Show THE GREAT WAR SYNDICATE 0 BY FRANK R STOCKTON Author of Rudder Grange Amos Kilbright liThe BeaMan of Orn The Christmas Wreck The Lady or the Tiger The Late Mrs Null The Hundredth Man The Casting Away of Mrs Leeks and Mrs Aleshine The Dusantes etc ICopvriKhtcd by P F Collier of Colliers Once a Week and published by special arrangement nth him through the American Press Association All rights reserved This story commenced In TnB SUNDAY HMIALD of March 10th Back numbers can be obtained at this office Ordinarily tho commandant of tho fort was of a calm and unexcitablo temperament tem-perament During the astounding events of that day and tho day before he had kept his head cool his judgment if not correct was the resultof sober and earnest earn-est consideration But now ho lost his temper Tho unparalleled effrontery and impertinence of this demand of tho American syndicato was too much forts for-ts self possession He stormed in anger an-ger Hero was tho culmination of tho knavish knav-ish trickery of these conscienceless pirates pi-rates who had attacked tho port A torpedo tor-pedo had been exploded in tho harbor an unfinished fort had been mined and blown up and all this had been done to frighten hima British soldierin command com-mand of a strong fort well garrisoned and fully supplied with all tho muni Jvpns of war In tho fear that his fort roCld be destroyed by a mystical bomb he was expected to march to a place of safety with all his forces If this should bo done it would not be long before these crafty fellows would occupy tho fort and with its great guns turned inland would hold tho city at their mercy There could be no greater insult to a soldier sol-dier than to suppose that ho could bo gulled by a trick Hko this No thought of actual danger entered tho mind of the commandant It had been easy enough to sink a great torpedo in tho harbor and the unguarded bluffs of Fort Filcher offered every opportunity opportu-nity to the scoundrels who may have worked at their mines through tho nights of several months But a mine under the fort which ho commanded was an Impossibility its guarded outposts prevented pre-vented any such method of attack At a bomb or a dozen or a hundred of tho syndicates bombs ho snapped his fingers fin-gers He could throw bombs as welL Nothing would please him better than that thoso ark liko ships in tho offing should come near enough for an artillery fight A few tons of solid shot and shell dropped on top of them might be a very conclusive answer to their impudent demands de-mands Tho letter from the syndicate together with his own convictions on the subject were communicated by the commandant to tho military authorities of tho port and to tho war office of the Dominion Tho news of what had happened that day had already been cabled across the f Atlantic back to the United States and all over the world and profound im f n ifl I f f d l R e EH J THEM AINT KO AKSWEE SIR pressioa created by it was intensified when it became known what tho syndicate syndi-cate proposed to do tho next day Orders and advices from tho British admiralty and war office sped across tho ocean and that night few of tho leaders in government govern-ment circles in England or Canada closed their eyes The opinions of tho commandant of the fort were received with but littlo favor fa-vor by the military and naval authorities 1 authori-ties Gnat preparations wro already ordered to repel and crush this most xudacioas attack upon tho port but in the meantime it was highly desirable that the utmost caution and prudence should be observed Threo menofwar had already been disabled by the novel and destructive machines of the enemy and it had been ordered that for tho present no more vessels of too British navy DO allowed to approach the crabs of thq syndlcatc s Whether it f was a mine or a bomb which had been used in tho destruction of thoMflnished worljs of Fort PDcher it rojfm be Impossible to determine until op official survey had been mado of tho ruins but in any event it would bo vriso and humane not to expose the garrison gar-rison of the fort on the south side of tho harbor to tho danger which had overtaken over-taken the works on the opposite shore If contrary to the opinion of the commandant com-mandant the garrisoned fort were really mined 1 the flowing day would probably proba-bly rove the fact Until this point should be determined it would bo highly judicious to temporarily evacuate tOO fort This could not be followed by occupation oc-cupation of tho works by tho enemy for all approaches cither by troops in boats or by bodies of confederates by land could be fully covered by the inland redoubts re-doubts and fortifications i When tho orders for evacuation reached tho commandant of tho fort he protested hotly and urged that his protest be considered con-sidered It was not until the command had been reiterated both from London and Ottrnra that ho accepted tho situation situa-tion and with bowed head prepared