intentions of their opponents. Every vessel of the Syndicate carried a
magnetic indicator, which was designed to prevent collisions with iron
vessels. This little instrument was placed at night and during fogs at
the bow of the vessel, and a delicate arm of steel, which ordinarily
pointed upward at a considerable angle, fell into a horizontal position
when any large body of iron approached within a quarter of a mile, and,
so falling, rang a small bell. Its point then turned toward the mass
of iron.
Soon after the fog came on, one of these indicators, properly protected
from the attraction of the metal about it, was put into position on
Crab C. Before very long it indicated the proximity of the Adamant;
and, guided by its steel point, the Crab moved quietly to the ironclad,
attached itself to its stern-post, and allowed the happy crew of Crab K
to depart coastward.
When the fog rose the glasses of the Adamant showed the approach of no
crab, but it was observed, in looking over the stern, that the beggarly
devil-fish which had the ship in tow appeared to have made some change
in its back.
In the afternoon of that day a truce boat was sent from the repeller to
the Adamant. It was allowed to come alongside; but when the British
captain found that the Syndicate merely renewed its demand for his
surrender, he waxed fiercely angry, and sent the boat back with the
word that no further message need be sent to him unless it should be
one complying with the conditions he had offered.
The Syndicate now gave up the task of inducing the captain of the
Adamant to surrender. Crab C was commanded to continue towing the
great ship southward, and to keep her well away from the coast, in
order to avoid danger to seaport towns and coasting vessels, while the
repeller steamed away.
Week after week the Adamant moved southward, roaring away with her
great guns whenever an American sail came within possible range, and
surrounding herself with a circle of bursting bombs to let any crab
know what it might expect if it attempted to come near. Blazing and
thundering, stern foremost, but stoutly, she rode the waves, ready to
show the world that she was an impregnable British battle-ship, from
which no enemy could snatch the royal colours which floated high above
her.
It was during the first week of the involuntary cruise of the Adamant
that the Syndicate finished its preparations for what it hoped would be
the decisive movement of its campaign. To do this a repeller and six
crabs, all with extraordinary powers, had been fitted out with great
care, and also with great rapidity, for the British Government was
working night and day to get its fleet of ironclads in readiness for a
descent upon the American coast. Many of the British vessels were
already well prepared for ordinary naval warfare; but to resist crabs
additional defences were necessary. It was known that the Adamant had
been captured, and consequently the manufacture of stern-jackets had
been abandoned; but it was believed that protection could be
effectually given to rudders and propeller-blades by a new method which
the Admiralty had adopted.
The repeller which was to take part in the Syndicate's proposed
movement had been a vessel of the United States navy which for a long
time had been out of commission, and undergoing a course of very slow
and desultory repairs in a dockyard. She had always been considered
the most unlucky craft in the service, and nearly every accident that
could happen to a ship had happened to her. Years and years before,
when she would set out upon a cruise, her officers and crew would
receive the humorous sympathy of their friends, and wagers were
frequently laid in regard to the different kinds of mishaps which might
befall this unlucky vessel, which was then known as the Tallapoosa.
The Syndicate did not particularly desire this vessel, but there was no
other that could readily be made available for its purposes, and
accordingly the Tallapoosa was purchased from the Government and work
immediately begun upon her. Her engines and hull were put into good
condition, and outside of her was built another hull, composed of heavy
steel armour-plates, and strongly braced by great transverse beams
running through the ship.
Still outside of this was placed an improved system of spring armour,
much stronger and more effective than any which had yet been
constructed. This, with the armour-plate, added nearly fifteen feet to
the width of the vessel above water. All her superstructures were
removed from her deck, which was covered by a curved steel roof, and
under a bomb-proof canopy at the bow were placed two guns capable of
carrying the largest-sized motor-bombs. The Tallapoosa, thus
transformed, was called Repeller No. 11.
The immense addition to her weight would of course
interfere very much with the speed of the new repeller, but this was
considered of little importance, as she would depend on her own engines
only in time of action. She was now believed to possess more perfect
defences than any battle-ship in the world.
Early on a misty morning, Repeller No. 11, towed by four of the
swiftest and most powerful crabs, and followed by two others, left a
Northern port of the United States, bound for the coast of Great
Britain. Her course was a very northerly one, for the reason that the
Syndicate had planned work for her to do while on her way across the
Atlantic.
The Syndicate had now determined, without unnecessarily losing an hour,
to plainly demonstrate the power of the instantaneous motor-bomb. It
had been intended to do this upon the Adamant, but as it had been found
impossible to induce the captain of that vessel to evacuate his ship,
the Syndicate had declined to exhibit the efficiency of their new agent
of destruction upon a disabled craft crowded with human beings.
