第18章 THE GREAT WAR SYNDICATE(18)

Around and around the mighty ironclad steamed Crab C; but wherever she went her presence was betrayed to the fine glasses on board the Adamant by the bit of her shining back and the ripple about it; and ever between her and the ship came down that hail of iron in masses of a quarter ton, half ton, or nearly a whole ton.Crab C could not venture under these, and all day she accompanied the Adamant on her voyage south, dashing to this side and that, and looking for the chance that did not come, for all day the cannon of the battle-ship roared at her wherever she might be.The inmates of Crab K were now very restive and uneasy, for they were on short rations, both of food and water.They would have been glad enough to cast loose from the Adamant, and leave the spiteful ship to roll to her heart's content, broadside to the sea.They did not fear to run their vessel, with its thick roofplates protected by spring armour, through the heaviest cannonade.But signals from the repeller commanded them to stay by the Adamant as long as they could hold out, and they were obliged to content themselves with a hope that when night fell the other crab would be able to get in under the stern of the Adamant, and make the desired exchange.But to the great discomfiture of the Syndicate's forces, darkness had scarcely come on before four enormous electric lights blazed high up on the single lofty mast of the Adamant, lighting up the ocean for a mile on every side of the ship.It was of no more use for Crab C to try to get in now than in broad daylight; and all night the great guns roared, and the little crab manoeuvred.The next morning a heavy fog fell upon the sea, and the battle-ship and Crab C were completely shut out of sight of each other.Now the cannon of the Adamant were silent, for the only result of firing would be to indicate to the crab the location of the British ship.The smoke-signals of the towing crab could not be seen through the fog by her consorts, and she seemed to be incapable of making signals by sound.Therefore the commander of the Adamant thought it likely that until the fog rose the crab could not find his ship.What that other crab intended to do could be, of course, on board the Adamant, only a surmise; but it was believed that she would bring with her a torpedo to be exploded under the British ship.That one crab should tow her away from possible aid until another should bring a torpedo to fasten to her stern-post seemed areasonable explanation of the action of the Syndicate's vessels.The officers of the Adamant little understood the resources and 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 involuntarycruise 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.Theimmense 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 twovessels.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 beencaptured 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 puton 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 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 theCraglevin, 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?