to leavo 11 post All night preparations for e > an jp went on and during tOO next mor1ing the garrison left tho fort and established itself far enough away to Weclndo danger from tho explosion of a mme rntnear enough to be araflablo in case of necessity Daring this morning thero arrived in tho offing another syndicate vessel This had started from a northern part of tho United States before the repellers and tnC craos ana it nail oeen engages inlaying In-laying a private submarino cable which should put the office of tho syndicate in New York in direct communication with its naval forces engaged with the enemy Telegraphic connection between tho cable boat and Repeller No 1 having been established the syndicato soon received re-ceived from its directorinchief full and comprehensive accounts of what had been done and what it was proposed to do Great was the satisfaction among tho members of tho syndicate when these direct and official reports came in Up to this time they had been obliged to depend upon very unsatisfactory intelligence intelli-gence communicated from Europe which had been supplemented by wild statements and rumors smuggled across the Canadian border To counteract the effect of these a full rpnrr = Wowcly made by the syndicate to tho government of tho United States and a bulletin distinctly describing what had happened was issued is-sued to tho people the country Theso reports which received a world wido circulation in the newspapers created a popular elation in tho United States and gave riso to serious apprehensions and concern in many other countries But under both elation and concern there was a certain doubtfulness So far the syndicate had been successful but its style of warfaro was decidedly experimental experi-mental and its forces in numerical strength at least were weak What would happen when tho great naval power of Great Britain should be brought to bear upon the syndicate was a question whose probable answer was likely to causo apprehension and concern in the United States and elation in many other countries The commencement of active hostilities hostil-ities had been precipitated by this syndicate syndi-cate In England preparations were making by day and by night to send upon tho coast lines of the United States a fleet which in numbers and power would be greater than that of any naval expedition In the history of the world It is no wonder that many people of sober judgment in America looked upon the affair of the crabs and tho repellers as but an incident in the beginning of a great and disastrous war On the morning of the destruction of Fort Pilcher the syndicates vessels moved toward the port and tho steel net was taken up by the two crabs and moved nearer the mouth of the harbor at a point from which tho fort now in process of evacuation was in full view When this had been done Repeller No 2 took up her position at a moderate distance dis-tance behind the net and the other ves > els stationed themselves near by The protection of the set was considered consid-ered necessary for although thero could be no reasonable doubt that all the torpedoes tor-pedoes in the harbor and river had been exploded others might be sent out against the syndicates vessels and a torpedo under a crab or a repeller was the enemy most feared by tho syndicate About 3 oclock tho signals between the repellers became very frequent and soon afterwards a truce boat went out from Repeller No L This was rowed with great rapidity but it was obliged togo to-go much farther up tho harbor than on previous occasions in order to deliver its messago to an officer of the garrison This was to the effect that tho evacuation evacua-tion of tho fort had been observes from the syndicates vessels and although it had been apparently complete one of tho scientific corps with a powerful glass had discovered a man in one of tho outer redoubts whose presence there was probably unknown to the officers of tho garrison It was therefore earnestly earn-estly urged that this man might be instantly in-stantly removed and in order that this might be done tho discharge of the motor mo-tor bomb would be postponed half an hour hourThe Tho officer received this message and was disposed to look upon it as a new trick but as no time was to be lost he I sent a corporals guard to tho fort and thero discovered an Irish sergeant by the namo of Kilscy who had sworn an oath that if every other man in tho fort ran away liko a lot of addlo paced sheep ho would not run with them ho would stand to his post to tho last and when tho couple of ships outside had got through bombarding tho stoat walls of tho fort too world would see that there was at least one British soldier whp was not afraid of a bomb be it little or big i Therefore ho had managed to elude observation ob-servation and to remain behind The sergeant was so hot headed in his determination to standby thotort that it required violence to remove Mm l and it was not until twenty minutes past 