen in there are so faraway that the light which you see them by may have left them whenSolomon was king in Jerusalem? They may be quite dead and dark now, orreduced into fire-mist by collision with some other star. And then, perhaps, there are others behind them again so far away that their lighthas not even reached us yet, and may never do while there are human eyeson earth to see it. "

"Yes, I know, " she said, smiling. "You don't forget that I have been tocollege--and light travels about a hundred and eighty-six thousand milesa second, doesn't it? But come, Mr Lennard, aren't you what they callstretching the probabilities a little when you say that the light ofsome of them will never get here, as far as we're concerned? I alwaysthought we had a few million years of life to look forward to beforethis old world of ours gets worn out. "

"There are other ends possible for this world besides wearing out, MissParmenter, " he answered, this time almost solemnly. "Other worlds have, as I say, been reduced to fire-mist. Some have been shattered to tinyfragments to make asteroids and meteorites--stars and worlds, incomparison with which this bit of a planet of ours is nothing more thana speck of sand, a mere atom of matter drifting over the wilderness ofimmensity. In fact, such a trifle is it in the organism of the Universe, that if some celestial body collided with it--say a comet with asufficiently solid nucleus--and the heat developed by the impact turnedit into a mass of blazing gas, an astronomer on Neptune, one of our ownplanets, wouldn't even notice the accident, unless he happened to bewatching the earth through a powerful telescope at the time. "

"And is such an accident, as you call it, possible, Mr Lennard?" sheasked, jumping womanlike, by a sort of unconscious intuition, to thevery point to which he was so clumsily trying to lead up. 

"I thought you spoke rather queerly about this comet of yours atbreakfast this morning. I hope there isn't any chance of its getting onto the same track as this terrestrial locomotive of ours. That would bejust awful, wouldn't it? Why, what's the matter? You are going to beill, I know. You had better get down to the house, and go to bed. It'swant of sleep, isn't it? You'll be driving yourself mad that way. "

A sudden and terrible change had come over him while she was speaking. It was only for the moment, and yet to him it was an eternity. It might, as she said, have been the want of sleep, for insomnia plays strangetricks sometimes with the strongest of intellects. 

More probably, it might have been the horror of his secret working onthe great love that he had for this girl who was sitting there alonewith him in the silence of that dim room and in the midst of the gloriesand the mysteries of the Universe. 

His eyes had grown fixed and staring, and looked sightlessly at her, andhis face shone ghastly pale in the dim light of the solitary shadedlamp. Certainly, one of those mysterious crises which are among theunsolved secrets of psychology had come upon him like some swift accessof delirium. 

He no longer saw her sitting there by the telescope, calm, gracious, andbeautiful. He saw her as, by his pitiless calculations, he must do thatday thirteen months to come--with her soft grey eyes, starting, horror-driven from their orbits, staring blank and wide and hideous atthe overwhelming hell that would be falling down from heaven upon thedevoted earth. He saw her fresh young face withered and horror-lined andold, and the bright-brown hair grown grey with the years that would passin those few final moments. He saw the sweet red lips which had temptedhim so often to wild thoughts parched and black, wide open and gaspingvainly for the breath of life in a hot, burnt-out atmosphere. 

Then he saw--no, it was only a glimpse; and with that the strangetrance-vision ended. What must have come after that would in allcertainty have driven him mad there and then, before his work had evenbegun; but at that moment, swiftly severing the darkness that wasfalling over his soul, there came to him an idea, bright, luminous, andlovely as an inspiration from Heaven itself, and with it came back thecalm sanity of the sternly-disciplined intellect, prepared tocontemplate, not only the destruction of the world he lived in, but eventhe loss of the woman he loved--the only human being who could make theworld beautiful or even tolerable for him. 

The vision was blotted out from the sight of his soul; the darknesscleared away from his eyes, and he saw her again as she still was. Ithad all passed in a few moments and yet in them he had been down intohell--and he had come back to earth, and into her presence. 

Almost by the time she had uttered her last word, he had regainedcommand of his voice, and he began clearly and quietly to answer thequestion which was still echoing through the chambers of his brain. 

"It was only a little passing faintness, thank you; and something elsewhich you will understand when I have done, if you have patience to hearme to the end, " he said, looking straight at her for a moment, and thenbeginning to walk slowly up and down the room past her chair. 

"I am going to surprise you, perhaps to frighten you, and very probablyto offend you deeply, " he began again in a quiet, dry sort of tone, which somehow impressed her against all her convictions that he didn'tmuch care whether or not he did any or all of these things: but therewas something else in his tone and manner which held her to her seat, silent and attentive, although she was conscious of a distinct desire toget up and run away. 

"Your guess about the comet, or whatever it may prove to be, is quitecorrect. I don't think it is a new one. From what I have seen of it sofar, I have every reason to believe that it is Gambert's comet, whichwas discovered in 1826, and became visible to the naked eye in theautumn of 1833. It then crossed the orbit of the earth one month afterthe earth had passed the point of intersection. After that, some forcedivided it, and in '46 and '52 it reappeared as twin comets constantlyseparating. Now it would seem that the two masses have come togetheragain: and as they are both larger in bulk and greater in density itwould appear that, somewhere in the distant fields of Space, they haveunited with some other and denser body. The result is, that what ispractically a new comet, with a much denser nucleus than any so farseen, is approaching our system. Unless a miracle happens, or there is apractically impossible error in my calculations, it will cross the orbitof the earth thirteen months from to-day, at the moment that the earthitself arrives at the point of intersection. "

So far Auriole had listened to the stiff scientific phraseology withmore interest than alarm; but now she took advantage of a little pause, and said:

"And the consequences, Mr Lennard? I mean the consequences to us asliving beings. You may as well tell me everything now that you've goneso far. "

"I am going to, " he said, stopping for a moment in his walk, "and I amgoing to tell you something more than that. Granted that what I havesaid happens, one of two things must follow. If the nucleus of the cometis solid enough to pass through our atmosphere without being dissipated, it will strike the surface with so much force that both it and the earthwill probably be transformed into fiery vapour by the conversion of themotion of the two bodies into heat. If not, its contact with the oxygenof the earth's atmosphere will produce an aërial conflagration which, ifit does not roast alive every living thing on earth, will convert theoxygen, by combustion, into an irrespirable and poisonous gas, and sokill us by a slower, but no less fatal, process. "

"Horrible!" she said, shivering this time. "You speak like a judgepronouncing sentence of death on the whole human race! I suppose thereis no possibility of reprieve? Well, go on!"

"Yes, " he said, "there is something else. Those are the scientificfacts, as far as they go. I am going to tell you the chances now--andsomething more. There is just one chance--one possible way of avertinguniversal ruin from the earth, and substituting for it nothing moreserious than an unparalleled display of celestial fireworks. All thatwill be necessary is perfect calculation and illimitable expenditure ofmoney. "

"Well, " she said, "can't you do the calculations, Mr Lennard, and hasn'tdad got millions enough? How could he spend them better than in savingthe human race from being burnt alive? There isn't anything else, isthere?"

"There was something else, " he said, stopping in front of her again. Shehad risen to her feet as she said the last words, and the two stoodfacing each other in the dim light, while the mechanism of the telescopekept on clicking away in its heedless, mechanical fashion. 

"Yes, there was something else, and I may as well tell you after all;for, even if you never see or speak to me again, it won't stop the workbeing done now. I could have kept this discovery to myself till it wouldhave been too late to do anything: for no other telescope without myhelp would even find the comet for four months to come, and even nowthere is hardly a day to be lost if the work is to be done in time. Andthen--well, I suppose I must have gone mad for the time being, for Ithought--you will hardly believe me, I suppose--that I could make youthe price of the world's safety. 

"From that, you will see how much I have loved you, however mad I mayhave been. Losing you, I would have lost the world with you. If my lovelives, I thought, the world shall live: if not, if you die, the worldshall die. But just now, when you thought I was taken ill, I had a sortof vision, and I saw you, --yes, you, Auriole as, if my one chance fails, you must infallibly be this night thirteen months hence. I didn't seeany of the other millions who would be choking and gasping for breathand writhing in the torture of the universal fire--I only saw you and myown baseness in thinking, even for a moment, that such a bargain wouldbe possible. 

"And then, " he went on, more slowly, and with a different ring in hisvoice, "there are the other men. "

"Which other men?" she asked, looking up at him with a flush on hercheeks and a gleam in her eyes. 

"To be quite frank, and in such a situation as this, I don't see thatanything but complete candour is of any use, " he replied slowly. "I needhardly tell you that they are John Castellan and the Marquis ofWesterham. Castellan, I know, has loved you just as I have done, fromthe moment we had the good luck to pick you out of the bay at Clifden. Lord Westerham also wants you, so do I. That, put plainly, brutally, ifyou like, is the situation. Of your own feelings, of course, I do notpretend to have the remotest idea; but I confess that when thisknowledge came to me, the first thought that crossed my mind was thethought of you as another man's wife--and then came the vision of theworld in flames. At first I chose the world in flames. I see that I waswrong. That is all. "

She had not interrupted even by a gesture, but as she listened, athousand signs and trifles which alone had meant nothing to her, nowseemed to come together and make one clear and definite revelation. Thisstrong, reserved, silent man had all the time loved her so desperatelythat he was going mad about her--so mad that, as he had said, he hadeven dreamed of weighing the possession of her single, insignificantself against the safety of the whole world, with all its innumerablemillions of people--mostly as good in their way as she was. 

Well--it might be that the love of such a man was a thing worth to weigheven against a coronet--not in her eyes, for there was no question ofthat now, but in her father's. But that was a matter for futureconsideration. She drew herself up a little stiffly, and said, in justsuch a tone as she might have used if what he had just been saying hadhad no personal interest for her--had, in fact, been about some othergirl:

"I think it's about time to be going down to the house, Mr Lennard, isn't it? I am quite sure a night's rest won't do you any harm. No, I'mnot offended, and I don't think I'm even frightened yet. It somehowseems too big and too awful a thing to be only frightened at--too muchlike the Day of Judgment, you know. I am glad you've told me--yes, everything--and I'm glad that what you call your madness is over. Youwill be able to do your work in saving the world all the better. Onlydon't tell dad anything except--well--just the scientific and necessarypart of it. You know, saving a world is a very much greater matter thanwinning a woman--at least it is in one particular woman's eyes--andI've learnt somewhere in mathematics something about the greaterincluding the less. And now, don't you think we had better be going downinto the house? It's getting quite late. "

CHAPTER VI

THE NOTE OF WAR

The _Official Gazette_, published November the 25th, 1909, contained thefollowing announcement:--

 "Naval Promotions. Lieutenant-Commander Francis Erskine, of H. M. Fishery Cruiser _Cormorant_, to be Captain of H. M. Cruiser _Ithuriel_. Lieutenant Denis Castellan, also of the _Cormorant_, to be First Lieutenant of the _Ithuriel_. "

On the evening of the same day, Mr Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, roseamidst the tense silence of a crowded House to make anotherannouncement, which was not altogether unconnected with the notice inthe _Gazette_. 

"Sir, " he said in a low, but vibrant and penetrating voice, which manyyears before had helped to make his fame as an orator, "it is my painfulduty to inform this honourable House that a state of war exists betweenHis Majesty and a Confederation of European countries, includingGermany, Russia, France, Spain, Holland and Belgium. "

He paused for a moment, and looked round at the hundreds of faces, mostof them pale and fixed, that were turned toward the front TreasuryBench. Since Mr Balfour, now Lord Whittinghame, and Leader of theConservative Party in the House of Lords, had made his memorable speechon the 12th of October 1899, informing the House of Commons and theworld that the Ultimatum of the South African Republic had beenrejected, and that the struggle for the mastery of South Africa wasinevitable, no such momentous announcement had been made in the House ofCommons. 

Mr Chamberlain referred to that bygone crisis in the following terms:

"It will be within the memory of many Members of this House that, almostexactly ten years ago to-day, the British Empire was challenged to fightfor the supremacy of South Africa. That challenge was accepted notbecause there was any desire on the part of the Government or the peopleof this country to destroy the self-government of what were then theSouth African Republic and the Orange Free State, but because theGovernment of her late Majesty, Queen Victoria, knew that the fate of anempire, however great, depends upon its supremacy throughout itsdominions. 

"To lose one of these, however small and apparently insignificant, is totake a stone out of an arch with the result of inevitable collapse ofthe whole structure. It is not necessary for me, sir, to make anyfurther allusion to that struggle, save than to say that the policy ofHer Majesty's Ministers has been completely justified by theconsequences which have followed from it. 

"The Transvaal and Orange River Colonies have taken their place amongthe other self-governing Colonies of the Empire. They are prosperous, contented and loyal, and they will not be the last, I think, to come tothe help of the Mother Country in such a crisis as this. But, sir, I donot think that I should be fulfilling the duties of the responsibleposition which I have the honour to occupy if I did not remind thisHouse, and through this House the citizens of the British Empire, thatthe present crisis is infinitely more serious than that with which wewere faced in 1899. Then we were waging a war in another hemisphere, sixthousand miles away. Our unconquered, and, as I hope it will prove, unconquerable Navy, kept the peace of the world, and policed the oceanhighways along which it was necessary for our ships to travel. It istrue that there were menaces and threats heard in many quarters, butthey never passed beyond the region of insult and calumny. 

"Our possible enemies then, our actual enemies now, were in those dayswilling to wound, and yet afraid to strike. To-day, they have lost theirfear in the confidence of combination. To-day the war cloud is not sixthousand miles away in the southern hemisphere; it is here, in Europe, and a strip of water, twenty-one miles broad, separates us from theenemy, which, even as I am speaking, may already be knocking at ourgates. Even now, the thunder of the guns may be echoing along the shoresof the English Channel. 

"This, sir, is a war in which I might venture to say the most ardentmember of the Peace Society would not hesitate to engage. For itinvolves the most sacred duty of humanity, the defence of our country, and our homes. 

"We remember, sir, the words which Francis Drake wrote, and which haveremained true from his day until now: 'The frontiers of an islandcountry are the coasts of its possible enemies. ' We remember also thatwhen the great Napoleon had massed nearly half a million men on theheights above Boulogne, and more than a thousand pontoons were waitingto carry that force to the Kentish shore, there was only one old Englishfrigate cruising up and down the Straits of Dover. 

"Sir, there is on the heights of Boulogne a monument, built tocommemorate the assembly of the Grand Army, and collectors of coinsstill cherish those productions of the Paris Mint, which bear thelegend, 'Napoleon, Emperor, London, 1804. ' But, sir, the statue ofNapoleon which stands on the summit of that monument faces not westwardbut eastward. The Grand Army could have crossed that narrow strip ofwater. It could, no doubt, have made a landing on British soil, butNapoleon, possibly the greatest military genius the world has ever seen, anticipated Field-Marshal von Moltke, who said that he had found eightways of getting into England, but he had not found one of getting outagain, unless it were possible to pump the North Sea dry, and march themen over. In other words, sir, the British Navy was then, as now, paramount on seas; the oceans were our territories, and the coasts ofEurope our frontiers. 

"Again, sir, we must not forget that those were the days of sails, andthat these are the days of steam. What was then a matter of days is nowonly a matter of hours. It is two hundred and forty-two years since thesound of hostile guns was heard in the city of London. To-morrow morningtheir thunder may awaken us. 

"It has been said, sir, that Great Britain plays the game of Diplomacywith her cards face upwards on the table. That, in a sense, is true, andHis Majesty's Government propose to play the same game now. The demandswhich have been presented by the Federation of European Powers, at thehead of which stands the German Emperor--demands which, it is hardlynecessary for me to say, were instantly rejected--are these: ThatGibraltar shall be given back to Spain; that Malta shall be dismantled, and cease to be a British naval base; that the British occupation ofEgypt and the Soudan shall cease, and that the Suez Canal and theTrans-Continental Railway from Cairo to the Cape shall be handed over tothe control of an International Board, upon which the British Empirewill be graciously allowed one representative. 

"It is further demanded that Singapore, the Gate of the East, shall beplaced under the control of the same International Board, and that thefortifications of Hong Kong shall be demolished. That, sir, would amountto the surrender of the British Empire, an empire which can only existas long as the ocean paths between its various portions are keptinviolate. 

"Those proposals, sir, in plain English are threats, and His Majesty'sGovernment has returned the only possible answer to them, and thatanswer is war--war, let us remember, which may within a few weeks, oreven days, be brought to our own doors. Whatever our enemies may havesaid of us it is still true that Britain stands for peace, security, andprosperity. We have used the force of arms to conquer the forces ofbarbarism and semi-civilisation, but the most hostile of our critics maybe safely challenged to point to any country or province upon which wehave imposed the Pax Britannica, which is not now the better for it. Itis no idle boast, sir, to say that all the world over, the rule of HisMajesty means the rule of peace and prosperity. There are only twocauses in which a nation or an empire may justly go to war. One, is tomake peace where strife was before, and the other is to defend thatwhich has been won, and made secure by patient toil and endeavour, noless than by blood and suffering. It is that which the challenge ofEurope calls upon us now to defend. Our answer to the leagued nations isthis: What we have fought for and worked for and won is ours. Take itfrom us if you can. 

"And, sir, I believe that I can say with perfect confidence, that whatHis Majesty's Government has done His Majesty's subjects will enforce toa man, and, if necessary, countersign the declaration of war in theirown blood. 

"Let us remember, too, those weighty words of warning which the Laureateof the Empire wrote nearly twenty years ago, of this Imperialinheritance of ours:

 "'It is not made with the mountains, it is not one with the deep, Men, not gods, devised it, men, not gods, must keep. Men not children, servants, or kinsfolk called from afar, But each man born in the island broke to the matter of war. 

 'So ye shall bide, sure-guarded, when the restless lightnings wake, In the boom of the blotting war-cloud, and the pallid nations quake. So, at the haggard trumpets, instant your soul shall leap, Forthright, accoutred, accepting--alert from the walls of sleep. So at the threat ye shall summon--so at the need ye shall send, Men, not children, or servants, tempered and taught to the end. '

"Sir, it has been said that poets are prophets. The hour of thefulfilment of that prophecy has now come, and I shall be much mistakenin my estimate of the temper of my countrymen and fellow-subjects of HisMajesty here in Britain, and in the greater Britains over sea, if, granted the possibility of an armed invasion of the Motherland, everyman, soldier or civilian, who is able to use a rifle, will not, ifnecessary, use it in the defence of his country and his home. "

The Prime Minister sat down amid absolute silence. The tremendouspossibilities which he had summed up in his brief speech seemed to havestunned his hearers for the time being. Some members said afterwardsthat they could hear their own watches ticking. Then Mr John Redmond, the Leader of the Irish Nationalist Party, rose and said, in a slow, anddeliberate voice, which contrasted strikingly with his usual style oforatory:

"Sir, this is not a time for what has been with a certain amount ofdouble-meaning described as Parliamentary speeches. Still less is it atime for party or for racial differences. The silence in which thisHouse has received the speech of the Prime Minister is the most eloquenttribute that could be paid to the solemnity of his utterances. But, sir, I have a reason for calling attention to one omission in that speech, anomission which may have been made purposely. The last time that afoeman's foot trod British soil was not eight hundred years ago. It wasin December 1796 that French soldiers and sailors landed on the shoresof Bantry Bay. Sir, the Ireland of those days was discontented, and, ifyou please to call it so, disloyal. There are those who say she is sonow, but, sir, whatever our domestic difficulties and quarrels may be, and however much I and the party which I have the honour to lead maydiffer from the home policy of the Right Honourable gentleman who hasmade this momentous pronouncement, it shall not be said that any ofthose difficulties or differences will be taken advantage of by any manwho is worth the name of Irishman. 

"As the Prime Minister has told us, the thunder of the enemy's guns mayeven now be echoing along our southern coasts. We have, I hope, learnt alittle wisdom on both sides of the Irish Sea during the last twentyyears, and this time, sir, I think I can promise that, while the gunsare talking, there shall be no sound of dispute on party matters inthis House as far as we are concerned. From this moment, the IrishNationalist Party, as such, ceases to exist, at any rate until the war'sover. 

"In 1796, the French fleet carrying the invading force was scatteredover the seas by one of the worst storms that ever was known on the westcoast of Ireland. As Queen Elizabeth's medal said of the Spanish Armada, 'God blew, and they were scattered. ' With God's help, sir, we willscatter these new enemies who threaten us with invasion and conquest. Henceforth, there must be no more Englishmen, Irishmen, Scotchmen, orWelshmen. We are just subjects of the King, and inhabitants of theBritish Islands; and the man who does not believe that, and act upon hisbelief, should get out of these islands as soon as he can, for he isn'tfit to live in them. 

"I remember, sir, a car-driver in Galway, who was taking an Englishtourist--and he was a politician as well--around the country about thathalf-ruined city. The English tourist was inquiring into the troubles ofIreland, and he asked him what was the greatest affliction that Irelandsuffered from, and when he answered him he described just the sort ofIrishman who won't be wanted in Ireland now. He said, 'It's the absenteelandlords, your honour. This unfortunate country is absolutely swarmingwith them. '"

It was an anti-climax such as only an Irishman could have achieved. Thetension which had held every nerve of every member on the stretch whilethe Prime Minister was speaking was broken. The Irish members, almost toa man, jumped to their feet, as Mr Redmond picked up his hat, waved itround his head, and said, in a tone which rang clear and true throughthe crowded Chamber:

"God save the King!"

And then for the first time in its history, the House of Commons roseand sang the National Anthem. 

There was no division that night. The Prime Minister formally put themotion for the voting of such credit as might be necessary to meet theexpenses of the war, and when the Speaker put the question, Ay or Nay, every member stood up bareheaded, and a deep-voiced, thunderous "Ay"told the leagued nations of Europe that Britain had accepted theirchallenge. 

CHAPTER VII

CAUGHT!

The events of that memorable night formed a most emphatic contradictionto the prophecy in Macaulay's "Armada":

 "Such night in England ne'er had been, nor e'er again shall be. "

The speeches in the House of Commons and in the House of Peers werebeing printed even as they were spoken; hundreds of printing-presseswere grinding out millions of copies of newspapers. Thousands ofnewsboys were running along the pavements, or with great bags of neweditions slung on their shoulders tearing through the traffic onbicycles; but all the speeches in the two Houses of Parliament, all thereports and hurriedly-written leaders in the papers just represented tothe popular mind one word, and that word was war. 

It was true that for over a hundred years no year had passed in whichthe British Empire had not been engaged in a war of some kind, but theywere wars waged somewhere in the outlands of the earth. To thestop-at-home man in the street they were rather more matters of latitudeand longitude than battle, murder, and sudden death. The South AfricanWar, and even the terrible struggle between Russia and Japan, werealready memories drifting out of sight in the rush of the headlongcurrent of twentieth-century life. 

But this was quite another matter; here was war--not war that was beingwaged thousands of miles away in another hemisphere or on another sideof the globe--but war within twenty-one miles of English land--withintwo or three hours, as it were, of every Englishman's front door. 

This went home to every man who had a home, or who possessed anythingworth living for. It was not now a case of sending soldiers, militia andyeomanry away in transports, and cheering them as they went. Not now, asKipling too truly had said of the fight for South Africa:

 "When your strong men cheered in their millions, while your striplings went to the war. "

Now it was the turn of the strong men; the turn of every man who had thestrength and courage to fight in defence of all that was nearest anddearest to him. 

As yet there was no excitement. At every theatre and every music-hall inLondon and the great provincial cities and towns, the performances werestopped as soon as the news was received by telegraph. The managers readthe news from the stage, the orchestras played the first bar of theNational Anthem, the audiences rose to their feet, and all over theBritish Islands millions of voices sang "God save the King, " and then, obeying some impulse, which seemed to have inspired the whole land, burst into the triumphant psalm of "Rule Britannia. "

And when the theatres and music-halls closed, men and women went ontheir way home quietly discussing the tremendous tidings which had beenofficially announced. There was no attempt at demonstration, there wasvery little cheering. It was too serious a matter for that. The men andwomen of Britain were thinking, not about what they should say, butabout what they should do. There was no time for shouting, forto-morrow, perhaps even to-night, the guns would be talking--"Thedrumming guns which have no doubts. "

The House rose at half-past eleven, and at ten minutes to twelveLieutenant Denis Castellan, came into the smoking-room of the Keppel'sHead Hotel, Portsmouth, with a copy of the last edition of the _SouthernEvening News_ in his hand, and said to Captain Erskine:

"It's all right, my boy. It's war, and you've got the _Ithuriel_. Yourown ship, too. Designer, creator, captain; and I'm your First Luff. "

"I think that's about good enough for a bottle of the best, Castellan, "said Erskine, in the quiet tone in which the officer of the finestService in the world always speaks. "Touch the button, will you?"

As Denis Castellan put his finger on the button of the electric bell, aman got up from an armchair on the opposite side of the room, and said, as he came towards the table at which Erskine was sitting:

"You will pardon me, I hope, if I introduce myself without the usualformalities. My name is Gilbert Lennard. "

"Then, I take it, you're the man who swam that race with my brotherJohn, in Clifden Bay, when Miss Parmenter was thrown out of her skiff. But he's no brother of mine now. He's sold himself to the Germans, and, "he continued, suddenly lowering his voice almost to a whisper, "come upto my room, we'll have the bottle there, and Mr Lennard will join us. Yes, waiter, you can take it up to No. 24, we can't talk here, " he wenton in a louder tone. "There's a German spy in the room, and by the piperthat was supposed to play before Moses, if he's here when I come back, I'll throw him out. "

Everyone in the smoking-room looked up. Castellan walked out, looking ata fair-haired, clean-shaven little man, sitting at a table in theright-hand corner of the room from the door. He also looked up, andglanced vacantly about the room; then as the three went out, he took asip of the whisky and soda beside him, and looked back on to the paperthat he was reading. 

"Who's that chap?" asked Erskine, as they went upstairs. 

"I'll tell you when we're a bit more to ourselves, " replied Castellan;and when they had got into his sitting-room, and the waiter had broughtthe wine, he locked the door, and said:

"That is Staff-Captain Count Karl von Eckstein, of the German ImperialNavy, and also of His Majesty, the Kaiser's, Secret Service. He knows alittle more than we do about every dockyard and fort on the South Coast, to say nothing of the ships. That's his district, and thanks to the mostobliging kindness of the British authorities he has made very good useof it. "

"But, surely, " exclaimed Lennard, "now that there is a state of war, such a man as that could be arrested. "

"Faith, " said Denis Castellan, as he filled the glasses. "Law or no law, he will be arrested to-night if he stops here long enough for me to layhands upon him. Now then, what's the news, Mr Lennard? I'm told thatyou've just come back from the United States, what's the opinion ofthings over there?"

Such news that Lennard had was, of course, even more terrible than thenews of war and invasion, which was now thrilling through England likean electric shock, and he kept it to himself, thinking quite rightlythat the people of England had quite enough to occupy their attentionfor the immediate present, and so he replied as he raised the glasswhich Denis had filled for him:

"I am afraid that I have no news except this: that from all I have heardin the States, if it does come to death-grips, the States will be withus. But you see, of course, that I have only just got back, and thisthing has been sprung on us so suddenly. In fact, it was only thismorning that we got an aerogram from the Lizard as we came up Channel tosay that war was almost a certainty, and advising us to get intoSouthampton as soon as we could. "

"Well, " said Erskine, taking up his glass, "that's all right, as far asit goes. I've always believed that it's all rot saying that blood isn'tthicker than water. It is. Of course, relations quarrel more than otherpeople do, but it's only over domestic matters. Let an outsider start arow, and he very soon sees what happens, and that's what I believe ourfriends on the other side of the Channel are going to find out if itcomes to extremities. Well, Mr Lennard, I am very pleased that you haveintroduced yourself to us to-night. Of course, we have both known youpublicly, and therefore we have all the more pleasure in knowing youprivately. "

"Thanks, " replied Lennard, putting his hand into the inside pocket ofhis coat and taking out an envelope. "But to be quite candid with you, although of course I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, I didnot introduce myself to you and Mr Castellan only for personal reasons. I have devoted some attention to the higher chemistry as well as thehigher mathematics and astronomy, and I have also had the pleasure ofgoing through the designs of the cruiser which you have invented, andwhich you are now to command. I have been greatly interested in them, and for that reason I think that this may interest you. I brought ithere in the hope of meeting you, as I knew that your ship was lyinghere. "

Erskine opened the envelope, and took out a sheet of notepaper, on whichwere written just a few chemical formulæ and about forty words. 

Castellan, who was watching him keenly, for the first time since theyhad sailed together through stress and storm under the White Ensign, sawhim start. The pupils of his eyes suddenly dilated; his eyelids andeyebrows went up for an instant and came down again, and the rigid calmof the British Naval Officer came back. He put the letter into his hippocket, buttoned it up, and said, very quietly:

"Thank you, Mr Lennard. You have done me a very great personal service, and your country a greater one still. I shall, of course, make use ofthis. I am afraid if you had sent it to the Ordnance Department youwouldn't have heard anything about it for the next three months or more;perhaps not till the war was over. "

"And that is just why I brought it to you, " laughed Lennard. "Well, here's good luck to you and the _Ithuriel_, and all honour, and God savethe King!"

"God save the King!" repeated Erskine and Castellan, with that note ofseriousness in their tone which you can hear in the voice of no man whohas not fought, or is not going to fight; in short, to put his wordsinto action. 

They emptied their glasses, and as they put them down on the tableagain there came a knock at the door, sharp, almost imperative. 

"Come in, " said Erskine. 

The head waiter threw the door open, and a Naval messenger walked in, saluted, handed Erskine an official envelope, and said:

"Immediately, sir. The steam pinnace is down at the end of the RailwayQuay. "

Erskine tore open the envelope and read the brief order that itcontained, and said:

"Very good. We shall be on board in ten minutes. "

The messenger, who was a very useful-looking specimen of the handy man, saluted and left the room. Castellan ran out after him, and they wentdownstairs together. At the door of the hotel the messenger put twofingers into his mouth, and gave three soft whistles, not unlike thesounds of a boatswain's pipe. In two minutes a dozen bluejackets hadappeared from nowhere, and just as a matter of formality were asked tohave a drink at the bar. Meanwhile Denis Castellan had gone into thesmoking-room, where he found the sandy-haired, blue-eyed man stillsitting at his table in the corner, smoking his cigar, and looking overthe paper. He touched him on the shoulder and whispered, in perfectlyidiomatic German:

"I thought you were a cleverer man than that, Count. Didn't I give you awarning? God's thunder, man. You ought to have been miles away by thistime; haven't you a motor that would take you to Southampton in an hour, and put you on the last of the German liners that's leaving? You know itwill be a shooting or a hanging matter if you're caught here. Come onnow. My name's Castellan, and that should be good enough for you. Comeon, now, and I'll see you safe. "

The name of Castellan was already well known to every Germanconfidential agent, though it was not known that John Castellan had abrother who was a Lieutenant in the British Navy. 

Captain Count Karl von Eckstein got up, and took his hat down from thepegs, pulled on his gloves, and said deliberately:

"I am very much obliged to you, Mr Castellan, for your warning, which Iought to have taken at first, but I hope there is still time. I will goand telephone for my motor at once. "

"Yes, come along and do it, " said Castellan, catching him by the arm. "You haven't much time to lose, I can tell you. "

They went out of the smoking-room, turned to the left, and went into thehall. Then Castellan snatched his hand away from Eckstein's arm, tookhim by the shoulders, and pitched him forward into the middle of thesemicircle of bluejackets, who were waiting for him, saying:

"That's your man, boys. Take him down to the pinnace, and put him onboard. I'll take the consequences, and I think the owners will, too, when they know the facts. "

Von Eckstein tried to shout, but a hand about half the size of ashoulder of mutton came down hard over his mouth and nose. Other hands, with grips like vices, picked him off his feet, and out he went, halfstifled, along the yard, and up to the Railway Pier. 

"Rather summary proceedings, weren't they, Castellan?"

Denis drew himself up, formally saluted his superior officer, and said, with a curious mixture of fun and seriousness in his voice:

"That man's the most dangerous German spy in the South of England, sir, and all's fair in war and the other thing. We've got him. In half anhour he'd have been aboard a fast yacht he's got here in the harbour, and across to Dieppe, with a portmanteau full of plans and photographsof our forts that would be worth millions in men and money to the peoplewe've got to fight. I can't say it here, but you know why I know. "

Captain Erskine nodded, and did his best to conceal an unofficial smile. 

"That's right, Castellan, " he said. "I'll take your word for it. Getthat chap on board, lads, as quick as you can. We'll follow at once. "

Ship's Corporal Sandy M'Grath, the huge Scotsman, whose great fist hadstifled Count von Eckstein's attempt to cry out, touched his cap andsaid: "Awa' wi' him, boys, " and out they went at a run. Then Erskineturned to Lennard, and said:

"We can do all this that you've given me on board the _Ithuriel_. Itisn't quite regular, but in consideration of this, if you like to take acruise, and see your own work done, I'll take the responsibility ofinviting you, only mind, there will probably be some fighting. "

Even as he spoke two deep dull bangs shook the atmosphere and thewindows of the hotel shivered in their frames. 

"I'll come, " said Lennard. "They seem to have begun already. "

"Begorra they have, " said Denis Castellan, making a dash to the door. "Come on. If that's so, there'll be blood for supper to-night, and thesooner we're aboard the better. "

The next moment the three were outside, and sprinting for the end of theRailway Pier for all they were worth. 

CHAPTER VIII

FIRST BLOOD

When they got to the end of the Railway Pier where the pinnace was lyingpanting and puffing, a Flag-Lieutenant touched his cap to Erskine, tookhim by the arm and led him aside. He took an envelope out of his pocketand said, in a low tone:

"Here are your instructions, Erskine. They've jumped on us a bit morequickly than we thought they would, but the Commander-in-Chief trusts toyou and your ship to do the needful. The position is this: one divisionof the Russian, German and Dutch fleets is making a combined attack onHull and Newcastle. Two other divisions are going for the mouth of theThames, and the North Sea Squadron is going to look after them. TheFrench North Sea Squadron is making a rush on Dover, and will get veryconsiderably pounded in the process. Two French fleets from Cherbourgand Brest are coming up Channel, and each of them has a screen oftorpedo boats and destroyers. The Southern Fleet Reserve is concentratedhere and at Portland. The Channel Fleet is outside, and we hope to getit in their rear, so that we'll have them between the ships and theforts. If we do, they'll have just about as hot a time of it as anybodywants. 

"As far as we've been able to learn, the French are going to try Togo'stactics at Port Arthur, and rush Portsmouth with the small craft. You'llfind that it's your business to look after them. Sink, smash andgenerally destroy. Go for everything you see. There isn't a craft ofours within twenty miles outside. Good-bye, and good luck to you!"

"Good-bye!" said Erskine, as they shook hands, "and if we don't comeback, give my love to the Lords of the Admiralty and thank them forgiving me the chance with the _Ithuriel_. Bye-bye!"

Their hands gripped again and the captain of the _Ithuriel_ ran down thesteps like a boy going to a picnic. 

The pinnace gave a little squeak from its siren and sped away down theharbour between the two forts, in which the gunners were standing by thenew fourteen-inch wire-wound guns, whose long chases were prevented fromdrooping after continuous discharge by an ingenious application of theprinciple of the cantilever bridge, invented by the creator of the_Ithuriel_. In the breech-chamber of each of them was a thousand-poundshell, carrying a bursting charge of five hundred pounds of an explosivewhich was an improvement on blasting gelatine, and the guns were capableof throwing these to a distance of twelve miles with precision. Theywere the most formidable weapons either ashore or afloat. 

Just outside the harbour the pinnace swung round to the westward and ina few minutes stopped alongside the _Ithuriel_. 

As far as Lennard could see she was neither cruiser nor destroyer norsubmarine, but a sort of compound of all three. She did not appear to bea steamer because she had no funnels. She was not exactly a submarinebecause she had a signal-mast forward and carried five long, ugly-looking guns, three ahead and two astern, of a type that he hadnever seen before. Forward of the mast there was a conning-tower of ovalshape, with the lesser curves fore and aft. The breech-ends of the gunswere covered by a long hood of steel, apparently of great thickness, andthat was all. 

As soon as they got on board Erskine said to Lennard:

"Come into the conning-tower with me. I believe we can make use of thisinvention of yours at once. I've got a pretty well-fitted laboratorydown below and we might have a try. But you must excuse me a moment, Iwill just run through this. "

He opened the envelope containing his instructions, put them down onthe little desk in front of him and then read a note that was enclosedwith them. 

"By Jove, " he said, "they're pretty quick up at headquarters. You'llhave to excuse me a minute or two, Mr Lennard. Just stand on that side, will you, please? Close up, we haven't too much room here. Good-bye forthe present. "

In front of the desk and above the little steering-wheel there was amahogany board studded with two sets of ivory buttons, disposed in twolines of six each. He touched one of these, and Lennard saw himdisappear through the floor of the conning-tower. Within a few momentsthe portion of the floor upon which he had stood returned to its place, and Lennard said to himself:

"If the rest of her works like that, she ought to be a lovely study inengineering. "

While Captain Erskine is communicating his instructions to his second incommand, and arranging the details of the coming fight, there will betime to give a brief description of the craft on board of which Lennardso unexpectedly found himself, and which an invention of his own wasdestined to make even more formidable than it was. 

To put it as briefly as possible, the _Ithuriel_ was a combination ofdestroyer, cruiser, submarine and ram, and she had cost Erskine threeyears of hard work to think out. She was three hundred feet long, fiftyfeet broad, and thirty feet from her upper keel to her deck. This was ofcourse an abnormal depth for a vessel of her length, but then the_Ithuriel_ was quite an abnormal warship. One-third of her depthconsisted of a sinking-chamber, protected by twelve-inch armour, andthis chamber could be filled in a few minutes with four thousand tons ofwater. This is of course the same thing as saying she had twowaterlines. The normal cruising line gave her a freeboard of ten feet. Above the sinking-tanks her vitals were protected by ten-inch armour. Inshort, as regards armour, she was an entire reversal of the ordinarytype of warship, and she had the advantage of being impervious totorpedo attack. Loaded torpedoes had been fired at her and had burstlike eggs against a wall, with no more effect than to make her heel overa few degrees to the other side. Submarines had attacked her and gottheir noses badly bruised in the process. It was, indeed, admitted bythe experts of the Admiralty that under water she was impregnable. 

Her propelling power consisted of four sets of engines, all well belowthe waterline. Three of these drove three propellers astern: the fourthdrove a suction screw which revolved just underneath the ram. This was amass of steel weighing fifty tons and curved upwards like the invertedbeak of an eagle. Erskine had taken this idea from the Russianice-breakers which had been designed by the Russian Admiral Makaroff andbuilt at Elswick. The screw was protected by a steel grating of whichthe forward protecting girder completed the curve of the stem. Aft, there was a similar ram, weighing thirty tons and a like protection tothe after-screws. 

The driving power was derived from a combination of petrol andpulverised smokeless coal, treated with liquid oxygen, which madecombustion practically perfect. There was no boilers or furnaces, onlycombustion chambers, and this fact made the carrying of the great weightof armour under the waterline possible. The speed of the _Ithuriel_ wasforty-five knots ahead when all four screws were driving and pulling, and thirty knots astern when they were reversed. Her total capacity wasfive thousand two hundred tons. 

Behind the three forward guns was a dome-shaped conning-tower ofnine-inch steel, hardened like the rest of the armour by an improvementon the Harvey process. Above the conning-tower were two searchlightprojectors, both capable of throwing a clear ray to a distance of fourmiles and controlled from within the conning-tower. 

"Well, I am afraid I have kept you waiting, Mr Lennard, " said Erskine, as the platform brought him up again into the conning-tower, in muchshorter time than was necessary to make this needful description of whatwas probably the most formidable craft in the British Navy. "We're offnow. I've fitted up half a dozen shells with that diabolical inventionof yours. If we run across a battleship or a cruiser, we'll try them. Ithink our friends the enemy will find them somewhat of a paralyser, andthere's nothing like beginning pretty strong. "

"Nothing like hitting them hard at first, and I hope that those thingsof mine will be what I think they are, and unless all my theories arequite wrong, I fancy you'll find them all right. "

"They would be the first theories of yours that have gone wrong, MrLennard, " replied Erskine, "but anyhow, we shall soon see. I have putthree of your shells in the forward guns. We'll try them there first, and if they're all right we'll use the other three. I've got the afterguns loaded with my own shell, so if we come across anything big, weshall be able to try them against each other. At present, myinstructions are to deal with the lighter craft only: destroyers andthat sort of thing, you know. "

"But don't you fire on them?" said Lennard. "What would happen if theygot a torpedo under you?"

"Well, " said Erskine, "as a matter of fact I don't think destroyers areworth shooting at. Our guns are meant for bigger game. But it's no goodtrying to explain things now. You'll see, pretty soon, and you'll learnmore in half an hour than I could tell you in four hours. "

They were clear of the harbour by this time and running out at about tenknots between the two old North and South Spithead forts on the top ofeach of which one of the new fourteen-inch thousand-pounders had beenmounted on disappearing carriages. 

"Now, " he continued, "if we're going to find them anywhere, we shallfind them here, or hereabouts. My orders are to smash everything that Ican get at. "

"Fairly comprehensive, " said Lennard. 

"Yes, Lennard, and it's an order that I'm going to fill. We may as wellquicken up a bit now. You understand, Castellan is looking after theguns, and his sub. , Mackenzie is communicating orders to my ChiefEngineer, who looks after the speed. "

"And the speed?" asked Lennard. 

"I'll leave you to judge that when we get to business, " said Erskine, putting his forefinger on one of the buttons on the left-hand side ofthe board as he spoke. 

The next moment Lennard felt the rubber-covered floor of theconning-tower jump under his feet. All the coast lights wereextinguished but there was a half-moon and he saw the outlines of theshore slip away faster behind them. The eastern heights of the Isle ofWight loomed up like a cloud and dropped away astern. 

"Pretty fast, that, " he said. 

"Only twenty-five knots, " replied Erskine, as he gave the steering-wheela very gentle movement and swung the _Ithuriel's_ head round to theeastward. "If these chaps are going to make a rush in the way Togo didat Port Arthur, they've got to do it between Selsey Bill and NettlestonePoint. If they're mad enough to try the other way between Round TowerPoint and Hurst Castle, they'll get blown out of the water in very smallpieces, so we needn't worry about them there. Our business is to keepthem out of this side. Ah, look now, there are two or three of themthere. See, ahead of the port bow. We'll tackle these gentlemen first. "

Lennard looked out through the narrow semicircular window of six-inchcrystal glass running across the front of the conning-tower, which wasalmost as strong as steel, and saw three little dark, moving spots onthe half-moonlit water, about two miles ahead, stealing up in lineabreast. 

"Those chaps are trying to get in between the Spithead forts, " saidErskine. "They're slowed down to almost nothing, waiting for the cloudsto come over the moon, and then they'll make a dash for it. At least, they think they will. I don't. "

As he spoke he gave another turn to the steering-wheel and touchedanother button. The _Ithuriel_ leapt forward again and swung about threepoints to the eastward. In three minutes she was off Black Point, andthis movement brought her into a straight line with the threedestroyers. He gave the steering-wheel another half turn and her headswung round in a short quarter circle. He put his finger on to thebottom button on the right-hand side of the signal board and said toLennard:

"Hold tight now, she's going. "

Lennard held tight, for he felt the floor jump harder under him thistime. 

In the dim light he saw the nearest of the destroyers, as it seemed tohim, rush towards them sideways. Erskine touched another button. Ashudder ran through the fabric of the _Ithuriel_ and her bow rose abovefive feet from the water. A couple of minutes later it hit the destroyeramidships, rolled her over, broke her in two like a log of wood, amidsta roar of crackling guns and a scream of escaping steam, went over herand headed for the next one. 

Lennard clenched his teeth and said nothing. He was thinking too hard tosay anything just then. 

The second destroyer opened fire with her twelve-and six-pounders anddropped a couple of torpedoes as the _Ithuriel_ rushed at her. The_Ithuriel_ was now travelling at forty knots an hour. The torpedoes atthirty. The combined speed was therefore nearly a hundred statute milesan hour. Erskine saw the two white shapes drop into the water, theircourses converging towards him. A half turn of the wheel to port swungthe _Ithuriel_ out and just cleared them. It was a fairly narrow shave, for one of them grated along her side, but the _Ithuriel_ had no angles. The actual result was that one of the torpedoes deflected from itscourse, hit the other one and both exploded. A mountain of foam-crownedwater rose up and the commander of the French destroyer congratulatedhimself on the annihilation of at least one of the English warships, butthe next moment the grey-blue, almost invisible shape of the _Ithuriel_leapt up out of the semi-darkness, and her long pointed ram struckamidships, cut him down to the waterline, and almost before the twohalves of his vessel had sunk the same fate had befallen the thirddestroyer. 

"Well, what do you think of that?" said Erskine, as he touched a couplemore buttons and the _Ithuriel_ swung round to the eastward again. 

"Well, " said Lennard, slowly, "of course it's war, and those fellowswere coming in to do all the damage they could. But it is just a bitterrible, for all that. It's just seven minutes since you rammed thefirst boat: you haven't fired a shot and there are three big destroyersand I suppose three hundred and fifty men at the bottom of the sea. Pretty awful, you know. "

"My dear sir, " replied Erskine, without looking round, "all war is awfuland entirely horrible, and naval war is of course the most horrible ofall. There is no chance for the defeated: my orders do not even allow meto pick up a man from one of those vessels. On the other hand, one mustremember that if one of those destroyers had got in, they could have letgo half a dozen torpedoes apiece among the ships of the Fleet Reserve, and perhaps half a dozen ships and five or six thousand men might havebeen at the bottom of the Solent by this time, and those torpedoeswouldn't have had any sentiment in them. Hallo, there's another!"

A long, black shape surmounted by a signal-mast and four funnels slid upand out of the darkness into a patch of moonlight lying on the water. Erskine gave a quarter turn to the wheel and touched the two buttonsagain. The _Ithuriel_ swung round and ran down on her prey. The twofifteen-and the six twelve-pounder guns ahead and astern and on thebroadside of the destroyer crackled out and a hail of shells camewhistling across the water. A few of them struck the _Ithuriel_, glancedoff and exploded. 

"There, " said Erskine, "they've knocked some of our nice new paint off. Now they're going to pay for it. "

"Couldn't you give them a shot back?" said Lennard. 

"Not worth it, my dear sir, " said Erskine. "We keep our guns for biggergame. We haven't an angle that a shell would hit. You might just as wellfire boiled peas at a hippopotamus as those little things at us. Ofcourse a big shell square amidships would hurt us, but then she's sohandy that I think I could stop it hitting her straight. "

While he was speaking the _Ithuriel_ got up to full speed again. Lennardshut his eyes. He felt a slight shock, and then a dull grinding. A crashof guns and a roar of escaping steam, and when he looked out again, thedestroyer had disappeared. The next moment a blinding glare of lightstreamed across the water from the direction of Selsey. 

"A big cruiser, or battleship, " said Erskine. "French or German. Nowwe'll see what those shells of yours are made of. "

CHAPTER IX

THE "FLYING FISH" APPEARS

A huge, black shape loomed up into the moonlight. As she came nearerLennard could see that the vessel carried a big mast forward with afighting-top, two funnels a little aft of it, and two other funnels afew feet forward of the after mast. 

Erskine put his glasses up to his eyes and said:

"That's the _Dupleix_, one of the improved _Desaix_ class. Steamstwenty-four knots. I suppose she's been shepherding those destroyersthat we've just finished with. I hope she hasn't seen what happened. Ifshe thinks that they've got in all right, we've got her. She has a heavyfore and aft and broadside gunfire, two 6. 4 guns ahead and astern andamidships, in pairs, and as I suppose they'll be using melinite shells, we shall get fits unless we take them unawares. "

"And what does that mean?" asked Lennard. 

"Show you in a minute, " answered Erskine, touching three or four of thebuttons on the right-hand side as he spoke. 