This course had been highly prejudicial to the claims of the Syndicate,
for as Repeller No. 7 had made no use in the contest with the Adamant
of the motor-bombs with which she was said to be supplied, it was
generally believed on both sides of the Atlantic that she carried no
such bombs, and the conviction that the destruction at the Canadian
port had been effected by means of mines continued as strong as it had
ever been. To correct these false ideas was, now the duty of Repeller
No. 11.
For some time Great Britain had been steadily forwarding troops and
munitions of war to Canada, without interruption from her enemy. Only
once had the Syndicate's vessels appeared above the Banks of
Newfoundland, and as the number of these peculiar craft must
necessarily be small, it was not supposed that their line of operations
would be extended very far north, and no danger from them was
apprehended, provided the English vessels laid their courses well to
the north.
Shortly before the sailing of Repeller No. 11, the Syndicate had
received news that one of the largest transatlantic mail steamers,
loaded with troops and with heavy cannon for Canadian fortifications,
and accompanied by the Craglevin, one of the largest ironclads in the
Royal Navy, had started across the Atlantic. The first business of the
repeller and her attendant crabs concerned these two vessels.
Owing to the power and speed of the crabs which towed her, Repeller No.
11 made excellent time; and on the morning of the third day out the two
British vessels were sighted. Somewhat altering their course the
Syndicate's vessels were soon within a few miles of the enemy.
The Craglevin was a magnificent warship. She was not quite so large as
the Adamant, and she was unprovided with a stern-jacket or other
defence of the kind. In sending her out the Admiralty had designed her
to defend the transport against the regular vessels of the United
States navy; for although the nature of the contract with the Syndicate
was well understood in England, it was not supposed that the American
Government would long consent to allow their war vessels to remain
entirely idle.
When the captain of the Craglevin perceived the approach of the
repeller he was much surprised, but he did not hesitate for a moment as
to his course. He signalled to the transport, then about a mile to the
north, to keep on her way while he steered to meet the enemy. It had
been decided in British naval circles that the proper thing to do in
regard to a repeller was to ram her as quickly as possible. These
vessels were necessarily slow and unwieldy, and if a heavy ironclad
could keep clear of crabs long enough to rush down upon one, there was
every reason to believe that the "ball-bouncer," as the repellers were
called by British sailors, could be crushed in below the water-line and
sunk. So, full of courage and determination, the captain of the
Craglevin bore down upon the repeller.
It is not necessary to enter into details of the ensuing action.
Before the Craglevin was within half a mile of her enemy she was seized
by two crabs, all of which had cast loose from the repeller, and in
less than twenty minutes both of her screws were extracted and her
rudder shattered. In the mean time two of the swiftest crabs had
pursued the transport, and, coming up with her, one of them had
fastened to her rudder, without, however, making any attempt to injure
it. When the captain of the steamer saw that one of the sea-devils had
him by the stern, while another was near by ready to attack him, he
prudently stopped his engines and lay to, the crab keeping his ship's
head to the sea.
The captain of the Craglevin was a very different man from the captain
of the Adamant. He was quite as brave, but he was wiser and more
prudent. He saw that the transport had been captured and forced to lay
to; he saw that the repeller mounted two heavy guns at her bow, and
whatever might be the character of those guns, there could be no
reasonable doubt that they were sufficient to sink an ordinary mail
steamer. His own vessel was entirely out of his control, and even if
he chose to try his guns on the spring armour of the repeller, it would
probably result in the repeller turning her fire up on the transport.
With a disabled ship, and the lives of so many men in his charge, the
captain of the Craglevin saw that it would be wrong for him to attempt
to fight, and he did not fire a gun. With as much calmness as the
circumstances would permit, he awaited the progress of events.
In a very short time a message came to him from Repeller No. 11, which
stated that in two hours his ship would be destroyed by instantaneous
motor-bombs. Every opportunity, however, would be given for the
transfer to the mail steamer of all the officers and men on board the
Craglevin, together with such of their possessions as they could take
with them in that time. When this had been done the transport would be
allowed to proceed on her way.
To this demand nothing but acquiescence was possible. Whether or not
there was such a thing as an instantaneous motor-bomb the Craglevin's
officers did not know; but they knew that if left to herself their ship
would soon attend to her own sinking, for there was a terrible rent in
her stern, owing to a pitch of the vessel while one of the
propeller-shafts was being extracted.
Preparations for leaving the ship were, therefore,
immediately begun. The crab was ordered to release the mail steamer,
which, in obedience to signals from the Craglevin, steamed as near that
vessel as safety would permit. Boats were lowered from both ships, and
the work of transfer went on with great activity.
There was no lowering of flags on board the Craglevin, for the
Syndicate attached no importance to such outward signs and formalities.