4 that tho syndicate observers perceived that ho had been taken to the hill behind which tho garrison was encamped As It had been decided that BopcDcr No 3 should dischargo tho next mstanr i tancous motor bomb there was an anxious desire on tho part of the operators opera-tors on that vessel Chat in this their first experience they might do their duty as well as their comrades on board tbo other repeller had dono theirs Tho most ac curate observations the most careful calculations cal-culations wero mado and remade tho point to bo aimed at being about the center of the fort The motor bomb had been in the cannon can-non for nearly an hour and everything had long been ready when at precisely thirty minutes past 4 oclock tho signal to discharge came from tho dircctorln I chief and in four seconds afterward the index on the scale indicated that the i gun was in the proper position and the button was touched I The motor bomb was set to act the instant I slant it should touch any portion of the fort and the effect teas different from that of the other bombs Thero was a quick hard shock but it was all in the air Thousands of panes of glass in tho city and in houses for miles around were cracked or broken birds fell dead or stunned upon tho ground and people on elevations at considerable distances felt as if they had received a blow but there was no trembling of tho ground As to the fort it had entirely disappeared disap-peared its particles having been instantaneously instan-taneously removed to a great distance in every direction falling over such a vast expanse of land and water that their descent de-scent was unobservable In tho placo whero tho fortress had stood thero was n wido tract of bare earth which lopked as if it had been scraped into a staring dead level of gravel and clay Tho instantaneous motor bomb had been arranged to act almost horizontally Few persons except thoso who from a distance had been watching the fort with glasses understood what had happened but every one in tho city and surrounding surround-ing country was conscipus that something some-thing had happened of a most startling kind and that it was over in tho same instant in which they had perceived it Everywhere there was tho noise of falling fall-ing window glass There wero those who asserted that for an instant they had heard in tho distance a grinding crash and thero wero others who wero quite sure that they had noticed what might be called a flash of darkness as if something had with almost unappreciable unappreci-able quickness passed between them and the sun When tho officers of tho garrison mounted the hill before them and sur r r r r f I Il 1 I1 l = = i 7 1 1 I I t l r t I ff t i 1J l11i r In Q L = AND THE SUN SHONE UTTO A GREAT HOtE wircnc FORT IULCHKR HAD BEEN vcyod tIll place whero their fort had been there was not one of them who had sufficient command of himself to write a report of what had happened They gazed at tin bare staring flatness of the shorn MiilT and they looked at each other This was not war It was socvthing supernatural awful They were not frightened 1 they were oppressed and appalled ap-palled Hat tho military discipline of their minds soon exerted its force and a brief account of the terrific event was transmitted to tho authorities and Sergt Kilwy was sentenced to a month in tho guard house No one approached the vicinity of the bluff where the fort had stood for danger might not bo over but every possible point of observation within a safe distance dis-tance was soon crowded with anxious and terrified observers A feeling awe was noticeable everywhere If people could have had a tangible idea of what had occurred it would have been different differ-ent If the sea had raged if a vast body of water had been tluown into the air if a dense cloud had been suddenly ejected from the surface of the earth they might have formed some opinion about it But tho instantaneous disappearance of a great fortification with a littlo moro appreciable ap-preciable accompaniment than the sudden sud-den tap as of a littlo hammer upon thousands of window panes was something some-thing which their intellects could not grasp It was not to be expected that tho ordinary mind could appreciate the difference between the action of an instantaneous in-stantaneous motor when imbedded in rocks and earth and its effect when opposed op-posed by nothing but stone walls upon or near tho surface of the earth Early tho next morning the littlo fleet of the syndicate prepared to carry out its further orders The waters of the lower bay wore now entirely deserted craft of every description having taken refuge in the upper part of tho harbor near and above tho city Therefore as soon aj it was light enough to wako observations ob-servations Repeller No1 did not hesitate to discharge a motor bomb into the harbor a mile or moro above where the first one had fallen This was dono in order to explode any torpedoes which might have been put into position