Another shudder ran through the frame of the _Ithuriel_ and Lennard feltthe deck sink under his feet. If he hadn't had as good a head on him ashe had, he would have said something, for the _Ithuriel_ sank until herdecks were almost awash. She jumped forward again now almost invisible, and circled round to the south eastward. A big cloud drifted across themoon and Erskine said:

"Thank God for that! We shall get her now. "

Another quarter turn of the wheel brought the _Ithuriel's_ head atright angles to the French cruiser's broadside. He took the transmitterof the telephone down from the hooks and said:

"Are you there, Castellan?"

"Yes. What's that big thing ahead there?"

"It's the _Dupleix_. Ready with your forward guns. I'm going to firefirst, then ram. Stand by, centre first, then starboard and port, andkeep your eye on them. These are Mr Lennard's shells and we want to seewhat they'll do. Are you ready?"

"Yes. When you like. "

"Half speed, then, and tell Mackenzie to stand by and order full speedwhen I give the word. We shall want it in a jump. "

"Very good, sir. Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all. "

Erskine put the receiver back on the hooks. 

"That's it. Now we'll try your shells. If they're what I think they are, we'll smash that fellow's top works into scrap-iron, and then we'll gofor him. "

"I think I see, " said Lennard, "that's why you've half submerged her. "

"Yes. The _Ithuriel_ is designed to deal with both light and heavycraft. With the light ones, as you have seen, she just walked over them. Now, we've got something bigger to tackle, and if everything goes rightthat ship will be at the bottom of the sea in five minutes. "

"Horrible, " replied Lennard, "but I suppose it's necessary. "

"Absolutely, " said Erskine, taking the receiver down from the hooks. "Ifwe didn't do it with them, they'd do it with us. That's war. "

Lennard made no reply. He was looking hard at the now rapidlyapproaching shape of the big French cruiser, and when men are thinkinghard, they don't usually say much. 

The _Ithuriel_ completed her quarter-circle and dead head on to the_Dupleix_, Erskine said, "Centre gun ready, forward--fire. Port andstarboard concentrate--fire. "

There was no report--only a low, hissing sound--and then Lennard sawthree flashes of bluish-green blaze out over the French cruiser. 

"Hit her! I think those shells of yours got home, " said Erskine betweenhis clenched teeth. And then he added through the telephone, "Wellaimed, Castellan! They all got there. Load up again--three more shotsand I'm going to ram--quick now, and full speed ahead when you'vefired. "

"All ready!" came back over the telephone, "I've told Mackenzie thatyou'll want it. "

"Good man, " replied Erskine. "When I touch the button, you do the rest. Now--are you ready?"

"Yes. "

"Let her have it--then full speed. Ah, " Erskine continued, turning toLennard, "he's shooting back. "

The cruiser burst into a thunderstorm of smoke and flame and shell, butthere was nothing to shoot at. Only three feet of freeboard would havebeen visible even in broad daylight. The signal mast had beentelescoped. There was nothing but the deck, the guns and theconning-tower to be seen. The shells screamed through the air a good tenfeet over her and incidentally wrecked the Marine Hotel on Selsey Bill. 

Erskine pressed the top button on the right-hand side three times. Thesmokeless, nameless guns spoke again, and again the three flashes ofblue-green flame broke out on the Frenchman's decks. 

"Good enough, " said Erskine, taking the transmitter down from the hooksagain. "Now, Mr Lennard, just come for'ard and watch. "

Lennard crept up beside him and took the glasses. 

"Down guns--full speed ahead--going to ram, " said Erskine, quietly, intothe telephone. 

To his utter astonishment, Lennard saw the three big guns sink downunder the deck and the steel hoods move forward and cover theemplacements. The floor of the conning-tower jumped under his feet againand the huge shape of the French cruiser seemed to rush towards him. There was a roar of artillery, a thunder of 6. 4 guns, a crash ofbursting shells, a shudder and a shock, and the fifty-ton ram of the_Ithuriel_ hit her forward of the conning-tower and went through thetwo-inch armour belt as a knife would go through a piece of paper. Thebig cruiser stopped as an animal on land does, struck by a bullet in itsvitals, or a whale when the lance is driven home. Half her officers andmen were lying about the decks asphyxiated by Lennard's shells. Theafter barbette swung round, and at the same moment, or perhaps half aminute before, Erskine touched two other buttons in rapid succession. The _Dupleix_ lurched down on the starboard side, the two big guns wentoff and hit the water. Erskine touched another button, and the_Ithuriel_ ran back from her victim. A minute later the French cruiserheeled over and sank. 

"Good God, how did you do that?" said Lennard, looking round at him witheyes rather more wide open than usual. 

"That's the effect of the suction screw, " replied Erskine. "I got theidea from the Russian ice-breaker, the _Yermack_. The old idea was justmain strength and stupidity, charge the ice and break through if youcould. The better idea was to suck the water away from under the ice andgo over it--that's what we've done. I rammed that chap, pulled the wateraway from under him, and, of course, he's gone down. "

He gave the wheel a quarter-turn to starboard, took down the transmitterand said: "Full speed again--in two minutes, three quarters and thenhalf. "

"But surely, " exclaimed Lennard, "you can do something to help thosepoor fellows. Are you going to leave them all to drown?"

"I have no orders, except to sink and destroy, " replied Erskine betweenhis teeth. "You must remember that this is a war of one country againsta continent, and of one fleet against four. Ah, there's another! Athird-class cruiser--I think I know her, she's the old _Leger_--theymust have thought they had an easy job of it if they sent her here. Lowfree board, not worth shooting at. We'll go over her. No armour--whatidiots they are to put a thing like that into the fighting line!"

He took the transmitter down and said:

"Stand by there, Castellan! Get your pumps to work, and I shall wantfull speed ahead--I'm going to run that old croak down--hurry up. "

He put the transmitter back on the hooks and presently Lennard saw thebows of the _Ithuriel_ rise quickly out of the water. The doomed vesselin front of them was a long, low-lying French torpedo-catcher, with onebig funnel between two signal-masts, hopelessly out of date, andevidently intended only to go in and take her share of the spoils. Erskine switched off the searchlight, called for full speed ahead andthen with clenched teeth and set eyes, he sent the _Ithuriel_ flying ather victim. 

Within five minutes it was all over. The fifty-ton ram rose over the_Leger's_ side, crushed it down into the water, ground its way throughher, cut her in half and went on. 

"That ship ought to have been on the scrap-heap ten years ago, " saidErskine as he signalled for half-speed and swung the _Ithuriel_ round tothe westward. 

"She's got a scrap-heap all to herself now, I suppose, " said Lennard, with a bit of a check in his voice. "I've no doubt, as you say, thissort of thing may be necessary, but my personal opinion of it is thatit's damnable. "

"Exactly my opinion too, " said Erskine, "but it has to be done. "

The next instant, Lennard heard a sound such as he had never heardbefore. It was a smothered rumble which seemed to come out of thedepths, then there came a shock which flung him off his feet, and shothim against the opposite wall of the conning-tower. The _Ithuriel_heeled over to port, a huge volume of water rose on her starboard sideand burst into a torrent over her decks, then she righted. 

Erskine, holding on hard to the iron table to which the signalling boardwas bolted, saved himself from a fall. 

"I hope you're not hurt, Mr Lennard, " said he, looking round, "that wasa submarine. Let a torpedo go at us, I suppose, and didn't know theywere hitting twelve-inch armour. "

"It's all right, " said Lennard, picking himself up. "Only a bruise ortwo; nothing broken. It seems to me that this new naval warfare of yoursis going to get a bit exciting. "

"Yes, " said Erskine, "I think it is. Halloa, Great Cæsar! That must bethat infernal invention of Castellan's brother's; the thing he sold tothe Germans--the sweep!"

As he spoke a grey shape leapt up out of the water and began to circleover the _Ithuriel_. He snatched the transmitter from the hooks, andsaid, in quick, clear tones:

"Castellan--sink--quick, quick as you can. "

The pumps of the _Ithuriel_ worked furiously the next moment. Lennardheld his breath as he saw the waves rise up over the decks. 

"Full speed ahead again, and dive, " said Erskine into the transmitter. "Hold tight, Lennard. "

The floor of the conning-tower took an angle of about sixty degrees, andLennard gripped the holdfasts, of which there were two on each wall ofthe tower. He heard a rush of overwhelming waters--then came darkness. The _Ithuriel_ rushed forward at her highest speed. Then something hitthe sea, and a quick succession of shocks sent a shudder through thevessel. 

"I thought so, " said Erskine. "That's John Castellan's combined airshipand submarine right enough, and that was an aërial torpedo. If it hadhit us when we were above water, we should have been where those Frenchchaps are now. You're quite right, this sort of naval warfare is gettingrather exciting. "

CHAPTER X

FIRST BLOWS FROM THE AIR

The _Flying Fish_, the prototype of the extraordinary craft which playedsuch a terrible part in the invasion of England, was a magnifiedreproduction, with improvements which suggested themselves duringconstruction, of the model whose performances had so astonished theKaiser at Potsdam. She was shaped exactly like her namesake of the deep, upon which, indeed, her inventor had modelled her. She was one hundredand fifty feet long and twenty feet broad by twenty-five feet deep inher widest part, which, as she was fish-shaped, was considerably forwardof her centre. 

She was built of a newly-discovered compound, something likepapier-maché, as hard and rigid as steel, with only about one-tenth theweight. Her engines were of the simplest description in spite of thefact that they developed enormous power. They consisted merely ofcylinders into which, by an automatic mechanism, two drops of liquidwere brought every second. These liquids when joined produced a gas ofenormously expansive power, more than a hundred times that of steam, which actuated the pistons. There were sixteen of these cylinders, andthe pistons all connected with a small engine invented by Castellan, which he called an accelerator. By means of this device he couldregulate the speed of the propellers which drove the vessel under waterand in the air from sixty up to two thousand revolutions a minute. 

The _Flying Fish_ was driven by nine propellers, three of these, four-bladed and six feet diameter, revolved a little forward amidshipson either side under what might be called the fins. These fins collapsedclose against the sides of the vessel when under water and expanded to aspread of twenty feet when she took the air. They worked on a pivot andcould be inclined either way from the horizontal to an angle of thirtydegrees. Midway between the end of these and the stern was a smallerpair with one driving screw. The eighth screw was an ordinary propellerat the stern, but the outside portion of the shaft worked on a ball andsocket joint so that it could be used for both steering and drivingpurposes. It was in fact the tail of the _Flying Fish_. Steering in theair was effected by means of a vertical fin placed right aft. 

She was submerged as the _Ithuriel_ was, by pumping water into the lowerpart of her hull. When these chambers were empty she floated like acork. The difference between swimming and flying was merely thedifference between the revolutions of the screws and the inclination ofthe fins. A thousand raised her from the water: twelve hundred gave hertwenty-five or thirty miles an hour through the air: fifteen hundredgave her fifty, and two thousand gave her eighty to a hundred, accordingto the state of the atmosphere. 

Her armament consisted of four torpedo tubes which swung at any anglefrom the horizontal to the vertical and so were capable of use bothunder water and in the air. They discharged a small, insignificant-looking torpedo containing twenty pounds of an explosive, discovered almost accidentally by Castellan and known only to himself, the German Emperor, the Chancellor, and the Commander-in-Chief. It wasthis which he had used in tiny quantities in the experiment at Potsdam. Its action was so terrific that it did not rend or crack metal or stonewhich it struck. It overcame the chemical forces by which the substancewas held together and reduced them to gas and powder. 

And now, after this somewhat formal but necessary description of themost destructive fighting-machine ever created we can proceed with thestory. 

There were twenty _Flying Fishes_ attached to the Allied Forces, all ofthem under the command of German engineers, with the exception of theoriginal _Flying Fish_. Two of these were attached to the threesquadrons which were attacking Hull, Newcastle and Dover: three had beendetailed for the attack on Portsmouth: two more to Plymouth, two toBristol and Liverpool respectively, on which combined cruiser andtorpedo attacks were to be made, and two supported by a small swiftcruiser and torpedo flotilla for an assault on Cardiff, in order ifpossible to terrorise that city into submission and so obtain what maybe called the life-blood of a modern navy. The rest, in case ofaccidents to any of these, were reserved for the final attack on London. 

When the _Ithuriel_ disappeared and his torpedo struck a piece offloating wreckage and exploded with a terrific shock, John Castellan, standing in the conning-tower directing the movements of the _FlyingFish_, naturally concluded that he had destroyed a British submarinescout. He knew of the existence, but nothing of the real powers of the_Ithuriel_. The only foreigner who knew that was Captain Count Karl vonEckstein, and he was locked safely in a cabin on board her. 

He had been searching the under-waters between Nettlestone Point andHayling Island for hours on the look-out for British submarines andtorpedo scouts, and had found nothing, therefore he was ignorant of thedestruction which the _Ithuriel_ had already wrought, and as, of course, he had heard no firing under the water, he believed that the threedestroyers supported by the _Dupleix_ and _Leger_ had succeeded inslipping through the entrance to Spithead. 

He knew that a second flotilla of six destroyers with three swiftsecond-class cruisers were following in to complete the work, which bythis time should have begun, and that after them came the main Frenchsquadron, consisting of six first-class battleships with a screen of tenfirst and five second-class cruisers, the work of which would be tomaintain a blockade against any relieving force, after the submarinesand destroyers had sunk and crippled the ships of the Fleet Reserve andcut the connections of the contact mines. 

He knew also that the _See Adler_, which was _Flying Fish II. _, waswaiting about the Needles to attack Hurst Castle and the forts on theIsle of Wight side, preparatory to a rush of two battleships and threecruisers through the narrows, while another was lurking under HaylingIsland ready to take the air and rain destruction on the forts ofPortsmouth before the fight became general. 

What thoroughly surprised him, however, was the absolute silence andinaction of the British. True, two shots had been fired, but whetherfrom fort or warship, and with what intent, he hadn't the remotestnotion. The hour arranged upon for the general assault was fastapproaching. The British must be aware that an attack would be made, andyet there was not so much as a second-class torpedo boat to be seenoutside Spithead. This puzzled him, so he decided to go and investigatefor himself. He took up a speaking-tube and said to his Lieutenant, M'Carthy--one of too many renegade Irishmen who in the terrible timesthat were to come joined their country's enemies as Lynch and histraitors had done in the Boer War:

"I don't quite make it out, M'Carthy. We'll go down and get under--it'sabout time the fun began--and I haven't heard a shot fired or seen anEnglish ship except that submarine we smashed. My orders are for twelveo'clock, and I'm going to obey them. "

There was one more device on board the _Flying Fish_ which should bedescribed in order that her wonderful manoeuvering under water may beunderstood. Just in front of the steering-wheel in the conning-tower wasa square glass box measuring a foot in the side, and in the centre ofthis, attached to top and bottom by slender films of asbestos, was aneedle ten inches long, so hung that it could turn and dip in anydirection. The forward half of this needle was made of highly magnetisedsteel, and the other of aluminium which exactly counter-balanced it. Theglass case was completely insulated and therefore the extremelysensitive needle was unaffected by any of the steel parts used in theconstruction of the vessel. But let any other vessel, save of course awooden ship, come within a thousand yards, the needle began to trembleand sway, and the nearer the _Flying Fish_ approached it, the steadierit became and the more directly it pointed towards the object. If thevessel was on the surface, it of course pointed upward: if it was asubmarine, it pointed either level or downwards with unerring precision. This needle was, in fact, the eyes of the _Flying Fish_ when she wasunder water. 

Castellan swung her head round to the north-west and dropped gently onto the water about midway between Selsey Bill and the Isle of Wight. Then the _Flying Fish_ folded her wings and sank to a depth of twentyfeet. Then, at a speed of ten knots, she worked her way in a zigzagcourse back and forth across the narrowing waters, up the channeltowards Portsmouth. 

To his surprise, the needle remained steady, showing that there wasneither submarine nor torpedo boat near. This meant, as far as he couldsee, that the main approach to the greatest naval fortress in Englandhad been left unguarded, a fact so extraordinary as to be exceedinglysuspicious. His water-ray apparatus, a recent development of the X-rayswhich enabled him to see under water for a distance of fifty yards, haddetected no contact mines, and yet Spithead ought to be enstrewn withthem, just as it ought to have been swarming with submarines anddestroyers. There must be some deep meaning to such apparentlyincomprehensible neglect, but what was it?

If his brother Denis had not happened to recognise Captain Count Karlvon Eckstein and haled him so unceremoniously on board the _Ithuriel_, and if his portmanteau full of papers had been got on board a Frenchwarship, instead of being left for the inspection of the BritishAdmiralty, that reason would have been made very plain to him. 

Completely mystified, and fearing that either he was going into sometrap or that some unforeseen disaster had happened, he swung round, ranout past the forts and rose into the air again. When he had reached theheight of about a thousand feet, three rockets rose into the air andburst into three showers of stars, one red, one white, and the otherblue. It was the Tricolour in the air, and the signal from the FrenchAdmiral to commence the attack. Castellan's orders were to cripple orsink the battleships of the Reserve Fleet which was moored in twodivisions in Spithead and the Solent. 

The Spithead Division lay in column of line abreast between GilkickerPoint and Ryde Pier. It consisted of the _Formidable_, _Irresistible_, _Implacable_, _Majestic_ and _Magnificent_, and the cruisers _Hogue_, _Sutlej_, _Ariadne_, _Argonaut_, _Diadem_ and _Hawke_. The westernDivision consisted of the battleships _Prince George_, _Victoria_, _Jupiter_, _Mars_ and _Hannibal_, and the cruisers _Amphitrite_, _Spartiate_, _Andromeda_, _Europa_, _Niobe_, _Blenheim_ and _Blake_. 

It had of course been perfectly easy for Castellan to mark the positionof the two squadrons from the air, and he knew that though they werecomparatively old vessels they were quite powerful enough, with theassistance of the shore batteries, to hold even Admiral Durenne'ssplendid fleet until the Channel Fleet, which for the time being seemedto have vanished from the face of the waters, came up and took theFrench in the rear. 

In such a case, the finest fleet of France would be like a nut in avice, and that was the reason for the remorseless orders which had beengiven to him, orders which he was prepared to carry out to the letter, in spite of the appalling loss of life which they entailed; for, as the_Flying Fish_ sank down into the water, he thought of that swimming racein Clifden Bay and of the girl whose marriage with himself, willing orunwilling, was to be one of the terms of peace when the British Navy layshattered round her shores, and the millions of the Leagued Nations hadtrampled the land forces of Britain into submission. 

Just as she touched the water a brilliant flash of pink flame leapt upfrom the eastern fort on the Hillsea Lines, followed by a sharp crashwhich shook the atmosphere. A thin ray of light fell from the clouds, then came a quick succession of flashes moving in the direction of thegreat fort on Portsdown, until two rose in quick succession fromPortsdown itself, and almost at the same moment another from HurstCastle, and yet another from the direction of Fort Victoria. 

"God bless my soul, what's that?" exclaimed the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Compton Domville, who had just completed his finalinspection of the defences of Portsmouth Harbour, and was standing onthe roof of Southsea Castle, taking a general look round before goingback to headquarters. "Here, Markham, " he said, turning to the Commanderof the Fort, "just telephone up to Portsdown at once and ask them whatthey're up to. "

An orderly instantly dived below to the telephone room. The FortCommander took Sir Compton aside and said in a low voice:

"I am afraid, sir, that the forts are being attacked from the air. "

"What's that?" replied Sir Compton, with a start. "Do you mean thatinfernal thing that Erskine and Castellan and the watch of the_Cormorant_ saw in the North Sea?"

"Yes, sir, " was the reply. "There is no reason why the enemy should notpossess a whole fleet of these craft by this time, and naturally theywould act in concert with the attack of the French Fleet. I've heardrumours of a terrible new explosive they've got, too, which shatterssteel into splinters and poisons everyone within a dozen yards of it. Ifthat's true and they're dropping it on the forts, they'll probably smashthe guns as well. For heaven's sake, sir, let me beg of you to go backat once to headquarters! It will probably be our turn next. You will besafe there, for they're not likely to waste their shells on Governmentbuildings. "

"Well, I suppose I shall be of more use there, " growled Sir Compton. 

At this moment the orderly returned, looking rather scared. He salutedand said:

"If you please, sir, they've tried Portsdown and all the Hillsea fortsand can't get an answer. "

"Good heavens!" said the Commander-in-Chief, "that looks almost as ifyou were right, Markham. Signal to Squadron A to up-anchor at once andtelephone to Squadron B to do the same. Telephone Gilkicker to turn allsearchlights on. Now I must be off and have a talk with GeneralHamilton. "

He ran down to his pinnace and went away full speed for the harbour, butbefore he reached the pier another flash burst out from the direction ofFort Gilkicker, followed by a terrific roar. To those standing on thetop of Southsea Castle the fort seemed turned into a volcano, spoutingflame and clouds of smoke, in the midst of which they could see for aninstant whirling shapes, most of which would probably be the remains ofthe gallant defenders, hurled into eternity before they had a chance offiring a shot at the invaders. The huge guns roared for the first andlast time in the war, and the great projectiles plunged aimlessly amongthe ships of the squadron, carrying wreck and ruin along the line. 

"Our turn now, I suppose, " said the Fort Commander, quietly, as helooked up and by a chance gleam of moonlight through the breaking cloudssaw a dim grey, winged shape drift across the harbour entrance. 

They were the last words he ever spoke, for the next moment the roofcrumbled under his feet, and his body was scattered in fragments throughthe air, and in that moment Portsmouth had ceased to be a fortifiedstronghold. 

CHAPTER XI

THE TRAGEDY OF THE TWO SQUADRONS

It takes a good deal to shake the nerves of British naval officer orseaman, but those on board the ships of the Spithead Squadron would havebeen something more than human if they could have viewed the appallinghappenings of the last few terrible minutes with their accustomedcoolness. They were ready to fight anything on the face of the waters orunder them, but an enemy in the air who could rain down shells, a coupleof which were sufficient to destroy the most powerful forts in theworld, and who could not be hit back, was another matter. It was abitter truth, but there was no denying it. The events of the last tenyears had clearly proved that a day must come when the flying machinewould be used as an engine of war, and now that day had come--and thefighting flying machine was in the hands of the enemy. 

The anchors were torn from the ground, signals were flashed from theflagship, the _Prince George_, and within four minutes the squadron wasunder way to the south-eastward. After what had happened the Admiral incommand promptly and rightly decided that to keep his ships cramped upin the narrow waters was only to court further disaster. His place wasnow the open sea, and a general fleet action offered the only means ofpreventing an occupation of almost defenceless Portsmouth, and thelanding of hostile troops in the very heart of England's southerndefences. 

Fifteen first-class torpedo boats and ten destroyers ran out from theHampshire and Isle of Wight coasts, ran through the ships, and spreadthemselves out in a wide curve ahead, and at the same time twentysubmarines crept out from the harbour and set to work laying contactmines in the appointed fields across the harbour mouth and from shore toshore behind the Spithead forts. 

But the squadron had not steamed a mile beyond the forts before a seriesof frightful disasters overtook them. First, a huge column of water roseunder the stern of the _Jupiter_. The great ship stopped and shudderedlike a stricken animal, and began to settle down stern first. Instantlythe _Mars_ and _Victorious_ which were on either side of her sloweddown, their boats splashed into the water and set to work to rescuethose who managed to get clear of the sinking ship. 

But even while this was being done, the _Banshee_, the _Flying Fish_which had destroyed the forts, had taken up her position a thousand feetabove the doomed squadron. A shell dropped upon the deck of the_Spartiate_, almost amidships. The pink flash blazed out between her twomidship funnels. They crumpled up as if they had been made of brownpaper. The six-inch armoured casemates on either side seemed to crumbleaway. The four-inch steel deck gaped and split as though it had beenmade of matchboard. Then the _Banshee_ dropped to within five hundredfeet and let go another shell almost in the same place. A terrificexplosion burst out in the very vitals of the stricken ship, and thegreat cruiser seemed to split asunder. A vast volume of mingled smokeand flame and steam rose up, and when it rolled away, the _Spartiate_had almost vanished. 

But that was the last act of destruction that the _Banshee_ was destinedto accomplish. That moment the moon sailed out into a patch of clearsky. Every eye in the squadron was turned upward. There was the airshipplainly visible. Her captain instantly saw his danger and quickened uphis engines, but it was too late. He was followed by a hurricane ofshells from the three-pound quick-firers in the upper tops of thebattleships. Then came an explosion in mid-air which seemed to shake thevery firmament itself. She had fifty or sixty of the terrible shellswhich had wrought so much havoc on board, and as a dozen shells piercedher hull and burst, they too exploded with the shock. A vast blaze ofpink flame shone out. 

"Talk about going to glory in a blue flame, " said Seaman GunnerTompkins, who had aimed one of the guns in the fore-top of the_Hannibal_, and of course, like everybody else, piously believed thathis was one of the shells that got there. "That chap's gone to t'otherplace in a red'un. War's war, but I don't hold with that sort offighting; it doesn't give a man a chance. Torpedoes is bad enough, Gawdknows--"

The words were hardly out of his mouth when a shock and a shudder ranthrough the mighty fabric of the battleship. The water rose in afoam-clad mountain under her starboard quarter. She heeled over to port, and then rolled back to starboard and began to settle. 

"Torpedoed, by George! What did I tell you?" gasped Gunner Tompkins. Thenext moment a lurch of the ship hurled him and his mates far out intothe water. 

Even as his ship went down, Captain Barclay managed to signal to theother ships, "Don't wait--get out. " And when her shattered hull restedon the bottom, the gallant signal was still flying from the upper yard. 

It was obvious that the one chance of escaping their terrible unseen foewas to obey the signal. By this time crowds of small craft of everydescription had come off from both shores to the rescue of those who hadgone down with the ships, so the Admiral did what was the most practicalthing to do under the circumstances--he dropped his own boats, each witha crew, and ordered the _Victorious_ and _Mars_ to do the same, and thengave the signal for full speed ahead. The great engines panted andthrobbed, and the squadron moved forward with ever-increasing speed, thecruisers and destroyers, according to signal, running ahead of thebattleships; but before full speed was reached, the _Mars_ was struckunder the stern, stopped, shuddered, and went down with a mighty lurch. 

This last misfortune convinced the Admiral that the destruction of hisbattleships could not be the work of any ordinary submarine, for at thetime the _Mars_ was struck she was steaming fifteen knots and theunderwater speed of the best submarine was only twelve, saving only the_Ithuriel_, and she did not use torpedoes. The two remaining battleshipshad now reached seventeen knots, which was their best speed. Thecruisers and their consorts were already disappearing round Foreland. 

There was some hope that they might escape the assaults of themysterious and invisible enemy now that the airship had been destroyed, but unless the submarine had exhausted her torpedoes, or some accidenthad happened to her, there was very little for the _Prince George_ andthe _Victorious_, and so it turned out. Castellan's strict orders hadbeen to confine his attentions to the battleships, and he obeyed hispitiless instructions to the letter. First the _Victorious_ and then theflagship, smitten by an unseen and irresistible bolt in their weakestparts, succumbed to the great gaping wounds torn in the thinunder-plating, reeled once or twice to and fro like leviathansstruggling for life, and went down. And so for the time being, at least, ended the awful work of the _Flying Fish_. 

Leaving the cruisers and smaller craft to continue their dash for theopen Channel, we must now look westward. 

When Vice-Admiral Codrington, who was flying his flag on the_Irresistible_, saw the flashes along the Hillsea ridge and Portsdownheight and heard the roar of the explosions, he at once up-anchor andgot his squadron under way. Then came the appallingly swift destructionof Hurst Castle and Fort Victoria. Like all good sailors, he was a manof instant decision. His orders were to guard the entrance to theSolent, and the destruction of the forts made it impossible for him todo this inside. How that destruction had been wrought, he had of courseno idea, beyond a guess that the destroying agent must have come fromthe air, since it could not have come from sea or land without provokinga very vigorous reply from the forts. Instead of that they had simplyblown up without firing a shot. 

He therefore decided to steam out through the narrow channel betweenHurst Castle and the Isle of Wight as quickly as possible. 

It was a risky thing to do at night and at full speed, for the Channeland the entrance to it was strewn with contact mines, but one of theprincipal businesses of the British Navy is to take risks wherenecessary, so he put his own ship at the head of the long line, and witha mine chart in front of him went ahead at eighteen knots. 

When Captain Adolph Frenkel, who was in command of the _See Adler_, sawthe column of warships twining and wriggling its way out through theChannel, each ship handled with consummate skill and keeping itsposition exactly, he could not repress an admiring "Ach!" Still it wasnot his business to admire, but destroy. 

He rose to a thousand feet, swung round to the north-eastward until thewhole line had passed beneath him, and then quickened up and dropped toseven hundred feet, swung round again and crept up over the _Hogue_, which was bringing up the rear. When he was just over her fore part, helet go a shell, which dropped between the conning-tower and the forwardbarbette. 

The navigating bridge vanished; the twelve-inch armoured conning-towercracked like an eggshell; the barbette collapsed like the crust of aloaf, and the big 9. 2 gun lurched backwards and lay with its muzzlestaring helplessly at the clouds. The deck crumpled up as though it hadbeen burnt parchment, and the ammunition for the 9. 2 and the forwardsix-inch guns which had been placed ready for action exploded, blowingthe whole of the upper forepart of the vessel into scrap-iron. 

But an even worse disaster than this was to befall the greattwelve-thousand-ton cruiser. Her steering gear was, of course, shattered. Uncontrolled and uncontrollable, she swung swiftly round tostarboard, struck a mine, and inside three minutes she was lying on themud. 

Almost at the moment of the first explosion, the beams of twentysearchlights leapt up into the air, and in the midst of the broad whiteglare hundreds of keen angry eyes saw a winged shape darting up into theair, heading southward as though it would cross the Isle of Wight overYarmouth. Almost simultaneously, every gun from the tops of thebattleships spoke, and a storm of shells rent the air. 

But Captain Frenkel had already seen his mistake. The _See Adler's_wings were inclined at an angle of twenty degrees, her propellers wererevolving at their utmost velocity, and at a speed of nearly a hundredmiles an hour, she took the Isle of Wight in a leap. She slowed downrapidly over Freshwater Bay. Captain Frenkel took a careful observationof the position and course of the squadron, dropped into the water, folded his wings and crept round the Needles with his conning-tower justawash, and lay in wait for his prey about two miles off the Needles. 

The huge black hull of the _Irresistible_ was only a couple of hundredyards away. He instantly sank and turned on his water-ray. As theflagship passed within forty yards he let go his first torpedo. It hither sternpost, smashed her rudder and propellers, and tore a great holein her run. The steel monster stopped, shuddered, and slid sternwardwith her mighty ram high in the air into the depths of the smooth greysea. 

There is no need to repeat the ghastly story which has already beentold--the story of the swift and pitiless destruction of these miraclesof human skill, huge in size and mighty in armament and manned by thebravest men on land or sea, by a foe puny in size but of awfulpotentiality. It was a fight, if fight it could be called, between thevisible and the invisible, and it could only have one end. Battleshipafter battleship received her death-wound, and went down without beingable to fire a shot in defence, until the _Magnificent_, smitten in theside under her boilers, blew up and sank amidst a cloud of steam andfoam, and the Western Squadron had met the fate of the Eastern. 

While this tragedy was being enacted, the cruisers scattered in alldirections and headed for the open at their highest speed. It was abitter necessity, and it was bitterly felt by every man and boy on boardthem; but the captains knew that to stop and attempt the rescue of evensome of their comrades meant losing the ships which it was their duty atall costs to preserve, and so they took the only possible chance toescape from this terrible unseen foe which struck out of the silence andthe darkness with such awful effect. 

But despite the tremendous disaster which had befallen the ReserveFleet, the work of death and destruction was by no means all on oneside. When he sank the _Leger_, Erskine had done a great deal moredamage to the enemy than he knew, for she had been sent not for fightingpurposes, but as a dépôt ship for the _Flying Fishes_, from which theycould renew their torpedoes and the gas cylinders which furnished theirdriving power. Being a light craft, she was to take up an agreedposition off Bracklesham Bay three miles to the north-west of SelseyBill, the loneliest and shallowest part of the coast, with all lightsout, ready to supply all that was wanted or to make any repairs thatmight be necessary. Her sinking, therefore, deprived John Castellan'scraft of their base. 

After the _Dupleix_ had gone down, the _Ithuriel_ rose again, andErskine said to Lennard:

"There must be more of them outside, they wouldn't be such fools as torush Portsmouth with three destroyers and a couple of cruisers. We'dbetter go on and reconnoitre. "

The _Ithuriel_ ran out south-eastward at twenty knots in a series ofbroad curves, and she was just beginning to make the fourth of thesewhen six black shapes crowned with wreaths of smoke loomed up out of thesemi-darkness. 

"Thought so--destroyers, " said Erskine. "Yes, and look there, behindthem--cruiser supports, three of them--these are for the second rush. Coming up pretty fast, too; they'll be there in half an hour. We shallhave something to say about that. Hold on, Lennard. "

"Same tactics, I suppose, " said Lennard. 

"Yes, " replied Erskine, taking down the receiver. "Are you there, Castellan? All right. We've six more destroyers to get rid of. Fullspeed ahead, as soon as you like--guns all ready, I suppose? Good--goahead. "

The _Ithuriel_ was now about two miles to the westward and about a milein front of the line of destroyers, which just gave her room to get upfull speed. As she gathered way, Lennard saw the nose of the great ramrise slowly out of the water. The destroyer's guns crackled, but it isnot easy to hit a low-lying object moving at fifty miles an hour, endon, when you are yourself moving nearly twenty-five. Just the same thinghappened as before. The point of the ram passed over the destroyer'sbows, crumpled them up and crushed them down, and the _Ithuriel_ rushedon over the sinking wreck, swerved a quarter turn, and bore down on hernext victim. It was all over in ten minutes. The _Ithuriel_ rushedhither and thither among the destroyers like some leviathan of the deep. A crash, a swift grinding scrape, and a mass of crumpled steel wasdropping to the bottom of the Channel. 

While the attack on the destroyers was taking place, the cruisers wereonly half a mile away. Their captains had found themselves in curiouslydifficult positions. The destroyers were so close together, and themovements of this strange monster which was running them down sorapidly, that if they opened fire they were more likely to hit their ownvessels than it, but when the last had gone down, every available gunspoke, and a hurricane of shells, large and small, ploughed up the seawhere the _Ithuriel had_ been. After the first volley, the captainslooked at their officers and the officers looked at the captains, andsaid things which strained the capabilities of the French language tothe utmost. The monster had vanished. 

The fact was that Erskine had foreseen that storm of shell, and thepumps had been working hard while the ramming was going on. The resultwas that the _Ithuriel_ sank almost as soon as her last victim, and inthirty seconds there was nothing to shoot at. 

"I shall ram those chaps from underneath, " he said. "They've too manyguns for a shooting match. "

He reduced the speed to thirty knots, rose for a moment till theconning-tower was just above the water, took his bearings, sank, calledfor full speed, and in four minutes the ram crashed into the _Alger's_stern, carried away her sternpost and rudder, and smashed herpropellers. The _Ithuriel_ passed on as if she had hit a log of wood andknocked it aside. A slight turn of the steering-wheel, and within fourminutes the ram was buried in the vitals of the _Suchet_. Then the_Ithuriel_ reversed engines, the fore screw sucked the water away, andthe cruiser slid off the ram as she might have done off a rock. As shewent down, the _Ithuriel_ rose to the surface. The third cruiser, the_Davout_, was half a mile away. She had changed her course and wasevidently making frantic efforts to get back to sea. 

"Going to warn the fleet, are you, my friend?" said Erskine, betweenhis teeth. "Not if I know it!"

He asked for full speed again and the terror-stricken Frenchmen saw themonster, just visible on the surface of the water, flying towards themin the midst of a cloud of spray. A sheep might as well have tried toescape from a tiger. Many of the crew flung themselves overboard in themadness of despair. There was a shock and a grinding crash, and the rambored its way twenty feet into the unarmoured quarter. Then the_Ithuriel's_ screws dragged her free, and the _Davout_ followed hersisters to the bottom of the Channel. 

CHAPTER XII

HOW LONDON TOOK THE NEWS

The awaking of England on the morning of the twenty-sixth of Novemberwas like the awaking of a man from a nightmare. Everyone who slept hadgone to sleep with one word humming in his brain--war--and war at home, that was the terrible thought which robbed so many millions of eyes ofsleep. But even those who slept did not do so for long. 

At a quarter to one a sub-editor ran into the room of the chief NewsEditor of the _Daily Telegraph_, without even the ceremony of a knock. 

"What on earth's the matter, Johnson?" exclaimed the editor. "Seen aghost?"

"Worse than that, sir. Read this!" said the sub-editor, in a shakingvoice, throwing the slip down on the desk. 

"My God, what's this?" said the editor, as he ran his eye along theslip. "'Portsmouth bombarded from the air. Hillsea, Portsmouth, Gilkicker and Southsea Castle destroyed. Practically defenceless. FleetReserve Squadrons sailing. '"

The words were hardly out of his mouth before another man came runningin with a slip. "'_Jupiter_ and _Hannibal_ torpedoed by submarine. _Spartiate_ blown up by aërial torpedo. '" Then there came a gap, asthough the men at the other end had heard of more news, thenfollowed--"'_Mars_, _Prince George_, _Victorious_, all torpedoed. Cruisers escaped to sea. No news of _Ithuriel_, no torpedo attack up topresent. '"

"Oh, that's awful, " gasped the editor, and then the professionalinstinct reasserted itself, for he continued, handing the slip back:"Rush out an edition straight away, Johnson. Anything, if it's only ahalf-sheet--get it on the streets as quick as you can--there'll beplenty of people about still. If anything else comes bring it up. "

In less than a quarter of an hour a crowd of newsboys were fighting inthe passage for copies of the single sheet which contained the momentousnews, just as it had come over the wire. The _Daily Telegraph_ was justfive minutes ahead, but within half an hour every London paper, morningand evening, and all the great provincial journals had rushed out theirmidnight specials, and from end to end of England and Scotland, and awayto South Wales, and over the narrow seas to Dublin and Cork, the shrillscreams of the newsboys, and the hoarse, raucous howls of the newsmenwere spreading the terrible tidings over the land. What the beacon fireswere in the days of the Armada, these humble heralds of Fate were in thetwentieth century. 

"War begun--Portsmouth destroyed--Fleet sunk. "

The six terrible words were not quite exact, of course, but they werenear enough to the truth to sound like the voice of Fate in the ears ofthe millions whose fathers and fathers' fathers back through sixgenerations had never had their midnight rest so rudely broken. 

Lights gleamed out of darkened windows, and front doors were flung openin street after street, as the war-cry echoed down it. Any coin thatcame first to hand, from a penny to a sovereign, was eagerly offered forthe single, hurriedly-printed sheets, but the business instincts of thenewsboys rose superior to the crisis, and nothing less than a shillingwas accepted. Streams of men and boys on bicycles with great bags ofspecials slung on their backs went tearing away, head down and pedalswhirling, north, south, east and west into the suburbs. Newsagents flungtheir shops open, and in a few minutes were besieged by eager, anxiouscrowds, fighting for the first copies. There was no more sleep for manor woman in London that night, though the children slept on in happyunconsciousness of what the morrow was to bring forth. 

What happened in London was happening almost simultaneously all over thekingdom. For more than a hundred years the British people had worked andplayed and slept in serene security, first behind its wooden walls, andthen behind the mighty iron ramparts of its invincible Fleets, and now, like a thunderbolt from a summer sky, came the paralysing tidings thatthe first line of defence had been pierced by a single blow, and thegreatest sea stronghold of England rendered defenceless--and all thisbetween sunset and midnight of a November day. 

Was it any wonder that men looked blankly into each other's eyes, andasked themselves and each other how such an unheard-of catastrophe hadcome about, and what was going to happen next? The first and universalfeeling was one of amazement, which amounted almost to mental paralysis, and then came a sickening sense of insecurity. For two generations theFleet had been trusted implicitly, and invasion had been looked uponmerely as the fad of alarmists, and the theme of sensationalstory-writers. No intelligent person really trusted the army, althoughits ranks, such as they were, were filled with as gallant soldiers asever carried a rifle, but it had been afflicted ever since men couldremember with the bane and blight of politics and social influence. Ithad never been really a serious profession, and its upper ranks had beenlittle better than the playground of the sons of the wealthy andwell-born. 

Politician after politician on both sides had tried his hand at schemeafter scheme to improve the army. What one had done, the next hadundone, and the permanent War Office Officials had given more attentionto buttons and braids and caps than to business-like organisations offighting efficiency. The administration was, as it always had been, achaos of muddle. The higher ranks were rotten with inefficiency, and thelower, aggravated and bewildered by change after change, had come tolook upon soldiering as a sort of game, the rules of which were beingconstantly altered. 

The Militia, the Yeomanry, and the Volunteers had been constantlysnubbed and worried by the authorities of Pall Mall. Private citizens, willing to give time and money in order to learn the use of the rifle, even if they could not join the Yeomanry or Volunteers, had been justignored. The War Office could see no use for a million able-bodied menwho had learned to shoot straight, besides they were only "damnedcivilians, " whose proper place was in their offices and shops. Whatright had they with rifles? If they wanted exercise, let them go andplay golf, or cricket, or football. What had they to do with the defenceof their country and their homes?

But that million of irregular sharpshooters were badly wanted now. Theycould have turned every hedgerow into a trench and cover against the foewhich would soon be marching over the fields and orchards andhop-gardens of southern England. They would have known every yard of theground, and the turn of every path and road, and while the regular armywas doing its work they could have prevented many a turning movement ofthe superior forces, shot down the horses of convoys and ammunitiontrains, and made themselves generally objectionable to the enemy. 

Now the men were there, full of fight and enthusiasm, but they hadneither ammunition nor rifles, and if they had had them, ninety percent. Would not have known how to use them. Wherefore, those who wereresponsible for the land defences of the country found themselves withless than three hundred thousand trained and half-trained men, of allarms, to face invading forces which would certainly not number less thana million, every man of which had served his apprenticeship to the grimtrade of war, commanded by officers who had taken that same tradeseriously, studied it as a science, thinking it of considerably moreimportance than golf or cricket or football. 

It had been said that the British Nation would never tolerateconscription, which might or might not have been true; but now, when thenext hour or so might hear the foreign drums thrumming and the foreignbugles blaring, conscription looked a very different thing. There wasn'ta loyal man in the kingdom who didn't bitterly regret that he had notbeen taken in the prime of his young manhood, and taught how to defendthe hearth and home which were his, and the wife and children which wereso dear to him. 

But it was too late now. Neither soldiers nor sharpshooters are made ina few hours or days, and within a week the first battles that had beenfought on English ground for nearly eight hundred years would have beenlost and won, and nine-tenths of the male population of England would belooking on in helpless fury. 

There had been plenty of theorists, who had said that the BritishIslands needed no army of home defence, simply because if she once lostcommand of the sea it would not be necessary for an enemy to invade her, since a blockade of her ports would starve her into submission in amonth--which, thanks to the decay of agriculture and the depopulation ofthe country districts, was true enough. But it was not all the truth. Those who preached these theories left out one very important factor, and that was human nature. 

For over a century the Continental nations had envied and hated Britain, the land-grabber; Britain who had founded nations while they had failedto make colonies; Britain, who had made the Seven Seas her territories, and the coasts of other lands her frontiers. Surely the leaders of theleagued nations would have been more or less than human had theyresisted, even if their people had allowed them to do it, thetemptation of trampling these proud Islanders into the mud and mire oftheir own fields and highways, and dictating terms of peace in theancient halls of Windsor. 

These were the bitter thoughts which were rankling in the breast ofevery loyal British man during the remainder of that night of horriblesuspense. Many still had reason to remember the ghastly blunders and themuddling which had cost so many gallant lives and so many millions oftreasure during the Boer War, when it took three hundred thousandBritish troops to reduce eighty thousand undrilled farmers tosubmission. What if the same blundering and muddling happened now? Andit was just as likely now as then. 

Men ground their teeth, and looked at their strong, useless hands, andcursed theorist and politician alike. And meanwhile the Cabinet wassitting, deliberating, as best it might, over the tidings of disaster. The House of Commons, after voting full powers to the Cabinet and theCouncil of Defence, had been united at last by the common and immediatedanger, and members of all parties were hurrying away to theirconstituencies to do what they could to help in organising the defenceof their homeland. 

There was one fact which stood out before all others, as clearly as anelectric light among a lot of candles, and, now that it was too late, noone recognised it with more bitter conviction than those who had made itthe consistent policy of both Conservative and Liberal Governments, andof the Executive Departments, to discourage invention outside thecharmed circle of the Services, and to drive the civilian inventorabroad. 

Again and again, designs of practical airships--not gas-bags which couldonly be dragged slowly against a moderate wind, but flying machineswhich conquered the wind and used it as a bird does--had been submittedto the War Office during the last six or seven years, and had beenpooh-poohed or pigeon-holed by some sapient permanent official--and nowthe penalty of stupidity and neglect had to be paid. 

The complete descriptions of the tragedy that had been and was beingenacted at Portsmouth that were constantly arriving in Downing Streetleft no possibility of doubt that the forts had been destroyed and the_Spartiate_ blown up by torpedoes from the air--from which fact it wasnecessary to draw the terrible inference that the enemy had possessedthemselves of the command of the air. 

What was the command of the sea worth after that? What was the fightingvalue of the mightiest battleship that floated when pitted against apractically unassailable enemy, which had nothing to do but droptorpedoes, loaded with high explosives, on her decks and down herfunnels until her very vitals were torn to pieces, her ammunitionexploded, and her crew stunned by concussion or suffocated by poisonousgas?

It was horrible, but it was true. Inside an hour the strongestfortifications in England had been destroyed, and ten first-classbattleships and a cruiser had been sent to the bottom of the sea, and soat last her ancient sceptre was falling from the hand of the Sea Queen, and her long inviolate domain was threatened by the armed legions ofthose whose forefathers she had vanquished on many a stricken field byland and sea. 

"Well, gentlemen, " said the Prime Minister to the other members of theCabinet Council, who were sitting round that historic oval table in theCouncil Chamber in Downing Street, "we may as well confess that this isa great deal more serious than we expected it to be, and that is to mymind all the better reason why we should strain every nerve to holdintact the splendid heritage which our fathers have left to us--"

Boom! A shudder ran through the atmosphere as he spoke the last words, and the double windows in Downing Street shook with the vibration. Themembers of the Cabinet started in their seats and looked at each other. Was this the fulfilment of the half prophecy which the Prime Ministerhad spoken so slowly and so clearly in the silent, crowded House ofCommons?

Almost at the same moment the electric bell at the outer of the doubledoors rang. The doors were opened, and a messenger came in with atelegram which he handed to the Prime Minister, and then retired. Heopened the envelope, and for nearly five minutes of intense suspense hementally translated the familiar cypher, and then he said, as he handedthe telegram to the Secretary for War:

"Gentlemen, I deeply regret to say that the possible prospect which Ioutlined in the House to-night has become an accomplished fact. Twohundred and forty-three years ago London heard the sound of hostileguns. We have heard them to-night. This telegram is from Sheerness, andit tells, I most deeply regret to say, the same story, or something likeit, as the messages from Portsmouth. A Russo-German-French fleet ofbattleships, cruisers and destroyers, assisted by four airships and anunknown number of submarines, has defeated the Southern portion of theNorth Sea Squadron, and is now proceeding in two divisions, one up theMedway towards Chatham, and the other up the Thames towards Tilbury. Garrison Fort is now being bombarded from the sea and the air, and willprobably be in ruins within an hour. "

CHAPTER XIII

A CRIME AND A MISTAKE

When the destruction of the forts and the sinking of the battleships atPortsmouth had been accomplished, John Castellan made about the greatestmistake in his life, a mistake which had very serious consequences forthose to whom he had sold himself and his terrible invention. 

