DAWN.
A raw, cold December morning in London. With the exception of a
statuesque sentry on the Horse Guards' Parade, the wide open space was
deserted. It had not long been light, and a heavy yellow mist still hung
over the grass in St. James's Park.
A bell clanged mournfully. Big Ben chimed the hour, and then boomed
forth eight o'clock. An icy wind swept across the gravelled square. The
bare, black branches of the stunted trees creaked and groaned, and the
lonely sentry standing at ease before his box rubbed his hands and
shivered.
Suddenly a side door opened, and there emerged a small procession.
Slowly there walked in front a clergyman bare-headed, reciting with
solemn intonation the Burial Service. Behind him, with unsteady step and
bent shoulders, a trembling man with blanched, haggard face, and a wild
look of terror in his dark, deep-sunken eyes. He wore a shabby
morning-coat tightly buttoned, and his hands in bracelets of steel were
behind his back.
Glancing furtively around at the grey dismal landscape, he shuddered.
Beside and behind him soldiers tramped on in silence.
The officer's sword grated along the gravel.
Suddenly a word of command caused them to halt against a wall, and a
sergeant, stepping forward, took a handkerchief and tied it over the
eyes of the quivering culprit, who now stood with his back against the
wall. Another word from the officer, and the party receded some
distance, leaving the man alone. The monotonous nasal utterances of the
chaplain still sounded as four privates advanced, and, halting, stood in
single rank before the prisoner.
[Illustration: EXECUTION OF VON BEILSTEIN ON THE HORSE GUARDS' PARADE.]
They raised their rifles. There was a momentary pause. In the distance a
dog howled dismally.
A sharp word of command broke the quiet.
Then, a second later, as four rifles rang out simultaneously, the
condemned man tottered forward and fell heavily on the gravel, shot
through the heart.
It was the spy and murderer, Karl von Beilstein!
He had been brought from Glasgow to London in order that certain
information might be elicited from him, and after his actions had been
thoroughly investigated by a military court, he had been sentenced to
death. The whole of his past was revealed by his valet Grevel, and it
was proved that, in addition to bringing the great disaster upon
England, he had also betrayed the country whose roubles purchased his
cunningly-obtained secrets.
Geoffrey Engleheart, although gallantly assisting in the fight outside
Leatherhead, and subsequently showing conspicuous bravery during the
Battle of Caterham, fortunately escaped with nothing more severe than a
bullet wound in the arm. During the searching private inquiry held at
the Foreign Office after peace was restored, he explained the whole of
the circumstances, and was severely reprimanded for his indiscretion;
but as no suspicion of von Beilstein's real motive had been aroused
prior to the Declaration of War, and as it was proved that Geoffrey was
entirely innocent of any complicity in the affair, he was, at the urgent
request of Lord Stanbury, allowed to resume his duties. Shortly
afterwards he was married to Violet Vayne, and Sir Joseph, having
recovered those of his ships that had been seized by the Russian
Government, was thereby enabled to give his daughter a handsome dowry.
The young French clerk who had been engaged at the Admiralty, and who
had committed murder for gold, escaped to Spain, and, after being
hunted by English and Spanish detectives for many weeks, he became
apparently overwhelmed by remorse. Not daring to show himself by day,
nor to claim the money that had been promised him, he had tramped on
through the snow from village to village in the unfrequented valleys of
Lerida, while his description was being circulated throughout the
Continent. Cold, weary, and hungry, he one night entered the Posada de
las Pijorras at the little town of Oliana, at the foot of the Sierra del
Cadi. Calling for wine, he took up a dirty crumpled copy of the Madrid
_Globo_, three days old. A paragraph, headed "The Missing Spy," caught
his eyes, and, reading eagerly, he found to his dismay that the police
were aware that he had been in Huesca a week before, and were now using
bloodhounds to track him!
The paper fell from his nerveless grasp. The wine at his elbow he
swallowed at one gulp, and, tossing down his last real upon the table,
he rose and stumbled away blindly into the darkness.