since the discharge of tho first bomb There were very few people in tho city and suburbs who were at that hour out of doors where they could see tho great cloud of water rise toward tho sky and behold it descend liko a mighty cataract upon tho harbor and adjacent shores but tho quick sharp shock which ran under tho town made people spring from their beds and although nothing was then to be seen nearly everybody felt sufo that the syndicates forces bad begun be-gun their days work by exploding another an-other mine A lighthouse the occupants of which had been ordered to leavo when tho fort was evacuated as they might be in danger dan-ger in case of a bombardment was so shaken by tho explosion of this motor bomb that it fell in ruins on tho rock I upon which it had stood The two crabs now took the steel net from its moorings and cairjed it up the harbor This was rather difficult on account ac-count of tho islands rocks and sandbars but the leading crab had on board a pilot acquainted with those waters Witlvth net hanging between them the two submerged sub-merged vessels ono carefully following the other reached a point about two miles below tho city where tho net was anchored across the harbor It did not reach from shore to shore but in the course of tho morning two other nets designed for shallower waters were brought from the repellersand anohored at each end of the main net thus forming form-ing a lino of complete protection against submarine torpedoes which might lx sent down from tho upper harbor Repeller No1 now steamed into the harbor accompanied by Crab A and anchored about a quarter cf a mile seaward sea-ward of the net The other repellor with her attendant crab cruised about tho mouth of tho harbor watching a smaller entrance to tho port as well as the larger one and thus maintaining an effective blockade This was not a difil cult duty for since the news of tho extraordinary ex-traordinary performances of the crabs 0 bad been spread abroad no merchant vessel largo or small cared to approach I that port and strict orders had been issued by tho British admiralty that no vessel of the navy should until further instructed engage in combat with the peculiar craft of the syndicate Until a plan of action had been determined upon it was very desirable that English cruisers should not be exposed to useless injury and danger This being tho state of affairs a message mes-sage was sent from tho office of j tho syndicate across tho border to e j the Dominion government which i stated that the seaport city which had been attacked by the forces of the I syndicate now lay under the guns of its vessels and in caso of an overt act of war by Great Britain or Canada alone such as the entrance of an armed force from British territory into the United States or a capture of or attack upon an American vessel navel or commercial by a British manofwar or an attack I upon an American port by British vessels ves-sels tho city would bo bombarded and destroyed This message which was of course instantly in-stantly transmitted to London placed tho British government in the apparent position of being held by tho throat by tho American War Syndicate But if the British government or tho people of England or Canada recognized this position posi-tion at all it was merely as a temporary condition In a short time the most powerfnl menofwar of tho royal navy as well as a fleet of transports carrying troops would reach the coasts of North America and then the condition of affairs would rapidly be changed It was absurd to suppose that a few me ditun sized vessels however heavily armored or a few new fangled submarine subma-rine machines however destructive they might be could withstand an armada of the largest and finest armored vessels in the world A ship or two might be disabled dis-abled although this was unlikely now that the new method of attack was understood un-derstood but it would soon be tho ports of the United States on both tho Pacific and Atlantic coasts which would lie under the guns of an enemy But it was notin tho power of their navy that tho British government and the people of England and Canada placed their greatest trust but in the incapacity of their petty foe to support its ridiculous ridicu-lous assumptions The claim that the city lay under tho guns of tho American syndicate was considered ridiculous for few people believed that these vessels had any guns Certainly there had been no evidence that any shots had been fired from them In the opinion of reasonable reasona-ble people tho destruction of the forts and the explosions in the harbor had been caused by minesmines cf a n wand w-and terrifying power wliich were the work of traitors and confederates The destruction of the lighthouse had strengthened this belief for its fall was similar to that which would have been occasioned by a great explosion under un-der its foundation But however terrifying and appalling had been tho results of tho explosion of these