He and his brother Denis formed a very curious contrast, which isnevertheless not uncommon in Irish families. The British army and navycan boast no finer soldiers or sailors, and the Empire no more devotedservants than those who claim Ireland as the land of their birth, andDenis Castellan was one of these. As the reader may have guessedalready, he and Erskine had only been on the _Cormorant_ because it wasthe policy of the Naval Council to keep two of the ablest men in theservice out of sight for a while. Denis, who had a remarkable gift oftongues, was really one of the most skilful naval _attachés_ in service, and what he didn't know about the naval affairs of Europe was hardlyworth learning. Erskine had been recognised by the Naval Council which, under Sir John Fisher, had raised the British Navy to a pitch ofefficiency that was the envy of every nation in the world, except Japan, as an engineer and inventor of quite extraordinary ability, and whilethe _Ithuriel_ was building, they had given him the command of the_Cormorant_, chiefly because there was hardly anything to do, andtherefore he had ample leisure to do his thinking. 

On the other hand John Castellan was an unhappily brilliant example ofthat type of Keltic intellect which is incapable of believing theworld-wide truism that the day of small states is passed. He had twoarticles of political faith. One was an unshakable belief in thepossibility of Irish independence, and the other, which naturallyfollowed from the first, was implacable hatred of the Saxon oppressorwhose power and wealth had saved Ireland from invasion for centuries. Hewas utterly unable to grasp the Imperial idea, while his brother was asenthusiastic an Imperialist as ever sailed the seas. 

Had it not been for this blind hatred, the disaster which had befallenthe Reserve Fleet would have been repeated at sea on a much vasterscale; but he allowed his passions to overcome his judgment, and sosaved the Channel Fleet. There lay beneath him defenceless the greatestnaval port of England, with its docks and dockyards, its barracks andarsenals, its garrisons of soldiers and sailors, and its crowds ofworkmen. The temptation was too strong for him, and he yielded to it. 

When the _Prince George_ had gone down he rose into the air, and ranover the Isle of Wight, signalling to the _See Adler_. The signals wereanswered, and the two airships met about two miles south-west of theNeedles, and Castellan informed Captain Frenkel of his intention todestroy Portsmouth and Gosport. The German demurred strongly. He had nopersonal hatred to satisfy, and he suggested that it would be muchbetter to go out to sea and discover the whereabouts of the ChannelFleet; but Castellan was Commander-in-Chief of the Aërial Squadrons ofthe Allies, and so his word was law, and within the next two hours oneof the greatest crimes in the history of civilised warfare wascommitted. 

The two airships circled slowly over Gosport and Portsmouth, droppingtheir torpedoes wherever a worthy mark presented itself. The first onedischarged from the _Flying Fish_ fell on the deck of the old _Victory_. The deck burst up, as though all the powder she had carried atTrafalgar had exploded beneath it, and the next moment she broke out ininextinguishable flames. The old _Resolution_ met the same fate from the_See Adler_, and then the pitiless hail of destruction fell on the docksand jetties. In a few minutes the harbour was ringed with flame. Portsmouth Station, built almost entirely of wood, blazed up likematchwood; then came the turn of the dockyards at Portsea, which weresoon ablaze from end to end. 

Then the two airships spread their wings like destroying angels overPortsmouth town. Half a dozen torpedoes wrecked the Town Hall and setthe ruins on fire. This was the work of the _See Adler_. The _FlyingFish_ devoted her attention to the naval and military barracks, theNaval College and the Gunnery School on Whale Island. As soon as thesewere reduced to burning ruins, the two airships scattered theirtorpedoes indiscriminately over churches, shops and houses, and in thestreets crowded by terrified mobs of soldiers, sailors and civilians. 

The effect of the torpedoes in the streets was too appalling fordescription. Everyone within ten or a dozen yards of the focus of theexplosion was literally blown to atoms, and for fifty yards round everyliving creature dropped dead, killed either by the force of theconcussion or the poisonous gases which were liberated by the explosion. Hundreds fell thus without the mark of a wound, and when some of theirbodies were examined afterwards, it was found that their hearts weresplit open as cleanly as though they had been divided with a razor, justas are the hearts of fishes which have been killed with dynamite. 

John Castellan and his lieutenant, M'Carthy, for the time being gloriedin the work of destruction. Captain Frenkel was a soldier and agentleman, and he saw nothing in it save wanton killing of defencelesspeople and a wicked waste of ammunition; but the terrible War Lord ofGermany had given Castellan supreme command, and to disobey meantdegradation, and possibly death, and so the _See Adler_ perforce tookher share in the tragedy. 

In a couple of hours Portsmouth, Gosport and Portsea had ceased to betowns. They were only areas of flaming ruins; but at last the ammunitiongave out, and Castellan was compelled to signal the _See Adler_ to shapeher course for Bracklesham Bay in order to replenish the magazines. Theyreached the bay, and descended at the spot where the _Leger_ ought tohave been at anchor. She was not there, for the sufficient reason thatthe _Ithuriel's_ ram had sent her to the bottom of the Channel. 

For half an hour the _Flying Fish_ and the _See Adler_ hunted over thenarrow waters, but neither was the _Leger_ nor any other craft to beseen between the Selsey coast and the Isle of Wight. When they cametogether again in Bracklesham Bay, John Castellan's rage against thehated Saxon had very considerably cooled. Evidently something serioushad happened, and something that he knew nothing about, and now that theexcitement of destruction had died away, he remembered more than onething which he ought to have thought of before. 

The two rushes of the torpedo boats, supported by the swift cruisers, had not taken place. Not a hostile vessel had entered either Spithead orthe Solent, and the British cruisers, which he had been ordered tospare, had got away untouched. It was perfectly evident that somedisaster had befallen the expedition, and that the _Leger_ had beeninvolved in it. In spite of the terrible destruction that the _FlyingFish_, the _See Adler_ and the _Banshee_ had wrought on sea and land, itwas plain that the first part of the invader's programme had beenbrought to nothing by some unknown agency. 

He was, of course, aware of the general plan of attack. He had destroyedthe battleships of the Fleet Reserve. While he was doing that thedestroyers should have been busy among the cruisers, and then the mainforce, under Admiral Durenne, would follow, and take possession ofSouthampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. A detachment of cruisersand destroyers was then to be despatched to Littlehampton, and land asufficient force to seize and hold the railway at Ford and Arundel, sothat the coast line of the L. B. S. C. R. , as well as the main line toHorsham and London, should be at the command of the invaders. 

Littlehampton was also particularly valuable on account of its tidalriver and harbour, which would give shelter and protection to a coupleof hundred torpedo boats and destroyers, and its wharves from whichtransports could easily coal. It is hardly worth while to add that ithad been left entirely undefended. It had been proposed to mount acouple of 9. 2 guns on the old fort on the west side of the river mouth, with half a dozen twelve-pound quick-firers at the Coast-Guard stationon the east side to repel torpedo attack, but the War Office had laughedat the idea of an enemy getting within gunshot of the inviolate Englishshore, and so one of the most vulnerable points on the south coast hadbeen left undefended. 

What would Castellan have given now for the torpedoes which the twoships had wasted in the wanton destruction of Portsmouth, and the murderof its helpless citizens. The main French Fleet by this time could notbe very far off. Behind it, somewhere, was the British Channel Fleet, the most powerful sea force that had ever ridden the subject waves, andhere he was without a torpedo on either of his ships, and no suppliesnearer than Kiel. The _Leger_ had carried two thousand torpedoes andfive hundred cylinders of the gases which supplied the motive power. Shewas gone, and for all offensive purposes the _Flying Fish_ and _SeeAdler_ were as harmless as a couple of balloons. 

When it was too late, John Castellan remembered in the bitterness of hissoul that the torpedoes which had destroyed Portsmouth would have beensufficient to have wrecked the Channel Fleet, and now there was nothingfor it but to leave Admiral Durenne to fight his own battle against themost powerful fleet in the world, and to use what was left of the motivepower to get back to Kiel, and replenish their magazines. 

Horrible as had been the fate which had fallen on the great arsenal ofsouthern England, it had not been sacrificed in vain, and very sick atheart was John Castellan when he gave the order for the two vessels, which a few hours ago had been such terrible engines of destruction, torise into the air and wing their harmless flight towards Kiel. 

When the _Flying Fish_ and the _See Adler_ took the air, and shippedtheir course eastward, the position of the opposing fleets was somewhatas follows: The cruisers of the A Squadron, _Amphitrite_, _Andromeda_, _Europa_, _Niobe_, _Blenheim_ and _Blake_, with fifteen first-classtorpedo boats and ten destroyers, had got out to sea from Spitheadunharmed. All these cruisers were good for twenty knots, the torpedoboats for twenty-five, and the destroyers for thirty. The _Sutlej_, _Ariadne_, _Argonaut_ and _Diadem_ had got clear away from the Solent, with ten first-class torpedo boats and five destroyers. They met aboutfour miles south-east of St Catherine's Point. Commodore Hoskins of the_Diadem_ was the senior officer in command, and so he signalled forCaptain Pennell, of the _Andromeda_, to come on board, and talk mattersover with him, but before the conversation was half-way through, a blackshape, with four funnels crowned with smoke and flame, came tearing upfrom the westward, made the private signal, and ran alongside the_Diadem_. 

The news that her commander brought was this--Admiral Lord Beresford hadsucceeded in eluding the notice of the French Channel Fleet, and was onhis way up the south-west with the intention of getting behind AdmiralDurenne's fleet, and crushing it between his own force to seaward andthe batteries and Reserve Fleet on the landward side. The Commander ofthe destroyer was, of course, quite ignorant of the disaster which hadbefallen the battleships of the Reserve Fleet and Portsmouth, and whenthe captain of the cruiser told him the tidings, though he received thenews with the almost fatalistic _sang froid_ of the British navalofficer, turned a shade or two paler under the bronze of his skin. 

"That is terrible news, sir, " he said, "and it will probably alter theAdmiral's plans considerably. I must be off as soon as possible, and lethim know: meanwhile, of course, you will use your own judgment. "

"Yes, " replied the Commodore, "but I think you had better take one ofour destroyers, say the _Greyhound_, back with you. She's got herbunkers full, and she can manage thirty-two knots in a sea like this. "

At this moment the sentry knocked at the door of the Commodore's room. 

"Come in, " said Commodore Hoskins. The door opened, a sentry came in andsaluted, and said:

"The _Ithuriel's_ alongside, sir, and Captain Erskine will be glad tospeak to you. "

"Ah!" exclaimed the Commodore, "the very thing. I wonder what that youngdevil has been up to. Send him in at once, sentry. "

The sentry retired, and presently Erskine entered the room, saluted, andsaid:

"I've come to report, sir, I have sunk everything that tried to get inthrough Spithead. First division of three destroyers, the old _Leger_, the _Dupleix_ cruiser, six destroyers of the second division, and threecruisers, the _Alger_, _Suchet_ and _Davout_. They're all at thebottom. "

The Commodore stared for a moment or two at the man who so quietlydescribed the terrific destruction that he had wrought with a singleship, and then he said:

"Well, Erskine, we expected a good deal from that infernal craft ofyours, but this is rather more than we could have hoped for. You've donesplendidly. Now, what's your best speed?"

"Forty-five knots, sir. "

"Good Lord!" exclaimed the Commander of the _Greyhound_. "You don't sayso. "

"Oh, yes, " said Erskine with a smile. "You ought to have seen us walkover those destroyers. I hit them at full speed, and they crumpled uplike paper boats. "

By this time the Commodore had sat down, and was writing his report asfast as he could get his pencil over the paper. It was a short, terse, but quite comprehensive account of the happenings of the last threehours, and a clear statement of the strength and position of the torpedoand cruiser squadron under his command. When he had finished, he put thepaper into an envelope, and said to the Commander of the _Greyhound_:

"I am afraid you are no good here, Hawkins. I shall have to give themessage to Captain Erskine, he'll be there and back before you're there. Just give him the bearings of the Fleet and he'll be off at once. Thereyou are, Erskine, give that to the Admiral, and bring me instructionsback as soon as you can. You've just time for a whisky-and-soda, andthen you must be off. "

Erskine took the letter, and they drank their whisky-and-soda. Then theywent on deck. The _Ithuriel_ was lying outside the _Greyhound_, halfsubmerged--that is to say, with three feet of freeboard showing. Commander Hawkins looked at her with envious eyes. It is an article offaith with all good commanders of destroyers that their own craft is thefastest and most efficient of her class. At a pinch he could getthirty-two knots out of the _Greyhound_, and here was this quiet, determined-looking young man, who had created a vessel of his own, andhad reached the rank of captain by sheer genius over the heads of menten years older than himself, talking calmly of forty-five knots, and ofthe sinking of destroyers and cruisers, as though it was a mere matterof cracking egg-shells. Wherefore there was wrath in his soul when hewent on board and gave the order to cast loose. Erskine went with him. They shook hands on the deck of the _Greyhound_, and Erskine went aboardof the _Ithuriel_, saying:

"Well, Hawkins, I expect I shall meet you coming back. "

"I'm damned if I believe in your forty-five knots, " replied CaptainHawkins, shortly. 

"Cast off, and come with me then, " laughed Erskine, "you soon will. "

Inside three minutes the two craft were clear of the _Diadem_. Erskinegave the _Greyhound_ right of way until they had cleared the squadron. The sea was smooth, and there was scarcely any wind, for it had been awonderfully fine November. The _Greyhound_ got on her thirty-two knotsas soon as there was no danger of hitting anything. 

"That chap thinks he can race us, " said Erskine to Lennard, as he gotinto the conning-tower, "and I'm just going to make him the maddest manin the British navy. He's doing thirty-two--we're doing twenty-five. Nowthat we're clear I'll wake him up. " He took down the receiver and said:

"Pump her out, Castellan, and give her full speed as soon as you can. "

The _Ithuriel_ rose in the water, and began to shudder from stem tostern with the vibrations of the engines, as they gradually worked up totheir highest capacity. Commander Hawkins saw something coming upastern, half hidden by a cloud of spray and foam. It went past him asthough he had been standing still instead of steaming at thirty-twoknots. A few moments more and it was lost in the darkness. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE EVE OF BATTLE

In twenty minutes the _Ithuriel_ ran alongside the _Britain_, which wasone of the five most formidable battleships in existence. For five yearspast a new policy had been pursued with regard to the navy. Theflagships, which of course contained the controlling brains of thefleets, were the most powerful afloat. By the time war broke out five ofthem had been launched and armed, and the _Britain_ was the newest andmost powerful of them. 

Her displacement was twenty-two thousand tons, and her speed twenty-fourknots. She was armoured from end to end with twelve-inch plates againstwhich ordinary projectiles smashed as harmlessly as egg-shells. Twelvefourteen-inch thousand-pounder guns composed her primary battery; hersecondary consisted of ten 9. 2 guns, and her tertiary of twelve-pounderMaxim-Nordenfeldts in the fighting tops. 

It was the first time that Erskine had seen one of these giants of theocean, and when they got alongside he said to Denis Castellan:

"There's a fighting machine for you, Denis. Great Scott, what wouldn't Igive to see her at work in the middle of a lot of Frenchmen and Germans, as the _Revenge_ was among the Spaniards in Grenville's time. Just lookat those guns. "

"Yes, " replied Castellan, "she's a splendid ship, and those guns look asthough they could talk French to the Frenchies and German to theDutchmen and plain English to the lot in a way that wouldn't want muchtranslating. And what's more, they have the right men behind them, andthe best gun in the world isn't much good without that. "

At this moment they heard a shrill voice from the forecastle of thenearest destroyer. 

"Hulloa there, what's the matter?" came from the deck of the _Britain_. 

"Four French destroyers coming up pretty fast from the south'ard, sir. Seem to be making for the flagship, " was the reply. 

"That's a job for us, " said Erskine, who was standing on the narrow deckof the _Ithuriel_, waiting to go on board the _Britain_. "Commander, will you be good enough to deliver this to the Admiral? I must be offand settle those fellows before they do any mischief. "

The commander of the destroyer took the letter, Erskine dived below, asteel plate slid over the opening to the companion way, and when he gotinto the conning-tower he ordered full speed. 

Four long black shapes were stealing slowly towards the British centre, and no one knew better than he did that a single torpedo well underwaterline would send Admiral Beresford's floating fortress to the bottominside ten minutes, and that was the last thing he wanted to see. 

A quartermaster ran down the ladder and caught the letter from thecommander just as the _Ithuriel_ moved off. 

"Tell the Admiral, with Captain Erskine's compliments, that he'll beback in a few minutes, when he's settled those fellows. "

The quartermaster took the letter, and by the time he got to the top ofthe ladder, the _Ithuriel_ was flying through a cloud of foam and spraytowards the first of the destroyers. He heard a rattle of guns, and thenthe destroyer vanished. The _Ithuriel_ swung round, hit the next one inthe bows, ground her under the water, turned almost at right angles, smashed the stern of the third one into scrap iron, hit the fourth oneabreast of the conning-tower, crushed her down and rolled her over, andthen slowed down and ran back to the flagship at twenty knots. 

"Well!" said Quartermaster Maginniss, who for the last few minutes hadbeen held spellbound at the top of the ladder, in spite of the claims ofdiscipline, "of all the sea-devils of crafts that I've ever heard of, Ishould say that was the worst. Four destroyers gone in five minutes, andhere he is coming back before I've delivered the letter. If we only havea good square fight now, I'll be sorry for the Frenchies. "

The next moment he stiffened up and saluted. "A letter for you, Admiral, left by Captain Erskine before he went away to destroy thosedestroyers. "

"And you've been watching the destruction instead of delivering theletter, " laughed Lord Beresford, as he took it from him. "Well, I'll letyou off this time. When Captain Erskine comes alongside, ask him to seeme in my room at once. "

The _Ithuriel_ ran alongside even as he was speaking. The gangway wasmanned, and when he reached the deck, Admiral Beresford held out hishand, and said with a laugh:

"Well, Captain Erskine, I understood that you were bringing me a messagefrom Commodore Hoskins, but you seem to have had better game to flyfor. "

"My fault, sir, " said Erskine, "but I hope you won't court-martial mefor it. You see, there were four French destroyers creeping round, andmine was the only ship that could tackle them, so I thought I'd bettergo and do it before they did any mischief. Anyhow, they're all at thebottom now. "

"I don't think I should have much case if I court-martialled you forthat, Captain Erskine, " laughed the Admiral, "especially after whatyou've done already, according to Commodore Hoskins' note. That must bea perfect devil of a craft of yours. Can you sink anything with her?"

"Anything, sir, " replied Erskine. "This is the most powerful fightingship in the world, but I could put you at the bottom of the Channel inten minutes. "

"The Lord save us! It's a good job you're on our side. "

"And it's a very great pity, " said Erskine, "that the airships are notwith us too. I had a very narrow squeak in Spithead about three hoursago from one of their aërial torpedoes. It struck part of a destroyerthat I'd just sunk, and although it was nearly fifty yards away, itshook me up considerably. "

"Have you any idea of the whereabouts and formation of the French Fleet?I must confess that I haven't. These infernal airships have upset allthe plans for catching Durenne between the Channel Fleet and theReserve, backed up by the Portsmouth guns, so that we could jump out andcatch him between the fleet and the forts. Now I suppose it will have tobe a Fleet action at sea. "

"If you care to leave your ship for an hour, sir, " replied Erskine, "Iwill take you round the French fleet and you shall see everything foryourself. We may have to knock a few holes in something, if it gets inour way, but I think I can guarantee that you shall be back on the_Britain_ by the time you want to begin the action. "

"Absolutely irregular, " said Lord Beresford, stroking his chin, andtrying to look serious, while his eyes were dancing with anticipation. "An admiral to leave his flagship on the eve of an engagement! Well, never mind, Courtney's a very good fellow, and knows just as much aboutthe ship as I do, and he's got all sailing orders. I'll come. He's onthe bridge now, I'll go and tell him. "

The Admiral ran up on to the bridge, gave Captain Courtney CommodoreHoskins' letter, added a few directions, one of which was to keep on afull head of steam on all the ships, and look out for signals, and fiveminutes later he had been introduced to Lennard, and was standing besidehim in the conning-tower of the _Ithuriel_ listening to Erskine, as hesaid into the telephone receiver:

"Sink her to three feet, Castellan, and then ahead full speed. "

The pumps worked furiously for a few minutes, and the _Ithuriel_ sankuntil only three feet of her bulk appeared above the water. Then theAdmiral felt the floor of the conning-tower shudder and tremble underhis feet. He looked out of the side porthole on the starboard bow, andsaw his own fleet dropping away into the distance and the darkness ofthe November night. The water ahead curled up into two huge swathes, which broke into foam and spray, which lashed hissing along the almostsubmerged decks. 

"You have a pretty turn of speed on her, I must say, Captain Erskine, "said the Admiral, after he had taken a long squint through thesemicircular window. "I'm sorry we haven't got a score of craft likethis. "

"And we should have had, your lordship, " replied Erskine, "if theCouncil had only taken the opinion that you gave after you saw theplans. "

"I'd have a hundred like her, " laughed the Admiral, "only you seethere's the Treasury, and behind that the most noble House of Commons, elected mostly by the least educated and most short-sighted people inthe nation, who scarcely know a torpedo from a common shell, and weshould never have got them. We had hard enough work to get this one asan experiment. "

"I quite agree with you, sir, " said Erskine, "and I think Lennard willtoo. There has never been an instance in history in which democracy didnot spell degeneration. It's a pity, but I suppose it's inevitable. Asfar as my reading has taken me, it seems to be the dry-rot of nations. Halloa, what's that? Torpedo gunboat, I think! Ah, there's the moon. Now, sir, if you'll just come and stand to the right here, for'ard ofthe wheel, I'll put the _Ithuriel_ through her paces, and show you whatshe can do. "

A long grey shape, with two masts and three funnels between them, loomedup out of the darkness into a bright patch of moonlight. Erskine tookthe receiver from the hooks and said:

"Stand by there, Castellan. Forward guns fire when I give the word--thenI shall ram. "

The Admiral saw the three strangely shaped guns rise from the deck, their muzzles converging on the gunboat. He expected a report, but nonecame; only a gentle hiss, scarcely audible in the conning-tower. Thenthree brilliant flashes of flame burst out just under the Frenchman'stopworks. Erskine, with one hand on the steering-wheel, and the otherholding the receiver, said:

"Well aimed--now full speed. I'm going over him. "

"Over him!" echoed the Admiral. "Don't you ram under the waterline?"

"If it's the case of a big ship, sir, " replied Erskine, "we sink and hithim where it hurts most, but it isn't worth while with these smallcraft. You will see what I mean in a minute. "

As he spoke a shudder ran through the _Ithuriel_. The deck began toquiver under the Admiral's feet; the ram rose six feet out of the water. The shape of the gunboat seemed to rush towards them; the ram hit itsquarely amidships; then came a shock, a grinding scrape, screams offear from the terrified sailors, a final crunch, and the gunboat wassinking fifty yards astern. 

"That's awful, " said the Admiral, with a perceptible shake in his voice. "What speed did you hit her at?"

"Forty-five knots, " replied Erskine, giving a quarter turn to the wheel, and almost immediately bringing a long line of battleships, armouredcruisers, protected cruisers and destroyers into view. 

The French Channel Fleet was composed of the most powerful ships in thenavy of the Republic. The two portions from Brest and Cherbourg had nowunited their forces. The French authorities had at last learned thesupreme value of homogeneity. The centre was composed of six ships ofthe _Republique_ class, all identical in size, armour and armament, aswell as speed. They were the _Republique_, _Patrie_ flagship, _Justice_, _Democratie_, _Liberte_ and _Verite_. They were all of fifteen thousandtons and eighteen knots. To these was added the _Suffren_, also ofeighteen knots, but only twelve thousand seven hundred tons: she hadcome from Brest with a flotilla of torpedo boats. 

There were six armoured cruisers, _Jules Ferry_, _Leon Gambetta_, _Victor Hugo_, _Jeanne d'Arc_, _Aube_ and _Marseillaise_. These were allheavily armed and armoured vessels, all of them capable of manoeuveringat a speed of over twenty knots. A dozen smaller protected andunprotected cruisers hung on each flank, and a score of destroyers andtorpedo boats lurked in between the big ships. 

The _Ithuriel_ ran quietly along the curving line of battleships andcruisers, turned and came back again without exciting the slightestsuspicion. 

Erskine would have dearly loved to sink a battleship or one or twocruisers, just to show his lordship how it was done, but the Admiralforbade this, as he wanted to get the Frenchmen, who still thought theywere going to easy victory, entangled in the shallows of the narrowwaters, and therefore with the exception of rolling over and sinkingthree submarines which happened to get in the way, no damage was done. 

The British Channel Fleet, even not counting the assistance of theterrible _Ithuriel_, was the most powerful squadron that had ever put tosea under a single command. The main line of battle consisted of theflagship _Britain_, and seven ships of the _King Edward_ class, _KingEdward the Seventh_, _Dominion_, _Commonwealth_, _Hindustan_, _NewZealand_, _Canada_ and _Newfoundland_; all over sixteen thousand tons, and of nineteen knots speed. With the exception of the giant flagships, of which there were five in existence--the _Britain_, _England_, _Ireland_, _Scotland_ and _Wales_--and two nineteen thousand tonmonsters which had just been completed for Japan, these were the fastestand most heavily-armed battleships afloat. 

The second line was composed of the armoured cruisers, _Duke ofEdinburgh_, _Black Prince_, _Henry the Fourth_, _Warwick_, _Edward theThird_, _Cromwell_, all of over thirteen thousand tons, and twenty-twoknots speed; the _Drake_, _King Alfred_, _Leviathan_ and _Good Hope_, ofover fourteen thousand tons and twenty-four knots speed; and thereconstructed _Powerful_, and _Terrible_, of fourteen thousand tons andtwenty-two knots. There was, of course, the usual swarm of destroyersand torpedo boats; and in addition must be counted the ten cruisers, tendestroyers, and fifteen torpedo boats, which had escaped from Spitheadand the Solent. These had already formed a junction with the left wingof the British force. 

For nearly two hours the two great fleets slowly approached each otheralmost at a right angle. As the grey dawn of the November morning beganto steal over the calm blue-grey water, they came in plain sight of eachother, and at once the signal flew from the foreyard of the _Britain_, "Prepare for action--battleships will cross front column of lineahead--cruisers will engage cruisers individually at discretion ofCommanders--destroyers will do their worst. "

CHAPTER XV

THE STRIFE OF GIANTS

As it happened, it was a fine, cold wintry day that dawned as the twogreat fleets drew towards each other. As Denis Castellan said, "It was aperfect jewel of a day for a holy fight, " and so it was. The Frenchfleet was advancing at twelve knots. Admiral Beresford made his fifteen, and led the line in the _Britain_. Erskine had been ordered to go to therear of the French line and sink any destroyer or torpedo boat that hecould get hold of, but to let the battleships and cruisers alone, unlesshe saw a British warship hard pressed, in which case he was to ram andsink the enemy if he could. 

One division of cruisers, consisting of the fastest and most powerfularmoured vessels, was to make a half-circle two miles in the rear of theFrench Fleet. The ships selected for this service were the _Duke ofEdinburgh_, _Warwick_, _Edward III. _, _Cromwell_ and _King Alfred_. Outside them, two miles again to the rear, the _Leviathan_, _Good Hope_, _Powerful_ and _Terrible_, the fastest ships in the Fleet, were to taketheir station to keep off stragglers. 

For the benefit of the non-nautical reader, it will be as well toexplain here the two principal formations in which modern fleets go intoaction. As a matter of fact, they are identical with the tacticsemployed by the French and Spanish on the one side and Nelson on theother during the Napoleonic wars. Before Nelson's time, it was thecustom for two hostile fleets to engage each other in column of lineabreast, which means that both fleets formed a double line whichapproached each other within gunshot, and then opened fire. 

At Trafalgar, Nelson altered these tactics completely, with results thateverybody knows. The allied French and Spanish fleets came up in acrescent, just in the same formation as Admiral Durenne was advancing onPortsmouth. Nelson took his ships into action in column of line ahead, in other words, in single file, the head of the column aiming for thecentre of the enemy's battle line. 

The main advantage of this was, first, that it upset the enemy'scombination, and, secondly, that each ship could engage two, since shecould work both broadsides at once, whereas the enemy could only workone broadside against one ship. These were the tactics which, withcertain modifications made necessary by the increased mobility on bothsides, Lord Beresford adopted. 

With one exception, no foreigner had ever seen the new class of Britishflagship, and that exception, as we know, was safely locked up on boardthe _Ithuriel_, and his reports were even now being carefully consideredby the Naval Council. 

There are no braver men on land and sea than the officers and crews ofthe French Navy, but when the giant bulk of the _Britain_ loomed up outof the westward in the growing light, gradually gathering way with herstately train of nineteen-knot battleships behind her, and swept down infront of the French line, many a heart stood still for the moment, andmany a man asked himself what the possibilities of such a Colossus ofthe ocean might be. 

They had not long to wait. As the British battleships came on from theleft with ever-increasing speed, the whole French line burst into atornado of thunder and flame, but not a shot was fired from the Englishlines. Shells hurtled and screamed through the air, topworks weresmashed into scrap-iron, funnels riddled, and military mastsdemolished; but until the _Britain_ reached the centre of the Frenchline not a British gun spoke. 

Then the giant swung suddenly to starboard, and headed for the spacebetween the _Patrie_ and the _Republique_. The _Canada_, _Newfoundland_, _New Zealand_ and _Hindustan_ put on speed, passed under her stern, andheaded in between the _Suffren_, _Liberte_, _Verite_ and _Patrie_, whilethe _Edward VII. _, _Dominion_ and _Commonwealth_ turned between the_Justice_, _Democratie_, the _Aube_ and _Marseillaise_. 

Within a thousand yards the British battleships opened fire. The firstgun from the _Britain_ was a signal which turned them all into so manyfloating volcanoes. The _Britain_ herself ran between the _Patrie_ andthe _Republique_, vomiting storms of shell, first ahead, then on thebroadside and then astern. Her topworks were of course crumpled out ofall shape--that was expected, for the range was now only about fivehundred yards--but the incessant storm of thousand-pound shells from thefourteen-inch guns, followed by an unceasing hail of three hundred andfifty pound projectiles from the 9. 2 quick-firers, reduced the twoFrench battleships to little better than wrecks. The _Britain_ steamedthrough and turned, and again the awful hurricane burst out from hersides and bow and stern. She swung round again, but now only a fewdropping shots greeted her from the crippled Frenchmen. 

"I don't think those chaps have much more fight left in them, " said theAdmiral to the Captain as they passed through the line for the thirdtime. "We'll just give them one more dose, and then see how the otherfellows are getting on. "

Once more the monster swept in between the doomed ships; once more herterrible artillery roared. Two torpedo boats, five hundred yards ahead, were rushing towards her. A grey shape rose out of the water, flingingup clouds of spray and foam, and in a moment they were ground down intothe water and sunk. The hastily-fired torpedoes diverged and struck thetwo French battleships instead of the _Britain_. Two mountains of foamrose up under their sterns, their bows went down and rose again, andwith a sternward lurch they slid down into the depths. 

The _Britain_ swung round to port, and poured a broadside into the_Liberte_, which had just crippled the _Hindustan_, and sunk her with atorpedo. The _New Zealand_ was evidently in difficulties between the_Liberte_ and the _Verite_. Her upper works were a mass of ruins, butshe was still blazing away merrily with her primary battery. The Admiralslowed down to ten knots, and got between the two French battleships;then her big guns began to vomit destruction again, and in five minutesthe two French battleships, caught in the triangular fire and terriblymauled, hauled their flags down, and so Lord Beresford's scheme wasaccomplished. The _Dominion_ and _Edward VII. _ had got between theirships at the expense of a severe handling, and were giving a very goodaccount of them, and the _Canada_ had sunk the _Suffren_ with a luckyshell which exploded in her forward torpedo room and blew her side out. 

It was broad daylight by this time, and it was perfectly plain, both tofriend and foe, that the French centre could no longer be counted uponas a fighting force. One of the circumstances which came home hardestafterwards to the survivors of the French force was the fact that, asfar as they knew, not a single British battleship or cruiser had beenstruck by a French destroyer or torpedo boat. The reason for this wasthe very simple fact that Erskine had taken these craft under hischarge, and, while the big ships had been thundering away at each other, he had devoted himself to the congenial sport of smashing up the smallerfry. He sent the _Ithuriel_ flying hither and thither at full speed, tearing them into scrap-iron and sending them to the bottom, as if theyhad been so many penny steamers. He could have sent the battleships tothe bottom with equal ease, but orders were orders, and he respectedthem until his chance came. 

The _Verite_ was now the least injured of the French battleships. Tolook at she was merely a floating mass of ruins, but her engines wereintact, and her primary battery as good as ever. Her captain, like thehero that he was, determined to risk his ship and everything in her inthe hope of destroying the monster which had wrought such frightfulhavoc along the line. She carried two twelve-inch guns ahead, a 6. 4 oneach side of the barbette, and four pairs of 6. 4 guns behind these, andthe fire of all of them was concentrated ahead. 

As the _Britain_ came round for the third time every one of the guns waslaid upon her. He called to the engine-room for the utmost speed hecould have, and at nineteen knots he bore down upon the leviathan. Thehuge guns on the _Britain_ swung round, and a tempest of shells sweptthe _Verite_ from end to end. Her armour was gashed and torn as thoughit had been cardboard instead of six-and eleven-inch steel; but stillshe held on her course. At five hundred yards her guns spoke, and thesplinters began to fly on board the _Britain_. The Captain of the_Verite_ signalled for the last ounce of steam he could have--he wasgoing to appeal to the last resort in naval warfare--the ram. If hecould once get that steel spur of his into the _Britain's_ hull underher armour, she would go down as certainly as though she had been afirst-class cruiser. 

When the approaching vessels were a little more than five hundred yardsapart, the _Ithuriel_, who had settled up with all the destroyers andtorpedo boats she could find, rose to the north of the now broken Frenchline. Erskine took in the situation at a glance. He snatched thereceiver from the hooks, shouted into it:

"Sink--full speed--ram!"

The _Ithuriel_ dived and sprang forward, and when the ram of the_Verite_ was within a hundred yards of the side of the _Britain_ his ownram smashed through her stern, cracked both the propeller shafts, andtore away her rudder as if it had been a piece of paper. She stoppedand yawed, broadside on to the _Britain_. The chases of the great gunsswung round in ominous threatening silence, but before they could befired the Tricolor fluttered down from the flagstaff, and the _Verite_, helpless for all fighting purposes, had surrendered. 

It was now the turn of the big armoured cruisers. They were practicallyuntouched, for the heaviest of the fighting had fallen on thebattleships. A green rocket went up from the deck of the _Britain_, andwas followed in about ten seconds by a blue one. The inner line ofcruisers made a quarter turn to port, and began hammering into thecrippled battleships and cruisers indiscriminately, while the_Leviathan_, _Good Hope_, _Powerful_ and _Terrible_ took stationsbetween the Isle of Wight and the Sussex coast. 

The _Ithuriel_ rose to her three-foot freeboard, and put in some verypretty practice with her pneumatic guns on the topworks of the cruisers. The six-funnelled _Jeanne d'Arc_ got tired of this, and made a rush ather at her full speed of twenty-three knots, with the result that the_Ithuriel_ disappeared, and three minutes afterwards there came a shockunder the great cruiser's stern which sent a shudder through her wholefabric. The engines whirled furiously until they stopped, and a coupleof minutes later her captain recognised that she could neither steam norsteer. Meanwhile, the tide was setting strongly in towards Spithead, andthe disabled ships were drifting with it, either to capture ordestruction. 

The French centre had now, to all intents and purposes, ceased to exist. Four out of six battleships were sunk, and one had surrendered, and the_Jeanne d'Arc_ had gone down. 

On the British side the _Hindustan_ had been sunk, and the _Dominion_, _Commonwealth_ and _Newfoundland_ very badly mauled, so badly indeedthat it was a matter of dry-dock as quickly as possible for them. Allthe other battleships, including even the _Britain_ herself, werelittle better than wrecks to look at, so terrible had been thefirestorms through which they had passed. 

But for the presence of the _Ithuriel_, the British loss would of coursehave been much greater. It is not too much to say that her achievementsspread terror and panic among the French torpedo flotilla. Underordinary circumstances they would have taken advantage of the confusionof the battleship action to attack the line of armoured cruisers behind, but between the two lines there was the ever-present destroying angel, as they came to call her, with her silent deadly guns, her unparalleledspeed, and her terrible ram. No sooner did a destroyer or torpedo boatattempt to make for a cruiser, than a shell came hissing along thewater, and blew the middle out of her, or the ram crashed through hersides, and sent her in two pieces to the bottom. 

The result was that when the last French cruiser had hauled down herflag, Admiral Beresford found himself in command of a fleet which wasstill in being. Of the French battleships the _Justice_ and the_Democratie_ were still serviceable, and of the cruisers, the _JulesFerry_, _Leon Gambetta_, _Victor Hugo_, _Aube_ and _Marseillaise_ werestill in excellent fighting trim, although of course they were in noposition to continue the struggle against the now overwhelming force ofBritish battleships and armoured cruisers. This was what AdmiralBeresford had fought for: to break the centre and put as manybattleships as possible out of action. His orders had been to spare thecruisers as much as possible, because, he said, with a somewhat grimlaugh, they might be useful later on. 

The idea of their escaping to sea through the double line of Britishcruisers, to say nothing of the _Ithuriel_, with her speed of over fiftymiles an hour, and her ability to ram them in detail before they werehalfway across the Channel, was entirely out of the question. To haveattempted such a thing would have been simply a form of collectivesuicide, so the flags were hauled down, and all that was left of thefleet surrendered. 

Another circumstance which had placed the French fleet at a tremendousdisadvantage was the absence of the three _Flying Fishes_, which were tohave co-operated with the invading fleet, but of course neither AdmiralDurenne, who had gone down with his ship, nor any other of his officersknew that the _Banshee_ had been blown up in mid-air, or that the_Ithuriel_ had destroyed the dépôt ship, and so forced Castellan, afterhis mad waste of ammunition in the destruction of Portsmouth, to winghis way to Kiel, with the _See Adler_, in order to replenish hismagazines. Had those two amphibious craft been present at the battle, the issue might have been something very different. 

The whole fight had only taken a couple of hours from the firing of thefirst shot to the hauling down of the last flag. Admiral Beresford madedirect for Portsmouth to get his lame ducks into dock if possible, andto discover the amount of damage done. As they steamed in through theSpithead Forts, flags went up all along the northern shore of the Isleof Wight, and the guns on the Spithead Forts and Fort Monckton, whichthe _Banshee_ had been commissioned to destroy, roared out a salute ofwelcome. 

The signal masts of the sunk battleships showed where their shatteredhulls were lying, and as the _Britain_ led the way in between them, LordBeresford rubbed his hands across his eyes, and said to his Commodore, who was standing on what was left of the navigating bridge:

"Poor fellows, it was hardly fair fighting. We might have had somethingvery like those infernal craft if we'd had men of decent brains at theWar Office. Same old story--anything new must be wrong in Pall Mall. Still we've got something of our own back this morning. I hope we shallbe able to use some of the docks; if I'm not afraid our lame ducks willhave to crawl round to Devonport as best they can. The man in command ofthose airships must have been a perfect devil to destroy a defencelesstown in this fashion. The worst of it is that if they can do this sortof thing here they can do it just as easily to London or Liverpool, orManchester or any other city. I hope there won't be any more bad newswhen we get ashore. "

CHAPTER XVI

HOW THE FRENCH LANDED AT PORTSMOUTH

All the ships able to take their place in the fighting-line were leftoutside. The French prisoners were disembarked and their places taken bydrafts from the British warships, who at once set about making suchrepairs as were possible at sea. Admiral Beresford boarded the_Ithuriel_, which, until the next fight, he proposed to use as adespatch-boat, and ran up the harbour. 

He found every jetty, including the North and South Railway piers, meremasses of smoking ruins: but the Ordnance Dépôt on Priddy's Hard hadsomehow escaped, probably through the ignorance of the assailants. Helanded at Sheer Jetty opposite Coaling Point, and before he was half-wayup the steps a short, rather stout man, in the undress uniform of aGeneral of Division, ran down and caught him by the hand. After him camea taller, slimmer man with eyes like gimlets and a skin wrinkled andtanned like Russian leather. 

The first of the two men was General Sir John French, Commander-in-Chiefat Aldershot, and the second was General Sir Ian Hamilton, Commander ofthe Southern Military District. 

"Bravo, Beresford!" said General French, quietly. "Scooped the lot, didn't you?"

"All that aren't at the bottom of the Channel. Good-morning, Hamilton. I've heard that you're in a pretty bad way with your forts here, "replied the Admiral. "By the way, how are the docks? I've got a few lameducks that want looking after badly. "

"We've just been having a look round, " replied General Hamilton. "Thetown's in an awful state, as you can see. The Naval and Militarybarracks, and the Naval School are wrecked, and we haven't been able tosave very much from the yards, but I don't think the docks are hurtmuch. The sweeps went more for the buildings. We can find room for halfa dozen, I think, comfortably. "

"That's just about what I want, " said the Admiral. "We've lost the_Hindustan_ and _New Zealand_. The _Canada_ and _Newfoundland_ arepretty badly mauled, and I've got half a dozen Frenchmen that would beall the better for a look over. The _Britain_, _Edward VII. _, _Dominion_and _Commonwealth_ are quite seaworthy, although, as you see, they'vehad it pretty hot in their topworks. The cruiser squadron is practicallyuntouched. We've got the _Verite_, _Justice_ and _Democratie_, but the_Verite_ has got her propellers and rudders smashed. By the way, thatship of Erskine's, the _Ithuriel_, has turned out a perfect demon. Shesmashed up the first attack, sank nine destroyers and two cruisers, oneof them was that big chap the _Dupleix_, before we came on the scene. During the action she wiped out I don't know how many destroyers andtorpedo boats, sank the _Jeanne d'Arc_ and saved my ship from beingrammed by crippling the _Verite_ just in the nick of time. If we onlyhad a squadron of those boats and made Erskine Commodore, we'd wipe thefleets of Europe out in a month. Now that's my news. What's yours?"

"Bad enough, " replied General French. "A powerful combined fleet ofGermans and French, helped by some of these infernal things that seem asmuch at home in the air as they are in the water, are making a combinedattack on Dover, and we seem to be getting decidedly the worst of it. Dover Castle is in flames, and nearly all the forts are in a bad way; soare the harbour fortifications. The Russians and Dutch are approachingLondon with a string of transports behind them, and four airships abovethem. Their objectives are supposed to be Tilbury and Woolwich on onehand, and Chatham on the other. By the way, weren't there any transportsbehind this French Fleet that you've settled up with?"

He had scarcely uttered the last word when a helio began to twinkle fromthe hill above Foreland. 

"That's bad news, " said the Admiral, "but wait now, there's somethingelse. It's a good job the sun's come out, though it doesn't look veryhealthy. "

The message that the helio twinkled out was as follows:

 "Thirty large vessels, apparently transports, approaching from direction of Cherbourg and Brest about ten miles south-east by south. "

"Very good, " said the Admiral, rubbing his hands. "Of course they thinkwe're beaten. I've got five French cruisers that they'll recognise. I'llget crews aboard them at once and convoy those transports in, and theCommanders will be about the most disgusted men in Europe when they gethere. "

Acting on the principle that all is fair in love and war, AdmiralBeresford and the two Generals laid as pretty a trap for the Frenchtransports as the wit of man ever devised. Ten minutes' conversationamong them sufficed to arrange matters. Then the Admiral, taking a listof the serviceable docks with him, went back on board the _Ithuriel_ andran out to the Fleet. He handed over the work of taking care of the lameducks to Commodore Courtney of the _Britain_; then from the damagedBritish ships he made up the crews of the French cruisers, the _JulesFerry_, _Leon Gambetta_, _Victor Hugo_, _Aube_ and _Marseillaise_. Hetook command of the squadron on board the _Victor Hugo_, and to theamazement of officers and men alike, he ordered the Tricolor to behoisted. At the same time, the White Ensign fluttered down from all theBritish ships that were not being taken into the dockyard and wasreplaced by the Tricolor. A few minutes afterward the French flag roseover Fort Monckton and upon a pole mast which had been put up amidstthe ruins of Southsea Castle. 

The French prisoners of course saw the ruse and knew that its verydaring and impudence would command success. Some of them wrung theirhands and danced in fury, others wept, and others cursed to the fullcapability of the French language, but there was no help for it. Whatwas left of Portsmouth was already occupied by twenty thousand men ofall arms from the Southern Division. The prisoners were disarmed andtheir ships were in the hands of the enemy to do what they pleased with, and so in helpless rage they watched the squadron of cruisers steam outto meet the transports, flying the French flag and manned by Britishcrews. It meant either the most appalling carnage, or the capture of theFirst French Expeditionary Force consisting of fifty thousand men, tenthousand horses, and two hundred guns. 

The daringly original stratagem was made all the easier of achievementby the fact that the Commanders of the French transports, counting uponthe assistance of the airships and the enormous strength of the navalforce which had been launched against Portsmouth, had taken victory forgranted, and when the first line came in sight of land, and officers andmen saw the smoke-cloud that was still hanging over what twenty-fourhours before had been the greatest of British strongholds, cheer aftercheer went up. Portsmouth was destroyed and therefore the French Fleetmust have been victorious. All that they had to do, therefore, was tosteam in and take possession of what was left. At last, after all thesecenturies, the invasion of England had been accomplished, and Waterlooand Trafalgar avenged!

Happily, in the turmoil of the fight and the suddenness in which theremains of the French Fleet had been forced to surrender, the captain ofthe _Victor Hugo_ had forgotten to sink his Code Book. The result wasthat when the cruiser squadron steamed out in two divisions to meet thetransports, the French private signal, "Complete victory--welcome, "was flying from the signalyard of the _Victor Hugo_. Again a mightycheer thundered out from the deck of every transport. The cruiserssaluted the transports with seventeen guns, and then the two divisionsswung out to right and left, and took their stations on either flank ofthe transports. 

And so, all unsuspecting, they steamed into Spithead, and when they sawthe British ships lying at anchor, flying the Tricolor and the same flagwaving over Fort Monckton and Southsea Castle, as well as from half adozen other flagstaffs about the dockyards, there could be no doubt asto the magnitude and completeness of the victory which the French Fleethad gained, and moreover, were not those masts showing above the watersof Spithead, the masts of sunken British battleships. 

Field-Marshal Purdin de Trevillion, Commander of the ExpeditionaryForce, accompanied by his staff, was on board the Messageries liner_Australien_, and led the column of transports. In perfect confidence heled the way in between the Spithead Forts, which also flew the Tricolorand saluted him as he went past. As the other vessels of the greatflotilla followed in close order, Fort Monckton and the rest of thewarships saluted; and then as the last transport entered the narrowwaters, a very strange thing happened. The cruisers that had droppedbehind spread themselves out in a long line behind the forts; theBritish ships slipped their moorings and steamed out from Stokes Bay andmade a line across to Ryde. Destroyers and torpedo boats suddenly dottedthe water with their black shapes, appearing as though from nowhere;then came down every Tricolor on fort and ship, and the White Ensign ranup in its place, and the same moment, the menacing guns swung round andthere was the French flotilla, unarmed and crowded with men, caught likea flock of sheep between two packs of wolves. 

Every transport stopped as if by common instinct. The French Marshalturned white to the lips. His hands went up in a gesture of despair, and he gasped to his second-in-command, who was standing beside him:

"Mon Dieu! Nous sommes trahis! Ces sacrés perfides Anglais! We arehelpless, like rats in a trap. With us it is finished, we can neitherfight nor escape. "

While he was speaking, the huge bulk of the _Britain_ steamed slowlytowards the _Australien_, flying the signal "Do you surrender?" Withinfive hundred yards, the huge guns in her forward barbette swung roundand the muzzles sank until the long chases pointed at the _Australien's_waterline. The Field-Marshal knew full well that it only needed thetouch of a finger on a button to smash the _Australien_ into fragments, and he knew too that the first shot from the flagship would be thesignal for the whole Fleet to open fire, and that would mean massacreunspeakable. He was as brave a man as ever wore a uniform, but he knewthat on the next words he should speak the lives of fifty thousand mendepended. He took one more look round the ring of steel which enclosedhim on every side, and then with livid lips and grinding teeth gave theorder for the flag to be hauled down. The next moment he unbuckled hissword and hurled it into the sea; then with a deep groan he droppedfainting to the deck. 