When the wintry dawn spread in that silent, distant valley, it showed a
corpse lying in the snow with face upturned. In the white wrinkled brow
was a small dark-blue hole from which blood had oozed over the pallid
cheek, leaving an ugly stain. The staring eyes were wide open, with a
look of unutterable horror in them, and beside the thin clenched hand
lay a revolver, one chamber of which had been discharged!
* * * * *
The dreary gloom of winter passed, and there dawned a new era of
prosperity for England.
Dark days were succeeded by a period of happiness and rejoicing, and
Britannia, grasping her trident again, seated herself on her shield
beside the sea, Ruler of the Waves, Queen of Nations, and Empress of the
World.
THE END.
MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
_Ready shortly, price 6s._
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ZORAIDA.
_A ROMANCE OF THE HAREM AND THE DESERT._
BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX, F.R.G.S.,
AUTHOR OF "THE GREAT WAR IN 1897."
_PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED BY H. PIFFARD._
* * * * *
_Ready shortly, price 6s._
THE TOWER ROMANCE LIBRARY. VOL. I.
A TORQUAY MARRIAGE.
A NEW MODERN NOVEL OF TO-DAY.
BY G. RAYLEIGH VICARS AND EDITH VICARS.
* * * * *
_Ready shortly, price 6s._
VOL. II.
IN QUEST OF A NAME.
BY MRS. HENRY WYLDE.
* * * * *
_Ready shortly._
Demy 8vo, handsomely bound in cloth, price 6s.
_With numerous Illustrations by E. S. Hope._
THE OUTLAWS OF THE AIR.
BY GEORGE GRIFFITH,
AUTHOR OF "THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION," "OLGA ROMANOFF," ETC.
* * * * *
_Now ready. Picture Cover. Price 1s._
BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER.
_A POLITICAL DREAM._
BY GEOFFREY DANYERS.
A Vision of the Reunited Anglo-Saxondom asserting the Dominion of the
Sea.
_Now ready. Eleventh Edition. Price 6s._
THE GREAT WAR IN ENGLAND IN 1897.
BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX, F.R.G.S.
_With Numerous Illustrations by T. S. Crowther and Captain C. Field, and
Nine Military Maps._
* * * * *
The Opinions of some Great Authorities.
THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE, writing to the Author, says: "Such books
cannot fail to have a good effect in inducing people to think
more seriously of the necessity which lies upon the whole
country to always be prepared, and to be more openhanded in
giving money for the means of defence."
FIELD MARSHAL LORD WOLSELEY says: "A pleasure to peruse it."
THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY says: "It is very realistic and
interesting."
LORD GEORGE HAMILTON says: "It is very striking and original."
SIR C. DILKE says: "I think it is most valuable as tending to
make people realise how little we are prepared for war."
* * * * *
Opinions of the London Press.
_The Times_ says: "Everything that can spice a sensational
volume."
_The Morning Post_ says: "Few works can compare in stirring
incidents or careful elaboration of detail.... A great deal of
what he forecasts would be very likely to occur if once England
were in the clutches of a strong enemy, and in the matter of
description wherein the tumult and carnage is brought vividly
before the reader.... A clever and exciting book."
_The Standard_ says: "Full of excitement and realism."
_The Globe_ says: "It is vigorous and rousing.... Will do a
public service."
_The Sun_ says: "Mr. Le Queux' narrative is well and spiritedly
written."
_The Evening News_ says: "Mr. Le Queux has succeeded in a very
difficult task. He has brought home to us the dangers we expose
ourselves if we neglect to maintain our Army and Navy in an
adequate state of efficiency."
_The Daily Graphic_ says: "Various essays have been made to
forecast the next great European war, but Mr. William Le Queux'
volume is certainly the most comprehensive and thrilling of
anything yet attempted. Regarded simply as a work of fiction, it
is exciting enough to satisfy the most enthusiastic lover of
'blood and thunder' literature. In its more serious aspect--and
it is this aspect, of course, which the author desires for
it--this book certainly evidences serious thought.... It is all
very graphic and very thrilling, especially the bombardment of
London by the Russians, and the author has not scrupled to avail
himself of the latest, even of the future, resources of
science."