If the captain of the British ship chose to haul down his colours he
could do so; but if he preferred to leave them still bravely floating
above his vessel he was equally welcome to do that.
When nearly every one had left the Craglevin, a boat was sent from the
repeller, which lay near by, with a note requesting the captain and
first officer of the British ship to come on board Repeller No. 11 and
witness the method of discharging the instantaneous motor-bomb, after
which they would be put on board the transport. This invitation struck
the captain of the Craglevin with surprise, but a little reflection
showed him that it would be wise to accept it. In the first place, it
was in the nature of a command, which, in the presence of six crabs and
a repeller, it would be ridiculous to disobey; and, moreover, he was
moved by a desire to know something about the Syndicate's mysterious
engine of destruction, if, indeed, such a thing really existed.
Accordingly, when all the others had left the ship, the captain of the
Craglevin and his first officer came on board the repeller, curiously
observing the spring armour over which they passed by means of a light
gang-board with handrail. They were received by the director at one of
the hatches of the steel deck, which were now all open, and conducted
by him to the bomb-proof compartment in the bow. There was no reason
why the nature of the repeller's defences should not be known to the world
nor adopted by other nations. They were intended as a protection
against ordinary shot and shell; they would avail nothing against the
instantaneous motor-bomb.
The British officers were shown the motor-bomb to be discharged, which,
externally, was very much like an ordinary shell, except that it was
nearly as long as the bore of the cannon; and the director stated that
although, of course, the principle of the motor-bomb was the
Syndicate's secret, it was highly desirable that its effects and its
methods of operation should be generally known.
The repeller, accompanied by the mail steamer and all the crabs, now
moved to about two miles to the leeward of the Craglevin, and lay to.
The motor-bomb was then placed in one of the great guns, while the
scientific corps attended to the necessary calculations of distance,
etc.
The director now turned to the British captain, who had been observing
everything with the greatest interest, and, with a smile, asked him if
he would like to commit hari-kari?
As this remark was somewhat enigmatical, the director went on to say
that if it would be any gratification to the captain to destroy his
vessel with his own hands, instead of allowing this to be done by an
enemy, he was at liberty to do so. This offer was immediately
accepted, for if his ship was really to be destroyed, the captain felt
that he would like to do it himself.
When the calculations had been made and the indicator set, the captain
was shown the button he must press, and stood waiting for the signal.
He looked over the sea at the Craglevin, which had settled a little at
the stern, and was rolling heavily; but she was still a magnificent
battleship, with the red cross of England floating over her. He could
not help the thought that if this motor mystery should amount to
nothing, there was no reason why the Craglevin should not be towed into
port, and be made again the grand warship that she had been.
Now the director gave the signal, and the captain, with his eyes fixed
upon his ship, touched the button. A quick shock ran through the
repeller, and a black-gray cloud, half a mile high, occupied the place
of the British ship.
The cloud rapidly settled down, covering the water with a glittering
scum which spread far and wide, and which had been the Craglevin.
The British captain stood for a moment motionless, and then he picked
up a rammer and ran it into the muzzle of the cannon which had been
discharged. The great gun was empty. The instantaneous motor-bomb was
not there.
Now he was convinced that the Syndicate had not mined the fortresses
which they had destroyed.
In twenty minutes the two British officers were on board the transport,
which then steamed rapidly westward. The crabs again took the repeller
in tow, and the Syndicate's fleet continued its eastward course,
passing through the wide expanse of glittering scum which had spread
itself upon the sea.
They were not two-thirds of their way across the Atlantic when the
transport reached St. John's, and the cable told the world that the
Craglevin had been annihilated.
The news was received with amazement, and even consternation. It came
from an officer in the Royal Navy, and how could it be doubted that a
great man-of-war had been destroyed in a moment by one shot from the
Syndicate's vessel! And yet, even now, there were persons who did
doubt, and who asserted that the crabs might have placed a great
torpedo under the Craglevin, that a wire attached to this torpedo ran
out from the repeller, and that the British captain had merely fired
the torpedo. But hour by hour, as fuller news came across the ocean,
the number of these doubters became smaller and smaller.
In the midst of the great public excitement which now existed on both
sides of the Atlantic,--in the midst of all the conflicting opinions,
fears, and hopes,--the dominant sentiment seemed to be, in America as
well as in Europe, one of curiosity. Were these six crabs and one
repeller bound to the British Isles? And if so, what did they intend
to do when they got there?
It was now generally admitted that one of the Syndicate's crabs could
disable a man-of-war, that one of the Syndicate's repellers could
withstand the heaviest artillery fire, and that one of the Syndicate's
motor-bombs could destroy a vessel or a fort. But these things had
been proved in isolated combats, where the new methods of attack and
defence had had almost undisturbed opportunity for exhibiting their
efficiency. But what could a repeller and half a dozen crabs do
against the combined force of the Royal Navy,--a navy which had in the
last few years regained its supremacy among the nations, and which had
made Great Britain once more the first maritime power in the world?