It would be useless to attempt to describe the fury and mortificationwith which the officers and men of the French Force saw the flags one byone flutter down from end to end of the long line of transports, but itwas plain even to the rawest conscript that there was no choice savebetween surrender and massacre. They cursed and stamped about the decksor sat down and cried, according to temperament, and that, under thecircumstances, was about all they could do. 

Meanwhile, a steam pinnace came puffing out from the harbour, and in afew minutes General French was standing on the promenade deck of the_Australien_. The Field Marshal had already been carried below. Agrey-haired officer in the uniform of a general came forward with hissword in his hand and said in excellent English, but with a shake in hisvoice:

"You are General French, I presume? Our Commander, Field-Marshal Purdinde Trevillion had such an access of anger when he found how we had beenduped that he flung his sword into the sea. He then fainted, and isstill unconscious. You will, therefore, perhaps accept my sword insteadof his. "

General French touched the hilt with his hand, and said:

"Keep it. General Devignes, and I hope your officers will do the same. Iwill accept your parole for all of them. You are the Field-Marshal'sChief-of-Staff, I believe, and therefore, of course, your word is his. Iam very sorry to hear of his illness. "

"You have my word, " replied General Devignes, "for myself and those ofmy officers who may be willing to give their parole, but for those whoprefer to remain prisoners I cannot, of course, answer. "

"Of course not, " replied General French, with a rather provoking genialsmile. "Now I will trouble you to take your ships into the harbour. Iwill put a guard on each as she passes; meanwhile, your men will pilearms and get ready to disembark. We cannot offer you much of a welcome, I'm afraid, for those airships of yours have almost reduced Portsmouthto ruins, to say nothing of sending ten of our battleships and cruisersto the bottom. I can assure you, General, that the losses are not all onyour side. "

"No, General, " replied the Frenchman, "but for the present, at least, the victory is on yours. "

Then transport after transport filed into the harbour, and GeneralHamilton and his staff took charge of the disembarkation. Six of theBritish lame ducks had been got safely into dock, and every availableman was slaving away in deadly earnest to repair the damage done inthose terrible two hours. Repairs were also being carried out asrapidly as possible on the cruisers and battleships lying in Spithead, and as shipload after shipload of the disarmed French soldiers werelanded, they were set to work, first at clearing up the dockyards andgetting them into something like working order, and then clearing up theruins of the three towns. 

The news of Admiral Beresford's magnificent coup had already reachedLondon, and the reply had come back terse and to the point:

 "Excellently well done. Congratulate Admiral Beresford and all concerned. We are hard pressed at Dover, and London is threatened. Send _Ithuriel_ to Dover as soon as possible, and let her come on here when she has given any possible help. Land and sea defence of south and south-east at discretion of yourself, Domville and Beresford. CONNAUGHT. "

By some miracle, the Keppel's Head, perhaps the most famous navalhostelry in the south of England, had escaped the shells from theairships, and so General French had made it his headquarters for thetime being. Sir Compton Domville had received a rather serious injuryfrom a splinter in the left arm during the destruction of the NavalBarracks, but he had had his wounds dressed and insisted, against theadvice of the doctors, in driving down to the Hard and talking mattersover with General French. They were discussing the disposition of theFrench prisoners and the huge amount of war material which had beencaptured, when the telegram was delivered. They had scarcely read itwhen there was a knock at the door and an orderly entered, and said:

"Captain Erskine, of the _Ithuriel_, would be pleased to see the Generalwhen he's at liberty. "

"The very man!" said General French. "This is the young gentleman, " hecontinued, turning to Admiral Domville, "who practically saved us fromtwo torpedo attacks, won the Fleet action for us, and saved Beresfordfrom being rammed at the moment of victory. "

The door opened again, and Erskine came in. He saluted and said:

"General, if I may suggest it, I shall not be much more use here, and mylieutenant, Denis Castellan, has just had a telegram from his aunt andsister, who are in London, saying that things are pretty bad there. Ifancy I might be of some use if you would let me go, sir. "

"Let you go!" laughed the General. "Why, my dear sir, you've got to go. Here's a telegram that I've just had from His Royal Highness theCommander-in-Chief, saying that Dover and London are in a bad way, andtelling me to send you round at once. When can you start?"

"Well, sir, " replied Erskine, after a moment's thought, "we're notinjured in any way, but it will take a couple of hours, I'm afraid, toreplenish our motive power, and fill up with shell, and added to that, Ishould like to have a good overhaul of the machinery. "

"Just listen to that, now!" exclaimed Admiral Beresford, who had enteredthe room while he was speaking. "Here's a man who has done nearly asmuch single-handed as the rest of us put together and fought through asstiff a Fleet action as the hungriest fire-eater in the navy wants tosee, and tells you he isn't injured, while half of us are knocked toscrap-iron. I wish we had fifty _Ithuriels_, there'd be very littlelanding on English shores. "

"I don't think you have very much to complain of in the French landingat Portsmouth, Beresford, " laughed Sir Compton Domville. "I don't wantto flatter you, but it was an absolute stroke of genius. We shall haveto set those fellows to work on the forts and yards, and get some gunsinto position again. It isn't exactly what they came for but they'llcome in very useful. But that can wait. Here's the wire from theCommander-in-Chief. Captain Erskine, you are to get round to Dover andLondon as soon as possible, and, I presume, do all the damage you can onthe way. General French is going to London as soon as a special can begot ready for him. "

"May I ask a great favour, sir?" said Erskine. 

"Anything, after what you've done, " replied Sir Compton. "What is it?"

General French and Lord Beresford nodded in agreement, and Erskinecontinued, addressing Lord Beresford: "That Mr Lennard, whom yourlordship met on board the _Ithuriel_, has given me the formula of a newhigh explosive. Absurdly simple, but simply terrific in its effect. Imade up half a dozen shells with it and tried them. I gave the _Dupleix_three rounds. They seem to reduce steel to dust, and, as far as we couldsee every man on the decks dropped as if he had been struck bylightning. From what we have done with them I think they will be ofenormous value. Now Mr Lennard is very anxious to get to London and thenorth of England, and if General French could find him a place in hisspecial--"

"My dear sir, " interrupted the General, "I shall be only too delightedto know your maker of thunderbolts. Is he here now?"

"Yes, sir, he's in the smoking-room with Lieutenant Castellan. And thatreminds me, if I am to go to London, I hope you will allow me to handover the German spy that we caught here as soon as convenient. "

"Bring them both in, " said General French. "Sir Compton and GeneralHamilton will court-martial your spy this morning, and, I hope, shoothim this evening. "

Within an hour, Lennard, who had something more serious now to thinkabout than even war, was flying away Londonwards in General French'sspecial, with a letter of introduction from Denis Castellan to his auntand sister, and an hour after the special had started, the _Ithuriel_had cleared the narrow waters and was tearing up the Channel at fiftymiles an hour, to see what havoc she could work on the assailants ofLondon and Dover. 

CHAPTER XVII

AWAY FROM THE WARPATH

When Lennard entered the little drawing-room in the house in WestbourneTerrace, where Norah Castellan and her aunt were staying, he had decidedto do something which, without his knowing it, probably made a veryconsiderable difference in his own fortunes and those of two or threeother people. 

During his brief but exciting experiences on board the _Ithuriel_, hehad formed a real friendship for both Erskine and Castellan, and he hadcome to the conclusion that Denis's sister and aunt would be very muchsafer in the remote seclusion of Whernside than in a city which mightwithin the next few days share the fate of Portsmouth and Gosport. Hewas instantly confirmed in this resolution when Mrs O'Connor and herniece came into the room. Never had he seen a more perfect specimen ofthe Irishwoman, who is a lady by Nature's own patent of nobility, thanMrs O'Connor, and, with of course one exception, never had he seen sucha beautiful girl as Norah Castellan. 

He was friends with them in half an hour, and inside an hour he hadaccepted their invitation to dine and sleep at the house and help themto get ready for their unexpected journey to the North the next morning. 

He went back to the Grand and got his portmanteau and Gladstone bag andreturned to Westbourne Terrace in time for afternoon tea. Meanwhile, hehad bought the early copies of all the evening papers and read up thecondition of things in London, which, in the light of his experiences atPortsmouth, did not appear to him to be in any way promising. He gaveNorah and her aunt a full, true and particular account of the assault onPortsmouth, the doings of the _Ithuriel_, the great Fleet action, andthe brilliant _ruse de guerre_ which Admiral Beresford had used tocapture the First French Army Corps that had landed in England--andlanded as prisoners. 

The news in the afternoon papers, coupled with what he already knew ofthe tactics of the enemy, impressed Lennard so gravely that he succeededin persuading Mrs O'Connor and Norah to leave London by the midnightsleeping-car train from St Pancras for Whernside, since no one knew atwhat time during the night John Castellan or his lieutenants might notorder an indiscriminate bombardment of London from the air. He was alsovery anxious, for reasons of his own, to get back to his work at theobservatory and make his preparations for the carrying out of anundertaking compared with which the war, terrible as it was and wouldbe, could only be considered as the squabblings of children or lunatics. 

His task was not one of aggression or conquest, but of salvation, andthe enemy he was going to fight was an invader not of states orcountries, but of a whole world, and unless the assault of this invaderfrom the outer wilderness of Space were repelled, the result would notbe merely the destruction of ships and fortresses, or the killing of afew hundreds or thousands of men on the battlefield; it would meannothing less than a holocaust which would involve the whole human race, and the simultaneous annihilation of all that the genius of man had solaboriously accumulated during the slow, uncounted ages of his progressfrom the brute to the man. 

They left the train at Settle at six o'clock the next morning, and wereat once taken charge of by the station-master, who had had hisinstructions by telephone from the Parmenter mansion on the slopes ofGreat Whernside. He conducted them at once to the Midland Hotel, wherethey found a suite of apartments, luxuriously furnished, with firesblazing in the grates, and everything looking very cosy under the softglow of the shaded electric lights. Baths were ready and breakfast wouldbe on the table at seven. At eight, Mr Parmenter, who practically ownedthis suite of rooms, would drive over with Miss Parmenter in a couple ofmotor-cars and take the party to the house. 

"Sure, then, " said Mrs O'Connor, when the arrangements had beenexplained to her, "it must be very comfortable to have all the money tobuy just what you want, and make everything as easy as all this, andit's yourself, Mr Lennard, we have to thank for making us the guests ofa millionaire, when neither Norah nor myself have so much as seen one. Is he a very great man, this Mr Parmenter? It seems to me to besomething like going to dine with a duke. "

"My dear Mrs O'Connor, " laughed Lennard, "I can assure you that you willfind this master of millions one of Nature's own gentlemen. Although hecan make men rich or poor by a stroke of his pen, and, with a few otherslike him, wield such power as was never in the hands of kings, youwouldn't know him from a plain English country gentleman if it wasn'tfor his American accent, and there's not very much of that. "

"And his daughter, Miss Auriole, what's she like?" said Norah. "Abeauty, of course. "

Lennard flushed somewhat suspiciously, and a keen glance of Norah'sIrish eyes read the meaning of that flush in an instant. 

"Miss Parmenter is considered to be very beautiful, " he replied, "and Imust confess that I share the general opinion. "

"I thought so, " said Norah, with a little nod that had a great deal ofmeaning in it. "Now, I suppose we'd better go and change, or we'll belate for breakfast. I certainly don't want the beautiful Miss Parmenterto see me in this state for the first time. "

"My dear Miss Castellan, I can assure you that you have not thefaintest reason to fear any comparison that might be made, " laughedLennard as he left the room and went to have his tub. 

Punctually at eight a double "Toot-toot" sounded from the street infront of the main entrance to the hotel. Norah ran to the window and sawtwo splendidly-appointed Napier cars--although, of course, she didn'tknow a Napier from a Darracq. Something in female shape with peaked capand goggles, gauntleted and covered from head to foot in a heavy furcoat, got out of the first car, and another shape, rather shorter butalmost similarly clad, got out of the second. Five minutes later therewas a knock at the door of the breakfast-room. It opened, and Norah sawwhat the cap and the goggles and the great fur coat had hidden. Duringthe next few seconds, two of the most beautiful girls in the twohemispheres looked at each other, as only girls and women can look. ThenAuriole put out both her hands and said, quite simply:

"You are Norah Castellan. I hope we shall be good friends. If we're not, I'm afraid it will be my fault. "

Norah took her hands and said:

"I think it would more likely be mine, after what Mr Lennard has beentelling us of yourself and your father. "

At this moment Lennard saved the situation as far as he was concerned bymaking the other introductions, and Mrs O'Connor took the hand whichwielded the terrible power of millions and experienced a curious sort ofsurprise at finding that it was just like other hands, and that theowner of it was bending over hers with one of those gestures of simplecourtesy which are the infallible mark of the American gentleman. In afew minutes they were all as much at home together as though they hadknown each other for weeks. Then came the preparation of Norah and heraunt for the motor ride, and then the ride itself. 

The sun had risen clearly, and there was a decided nip of frost in thekeen Northern air. The roads were hard and clean, and thetwenty-five-mile run over them, winding through the valleys and climbingthe ridges with the heather-clad, rock-crowned hills on all sides, nowsliding down a slope or shooting along a level, or taking a rise in whatseemed a flying leap, was by far the most wonderful experience thatNorah and her aunt had ever had. 

Auriole drove the first car, and had Norah sitting beside her on thefront seat. Her aunt and the mechanician were sitting in the tonneaubehind. Mr Parmenter drove the second car with Lennard beside him. Histonneau was filled with luggage. 

At the end of the eighteenth mile the cars, going at a quite illegalspeed, jumped a ridge between two heather-clad moors, which in SouthAfrica would have been called a nek, and dived down along a white roadleading into a broad forest track, sunlit now, but bordered on eitherside by the twilight of towering pines and firs through which thesunlight filtered only in little flakes, which lay upon the last year'sleaves and cones, somewhat as an electric light might have fallen on amonkish manuscript of the thirteenth century. 

Then came two more miles on hard, well-kept roads, so perfectly gradedthat the upward slope was hardly perceptible. 

"We're on our own ground now and I guess I'll let her out, " said MissAuriole. "Don't be frightened, Norah. These things look big and strong, but it's quite wonderful what they'll do when there's a bit of humansense running them. See that your goggles are right and twist your veilin a bit tighter, I'm going to give you a new sensation. "

She waved her hand to her father in the car behind and put on the fourthspeed lever, and said: "Hold tight now. "

Norah nodded, for she could hardly breathe as it was. Then the pines andfirs on either side of the broad drive melted into a green-grey blur. The road under them was like a rapidly unwinding ribbon. The hilltopswhich showed above the trees rose up now to the right hand and now tothe left, as the car swung round the curves. Every now and then Norahlooked at the girl beside her, controlling the distance-devouringmonster with one hand on a little wheel, her left foot on a pedal andher right hand ready to work the levers if necessary. 

The two miles of the drive from the gates to the front door of WhernsideHouse, a long, low-lying two-storeyed, granite-built house, which wasabout as good a combination of outward solidity and indoor comfort asyou could find in the British Islands, was covered in two and a halfminutes, and the car pulled up, as Norah thought, almost at full speedand stopped dead in front of the steps leading up from the broad road tothe steps leading up to the terrace which ran along the whole southwardfront of Whernside House. 

"I reckon, Miss Castellan--"

"If you say Miss Castellan, I shall get back to Settle by the firstconveyance that I can hire. "

"Now, that's just nice of you, Norah. What I was going to say, if Ihadn't made that mistake, was, that this would be about the first timethat you had covered two miles along a road at fifty miles an hour, andthat's what you've just done. Pretty quick, isn't it? Oh, there's LordWesterham on the terrace! Come for lunch, I suppose. He's a very greatman here, you know. Lord-Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, fought through the Boer War, got made a Colonel by some miracle when hewas only about twenty-eight, went to Lhassa, and now he's something likeCommander-in-Chief of the Yeomanry and Volunteers round here--andwithout anything of that sort, he's just about the best sort of man youwant to meet. Come along, I'll introduce you. "

The two cars stopped at the steps leading up to the terrace, a man inkhaki, with a stretch of a dozen ribbons across the left side of histunic, came bareheaded down the steps and opened the side door ofAuriole's motor-car. Auriole pushed her goggles up and held out hergauntleted hand, and said:

"What! Lord Westerham! Well now, this is nice of you. Come to lunch, ofcourse. And how's the recruiting going on?"

Then without waiting for a reply, she went on: "Norah, dear, this isLord Westerham, Lord-Lieutenant of this part of the County of York, Colonel commanding the West Riding Yeomanry and lots of other thingsthat I don't understand. "

Norah pushed her goggles up and tilted her hat back. Auriole saw a flashof recognition pass like lightning between their eyes. She noticed thatNorah's cheeks were a little bit brighter than even the speed of the carcould account for. She saw, too, that there was a flush under the tan ofLord Westerham's face, and to her these were signs of great comfort. 

"I don't know how this particular miracle has been arranged, " said LordWesterham, as he gave his hand to Norah and took her out of the car, "but a re-introduction is, if you will allow me to say so, MissParmenter, rather superfluous. I have known Miss Castellan for quite twoyears, at least, I had the pleasure of meeting her in Connemara, and wehave fished and shot and sailed together until we became almostfriends. "

Auriole's eyes, observant at all times, had been working hard during thelast two or three minutes, and in those few minutes she had learned agreat deal. Arthur Lennard, who also had his eyes wide open, had learntin his own slow, masculine way about as much, and perhaps a little more. He and Lord Westerham had been school-fellows and college chums and goodfriends for years, but of late a shadow had come between them, and it'shardly necessary to say that it was the shadow of a woman. He knewperfectly well by this time that Lord Westerham was, in the opinion ofMr Parmenter, the husband-designate, one might say, of Auriole. Young ashe was, he already had a distinguished record as a soldier and anadministrator, but he was also heir to one of the oldest Marquisates inEngland with a very probable reversion to a dukedom. 

This was what he had been thinking of that night in the observatory whenhe told Auriole of the fate that was approaching the world. No one knewbetter than he how brilliant a figure she would make in Society as theMarchioness of Westerham, granted always that the Anglo-Saxon would donow as he had ever done, fling the invader back upon his own shores orinto the sea which he had crossed: but that swift flash of recognitionseen as his car came up behind Auriole's, and the slight but mostsignificant change which had come over the features of both of them ashe handed her out of the car, had instantly banished the shadow and madehim a happier man than he had been for a good many months past. 

Still he was one of those hard-headed, practical men who rightlyconsider that the very worst enemy either to friendship between man andman, or love between man and woman, is an unexplained misunderstanding, and so in that moment he decided to "have it out" with his lordship onthe first possible opportunity. 

CHAPTER XVIII

A GLIMPSE OF THE PERIL

The morning was spent in a general overhaul of the observatory and thelaboratory in which Lennard had discovered and perfected the explosivewhich had been used with such deadly effect in the guns of the_Ithuriel_. Lunch was an entirely delightful meal, and when it was overAuriole took Mrs O'Connor and Norah up to her own particular domain inthe house to indulge in that choicest of feminine luxuries, a good longtalk. Mr Parmenter excused himself and disappeared into his study to getready for the evening mail, and so Lord Westerham and Lennard were leftto their own devices for a couple of hours or so. This was just whatLennard wanted, and so he proposed a stroll and a smoke in the Park. 

They lit their cigars and walked for a few minutes along a pine-shadedpath. His lordship had an intuitive idea that his companion hadsomething to say to him--albeit he was very far from imagining what thatsomething was to be--and so he thought he had better let him begin. Whenthey were out of sight or hearing of anyone, Lennard slowed down hispace a little and said somewhat abruptly:

"Westerham, I am going to ask you a question which you will probablythink a rather impertinent one, and, moreover, whether you choose toanswer it or not, I hope you will not for the present ask me why I askit. Now there are a good many 'asks' in that, but as the matter issomewhat important to both of us, I wanted to put the thing plainly, even at the expense of a little tautology. "

Lord Westerham, in addition to being a gentleman and a soldier, was alsoone of the most frankly open-minded men that another honest man couldwish to have anything to do with, and so, after a long pull at hiscigar, he looked round and said:

"My dear Lennard, we were school-fellows once, and we managed to worrythrough Cambridge together--you with a great deal more kudos than Idid--and we have been very good friends since, so there can't be anyquestion of impertinence between us, although there might be someunpleasantness for one or both of us. But, anyhow, whatever it is, outwith it. Honestly, I don't think you could offend me if you tried. "

"That's just what I thought you would say, " replied Lennard. "And Ithink you are about the only man I should like to ask such a question;but after what you've just said I'll put it just as shortly as it can bemade. "

"And the question is?" asked Lord Westerham, blowing a long stream ofblue smoke up through the still air towards the tops of the pine trees. 

There was a little pause, during which Lennard bit off about half aninch of the end of his cigar, spat it out, and took two or three morepuffs from what was left. Then he said, in a dry, almost harsh tone:

"The question is quite a short one, Westerham, and you can answer it bya simple yes or no. It's just this: Do you intend to make Miss ParmenterMarchioness of Westerham or not? Other things of course being equal, aswe used to say at school. "

Somewhat to Lennard's astonishment, Lord Westerham's cigar shot from hislips like a torpedo from a tube, and after it came an explosion oflaughter, which fully accounted for its sudden ejectment. His lordshipleant up against a convenient pine and laughed till he was almostspeechless. 

"What the devil's the matter with you, Westerham?" said Lennard, with anote of anger in his voice. "You'll excuse my saying so, but it seemshardly a question for a sort of explosion like that. I have been askingyou a question which, as you might have seen, concerns me ratherclosely. "

Lord Westerham sobered down at once, although his voice was stillsomewhat tremulous with suppressed laughter when he said:

"My dear chap, I'm very sorry. It was beastly rude of me to laugh, butI'm quite sure you'll forgive me when you know the facts or, at least, _the_ fact, and that is as follows, as they say in the newspapers. WhenI tell you that your sweetheart drove my sweetheart up to the houseto-day from Settle--"

"What, Norah Castellan!" exclaimed Lennard. "I didn't even know that youhad met her before. "

"Haven't I!" replied Lord Westerham. "Look here, it was this way. "

And then he began a story of a fishing and shooting trip to Connemara, where he had rented certain salmon streams and shooting moors from asquire of the county, named Lismore, who was very much in love withNorah Castellan, and how he had fished and shot and yachted with her andthe brother who had sold his diabolical inventions to the enemies ofEngland, until he had come to love the sister as much as he hated thebrother. And when he had done, Lennard told him of the swimming race inClifden Bay, and many other things to which Lord Westerham listened withan interest which grew more and more intense as every minute passed;until when Lennard stopped, he crossed the road and held out his handand said:

"I've got the very place to suit you. A cannel-coal mine near Bolton inLancashire with a perpendicular shaft, twelve hundred feet deep. Thevery place to do your work. It's yours from to-day, and if the thingcomes off, Papa Parmenter shall give a couple of hundred thousand dowryinstead of buying the mine. I don't think he'll kick at that. Now, let'sgo back and have a whisky-and-soda. I've got to be off recruitingto-morrow. "

"I wish I could join the Yeomanry and come with you, if you would haveme, " laughed Lennard, whose spirits had been rising rapidly during thelast half-hour or so, "only I reckon, as Mr Parmenter would put it, thatI shall have all my work cut out getting ready to give our celestialinvader a warm reception. To begin with, it won't exactly be child'splay building a cannon twelve hundred feet long. "

"I wonder what they'd think of a proposition like that at the WarOffice?" laughed Lord Westerham in reply. "Several permanent officialswould certainly faint on the spot. "

A sharp frost set in during the night, and the sky was brilliantlyclear. After dinner, when the ladies had left the table, Lennard said toMr Parmenter:

"I am going to renew my acquaintance with our celestial visitorto-night. I shall want a couple of hours to run over my calculations andverify the position of the comet up to date; and then, say at eleveno'clock, I should like you and Lord Westerham to come up to theobservatory and have a somewhat serious talk. "

The owner of the great reflector looked up quickly over his wine-glassand said:

"Look here, Mr Lennard, I guess this poor old country of yours has aboutenough serious matters on hand just now without worrying about comets. What's the trouble now?"

"My dear sir, " replied Lennard, gravely, "this is a matter which notonly England, but every other country in the world, will have to troubleabout before very long. "

"Say, that sounds pretty serious, " said Mr Parmenter. "What's the worrywith this old comet of yours, anyhow?"

Lord Westerham smiled, and Lennard could not help smiling too as hereplied:

"It is too long a story to tell now, sir, and what is more, I cannottell it until I have reverified my observations and figures, and, besides, the ladies will be expecting us. I shall be quite ready for youby eleven. By the way, I haven't told you yet that those shells were aperfect success, from our point of view, at least. It seems rathercurious how that all came about, I must say. Here's Denis Castellan, thebrother of the traitor, a British naval officer, and like his sister anacquaintance of Westerham's. I discover the explosive, tell you aboutit, you tell Westerham, and send me off to try it on the _Ithuriel_, andhere I come back from London with Miss Castellan and her aunt. "

"Quite an excellent arrangement of things on the part of the Fates, "remarked Lord Westerham, with a meaning which Mr Parmenter did notunderstand. 

"Why, yes, " said their host, "quite like a piece out of a story, isn'tit? And so that explosive got its work in all right, Mr Lennard?"

"As far as we could see, " replied Lennard. "It tore steel armour intoshreds as if it had been cardboard, and didn't leave a living thinganywhere within several yards of the focus of the explosion. Erskine andCastellan are filling up with it, and I expect we shall hear somethingabout it from London before long. I am glad to say that Lord Beresfordtold me that after what he had seen of our fire, Government and privategun factories were going to work night and day turning out pneumaticguns to use it. The effect of it on land if a battery once gets withinreach of large masses of men will be something frightful. "

"Sounds pretty useful, " said Lord Westerham, who was one of thosesoldiers who rightly believe that the most merciless methods of wagingwar are in the end most merciful. 

By nine o'clock Lennard was in the equatorial chamber of theobservatory, taking his first observations since he had left forPortsmouth the week before. The ghostly shape pictured on the greatreflector was bigger and brighter now, although, to his great comfort, none of the scientific papers had made any mention of its discovery byother observers. When he had noted its exact position, he went to hisdesk and plunged into a maze of calculations. 

Precisely at eleven there was a tap at the door and Mr Parmenter andLord Westerham came in. Lord Westerham, as the guest, had the first lookat the approaching World Peril; then Mr Parmenter took a long squintinto the eye-piece and then they sat down, and Lennard told MrParmenter, in the cold, precise language of science, the story which hehad already told to Auriole and Lord Westerham. 

The millionaire, who had listened with an attention that even he hadnever given to any subject before, smoked in silence for a few momentsafter Lennard had finished, and then he said quietly:

"Well, I reckon that's about the biggest order that two or three humanbeings have ever been called upon to fill. One thing's certain. It'dmake these fighting fellows feel pretty foolish if they could be got tobelieve it, which they couldn't. No disrespect to you, Lord Westerham, because I take it you do believe it. "

"Certainly I do, " he replied. "Lennard was never known to make a mistakein figures, and I am perfectly certain that he would not make any inworking out such a terrific problem as this. I think I may also say thatI have equal confidence in his plan for saving humanity from theterrible fate which threatens it. "

"That's good hearing, " said Mr Parmenter, drily. "Personally, I don'tquite feel that I've finished up with this old world yet, and if it's aquestion of dollars--as far as I'm concerned, as I've got a few millionshanging around loose, I might as well use them to help to save the humanrace from being burnt to death as to run corners and trusts, whichwon't be much use anyhow if we can't stop this comet, or whatever it is. Now, Mr Lennard, what's your plan for the scientific salvation of theworld?"

"There is nothing new about the idea, " replied Lennard, "except itsapplication to the present circumstances. Of course you have read JulesVerne's _Journey to the Moon_? Well, my plan is simply to do the samething on a much bigger scale, only instead of firing men and dogs andchickens out of my cannon, I am going to fire something like a ton and ahalf of explosives. 

"The danger is in the contact of the nucleus of the comet with theearth's atmosphere. If that can be prevented there is no further causefor alarm; so, to put the matter quite shortly, my projectile will havean initial velocity of ten miles a second, and therefore a range that ispractically infinite, for that velocity will carry it beyond the sphereof the earth's attraction. 

"Hence, if the gun is properly trained and fired at precisely the rightmoment, and if the fuse does its work, the projectile will pass into thenucleus of the comet, and, before the heat has time to melt the shell, the charge will explode and the nucleus--the only dangerous part--willeither be blown to fragments or dissipated in gas. Therefore, instead ofwhat I might be allowed to call a premature Day of Judgment, we shallsimply have a magnificent display of celestial fireworks, which willprobably amount to nothing more than an unparalleled shower of shootingstars, as they are popularly called. 

"The details of the experiment will be practically the same as thoseJules Verne described--I mean as regards the making and firing of thecannon--only, as we haven't time to get a big enough hole dug, I shouldstrongly advise the acceptance of Lord Westerham's very opportuneoffer. "

"That's so, " said Mr Parmenter, quietly, "but I've got a sort of fancyfor running this business myself. My reflector discovered this comet, thanks, of course, to the good use you made of it, and it seems to methat I'm in a way responsible for making it harmless if that can bedone, and so I'm not disposed to take that convenient colliery as a giftfrom anyone, no, not even you, Lord Westerham. You see, my lord, allthat I can do here is just finding the dollars, and to a man in yourposition, doing his best to get as many men and horses and guns togetherfor the defence of his country, money is money. Will you take a quarterof a million pounds for that colliery?"

"No, I won't, Mr Parmenter, " laughed Lord Westerham. "In the firstplace, the colliery isn't worth a tenth of that, and this country canvery well afford to pay for her own defence. Besides, you must rememberthat you will have to pay for the work: I mean casing the pit-shaft, smelting the metal and building the shell, to say nothing of thethousand and one other expenses of which Lennard can tell you more thanI. For one thing, I expect you will have a hundred thousand or so to payin damage to surrounding property after that cannon has gone off. Inother words, if you do save the world you'll probably have to pay prettystiffly for doing it. They're excellent business people in Lancashire, you know. "

"I don't quite see the logic of that, Lord Westerham, " replied MrParmenter a little testily. "If we can put this business through, thedollars couldn't be much better used, and if we can't they won't be muchuse to me or anyone else. It's worth doing, anyhow, if it's only to showwhat new-world enterprise helped with old-world brains can do inbringing off a really big thing, and that's why I want to buy thatcolliery. "

"Well, Mr Parmenter, " laughed Lord Westerham again, "we won't quarrelover that. I'm not a business man, but I believe it's generallyrecognised that the essence of all business is compromise. I'll meet youhalf way. For the present you shall take the pit for nothing and pay allexpense connected with making a cannon of it. If that cannon does itswork you shall pay me two hundred thousand pounds for the use of it--andI'll take your I. O. U. For the amount now. Will that suit you?"

"That's business, " said Mr Parmenter, getting up and going to Lennard'sdesk. "There you are, my lord, " he continued, as he came back with ahalf sheet of notepaper in his hand, "and I only hope I shall have topay that money. "

CHAPTER XIX

A CHANGE OF SCENE

The _Ithuriel_ had orders to call at Folkestone and Dover in order toreport the actual state of affairs there to the Commander-in-Chief bytelegraph if Erskine could get ashore or by flash-signal if he couldnot, and incidentally to do as much damage as he could without unduerisk to his craft if he considered that circumstances demanded it. 

He arrived off Folkestone just before dusk, and, as he expected, foundthat there were half a dozen large transports, carrying probably eightthousand men and a proportionate number of horses and quick-firing guns, convoyed by four cruisers and ten destroyers, lying off the harbour. There were evidently no airships with the force, as, if there had been, they would certainly have been hovering over the town and shellingShorncliffe Barracks and the forts from the air. A brisk artillery duelwas proceeding between the land batteries and the squadron, and thehandsome town was already in flames in several places. 

Erskine, of course, recognised at once that this attack was simultaneouswith that on Dover; the object of the enemy being obviously the captureof the shore line of railway between the two great Channel ports, whichwould provide the base of a very elongated triangle, the sides of whichwould be roughly formed by the roads and railways running to thewestward and southward through Ashford and Maidstone, and to thenorthward and eastward through Canterbury, Faversham and Sittingbourne, and meeting at Rochester and Chatham, where the land forces of theinvaders would, if all went well, co-operate with the sea forces in acombined attack on London, which would, of course, be preceded by abombardment of fortified positions from the air. 

Knowing what he did of the disastrous results of the battle ofPortsmouth, he came to the conclusion that it was his duty to upset thisplan of attack at all hazards, so he called Castellan up into theconning-tower and asked his advice on the situation. 

"I see just what you mean, Erskine, " replied the Lieutenant, when he hadtaken a good look at the map of Kent, "and it's my opinion that you'lldo more to help London from here and Dover just now than you will fromthe Thames. Those French cruisers are big ones, though I don't quiterecognise which they are, and they carry twice or three times the metalthat those miserable forts do--which comes of trusting everything to theFleet, as though these were the days of wooden walls and sails insteadof steam battleships, fast cruisers and destroyers, to say nothing ofsubmarines and airships. These Frenchies here don't know anything aboutthe hammering they've got at Portsmouth and the capture of thetransports, so they'll be expecting that force to be moving on London bythe Brighton and South Coast line instead of re-building our forts anddockyards; so you go in and sink and smash everything in sight. That'sjust my best advice to you. "

"It seems pretty rough on those chaps on the transports, doesn't it?"said Erskine, with a note of regret in his voice. "We sha'n't be able topick up any of them. It will be pretty like murder. "

"And what's that?" exclaimed Castellan, pointing to the fires in thetown. "Don't ye call shelling a defenceless watering-place and burningunarmed people to death in their own homes murder? What if ye had yoursister, or your mother, or your sweetheart there? How would ye feelabout murder then?"

Denis Castellan spoke feelingly, for his captain possessed not only amother, but also a very charming sister in connection with whom hecherished certain not altogether ill-founded hopes which might perchancebe realised now that war had come and promotion was fairly sure forthose who "got through all right. "

Erskine nodded and said between his teeth:

"Yes, you're right, old man. Such mercy as they give--such shall theyhave. Get below and take charge. We'd better go for the cruisers firstand sink them. That'll stop the shelling of the town anyhow. Then we'lltackle the destroyers, and after that, if the transports don'tsurrender--well, the Lord have mercy on them when those shells ofLennard's get among them, for they'll want it. "

"And divil a bit better do they deserve. What have we done to them thatthey should all jump on us at once like this?" growled Denis as theplatform sank with him. "There isn't one, no, nor two of them that daretackle the old sea-dog alone. "

Which remark was Irish but perfectly true. 

By this time it was dusk enough for the _Ithuriel_ to approach theunsuspecting cruisers unseen, as nothing but her conning-tower was soonvisible, even at five hundred yards, and this would vanish when she sankto make her final rush. 

The cruisers were the _Charner_, _Chanzy_, _Bruix_ and_Latouche-Treville_, all of about five thousand tons, and carrying two7. 6 in. , six 5. 5 in. And six 9 pounders in addition to their smallquick-firers. They were steaming in an oval course of about two mileslong in line ahead, delivering their bow, stern and broadside fire asthey circled. The effect of the shells along the strip of coast wasterrible, and by the time the _Ithuriel_ came on the scene of actionSandgate, Shorncliffe and Folkestone were ablaze. The destroyers were ofcourse shepherding the transports until the cruisers had silenced theshore batteries and prepared the way for the landing. 

The _Latouche-Treville_ was leading the French line when Erskine gavethe order to sink and ram. Her captain never so much as suspected thepresence of a British warship until his vessel reeled under the shock ofthe ram, trembled from stem to stern, and began to settle quickly by thehead. Before she had time to sink the _Ithuriel_ had shaken herselffree, swung round in half a curve, and ripped the port quarter of the_Chanzy_ open ten feet below the water line. Then she charged the_Bruix_ amidships and nearly cut her in half, and as the _Charner_steamed up to the rescue of her stricken consorts her screws dragged herback from the sinking ship and her stern ram crashed into theFrenchman's starboard side under the foremast, and in about a quarter ofan hour from the delivery of the mysterious attack the four Frenchcruisers were either sunk or sinking. 

It would be almost impossible to describe the effect which was producedby this sudden and utterly unexpected calamity, not only upon theastounded invaders, but upon the defenders, who, having received thewelcome tidings of the tremendous disaster which had befallen the FrenchExpedition at Portsmouth, were expecting aid in a very different form. Like their assailants, they had seen nothing, heard nothing, until theFrench cruisers suddenly ceased fire, rolled over and disappeared. 

But a few minutes after the _Charner_ had gone down, all anxiety on thepart of the defenders was, for the time being, removed. The _Ithuriel_rose to the surface; her searchlight projector turned inshore, and sheflashed in the Private Code:

 "Suppose you have the news from Portsmouth. I am now going to smash destroyers and sink transports if they don't surrender. Don't shoot: might hurt me. Get ready for prisoners. ERSKINE, _Ithuriel_. "

It was perhaps the most singular message that had ever been sent from asea force to a land force, but it was as well understood as it waswelcome, and soon the answering signals flashed back:

 "Well done, _Ithuriel_. Heard news. Go ahead!"

Then came the turn of the destroyers. The _Ithuriel_ rose out of thewater till her forward ram showed its point six feet above the waves. Erskine ordered full speed, and within another twenty-five minutes thetragedy of Spithead had been repeated on a smaller scale. The destroyingmonster rushed round the transports, hunting the _torpilleurs de hautemer_ down one after the other as a greyhound might run rabbits down, smashed them up and sank them almost before their officers and crew hadtime to learn what had happened to them--and then with his searchlightErskine signalled to the transports in the International Code, which isuniversally understood at sea:

 "Transports steam quarter speed into harbour and surrender. If a shot is fired shall sink you as others. "

Five of the six flags came down with a run and all save one of thetransports made slowly for the harbour. Their commanders were wiseenough to know that a demon of the deep which could sink cruisers beforethey could fire a shot and smash destroyers as if they were pleasureboats could make very short work of liners and cargo steamers, so theybowed to the inevitable and accepted with what grace they could defeatand capture instead of what an hour or so ago looked like certainvictory. But the captain of the sixth, the one that was farthest out tosea, made a dash for liberty--or Dover. 

Erskine took down the receiver and said quietly:

 "Centre forward gun. Train: fire!"

The next moment a brilliant blaze of flame leapt up between thetransport's funnels. They crumpled up like scorched parchment. Herwhole super-structure seemed to take fire at once and she stopped. 

Again flashed the signal:

 "Surrender or I'll ram. "

The Tricolor fluttered slowly down through the damp, still evening airfrom the transport's main truck, and almost at the same moment a fussylittle steam pinnace--which had been keeping itself snugly out of harm'sway since the first French cruiser had gone down--puffed busily out ofthe harbour, and the proudest midshipman in the British Navy--for thetime being, at least--ran from transport to transport, crowded withfurious and despairing Frenchmen, and told them, individually andcollectively, the course to steer if they wanted to get safely intoFolkestone harbour and be properly taken care of. 

Then out of the growing darkness to the westward long gleams of silverlight flashed up from the dull grey water and wandered about theunder-surface of the gathering clouds, coming nearer and growingbrighter every minute, jumping about the firmament as though the menbehind the projectors were either mad or drunk; but the signals speltout to those who understood them the cheering words:

 "All right. We'll look after these fellows. Commander-in-Chief's orders: Concentrate on Chilham, Canterbury and Dover. "

"That's all right, " said Erskine to himself, as he read the signals. "Beresford's got them comfortably settled already, and he's sendingsomeone to help here. Well, I think we've done our share and we'd betterget along to Dover and London. "

He flashed the signal: "Good-bye and good luck!" to the shore, andshaped his course for Dover. 

So far, in spite of the terrible losses that had been sustained by theReserve Fleet and the Channel Fleet, the odds of battle were still along way in favour of Britain, in spite of the enormous forces rangedagainst her. At least so thought both Erskine and Castellan until theygot within about three miles of Dover harbour, and Castellan, looking onsea and land and sky, exclaimed:

"Great Heaven help us! This looks like the other place let loose!"

CHAPTER XX

THE NIGHT OF TERROR BEGINS--

Denis Castellan had put the situation tersely, but with a considerableamount of accuracy. Earth and sea and sky were ablaze with swarms ofshooting, shifting lights, which kept crossing each other and makingever-changing patterns of a magnificent embroidery, and amidst these, huge shells and star-rockets were bursting in clouds of smoke andmany-coloured flame. The thunder of the big guns, the grinding rattle ofthe quick-firers, and the hoarse, whistling shrieks of the shells, completed the awful pandemonium of destruction and death that was raginground Dover. 

The truth was that the main naval attack of the Allies was beingdirected on the south-eastern stronghold. I am aware that this is notthe usual plan followed by those who have written romantic forecasts ofthe invasion of England. It seems at first sight, provided that theenemy could pass the sentinels of the sea unnoticed, easy to land troopson unprotected portions of our shores; but, in actual warfare, thiswould be the most fatal policy that could be pursued, simply because, whatever the point selected, the invaders would always find themselvesbetween two strong places, with one or more ahead of them. They wouldthus be outflanked on all sides, with no retreat open but the sea, whichis the most easily closed of all retreats. 

From their point of view, then, the Allies were perfectly right in theirproject of reducing the great strongholds of southern and easternEngland, before advancing with their concentrated forces upon London. It would, of course, be a costly operation. In fact Britain's longimmunity from invasion went far to prove that, to enemies possessingonly the ordinary means of warfare, it would have been impossible, but, ever since the success of the experiment at Potsdam, German engineeringfirms had been working hard under John Castellan's directions turningout improved models of the _Flying Fish_. The various parts weremanufactured at great distances apart, and no one firm knew what theothers were doing. It was only when the parts of the vessels and theengines were delivered at the closely-guarded Imperial factory atPotsdam, that, under Castellan's own supervision, they became theterrible fighting machines that they were. 

The Aërial Fleet numbered twenty when war broke out, and of these fivehad been detailed for the attack on Dover. They were in fact theelements which made that attack possible, and, as is already known, fourwere co-operating with the Northern Division of the Allied Fleetsagainst the forts defending Chatham and London. 

Dover was at that time one of the most strongly fortified places in theworld. Its magnificent new harbour had been completed, and itsfortifications vastly strengthened and re-armed with the newfourteen-inch gun which had superseded the old sixteen-inch gun ofposition, on account of its greater handiness, combined with greaterpenetrating power. 

But at Dover, as at Portsmouth, the forts were powerless against theassaults of these winged demons of the air. They were able to use theirterrible projectiles with reckless profusion, because only twenty-twomiles away at Calais there were inexhaustible stores from which theycould replenish their magazines. Moreover, the private factory at Kiel, where alone they were allowed to be manufactured, were turning them outby hundreds a day. 

They had, of course, formed the vanguard of the attacking force whichhad advanced in three divisions in column of line abreast from Boulogne, Calais and Antwerp. The Boulogne and Calais divisions were French, andeach consisted of six battleships with the usual screens of cruisers, destroyers and torpedo boats: these two divisions constituted the FrenchNorth Sea Squadron, whose place had been taken by the main German Fleet, assisted by the Belgian and Dutch squadron. 

Another German and Russian division was advancing on London. It includedfour first-class battleships, and two heavily-armed coast defence ships, huge floating fortresses, rather slow in speed, but tremendous in power, which accompanied them for the purpose of battering the fortifications, and doing as much damage to Woolwich and other important places on bothsides as their big guns could achieve. Four _Flying Fishes_ accompaniedthis division. 

Such was the general plan of action on that fatal night. Confident inthe terrific powers of their Aërial Squadrons, and ignorant of theexistence of the _Ithuriel_, the Allied Powers never considered thepossibilities of anything but rapid victory. They knew that the fortscould no more withstand the shock of the bombardment from the air thanbattleships or cruisers could resist the equally deadly blow which thesesame diabolical contrivances could deliver under the water. 

They had not the slightest doubt but that forts would be silenced andfleets put out of action with a swiftness unknown before, and then thecrowded transports would follow the victorious fleets, and the militarypromenade upon London would begin, headed by the winged messengers ofdestruction, from which neither flight nor protection was possible. 

Of course, the leaders of the Allies were in ignorance of themisfortunes they had suffered at Portsmouth and Folkestone. All theyknew they learned from aerograms, one from Admiral Durenne off the Isleof Wight saying that the Portsmouth forts had been silenced and theFleet action had begun, and another from the Commodore of the squadronoff Folkestone saying that all was going well, and the landing wouldshortly be effected: and thus they fully expected to have the threetowns and the entrance to the Thames at their mercy by the followingday. 

Certainly, as far as Dover was concerned, things looked very much asthough their anticipations would be realised, for when the _Ithuriel_arrived upon the scene, Dover Castle and its surrounding forts werevomiting flame and earth into the darkening sky, like so many volcanoes. The forts on Admiralty Pier, Shakespear Cliff, and those commanding thenew harbour works, had been silenced and blown up, and the town andbarracks were in flames in many places. 

The scene was, in short, so inhumanly appalling, and horror followedhorror with such paralysing rapidity, that the most practisedcorrespondents and the most experienced officers, both afloat andashore, were totally unable to follow them and describe what washappening with anything like coherence. It was simply an inferno ofdeath and destruction, which no human words could have properlydescribed, and perhaps the most ghastly feature of it was the fact thatthere was no human agency visible in it at all. There was no Homericstruggle of man with man, although many a gallant deed was done thatnight which never was seen nor heard of, and many a hero went to hisdeath without so much as leaving behind him the memory of how he died. 

It was a conflict of mechanical giants--giant ships, giant engines, giant guns, and explosives of something more than giant strength. Thesewere the monsters which poor, deluded Humanity, like anotherFrankenstein, had thought out with infinite care and craft, andfashioned for its own mutual destruction. Men had made a hell out oftheir own passions and greed and jealousies, and now that hell hadopened and mankind was about to descend into it. 

The sea-defence of Dover itself consisted of the Home Fleet in threedivisions, composed respectively of the _England_, _London_, _Bulwark_and _Venerable_, _Queen_ and _Prince of Wales_ battleships, and tenfirst-class armoured cruisers, the _Duncan_, _Cornwallis_, _Exmouth_ and_Russell_ battleships, with twelve armoured cruisers, and thirdly, thereconstructed and re-armed _Empress of India_, _Revenge_, _Repulse_ and_Resolution_, with eight armoured cruisers. To the north between Doverand the North Foreland lay the Southern Division of the North SeaSquadron. 

When the battle had commenced these three divisions were lying in theirrespective stations, in column of line ahead about six miles from theEnglish shore. Behind them lay a swarm of destroyers and torpedo boats, ready to dart out and do their deadly work between the ships, and tensubmarines were attached to each division. The harbour and approacheswere, of course, plentifully strewn with mines. 

"It's an awful sight, " said Castellan, with a note of awe in his voice, when they had taken in the situation with the rapidity and precision ofthe professional eye. "And to me the worst of it is that it won't besafe for us to take a share in the row. "

"What!" exclaimed Erskine, almost angrily. "Do you mean to tell me wesha'n't be able to help our fellows? Then what on earth have we comehere for?"

"Just look there, now!" said Castellan, pointing ahead to where hugeshapes, enveloped in a mist of flame and smoke, were circling round eachother, vomiting their thunderbolts, like leviathans engaged in averitable dance of death. 

"D'ye see that!" continued Denis. "What good would we be among that lot?The _Ithuriel_ hasn't eyes on her that can see through the dark water, and if she had, how would we tell the bottom of a French or German shipfrom a Britisher's, and a nice thing it would be for us to go aboutsinking the King's ships, and helping those foreign devils to land inold England! No, Erskine, this ship of yours is a holy terror, but she'sa daylight fighter. Don't you see that we came too late, and wait tillto-morrow we can't, and there's the Duke's orders. 

"I'll tell you what, " he continued more cheerfully, as the _Ithuriel_cleared the southern part of the battle, "if we could get at thetransports we might have some fun with them, but they'll all be safeenough in port, loading up, and there's not much chance that they'llcome out till our boys have been beaten and the roads are clear forthem. Then they'll go across thinking they'll meet their pals fromPortsmouth and Folkestone. Now, you see that line out there to thenorth-eastward?"