_Naval and Military Record_ says: "Mr. Le Queux has special
qualifications for the task. He knows a great deal of our Army
and Navy, and he is familiar with continental systems and
sentiment. The narrative is lively and spirited, and the author
writes with an air of conviction which is calculated to carry
the reader on from beginning to end."
_Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette_ says: "Mr. Le Queux is a
vivid writer, and his work gives evidence of care and
thoroughness. The chapter dealing with the march of the French
on London is particularly fine. The author's production is the
best of the kind we have come across for some time. It should
emphasise our old contention as to the unreadiness for active
service on a prolonged campaign of the sea and land forces of
the Empire."
_Army and Navy Gazette_ says: "The story is a capital one, full
of interest and incident, well sustained and well told."
_The Idler_ says: "Mr. Le Queux writes brilliantly, sensibly,
and with a thorough mastery of his subject."
_The Sketch_ says: "No novel of the day comes up to Mr. Le
Queux' 'Great War in England in 1897' for excitement. From the
preface to the last paragraph he has kept up his prophetic
heroics in magnificent style, and if his patriotism does not
scatter our indifference to our insular defences, why, then,
nothing will. It is really a terrifying book. Mr. Le Queux has
power to shake one's nerves as he foretells fights and
slaughters in peaceful suburbs."
_The World_ says: "It serves to bring home in a very realistic
fashion the horrors of a war brought into our very midst."
_To-Day_ says: "A mastery of military and naval details is
displayed with conception and execution."
_The Review of Reviews_ says: "The story is useful as a warning,
and is worked out with much knowledge."
_The Gentlewoman_ says: "Once having started, I couldn't lay it
down till I had made an end thereto."
_The Literary World_ says: "It is undoubtedly one of the books
of the year. It is so ingenious and so exciting, it is at once
extremely technical and extremely readable. The book is a great
book, and one that no Englishman could read without a thrill."
_The Publishers' Circular_ says: "Mr. Le Queux shows us what
will happen if we do not better prepare ourselves."
* * * * *
Read what the Country Press say.
_Manchester Evening News_ says: "Lovers of exciting literature
will be satisfied to the full with the graphic story."
_Liverpool Daily Mercury_ says: "Extremely interesting, and well
worth reading."
_Liverpool Daily Chronicle_ says:--"The story is full of
stirring episode."
_Birmingham Daily Post_ says: "The scenes are marked with real
and affecting power."
_Sheffield Daily Telegraph_ says: "We offer criticism in no
carping spirit, but as part of our grateful acknowledgment for a
brilliant, patriotic, and useful work."
_Yorkshire Post_ says: "Well calculated to make the nervous
tremble at every rumour of foreign complications."
_The Scotsman_ says: "Strategical and other problems are
elaborately worked out.... Amusing, entertaining, and exciting."
_The North British Mail_ says: "It is a very powerful work."
_Glasgow Herald_ says: "One of the best books we have read on a
subject on which it is only too easy to be tiresome."
_Glasgow Evening News_ says: "Whether as a romance or as a
prophecy it is highly interesting."
_The Western Morning News_ says: "Very exciting reading. Of real
literary merit."
_Bradford Daily Argus_ says: "Full of interesting and exciting
reading."
* * * * *
Read what the Foreign and Colonial Press say.
_Sydney Daily Telegraph_ says: "The writer's capability to speak
regarding his subject is displayed on every page of the book. It
is splendidly written."
_The Belgian News_ says: "The book is a remarkable and a
phenomenal success."
The _Palladium_ (Newhaven, Conn.) says: "One of the most
successful books of the season."
"Il Capitano Nemo," the well-known Italian naval writer, in
_L'Opinione_ of Rome, says that the problems put forward by Mr.
Le Queux should secure the serious consideration of European
Governments. "It is unquestionably a most important book," he
says; "it is of interest to everyone, and the minuteness of its
detail is astonishing. I can recommend it to the Italian public
as a very startling yet highly instructive book."