The crabs might disable some men-of-war, the repeller might make her
calculations and discharge her bomb at a ship or a fort, but what would
the main body of the navy be doing meanwhile? Overwhelming, crushing,
and sinking to the bottom crabs, repeller, motor guns, and everything
that belonged to them.
In England there was a feeling of strong resentment that such a little
fleet should be allowed to sail with such intent into British waters.
This resentment extended itself, not only to the impudent Syndicate,
but toward the Government; and the opposition party gained daily in
strength. The opposition papers had been loud and reckless in their
denunciations of the slowness and inadequacy of the naval preparations,
and loaded the Government with the entire responsibility, not only of
the damage which had already been done to the forts, the ships, and the
prestige of Great Britain, but also for the threatened danger of a
sudden descent of the Syndicate's fleet upon some unprotected point
upon the coast. This fleet should never have been allowed to approach
within a thousand miles of England. It should have been sunk in
mid-ocean, if its sinking had involved the loss of a dozen men-of-war.
In America a very strong feeling of dissatisfaction showed itself.
From the first, the Syndicate contract had not been popular; but the
quick, effective, and business-like action of that body of men, and the
marked success up to this time of their inventions and their
operations, had caused a great reaction in their favour. They had, so
far, successfully defended the American coast, and when they had
increased the number of their vessels, they would have been relied upon
to continue that defence. Even if a British armada had set out to
cross the Atlantic, its movements must have been slow and cumbrous, and
the swift and sudden strokes with which the Syndicate waged war could
have been given by night and by day over thousands of miles of ocean.
Whether or not these strokes would have been quick enough or hard
enough to turn back an armada might be a question; but there could be
no question of the suicidal policy of sending seven ships and two
cannon to conquer England. It seemed as if the success of the
Syndicate had so puffed up its members with pride and confidence in
their powers that they had come to believe that they had only to show
themselves to conquer, whatever might be the conditions of the contest.
The destruction of the Syndicate's fleet would now be a heavy blow to
the United States. It would produce an utter want of confidence in the
councils and judgments of the Syndicate, which could not be
counteracted by the strongest faith in the efficiency of their engines
of war; and it was feared it might become necessary, even at this
critical juncture, to annul the contract with the Syndicate, and to
depend upon the American navy for the defence of the American coast.
Even among the men on board the Syndicate's fleet there were signs of
doubt and apprehensions of evil. It had all been very well so far, but
fighting one ship at a time was a very different thing from steaming
into the midst of a hundred ships. On board the repeller there was now
an additional reason for fears and misgivings. The unlucky character
of the vessel when it had been the Tallapoosa was known, and not a few
of the men imagined that it must now be time for some new disaster to
this ill-starred craft, and if her evil genius had desired fresh
disaster for her, it was certainly sending her into a good place to
look for it.
But the Syndicate neither doubted nor hesitated nor paid any attention
to the doubts and condemnations which they heard from every quarter.
Four days after the news of the destruction of the Craglevin had been
telegraphed from Canada to London, the Syndicate's fleet entered the
English Channel. Owing to the power and speed of the crabs, Repeller
No. 11 had made a passage of the Atlantic which in her old naval career
would have been considered miraculous.
Craft of various kinds were now passed, but none of them carried the
British flag. In the expectation of the arrival of the enemy, British
merchantmen and fishing vessels had been advised to keep in the
background until the British navy had concluded its business with the
vessels of the American Syndicate.
As has been said before, the British Admiralty had adopted a new method
of defence for the rudders and screw-propellers of naval vessels
against the attacks of submerged craft. The work of constructing the
new appliances had been pushed forward as fast as possible, but so far
only one of these had been finished and attached to a man-of-war.
The Llangaron was a recently built ironclad of the same size and class
as the Adamant; and to her had been attached the new stern-defence.
This was an immense steel cylinder, entirely closed, and rounded at the
ends. It was about ten feet in diameter, and strongly braced inside.
It was suspended by chains from two davits which projected over the
stern of the vessel. When sailing this cylinder was hoisted up to the
davits, but when the ship was prepared for action it was lowered until
it lay, nearly submerged, abaft of the rudder. In this position its
ends projected about fifteen feet on either side of the
propeller-blades.
It was believed that this cylinder would effectually prevent a crab
from getting near enough to the propeller or the rudder to do any
damage. It could not be torn away as the stern-jacket had been, for
the rounded and smooth sides and ends of the massive cylinder would
offer no hold to the forceps of the crabs; and, approaching from any
quarter, it would be impossible for these forceps to reach rudder or
screw.