mines it was not thought probable that there wero any more of them The explosions had taken place at exposed points distant from the city and the most careful investigation failed to discover dis-cover any present signs of mining operations opera-tions v This theory of mines worked by confederates con-federates was received throughout the civilized world and was universally condemned con-demned Even in the United States the feeling was so strong against this apparent appar-ent alliance between tho syndicate and British traitors that there was reason to believe that a popular pressure would be brought to bear upon the government sufficient to force it to break its contract with the syndicate and to carry on the war with the national army and navy Tho crab was considered an admirable addition to tho strength of a navy but amino a-mino under a fort laid and fired by perfidious per-fidious confederates was considered unworthy un-worthy an enlightened people The members of the syndicate now found themselves in an embarrassing and dangerous position a position in which they were placed by the universal incredulity regarding the instantaneous motor and unless they could make the world believe that thov really used such a motor bomb tho war could not be prosecuted pro-secuted on tho plan projected It was easy enough to convince the enemy of the terrible destruction the syndicate was able to effect but to make that enemy and the world understand that this was dono by bombs which could be used in ono place as well as another an-other was difficult indeed They had attempted to prove this by announcing that at a certain time a bomb should be projected into a certain fort Precisely at the specified timo the fort had been destroyed but nobody believed that a bomb had been fired Every opinion official or popular concerning con-cerning what it had done and what rpigjit be expected of it was promptly forwarded to the syndicate by its agents and it was thus enabled to ECO very plainly indeed that fho effect it had desired de-sired to produce had not been produced Unless the enemy could be mado to un derstogd that any fort or ships within ten miles of ono of the syndicates cannon can-non could bo instantaneously dissipated toitho shape of fine dust this war could nab be carried on upon tjie principle adopted and therefore might as well pass out of the hands of the syndicate Day by day and night by night the state of affairs was anxiously considered at the office of the syndicate in New York A new and important undertaking undertak-ing was determined upon and on tho success of this tho hopes of the syndicate now depended During tho rapid and vigorous preparations prepa-rations which the syndicate were now making for their now venture several events of interest occurred Two of tho largest Atlantic mailers mail-ers carrying infantry and artillery troops and conveyed by two swift and powerful menofwar arrived off the coast of Canada considerably to the north of tho blockaded city The departure de-parture and probable timo of arrival of tho vessels had been telegraphed to the syndicate through ono of the continental continen-tal cables and a repeller with two crabs f bad been for somo days waiting tor them The English Vessels had taken a high northern course hoping they might enter tho Gulf of St Lawrence without subjecting themselves to injury from the enemys crabs it not being considered probable that thero wero enough of these vessels to patrol the entire coast But although the crabs were few in number num-ber the syndicate was able to place them whero they would bo of most use and when the English vessels arrived off the northern entrance to tho gulf they found their enemies there However strong might be the incredulity incredu-lity of tho enemy regarding tho powers I of a repeller to bombard a city tho syndicate I syn-dicate felt cure thero would bo no present i pres-ent invasion of the United States from Canada but it wished to convince the I British government that troops and munitions of war could not bo safely i transported across tho Atlantic On the I other hand the syndicate very much objected ob-jected to undertaking the imprisonment and sustenance of a largo body of soldiers sol-diers Orders were therefore given to tho officer in charge of the repeller not to molest the two transports but to remove tho rudders and extract tho screws of the two war vessels leaving them to be towed into port by the troop ships This duty was performed by tho crabs whilo the British vessels both rams wero preparing to make a united and vigorous onset on the repeller and the two menofwar wero left helplessly tossing on tho waves One of the transports trans-ports a very fast steamer had already entered the straits and could not be signaled sig-naled but tho other one returned and took both the war ships in tow proceeding proceed-ing very slowly until after entering the gulf she was relieved by tugboats Another event of a somewhat different