"Yes, " said Erskine, looking towards a long row of dim shapes whichevery now and then were brought out into ominous distinctness by theflashes of the shells and searchlights. 

"Well, " continued Castellan, "if I know anything of naval tactics, that's the Reserve lot waiting till the battle's over. They thinkthey'll win, and I think so too, thanks to those devil-ships my brotherhas made for them. Even if Beresford does come up in time, he can nomore fight against them than anybody else. Now, there's just one chancethat we can give him, and that is sinking the Reserve; for, you see, ifwe've only half a dozen ships left that can shoot a bit in the morning, they won't dare to put their transports out without a convoy, and unlessthey land them, well, they're no use. "

"Castellan, " said Erskine, putting his hand on his shoulder, "you'll bean admiral some day. Certainly, we'll go for the convoy, for I'll bekicked if I can stand here watching all that going on and not have ahand in it. We'd better sink, and use nothing but the ram, I suppose. "

"Why, of course, " replied Castellan. "It would never do to shoot atthem. There are too many, and besides, we don't want them to know thatwe're here until we've sent them to the bottom. "

"And a lot they'll know about it then!" laughed Erskine. "All right, " hecontinued, taking down the receiver. "Courtney and Mac can see to thesinking, so you'd better stop here with me and see the fun. "

"That I will, with all the pleasure in life and death, " said Castellangrimly, as Erskine gave his orders and the _Ithuriel_ immediately beganto sink. 

Castellan was perfectly right in his conjecture as to the purpose of theReserve. 

The French and German Squadron, which was intended for the last rushthrough the remnants of the crippled British fleet, consisted of fourFrench and three German battleships, old and rather slow, but heavilyarmed, and much more than a match for the vessels which had alreadypassed through the terrible ordeal of battle. In addition there were sixfast second-class cruisers, and about a score of torpedo boats. 

With her decks awash and the conning-tower just on a level with theshort, choppy waves, the _Ithuriel_ ran round to the south of the lineat ten knots, as they were anxious not to kick up any fuss in the water, lest a chance searchlight from the enemy might fall upon them, and leadto trouble. She got within a mile of the first cruiser unobserved, andthen Erskine gave the order to quicken up. They had noticed that thewind was rising, and they knew that within half an hour the tide wouldbe setting southward like a mill-race through the narrow strait. 

Their tactics therefore were very simple. Every cruiser and battleshipwas rammed in the sternpost; not very hard, but with sufficient force tocrumple up the sternpost, and disable the rudder and the propellers, andwith such precision was this done, that, until the signals of distressbegan to flash, the uninjured ships and the nearest of those engaged inthe battle were under the impression that orders had been given for theReserve to move south. But this supposition very soon gave place topanic as ship after ship swung helplessly inshore, impelled by theever-strengthening tide towards the sands of Calais and the rocks ofGris Nez. 

Searchlights flashed furiously, but Erskine and Castellan had alreadytaken the bearings of the remaining ships, and the _Ithuriel_, now tenfeet below the water, and steered solely by compass, struck ship aftership, till the whole of the Reserve was drifting helplessly todestruction. 

This, as they had both guessed, produced a double effect on the battle. In the first place it was impossible for the Allies to see theirReserve, upon which so much might depend, in such a helpless plight, andthe admirals commanding were therefore obliged to detach ships to helpthem; and on the other hand, the British were by no means slow to takeadvantage of the position. A score of torpedo boats, and half as manydestroyers, dashed out from behind the British lines, and, rushingthrough the hurricane of shell that was directed upon them, ran past thebroken line of unmanageable cruisers and battleships, and torpedoed themat easy range. True, half of them were crumpled up, and sent to thebottom during the process, but that is a contingency which Britishtorpedo officers and men never take the slightest notice of. Thedisabled ships were magnificent marks for torpedoes, and they had to godown, wherefore down they went. 

Meanwhile the _Ithuriel_ had been having a merry time among the torpedoflotilla of the Reserve Squadron. She rose flush with the water, put onfull speed, and picked them up one after another on the end of her ram, and tossed them aside into the depths as rapidly as an enraged whalemight have disposed of a fleet of whaleboats. 

The last boat had hardly gone down when signals were seen flashing upinto the sky from over Dungeness. 

"That's Beresford to the rescue, " said Castellan, in a notover-cheerful voice. "Now if it wasn't for those devil-ships of mybrother's there'd be mighty little left of the Allied Fleet to-morrowmorning; but I'm afraid he won't be able to do anything against thoseamphibious _Flying Fishes_, as he calls them. Now, we'd better be off toLondon. "

CHAPTER XXI

--AND ENDS

The defenders of Dover, terribly as they had suffered, and hopeless asthe defence really now seemed to be, were still not a little cheered bythe tidings of the complete and crushing defeat which had been inflictedby Admiral Beresford and the _Ithuriel_ on the French at Portsmouth andFolkestone, and the brilliant capture of the whole of the twoExpeditionary Forces. Now, too, the destruction of the Allied Reservemade it possible to hope that at least a naval victory might beobtained, and the transports prevented from crossing until the remainsof the British Fleet Reserve could be brought up to the rescue. 

At any rate it might be possible, in spite of sunken ships and shatteredfortifications, to prevent, at least for a while, the pollution ofEnglish soil by the presence of hostile forces, and to get on with themobilisation of regulars, militia, yeomanry and volunteers, which, asmight have been expected, this sudden declaration of war found in theusual state of hopeless muddle and chaos. 

But, even in the event of complete victory by sea, there would still bethose terrible cruisers of the air to be reckoned with, and they wereknown to be as efficient as submarines as they were as airships. 

Still, much had been done, and it was no use going to meet troublehalfway. Moreover, Beresford's guns were beginning to talk down yonderto the southward, and it was time for what was left of the North SeaSquadron and the Home Fleet to reform and manoeuvre, so as to work tothe north-eastward, and get the enemy between the two British forces. 

A very curious thing came to pass now. The French and German Fleets, though still much superior to the defenders, had during that first awfulhour of the assault received a terrible mauling, especially from thelarge guns of the _England_ and the _Scotland_--sisters of the_Britain_, and the flagships respectively of the North Sea Squadron andthe Home Fleet--and the totally unexpected and inexplicable loss oftheir reserve; but the guns booming to the south-westward could only bethose of Admiral Durenne's victorious fleet. He would bring themreinforcements more than enough, and with him, too, would come the three_Flying Fishes_, which had been commissioned to destroy Portsmouth andthe battleships of the British Reserve. There need be no fear of notgetting the transports across now, and then the march of victory wouldbegin. 

In a few minutes the fighting almost entirely ceased. The ships whichhad been battering each other so heartily separated as if by mutualconsent, and the French and German admirals steamed to thesouth-westward to join their allies and sweep the Strait of Dover clearof those who had for so many hundred years considered--yes, and keptit--as their own sea-freehold. 

At the same time private signals were flashed through the air to the_Flying Fishes_ to retire on Calais, replenish their ammunition andmotive power, which they had been using so lavishly, and return atdaybreak. 

Thus what was left of Dover, its furiously impotent soldiery, and itssorely stricken inhabitants, had a respite at least until day dawned andshowed them the extent of the ruin that had been wrought. 

It was nearly midnight when the three fleets joined, and just abouteight bells the clouds parted and dissolved under the impact of a stiffnor'-easter, which had been gathering strength for the last two hours. The war smoke drifted away, and the moon shone down clearly on the nowwhite-crested battlefield. 

By its light and their own searchlights the French and German admirals, steaming as they thought to join hands with their victorious friends, saw the strangest and most exasperating sight that their eyes had everbeheld. The advancing force was a curiously composed one. Trained, asthey were, to recognise at first sight every warship of every nation, they could nevertheless hardly believe their eyes. There were sixbattleships in the centre of the first line. One was the _Britain_, three others were of the _Edward the Seventh_ class; two were French. Ofthe sixteen cruisers which formed the wings, seven were French--andevery warship of the whole lot was flying the White Ensign!

Did it mean disaster--almost impossible disaster--or was it only a _rusede guerre_?

They were not left very long in doubt. At three miles from a directionalmost due south-east of Dover, the advancing battleships opened firewith their heavy forward guns, and the cruisers spread out in a fan oneither side of the French and German Fleets. The _Britain_, as thoughglorying in her strength and speed, steamed ahead in solitary prideright into the midst of the Allies, thundering and flaming ahead andfrom each broadside. The _Braunschweig_ had the bad luck to get in herway. She made a desperate effort to get out of it; but eighteen knotswas no good against twenty-five. The huge ram crashed into her vitals asshe swerved, and reeling and pitching like some drunken leviathan, shewent down with a mighty plunge, and the _Britain_ ploughed on over theeddies that marked her ocean grave. 

This was the beginning of the greatest and most decisive sea-fight thathad been fought since Trafalgar. The sailors of Britain knew that theywere fighting not only for the honour of their King and country, but, asBritish sailors had not done for a hundred and four years, for the veryexistence of England and the Empire. On the other hand, the Allies knewthat this battle meant the loss or the keeping of the command of thesea, and therefore the possibility or otherwise of starving the UnitedKingdom into submission after the landing had been effected. 

So from midnight until dawn battleship thundered against battleship, andcruiser engaged cruiser, while the torpedo craft darted with flamingfunnels in and out among the wrestling giants, and the submarines didtheir deadly work in silence. Miracles of valour and devotion wereachieved on both sides. From admiral and commodore and captain in theconning-towers to officers and men in barbettes and casemates, and thesweating stokers and engineers in their steel prisons--which might wellbecome their tombs--every man risked and gave his life as cheerfully asthe most reckless commander or seaman on the torpedo flotillas. 

It was a fight to the death, and every man knew it, and accepted thefact with the grim joy of the true fighting man. 

Naturally, no detailed description of the battle of Dover would bepossible, even if it were necessary to the narrative. Not a man whosurvived it could have written such a description. All that was known tothe officials on shore was that every now and then an aerogram came, telling in broken fragments of the sinking of a battleship or cruiser onone side or the other, and the gradual weakening of the enemy's defence;but to those who were waiting and watching so anxiously along the lineof cliffs, the only tidings that came were told by the gradualslackening of the battle-thunder, and the ever-diminishing frequency ofthe pale flashes of flame gleaming through the drifting gusts of smoke. 

Then at last morning dawned, and the pale November sun lit up as sorry ascene as human eyes had ever looked upon. Not a fourth of the shipswhich had gone into action on either side were still afloat, and thesewere little better than drifting wrecks. 

All along the shore from East Wear Bay to the South Foreland lay theshattered, shell-riddled hulks of what twelve hours before had been thefinest battleships and cruisers afloat, run ashore in despair to savethe lives of the few who had come alive through that awful battle-storm. Outside them showed the masts and fighting-tops of those which had sunkbefore reaching shore, and outside these again lay a score or so ofbattleships and a few armoured cruisers, some down by the head, some bythe stern, and some listing badly to starboard or port--still afloat, and still with a little fight left in them, in spite of their gashedsides, torn decks, riddled topworks and smashed barbettes. 

But, ghastly as the spectacle was, it was not long before a mighty cheerwent rolling along the cliffs and over the ruined town for, whether flewthe French or German flag, there was not a ship that French or Germansailor or marine had landed on English soil save as prisoners. 

The old Sea Lion had for the first time in three hundred and fifty yearsbeen attacked in his lair, and now as then he had turned and rent theinsolent intruder limb from limb. 

The main German Fleet and the French Channel Fleet and North SeaSquadrons had ceased to exist within twenty-four hours of thecommencement of hostilities. 

Once more Britain had vindicated her claim to the proud title of Queenof the Seas; once more the thunder of her enemies' guns had echoed backfrom her white cliffs--and the echo had been a message of defeat anddisaster. 

If the grim game of war could only have been played now as it had beeneven five years before, the victory would have already been with her, for the cable from Gibraltar to the Lizard had that morning brought thenews from Admiral Commerell, Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, that he had been attacked by, and had almost destroyed, the combinedFrench Mediterranean and Russian Black Sea Fleets, and that, with theaid of an Italian Squadron, he was blockading Toulon, Marseilles andBizerta. The captured French and Russian ships capable of repair hadbeen sent to Malta and Gibraltar to refit. 

This, under the old conditions, would, of course, have meant checkmatein the game of invasion, since not a hostile ship of any sort would havedared to put to sea, and the crowded transports would have been asuseless as so many excursion steamers, but--

CHAPTER XXII

DISASTER

About eight o'clock, as the half-wrecked victors and vanquished wereslowly struggling into the half-ruined harbour, five winged shapesbecame visible against the grey sky over Calais, rapidly growing insize, and a few minutes later two more appeared, approaching from thenorth-east. They, alas, were the heralds of a fate against which all thegallantry and skill of Britain's best sailors and soldiers would fightin vain. 

The two from the north-east were, of course, the _Flying Fish_ and the_See Adler_; the others were those which had been ordered to load up atthe Calais depot, and complete that victory of the Allied Fleets whichthe science and devotion of British sailors had turned into utterdefeat. 

John Castellan, standing in the conning-tower of the _Flying Fish_, looking down over sea and land through his prismatic binoculars, suddenly ground his teeth hard together, and sent a hearty Irish cursehissing between them. He had a complete plan of the operations in hispossession, and knew perfectly what to expect--but what was this?

Dover and its fortifications were in ruins, as they ought to have beenby this time; but the British Flag still floated over them! The harbourwas almost filled with mutilated warships, and others were slowlysteaming towards the two entrances; but every one of these was flyingthe White Ensign of England! There was not a French or German flag to beseen--and there, all along the coast, which should have been in thepossession of the Allies by now, lay the ragged line of helpless hulkswhich would never take the sea again. 

What had happened? Where were the splendid fleets which were to havebattered the English defence into impotence? Where was the Reserve, which was to have convoyed the transports across the narrow waters?Where were the transports themselves and the half million men, horsesand artillery which to-day they were to land upon the stricken shores ofKent?

With that marvellous intuition which is so often allied with the Kelticgenius, he saw in a flash all, or something like all, that had reallyhappened as a consequence of the loss of the depot ship at Spithead, andthe venting of his own mad hatred of the Saxon on the three defencelesstowns. The Channel Fleet had come, after all, in time, and defeatedAdmiral Durenne's fleet; the Reserve cruisers had escaped, andPortsmouth had been re-taken!

Would that have happened if he had used the scores of shells which hehad wasted in mere murder and destruction against the ships of theChannel Fleet? It would not, and no one knew it better than he did. 

Still, even now there was time to retrieve that ghastly mistake whichhad cost the Allies a good deal more than even he had guessed at. He wasAdmiral of the Aërial Squadrons, and, save under orders fromheadquarters, free to act as he thought fit against the enemy. If hispassion had lost victory he could do nothing less than avenge defeat. 

He ran up his telescopic mast and swerved to the southward to meet thesquadron from Calais, flying his admiral's flag, and under it thesignal:

"I wish to speak to you. "

The _Flying Fish_ and the _See Adler_ quickened up, and the othersslowed down until they met about two thousand feet above the sea. Castellan ran the _Flying Fish_ alongside the Commodore of the otherSquadron, and in ten minutes he had learned what the other had to tell, and arranged a plan of operations. 

Within the next five minutes three of the seven craft had dropped tothe water and disappeared beneath it. The other four, led by the _FlyingFish_, winged their way towards Dover. 

The aërial section of the squadron made straight for the harbour. Thesubmarine section made south-westward to cut off the half dozen "lameducks" which were still struggling towards it. With these, unhappily, was the _Scotland_, the huge flagship of the North Sea Squadron, whichstill full of fight, was towing the battleship _Commonwealth_, whoserudder and propellers had been disabled by a torpedo from a Frenchsubmarine. 

She was, of course, the first victim selected. Two _Flying Fishes_dived, one under her bows and one under her stern, and each dischargedtwo torpedoes. 

No fabric made by human hands could have withstood the shock of the fourexplosions which burst out simultaneously. The sore-stricken leviathanstopped, shuddered and reeled, smitten to death. For a few moments shefloundered and wallowed in the vast masses of foaming water that rose upround her--and when they sank she took a mighty sideward reel andfollowed them. 

The rest met their inevitable fate in quick succession, and went downwith their ensigns and pennants flying--to death, but not to defeat ordisgrace. 

The ten British submarines which were left from the fight had alreadyput out to try conclusions with the _Flying Fishes_; but a porpoisemight as well have tried to hunt down a northern diver. As soon as each_Flying Fish_ had finished its work of destruction it spread its wingsand leapt into the air--and woe betide the submarine whose periscopeshowed for a moment above the water, for in that moment a torpedo fellon or close to it, and that submarine dived for the last time. 

Meanwhile the horrors of the past afternoon and evening were beingrepeated in the crowded harbour, and on shore, until a frightfulcatastrophe befell the remains of the British Fleet. 

John Castellan, with two other craft, was examining the forts from aheight of four thousand feet, and dropping a few torpedoes into anywhich did not appear to be completely wrecked. The captain of anotherwas amusing himself by dispersing, in more senses than one, thehelpless, terror-stricken crowds on the cliffs whence they had latelycheered the last of Britain's naval victories, and the rest werecircling over the harbour at a height of three thousand feet, letting gotorpedoes whenever a fair mark presented itself. 

Of course the fight, if fight it could be called, was hopeless from thefirst; but your British sailor is not the man to take even a hopelessfight lying down, and so certain gallant but desperate spirits on boardthe _England_, which was lying under what was left of the AdmiraltyPier, got permission to dismount six 3-pounders and remount them as abattery for high-angle fire. The intention, of course, was, as theoriginator of the idea put it: "To bring down a few of those flyingdevils before they could go inland and do more damage there. "

The intention was as good as it was unselfish, for the ingenious officerin charge of the battery knew as well as his admiral that the fleet wasdoomed to destruction in detail--but the first volley that battery firedwas the last. 

A few of the shells must have hit a French _Flying Fish_, which wascircling above the centre of the harbour, and disabled the wings andpropellors on one side, for she lurched and wobbled for an instant likea bird with a broken wing. Then she swooped downwards in a spiralcourse, falling ever faster and faster, till she struck the deck of the_Britain_. 

What happened the next instant no one ever knew. Those who survived saidthat they heard a crashing roar like the firing of a thousand cannontogether; a blinding sheet of flame overspread the harbour; the waterrose into mountains of foam, ships rocked and crashed against eachother--and then came darkness and oblivion. 

When human eyes next looked on Dover Harbour there was not a ship in itafloat. 

Dover, the great stronghold of the south-east, was now as defenceless asa fishing village, and there was nothing to prevent a constant stream oftransports filled with men and materials of war being poured into it, orany other port along the eastern Kentish coast. Then would come seizureof railway stations and rolling stock, rapid landing of men and horsesand guns, and the beginning of the great advance. 

On the whole, John Castellan was well satisfied with his work. Heregretted the loss of his consort; but she had not been wasted. Theremains of the British fleets had gone with her to destruction. 

Certainly what had been done had brought nearer the time when he, thereal organiser of victory, the man who had made the conquest of Englandpossible, would be able to claim his double reward--the independence ofIreland, and the girl whom he intended to make the uncrowned Queen ofErin. 

It was a splendid and, to him, a delicious dream as well; but betweenhim and its fulfilment, what a chaos of bloodshed, ruin and human miserylay! And yet he felt not a tremor of compunction or of pity for thethousands of brave men who would be flung dead and mangled and torturedinto the bloody mire of battle, for the countless homes that would beleft desolate, or for the widows and the fatherless whose agony wouldcry to Heaven for justice on him. 

No; these things were of no account in his eyes. Ireland must be free, and the girl he had come to love so swiftly, and with such consumingpassion, must be his. Nothing else mattered. Was he not Lord of the Air, and should the desire of his heart be denied him?

Thus mused John Castellan in the conning-tower of the _Flying Fish_, ashe circled slowly above the ruins of Dover, while the man who hadbeaten him in the swimming-race was sitting in the observatory onfar-off Whernside, verifying his night's observations and calculatingfor the hundredth time the moment of the coming of an Invader, comparedwith which all the armed legions of Europe were of no more importancethan a swarm of flies. 

When he had satisfied himself that Dover was quite defenceless he sentone of the French _Flying Fishes_ across to Calais with a letter to theDistrict Commander, describing briefly what had taken place, and tellinghim that it would be now quite safe for the transports to cross theStraits and land the troops at Portsmouth, Newhaven, Folkestone, Doverand Ramsgate. 

He would station one of his airships over each of these places toprevent any resistance from land or sea, and would himself make ageneral reconnaissance of the military dispositions of the defenders. Headvised that the three _Flying Fishes_, which had been reserved for thedefence of the Kiel Canal, should be telegraphed for as convoys, asthere was now no danger of attack, and that the depot of torpedoes andmotive power for his ships should be transferred from Calais to Dover. 

As soon as he had despatched this letter, Castellan ordered two of hisremaining ships to cruise northward to Ramsgate, keeping mainly alongthe track of the railway, one on each side of it, and to wreck the firsttrain they saw approaching Dover, Deal, Sandwich and Ramsgate from thenorth. The other two he ordered to take the Western Coast line as far asPortsmouth, and do the same with trains coming east. 

Then he swung the _Flying Fish_ inland, and took a run over Canterbury, Ashford, Maidstone, Tonbridge, Guildford and Winchester, to Southamptonand Portsmouth, returning by Chichester, Horsham and Tunbridge Wells. 

It was only a tour of observation for the purpose of discovering themain military dispositions of the defenders--who were now concentratingas rapidly as possible upon Folkestone and Dover--but he found time tostop and drop a torpedo or two into each town or fort that he passedover--just leaving cards, as he said to M'Carthy--as a promise offavours to come. 

He also wrecked half a dozen long trains, apparently carrying troops, and incidentally caused a very considerable loss of good lives and muchconfusion, to say nothing of the moral effect which this new andterrible form of attack produced upon the nerves of Mr Thomas Atkins. 

When he got back to Dover he found a letter waiting for him from theGeneral informing him that the transports would sail at once, and thathis requests would be complied with. 

CHAPTER XXIII

THE OTHER CAMPAIGN BEGINS

It was on the day following the destruction of Dover that the news ofthe actual landing of the French and German forces had really takenplace at the points selected by Castellan reached Whernside. The littlehouse party were at lunch, and the latest papers had just come over fromSettle. Naturally what they contained formed the sole topic ofconversation. 

"Really, Arnold, I think even you must confess that things are a greatdeal more serious than anyone could have imagined a few days ago. Thevery idea--an invasion accomplished in forty-eight hours--Portsmouth, Dover, Sheerness and Tilbury destroyed, and French and German andRussian soldiers actually in arms on English soil. The thing would bepreposterous if it were not true!

"And what are we to do now, I should like to know? The Fleet doesn'texist--we have no army in the Continental sense of the word, which ofcourse is the real military sense, thanks to a lot of politicianscalling themselves statesmen who have been squabbling about what an armyought to be for the last ten years. 

"You will be able to put a million trained and half-trained--mostlyhalf-trained--men into the field, to face millions of highly-trainedFrench, German, Russian and Austrian troops, led by officers who havetaken their profession seriously, and not by gentlemen who have goneinto the army because it was a nice sort of playground, where you couldhave lots of fun, and a little amateur fighting now and then. I wonderwhat they will do now against the men who have made war a scienceinstead of sport!

"I should like to know what the good people who have made such a fussabout the 'tyranny of Conscription' will say now, when they find that wehaven't trained men enough to defend our homes. Just as if militaryservice was not the first duty a man owes to his country and to hishome. A man has no right to a country nor a home if he isn't able todefend them. Kipling was perfectly right when he said:

 'What is your boasting worth If you grudge a year of service to the lordliest life on earth?'"

This little lecture was delivered with trembling lips, flushed cheeksand flashing eyes by Lady Margaret Holker, Lord Westerham's sister, whohad joined the party that morning to help her brother in his recruiting. 

She was an almost perfect type of the modern highly-bred Englishwoman, who knows how to be entirely modern without being vulgarly "up-to-date. "She was a strong contrast to her brother, in that she was a brightbrunette--not beautiful, perhaps not even pretty, but for all thatdistinctly good-looking. Her hair and eyebrows were black, her eyes adeep pansy-blue. A clear complexion, usually pale but decidedly flushednow, and, for the rest, somewhat irregular features which might havebeen almost plain, but for that indefinable expression of combinedgentleness and strength which only the careful selection of long descentcan give. 

As for her figure, it was as perfect as absolute health and abundantexercise could make it. She could ride, shoot, throw a fly and steer ayacht better than most women and many men of her class; but for all thatshe could grill steaks and boil potatoes with as much distinction as shecould play the piano and violin, and sing in three or four languages. 

She also had a grip, not on politics, for which she had a wholesomecontempt, but on the affairs of the nations--the things which reallymattered. And yet withal she was just an entirely healthy youngEnglishwoman, who was quite as much at home in the midst of a goodswinging waltz as she was in an argument on high affairs of State. 

"My dear Madge, " said her brother, who had been reading the reports inthe second morning edition of the _Times_ aloud, "I am afraid that, after all, you are right. But then, you must not forget that a new enemyhas come into the field. I hardly like to say so in Miss Castellan'spresence, but it is perfectly clear that, considering what the Fleetdid, there would have been no invasion if it had not been for thosediabolical contrivances that John Castellan took over to the GermanEmperor. "

"You needn't have any hesitation in saying what you like about himbefore me, Lord Westerham, " said Norah, flushing. "It's no brother he isof mine now, as I told him the day he went aboard the German yacht atClifden. I'd see him shot to-morrow without a wink of my eyes. The manwho does what he has done has no right to the respect of any man nor thelove of any woman--no, not even if the woman is his sister. Think of allthe good, loyal Irishmen, soldiers and sailors, that he has murdered bythis time. No, I have no brother called John Castellan. "

"But you have another called Denis, " said Auriole, "and I think you maybe well content with him!"

"Ah, Denis!" said Norah, flushing again, but for a different reason, "Denis is a good and loyal man; yes, I am proud of him--God bless him!"

"And I should reckon that skipper of his, Captain Erskine, must be apretty smart sort of man, " said Mr Parmenter, who so far had hardlyjoined in the conversation, and who had seemed curiously indifferent tothe terrible exploits of the _Flying Fishes_ and all that had followedthem. "That craft of his seems to be just about as business-like asanything that ever got into the water or under it. I wonder what he isdoing with the Russian and German ships in the Thames now. I guess hewon't let many of them get back out of there. Quite a young man, too, according to the accounts. "

"Oh, yes, " said Lady Margaret, "he isn't twenty-nine yet. I know himslightly. He is a son of Admiral Erskine, who commanded the ChinaSquadron about eight years ago, and died of fever after a pirate hunt, and he is the nephew of dear old Lady Caroline Anstey, my other motheras I call her. He is really a splendid fellow, and some people say asgood-looking as he is clever; although, of course, there was a desperatelot of jealousy when he was promoted Captain straight away fromLieutenant-Commander of a Fishery cruiser, but I should like to know howmany of the wiseacres of Whitehall could have designed that _Ithuriel_of his. "

"It's a pity she can't fly, though, like those others, " said MrParmenter, with a curious note in his voice which no one at the tablebut Lennard understood. "She's a holy terror in the water, but the otherfellow's got all the call on land. If they get a dozen or so of theseaërial submarines as you might call them, in front of the invadingforces, I can't see what's going to stop a march on London, and rightround it. Your men are just as brave as any on earth, and a bit morethan some, if their officers are a bit more gentlemen and sportsmen thansoldiers; but no man can fight a thing he can't hit back at, and so Ireckon the next thing we shall hear of will be the siege of London. Whatdo you think, Lennard?"

Lennard, who had hardly spoken a word during the meal, looked up, andsaid in a voice which Lady Madge thought curiously unsympathetic:

"I shouldn't think it would take more than a fortnight at the outside, even leaving these airships out of the question. We haven't threehundred thousand men of all sorts to put into the field, who know oneend of a gun from another, or who can sit a horse; and now that thesea's clear the enemy can land two or three millions in a fortnight. "

"All our merchant shipping will be absolutely at their mercy, and theywill simply have to take them over to France and Germany and load themup with men and horses, and bring them over as if they were coming to apicnic. But, of course, with the airships to help them the thing's aforegone conclusion, and to a great extent it is our own fault. Ithoroughly agree with what Lady Margaret says about conscription. If wehad had it only five years ago, we should now have three million men, instead of three hundred thousand, trained and ready to take the field. Though, after all--"

"After all--what?" said Lady Margaret, looking sharply round at him. 

"Oh, nothing of any importance, " he said. "At least, not just atpresent. I daresay Lord Westerham will be able to explain what I mighthave said better than I could. There's not time for it just now, I'vegot to get a train to Bolton in an hour's time. "

"And I'll have to be in Glasgow to-night, " said Mr Parmenter, rising. "Ihope you won't think it very inhospitable of us, Lady Margaret: butbusiness is business, you know, and more so than usual in times likethese. 

"Now, I had better say good-bye. I have a few things to see to before MrLennard and I go down to Settle, but I've no doubt Auriole will findsome way of entertaining you till you want to start for York. "

At half-past two the motor was at the door to take Mr Parmenter andLennard to Settle. That evening, in Glasgow, Mr Parmenter bought the_Minnehaha_, a steel turbine yacht of two thousand tons and twenty-fiveknots speed, from Mr Hendray Chinnock, a brother millionaire, who hadlaid her up in the Clyde in consequence of the war the day before. Here-engaged her officers and crew at double wages to cover war risks, andstarted for New York within an hour of the completion of the purchase. 

Lennard took the express to Bolton, with letters and a deed of gift fromLord Westerham, which gave him absolute ownership of the cannel minewith the twelve-hundred-foot vertical shaft at Farnworth. 

That afternoon and evening Lady Margaret was more than entertained, forduring the afternoon she learned the story of the approaching cataclysm, in comparison with which the war was of no more importance than a merestreet riot; and that night Auriole, who had learned to work the greatreflector almost as well as Lennard himself, showed her theever-growing, ever-brightening shape of the Celestial Invader. 

CHAPTER XXIV

TOM BOWCOCK--PITMAN

Lennard found himself standing outside the Trinity Street Station atBolton a few minutes after six that evening. 

Of course it was raining. Rain and fine-spun cotton thread are Bolton'sspecialities, the two chief pillars of her fame and prosperity, forwithout the somewhat distressing superabundance of the former she couldnot spin the latter fine enough. It would break in the process. Wherefore the good citizens of Bolton cheerfully put up with the dirtand the damp and the abnormal expenditure on umbrellas and mackintoshesin view of the fact that all the world must come to Bolton for itsfinest threads. 

He stood for a moment looking about him curiously, if with no greatadmiration in his soul, for this was his first sight of what was to bethe scene of the greatest and most momentous undertaking that humanskill had ever dared to accomplish. 

But the streets of Bolton on a wet night do not impress a stranger veryfavourably, so he had his flat steamer-trunk and hat-box put on to a caband told the driver to take him to the Swan Hotel, in Deansgate, wherehe had a wash and an excellent dinner, to which he was in a condition todo full justice--for though nation may rage against nation, and worldsand systems be in peril, the healthy human digestion goes on making itsdemands all the time, and, under the circumstances, blessed is he whocan worthily satisfy them. 

Then, after a cup of coffee and a meditative cigar, he put on hismackintosh, sent for a cab, and drove to number 134 Manchester Road, which is one of a long row of small, two-storeyed brick houses, as cleanas the all-pervading smoke and damp will permit them to be, but notexactly imposing in the eyes of a new-comer. 

When the door opened in answer to his knock he saw by the light of alamp hanging from the ceiling of the narrow little hall a small, slight, neatly-dressed figure, and a pair of dark, soft eyes looked upinquiringly at him as he said:

"Is Mr Bowcock at home?"

"Yes, he is, " replied a voice softly and very pleasantly tinged with theLancashire accent. Then in a rather higher key the voice said:

"Tom, ye're wanted. "

As she turned away Lennard paid his cabman, and when he went back to thedoor he found the passage almost filled by a tall, square-shoulderedshape of a man, and a voice to match it said:

"If ye're wantin' Tom Bowcock, measter, that's me. Will ye coom in? It'sa bit wet i' t' street. "

Lennard went in, and as the door closed he said:

"Mr Bowcock, my name is Lennard--"

"I thou't it might be, " interrupted the other. "You'll be LordWesterham's friend. I had a wire from his lordship's morning telling met' expect you to-night or to-morrow morning. You'll excuse t' kitchenfor a minute while t' missus makes up t' fire i' t' sittin'-room. "

When Lennard got into the brightly-lighted kitchen, which is really theliving-room of small Lancashire houses, he found himself in anatmosphere of modest cosy comfort which is seldom to be found outsidethe North and the Midland manufacturing districts. It is the other sideof the hard, colourless life that is lived in mill and mine and forge, and it has a charm that is all its own. 

There was the big range, filling half the space of one of theside-walls, its steel framings glittering like polished silver; the highplate-rack full of shining crockery at one end by the door, and the low, comfortable couch at the other; two lines of linen hung on cordsstretched under the ceiling airing above the range, and the solid dealtable in the middle of the room was covered with a snow-white cloth, onwhich a pretty tea-service was set out. 

A brightly polished copper kettle singing on the range, and a daintilyfurnished cradle containing a sleeping baby, sweetly unconscious of warsor world-shaking catastrophes, completed a picture which, consideringhis errand, affected Gilbert Lennard very deeply. 

"Lizzie" said the giant, "this is Mr Lennard as his lordship telegraphedabout to-day. I daresay yo can give him a cup of tay and see to t' firei' t' sittin'-room. I believe he's come to have a bit of talk wi' meabout summat important from what his lordship said. "

"I'm pleased to see you, Mr Lennard, " said the pleasant voice, and as heshook hands he found himself looking into the dark, soft eyes of aregular "Lancashire witch, " for Lizzie Bowcock had left despair in theheart of many a Lancashire lad when she had put her little hand into bigTom's huge fist and told him that she'd have him for her man and no oneelse. 

She left the room for a few minutes to see to the sitting-room fire, andLennard turned to his host and said:

"Mr Bowcock, I have come to see you on a matter which will need a gooddeal of explanation. It will take quite a couple of hours to put thewhole thing before you, so if you have any other engagements forto-night, no doubt you can take a day off to-morrow--in fact, as the pitwill have to stop working--"

"T' 'pit stop working, Mr Lennard!" exclaimed the manager. "Yo' dunnosay so. Is that his lordship's orders? Why, what's up?"

"I will explain everything, Mr Bowcock, " replied Lennard, "only, for herown sake, your wife must know nothing at present. The only question is, shall we have a talk to-night or not?"

"If it's anything that's bad, " replied the big miner with a deeper notein his voice, "I'd soonest hear it now. Mysteries don't get any t'better for keepin'. Besides, it'll give me time to sleep on't; andthat's not a bad thing to do when yo've a big job to handle. "

Mrs Bowcock came back as he said this, and Lennard had his cup of tea, and they of course talked about the war. Naturally, the big miner andhis pretty little wife were the most interested people in Lancashirejust then, for to no one else in the County Palatine had been given thehonour of hearing the story of the great battle off the Isle of Wightfrom the lips of one who had been through it on board the now famous_Ithuriel_. 

But when Tom Bowcock came out of the little sitting-room three hourslater, after Lennard had told him of the approaching doom of the worldand had explained to him how his pit-shaft was to be used as a means ofaverting it--should that, after all, prove to be possible--his interestin the war had diminished very considerably, for he had already come tosee clearly that this was undeniably a case of the whole being very muchgreater than the part. 

Tom Bowcock was one of those men, by no means rare in the north, whowork hard with hands and head at the same time. He was a pitman, but hewas also a scientific miner, almost an engineer, and so Lennard hadfound very little difficulty in getting him to grasp the details of thetremendous problem in the working out of which he was destined to playno mean part. 

"Well, Measter Lennard, " he said, slowly, as they rose from the littletable across which a very large amount of business had been transacted. "It's a pretty big job this that yo've putten into our hands, andespecially into mine; but I reckon they'll be about big enough for it;and yo've come to t' right place, too. I've never heard yet of a job asLancashire took on to as hoo didn't get through wi'. 

"Now, from what yo've been telling me, yo' must be a bit of an earlyriser sometimes, so if yo'll come here at seven or so i' t' mornin', I'll fit yo' out wi' pit clothes and we'll go down t' shaft and yo' cansee for yoursel' what's wantin' doin'. Maybe that'll help yo' before yo'go and make yo'r arrangements wi' Dobson & Barlow and t'other folk asyo'll want to help yo'. "

"Thank you very much, Mr Bowcock, " replied Lennard. "You will find mehere pretty close about seven. It's a big job, as you say, and there'snot much time to be lost. Now, if Mrs Bowcock has not gone to bed, I'llgo and say good-night. "

"She's no'on to bed yet, " said his host, "and yo'll take a drop o'summat warm before yo' start walkin' to t' hotel, for yo'll get no cabup this way to-neet. She'll just have been puttin' t' youngster tobed--"

Tom Bowcock stopped suddenly in his speech as a swift vision of thatsame "youngster" and his mother choking in the flames of the Fire-Mistpassed across his senses. Lennard had convinced his intellect of thenecessity of the task of repelling the Celestial Invader and of thepossibility of success; but from that moment his heart was in the work. 

It had stopped raining and the sky had cleared a little when they wentto the door half an hour later. To the right, across the road, rose atall gaunt shape like the skeleton of an elongated pyramid crowned withtwo big wheels. Lights were blazing round it, for the pit was workingnight and day getting the steam coal to the surface. 

"Yonder's t' shaft, " said Tom, as they shook hands. "It doesn't lookmuch of a place to save the world in, does it?"

CHAPTER XXV

PREPARING FOR ACTION

The next day was a busy one, not only for Lennard himself but for otherswhose help he had come to enlist in the working out of the GreatExperiment. 

He turned up at Bowcock's house on the stroke of seven, got into his pitclothes, and was dropped down the twelve-hundred-foot shaft in the cage. At the bottom of the shaft he found a solid floor sloping slightlyeastward, with three drives running in fan shape from north-east andsouth-east. There were two others running north and north-west. 

After ten minutes' very leisurely walk round the base of the shaft, during which he made one or two observations by linear and perpendicularcompass, he said to Tom Bowcock:

"I think this will do exactly. The points are absolutely correct. If wehad dug a hole for ourselves we couldn't have got one better than this. Yes, I think it will just do. Now, will you be good enough to take me tothe surface as slowly as you can?"

"No, but yo're not meanin' that, Measter Lennard, " laughed the manager. "'Cause if I slowed t' engines down as much as I could you'd be the resto' t' day getting to t' top. "

"Yes, of course, I didn't mean that, " said Lennard, "but justslowly--about a tenth of the speed that you dropped me into the bowelsof the earth with. You see, I want to have a look at the sides. "

"Yo' needna' trouble about that, Mr Lennard, I can give yo' drawin's ofall that in t' office, but still yo' can see for yo'rself by thedrawin's afterwards. "

The cage ascended very slowly, and Lennard did see for himself. But whenlater on he studied the drawings that Tom Bowcock had made, he foundthat there wasn't as much as a stone missing. When he had got into hiseveryday clothes again, and had drunk a cup of tea brewed for him by MrsBowcock, he said as he shook hands with her husband:

"Well, as far as the pit is concerned, I have seen all that I want tosee, and Lord Westerham was just as right about the pit as he was aboutthe man who runs it. Now, I take it over from to-day. You will stop allmining work at once, close the entrances to the galleries and put down abed of concrete ten feet thick, level. Then you will go by the drawingsthat I gave you last night. 

"At present, the concreting of the walls in as perfect a circle as youcan make them, not less than sixteen feet inner diameter, and buildingup the concrete core four feet thick from the floor to the top, is yourfirst concern. You will tell your men that they will have double wagesfor day work and treble for night work, and whether they belong to theVolunteers or Yeomanry or Militia they will not be called to the Coloursas long as they keep faith with us; if the experiment turns out allright, every man who sees it through shall have a bonus of a thousandpounds. 

"But, remember, that this pit will be watched, and every man who signson for the job will be watched, and the Lord have mercy on the man whoplays us false, for he'll want it. You must make them remember that, MrBowcock. This is no childish game of war among nations; this means thesaving or the losing of a world, and the man who plays traitor here isnot only betraying his own country, but the whole human race, friendsand enemies alike. "

"I'll see to that, Mr Lennard. I know my chaps, and if there's one ortwo bad 'uns among 'em, they'll get paid and shifted in the ordinaryway of business. But they're mostly a gradely lot of chaps. I've beenpicking 'em out for his lordship for t' last five yeers, and there isn'ta Trade Unionist among 'em. We give good money here and we want goodwork and good faith, and if we don't get it, the man who doesn't give ithas got to go and find another job. 

"For wages like that they'd go on boring t' shaft right down through t'earth and out at t' other side, and risk finding Owd Nick and his peoplein t' middle. A' tell yo' for sure. Well, good-mornin', yo've a lot todo, and so have I. A'll get those galleries blocked and bricked up atonce, and as soon as you can send t' concrete along, we'll start at t'floor. "

Lennard's first visit after breakfast was to the Manchester and CountyBank in Deansgate, where he startled the manager, as far as a Lancashirebusiness man can be startled, by opening an account for two hundred andfifty thousand pounds, and depositing the title-deeds of the whole ofLord Westerham's properties in and about Bolton. 

When he had finished his business at the Bank, he went to the offices ofDobson & Barlow, the great ironworkers, whose four-hundred-and-ten-footchimney towers into the murky sky so far above all other structures inBolton that if you are approaching the town by road you see it and itscrest of smoke long before you see Bolton itself. 

The firm had, of course, been advised of his coming, and he had writtena note over-night to say when he would call. The name of RatliffeParmenter was a talisman to conjure with in all the business circles ofthe world, and so Lennard found Mr Barlow himself waiting for him in hisprivate office. 

He opened the matter in hand very quietly, so quietly indeed that thekeen-sighted, hard-headed man who was listening to him found that foronce in his life he was getting a little out of his depth. 

Never before had he heard such a tremendous scheme so quietly andcalmly set forth. Bessemer furnaces were to be erected at once all roundthe pit mouth, meanwhile the firm was to contract with a Liverpool firmfor an unlimited supply of concrete cement of the finest qualityprocurable. The whole staff of Dobson & Barlow's works were to beengaged at an advance of twenty-five per cent. On their present wagesfor three months to carry out the work of converting the shaft of theGreat Lever pit into the gigantic cannon which was to hurl into Spacethe projectile which might or might not save the human race fromdestruction. 

Even granted Lennard's unimpeachable credentials, it was only naturalthat the great iron-master should exhibit a certain amount ofincredulity, and, being one of the best types of the Lancashire businessman, he said quite plainly:

"This is a pretty large order you've brought us, Mr Lennard, andalthough, of course, we know Mr Parmenter to be good enough for anyamount of money, still, you see, contracts are contracts, and what arewe to do with those we've got in hand now if you propose to buy up forthree months?"

"Yes, " replied Lennard, "I admit that that is an important point. Thequestion is, what would it cost you to throw up or transfer to otherfirms the contracts that you now have in hand?"

There was a silence of two or three minutes between them, during whichMr Barlow made a rapid but comprehensive calculation and Lennard tookout his cheque-book and began to write a cheque. 

"Counting everything, " said Mr Barlow, leaning back in his chair andlooking up at the ceiling, "the transfer of our existing contracts toother firms of equal standing, so as to satisfy our customers, and theloss to ourselves for the time that you want--well, honestly, I don'tthink we could do it under twenty-five thousand pounds. You understand, I am saying nothing about the scientific aspect of the matter, becauseI don't understand it, but that's the business side of it; and that'swhat it's going to cost you before we begin. "

Lennard filled in the cheque and signed it. He passed it across thetable to Mr Barlow, and said:

"I think that is a very reasonable figure. This will cover it and leavesomething over to go on with. "

Mr Barlow took the cheque and looked at it, and then at the calm face ofthe quiet young man who was sitting opposite him. 

The cheque was for fifty thousand pounds. While he was looking at it, Lennard took the bank receipt for a quarter of a million deposit fromhis pocket and gave it to him, saying:

"You will see from this that money is really no object. As you know, MrParmenter has millions, more I suppose than he could calculate himself, and he is ready to spend every penny of them. You will take that just asearnest money. "

"That's quite good enough for us, Mr Lennard, " replied Mr Barlow, handing the bank receipt back. "The contracts shall be transferred assoon as we can make arrangements, and the work shall begin at once. Youcan leave everything else to us--brickwork, building, cement and all therest of it--and we'll guarantee that your cannon shall be ready to fireoff in three months from now. "

"And the projectile, Mr Barlow, are you prepared to undertake thatalso?" asked Lennard. 

"Yes, we will make the projectile according to your specification, butyou will, of course, supply the bursting charge and the charge of thisnew powder of yours which is to send it into Space. You see, we can't dothat; you'll have to get a Government permit to have such an enormousamount of explosives in one place, so I'll have to leave that to you. "

"I think I shall be able to arrange that, Mr Barlow, " replied Lennard, as he got up from his seat and held his hand out across the table. "Aslong as you are willing to take on the engineering part of the business, I'll see to the rest. Now, I know that your time is quite as valuable asmine is, and I've got to get back to London this afternoon. To-morrowmorning I have to go through a sort of cross-examination before theCabinet--not that they matter much in the sort of crisis that we've gotto meet. 

"Still, of course, we have to have the official sanction of theGovernment, even if it is a question of saving the world fromdestruction, but there won't be much difficulty about that, I think; andat any rate you'll be working on freehold property, and not even theCabinet can stop that sort of work for the present. As far as everythingconnected with the mine is concerned, I hope you will be able to workwith Mr Bowcock, who seems a very good sort of fellow. "

"If we can't work with Tom Bowcock, " replied Mr Barlow, "we can't workwith anyone on earth, and that's all there is about it. He's a big man, but he's good stuff all through. Lord Westerham didn't make any badchoice when he made him manager. And you won't dine with me to-night?"

"I am sorry, but I must be back to London to-night. I have to catch the12-15 and have an interview in Downing Street at seven, and when I'vegot through that, I don't think there will be any difficulty about theexplosives. "

"According to all accounts, you'll be lucky if you find Downing Streetas it used to be, " said Mr Barlow. "By the papers this morning it looksas if London was going to have a pretty bad time of it, what with theseairships and submarines that sink and destroy everything in sight. Nowthat they've got away with the fleet, it seems to me that it's only asort of walk over for them. "

"Yes, I'm afraid it will have to be something like that for the nextmonth or so, " replied Lennard, thinking of a telegram which he had inhis pocket. "But the victory is not all on one side yet. Of course, youwill understand that I am not in a position to give secrets away, but asregards our own bargain, I am at liberty to tell you that while you arebuilding this cannon of ours there will probably be some developments inthe war which will be, I think, as unexpected as they will be startling. 

"In fact, sir, " he continued, rising from his seat and holding out hishand across the table, "I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but when the time comes, I think you will find that those who believethat they are conquering England now will be here in Bolton faced by afoe against which their finest artillery will be as useless as anair-gun against an elephant. 

"All I ask you to remember now is that at eleven p. M. On the twelfth ofMay, the leaders of the nations who are fighting against England nowwill be standing around me in the quarry on the Belmont Road, waitingfor the firing of the shot which I hope will save the world. If it doesnot save it, they will be welcome to all that is left of the world in anhour after that. "

"You are talking like a man who believes what he says, Mr Lennard, "replied Mr Barlow, "and, strange and all as it seems, I am beginning tobelieve with you. There never was a business like this given into humanhands before, and, for the sake of humanity, I hope that you will besuccessful. All that we can do shall be done well and honestly. That youcan depend on, and for the rest, we shall depend on you and yourscience. The trust that you have put in our hands to-day is a greathonour to us, and we shall do our best to deserve it. Good-morning, sir. "

CHAPTER XXVI

THE FIRST BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON

When Lennard got out of the train at St Pancras that evening, he foundsuch a sight as until a day or so ago no Londoner had ever dreamed of. But terrible as the happenings were, they were not quite terrible enoughto stop the issue of the evening newspapers. 