_The Italia Marinara_ says: "It is not a mere fantastic romance;
it is a book to study seriously, and we recommend it to the Army
and Navy of Italy, for it contains many valuable hints."
_Il Secolo_ says: "A very remarkable and important work. There
is genius in every line. The descriptions are most realistic,
and it is of interest to everybody."
_The China Telegraph_ says it is "of really intense and
thrilling interest."
_Now ready. Sixth Edition. Price 6s._
Demy 8vo, handsomely bound in cloth gilt.
THE CAPTAIN OF THE MARY ROSE.
_A TALE OF TO-MORROW._
BY W. LAIRD CLOWES,
U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE.
With 60 Illustrations by the Chevalier de Martino and Fred. T. Jane.
* * * * *
This work has been truly described by the public press as an intensely
realistic and stirring romance of the near future. It describes the
wonderful adventures of an armour-clad cruiser, built on the Tyne, which
takes part in a great Naval War that suddenly breaks out between France
and Great Britain. The dashing way in which the vessel is handled, her
narrow escapes, the boldness of her successful attacks upon the enemy,
and the heroic conduct of her commander and crew, form altogether a
narrative of most absorbing interest, and full of exciting scenes and
situations.
* * * * *
THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW PRESS OPINIONS.
"Deserves something more than a mere passing notice."--_The
Times._
"Full of exciting situations.... Has manifold attractions for
all sorts of readers."--_Army and Navy Gazette._
"The most notable book of the season."--_The Standard._
"A clever book. Mr. Clowes is pre-eminent for literary touch and
practical knowledge of naval affairs."--_Daily Chronicle._
"Mr. W. Laird Clowes' exciting story."--_Daily Telegraph._
"We read 'The Captain of the Mary Rose' at a sitting."--_The
Pall Mall Gazette._
"Written with no little spirit and imagination.... A stirring
romance of the future."--_Manchester Guardian._
"Is of a realistic and exciting character.... Designed to show
what the naval warfare of the future may be."--_Glasgow Herald._
"One of the most interesting volumes of the year."--_Liverpool
Journal of Commerce._
"It is well told and magnificently illustrated."--_United
Service Magazine._
"Full of absorbing interest."--_Engineers Gazette._
"Is intensely realistic, so much so that after commencing the
story every one will be anxious to read to the end."--_Dundee
Advertiser._
"The book is splendidly illustrated."--_Northern Whig._
_Ninth Edition, Price 6s._
Demy 8vo, handsomely bound in cloth gilt.
_Uniform with "The Captain of the Mary Rose," with numerous
Illustrations by Fred T. Jane and Edwin S. Hope._
THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION.
A TALE OF THE COMING TERROR.
BY GEORGE GRIFFITH.
* * * * *
In this Romance of Love, War, and Revolution, the action takes place ten
years hence, and turns upon the solution of the problem of aerial
navigation, which enables a vast Secret Society to decide the issue of
the coming world-war, for which the great nations of the earth are now
preparing. Battles such as have hitherto only been vaguely dreamed of
are fought on land and sea and in the air. Aerial navies engage armies
and fleets and fortresses, and fight with each other in an unsparing
warfare, which has for its prize the empire of the world. Unlike all
other essays in prophetic fiction, it deals with the events of
to-morrow, and with characters familiar in the eyes of living men. It
marks an entirely new departure in fiction, and opens up possibilities
which may become stupendous and appalling realities before the present
generation of men has passed away.