character was tho occasion of much excited ex-cited feeling and comment particularly in the United States The descent and attack by British vessels on an Atlantic port was a matter of popular expectation The syndicate had repellers and crabs at the most important points but in the minds of naval officers and a large portion por-tion of the people little dependence for defense was to be placed upon theses f these-s to the ability of the war syndicate to prevent invasion or attack by means of its threats to bombard the blockaded Canadian port very few believed in it Even if tho syndicate could do any more damage in that quarter which was improbable im-probable what was to prevent the British navy from playing tho same game and entering an American seaport threaten to bombard the place if the syndicate did not immediately run all their queer vessels ves-sels high and dry on some convenient beach A feeling of indignation against the syndicate syn-dicate had existed in the navy from the ttdf I if I li I 11 I J CJ r f j oJ 1 i I w l N I i Id l klli err i I Idr 1 I 4 vI THE ARREST OF THE IRISH SERGEANT time that the war contract had been made and this feeling increased daily That the officers and men of tho United States navy should be penned up in harbors ports and sounds while British ships and tho hulking mine springers and rudder pinchers of tho syndicate were allowed to roam the ocean at will was a very hard thing for bravo sailors to bear Sometimes tho resentments against this state of affairs rose almost to a revolt The great naval preparations of England Eng-land were not yet complete but single British menofwar were now frequently seen off the Atlantic coast of tho United States No American vessels had been captured by these since the message of the syndicate to tho Dominion of Canada and the British government But one good reason for this was the fact that it was very difficult now to find upon the Atlantic ocean a vessel sailing under the American flag As far as possible these had taken refuge in their own ports or in those of neutral countries At the mouth of Delaware bay behind the great Breakwater was now collected a number coastwise sailing vessels and steamers of various classes and sizes and for tho protection of these maritime refugees two vessels of the United States navy were stationed at this point These were the Lenox and Stockbridge two of the finest cruisers in the service and commanded by two of the most restless and bravest officers of tho American navy vTho Tho appearanco early on a summer morning of a large British cruiser off the mouth of the harbor filled thoso two commanders with uncontrollable belligerency bellig-erency That in time of war a vessel of tho enemy should be allowed t disturbed dis-turbed to sail up and down before an American harbor while an American vessel filled with bravo American sailors lay inside like a cowed dog was a thought which goaded the soul of each of these commanders There was a certain cer-tain rivalry between tho two ships and considering the insult offered by the flaunting red cross in the offing and the humiliating restrictions imposed by the naval department each commander thought only of his own ship and not at all of tho other It was almost at the same time that the commanders of tho two ships separately sepa-rately come to tho conclusion that the proper way to protect the fleet behind the breakwater was for his vessel to boldly steam out to sea and attack the British cruiser If this vessel carried along a-long range gun what was to hinder her from suddenly running in closer and sending a few shells into the midst of the defenseless merchantmen In fact to EO out and fight f her was tho only way w r J d to protect tne lives ana property m tIle harbor It was true that ono of thoso beastly repellers was sneaking about off the cape accompanied probably by an under water tongs boat But as neither of theso had done anything or seemed likely to do anything the British cruiser should be attacked without loss of time When tho commander of the Lenox came to this decision his ship was well abreast of Capo Henlopen and he therefore there-fore proceeded directly out to sea There was a little fear in his mind that the English cruiser which was now bearing to the southeast might sail off and getaway get-away from him Tho Stockbridge was detained by the arrival of a dispatch boat from the shorn with a message from the naval department But as this message mes-sage related only to tho measurements of a certain deck gun her commander intended in-tended as soon as an answer could be sent off to sail out and give battle to tho British vessel Every soul on board tho Lenox was now filled with fiery ardor The ship was already in good fighting trim but every possible preparation was mado for a contest which should show their country coun-try and the world whatAmerican sailors wero made of TO BE CONTINUED NEXT 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