As the train slowed down along the platform, boys were running along ityelling:

"Bombardment of London from the air--dome of St Paul's smashed by ashell--Guildhall, Mansion House, and Bank of England in ruins--orfulscenes in the streets. Paper, sir?"

He got out of the carriage and grabbed the first newspaper that wasthrust into his hand, gave the boy sixpence for it, and hurried awaytowards the entrance. He found a few cabmen outside the station; hehailed one of the drivers, got in, and said:

"Downing Street--quick. There's a sovereign; there'll be another for youwhen I get there. "

"It's a mighty risky job, guv'nor, these times, driving a keb throughLondon streets. Still, one's got to live, I suppose. 'Old up there--myGawd, that's another of those bombs! You just got out of there in time, sir. "

Even as though it had been timed, as it might well have been, a torpedodropped from a ghostly shape drifting slowly across the grey Novemberclouds. Then there came a terrific shock. Every pane in the vast roofand in the St Pancras Hotel shivered to the dust. The engine which haddrawn Lennard's train blew up like one huge shell, and the carriagesbehind it fell into splinters. 

If that shell had only dropped three minutes sooner the end of the Worldwar of 1910 would have been very different to what it was; for, asLennard learned afterwards, of all the porters, officials andpassengers, who had the misfortune to be in the great station at thatmoment, only half a hundred cripples, maimed for life, escaped. 

"I wonder whether that was meant for me, " said Lennard as the frightenedhorse sprang away at a half gallop. "If that's the case, John Castellanknows rather more than he ought to do, and, good Lord, if he knows that, he must know where Auriole is, and what's to stop him taking one ofthose infernal things of his up to Whernside, wrecking the house and theobservatory, and taking her off with him to the uttermost ends of theearth if he likes?

"There must be something in it or that shell would not have dropped justafter I got outside the station. They watched the train come in, andthey knew I was in it--they must have known. 

"What a ghastly catastrophe it would be if they got on to that scheme ofours at the pit. Fancy one of those aërial torpedoes of his droppingdown the bore of the cannon a few minutes before the right time! Itwould mean everything lost, and nothing gained, not even for him. 

"Ah, good man Erskine, " he went on, as he opened the paper, and readthat every cruiser, battleship and transport that had forced theentrance to the Thames and Medway had been sunk. "That will be a bit ofa check for them, anyhow. Yes, yes, that's very good. Garrison Fort, Chatham and Tilbury, of course, destroyed from the air, but not a shipnor a man left to go and take possession of them. "

While he was reading his paper, and muttering thus to himself, the cabwas tearing at the horse's best speed down Gray's Inn Road. It took asudden swing to the right into Holborn, ran along New Oxford Street, andturned down Charing Cross Road, the horse going at a full gallop thewhole time. 

Happily it was a good horse, or the fate of the world might have beendifferent. There was no rule of the road now, and no rules againstfurious driving. London was panic-stricken, as it might well be. As faras Lennard could judge the aërial torpedoes were being dropped mostly inthe neighbourhood of Regent Street and Piccadilly, and about GrosvenorPlace and Park Lane. He half expected to find Parliament Street andWestminster in ruins, but for some mysterious reason they had beenspared. 

The great City was blazing in twenty places, and scarcely a minutepassed without the crash of an explosion and the roar of flame thatfollowed it, but a magic circle seemed to have been drawn roundWestminster. There nothing was touched, and yet the wharves on the otherside of the river, and the great manufactories behind them, were blazingand vomiting clouds of flame and smoke towards the clouds as though theearth had been split open beneath them and the internal fires themselveslet loose. 

When the cabman pulled up his sweating and panting horse at the door ofNumber 2 Downing Street, Lennard got out and said to the cabman:

"You did that very well, considering the general state of things. Idon't know whether you'll live to enjoy it or not, but there's afive-pound note for you, and if you'll take my advice you will get yourwife and family, if you have one, into that cab, and drive right outinto the country. It strikes me London's going to be a very good placeto stop away from for the next two or three days. "

"Thank 'ee, sir, " said the cabman, as he gathered up the five-pound noteand tucked it down inside his collar. "I don't know who you are, butit's very kind of you; and as you seem to know something, I'll do asyou say. What with these devil-ships a-flyin' about the skies, anddropping thunderbolts on us from the clouds, and furreners a-comin' upthe Thames as I've heard, London ain't 'ealthy enough for me, nor themissus and the kids, and thanks for your kindness, sir, we're movin'to-night, keb an' all. 

"Oh, my Gawd, there's another! 'Otel Cecil and Savoy this time, if I'vegot my bearin's right. Well, there's one thing, t'ain't on'y the porewhat's sufferin' this time; there'll be a lot of rich people dead aforemornin'. A pal of mine told me just now that Park Lane was burnin' fromend t' end. Good-evenin', sir, and thenk you. "

As the cab drove away Lennard stood for a few moments on the pavement, watching two columns of flame soaring up from the side of the Strand. Perhaps the most dreadful effects produced by the aërial torpedoes werethose which resulted from the breaking of the gas mains and thedestruction of the electric conduits. Save for the bale-fires of ruinand destruction, half London was in darkness. Miles of streets underwhich the gas mains were laid blew up with almost volcanic force. Theelectric mains were severed, and all the contents dislocated, and ifever London deserved the name which James Thompson gave it when hecalled it "The City of Dreadful Night, " it deserved it on that eveningof the 17th of November 1909. 

Lennard was received in the Prime Minister's room by Mr Chamberlain, Lord Whittinghame, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Lord Milner and GeneralLord Kitchener. 

It was perhaps the strangest meeting that had ever taken place in thatroom, not even saving the historic meeting of 1886. There was verylittle talking. Even in the House of Commons the flood of talk had ebbedaway in such a fashion that it made it possible for the nation'sbusiness to be got through at a wonderful speed. The fact of the matterwas that the guns were talking--talking within earshot of Palace Yarditself, and so men had come to choose their words and make them few. 

After the introductions had been made the man who really held the fateof the world in his hands took a long envelope out of the breast-pocketof his coat, and proceeded to explain, somewhat as a schoolmaster mightexplain to his class, the doom which would overwhelm humanity on the12th May 1910. 

He was listened to in absolute silence, because his hearers were men whohad good reason for believing that silence is often worth a good dealmore than speech. When he had finished the rustle of his papers as hehanded them to the Prime Minister was distinctly audible in the solemnsilence. The Prime Minister folded them up, and said:

"There is no necessity for us to go into the figures again. I think weare prepared to take them on the strength of your reputation, MrLennard. 

"We have asked you here to-night as an adviser, as a man who in moreways than one sees farther than we can. Now, what is your advice? Youare aware, I presume, that the German Emperor, the Czar of Russia andthe French President landed at Dover this morning, and have issued anultimatum from Canterbury, calling upon us to surrender London, anddiscuss terms of peace in the interests of humanity. Now, you occupy aunique point of view. You have told us in your letters that unless amiracle happens the human race will not survive midnight of the 12th ofMay next. We believe that you are right, and now, perhaps, you will begood enough to let us have your opinions as to what should be done inthe immediate present. "

"My opinion is, sir, that for at least forty days you must fight, nomatter how great the odds may appear to be. Every ditch and hedgerow, every road and lane, every hill and copse must be defended. If Londonfalls, England falls, and with it the Empire. "

"But how are we to do it?" exclaimed Lord Kitchener. "With theseinfernal airships flying about above it, and dropping young earthquakesfrom the clouds? There are no braver men on earth than ours, but itisn't human nature to keep steady under that kind of punishment. Lookwhat they've done already in London! What is there to prevent them, forinstance, from dropping a shell through the roof of this house, andblowing the lot of us to eternity in little pieces? It's not theslightest use trying to shoot back at them. You remember what happenedto poor Beresford and the rest of his fleet in Dover Harbour. If youcan't hit back, you can't fight. "

"That certainly appears to be perfectly reasonable, " said Sir HenryCampbell-Bannerman. "Personally, I must confess, although with thegreatest reluctance, that considering the enormous advantage possessedby the enemy in this combination of submarine and flying machine, wehave no other alternative but to surrender at discretion. It is apitiful thing to say, I am well aware, but we are fighting forces whichwould never have been called into being in any other war. I agree withLord Kitchener that you cannot fight an enemy if you cannot hit himback. I am afraid there is no other alternative. "

"No, " added Lord Whittinghame, "I am afraid there is not. By to-morrowmorning there will be three millions of men on British soil, and wehaven't a million to put against them--to say nothing of these horribleairships: but, Mr Lennard, if the world is only going to live about sixmonths or so, what is the use of conquering the British Empire? Surelythere must be another alternative. "

"Yes, my lord, " replied Lennard, "there is another. I've no doubt yourlordship has one of your motors within call. Let us go down toCanterbury, yourself, Lord Kitchener and myself, and I will see if Ican't convince the German Emperor that in trying to conquer Britain heis only stabbing the waters. If I only had him at Whernside, I wouldconvince him in five minutes. "

"Then we'd better get hold of him and take him there, " said LordKitchener. "But I'm ready for the Canterbury journey. "

"And so am I, " said Lord Whittinghame, "and the sooner we're off thebetter. I've got a new Napier here that's good for seventy-five miles anhour, so we'd better be off. "

CHAPTER XXVII

LENNARD'S ULTIMATUM

Within five minutes they were seated in the big Napier, with ninetyhorse-power under them, and a possibility of eighty miles an hour beforethem. A white flag was fastened to a little flagstaff on the left-handside. They put on their goggles and overcoats, and took WestminsterBridge, as it seemed, in a leap. Rochester was reached in twenty-fiveminutes, but at the southern side of Rochester Bridge they were held upby German sentries. 

"Not a pleasant sort of thing on English soil, " growled Lord Kitcheneras Lord Whittinghame stopped the motor. 

"Is the German Emperor here yet?" asked Lennard in German. 

"No, Herr, he is at Canterbury, " replied the sentry. "Would you like tosee the officer?"

"Yes, " said Lennard, "as soon as possible. These gentlemen are LordWhittinghame and Lord Kitchener, and they wish to meet the Emperor assoon as possible. "

The sentry saluted and retired, and presently a captain of Uhlans cameclattering across the street, clicked his heels together, touched theside of his helmet, and said:

"At your service, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"

"We wish to get into communication with the German Emperor as soon aspossible, " replied Lord Whittinghame. "Is the telegraph still workingfrom here to Canterbury?"

"It is, " replied the German officer; "if you will come with me to theoffice you shall be put into communication with His Majesty at once; butit will be necessary for me to hear what you say. "

"We're only going to try and make peace, " said Lord Kitchener, "so youmight as well hear all we've got to say. Those infernal airships ofyours have beaten us. Will you get in? We'll run you round to theoffice. "

"I thank you, " replied the captain of the Uhlans, "but it will be betterif I walk on and have the line cleared. I will meet you at the office. Adieu. "

He stiffened up, clicked his heels again, saluted, and the next momenthe had thrown his right leg across the horse which the orderly hadbrought up for him. 

"Not bad men, those Uhlans, " said Lord Kitchener, as the car movedslowly towards the telegraph station. "Take a lot of beating in thefield, I should say, if it once came to cold steel. "

They halted at the post-office, and the captain of Uhlans, who was incharge of all the telegraph lines of the south-east, was requested tosend the following telegram, which was signed by Lord Whittinghame andLord Kitchener. 

 "Acting as deputation from British Government we desire interview with your Majesty at Canterbury, with view to putting end to present bloodshed, if possible, also other important news to communicate. "

This telegram was despatched to the Kaiser at the County Hotel, Canterbury, and while they were waiting for the reply a message came infrom Whitstable addressed to "Lennard, oyster merchant, Rochester, "which was in the following terms:

 "Oyster catch promises well. Advised large purchase to-morrow. --ROBINSON & SMITH. "

"That seems rather a frivolous sort of thing to send one nowadays, "said Lennard, dropping the paper to the floor after reading the telegramaloud. "I have some interest in the beds at Whitstable, and my agents, who don't seem to know that there's a war going on, want me to invest. Ithink it's hardly good enough, when you don't know whether you'll be inlittle pieces within the next ten minutes. "

"I don't see why you shouldn't take on a contract for supplying ourfriends the enemy, " laughed Lord Kitchener, as the twinkle of an eyepassed between them, while the captain of Uhlans' back was turned for aninstant. 

"I'm afraid they would be confiscated before I could do that, " saidLennard. "I shan't bother about answering it. We have rather moreserious things than oysters to think about just now. "

The sounder clicked, and the German telegraphist, who had taken theplace of the English one, tapped out a message, which he handed to thecaptain of Uhlans. 

"Gentlemen, His Imperial Majesty will be glad to receive you at theCounty Hotel, Canterbury. I will give you a small flag which shallsecure you from all molestation. "

He handed the paper to Lord Whittinghame as he spoke. The Imperialmessage read:

 "Happy to meet deputation. Please carry German flag, which will secure you from molestation _en route_. I am wiring orders for suspension of hostilities till dawn to-morrow. I hope we may make satisfactory arrangements. --WILHELM. "

"That is quite satisfactory, " said Lord Whittinghame to the captain ofUhlans. "We shall be much obliged to you for the flag, and you willperhaps telegraph down the road saying that we are not to be stopped. Ican assure you that the matter is one of the utmost urgency. "

"Certainly, my lord, " replied the captain. "His Majesty's word is given. That is enough for us. "

Ten minutes later the big Napier, flying the German flag on theleft-hand side, was spinning away through Chatham, and down the straightroad to Canterbury. They slowed up going through Sittingbourne andFaversham, which were already in the hands of the Allied forces, thanksto John Castellan's precautions in blocking all railroads to Dover, andthe German flag was saluted by the garrisons, much to Lord Kitchener'squietly-expressed displeasure, but he knew they were playing for a bigstake, and so he just touched his cap, as they swung through the narrowstreets, and said what he had to say under his breath. 

Within forty minutes the car pulled up opposite the County Hotel, Canterbury. The ancient city was no longer English, save as regarded itsarchitecture. Everywhere, the clatter of German hoofs sounded on thestreets, and the clink and clank of German spurs and swords sounded onthe pavements. The French and Austrians were taking the westward routesby Ashford and Tonbridge in the enveloping movement on London. The WarLord of Germany had selected the direct route for himself. 

As the motor stopped panting and throbbing in front of the hotelentrance, a big man in the uniform of the Imperial Guard came out, saluted, and said:

"Lord Whittinghame and Lord Kitchener, with Mr Lennard, I presume?"

"Yes, that's so, " said Lord Kitchener, opening the side door and gettingout. "Colonel von Folkerström, I believe. I think we've met before. Youwere His Majesty's _attaché_ with us during the Boer War, I think. Thisis Lord Whittinghame, and this is Mr Lennard. Is His Majesty within?"

"His Majesty awaits you, gentlemen, " replied the Colonel, formally. Andthen as he shook hands with Lord Kitchener he added, "I am sorry, sir, that we should meet as enemies on English soil. "

"Just the fortune of war and those damned airships of yours, Colonel, "laughed Lord Kitchener in reply. "If we'd had them this meeting mighthave been in Berlin or Potsdam. Can't fight against those things, youknow. We're only human. "

"But you English are just a little more, I think, " said the Colonel tohimself. "Gottes willen! What would my August Master be thinking now ifthis was in Berlin instead of Canterbury, and here are these Englishmentaking it as quietly as though an invasion of England happened everyday. " And when he had said this to himself he continued aloud:

"My lords and Mr Lennard, if you will follow me I will conduct you intoHis Majesty's presence. "

They followed the Colonel upstairs to the first floor. Two sentries inthe uniform of the 1st Regiment of Cuirassiers were guarding the door:their bayoneted rifles came up to the present, the Colonel answered thesalute, and they dropped to attention. The Colonel knocked at the doorand a harsh voice replied:

"Herein. "

The door swung open and Lennard found himself for the first but not thelast time in the presence of the War Lord of Germany. 

"Good-evening, gentlemen, " said the Kaiser. "You will understand me whenI say I am both glad and sorry to see you. "

"Your Majesty, " replied Lord Whittinghame, in a curiously serious tone, "the time for human joy and sorrow is so fast expiring that almosteverything has ceased to matter, even the invasion of England. "

The Kaiser's brows lifted, and he stared in frank astonishment at theman who could say such apparently ridiculous words so seriously. If hehad not known that he was talking to the late Prime Minister, and thepresent leader of the Unionist party in the House of Lords, he wouldhave thought him mad. 

"Those are very strange words, my lord, " he replied. "You will pardon meif I confess that I can hardly grasp their meaning. "

"If your Majesty has an hour to spare, " said Lord Whittinghame, "MrLennard will make everything perfectly plain. But what he has to say, and what he can prove, must be for your Majesty's ears alone. "

"Is it so important as that?" laughed the Kaiser. 

"It is so important, sire, " said Lord Kitchener, "that the fate of thewhole world hangs upon what you may say or do within the next hour. Sofar, you have beaten us, because you have been able to bring into actionengines of warfare against which we have been unable to defendourselves. But now, there is another enemy in the field, against whichwe possess the only means of defence. That is what we have come toexplain to your Majesty. "

"Another enemy!" exclaimed the Kaiser, "but how can that be. There areno earthly powers left sufficiently strong that we would be powerlessagainst them. "

"This is not an earthly enemy, your Majesty, " replied Lennard, speakingfor the first time since he had entered the room. "It is an invader fromSpace. To put it quite plainly, the terms which we have come to offeryour Majesty are: Cessation of hostilities for six months, withdrawal ofall troops from British soil, universal disarmament, and a pledge to beentered into by all the Powers of Europe and the United States ofAmerica that after the 12th of May next there shall be no more war. Yourfleets have been destroyed as well as ours, your armies are here, butthey cannot get away, and so we are going to ask you to surrender. "

"Surrender!" echoed the Kaiser, "surrender, when your country lies openand defenceless before us? No, no. Lord Whittinghame and Lord KitchenerI know, but who are you, sir--a civilian and an unknown man, that youshould dictate peace to me and my Allies?"

"Only a man, your Majesty, " said Lord Whittinghame, "who has convincedthe British Cabinet Council that he holds the fate of the world in thehollow of his hands. Are you prepared to be convinced?"

"Of what?" replied the Kaiser, coldly. 

"That there will be no world left to conquer after midnight on the 12thof May next, or to put it otherwise, that unless our terms are accepted, and Mr Lennard carries out his work, there will be neither victors norvanquished left on earth. "

"Gentlemen, " replied the Kaiser, "you will pardon me when I say that Iam surprised beyond measure that you should have come to me with aschoolboy's tale like that. The eternal order of things cannot beinterrupted in such a ridiculous fashion. Again, I trust you willforgive me when I express my regret that you should have wasted so muchof your own time and mine on an errand which should surely have appearedto you fruitless from the first. 

"Whoever or whatever this gentleman may be, " he continued with a wave ofhis hand towards Lennard, "I neither know nor care; but that yourselfand Lord Kitchener should have been deceived so grossly, I must confesspasses the limits of my imagination. Frankly, I do not believe in thepossibility of such proofs as you allude to. As regards peace, I proposeto discuss terms with King Edward in Windsor--not before, nor withanyone else. Gentlemen, I have other matters to attend to, and I havethe honour to bid you good-evening. "

"And that is your Majesty's last word?" said Lord Kitchener. "You mean afight to the finish?"

"Yes, my lord, " replied the Kaiser, "whether the world finishes with thefight or not. "

"Very well then, " said Lennard, taking an envelope from thebreast-pocket of his coat, and putting it down on the table before theEmperor. "If your Majesty has not time to look through those papers, you will perhaps send them to Berlin and take your own astronomer'sreport upon them. Meanwhile, you will remember that our terms are:Unconditional surrender of the forces invading the British Islands orthe destruction of the world. Good-night. "

CHAPTER XXVIII

CONCERNING ASTRONOMY AND OYSTERS

In spite of the bold front that he had assumed during the interview, thestrain, not exactly of superstition but rather of supernaturalism whichruns so strongly in the Kaiser's family, made it impossible for him totreat such a tremendous threat as the destruction of the world as analternative to universal peace by any means as lightly as he appeared tohis visitors to do; and when the audience was over he picked up theenvelope which Lennard had left upon the table, beckoned Count vonMoltke into his room behind, locked the door, and said:

"Now, Count, what is your opinion of this? At first sight it looksridiculous; but whoever this Lennard may be, it seems hardly likely thattwo men like Lord Whittinghame and Lord Kitchener, two of thecoolest-headed and best-balanced men on earth, should take the troubleto come down here as a deputation from the British Cabinet only to makethemselves ridiculous. Suppose we have a look at these papers?Everything is in train for the advance. I daresay you and I understandenough of mathematics between us to find out if there is anythingserious in them, and if so, they shall go to Herr Döllinger at once. "

"I think it would be at least worth while to look through them, yourMajesty, " replied the Count. "Like yourself, I find it rather difficultto believe that this mysterious Mr Lennard, whoever he is, has been ableto impose upon the whole British Cabinet, to say nothing of LordKitchener, who is about the best engineer and mathematician in theBritish Army. "

So the Count and the Kaiser sat down, and went through the elaborate andyet beautifully clear calculations and diagrams, page by page, eachmaking notes as he went on. At the end of an hour the Kaiser looked overhis own notes, and said to von Moltke:

"Well, what is your opinion, Count?"

"I am not an astronomer, your Majesty, but these calculations certainlyappear to me to be correct as far as they go--that is, granted alwaysthat the premisses from which Mr Lennard starts are correct. Butcertainly I think that your Majesty will be wise in sending them as soonas possible to Herr Döllinger. "

"That is exactly the conclusion that I have come to myself, " replied theKaiser. "I will write a note to Herr Döllinger, and one of the airshipsmust take it across to Potsdam. We can't afford to run any risks of thatinfernal submarine ram or whatever she is. I would almost give an Armycorps for that ship. There's no doubt she's lost us three fleets, ascore of transports, and twenty thousand men in the last three days, andshe's just as much a mystery as ever. It's the most extraordinaryposition a conquering army was ever put into before. "

The Kaiser was perfectly right. There could be no doubt that up to thepresent the invading forces had been victorious, thanks of course mainlyto the irresistible advantage of the airships, but also in no smalldegree to the hopeless unpreparedness of the British home armies to meetan invasion, which both military and naval experts had simply refused tobelieve possible. 

The seizure of the line from Dover to Chatham had been accomplished in asingle night. A dozen airships patrolled the air ahead of the advancingGerman forces, which of course far outnumbered the weak andhastily-collected British forces which could be brought against them, and which, attacked at once by land and from the air, never really had achance. 

It was the most perfectly conducted invasion ever planned. Theconstruction trains which went in advance on both lines carried sectionsof metals of English gauge, already fastened to sleepers, and ready tolay down. Every little bridge and culvert had been known and wasprovided for. Not a bolt nor a fishplate had been forgotten, andmoreover John Castellan's operations from the air had reduced thedestruction to a minimum, and the consequence was that twelve hoursafter the Kaiser had landed at Dover he found himself in hisheadquarters at Canterbury, whence the British garrison had been forcedto retire after heavy fighting along the lines of wooded hills behindMaidstone. 

It was the old, old story, the story of every war that England had goneinto and "muddled through" somehow; but with two differences. Hersoldiers had never had to fight an enemy in the skies before, and--therewas no time now to straighten out the muddle, even if every able-bodiedman in the United Kingdom had been trained soldiers, as the invaderswere. 

But there was another element in the situation. Incredible as it mightseem to those ignorant of the tremendous forces brought into play, thehome fleets of Europe had been destroyed, practically to a ship, withinthree days and nights. The narrow seas were deserted. On the morning ofthe seventeenth, four transports attempting to cross from Hamburg toRamsgate, carrying a force of men, horses and light artillery, which wasintended to operate as a flying column along the northern shores ofKent, had been rammed and sent to the bottom within fifteen minutes halfway between land and land, and not a man nor an animal had escaped. 

There was no news from the expeditions which had been sent against Hulland Newcastle--all the cables had been cut, save the transatlanticlines, the cutting of which the United States had already declared theywould consider as an unfriendly act on the part of the Allies, and theBritish cable from Gibraltar to the Lizard which connected with Palermoand Rome, and so formed the link of communication between Britain andthe Mediterranean. 

The British Mediterranean Fleet was coming home, so were the West Indianand North American squadrons, while the squadron in the China seas wasalso ordered home, via the Suez Canal, to form a conjunction with ourItalian Allies. Of course, these ships would in due time be dealt withby the aërial submarines, but meanwhile commerce with Europe had becomeimpossible. Imports had stopped at most of the great ports through sheerterror of this demon of the sea, which appeared to be here, there andeverywhere at the same time; and with all these powerful squadronsconverging upon the shores of Britain the problem of feeding andgenerally keeping fit for war some three millions of men and over half amillion horses would soon begin to look distinctly serious. 

Castellan's vessels had hunted in vain for this solitary vessel, whichsingle-handed, marvellous as it seemed, kept the narrow waters clear ofinvaders. The truth of this matter, however, was very simple. The_Ithuriel_ was nearly twice as fast in the water as the _Flying Fishes_, and she carried guns with an effective range of five miles, whereas theyonly carried torpedoes. 

For instance, during the battle of Sheerness, in which the remainingunits of the North Sea Squadron had, with the _Ithuriel's_ aid, attackedand destroyed every German and Russian battleship and transport, Erskine's craft had done terrible execution without so much as beingseen until, when the last of the German Coast Defence ships had gonedown with all hands in the Great Nore, off the Nore lighthouse, whenceshe was shelling Garrison Fort, the _Ithuriel_ had risen above the waterfor a few moments, and Denis Castellan had taken a cockshot with thethree forward guns at a couple of _Flying Fishes_ that were circlingover the town and fort and river mouth. 

The shells had time-fuses, and they were timed to the tenth of asecond. They burst simultaneously over the airships. Then came a rendingof the atmosphere, and descending streams of fire, which burst with arapid succession of sharp reports as they touched the airships. Thencame another blaze of light which seemed to darken the wintry sun for amoment, and then another quaking of the air, after which what was leftof the two _Flying Fishes_ fell in little fragments into the water, splashing here and there as though they had been shingle ballast thrownout of a balloon. 

True, Garrison Fort had been blown up by the aërial torpedoes, and thesame fate was befalling the great forts at Tilbury, but their gallantdefenders did not die in vain, and, although the remainder of the aërialsquadron were able to go on and do their work of destruction on London, whither the _Ithuriel_ could not follow them, the wrecks of sixbattleships, a dozen destroyers and ten transports strewed theapproaches to the Thames and the Medway, while nearly thirty thousandsoldiers and sailors would never salute the flag of Czar or Kaiseragain. 

In all the history of war no such loss of men, ships and material hadever taken place within the short space of three days and a few hours. Four great fleets and nearly a hundred thousand men had been wiped outof existence since the assault on Southern England had begun, and evennow, despite the airships, had the millions of Britain's able-bodiedmen, who were grinding their teeth and clenching their fists in impotentfury, been trained just to shoot and march, it would have been possibleto take the invaders between overwhelming masses of men--who would holdtheir lives as nothing in comparison with their country's honour--andthe now impassable sea, and drive them back into it. But although menand youths went in their tens of thousands to the recruiting stationsand demanded to be enlisted, it was no use. Soldiers are not made in aday or a week, and the invaders of England had been making them forforty years. 

While the Kaiser and Count von Moltke were going through Lennard'spapers, and coming to the decision to send them to Potsdam, LordWhittinghame's motor, instead of returning to Chatham, was running up toWhitstable to answer the telegram which Lennard had received atRochester. The German flag cleared them out of Canterbury. It wasalready known that they had been received by the Kaiser, and thereforetheir persons were sacred. In consequence of the loss of the squadronattacking the Thames and Medway, and the destruction of the Ramsgateflotilla, the country was not occupied by the enemy north of the greatmain road through Canterbury and Faversham, and that was just why the_Ithuriel_ was lying snugly in the mouth of the East Swale River, aboutthree miles from the little town, with a shabby-looking lighter besideher, from which she was taking in an extra complement of her own shellsand material for making Lennard's explosive, as well as a full load offuel for her engines. They pulled up at the door of the Bear and KeyHotel, and as the motor came to a standstill a man dressed in thecostume of an ordinary worker on the oyster-beds came up, touched hissou'wester, and said:

"Mr Lennard's car, gentlemen?"

"Yes, I'm here, " said Lennard, shortly; "we've just left the Emperor atCanterbury. How about those oysters? I should think you ought to do wellwith them in Canterbury. Got plenty?"

"Yes, sir, " replied the man. "If you will come down to the wharf I willbe able to show you a shipment that I can send along to-night if thetrain comes from Canterbury. "

"I think we might as well have a drop of something hot first, it'srather cold riding. "

The others nodded, and they went into the hotel without removing theircaps or goggles. They asked a waiter to show them into a private room, as they had some business to do, and when four glasses of hot whisky andwater had been put on the table, Lennard locked the door and said:

"My lords, allow me to have the pleasure of introducing to youLieutenant Denis Castellan of His Majesty's cruiser _Ithuriel_. "

Lord Whittinghame's and Lord Kitchener's hands went out together, andthe former said:

"Delighted to meet you, Mr Castellan. You and Captain Erskine have donemagnificently for us in spite of all our troubles. In fact, I don't knowwhat we should have done without you and this wonderful craft of yours. "

"With all due deference to the Naval Council, " said "K. Of K, " ratherbluntly, "it's a pity they didn't put down a dozen of her. But whatabout these oysters that you telegraphed to Mr Lennard about?"

"There is only one oyster in question at present, my lord, " said Denis, with an entirely Irish smile, "but it's rather a big one. It's theGerman Emperor's yacht, the _Hohenzollern_. She managed to run across, and get into Ramsgate, while we were up here in the Thames--that's theworst of there being only one of us, as we can only attend to one pieceof business at a time. Now, she's lying there waiting the Kaiser'sorders, in case he wants to take a trip across, and it seems to me thatshe'd be worth the watching for a day or two--she'd be a big prize, youknow, gentlemen, especially if we could catch her with the War Lord ofGermany on board her. I don't think myself that His Majesty would haveany great taste for a trip to the bottom of the North Sea, just when hethinks he's beginning the conquest of England so nicely, and, by thePowers, we'd send him there if he got into one of his awkward temperswith us. "

Lord Kitchener, who was in England acting as Chief-of-the-Staff to theDuke of Connaught, and general adviser to the Council of NationalDefence, took Lord Whittinghame to the other end of the room, and saida few words to him in a low tone, and he came back and said:

"It is certainly worth trying, even if you can only catch the ship; butwe don't think you'll catch the Kaiser. The fact is, you seem to haveestablished such a holy terror in these waters that I don't think hewould trust his Imperial person between here and Germany. If he did goacross, he'd probably go in an airship. But if you can bring the_Hohenzollern_ up to Tilbury--of course, under the German flag--I thinkwe shall be able to make good use of her. If she won't come, sink her. "

"Very good, my lords, " said Denis, saluting. "If she's not coming up theThames to-morrow night with the _Ithuriel_ under her stern, ye'll knowthat she's on the bottom in pieces somewhere. And now, " he continued, taking a long envelope from an inner pocket, "here is the full report ofour doings since the war began, with return of ships sunk, crippled andescaped; number of men landed, and so on, according to instructions. Wewill report again to-morrow night, I hope, with the _Hohenzollern_. "

They shook hands and wished him good-night and good luck, and in half anhour the _Ithuriel_ was running half-submerged eastward along the coast, and the motor was on its way to Faversham by the northern road, as therewere certain reasons why it should not go back through Canterbury. 

CHAPTER XXIX

THE LION WAKES

At daybreak on the nineteenth, to the utter amazement of everyone whowas not "in the know, " the Imperial yacht, _Hohenzollern_, was found offTilbury, flying the Imperial German Ensign and the Naval flag, as wellas a long string of signals ordering the aërial bombardment of London tocease, and all the _Flying Fishes_ to return at once to Canterbury. 

The apparent miracle had been accomplished in an absurdly easy fashion. About nine a. M. On the eighteenth a German orderly went into thepost-office at Dover and handed in an official telegram signed "VonRoon, " ordering the _Hohenzollern_ to come round at once to Dover, asshe was considered too open to attack there. 

There was something so beautifully natural and simple in the wholeproceeding that, although there were about a dozen German officers andnon-commissioned officers in the room at the time that the orderly cameand went without suspicion, the telegram was taken by the clerk, readand initialled by the Censor, and passed. 

A few minutes later the orderly, marching in perfectly correct Germanfashion and carrying a large yellow envelope, walked out through thetown northwards and climbed the hill to the eastward of the ruinedcastle. The envelope with its official seal took him past the sentrieswithout question, but, instead of delivering it, he turned down a bypathto Fan Bay, under the South Foreland, gained the beach, took off hisuniform in a secluded spot under the cliffs, and went for a swim. Theuniform was never reclaimed, for when he reached the submerged_Ithuriel_ Denis Castellan had a rub down and put his own on. 

The captain of the _Hohenzollern_ was only too glad to obey the order, for he also thought that it would be better protected from the dreadedocean terror in Dover, so he lost no time in obeying the order; with theresult that, just as he was entering the deserted Downs, the said terrormet him and ordered him to the right-about under pain of instantsinking. 

After that the rest was easy. The captain and officers raged andstormed, but not even German discipline would have prevented a mutiny ifthey had not surrendered. It was known that the _Ithuriel_ took noprisoners. In five minutes after the irresistible ram had hit them theywould be at the bottom of the sea, and so the Hohenzollern put about andsteamed out into the North Sea, with the three wicked forward gunstrained upon her, and the ram swirling smoothly through the water fiftyyards from her stern. 

At nightfall the course was altered for the mouth of the Thames. And so, with all lights out and steered by a thin shifting ray from her captor'sconning-tower, the Kaiser's yacht made its strange way to Tilbury. 

The instant she dropped her anchor a couple of destroyers ran out fromthe Gravesend shore and ranged alongside her. The next minute a Britishcaptain and three lieutenants followed by a hundred bluejackets hadboarded her. The German Commander and his officers gave up their swords, devoutly hoping that they would never meet their War Lord again, and sothe incident ended. 

It will be easily understood that the Kaiser was about the mostinfuriated man in the United Kingdom when the _Flying Fishes_ arrived atCanterbury and the Commander of the squadron described the arrival ofthe _Hohenzollern_ in the Thames and asked for orders. 

In the first place no one knew better than William the Second howpriceless was the prize won by the impudent audacity of these two youngBritish sailors. In his private apartments on board there were his owncomplete plans of the campaign--not only for the conquest of Britain, but afterwards for the dismemberment of the British Empire, and itspartition among the Allies--exact accounts of the resources of the chiefEuropean nations in men, money and ships, plans of fortifications, andeven drafts of treaties. In fact, it was such a haul of Imperial andInternational secrets as had never been made before; and that eveningthe British Cabinet held in their possession enough diplomaticexplosives to blow the European league of nations to pieces. 

Erskine and Castellan were honoured by an autograph letter from theKing, thanking them heartily for their splendid services up to thepresent stage of the war, and wishing them all good luck for the future. Then the _Ithuriel_ slipped down the Thames, towing half a dozenshabby-looking barges behind her, and for some days she disappearedutterly from human ken. 

What she was really doing during these days was this. These barges andseveral others which she picked up now and then were filled withammunition for her guns and fuel for her engines, and she dropped themhere and there in obscure creeks and rock-bound bays from Newcastle tothe Clyde, where they lay looking like abandoned derelicts, until suchtimes as they might be wanted. 

Meanwhile, very soon after the loss of the _Hohenzollern_, the Kaiserreceived two messages which disquieted him very seriously. One of thesecame by airship from Potsdam. It was an exhaustive report upon thepapers which Lennard had left with him on that momentous night as itturned out to be, on which the War Lord had rejected the ultimatum ofthe Man of Peace. It was signed by Professor Döllinger and endorsed byfour of the greatest astronomers of Germany. 

Briefly put, its substance amounted to this: Mr Lennard's calculationswere absolutely correct, as far as they went. Granted the existence ofsuch a celestial body as he designated _Alpha_ in the document, and itsposition _x_ on the day of its alleged discovery; its direction andspeed designated _y_ and _z_, then at the time of contact designated_n_, it would infallibly come into contact with the earth's atmosphere, and the consequences deduced would certainly come to pass, viz. , eitherthe earth would combine with it, and be transformed into asemi-incandescent body, or the terrestrial atmosphere would become afire mist which would destroy all animal and vegetable life upon theplanet within the space of a few minutes. 

The second communication was a joint-note from the Emperor of Austria, the President of the Hague Council, the President of the FrenchRepublic, and the Tsar of Russia, protesting against the bombardment ofLondon or any other defenceless town by the airships. The note set forththat these were purely engines of war, and ought not to be used forpurposes of mere terrorism and murder. Their war employment on land orwater, or against fortified positions, was perfectly legitimate, butagainst unarmed people and defenceless towns it was held to be contraryto all principles of humanity and civilisation, and it was thereforerequested by the signatories that, in order to prevent seriousdifferences between the Allies, it should cease forthwith. 

The result of this communication was of course a Council of War, whichwas anything but a harmonious gathering, especially as several of theolder officers agreed with the tone of it, and told the Kaiser plainlythat they considered that there was quite enough in the actual businessof war for the _Flying Fishes_ to do; and the Chancellor did nothesitate to express the opinion that the majority of the peoples ofEurope, and possibly large numbers of their own soldiers, who, afterall, were citizens first and soldiers afterwards, would strongly resentsuch operations, especially when it became known that the Emperor's ownAllies had protested against it; the result of the Council was thatWilliam the Second saw that he was clearly in a minority, and had thegood sense to issue a General Order there and then that all aërialbombardments, save as part of an organised attack, should cease fromthat day. 

The events of the next twenty days were, as may well be imagined, fullof momentous happenings, which it would require hundreds of pages todescribe in anything like detail, and therefore only quite a briefsketch of them can be given here. This will, however, be sufficient tothrow a clear light upon the still more stupendous events which were tofollow. 

In consequence of the almost incredible destruction and slaughter duringthese first four awful days and nights of the war, both sides had lostthe command of the sea, and the capture of the _Hohenzollern_ in broaddaylight less than a dozen miles from the English coast had producedsuch a panic among the rank and file of the invaders, and thereinforcements of men waiting on the other side of the Channel and theNorth Sea, that communication save by airship had practically stopped. 

The consequence of this was that, geographically, the Allied armies, after the release of the prisoners from Portsmouth and Folkestone, amounted to some three million men of all arms, with half a millionhorses, and two thousand guns--it will be remembered that a vast numberof horses, guns and stores had gone to the bottom in the warships whichthe _Ithuriel_ had sunk--were confined within a district bounded by thecoast-line from Ramsgate to the Needles, and thence by a line runningnorth to Southampton; thence, across Hampshire to Petersfield, and viaHorsham, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, and over Canterbury, back toRamsgate. 

In view of the defeat and destruction of the expedition against London, the troops that had been thrown forward to Chatham and Rochester toco-operate with it were re-called, and concentrated between Ashford andCanterbury. The rest of England, Scotland and Ireland was to the presenta closed country to them. The blockade on Swansea and Liverpool had beenraised by the _Ithuriel_, and there was nothing to prevent any amount ofsupplies from the west and south being poured in through half a hundredports. 

Thus the dream of starving the British Islands out had been dissipatedat a stroke. True, the dockyards of Devonport and Milford Haven had beendestroyed by the airships, but copies of the plans of the _Ithuriel_ hadbeen sent to Liverpool, Barrow, Belfast, the Clyde and the Tyne, andhundreds of men were working at them night and day. Scores ofbattleships, cruisers and destroyers, belonging both to Britain andother countries, which were nearing completion, were being laboured atwith feverish intensity, so that they might be fitted for sea insomething like fighting trim; submarines were being finished off bydozens, and Thorneycroft's and Yarrow's yards were, like the rest, working to their full capacity. 

The blind frenzy of rage which had swept like an epidemic over the wholekingdom during the first days of disaster had died away and in its placehad come the quiet but desperate resolve that if Britain was to beconquered she should be depopulated as well. 

All male employment, save that which was necessary to produce coal andiron, to keep the shipyards and the gun factories going, and theshipping on the west coast running, was stopped. In thousands of cases, especially in the north, the places of the men were taken by the women;and, in addition to these, every woman and girl, from the match-girls ofWhitechapel to the noblest and wealthiest in the land, found some workto do in the service of their country. 

Every day, thousands and tens of thousands of the sons of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales were taken in hand by "Mr SergeantWhat's-'is-Name, " and drilled into shape with miraculous speed; andevery day, as detachment after detachment went to the battle front, which now extended from North Foreland to Portland Bill, the magic ofpatriotism and the long-inherited habits of order and obedience changedthe raw recruit into the steady-nerved, strong-hearted soldier, wholearnt his duty in the grim school of battle, and was ready to do it tothe end. 

In less than a month Britain had become a military nation. It seemed atthe time and afterwards a miracle, but it was merely the outcome ofperfectly natural causes. 

After all, every British man has a strain of fighting blood in him. Evenleaving out his ancient ancestry, he remains the descendant of familieswho have given soldier-sons to their country during five hundred yearsof almost ceaseless war in one part of the world or the other. He isreally born with battle-smoke in his nostrils, and the beat of thebattle-drum in his heart--and he knows that, neither on land nor sea hashe ever been finally beaten. 

Remember, too, that this was to him a holy war, the holiest in which thesword can be drawn. He was fighting for freedom, for the possession ofhis land, for the protection of wife and child and kindred, and theheritage which his fathers of old time had handed down to him. Was itany wonder, then, that within the space of a few weeks the peacefulcitizens of Britain, like the fabled harvest of the dragon's teeth, seemed to spring as men full-armed from the very ground? Moreover, thiswas no skirmishing with sharpshooters over a vast extent of country, sixthousand miles away from home, as it had been in South Africa. This washome itself. There was no right or wrong here, nothing for politiciansto wrangle about for party purposes. Here, in a little corner of littleEngland, two mighty hosts were at death-grips day and night, the onefighting for all that is dearest and most sacred to the heart of man;and the other to save itself from what could be nothing less thanirretrievable disaster. 

CHAPTER XXX

MR PARMENTER SAYS

Happily for the defenders of Britain the fleet of aërial submarines, from which so much had been expected for offensive purposes during theproposed "triumphal march" on London, soon became of little or no use inthe field. 

The reason was this: As, day after day and week after week, that awfulstruggle continued, it became absolutely necessary for the Allies toobtain men and material to make good the fearful losses which the valourand devotion of what was now a whole nation in arms had inflicted uponthem, and so all but four were despatched to guard the route betweenDover and Calais--eight under the water and eight in the air--and somake it possible for the transports to cross. Of course, this meant thatthousands of fresh men and hundreds of horses and guns could be pouredinto Kent every day; but it also meant that the greater portion of thedefenders' most terrible foes were rendered harmless--and this was notthe least of the good work that the _Ithuriel_ had done. 

Of course, that famous "sea-devil, " as the invaders called her, wasmostly on the spot or thereabouts, and every now and then a crowdedtransport would lurch over and go down, or a silent, flameless shotwould rise up out of some unknown part of the waters and a shell wouldburst with a firmament-shaking concussion close to one of theairships--after which the airship would burst with a still morefrightful shock and distribute herself in very small fragments throughthe shuddering atmosphere; but this only happened every other day or so, for Erskine and his lieutenant knew a good deal better than to run toomany risks, at least just now. 

So, for twelve weeks of bitter, bloody and unsparing strife the grim, unceasing struggle for the possession of the Capital of the World wenton, and when the eighteenth of March dawned, the outposts of the Allieswere still twelve to fourteen miles from the banks of the Thames. Howdesperate had been that greatest of all defences since man had made waron man may be dimly guessed from the fact that it cost the invaders twomonths of incessant fighting and more than a million men before theyplanted their guns along the ridges of the North Downs and the SurreyHills. 

Meanwhile Gilbert Lennard passed his peaceful though anxious daysbetween Bolton and Whernside, while Auriole, Margaret Holker, NorahCastellan and Mrs O'Connor, with hundreds of other heroines, were doingtheir work of mercy in the hospital camps at the different bases behindthe fighting front. Lord Westerham, who had worked miracles in the wayof recruiting, was now in his glory as one of General French's SpecialService Officers, which, under such a Commander, is about as dangerous ajob as a man can find in the whole bloody business of war. 

And still, as the pitiless human strife went on with its ceaselessrattle of rifle fire, and the almost continuous roar of artillery, dayby day the Invader from Space grew bigger and brighter in the greatreflector, and day by day the huge cannon, which, in the decisive momentof the world's fate, was to do battle with it, approached completion. 

At midnight on the twelfth of March Tom Bowcock had announced that allwas ready for the casting. Lennard gave the order by electric signal. The hundred converters belched their floods of glowing steel into whathad once been Great Lever pit; night was turned into day by a vast glowthat shot up to the zenith, and the first part of the great work wasaccomplished. 

At breakfast the next morning Lennard received the following cablegramfrom Pittsburg:

 "All ready. Crossing fourteenth. Give particulars of comet away when you like. Pittsburg Baby doing well. How's yours?--PARMENTER. "

In order to understand the full meaning of Mr Parmenter's curt cablegramit will be necessary to go back for a little space to the day when hemade his hurried departure from the Clyde in the _Minnehaha_. It will beremembered that he had that morning received a cablegram from New York. This message had read thus:

 "Complete success at last. Craft built and tried. Action and speed perfect. Dollars out, hurry up. "HINGESTON. "

Now the signer of this cablegram, Newson Hingeston, was an old collegefriend of Mr Parmenter's, and therefore a man of about his own age. Hewas a born mathematician and engineer, and, like many another beforehim, the dream of his life had been the conquest of the air by means ofvessels which flew as a bird flew, that is to say by their own inherentstrength, and without the aid of gas-bags or buoyancy chambers, whichhe, like all the disciples of Nadar, Jules Verne, Maxim and Langley, hadlooked upon as mere devices of quackery, or at the best, playthings ofrich people, who usually paid for their amusement with their lives. 

His father died soon after he left college, and left him a comfortablelittle estate on the north-western slopes of the Alleghanies, and afortune in cash and securities of a million dollars. The estate gave himplenty to live upon comfortably, so he devoted his million to therealisation of his ideal. Ratliffe Parmenter, who only had a few hundredthousand dollars to begin with, laughed at him, but one day, after along argument, just as a sort of sporting bet, he signed a bond to paytwo million dollars for the first airship built by his friend thatshould fly in any direction, independently of the wind, and carry a deadweight of a ton in addition to a crew of four men. 

Newson Hingeston registered the bond with all gravity, and deposited itat his bank, and then their life-ways parted. Parmenter plunged into thevortex of speculation, went under sometimes, but always came to the topagain with a few more millions in his insatiable grasp, and thesemillions, after the manner of their kind, had made more millions, andthese still more, until he gave up the task of measuring the giganticpile and let it grow. 

Meanwhile, his friend had spent the best twenty-five years of his life, all his fortune, and every dollar he could raise on his estate, inpursuit of the ideal which he had reached a few minutes later than theeleventh hour. Then he had sent that cable. Of course, he wanted the twomillions, but what had so suddenly happened in England had instantlyconvinced him that he was now the possessor of an invention which manymillions would not buy, and which might decide the fate of the world. 

Within twelve hours of his arrival at his friend's house, RatliffeParmenter was entirely convinced that Newson Hingeston had beenperfectly justified in calling him across the Atlantic, for the verygood reason that he spent the greater part of the night taking flyingleaps over the Alleghanies, nerve-shuddering dives through valleys andgorges, and vast, skimming flights over dim, half-visible plains andforests to the west, soaring and swooping, twisting and turning atincredible speeds, in fact, doing everything that any bird that everflew could do. 