* * * * *
_A FEW PRESS OPINIONS._
"Since the days of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, we know
of no writer who 'takes the cake' like Mr. George
Griffith."--_Daily Chronicle._
"A really exciting and sensational romance."--_Literary World._
"As a work of imagination it takes high rank."--_Belfast News
Letter._
"Full of absorbing interest."--_Barrow Herald._
"This powerful story."--_Liverpool Mercury._
"An entirely new departure in fiction."--_Reynolds' Newspaper._
"Of exceptional brilliancy and power."--_Western Figaro._
"This remarkable story."--_Weekly Times and Echo._
"There is a fascination about his book that few will be able to
resist."--_Birmingham Gazette._
"This exciting romance."--_Licensing World._
"A work of strong imaginative power."--_Dundee Courier._
"We must congratulate the author upon the vividness and reality
with which he draws his unprecedented pictures."--_Bristol
Mercury._
"Is quite enthralling."--_Glasgow Herald._
"A striking and fascinating novel."--_Hampshire Telegraph._
Demy 8vo, handsomely bound in cloth, price 6s.
_With Frontispiece by Edwin S. Hope._
OLGA ROMANOFF;
Or, The Syren of the Skies.
BY GEORGE GRIFFITH,
AUTHOR OF "THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION," "THE OUTLAWS OF THE AIR."
* * * * *
Dedicated to Mr. HIRAM S. MAXIM.
* * * * *
A sequel to the author's striking and successful romance. _The Angel of
the Revolution_, describing the efforts of a beautiful daughter of the
House of Romanoff to restore the throne of her ancestors destroyed in
the World-War of 1904, and presenting to the reader the spectacle of a
world transformed into a wonderland of art and science, yet trembling on
the brink of a catastrophe, in comparison with which even the tremendous
climax of _The Angel_ sinks almost into insignificance.
* * * * *
SOME PRESS OPINIONS.
"Mr. George Griffith has made himself a high reputation as an
imaginative novelist by his brilliant romances, _The Angel of
the Revolution_ and _The Syren of the Skies_."--_Sketch._
"This is quite as imaginative, as clever, and as enthralling a
book as its predecessor."--_Glasgow Herald._
"The book is a wild one, but its wildness and imaginative
boldness make it uncommonly interesting."--_Scotsman._
"The flights of fancy and imagination displayed by the author
show a most marvellous power and conception."--_Aberdeen Free
Press._
"An entrancing book."--_Birmingham Post._
"Full of originality in its rendition.... A marvel of
imaginative strength and picturesque pen painting."--_European
Mail._
"On the whole Mr. Griffith has published a work which to our
mind is the most suggestive of its kind that has been published
for many years."--_Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette._
"The work hardly lends itself to critical remark other than the
expression of one's appreciation of an imaginative and glowing
style likely to add to the pleasure of those who enjoy purely
speculative fiction. These pictures have a weird splendour in
keeping with the theme, but it is natural to desire a better
future for the human race than the one here
prophesied."--_Morning Post._
"His theme is a more tremendous one, and the incidents of his
story tenfold more terrible than even those awful battles in the
former volume. There is the same swift succession of awful
calamities, the same sustained interest from title page to
cover, and the same thread of human love running through the
narrative which lent its chief charm to the 'Angel of the
Revolution.'"--_Weekly Times and Echo._
"By lovers of sensational writing, in which the scientific
discoveries of the future are forecast, and intrigue and warfare
related in realistic manner under conditions which now exist but
in prophetic imagination, it will be warmly welcomed.... The
book must be read to be appreciated. Description is
impossible."--_Bradford Daily Argus._
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Hyphens removed: muzzle[-]loaders (p. 127), look[-]out (p. 164),
short[-]sightedness (p. 176), blood[-]stained (p. 325).
p. 67: "Termius" changed to "Terminus" (over the debris in
Terminus Road).
p. 72: "Halsted" changed to "Halstead" (Surrey to Halstead in Kent).
p. 92: "crusier" changed to "cruiser" (the unarmoured cruiser _Faucon_).
p. 119: "thousand" changed to "thousands" (thousands fleeing into the
country).
p. 159: "fusilade" changed to "fusillade" (commenced a terrific
fusillade).
p. 160: "momemt" changed to "moment" (Our situation at that moment).
p. 240: "Hundred" changed to "Hundreds" (Hundreds of tons).
p. 257: "evacute" changed to "evacuate" (to evacuate Edinburgh).
p. 316: "detatched" changed to "detached" (came upon a detached post).