When they got back to the house, just as dawn was breaking, and MrParmenter had shaken hands with Hiram Roker, a long, lean, slab-sidedYankee, who was Hingeston's head engineer and general manager, and hadfought the grim fight through failure to success at his side for twentyyears, he said to his friend:

"Newson, you've won, and I guess I'll take that bond up, and I'd like todo a bit more than that. You know what's happening over the other side. There's got to be an Aërial Navigation Trust formed right away, consisting of you, myself and Hiram there, and Max Henchell, my partner, and that syndicate has to have twenty of these craft of yours, bigger ifpossible, afloat inside three months. The syndicate will commence atonce with a capital of fifty millions, and there'll be fifty more behindthat if wanted. "

"It's a great scheme, " Hingeston replied slowly, "but I'm afraid thetime's too short. "

"Time!" exclaimed Mr Parmenter. "Who in thunder thinks about time whendollars begin to talk? You just let me have all your plans and sections, drawings and the rest of your fixings in time to catch the ten o'clocktrain to Pittsburg. I'll run up and talk the matter over with Henchell. We'll have fifty workshops turning out the different parts in a week, and you shall have a staff of trustworthy men that we own, body andsoul, down here to assemble them, and we'll make the best of those chapsinto the crews of the ships when we get them afloat. 

"Now, don't talk back, Newson, that's fixed. I'm sleepy, and that triphas jerked my nerves up a bit. Give me a drink, and let's go to bed fortwo or three hours. You'll have a cheque for five millions before Istart, and we shall then consider the _Columbia_ our private yacht. We'll fly her around at night, and just raise Cain in the way ofmysteries for the newspapers, but we won't give ourselves awayaltogether until the fleet's ready. "

As they say on the other side of the Atlantic, what Ratliffe Parmentersaid, went. He wielded the irresistible power of almost illimitablewealth, and during the twenty-five years that Hingeston had been workingat his ideal, he and Maximilian Henchell, who was a descendant of oneof the oldest Dutch families in America, and one of its shrewdestbusiness men to boot, had built up an industrial organisation that wasperhaps the most perfect of its kind even in the United States. It wasrun on lines of absolute despotism, but the despotism was at onceintellectual and benevolent. To be a capable and faithful servant ofParmenter and Henchell, even in the humblest capacity, meant, not onlygood wages and provision for life, but prospects of advancement to thehighest posts in the firm, and means of investing money which nooutsider would ever hear of. 

Wherefore those who worked for Parmenter and Henchell formed anindustrial army, some fifty thousand strong, generalled, officered anddisciplined to the highest point of efficiency, and faithful to thedeath. In fact, to be dismissed from any of their departments orworkshops was financial death. It was like having a sort of commercialticket-of-leave, and if such a man tried for work elsewhere, the answerwas "If you can't work for P. And H. You must be a crook of some sort. Iguess you're no good to us. " And the end of that man was usually worsethan his beginning. 

This was the vast organisation which, when the word went forth from theheadquarters at Pittsburg, devoted the best of its brains and skill tothe creation of the Aërial Fleet, and, as Mr Parmenter had said, thatFleet was ready to take the air in the time he had allowed for itsconstruction. 

But the new ships had developed in the course of making. They were halfas long again as the _Columbia_, and therefore nearly twice as big, withengines four times the power, and they carried three guns ahead andthree astern, which were almost exact reproductions of those of the_Ithuriel_, the plans of which had been brought over by the _Minnehaha_on her second trip. 

The _Columbia_ had a speed of about one hundred miles an hour, but thenew models were good for nearly a hundred and fifty. In appearance theywere very like broad and shallow torpedo boats, with three aeroplanes oneither side, not unlike those of the _Flying Fishes_, with three liftingfans under each. These could be driven vertically or horizontally, andso when the big twin fans at the stern had got up sufficient way to keepthe ship afloat by the pressure under the aeroplanes the lifting fanscould be converted into pulling fans, but this was only necessary when avery high speed was desired. 

There was a signal mast and yard forward, and a flagstaff aft. The gunswere worked under hoods, which protected the gunners from the rush ofthe wind, and just forward of the mast was an oval conning-tower, notunlike that of the _Ithuriel_, only, of course, unarmoured, from whicheverything connected with the working of the ship could be controlled bya single man. 

Such is a brief description of the Aërial Fleet which rose from theslopes of the Alleghanies at ten o'clock on the night of the fourteenthof March 1910, and winged its way silently and without lights eastwardacross the invisible waters of the Atlantic. 

There is one other point in Mr Parmenter's cablegram to Lennard whichmay as well be explained here. He had, of course, confided everythingthat he knew, not only about the war, but also about the approachingWorld Peril and the means that were being taken to combat it, to hispartner on his first arrival in the States, and had also given him acopy of Lennard's calculations. 

Instantly Mr Max Henchell's patriotic ambition was fired. Mr Lennard hadmentioned that Tom Bowcock, Lennard's general manager, had proposed tochristen the great gun the "Bolton Baby. " He had spent that night incalculations of differences of latitude and longitude, time, angles ofinclination of the axis of the orbit, points and times of orbitalintersection worked out from the horizon of Pittsburg, and when he hadfinished he solemnly asked himself the momentous question: Why shouldthis world-saving business be left to England alone? After all the"Bolton Baby" might miss fire by a second or two. If it was going to bea matter of comet-shooting, what had America done that she could nothave a gun? Were there not hundreds of eligible shafts to be boughtround Pittsburg? Yes, America should have that gun, if the last dollarhe possessed or could raise by fair means or foul was to be thrown downthe bore of it. 

And so America had the gun, and therefore in after days the rival of the"Bolton Baby" came to be called the "Pittsburg Prattler. "

CHAPTER XXXI

JOHN CASTELLAN'S THREAT

Lennard's first feelings after the receipt of Mr Parmenter's cablegram, and the casting of the vast mass of metal which was to form the body ofthe great cannon, were those of doubt and hesitation, mingled, possibly, with that sense of semi-irresponsibility which will for a time overcomethe most highly-disciplined mind when some great task has been completedfor the time being. 

For a full month nothing could be done to the cannon, since it wouldtake quite that time for the metal to cool. Everything else had beendone or made ready. The huge projectile which was to wing its way intoSpace to do battle for the life of humanity was completed. The boringand rifling tools were finished, and all the materials for the drivingand the bursting charges were ready at hand for putting into their finalform when the work of loading up began. There was literally nothing moreto be done. All that human labour, skill and foresight could achieve forthe present had been accomplished. 

Dearly would he have loved to go south and join the ranks of thefighters; but a higher sense of duty than personal courage forbade that. He was the only man who could perform the task he had undertaken, and achance bullet fragment of a shell to say nothing of the hundred minorchances of the battlefield, might make the doing of that workimpossible. 

No, his time would come in the awful moment when the fate of humanitywould hang in the balance, and his place alike of honour and of dutywas now in the equatorial room of the observatory at Whernside, watchingthrough every waking hour of his life the movements of the Invader, thathe might note the slightest deviation from its course, or the mosttrifling change in its velocity. For on such seemingly small matters asthese depended, not only the fate of the world, but of the only womanwho could make the world at least worth living in for him--and so hewent to Whernside by the morning train after a long day's talk with TomBowcock over things in general. 

"Yo' may be sure that everything will be all right, Mr Lennard, " saidTom, as they shook hands on the platform. "I'll take t' temperatures, top, bottom and middle, every night and morning and post them to yo', and if there's any change that we don't expect, I'll wire yo' at once;and now I've a great favour to ask you, Mr Lennard. I haven't asked itbefore because there's been too much work to do--"

"You needn't ask it, Tom, " laughed Lennard, as he returned his grip, "but I'm not going to invite you to Whernside just yet, for two reasons. In the first place, I can't trust that metal to anyone else but you forat least a week; and in the second place, when I do send you aninvitation from Mr Parmenter I shall not only be able to show you thecomet a bit brighter than it is just now, but something else that youmay have thought about or read about but never seen yet, and I am goingto give you an experience that no man born in England has ever had--butI'm not going to spoil sport by telling you now. "

"Yo've thought it all out afore me, Mr Lennard, as yo' always doeverything, " replied Tom. "I'm not much given to compliments, as yo'know, but yo're a wonderful man, and if yo've got something to show me, it's bound to be wonderful too, and if it's anything as wonderful as t'lies I've b'n telling those newspaper chaps about t' cannon, I reckonit'll make me open my eyes as wide as they've ever been, for sure. Good-bye. "

During the journey to Settle, Lennard began to debate once more withhimself a question which had troubled him considerably since he hadreceived Mr Parmenter's cablegram. Should he publish his calculations tothe world at once, give the exact position of the Invader at a givenmoment in a given part of the sky, and so turn every telescope in thecivilised world upon it--or should he wait until some astronomer madethe independent discovery which must come within a short time now?

There were reasons both for and against. To do so might perhaps stop thewar, and that would, at first sight, be conferring a great blessing uponhumanity; but, on the other hand, it might have the very reverse effectupon the millions of men whose blood was now inflamed with the lust ofbattle. Again it was one thing to convince the rulers of the nations andthe scientists of the world that the coming catastrophe was inevitable;but to convince the people who made up those nations would be a verydifferent matter. 

The end of the world had been predicted hundreds of times already, mostly by charlatans, who made a good living out of it, but sometimes bythe most august authorities. He had read his history, and he had notforgotten the awful conditions in which the people of Europe fell duringthe last months of the year 1000, when the Infallible Church hadsolemnly proclaimed that at twelve o'clock on the night of the 31st ofDecember Satan, chained for a thousand years, would be let loose; thaton the morning of the 1st of January 1001 the order of Nature would bereversed, the sun would rise in the west and the reign of Anti-Christbegin. Then the remnants of the European nations had gradually awakenedto the fact that Holy Church was wrong, since nothing happened save theresults of the madness which her prophesies had produced. 

But the catastrophe of which he would have to be the prophet would beworse even than this, and, moreover, as far as human science could tell, it was a mathematical certainty. There would be no miracle, nothing ofthe supernatural about it--it would happen just as certainly as theearth would revolve on its axis; and yet how many millions of theearth's inhabitants would believe it until with their own eyes they sawthe approaching Fate?

In time of peace perhaps he might have obtained a hearing, but who wouldpause amidst the rush of the armed battalions to listen to him? Howcould the calm voice of Science make itself heard among the clash andclangour of war? The German Emperor had already laughed in his face, andaccepted his challenge with contemptuous incredulity. No doubt his staffand all his officers would do the same. What possibility then wouldthere be to convince the millions who were fighting blindly under theirorders? No; it was hopeless. The war must go on. He could only hope thatthe Aërial Fleet which Mr Parmenter was bringing across the Atlanticwould turn the tide of battle in favour of the defenders of Britain. 

But there was another matter to be considered. Thanks to the controlpossessed by the Parmenter Syndicate over the Atlantic cables and theaerograph system of the world, he was kept daily, sometimes hourly, acquainted with everything that was happening. He knew that the Easternforces of Russia were concentrating upon India in the hope that thedisasters in England and the destruction of the Fleet would realise theold Muscovite dream of detaching the natives from their loyalty to theBritish Crown and so making the work of conquest easy. In the Far East, Japan was recovering from the exhaustion consequent upon her costlyvictories over Russia, and had formed an ominous alliance with China. 

On the other hand Italy, England's sole remaining ally in Europe, hadblockaded the French Mediterranean ports, and while the French legionswere being drawn northward to the conquest of Britain, the Italianarmies had seized the Alpine passes and were preparing an invasion whichshould avenge the humiliations which Italy had suffered under the firstNapoleon. 

In a word, everything pointed to universal war. Only the United Statespreserved an inscrutable silence, which had been broken only by fourwords: "Hands off our commerce. " And to these the Leagued Nations hadlistened, if rather by compulsion than respect. 

Who was he, then, that he should, as it were, sound the trump ofapproaching doom in the ears of a world round which from east to westand from west again to east the battledrums might any day be soundingand the roar of artillery thundering its answering echo. 

But a somewhat different aspect was given to these reflections by aletter which he found waiting for him in the library at Whernside House. It ran thus:

 "SIR, --You will not, I suppose, have forgotten a certain incident which happened towards the end of June 1907 in the Bay of Clifden, Connemara. You won that little swimming race by a yard or so, and since then it appears to me that, although you may not be aware of it, you and I have been running a race of a very different sort, although possibly for the same prize. 

 "You will understand what prize I mean, and by this time you ought to know that I have the power of taking it by force, if I cannot win it in the ordinary way of sport or battle. I am in command of the only really irresistible force in the world. I created that force, and, by doing so, made the invasion of England and the present war possible. I have done so because I hate England, and desire to release my own country from her tyranny and oppression; but I can love as well as I can hate, and whether you understood it or not, I, who had never loved a woman before, loved Auriole Parmenter from the moment that you and I lifted her out of the water, and she smiled on us, and thanked us for saving her life. 

 "Before we parted that day I could see love in your eyes when you looked at her, if you could not see it in mine. You are her father's private astronomer, and until lately you have lived in almost daily intercourse with her, in which, of course, you have had a great advantage over myself, who have not from that time till now been blessed by even the sight of her. 

 "But during that time it seems that you have discovered a comet, which is to run into the earth and destroy all human life, unless you prevent it. I know this because I know of the challenge you gave to the German Emperor in Canterbury. I know also of what you have been doing in Bolton. You are turning a coal pit into a cannon, with which you believe that you can blow this comet into thin air or gas before it meets the earth, and you threatened His Majesty that if the war was not stopped the human race should be destroyed. 

 "That, if you will pardon the expression, was a piece of bluff. You love Miss Parmenter perhaps as much as, though not possibly more than, I do, and therefore you would certainly not destroy the world as long as she was alive in it. You would be more or less than man if you did, and I don't believe you are either, and therefore I think you will understand the proposition I am going to make to you. 

 "Granted hypothesis that the world will come to an end by means of this comet on a certain day, and granted also that you are able to save it with this cannon of yours, I write now to tell you that, whether the war stops or not in obedience to your threat, I will not allow you to save the world unless Miss Parmenter consents to marry me within two months from now. If she does, the war shall stop, or at anyrate I will allow the British forces to conquer the whole of Europe on the sole condition of giving independence to Ireland. They cannot win without my fleet of _Flying Fishes_, and if I turn that fleet against them they will not only be defeated but annihilated. In other words, with the sole exception of my own country, I offer England the conquest of Europe in exchange for the hand of one woman. 

 "In the other alternative, that is to say, if Miss Parmenter, her father and yourself do not consent to this proposal, I will not allow you to save the world. I can destroy your cannon works at Bolton as easily as I destroyed the forts at Portsmouth and Dover, and as easily as I can and will kill you, and wreck your observatory. When I have done this I will take possession of Miss Parmenter by force, and then your comet can come along and destroy the world as soon as it likes. 

 "I shall expect a definite answer to this letter, signed by Mr Parmenter and yourself, within seven days. If you address your letter to Mr James Summers, 28a Carlos Street, Sheerness, it will reach me; but I must warn you that any attempt to discover why it will reach me from that address will be punished by the bombardment and destruction of the town. 

 "I hope you will see the reasonableness and moderation of my conditions, and remain, yours faithfully, "JOHN CASTELLAN. "

CHAPTER XXXII

A VIGIL IN THE NIGHT

Although Lennard had always recognised the possibility of such acatastrophe as that which John Castellan threatened, and had even takensuch precautions as he could to prevent it, still this direct menace, coming straight from the man himself, brought the danger home to him ina peculiarly personal way. 

The look which had passed between them as they were swimming their racein Clifden Bay had just as much meaning for him as for the man who nownot openly professed himself his rival, but who threatened to proceed tothe last extremities in order to gain possession of the girl they bothloved. It was impossible for him not to believe that the man who hadbeen capable of such cold-blooded atrocities as he had perpetrated atPortsmouth, London and other places, would hesitate for a moment incarrying out such a threat, and if he did--No, the alternative was quitetoo horrible to think of yet. 

One thing, however, was absolutely certain. Although no word of love hadpassed between Auriole and himself since the night when he had shown herthe comet and described the possible doom of the world to her, she hadin a hundred ways made it plain to him that she was perfectly well awarethat he loved her and that she did not resent it--and he knew quiteenough of human nature to be well aware that when a woman allows herselfto be loved by a man with whom she is in daily and hourly contact, sheis already half won; and from this it followed, according to his exactmathematical reasoning, that, whatever the consequences, her reply toJohn Castellan's letter would be in the negative, and equally, ofcourse, so would her father's be. 

"I wonder what the Kaiser's Admiral of the Air would think if he knewhow matters really stand, " he said to himself as he read the letterthrough for a second time. "Quite certain of doing what he threatens, ishe? I'm not. Still, after all, I suppose I mustn't blame him too much, for wasn't I in just the same mind myself once--to save the world if shewould make it heaven for me, to--well--turn it into the other place ifshe wouldn't. But she very soon cured me of that madness. 

"I wonder if she could cure this scoundrel if she condescended to try, which I am pretty certain she would not. I wonder what she'll look likewhen she reads this letter. I've never seen her angry yet, but I knowshe would look magnificent. Well, I shall do nothing till Mr Parmentergets back. Still, it's a pity that I've got to gravitate between hereand Bolton for the next seven weeks. If I wasn't, I'd ask him for one ofthose airships and I'd hunt John Castellan through all the oceans of airtill I ran him down and smashed him and his ship too!"

At this moment the butler came to him and informed him that his dinnerwas ready and to ask him what wine he would drink. 

"Thank you, Simmons, " he replied. "A pint of that excellent Burgundy ofyours, please. By the way, have the papers come yet?"

"Just arrived, sir, " said Mr Simmons, making the simple announcementwith all the dignity due to the butler to a millionaire. 

He went at once into the dining-room and opened the second edition ofthe _Times_, which was sent every day to Settle by train and thence bymotor-car to Whernside House. 

Of course he turned first to the "Latest Intelligence" column. It washeaded, as he half expected it to be, "The Great Turning Movement: TheEnemy in Possession of Aldershot and advancing on Reading. "

The account itself was one of those admirable combinations of brevityand impartiality for which the leading journal of the world has alwaysbeen distinguished. What Lennard read ran as follows:

"Four months have now passed since the invading forces of the Allies, after destroying the fortifications of Portsmouth and Dover by meansnever yet employed in warfare, set foot on English soil. There have beenfour months of almost incessant fighting, of heroic defence anddearly-bought victory, but, although it is not too much to say in soberlanguage that the defending troops, regulars, militia, yeomanry andvolunteers, have accomplished what have seemed to be something likemiracles of valour and devotion, the tide of conquest has neverthelessflowed steadily towards London. 

"Considering the unanimous devotion with which the citizens of thiscountry, English, Scotch, Irish and Welsh, have taken up arms for thedefence of their Motherland, there can be no doubt but that, if the warhad been fought under ordinary conditions, the tide of invasion would bythis time have been rolled back to our coasts in spite of the admittedsuperiority of the invaders in the technical operations of warfare, andtheir enormous advantage in numbers to begin with. But the Britishforces have had to fight under conditions which have never before beenknown in warfare. Their enemies have not been only those of the land andsea: they have had to fight foes capable of raining destruction uponthem from the air as well, and it may well be believed that the leadersof the invading hosts would be the first to admit that without thisenormous advantage not even the progress that they have so far madewould have been possible. 

"The glories of Albuera and Waterloo, of Inkermann and Balaklava, haveover and over again been eclipsed by the whole-souled devotion of theBritish soldiery, fighting, as no doubt every man of them believes, withtheir backs to the wall, not for ultimate victory perhaps but for thepreservation of those splendid traditions which have been maintaineduntarnished for over a thousand years. It is no exaggeration to say thatof all the wars in the history of mankind this has been the deadliestand the bloodiest. Never, perhaps, has so tremendous an attack beendelivered, and never has such an attack been met by so determined aresistance. Still, having due regard to the information at our disposal, it would be vain to deny that, tremendous as the cost must have been, the victory so far lies with the invaders. 

"After a battle which has lasted almost continuously for a fortnight; astruggle in which battalion after battalion has fought itself to astandstill and the last limits of human endurance have been reached, thefact remains that the enemy have occupied the whole line of the NorthDowns, Aldershot has ceased to be a British military camp, and is nowoccupied by the legions of Germany, France and Austria. 

"Russia, in spite of the disastrous defeat of the united German andRussian expedition against Sheerness, Tilbury and Woolwich, is nowpreparing a force for an attack on Harwich which, if it is not defeatedby the same means as that upon the Thames was defeated by, will havewhat we may frankly call the deplorable effect of diverting a largeproportion of the defenders of London from the south to the north, andthis, unless some other force, at present unheard of, is brought intoplay in aid of the defenders, can only result in the closing of theattack round London--and after that must come the deluge. 

"That this is part of a general plan of operations appears to be quiteclear from the desperate efforts which the French, German and Austriantroops are making to turn the position of General French at Reading, tooutflank the British left which is resting on the hills beyondFaversham, and, having thus got astride the Thames, occupy thesemicircle of the Chiltern Hills and so place the whole Thames valleyeast of Reading at their mercy. 

"In consequence of the ease with which the enemy's airships havedestroyed both telegraphic and railway communication, no definitedetails are at present to hand. It is only known that since the attackon Aldershot the fighting has not only been on a colossal scale, butalso of the most sanguinary description, with the advantage slowly butsurely turning in favour of the invaders. Such news as reaches us comesentirely by despatch rider and aerogram. We greatly regret to learn, through the former source, that yesterday evening Lord Westerham, thelast of the six special Service officers attached to General French'sstaff, was either killed or captured in a gallant attempt to carrydespatches containing an accurate account of the situation up to datefrom Reading to Windsor, whence it was to be transmitted by theunderground telephone cable to His Majesty at Buckingham Palace. "

"That reads pretty bad, " said Lennard, when Mr Simmons had left theroom, "especially Westerham being killed or taken prisoner; I don't likethat at all. I wish we'd been able to collar His Majesty of Germany onthat trip to Canterbury as Lord Kitchener suggested, and put him onboard the _Ithuriel_. He'd have made a very excellent hostage in a caselike this. I must say that, altogether, affairs do not look verypromising, and we've still two months all but a day or two. Well, if MrParmenter doesn't get across with his aërial fleet pretty soon, I shallcertainly take steps to convince him and his Allies, who are fightingfor a few islands when the whole world is in peril, that my ultimatumwas anything but the joke he seemed to take it for. "

He finished his wine, drank a cup of coffee and smoked a meditativecigar in the library, and then went up to the observatory. 

It was a lovely night from his point of view; clear, cool and almostcloudless. The young moon was just rising to the eastward, and as helooked up at that portion of the south-western sky from which theCelestial Invader was approaching he could almost persuade himself thathe saw a dim ghostly shape of the Spectre from Space. 

But when he got to the telescope the Spectre was no longer there. Thefield of the great reflector was blank, save for the few far-awaystar-mists, and here and there a dimly-distant star, already familiar tohim through many nights of watching. 

What had happened? Had some catastrophe occurred in the outer realms ofSpace in which some other world had been involved in fiery ruin, or hadthe comet been dragged away from its orbit by the attraction of one ofthose dead suns, those derelicts of Creation which, dark and silent, drift for age after age through the trackless ocean of Immensity?

There was no cooler-headed man alive than Gilbert Lennard when it cameto a matter of his own profession and yet the world did not hold a morefrightened man than he was when he went to re-adjust the machinery whichregulated the movement of the great telescope, and so began his searchfor the lost comet all over again. One thing only was certain--that theslightest swerve from its course might make the comet harmless and sendit flying through Space millions of miles away from the earth, or bringthe threatening catastrophe nearer by an unknown number of days andhours. And that was the problem, here, alone, and in the silence of thenight, he had to solve. The great gun at Bolton and the other atPittsburg might by this time be useless, or, worse still, they might notbe ready in time. 

It was curious that, even face to face with such a terrific crisis, hehad enough human vanity left to shape a half regret that hiscalculations would almost certainly be falsified. 

That, however, was only the sensation of a moment. He ran rapidly overhis previous calculations, did about fifteen minutes very hardthinking, and in thirty more he had found the comet. There it was: a fewdegrees more to the northward, and more inclined to the plane of theearth's orbit; brighter, and therefore nearer; and now the question was, by how much?

Confronted with this problem, the man and the lover disappeared, andonly the mathematician and the calculating machine remained. He made hisnotes and went to his desk. The next three hours passed without anyconsciousness of existence save the slow ticking of the astronomicalclock which governed the mechanism of the telescope. The rest was merelyfigures and formulæ, which might amount to the death-sentence of thehuman race or to an indefinite reprieve. 

When he got up from his desk he had learnt that the time in which itmight be possible to save humanity from a still impending fate had beenshortened by twelve days, and that the contact of the comet with theearth's atmosphere would take place precisely at twelve o'clock, midnight, on the thirtieth of April. 

Then he went back to the telescope and picked up the comet again. Justas he had got its ominous shape into the centre of the field a score ofother shapes drifted swiftly across it, infinitely vaster--huge wingedforms, apparently heading straight for the end of the telescope, andonly two or three yards away. 

His nerves were not perhaps as steady as they would have been withoutthe shock which he had already received, and he shrank back from theeye-piece as though to avoid a coming blow. Then he got up from hischair and laughed. 

"What an ass I am! That's Mr Parmenter's fleet; but what monsters theydo look through a telescope like this!"

CHAPTER XXXIII

MR PARMENTER RETURNS

Just at the north of the summit on the top of which the observatory wasbuilt there was an oval valley, or perhaps it might be better describedas an escarpment, a digging away by the hand of Nature of a portion ofthe mountain summit by means of some vast landslide or glacier actionthousands of years ago. 

As he closed the door of the main entrance to the observatory behindhim, he saw these strange, winged shapes circling in the air some threemiles away, just dimly visible in the moonlight and starlight. They werehovering about in middle air as though they were birds looking for afoothold. He ran back, switched the electric current off the aerographmachines at the base of the observatory, and turned it on to thesearchlight which was on the top of the equatorial dome. A great fan ofwhite light flashed out into the sky, he spelt out "Welcome" in thedot-and-dash code, and then the searchlight fell upon the valley. 

"Thanks, " came the laconic answer from the foremost airship; and thenLennard saw twenty-five winged shapes circle round the observatory anddrop to rest one by one in perfect order, just as a flock of swans mighthave done, and, as the last came to earth, he turned the switch and shutoff the searchlight. 

He walked down to the hollow, and in the dim light saw something that hehad hardly believed possible for human eyes to see. There, in a spaceof, perhaps, a thousand yards long and five hundred yards wide, lay, ina perfect oval, a fleet of ships. By all appearances they had no rightto be on land. There was no visible evidence that they could rise fromthe solid earth after once touching it, any more than the albatross cando from a ship's deck. 

A light flashed out from a ship lying at the forward end of the ellipsefor a moment into the sky and then it swung slowly round until it restedon the path from the observatory to the valley, and Lennard for a momentfelt himself blinded by its rays. Then it lifted and a most welcomelyfamiliar voice said:

"Well, Mr Lennard, here we are, you see, just a bit ahead of time, andhow's the comet?"

A ladder, obviously of American design, shot out from the side of theairship as Mr Parmenter spoke, and as soon as the lower end touched theground he walked down it with his hand outstretched. Lennard walked tothe foot of the ladder and took his hand, and said in a low voice:

"This is all very wonderful, Mr Parmenter, but I am glad that you arehere ahead of time, because the comet is too; and very considerably, Iam sorry to say. "

"Eh, what's that you say, Mr Lennard?" replied the millionaire in ahurried whisper. "Nothing serious, I hope. We haven't come too late, have we? I mean too late to stop the war and save the world. "

"I don't know about stopping the war, " replied Lennard, "but, if noaccident happens or is arranged for, we can save the world still, Ithink. "

"Accident arranged for?" echoed Mr Parmenter. "What do you mean by that?Are you talking about John Castellan and those Flying Fish things ofhis? I reckon we've got enough here to send him and his _Flying Fishes_into the sea and make them stop there. We've heard all about whatthey've been doing in the States, and I've got about tired of them. Andas for this old invasion of England, it's got to stop right away, orwe'll make more trouble for these Germans and Frenchmen and Russiansand Austrians than they ever dreamt of. 

"Look at that fleet, sir. Twenty-five aërial battleships with a hundredand fifty miles an hour speed in them. Here to London in one hour andtwenty-five minutes or less, and guns--you just take a look at thoseexaggerated peashooters we've got on deck, and believe me, sir, that ifwe get one of John Castellan's _Flying Fishes_ within six thousand yardsof the end of one of those things it will do no more flying, except invery small pieces. "

"I'm delighted to hear it, Mr Parmenter, " replied Lennard, in a lowtone, "for to tell you the truth, we haven't many weeks left now. Something that I can so far neither calculate nor explain has changedthe orbit of the comet and it's due here at midnight on the thirtieth ofApril. "

"Great Scott, and this is the nineteenth of March! Not six weeks! Iguess we'll have to hurry up with those cannons. I'll send a cable toPittsburg to-morrow. Anyhow, I reckon the comet can wait for to-night. "

While Mr Parmenter had been speaking two other men had come down theladder from the deck of the airship and he continued:

"Now, let me introduce you. This is my old friend and college chum, Newson Hingeston, the man who invented the model we built this fleet on. This is Mr Hiram Roker, chief engineer of the fleet and Lord HighAdmiral of the air, when Mr Hingeston is not running his own ships. "

Lennard shook hands with Mr Hingeston and Hiram, and was going to sayvery complimentary things about the fleet which had literally droppedfrom the clouds, when Mr Parmenter interrupted him again and said:

"You'll excuse me, Mr Lennard, but you'll be better able to talk aboutthese ships when you've had a trip in one of them. We've just crossedthe Atlantic in thirty hours, above the clouds, and to-morrow night ormorning, if it's cloudy when we've been through things generally, we'regoing to London in the flagship here--I've called her the _Auriole_, because she is the daisy of the whole fleet--biggest, fastest andprettiest. You just wait till you see her in daylight. Now we'll go downto the house and hear your news. We're thirty hours behind the times. "

It need hardly be said that no one went to bed for the remainder of thatnight at Whernside. In one sense it was as busy a time as had been sincethe war began. The private telephone and telegraph wires betweenWhernside House and Settle and the aerograph apparatus at theobservatory were working almost incessantly till dawn, sending andreceiving messages between this remote moorland district and London andthe seat of war, as well as Bolton and Pittsburg. 

The minutes and the hours passed swiftly, as all Fate-laden time doespass, and so the grey morning of a momentous day dawned over the westernYorkshire moors. Just as they were beginning to think about breakfastone of Lennard's assistants came down from the observatory with a copyof an aerogram which read:

 "Begins. PARMENTER, Whernside. Pleased to hear of your arrival. Proposition laid before His Majesty in Council and accepted. Hope to see you and your friends during the day. --CHAMBERLAIN. Ends. "

"Well, I guess that's all right, gentlemen, " said Mr Parmenter, as hehanded the aerogram across the big table littered with maps, plans anddrawings of localities terrestrial and celestial. 

The aerogram passed round and Mr Parmenter continued: "You see, gentlemen, although the United States has the friendliest of feelingstowards the British Empire, still, as the President told me the daybefore yesterday, this invasion of Britain is not our fight, and he doesnot see his way to making formal declaration of war; so he just gave mea permit for these ships to leave American territory on what theRussians and others call a scientific expedition in order to explore theupper regions of the air and demonstrate the possibility of navigatingthe air without using gas as lifting power--and that's just how we'vegot here with our clearance papers and so on all in order; and thatmeans, gentlemen, that we are here, not as citizens of the United Statesor any other country, but just as a trading company with something tohire out. 

"John Castellan, as you will remember from what has been said, sold his_Flying Fishes_ to the German Emperor. Mr Lennard has proved to us byCastellan's own handwriting that he is prepared to sell them back to theBritish Government at a certain price--and that price is my daughter. Our answer to that is the hiring of our fleet to the British Government, and that offer has been accepted on terms which I think will show a veryfair profit when the war is over and we've saved the world. "

"I don't think it will take very long to stop the war, " said the creatorof the aërial battle-fleet, in his quiet voice. "Saving the world is, ofcourse, another matter which no doubt we can leave safely in the handsof Mr Lennard. And now, " he continued more gravely, "when is the news ofthe actual coming of the comet to be made public? It seems to me thateverything more or less hangs upon that. The German Emperor, and, therefore, his Allies and, no doubt, half the astronomers of Europe, have been informed of Mr Lennard's discovery. They may or may notbelieve it, and if they don't we can't blame them because it was onlygiven to them without exact detail. "

"And a very good thing too, " laughed Lennard, "considering the eccentricway in which the comet is behaving. But everything is settled now, unless, of course, some other mysterious influence gets to work; and, another thing, it's quite certain that before many days the comet mustbe discovered by other observatories. "

"Then, Mr Lennard, " said Mr Parmenter, "we've been first in the fieldso far and I reckon we'd better stop there. Pike's Peak, Washington andArequipa are all on to it. Europe and Australia will be getting therepretty soon, so I don't think there's much the matter with you sending amessage to Greenwich this morning. The people there will find it allright and we can run across from London when we've had our talk with thePrime Minister and post them up in any other details they want. I'llsend a wire to Henchell and tell him to hurry up with his gun atPittsburg and send on news to all the American observatories. Then we'llhave breakfast and, as it's a cloudy morning, I think we might startright away for London in the _Auriole_ and get this business fixed up. The enemy doesn't know we're here at all, and so long as we keep abovethe clouds there's no fear of anyone seeing us. The world has onlyforty-four more days to live, so we might as well save one of those dayswhile we can. "

The result of the somewhat informal council of war, for, in sober truth, it was nothing else, was that the commanders of the airships wereinvited to breakfast and the whole situation was calmly and plainlydiscussed by those who from the morning would probably hold the fate ofthe world in their hands. Not the least important of the aerograms whichhad been received during the early morning had been one, of course incode, from Captain Erskine of the _Ithuriel_ from Harwich, welcoming theaërial fleet and giving details of his movements in conjunction with itfor the next ten days. The aerogram also gave the positions of thelighters loaded with ammunition which he had deposited round the Englishshores in anticipation of its arrival. 

Soon after eight o'clock a heavy mist came down over Whernside and itscompanion heights, and Mr Parmenter went to one of the windows of thebig dining-room and said:

"I reckon this will just about fit us, Mr Lennard, so, if you've gotyour portmanteau packed, have it sent up to the _Auriole_ at once, andwe'll make a start. "

Within thirty minutes the start was made, and with it began the mostmarvellous experience of Gilbert Lennard's life, not even excepting hisbattle-trip in the conning-tower of the _Ithuriel_. 

CHAPTER XXXIV

THE "AURIOLE"

"All aboard, I think, Captain Roker, " said Mr Parmenter, as he walkedlast to the top of the gangway ladder, and stood square-footed on thewhite deck of the _Auriole_. 

"All aboard, sir, " replied Hiram Roker, "and now I reckon you'll have toexcuse me, because I've got to go below just to see that everything's inworking order. "

"That's all right, Mr Roker. I know where your affections are centred inthis ship. You go right along to your engines, and Mr Hingeston will seeabout the rest of us. Now then, Mr Lennard, you come along into theconning-tower, and whatever you may have seen from the conning-tower ofthe _Ithuriel_, I reckon you'll see something more wonderful stillbefore we get to London. You show the way, Newson. See, here it is, justabout the same. We've stolen quite a lot of ideas from your friendErskine; it's a way we've got on our side, you know. But this is goingto be one of the exceptions; if we win we are going to pay. "

Lennard followed Mr Parmenter down the companion-way into the centresaloon of the _Auriole_, and through this into a narrow passage whichled forward. At the end of this passage was a lift almost identical withthat on the _Ithuriel_. He took his place with Mr Parmenter and MrHingeston on this and it rose with them into a little oval chamberalmost exactly like the conning-tower of the _Ithuriel_, with theexception that it was built entirely of hardened papier-maché and glass. 

"You see, Mr Lennard, " said Mr Parmenter, "we don't want armour here. Anything that hits us smashes us, and that's all there is to it. Ouridea is just to keep out of the way and do as much harm as we can fromthe other side of the clouds. And now, Newson, if you're ready, we mightas well get to the other side and have a look at the sun. It's sort ofmisty and cheerless down here. "

"Just as easy as saying so, my dear Ratliffe. I reckon Hiram's got aboutten thousand horse-power waiting to be let loose; so we may as well letthem go. Hold on, Mr Lennard, and don't breathe any more than you canhelp for a minute or two. "

Lennard, remembering his cruise in the _Ithuriel_, held on, and also, after filling his lungs, held his breath. Mr Hingeston took hold of thesteering-wheel, also very much like that of the _Ithuriel_, with hisleft hand, and touched in quick succession three buttons on asignal-board at his right hand. 

At the first touch nothing happened as far as Lennard could see or hear. At the second, a soft, whirring sound filled the air, growing swiftly inintensity. At the third, the mist which enveloped Whernside began, as itseemed to him, to flow downwards from the sky in long wreaths ofsmoke-mingled steam which in a few moments fell away into nothingness. Ablaze of sunlight burst out from above--the earth had vanished--andthere was nothing visible save the sun and sky overhead, and anapparently illimitable expanse of cloud underneath. 

"There's one good thing about airships, " said Mr Hingeston, as he took aquarter turn at the wheel, "you can generally get the sort of climateand temperature you want in them. " He put his finger on a fourth buttonand continued: "Now, Mr Lennard, we have so far just pulled her up abovethe mist. You'll have one of these ships yourself one day, so I may aswell tell you that the first signal means 'Stand by'; the second, 'Fullpower on lifting fans'; the third, 'Stand by after screws'; and thefourth--just this--"

He pushed the button down as he spoke, and Lennard saw the brilliantlywhite surface of the sunlit mist fall away before and behind them. A fewmoments later he heard a sort of soft, sighing sound outside theconning-tower. It rose quickly to a scream, and then deepened into aroar. Everything seemed lost save the dome of sky and the sun risingfrom the eastward. There was nothing else save the silver-grey blurbeneath them. As far as he was concerned for the present, the earth hadceased to exist for him five minutes ago. 

He didn't say anything, because the circumstances in which he foundhimself appeared to be more suitable for thinking than talking; he juststood still, holding on to a hand-grip in the wall of the conning-tower, and looked at the man who, with a few touches of his fingers, washurling this aërial monster through the air at a speed which, as hecould see, would have left the _Ithuriel_ out of sight in a few minutes. 

In front of Hingeston as he sat at the steering-wheel were two dials. One was that of an aneroid which indicated the height. This nowregistered four thousand feet. The other was a manometer connected withthe speed-gauge above the conning-tower, and the indicator on this washovering between one hundred and fifty and a hundred and sixty. 

"Does that really mean we're travelling over a hundred and fifty milesan hour?" he said. 

"Getting on for a hundred and sixty, " said Mr Parmenter, taking out hiswatch. "You see, according to that last wire I sent, we're due in thegardens of Buckingham Palace at ten-thirty sharp, and so we have tohustle a bit. "

"Well, " replied Lennard, "I must confess that I thought that my littletrip in the _Ithuriel_ took me to something like the limits of everydayexperience; but this beats it. Whatever you do on the land or in thewater you seem to have something under you--something you can depend on, as it were--but here, you don't seem to be anywhere. A friend of minetold me that, after he had taken a balloon trip above the clouds andacross the Channel, but he was only travelling forty miles an hour. Hehad somewhat a trouble to describe that, but this, of course, getsrather beyond the capabilities of the English language. "

"Or even the American, " added Mr Hingeston, quietly. 

"Why, yes, " said Mr Parmenter, rolling a cigarette, "I believe weinvented the saying about greased lightning, and here we are somethinglike riding on a streak of it. "

"Near enough!" laughed Lennard. "We may as well leave it at that, as yousay. Still, it is very, very wonderful. "

And so it was. As they sped south the mists that hung about the northernmoors fell behind, and broken clouds took their place. Through the gapsbetween these he could see a blur of green and grey and purple. A fewblotches of black showed that they were passing over the Lancashire andMidland manufacturing towns; then the clouds became scarcer and anenormous landscape spread out beneath them, intersected by white roadsand black lines of railways, and dotted by big patches of woods, longlines of hedgerows and clumps of trees on hilltops. Here and there thewhite wall of a chalk quarry flashed into view and vanished; and oneither side towns and villages came into sight ahead and vanished asternalmost before he could focus his field-glasses upon them. 

At about twenty minutes after the hour at which they had left Whernside, Mr Hingeston turned to Mr Parmenter and said, pointing downward with theleft hand:

"There's London, and the clouds are going. What are we to do? We can'tdrop down there without being seen, and if we are that will give halfthe show away. You see, if Castellan once gets on to the idea thatwe've got airships and are taking them into London, he'll have a dozenof those _Flying Fishes_ worrying about us before we know what we'redoing. If we only had one of those good old London fogs under us wecould do it. "

"Then what's the matter with dropping under the smoke and using that fora fog, " said Mr Parmenter, rather shortly. "The enemy is still a dozenmiles to southward there; they won't see us, and anyhow, London's a bigplace. Why, look there now! Talking about clouds, there's the very thingyou want. Oceans of it! Can't you run her up a bit and drop through itwhen the thing's just between us and the enemy?"

As he spoke, Lennard saw what seemed to him like an illimitable sea ofhuge spumy billows and tumbling masses of foam, which seemed to roll andbreak over each other without sound. The silent cloud-ocean was flowingup from the sou'west. Mr Hingeston took his bearings by compass, sloweddown to fifty miles an hour, and then Lennard saw the masses of cloudrise up and envelop them. 

For a few minutes the earth and the heavens disappeared, and he feltthat sense of utter loneliness and isolation which is only known tothose who travel through the air. He saw Mr Hingeston pull a lever withhis right hand and turn the steering-wheel with his left. He felt theblood running up to his head, and then came a moment of giddiness. Whenhe opened his eyes the _Auriole_ was dropping as gently as a bird on thewing towards the trees of the garden behind Buckingham Palace. 

"I reckon you did that quite well, Newson, " said Mr Parmenter, lookingat his watch. "One hour and twenty-five minutes as you said. And now I'mgoing to shake hands with a real king for the first time. "

CHAPTER XXXV

THE "AURIOLE" HOISTS THE WHITE ENSIGN

Rather to Mr Parmenter's surprise his first interview "with a real king"was rather like other business interviews that he had had; in fact, ashe said afterwards, of all the business men he had ever met in hissomewhat varied career, this quiet-spoken, grey-haired English gentlemanwas about the best and 'cutest that it had ever been his good fortune tostrike. 

The negotiations in hand were, of course, the hiring of the Syndicate'sfleet of airships to the British Empire during the course of the war. His Majesty had summoned a Privy Council at the Palace, and again MrParmenter was somewhat surprised at the cold grip and clear sight whichthese British aristocrats had in dealing with matters which he thoughtought to have been quite outside their experience. Like many Americans, he had expected to meet a sort of glorified country squire, fox-hunter, grouse-killer, trout and salmon-catcher, and so on; but, as he admittedto Lennard later on, from His Majesty downwards they were about thehardest crowd to do business with that he had ever struck. 

The terms he offered were half a million a week for the services oftwenty-five airships till the war was ended. Two were retained asguardians for Whernside House and the observatory, and three for theGreat Lever colliery, and this left twenty, not counting the original_Columbia_, which Mr Parmenter had bought as his aërial yacht, availablefor warlike purposes. 

The figure was high, as the owners of the aërial battle-fleet admitted, but war was a great deal dearer. They guaranteed to bring the war to astop within fourteen days, by which time Britain would have a new fleetin being which would be practically the only fleet capable of action inwestern waters with the exception of the Italian and the American. Giventhat the Syndicate's airships, acting in conjunction with the _Ithuriel_and the twelve of her sisters which were now almost ready for launching, could catch and wipe out the _Flying Fishes_, either above the waters orunder them, the result would be that the Allies, cut off from their baseof supplies, and with no retreat open to them, would be compelled tosurrender; and Mr Parmenter did not consider that five hundred thousandpounds a week was too much to pay for this. 

At the conclusion of his speech, setting forth the position of theSyndicate, he said, with a curious dignity which somehow always comesfrom a sense of power:

"Your Majesty, my Lords and gentlemen, I am just a plain Americanbusiness man, and so is my friend, the inventor of these ships. We havetold you what we believe they can do and we are prepared to show youthat we have not exaggerated their powers. There is our ship outside inthe gardens. If your Majesty would like to take a little trip throughthe air and see battle, murder and sudden death--"

"That's very kind of you, Mr Parmenter, " laughed His Majesty, "but, muchas I personally should like to come with you, I'm afraid I should play acertain amount of havoc with the British Constitution if I did. Kings ofEngland are not permitted to go to war now, but if you would oblige meby taking a note to the Duke of Connaught, who has his headquarters atReading, and then, if you could manage it under a flag of truce, takinganother note to the German Emperor, who, I believe, has pitched his campat Aldershot, I should be very much obliged. "

"Anything your Majesty wishes, " replied Mr Parmenter. "Now we've fixedup the deal the fleet is at your disposal and we sail under the Britishflag; though, to be quite honest, sir, I don't care about flying thewhite flag first. We could put up as pretty a fight for you along thefront of the Allies as any man could wish to see. "

"I am sorry, Mr Parmenter, " laughed His Majesty, "that the BritishConstitution compels me to disappoint you, but, as some sort ofrecompense, I am sure that my Lords in Council will grant you permissionto fly the White Ensign on all your ships and the Admiral's flag on yourflagship, which, I presume, is the one in which you have come thismorning. It is unfortunate that I can only confer the honorary rank ofadmiral upon Mr Hingeston, as you are not British subjects. "

"Then, your Majesty, " replied Mr Parmenter, "if it pleases you, I hopeyou will give that rank to my friend Newson Hingeston, who, as I havetold you, has been more than twenty years making these ships perfect. Hehas created this navy, so I reckon he has got the best claim to becalled admiral. "

"Does that meet with your approval, my lords?" said the King. 

And the heads of the Privy Council bowed as one in approval. 

"I thank your Majesty most sincerely, " said Hingeston, rising. "I am anAmerican citizen, but I have nothing but British blood in my veins, andtherefore I am all the more glad that I am able to bring help to theMotherland when she wants it. "

"And I'm afraid we do want it, Mr Hingeston, " said His Majesty. "Makethe conditions of warfare equal in the air, and I think we shall be ableto hold our own on land and sea. Your patent of appointment shall bemade out at once, and I will have the letters ready for you in half anhour. And now, gentlemen, I think a glass of wine and a biscuit will notdo any of us much harm. "

The invitation was, of course, in a certain sense, a command, and whenthe King rose everyone did the same. While they were taking their wineand biscuits in the blue drawing-room overlooking St James's Park, HisMajesty, who never lost his grip of business for a moment, took Lennardaside and had a brief but pregnant conversation with him on the subjectof the comet, and as a result of this all the Government manufactoriesof explosives were placed at his disposal, and with his own hand theKing wrote a permit entitling him to take such amount of explosives toBolton as he thought fit. Then there came the letters to the Duke ofConnaught and the German Emperor, and one to the Astronomer Royal atGreenwich. 

Then His Majesty and the members of the Council inspected the aërialwarship lying on the great lawn in the gardens, and with his own handsKing Edward ran the White Ensign to the top of the flagstaff aft; at thesame moment the Prince of Wales ran the Admiral's pennant up to themasthead. Everyone saluted the flag, and the King said:

"There, gentlemen, the _Auriole_ is a duly commissioned warship of theBritish Navy, and you have our authority to do all lawful acts of waragainst our enemies. Good-morning! I shall hope to hear from you soon. "

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, " said Mr Parmenter, "that we can't fire theusual salute. These guns of ours are made for business, and we don'thave any blank charges. "

"I perfectly understand you, Mr Parmenter, " replied His Majesty with alaugh. "We shall have to dispense with the ceremony. Still, those arejust the sort of guns we want at present. Good-morning, again. "

His Majesty went down the gangway and Admiral Hingeston, with MrParmenter and Lennard, entered the conning-tower. The lifting-fans beganto whirr, and as the _Auriole_ rose from the grass the White Ensigndipped three times in salute to the Royal Standard floating from theflagstaff on the palace roof. Then, as the driving propellers whirledround till they became two intersecting circles of light, the _Auriole_swept up over the tree-tops and vanished through the clouds. And sobegan the first voyage of the first British aërial battleship. 

The Duke of Connaught had his headquarters at Amersham Hall School onthe Caversham side of the Thames, which was, of course, closed inconsequence of the war, and half an hour after the _Auriole_ had leftthe grounds of Buckingham Palace she was settling to the ground in thegreat quadrangle of the school. The Duke, with Lord Kitchener and two orthree other officers of the Staff, were waiting at the upper end wherethe headmaster's quarters were. As the ship grounded, the gangway ladderdropped and Mr Parmenter said to Lennard:

"That's Lord Kitchener, I see. Now, you know him and I don't, so you'dbetter go and do the talking. We'll come after and get introduced. "

"Ah, Mr Lennard, " said Lord Kitchener, holding out his hand. "You'requite a man of surprises. The last time I went with you to see theKaiser in a motor-car, and now you come to visit His Royal Highness inan airship. Your Royal Highness, " he continued, turning to the Duke, "this is Mr Lennard, the finder of this comet which is going to wipe usall out unless he wipes it out with his big gun, and these will be theother gentlemen, I presume, whom His Majesty has wired about. "

"Yes, " replied Lennard, after he had shaken hands. "This is Mr Parmenterwhose telescope enabled me to find the comet, and this is Mr--or I oughtnow to say Admiral--Hingeston, who had the honour of receiving that rankfrom His Majesty half an hour ago. "

"What!" exclaimed the Duke. "Half an hour! Are you quite serious, gentlemen? The telegram's only just got here. "

"Well, your Royal Highness, " said Mr Parmenter, "that may be because wedidn't come full speed, but if you would get on board that flagship, sir, we'd take you to Buckingham Palace and back in half an hour, or, ifyou would like a trip to Aldershot to interview the German Emperor, andthen one to Greenwich, we'll engage to have you back here safe by dinnertime. "

"Nothing would delight me more, " replied the Duke, smiling, "but atpresent my work is here and I cannot leave it. Lord Kitchener, how wouldyou like that sort of trip?"

"If you will give me leave till dinner-time, sir, " laughed K. Of K. , "there's nothing I should like better. "

"Oh, that goes without saying, of course, " replied the Duke, "and now, gentlemen, I understand from the King's telegram that there are one ortwo matters you want to talk over with us. Will you come inside?"

"If your Royal Highness will excuse me, " said Admiral Hingeston, "Ithink I'd better remain on board. You see, we may have been sighted, andif there are any of those _Flying Fishes_ about you naturally wouldn'twant this place blown to ruins; so, while you are having your talk, Ireckon I'll get up a few hundred feet, and be back, say, in half anhour. "

"Very well, " said the Duke. "That's very kind of you. Your shipcertainly looks a fairly capable protector. By the way, what is therange of those guns of yours? I must say they have a very business-likelook about them. "

"Six thousand yards point blank, your Royal Highness, " replied theAdmiral, "and, according to elevation, anything up to fifteen miles;suppose, for instance, that we were shooting at a town. In fact, if wewere not under orders from His Majesty to fly the flag of truce I wouldguarantee to have all the Allied positions wrecked by to-morrow morningwith this one ship. As you will see from the papers which Mr Parmenterand Mr Lennard have brought, nineteen other airships are coming southto-night and, unless the German Emperor and his Allies give in, the warwill be over in about six days. "

"And when you come back to dinner to-night, Admiral Hingeston, you willhave my orders to bring it to an end within that time. "

"I sincerely hope so, sir, " replied Admiral Hingeston, as he raised hisright hand to the peak of his cap. "I can assure you, that nothing wouldplease me better. "

As the lifting-fans began to spin round and the _Auriole_ rose from thegravelled courtyard, Lord Kitchener looked up with a twinkle in hisbrilliant blue eyes and said:

"I wonder what His Majesty of Germany will think of that thing when hesees it. I suppose that means the end of fighting on land and sea--atleast, it looks like it. "

"I hope to be able to convince your lordship that it does beforeto-morrow morning, " said Lennard, as they went towards the dining-room. 

Then came half an hour's hard work, which resulted in the allotment ofthe aërial fleet to positions from which the vessels could co-operatewith the constantly increasing army of British citizen-soldiers who werenow passing southward, eastward and westward, as fast as the crowdedtrains could carry them. Every position was worked out to half a mile. The details of the newly-created fleet in British waters and of thoseships which were arriving from the West Indies and the Mediterraneanwere all settled, and, as the clock in the drawing-room chimed half-pasteleven, the _Auriole_ swung down in a spiral curve round thechimney-pots and came to rest on the gravel. 

"There she is; time's up!" said Lord Kitchener, rising from his seat. "Isuppose it will only take us half an hour or so to run down toAldershot. I wonder what His Majesty of Germany will say to us thistime. I suppose if he kicks seriously we have your Royal Highness'spermission to haul down the flag of truce?"

"Certainly, " replied the Duke. "If he does that, of course, you willjust use your own discretion. "

CHAPTER XXXVI

A PARLEY AT ALDERSHOT

Lord Kitchener had probably never had so bitter an experience as he hadwhen the _Auriole_ began to slow down over the plain of Aldershot. Nevercould he, or any other British soldier, have dreamt six months ago thatthe German, Austrian, French and Russian flags would have been seenflying side by side over the headquarters of the great camp, or that thevast rolling plains would be covered, as they were now, by hosts ofhorse, foot and artillery belonging to hostile nations. 

He did not say anything, neither did the others; it was a time forthinking rather than talking; but he looked, and as Lennard watched hisalmost expressionless face and the angrily-glittering blue eyes, he feltthat it would go ill with an enemy whom K. Of K. Should have at hismercy that day. 

But all the bitterness of feeling was by no means on one side. It sohappened that the three Imperial leaders of the invaders and GeneralHenriot, the French Commander-in-Chief, were holding a Council of War atthe time when the _Auriole_ made her appearance. Of course, her arrivalwas instantly reported, and as a matter of fact the drilling came to asudden momentary stop at the sight of this amazing apparition. The threemonarchs and the great commander immediately went outside, and within afew moments they were four of the angriest men in England. A singleglance, even at that distance, was enough to convince them that, atanyrate in the air, the _Flying Fishes_ would be no match for an equalor even an inferior number of such magnificent craft as this. 

"God's thunder!" exclaimed the Kaiser, using his usual expletive. "She'sflying the White Ensign and an admiral's pennant, and, yes, a flag oftruce. "

"Yes, " said the Tsar, lowering his glasses, "that is so. What hashappened? I certainly don't like the look of her; she's an altogethertoo magnificent craft from our point of view. In fact it would bedecidedly awkward if the English happened to have a fleet of them. Theywould be terribly effective acting in co-operation with that submarineram. Let us hope that she has come on a message of peace. "

"I understood, your Majesty, " said the Kaiser, shortly, "that we hadagreed to make peace at Windsor, and nowhere else. "

"Of course, I hope we shall do so, " said the Tsar, "but considering ournumbers, and the help we have had from Mr Castellan's fleet, I'm afraidwe are rather a long time getting there, and we shall be longer still ifthe British have any considerable number of ships like this one. "

"Airships or no airships, " replied William the Second, "whatever messagethis ship is bringing, I will listen to nothing but surrender while Ihave an Army Corps on English soil. They must be almost beaten by thistime; they can't have any more men to put in the field, while we havemillions. To go back now that we have got so far would be worse thandefeat--it would be disaster. Of course, your Majesty can have no moredelusions than I have on that subject. "

A conversation on almost similar terms had been taking place meanwhilebetween the Emperor of Austria and General Henriot. Then the _Auriole_, after describing a splendid curve round the headquarters, dropped asquietly as a bird on the lawn in front, the gangway ladder fell overalong the side, and Lord Kitchener, in the parade uniform of a general, descended and saluted the four commanders. 

"Good-morning, your Majesties. Good-morning, General Henriot. "

"I see that your lordship has come as bearer of the flag of truce thistime, " said the Kaiser, when salutes had been exchanged, "and I trustthat in the interests of humanity you have come also with proposalswhich may enable us to put an honourable end to this terrible conflict, and I am sure that my Imperial brothers and the great Republic whichGeneral Henriot represents will be only too happy to accede to them. "

The others nodded in approval, but said nothing, as it had been more orless reluctantly agreed by them that the War Lord of Germany was to bethe actual head and Commander-in-Chief of the Allies. K. Of K. Looked athim straight in the eyes--not a muscle of his face moved, and from underhis heavy moustache there came in the gentlest of voices the astoundingwords:

"Yes, I have come from His Majesty King Edward with proposals ofsurrender--that is to say, for your surrender, and that of all theAllied Forces now on British soil. "

William the Second literally jumped, and his distinguished colleaguesstared at him and each other in blank amazement. By this time Lennardhad come down the gangway ladder, and was standing beside LordKitchener. Mr Parmenter and the latest addition to the British NavalList were strolling up and down the deck of the _Auriole_ smoking cigarsand chatting as though this sort of thing happened every day. 

"I see that your Majesty hardly takes me seriously, " said LordKitchener, still in the same quiet voice, "but if your Majesties will doMr Lennard and myself the favour of an interview in one of the roomshere, which used to belong to me, I think we shall be able to convinceyou that we have the best of reasons for being serious. "

"Ah, yes, Mr Lennard, " replied the Kaiser, looking at him with just asuspicion of anxiety in his glance. "Good-morning. Have you come to tellus something more about this wonderful comet of yours? It seems to mesome time making itself visible. "

"It is visible every night now, your Majesty, " said Lennard; "that is, if you know where to look for it. "

"Ah, that sounds interesting, " said the Tsar, moving towards the door. "Suppose we go back into the Council Room and hear something about it. "

As they went in the _Auriole_ rose from the ground, and began making aseries of slow, graceful curves over the two camps at the height ofabout a thousand feet. Neither Mr Parmenter, nor his friend the Admiral, knew exactly how far the flag of truce would be respected, and, moreover, a little display of the _Auriole's_ powers of flight mightpossibly help along negotiations, and, as a matter of fact, they did;for the sight of this huge fabric circling above them, with her longwicked-looking guns pointing in all directions, formed a spectacle whichto the officers and men of the various regiments and battalionsscattered about the vast plain was a good deal more interesting than itwas pleasant. The Staff officers knew, too, that the strange craftpossessed two very great advantages over the _Flying Fishes_; she wasmuch faster, and she could rise direct from the ground--whereas the_Fishes_, like their namesakes, could only rise from the water. Inshort, it did not need a soldier's eye to see that all their stores andmagazines, to say nothing of their own persons, were absolutely at themercy of the British aërial flagship. The _Flying Fishes_ were down inthe Solent refitting and filling up with motive power and ammunitionpreparatory to the general advance on London. 

As soon as they were seated in the Council Chamber it did not take LordKitchener and Lennard very long to convince their Majesties and GeneralHenriot that they were very much in earnest about the matter ofsurrender. In fact, the only terms offered were immediate retirementbehind the line of the North Downs, cessation of hostilities andsurrender of the _Flying Fishes_, and all British subjects, includingJohn Castellan, who might be on board them. 

"The reason for that condition, " said Lord Kitchener, "Mr Lennard willbe able to make plain to your Majesties. "

Then Lennard handed Castellan's letter to the Kaiser, and explained thechange of calculations necessitated by the diversion of the planet fromits orbit. 

"That is not the letter of an honest fighting man. I am sure that yourMajesties will agree with me in that. I may say that I have talked thematter over with Mr Parmenter and our answer is in the negative. This isnot warfare; it is only abduction, possibly seasoned with murder, and wecall those things crimes in England, and if such a crime were permittedby those in whose employment John Castellan presumably is, we shouldpunish them as well as him. "

"What!" exclaimed the Kaiser, clenching his fists, "do you, a civilian, an ordinary citizen, dare to say such words to us? Lord Kitchener, canyou permit such an outrage as this?"

"The other outrage would be a much greater one, especially if it werecommitted with the tacit sanction of the three greatest Powers inEurope, " replied K. Of K. , quietly. "That is one of our chief reasonsfor asking for the surrender of the _Flying Fishes_. There is no tellingwhat harm this wild Irishman of yours might do if he got on the loose, not only here but perhaps in your own territories, if he were allowed tocommit a crime like this, and then went, as he would have to do, intothe outlaw business. "

"I think that there is great justice in what Lord Kitchener says, "remarked His Majesty of Austria. "We must not forget that if this manCastellan did run amok with any of those diabolical contrivances of his, he would be just as much above human law as he would be outside humanreach. I must confess that that appears to me to be one of the mostserious features in the situation. Your Majesties, as well as theFrench Government, are aware that I have been all along opposed to theuse of these horrible engines of destruction, and now you see that theirvery existence seems to have called others into being which may be evenmore formidable. "

"Mr Lennard can tell your Majesties more about that than I can, " said K. Of K. , with one of his grimmest smiles. 

"As far as the air is concerned, " said Lennard, very quietly, "we canboth out-fly and out-shoot the _Flying Fishes_; while as regards thewater, eleven more _Ithuriels_ will be launched during the week. We havetwenty-five airships ready for action over land or sea, and, for my ownpart, I think that if your Majesties knew all the details of thesituation you would consider the terms which his lordship has put beforeyou quite generous. But, after all, " he continued, in a suddenly changedtone, "it seems, if you will excuse my saying so, rather childish totalk about terms of peace or war when the world itself has less than sixweeks to live if John Castellan manages to carry out his threat. "

"And you feel absolutely certain of that, Mr Lennard?" asked the Tsar, in a tone of very serious interest. "It seems rather singular that noneof the other astronomers of Europe or America have discovered thisterrible comet of yours. "

"I have had the advantage of the finest telescope in the world, yourMajesty, " replied Lennard, with a smile, "and of course I have publishedno details. There was no point in creating a panic or getting laughed atbefore it was necessary. But now that the orbit has altered, and thecatastrophe will come so much sooner, any further delay would be littleshort of criminal. In fact, we have to-day telegraphed to all theprincipal observatories in the world, giving exact positions forto-night, corrected to differences of time and latitude. We shall hearthe verdict in the morning, and during to-morrow. Meanwhile we aregoing to Greenwich to get the observatory there to work on mycalculations, and if your Majesties would care to appoint an officer ofsufficient knowledge to come with us, and see the comet for himself, hewill, I am sure, be quite welcome. "

"A very good suggestion, Mr Lennard, " said Lord Kitchener, "very. "

"Then, " replied the Tsar, quickly, "as astronomy has always been a greathobby with me, will you allow me to come? Of course, you have my wordthat I shall see nothing on the journey that you don't want me to see. "

"We shall be delighted, " said the British envoy, cordially, "and as forseeing things, you will be at perfect liberty to use your eyes as muchas you like. "

The Tsar's august colleagues entered fully into the sporting spirit inwhich he had made his proposal, and a verbal agreement to suspend allhostilities till his return was ratified in a glass of His Majesty ofAustria's Imperial Tokay. 

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE VERDICT OF SCIENCE

Although the Tsar had made trips with John Castellan in the _FlyingFish_, he had never had quite such an aërial experience as his trip toGreenwich. The _Auriole_ rose vertically in the air, soared upward in asplendid spiral curve, and vanished through the thin cloud layer to thenorth-eastward. Twenty minutes of wonder passed like so many seconds, and Admiral Hingeston, beside whom he was standing in the conning-tower, said quietly:

"We're about there, your Majesty. "

"Greenwich already, " exclaimed the Tsar, pulling out his watch. "It isforty miles, and we have not been quite twenty minutes yet. "

"That's about it, " said the Admiral, "this craft can do her two miles aminute, and still have a good bit in hand if it came to chasinganything. "

He pulled back a couple of levers as he spoke and gave a quarter turn tothe wheel. The great airship took a downward slide, swung round to theright, and in a few moments she had dropped quietly to the turf ofGreenwich Park alongside the Observatory. 

Lennard's calculations had already reached the Astronomer Royal, and heand his chief assistant had had time to make a rapid run through them, and they had found that his figures, and especially the inexplicablechange in the orbit, tallied almost exactly with observations of apossibly new comet for the last two months or so. 

They were not quite prepared for the coming of an Imperial--andhostile--visitor in an airship, accompanied by the discoverer of thecomet, the millionaire who owned the great telescope, and an Americangentleman in the uniform of a British admiral; but those wereextraordinary times, and so extraordinary happenings might be expected. The astronomer and his staff, being sober men of science, whose businesswas with other worlds rather than this one, accepted the situationcalmly, gave their visitors lunch, talked about everything but the war, and then they all spent a pleasant and instructive afternoon in ajourney through Space in search of the still invisible CelestialInvader. 

When they had finished, the two sets of calculations balancedexactly--to the millionth of a degree and the thousandth of a second. Atten seconds to twelve, midnight, May the first, the comet, if notprevented by some tremendously powerful agency, would pierce the earth'satmosphere, as Lennard had predicted. 

"It is a marvellous piece of work, Mr Lennard, however good aninstrument you had. As an astronomer I congratulate you heartily, but ascitizens of the world I hope we shall be able to congratulate you stillmore heartily on the results which you expect that big gun of yours tobring about. "

"I'm sure I hope so, " said Lennard, toying rather absently with hispencil. 

"And if the cannon is not fired, and the Pittsburg one does not happento be exactly laid, for there is a very great difference in longitude, what will be the probable results, Mr Astronomer?" asked the Tsar, uponwhom the lesson of the afternoon had by no means been lost. 

"If the comet is what Mr Lennard expects it to be, your Majesty, " wasthe measured reply, "then, if this Invader is not destroyed, hispredictions will be fulfilled to the letter. In other words, on thesecond of May there will not be a living thing left on earth. "

At three minutes past ten that evening the Tsar looked into theeye-piece of the Greenwich Equatorial, and saw a double-winged yellowshape floating in the centre of the field of vision. He watched it forlong minutes, listening to the soft clicking of the clockwork, which wasthe only sound that broke the silence. During the afternoon he had seenphotographs of the comet taken every night that the weather made a clearobservation possible. The series tallied exactly with what he now saw. The gradual enlargement and brightening; the ever-increasing exactnessof definition, and the separation of the nucleus from the two wings. Allthat he had seen was as pitilessly inexorable as the figures whichcontained the prophecy of the world's approaching doom. He rose from hisseat and said quietly, yet with a strange impressiveness:

"Gentlemen, I, for one, am satisfied and converted. What the inscrutabledecrees of Providence may or may not be, we have no right to inquire;but whether this is a judgment from the Most High brought upon us by oursins, or whether it is merely an ordinary cataclysm of Nature againstwhich we may be able to protect ourselves, does not come into thequestion which is in dispute amongst us. Humanity has an unquestionedright to preserve its existence as far as it is possible to do so. If itis possible to arrange for another conference at Aldershot to-morrow, Ithink I may say that there will be a possibility of arriving at areasonable basis of negotiations. And now, if it is convenient, LordKitchener, I should like to get back to camp. Much has been given to meto think about to-night, and you know we Russians have a very soundproverb: 'Take thy thoughts to bed with thee, for the morning is wiserthan the evening. '"

"That, your Majesty, has been my favourite saying ever since I knew thatmen had to think about work before they were able to do it properly. " Sospoke the man who had worked for fourteen years to win one battle, andcrush a whole people at a single stroke--after which he made the bestof friends with them, and loyal subjects of his Sovereign. 

They took their leave of the astronomer and his staff, and a few minuteslater the _Auriole_, still flying the flag of truce, cleared thetree-tops and rose into the serene starlit atmosphere above them. 

When the airship had gained a height of a thousand feet, and was headingsouth-west towards Aldershot at a speed of about a hundred miles anhour, the Admiral noticed a shape not unlike that of his own vessel, onhis port quarter, making almost the same direction as he was. The Tsarand Lord Kitchener were sitting one on either side of him, as he stoodat the steering-wheel, as the ominous shape came into view. 

"I'm afraid that's one of your _Flying Fishes_, your Majesty, takingnews from the Continent to Aldershot. Yes, there goes her searchlight. She's found us out by now. She knows we're not one of her crowd, and soI suppose we shall have to fight her. Yes, I thought so, she meansfight. She's trying to get above us, which means dropping a few of thosetorpedoes on us, and sending us across the edge of eternity before weknow we've got there. "

"You will, of course, do your duty, Admiral, " replied the Tsar veryquietly, but with a quick tightening of the lips. "It is a mostunfortunate occurrence, but we must all take the fortune of war as itcomes. I hope you will not consider my presence here for a moment. Remember that I asked myself. "

"There won't be any danger to us, your Majesty, " replied the Admiral, with a marked emphasis on the "us. " "Still, we have too many valuablelives on board to let him get the drop on us. "

As he spoke he thrust one lever on the right hand forward, and pulledanother back; then he took the telephone receiver down from the wall, and said:

"See that thing? She's trying to get the drop on us. Full speed ahead:I'm going to rise. Hold on, gentlemen. "

They held on. The Tsar saw the jumping searchlights, which flashed upfrom the little grey shape to the southward, suddenly fall away andbelow them. The Admiral touched the wheel with his left hand, and the_Auriole_ sprang forward. The other tried to do the same, but she seemedto droop and fall behind. Admiral Hingeston took down the receiver againand said:

"Ready--starboard guns--now: fire!"

Of course, there was no report; only a brilliant blaze of light to thesouthward, and an atmospheric shock which made the _Auriole_ shudder asshe passed on her way. The Tsar looked out to the spot where the blazeof flame had burst out. The other airship had vanished. 

"She has gone. That is awful, " he said, with a shake in his voice. 

"As I said before, I'm sorry, your Majesty, " replied the Admiral, "butit had to be done. If he'd got the top side of us we should have been inas little pieces as he is now. I only hope it's John Castellan's craft. If it is it will save a lot of trouble to both sides. "

The Tsar did not reply. He was too busy thinking, and so was LordKitchener. 

That night there were divided counsels in the headquarters of the Alliesat Aldershot, and the Kaiser and his colleagues went to bed between twoand three in the morning without having come to anything like a definitedecision. As a matter of fact, within the last few hours things hadbecome a little too complicated to be decided upon in anything like ahurry. 

While the potentates of the Alliance were almost quarrelling as to whatwas to be done, the _Auriole_ paid a literally flying visit to theBritish positions, and then the hospitals. At Caversham, Lennard foundNorah Castellan taking her turn of night duty by the bedside of LordWesterham, who had, after all, got through his desperate ride with acouple of bullets through his right ribs, and a broken left arm; but hehad got his despatches in all the same, though nearly two hourslate--for which he apologised before he fainted. In one of the wards atWindsor Camp he found Auriole, also on night duty, nursing with no lessanxious care the handsome young Captain of Uhlans who had taken LordWhittinghame's car in charge in Rochester. Mrs O'Connor had got abadly-wounded Russian Vice-Admiral all to herself, and, as she modestlyput it, was doing very nicely with him. 

Meanwhile the news of the truce was proclaimed, and the opposingmillions laid themselves down to rest with the thankful certainty thatit would not be broken for at least a night and a day by the whistle ofthe life-hunting bullet or the screaming roar and heart-shaking crash ofthe big shell which came from some invisible point five or six milesaway. In view of this a pleasant little dinner-party was arranged for atthe Parmenter Palace at eight the next evening. There would be nocarriages. The coming and parting guests would do their coming and goingin airships. Mr Parmenter expressed the opinion that, under thecircumstances, this would be at once safer and more convenient. 

But before that dinner-party broke up, the world had something verydifferent from feasting and merrymaking, or even invasion and militaryconquest or defeat, to think of. 

The result of Lennard's telegrams and cables had been that everypowerful telescope in the civilised world had been turned upon thatdistant region of the fields of Space out of which the Celestial Invaderwas rushing at a speed of thousands of miles a minute to that awfultrysting-place, at which it and the planet Terra were to meet andembrace in the fiery union of death. 

From every observatory, from Greenwich to Arequipa, and from Pike's Peakto Melbourne, came practically identical messages, which, in theircombined sense, came to this:

"Lennard's figures absolutely correct. Collision with comet apparentlyinevitable. Consequences incalculable. "

CHAPTER XXXVIII

WAITING FOR DOOM

This was the all-important news which the inhabitants of every townwhich possessed a well-informed newspaper read the next morning. It was, in the more important of them, followed by digests of the calculationswhich had made this terrific result a practical certainty. These, again, were followed by speculations, some deliberately scientific, and somewild beyond the dreams of the most hopeless hysteria. 

Men and women who for a generation or so had been making large incomesby prophesying the end of the world as a certainty about every sevenyears--and had bought up long leaseholds meanwhile--now gambled withabsolute certainty on the shortness of the public memory, revised theirfigures, and proved to demonstration that this was the very thing theyhad been foretelling all along. 

First--outside scientific circles--came blank incredulity. The ordinaryman and woman in the street had not room in their brains for such atremendous idea as this--fact or no fact. They were already filled witha crowd of much smaller and, to them, much more pressing concerns, thana collision with a comet which you couldn't even see except through abig telescope: and then that sort of thing had been talked and writtenabout hundreds of times before and had never come to anything, so whyshould this?

But when the morning papers dated--somewhat ominously--the twenty-fifthof March, quarter day, informed their readers that, granted fineweather, the comet would be visible to the naked eye from sunset tosunrise according to longitude that night, the views of the man and thewoman who had taken the matter so lightly underwent a very considerablechange. 

While the comet could only be seen, save by astronomers, in thephotographs that could be bought in any form from a picture-postcard toa five-guinea reproduction of the actual thing, there was still an airof unconvincing unreality about. Of course it might be coming, but itwas still very far away, and it might not arrive after all. Yet whenthat fateful night had passed and millions of sleepless eyes had seenthe south-western stars shining through a pale luminous mist extended inthe shape of two vast filmy wings with a brighter spot of yellow flamebetween them, the whole matter seemed to take on a very different and amuch more serious aspect. 

The fighting had come to a sudden stop, as though by a mutually tacitagreement. Not even the German Emperor could now deny that Lennard hadmade no idle threat at Canterbury when he had given him the destructionof the world as an alternative to the conquest of Britain. Still, he didnot quite believe in the possibility of that destruction even yet, inspite of what the Tsar had told him and what he had learned from othersources. He still wanted to fight to a finish, and, as Deputy EuropeanProvidence, he had a very real objection to the interference ofapparently irresponsible celestial bodies with his carefully-thought-outplans for the ordering of mundane civilisation on German commerciallines. Whether they liked it or not, it must be the best thing in theend for them: otherwise how could He have come to think it all out?

Meanwhile, to make matters worse from his point of view, John Castellanhad refused absolutely to accept any modification of the original terms, and he had replied to an order from headquarters to report himself andthe ships still left under his control by loading the said ships withammunition and motive power and then disappearing from the field ofaction without leaving a trace as to his present or future whereaboutsbehind him, and so, as far as matters went, entirely fulfilling theTsar's almost prophetic fears. 

And then, precisely at the hour, minute and second predicted, fivehours, thirty minutes and twenty-five seconds, a. M. , on the 31st ofMarch, the comet became visible in daylight about two and a half degreessouth-westward of the Morning Star. Twenty-four hours later the twowings came into view, and the next evening the Invader looked like somegigantic bird of prey swooping down from its eyrie somewhere in theheights of Space upon the trembling and terrified world. Theprofessional prophets said, with an excellent assumption of absoluteconviction, that it was nothing less awful than the Destroying Angelhimself _in propria persona_. 

At length, when excitement had developed into frenzy, and frenzy into analmost universal delirium, two cablegrams crossed each other along thebed of the Atlantic Ocean. One was to say that the Pittsburg gun wasready, and the other that the loading of the Bolton Baby--feeding, somecallous humorist of the day called it--was to begin the next morning. This meant that there was just a week--an ordinary working week, betweenthe human race and something very like the Day of Judgment. 

The next day Lennard set all the existing wires of the world thrillingwith the news that the huge projectile, charged with its thirtyhundredweight of explosives, was resting quietly in its place on the topof a potential volcano which, loosened by the touch of a woman's hand, was to hurl it through space and into the heart of the swiftly-advancingInvader from the outmost realms of Space. 

CHAPTER XXXIX

THE LAST FIGHT

It so happened that on the first night the German Emperor saw the cometwithout the aid of a telescope he was attacked by one of those fits ofhysteria which, according to ancient legend, are the hereditary curse ofthe House of Brandenburg. He had made possible that which had beenimpossible for over a thousand years--he had invaded England in force, and he had established himself and his Allies in all the greatestfortress-camps of south-eastern England. After all, the story of thecomet might be a freak of the scientific imagination; there might besome undetected error in the calculations. One great mistake had beenmade already, either by the comet or its discoverer--why not another?

"No, " he said to himself, as he stood in front of the headquarters atAldershot looking up at the comet, "we've heard about you before, myfriend. Astronomers and other people have prophesied a dozen times thatyou or something like you were going to bring about the end of theworld, but somehow it never came off; whereas it is pretty certain thatthe capture of London will come off if it is only properly managed. Atanyrate, I am inclined to back my chances of taking London against yoursof destroying it. "

And so he made his decision. He sent a telegram to Dover ordering anaerogram to be sent to John Castellan, whose address was now, of course, anywhere in the air or sea; the message was to be repeated from all theContinental stations until he was found. It contained the firstcapitulation that the War Lord of Germany had ever made. He accepted theterms of his Admiral of the Air and asked him to bring his fleet thefollowing day to assist in a general assault on London--London oncetaken, John Castellan could have the free hand that he had asked for. 

In twelve hours a reply came back from the Jotunheim in Norway. Meanwhile, the Kaiser, as Generalissimo of the Allied Forces, telegraphed orders to all the commanders of army corps in England toprepare for a final assault on the positions commanding London withintwenty-four hours. At the same time he sent telegraphic orders to allthe centres of mobilisation in Europe, ordering the advance of allpossible reinforcements with the least delay. It was his will that fourmillion men should march on London that week, and, in spite of theprotests of the Emperor of Austria and the Tsar, his will was obeyed. 

So the truce was broken and the millions advanced, as it were over thebrink of Eternity, towards London. But the reinforcements never came. Every transport that steamed out of Bremen, Hamburg, Kiel, Antwerp, Brest or Calais, vanished into the waters; for now the whole squadron oftwelve _Ithuriels_ had been launched and had got to work, and theBritish fleets from the Mediterranean, the China Seas and the NorthAtlantic, had once more asserted Britain's supremacy on the seas. Inaddition to these, ten first-class battleships, twelve first and fifteensecond-class cruisers and fifty destroyers had been turned out by theHome yards, and so the British Islands were once more ringed with anunbreakable wall of steel. One invasion had been accomplished, but nowno other was possible. The French Government absolutely refused to sendany more men. The Italian armies had crossed the Alps at three points, and every soldier left in France was wanted to defend her own fortressesand cities from the attack of the invader. 

But, despite all this, the War Lord held to his purpose; and that nightthe last battle ever fought between civilised nations began, and whenthe sun rose on the sixteenth of April, its rays lit up what wasprobably the most awful scene of carnage that human eyes had ever lookedupon. The battle-line of the invaders had extended from Sheerness toReading in a sort of irregular semicircle, and it was estimatedafterwards that not less than a million and a half of killed and woundedmen, fifty thousand horses and hundreds of disabled batteries of lightand heavy artillery strewed the long line of defeat and conquest. 

The British aërial fleet of twenty ships had made victory for thedefenders a practical certainty. As Admiral Hingeston had told the Tsar, they could both out-fly and out-shoot the _Flying Fishes_. This they didand more. The moment that a battery got into position half a dozensearchlights were concentrated on it. Then came a hail of shells, and aseries of explosions which smashed the guns to fragments and killedevery living thing within a radius of a hundred yards. Infantry andcavalry shared the same fate the moment that any formation was made foran attack on the British positions; the storm of fire was made ten-foldmore terrible by the unceasing bombardment from the air; and thebrilliant glow of the searchlights thrown down from a height of athousand feet or so along the lines of the attacking forces made thework of the defenders comparatively easy, for the man in a fight who cansee and is not seen is worth several who are seen and yet fight in thedark. 

But the assailants were exposed to an even more deadly danger thanartillery or rifle fire. The catastrophe which had overwhelmed theBritish Fleet in Dover Harbour was repeated with ten-fold effect; butthis time the tables were turned. The British aërial fleet hunted the_Flying Fishes_ as hawks hunt partridges, and whenever one of them wasfound over a hostile position a shell from the silent, flameless gunshit her, and down she went to explode like a volcano amongst masses ofcavalry, infantry and artillery, and of this utter panic was the onlynatural result. 

Eleven out of the twelve _Flying Fishes_ were thus accounted for. Whathad become of the twelfth no one knew. It might have been partiallycrippled and fallen far away from the great battlefield; or it mighthave turned tail and escaped, and in this case it was a practicalcertainty, at least in Lennard's mind, that it was John Castellan's ownvessel and that he, seeing that the battle was lost, had taken her awayto some unknown spot in order to fulfil the threat contained in hisletter, and for this reason five of the British airships were at oncedespatched to mount guard over the great cannon at Bolton. 

The defeat of the Allies both by land and sea, though accomplished atthe eleventh hour of the world's threatened fate, had been so completeand crushing, and the death-total had reached such a ghastly figure, that Austria, Russia and France flatly refused to continue the Alliance. After all the tremendous sacrifice that had been made in men, money andmaterial they had not even reached London. From their outposts on theSurrey hills they could see the vast city, silent and apparentlysleeping under its canopy of hazy clouds, but that was all. It was stillas distant from them as the poles; and so the Allies looked upon it andthen upon their dead, and admitted, by their silence if not by theirwords, that Britain the Unconquered was unconquerable still. 

The German Emperor's fit had passed. Even he was appalled when upon thatmemorable morning he received the joint note of his three Allies andlearnt the awful cost of that one night's fighting. 

Just as he was countersigning the Note of Capitulation in theheadquarters at Aldershot, the _Auriole_ swung round from the northwardand descended on to the turf flying the flag of truce. He saw itthrough the window, got up, put his right hand on the butt of therevolver in his hip-pocket, thought hard for one fateful moment, thentook it away and went out. 

At the gate he met Lord Kitchener; they exchanged salutes and shookhands, and the Kaiser said:

"Well, my lord, what are the terms?"

K. Of K. Laughed, simply because he couldn't help it. The absolute hardbusiness of the question went straight to the heart of the best businessman in the British Army. 

"I am not here to make or accept terms, your Majesty, " he said. "I amonly the bearer of a message, and here it is. "

Then he handed the Kaiser an envelope bearing the Royal Arms. 

"I am instructed to take your reply back as soon as possible, " hecontinued. Then he saluted again and walked away towards the _Auriole_. 

The Kaiser opened the envelope and read--an invitation to lunch from hisuncle, Edward of England, and a request to bring his august colleagueswith him to talk matters over. There was no hint of battle, victory ordefeat. It was a quite commonplace letter, but all the same it was oneof those triumphs of diplomacy which only the first diplomatist inEurope knew how to achieve. Then he too laughed as he folded up theletter and went to Lord Kitchener and said:

"This is only an invitation to lunch, and you have told me you are nothere to propose or take terms. That, of course, was official, butpersonally--"

K. Of K. Stiffened up, and a harder glint came into his eyes. 

"I can say nothing personally, your Majesty, except to ask you toremember my reply to Cronje. "

The Kaiser remembered that reply of three words, "Surrender, or fight, "and he knew that he could not fight, save under a penalty of utterdestruction. He went back into his room, brought back the joint notewhich he had just received, and gave it to Lord Kitchener, just as itwas, without even putting it into an envelope, saying:

"That is our answer. We are beaten, and those who lose must pay. "

Lord Kitchener looked over the note and said, in a somewhat dry tone:

"This, your Majesty, I read as absolute surrender. "

"It is, " said William the Second, his hand instinctively going to thehilt of his sword. Lord Kitchener shook his head, and said very quietlyand pleasantly:

"No, your Majesty, not that. But, " he said, looking up at the four flagswhich were still flying above the headquarters, "I should be obliged ifyou would give orders to haul those down and hoist the Jack instead. "

There was no help for it, and no one knew better than the Kaiser thestrength there was behind those quietly-spoken words. The awful lessonof the night before had taught him that this beautiful cruiser of theair which lay within a few yards of him could in a few moments rise intothe air and scatter indiscriminate death and destruction around her, andso the flags came down, the old Jack once more went up, and Aldershotwas English ground again. 

Wherefore, not to enter into unnecessary details, the _Auriole_, insteadof making the place a wilderness as Lord Kitchener had quite determinedto do, became an aërial pleasure yacht. Orderlies were sent to theRussian, Austrian and French headquarters, and an hour later the chiefsof the Allies were sitting in the deck saloon of the airship, flying atabout sixty miles an hour towards London. 

The lunch at Buckingham Palace was an entirely friendly affair. KingEdward had intended it to be a sort of international shake-hands allround. The King of Italy was present, as the _Columbia_ had beendespatched early in the morning to bring him from Rome, and had pickedup the French President on the way back at Paris. The King gave thefirst and only toast, and that was:

"Your Majesties and Monsieur le President, in the name of Humanity, Iask you to drink to Peace. "

They drank, and so ended the last war that was ever fought on Britishsoil. 

EPILOGUE

"AND ON EARTH, PEACE!"

On the morning of the thirtieth of April, the interest of the wholeworld was centred generally upon Bolton, and particularly upon thelittle spot of black earth enclosed by a ring of Bessemer furnaces inthe midst of which lay another ring, a ring of metal, the mouth of thegreat cannon, whose one and only shot was to save or lose the world. Ata height of two thousand feet, twenty airships circled at varyingdistances round the mouth of the gun, watching for the one _Flying Fish_which had not been accounted for in the final fight. 

The good town of Bolton itself was depopulated. For days past the comethad been blazing brighter and brighter, even in the broad daylight, andthe reports which came pouring in every day from the observatories ofthe world made it perfectly clear that Lennard's calculations would beverified at midnight. 

Mr Parmenter and his brother capitalists had guaranteed two millionssterling as compensation for such destruction of property as might bebrought about by the discharge of the cannon, and, coupled with thisguarantee, was a request that everyone living within five miles of whathad been the Great Lever pit should leave, and this was authorised by aRoyal Proclamation. There was no confusion, because, when faced withgreat issues, the Lancashire intellect does not become confused. It justgets down to business and does it. So it came about that the people ofBolton, rich and poor, millionaire and artisan, made during thatmomentous week a general flitting, taking with them just such of theirpossessions as would be most precious to them if the Fates permittedthem to witness the dawn of the first of May. 

The weather, strangely enough, had been warm and sunny for the lastfortnight, despite the fact that the ever-brightening Invader from Spacegradually outshone the sun itself, and so on all the moors round Boltonthere sprang up a vast town of tents and ready-made bungalows fromChorley round by Darwen to Bury. Thousands of people had come from allparts of the kingdom to see the fate of the world decided. What was leftof the armies of the Allies were also brought up by train, and all theBritish forces were there as well. They were all friends now for therewas no more need for fighting, since the events of the next few hourswould decide the fate of the human race. 

As the sun set over the western moors a vast concourse of men and women, representing almost every nationality on earth, watched the coming ofthe Invader, brightening now with every second and over-arching thefirmament with its wide-spreading wings. There were no sceptics now. Noone could look upon that appalling Shape and not believe, and ifabsolute confirmation of Lennard's prophecy had been wanted it wouldhave been found in the fact that the temperature began to rise _after_sunset. That had never happened before within the memory of man. 

The crowning height of the moors which make a semicircle to thenorth-west of Bolton is Winter Hill, which stands about half-way betweenBolton and Chorley, and, roughly speaking, would make the centre of acircle including Bolton, Wigan, Chorley and Blackburn. It rises to aheight of nearly fifteen hundred feet and dominates the surroundingcountry for fully fifteen miles, and on the summit of this rugged, heather-clad moor was pitched what might be called without exaggerationthe headquarters of the forces which were to do battle for humanity. Ahuge marquee had been erected in an ancient quarry just below thesummit; from the centre pole of this flew the Royal Standard of England, and from the other poles the standards of every civilised nation in theworld. 

The front of the marquee opened to the south eastward, and by theunearthly light of the comet the mill chimneys of Bolton, dominated bythe great stack of Dobson & Barlow's, could be seen pointing like blackfingers up to the approaching terror. In the centre of the opening weretwo plain deal tables. There was an instrument on each of them, and fromthese separate wires ran on two series of poles and buried themselves atlast in the heart of the charge of the great cannon. Beside theinstruments were two chronometers synchronised from Greenwich andbeating time together to the thousandth part of a second, counting outwhat might perhaps be the last seconds of human life on earth. 

Grouped about the two tables were the five sovereigns of Europe and thePresident of the French Republic, and with them stood the greatestsoldiers, sailors and scientists, statesmen and diplomatists betweeneast and west. 

On a long deck chair beside one of the tables lay Lord Westerham withhis left arm bound across his breast and looking little better than theghost of the man he had been a month ago. Beside him stood Lady Margaretand Norah Castellan, and with them were the two men who had done so muchto change defeat into victory; the captain and lieutenant of theever-famous _Ithuriel_. 

Never before had there been such a gathering of all sorts and conditionsof men on one spot of earth; but as the hours went on and dwindled intominutes, all differences of rank and position became things of the past. In the presence of that awful Shape which was now flaming across theheavens, all men and women were equal, since by midnight all might bereduced at the same instant to the same dust and ashes. The ghastlyorange-green glare shone down alike on the upturned face of monarch andstatesman, soldier and peasant, millionaire and pauper, the good and thebad, the noble and the base, and tinged every face with its own ghastlyhue. 

Five minutes to twelve!

There was a shaking of hands, but no words were spoken. Norah Castellanstooped and kissed her wounded lover's brow, and then stood up andclasped her hands behind her. Lennard went to one of the tables andAuriole to the other. 

Lennard had honestly kept the unspoken pact that had been made betweenthem in the observatory at Whernside. Neither word nor look of love hadpassed his lips or lightened his eyes; and even now, as he stood besideher, looking at her face, beautiful still even in that ghastly light, his glance was as steady as if he had been looking through the eye-pieceof his telescope. 

Auriole had her right forefinger already resting on a little whitebutton, ready at a touch to send the kindling spark into the mighty massof explosives which lay buried at the bottom of what had been the GreatLever pit. Lennard also had his right forefinger on another button, buthis left hand was in his coat pocket and the other forefinger was on thetrigger of a loaded and cocked revolver. There were several otherrevolvers in men's pockets--men who had sworn that their nearest anddearest should be spared the last tortures of the death-agony ofhumanity. 

The chronometers began to tick off the seconds of the last minute. Thewings of the comet spread out vaster and vaster and its now flamingnucleus blazed brighter and brighter. A low, vague wailing sound seemedto be running through the multitudes which thronged the semicircle ofmoors. It was the first and perhaps the last utterance of the agony ofunendurable suspense. 

At the thirtieth second Lennard looked up and said in a quiet, passionless tone:

"Ready!"

At the same moment he saw, as millions of others thought they saw, agrey shape skimming through the air from the north-east towards Bolton. It could not be a British airship, for the fleet had already scattered, as the shock of the coming explosion would certainly have caused them tosmash up like so many shells. It was John Castellan's _Flying Fish_ cometo fulfil the letter of his threat, even at this supreme moment of theworld's fate. 

Again Lennard spoke. 

"Twenty seconds. "

And then he began to count. "Nine--eight--seven--six--five--four--three--two--Now!"

The two fingers went down at the same instant and completed thecircuits. The next, the central fires of the earth seemed to have burstloose. A roar such as had never deafened human ears before thunderedfrom earth to heaven, and a vast column of pale flame leapt up with aconcussion which seemed to shake the foundations of the world. Then inthe midst of the column of flame there came a brighter flash, amomentary blaze of green-blue flame flashing out for a moment andvanishing. 

"That was John's ship, " said Norah. "God forgive him!"

"He will, " said Westerham, taking her hand. "He was wrong-headed on thatparticular subject, but he was a brave man, and a genius. I don't thinkthere's any doubt about that. "

"It's good of you to say so, " said Norah. "Poor John! With all hislearning and genius to come to that--"

"We all have to get there some time, Norah, and after all, whether he'sright or wrong, a man can't die better than for what he believes to bethe truth and the right. We may think him mistaken, he thought he wasright, and he has proved it. God rest his soul!"

"Amen!" said Norah, and she leant over again and kissed him on thebrow. 

Then came ten seconds more of mute and agonised suspense, and men'sfingers tightened their grip on the revolvers. Then the upturnedstraining eyes looked upon such a sight as human eyes will never seeagain save perchance those which, in the fulness of time, may look uponthe awful pageantry of the Last Day. 

High up in the air there was a shrill screaming sound which seemedsomething like an echo of the roar of the great gun. Something like awhite flash of light darted upwards straight to the heart of thedescending Invader. Then the whole heavens were illumined by a blindingglare. The nucleus of the comet seemed to throw out long rays ofmany-coloured light. A moment later it had burst into myriads of faintlygleaming atoms. 

The watching millions on earth instinctively clasped their hands totheir ears, expecting such a sound as would deafen them for ever; butnone came, for the explosion had taken place beyond the limits of theearth's atmosphere. The whole sky was now filled from zenith to horizonwith a pale, golden, luminous mist, and through this the moon and starsbegan to shine dimly. 

Then a blast of burning air swept shrieking and howling across theearth, for now the planet Terra was rushing at her headlong speed ofnearly seventy thousand miles an hour through the ocean of fire-mistinto which the shattered comet had been dissolved. Then this passed. Thecool wind of night followed it, and the moon and stars shone down oncemore undimmed through the pure and cloudless ether. 

Until now there had been silence. Men and women looked at each other andclasped hands; and then Tom Bowcock, standing just outside the marqueewith his arm round his wife's shoulders, lifted up his mighty baritonevoice and sang the lines:

 "Praise God from whom all blessings flow!"

Hundreds and then thousands, then millions of voices took up thefamiliar strain, and so from the tops of the Lancashire moors the chorusrolled on from village to village and town to town, until with onevoice, though with many tongues, east and west were giving thanks forthe Great Deliverance. 

But the man who, under Providence, had wrought it, seemed deaf and blindto all this. He only felt a soft trembling clasp round his right hand, and he only heard Auriole's voice whispering his name. 

The next moment a stronger grip pulled his left hand out of his coatpocket, bringing the revolver with it, and Mr Parmenter's voice, shakenby rare emotion, said, loudly enough for all in the marquee to hear:

"We may thank God and you, Gilbert Lennard, that there's still a worldwith living men and women on it, and there's one woman here who's goingto live for you only till death do you part. She told me all about itlast night. You've won her fair and square, and you're going to haveher. I did have other views for her, but I've changed my mind, because Ihave learnt other things since then. But anyhow, with no offence to thisdistinguished company, I reckon you're the biggest man on earth justnow. "

Soon after daybreak on the first of May, one of the airships that hadbeen guarding Whernside dropped on the top of Winter Hill, and thecaptain gave Lennard a cablegram which read thus:

 "LENNARD, Bolton, England: Good shot. As you left no pieces for us to shoot at we've let our shot go. No use for it here. Hope it will stop next celestial stranger coming this way. America thanks you. Any terms you like for lecturing tour. --HENCHELL. "

Lennard did not see his way to accept the lecturing offer because he hadmuch more important business on hand: but a week later, after amagnificent and, if the word may be used, multiple marriage ceremonyhad been performed in Westminster Abbey, five airships, each with abride and bridegroom on board, rose from the gardens of BuckinghamPalace and, followed by the cheers of millions, winged their waywestward. Thirty-five hours later there was such a dinner-party at theWhite House, Washington, as eclipsed all the previous glories even ofAmerican hospitality. 

Nothing was ever seen of the projectile which "The Pittsburg Prattler"had hurled into space. Not even the great Whernside reflector was ableto pick it up. The probability, therefore, is that even now it is stillspeeding on its lonely way through the Ocean of Immensity, and it iswithin the bounds of possibility that at some happy moment in the futureand somewhere far away beyond the reach of human vision, its huge chargeof explosives may do for some other threatened world what the one whichthe Bolton Baby coughed up into Space just in the nick of time did tosave this home of ours from the impending Peril of 1910. 

THE END

COLSTON AND COY. LIMITED, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH