What this extraordinary message meant could not be imagined by any
officer of the garrison.  If the people on board the ships were taking
advantage of the earthquake, and supposed that they could induce
British soldiers to believe that it had been caused by one of their
bombs, then were they idiots indeed.  They would fire their second shot
at Fort Pilcher!  This was impossible, for they had not yet fired their
first shot.  These Syndicate people were evidently very tricky, and the
defenders of the port must therefore be very cautious.

Fort Pilcher was a very large and unfinished fortification, on a bluff
on the opposite side of the harbour.  Work had been discontinued on it
as soon as the Syndicate's vessels had appeared off the port, for it
was not desired to expose the builders and workmen to a possible
bombardment.  The place was now, therefore, almost deserted; but after
the receipt of the Syndicate's message, the commandant feared that the
enemy might throw an ordinary shell into the unfinished works, and he
sent a boat across the bay to order away any workmen or others who
might be lingering about the place.

A little after two o'clock P.M., an instantaneous motor-bomb was
discharged from Repeller No. 1 into Fort Pilcher.  It was set to act
five seconds after impact with the object aimed at.  It struck in a
central portion of the unfinished fort, and having described a high
curve in the air, descended not only with its own motive power, but
with the force of gravitation, and penetrated deep into the earth.

Five seconds later a vast brown cloud appeared on the Fort Pilcher
promontory.  This cloud was nearly spherical in form, with an apparent
diameter of about a thousand yards.  At the same instant a shock
similar to that accompanying the first motor-bomb was felt in the city
and surrounding country; but this was not so severe as the other, for
the second bomb did not exert its force upon the underlying rocks of
the region as the first one had done.

The great brown cloud quickly began to lose its spherical form, part of
it descending heavily to the earth, and part floating away in vast
dust-clouds borne inland by the breeze, settling downward as they
moved, and depositing on land, water, ships, houses, domes, and trees
an almost impalpable powder.

When the cloud had cleared away there were no fortifications, and the
bluff on which they had stood had disappeared.  Part of this bluff had
floated away on the wind, and part of it lay piled in great heaps of
sand on the spot where its rocks were to have upheld a fort.

The effect of the motor-bomb was fully observed with glasses from the
various fortifications of the port, and from many points of the city
and harbour; and those familiar with the effects of explosives were not
long in making up their minds what had happened.  They felt sure that a
mine had been sprung beneath Fort Pilcher; and they were now equally
confident that in the morning a torpedo of novel and terrible power had
been exploded in the harbour.  They now disbelieved in the earthquake,
and treated with contempt the pretence that shots had been fired from
the Syndicate's vessel.  This was merely a trick of the enemy.  It was
not even likely that the mine or the torpedo had been operated from the
ship.  These were, in all probability, under the control of
confederates on shore, and had been exploded at times agreed upon
beforehand.  All this was perfectly plain to the military authorities.

But the people of the city derived no comfort from the announcement of
these conclusions.  For all that anybody knew the whole city might be
undermined, and at any moment might ascend in a cloud of minute
particles.  They felt that they were in a region of hidden traitors and
bombs, and in consequence of this belief thousands of citizens left
their homes.

That afternoon a truce-boat again went out from Repeller No. 1, and
rowed to the fort, where a letter to the commandant was delivered.
This, like the other, demanded no answer, and the boat returned.  Later
in the afternoon the two repellers, accompanied by the crabs, and
leaving the steel net still anchored in its place, retired a few miles
seaward, where they prepared to lay to for the night.

The letter brought by the truce-boat was read by the commandant,
surrounded by his officers.  It stated that in twenty-four hours from
time of writing it, which would be at or about four o'clock on the next
afternoon, a bomb would be thrown into the garrisoned fort, under the
command of the officer addressed.  As this would result in the entire
destruction of the fortification, the commandant was earnestly
counselled to evacuate the fort before the hour specified.

Ordinarily the commandant of the fort was of a calm and unexcitable
temperament.  During the astounding events of that day and the day
before he had kept his head cool; his judgment, if not correct, was the
result of sober and earnest consideration.  But now he lost his temper.
The unparalleled effrontery and impertinence of this demand of the
American Syndicate was too much for his self-possession.  He stormed in
anger.

Here was the culmination of the knavish trickery of these
conscienceless pirates who had attacked the port.  A torpedo had been
exploded in the harbour, an unfinished fort had been mined and blown
up, and all this had been done to frighten him--a British soldier--in
command of a strong fort well garrisoned and fully supplied with all
the munitions of war.  In the fear that his fort would be destroyed by
a mystical bomb, he was expected to march to a place of safety with all
his forces.  If this should be done it would not be long before these
crafty fellows would occupy the fort, and with its great guns turned
inland, would hold the city at their mercy.  There could be no greater
insult to a soldier than to suppose that he could be gulled by a trick
like this.

No thought of actual danger entered the mind of the commandant.  It had
been easy enough to sink a great torpedo in the harbour, and the
unguarded bluffs of Fort Pilcher offered every opportunity to the
scoundrels who may have worked at their mines through the nights of
several months.  But a mine under the fort which he commanded was an
impossibility; its guarded outposts prevented any such method of
attack.  At a bomb, or a dozen, or a hundred of the Syndicate's bombs
he snapped his fingers.  He could throw bombs as well.

Nothing would please him better than that those ark-like ships in the
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.

The letter from the Syndicate, together with his own convictions on the
subject, were communicated by the commandant to the military
authorities of the port, and to the War Office of the Dominion.  The
news of what had happened that day had already been cabled across the
Atlantic back to the United States, and all over the world; and the
profound impression created by it was intensified when it became known
what the Syndicate proposed to do the next day.  Orders and advices
from the British Admiralty and War Office sped across the ocean, and
that night few of the leaders in government circles in England or
Canada closed their eyes.

The opinions of the commandant of the fort were received with but
little favour by the military and naval authorities.  Great
preparations were already ordered to repel and crush this most
audacious attack upon the port, but in the mean time it was highly
desirable that the utmost caution and prudence should be observed.
Three men-of-war had already been disabled by the novel and destructive
machines of the enemy, and it had been ordered that for the present no
more vessels of the British navy be allowed to approach the crabs of
the Syndicate.

Whether it was a mine or a bomb which had been used in the destruction
of the unfinished works of Fort Pilcher, it would be impossible to
determine until an official survey had been made of the ruins; but, in
any event, it would be wise and humane not to expose the garrison of
the fort on the south side of the harbour to the danger which had
overtaken the works on the opposite shore.  If, contrary to the opinion
of the commandant, the garrisoned fort were really mined, the following
day would probably prove the fact.  Until this point should be
determined it would be highly judicious to temporarily evacuate the
fort.  This could not be followed by occupation of the works by the
enemy, for all approaches, either by troops in boats or by bodies of
confederates by land, could be fully covered by the inland redoubts and
fortifications.

When the orders for evacuation reached the commandant of the fort, he
protested hotly, and urged that his protest be considered.  It was not
until the command had been reiterated both from London and Ottawa, that
he accepted the situation, and with bowed head prepared to leave his
post.  All night preparations for evacuation went on, and during the
next morning the garrison left the fort, and established itself far
enough away to preclude danger from the explosion of a mine, but near
enough to be available in case of necessity.

During this morning there arrived in the offing another Syndicate
vessel.  This had started from a northern part of the United States,
before the repellers and the crabs, and it had been engaged in laying a
private submarine cable, which should put the office of the Syndicate
in New York in direct communication with its naval forces engaged with
the enemy.  Telegraphic connection between the cable boat and Repeller
No. 1 having been established, the Syndicate soon received from its
Director-in-chief full and comprehensive accounts of what had been done
and what it was proposed to do.  Great was the satisfaction among the
members of the Syndicate when these direct and official reports came
in.  Up to this time they had been obliged to depend upon very
unsatisfactory intelligence communicated from Europe, which had been
supplemented by wild statements and rumours smuggled across the
Canadian border.

To counteract the effect of these, a full report was immediately made
by the Syndicate to the Government of the United States, and a bulletin
distinctly describing what had happened was issued to the people of the
country.  These reports, which received a world-wide circulation in the
newspapers, created a popular elation in the United States, and gave
rise 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 warfare was
decidedly experimental, and its forces, in numerical strength at least,
were weak.  What would happen when the great naval power of Great
Britain should be brought to bear upon the Syndicate, was a question
whose probable answer was likely to cause apprehension and concern in
the United States, and elation in many other countries.

The commencement of active hostilities had been precipitated by this
Syndicate.  In England preparations were making by day an by night to
send upon the 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 the
repellers as but an incident in the beginning of a great and disastrous
war.

On the morning of the destruction of Fort Pilcher, the Syndicate's
vessels moved toward the port, and the steel net was taken up by the
two crabs, and moved nearer the mouth of the harbour, at a point from
which the 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 behind the net, and the other vessels stationed themselves
near by.

The protection of the net was considered necessary, for although there
could be no reasonable doubt that all the torpedoes in the harbour and
river had been exploded, others might be sent out against the
Syndicate's vessels; and a torpedo under a crab or a repeller was the
enemy most feared by the Syndicate.

About three o'clock the signals between the repellers became very
frequent, and soon afterwards a truce-boat went out from Repeller No.
1.  This was rowed with great rapidity, but it was obliged to go much
farther up the harbour than on previous occasions, in order to deliver
its message to an officer of the garrison.

This was to the effect that the evacuation of the fort had been
observed from the Syndicate's vessels, and although it had been
apparently complete, one of the scientific corps, with a powerful
glass, had discovered a man in one of the outer redoubts, whose
presence there was probably unknown to the officers of the garrison.
It was, therefore, earnestly urged that this man be instantly removed;
and in order that this might be done, the discharge of the motor-bomb
would be postponed half an hour.

The officer received this message, and was disposed to look upon it as
a new trick; but as no time was to be lost, he sent a corporal's guard
to the fort, and there discovered an Irish sergeant by the name of
Kilsey, who had sworn an oath that if every other man in the fort ran
away like a lot of addle-pated sheep, he would not run with them; he
would stand to his post to the last, and when the couple of ships
outside had got through bombarding the stout walls of the fort, the
world would see that there was at least one British soldier who was not
afraid of a bomb, be it little or big.  Therefore he had managed to
elude observation, and to remain behind.

The sergeant was so hot-headed in his determination to stand by the
fort, that it required violence to remove him; and it was not until
twenty minutes past four that the Syndicate observers perceived that he
had been taken to the hill behind which the garrison was encamped.

As it had been decided that Repeller No. 2 should discharge the next
instantaneous motor-bomb, there was an anxious desire on the part of
the operators on that vessel that in this, their first experience, they
might do their duty as well as their comrades on board the other
repeller had done theirs.  The most accurate observations, the most
careful calculations, were made and re-made, the point to be aimed at
being about the centre of the fort.

The motor-bomb had been in the cannon for nearly an hour, and
everything had long been ready, when at precisely thirty minutes past
four o'clock the signal to discharge came from the Director-in-chief;
and in four seconds afterwards the index on the scale indicated that
the gun was in the proper position, and the button was touched.

The motor-bomb was set to act the instant it should touch any portion
of the fort, and the effect was different from that of the other bombs.
There was a quick, hard shock, but it was all in the air.  Thousands of
panes of glass in the city and in houses for miles around were cracked
or broken, birds fell dead or stunned upon the ground, and people on
elevations at considerable distances felt as if they had received a
blow; but there was no trembling of the ground.

As to the fort, it had entirely disappeared, its particles having been
instantaneously removed to a great distance in every direction, falling
over such a vast expanse of land and water that their descent was
unobservable.

In the place where the fortress had stood there was a wide tract of
bare earth, which looked as if it had been scraped into a staring dead
level of gravel and clay.  The instantaneous motor-bomb had been
arranged to act almost horizontally.

Few persons, except those who from a distance had been watching the
fort with glasses, understood what had happened; but every one in the
city and surrounding country was conscious that something had happened
of a most startling kind, and that it was over in the same instant in
which they had perceived it.  Everywhere there was the noise of falling
window-glass. There were those who asserted that for an instant they
had heard in the distance a grinding crash; and there were others who
were quite sure that they had noticed what might be called a flash of
darkness, as if something had, with almost unappreciable quickness,
passed between them and the sun.

When the officers of the garrison mounted the hill before them and
surveyed the place where 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 the bare, staring flatness of the shorn bluff,
and they looked at each other.  This was not war.  It was something
supernatural, awful!  They were not frightened; they were oppressed and
appalled.  But the military discipline of their minds soon exerted its
force, and a brief account of the terrific event was transmitted to the
authorities, and Sergeant Kilsey was sentenced to a month in the
guard-house.

No one approached the vicinity of the bluff where the fort had stood,
for danger might not be over; but every possible point of observation
within a safe distance was soon crowded with anxious and terrified
observers.  A feeling of awe was noticeable everywhere.  If people
could have had a tangible idea of what had occurred, it would have been
different.  If the sea had raged, if a vast body of water had been
thrown 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 the instantaneous disappearance of a great fortification with a
little more appreciable accompaniment than the sudden tap, as of a
little hammer, upon thousands of window-panes, was something which
their intellects could not grasp.  It was not to be expected that the
ordinary mind could appreciate the difference between the action of an
instantaneous motor when imbedded in rocks and earth, and its effect,
when opposed by nothing but stone walls, upon or near the surface of
the earth.

Early the next morning, the little fleet of the Syndicate prepared to
carry out its further orders.  The waters of the lower bay were now
entirely deserted, craft of every description having taken refuge in
the upper part of the harbour near and above the city.  Therefore, as
soon as it was light enough to make observations, Repeller No. 1 did
not hesitate to discharge a motor-bomb into the harbour, a mile or more
above where the first one had fallen.  This was done in order to
explode any torpedoes which might have been put into position since the
discharge of the first bomb.

There were very few people in the city and suburbs who were at that
hour out of doors where they could see the great cloud of water arise
toward the sky, and behold it descend like a mighty cataract upon the
harbour and adjacent shores; but the quick, sharp shock which ran under
the town made people spring from their beds; and although nothing was
then to be seen, nearly everybody felt sure that the Syndicate's forces
had begun their day's work by exploding another mine.

A lighthouse, the occupants of which had been ordered to leave when the
fort was evacuated, as they might be in danger in case of a
bombardment, was so shaken by the explosion of this motor-bomb that it
fell in ruins on the rocks upon which it had stood.

The two crabs now took the steel net from its moorings and carried it
up the harbour.  This was rather difficult on account of the islands,
rocks, and sand-bars; but the leading crab had on board a pilot
acquainted with those waters.  With the net hanging between them, the
two submerged vessels, one carefully following the other, reached a
point about two miles below the city, where the net was anchored across
the harbour.  It did not reach from shore to shore, but in the course
of the morning two other nets, designed for shallower waters, were
brought from the repellers and anchored at each end of the main net,
thus forming a line of complete protection against submarine torpedoes
which might be sent down from the upper harbour.

Repeller No. 1 now steamed into the harbour, accompanied by Crab A, and
anchored about a quarter of a mile seaward of the net.  The other
repeller, with her attendant crab, cruised about the mouth of the
harbour, watching a smaller entrance to the port as well as the larger
one, and thus maintaining an effective blockade.  This was not a
difficult duty, for since the news of the extraordinary performances of
the crabs had been spread abroad, no merchant vessel, large or small,
cared to approach that port; and strict orders had been issued by the
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 the state of affairs, a message was sent from the office of
the Syndicate across the border to the Dominion Government, which
stated that the seaport city which had been attacked by the forces of
the Syndicate now lay under the guns of its vessels, and in case of any
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, naval or commercial, by a
British man-of-war, or an attack upon an American port by British
vessels, the city would be bombarded and destroyed.

This message, which was, of course, instantly transmitted to London,
placed the British Government in the apparent position of being held by
the throat by the American War Syndicate.  But if the British
Government, or the people of England or Canada, recognized this
position at all, it was merely as a temporary condition.  In a short
time the most powerful men-of-war of the 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 medium-sized vessels, however heavily
armoured, or a few new-fangled submarine machines, however destructive
they might be, could withstand an armada of the largest and finest
armoured vessels in the world.  A ship or two might be disabled,
although this was unlikely, now that the new method of attack was
understood; but it would soon be the ports of the United States, on
both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, which would lie under the guns of
an enemy.

But it was not in the power of their navy that the 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
assumptions.  The claim that the city lay under the guns of the
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
people the destruction of the forts and the explosions in the harbour
had been caused by mines--mines of a new and terrifying power--which
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 its
foundation.

But however terrifying and appalling had been the results of the
explosion of these mines, it was not thought probable that there were
any more of them.  The explosions had taken place at exposed points
distant from the city, and the most careful investigation failed to
discover any present signs of mining operations.

This theory of mines worked by confederates was received throughout the
civilized world, and was universally condemned.  Even in the United
States the feeling was so strong against this apparent alliance between
the 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.  The crab was
considered an admirable addition to the strength of the navy, but a
mine under a fort, laid and fired by perfidious confederates, was
considered unworthy 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 they really used such a
motor-bomb, the war could not be prosecuted on the 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 done by bombs, which could be used in one
place as well as another, 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 time the
fort had been destroyed, but nobody believed that a bomb had been fired.

Every opinion, official or popular, concerning what it had done and
what might be expected of it, was promptly forwarded to the Syndicate
by its agents, and it was thus enabled to see very plainly indeed that
the effect it had desired to produce had not been produced.  Unless the
enemy could be made to understand that any fort or ships within ten
miles of one of the Syndicate's cannon could be instantaneously
dissipated in the shape of fine dust, this war could not be carried on
upon the principles 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 was determined upon, and on the success of this
the hopes of the Syndicate now depended.

During the rapid and vigorous preparations which the Syndicate were now
making for their new venture, several events of interest occurred.

Two of the largest Atlantic mail steamers, carrying infantry and
artillery troops, and conveyed by two swift and powerful men-of-war,
arrived off the coast of Canada, considerably to the north of the
blockaded city.  The departure and probable time of arrival of these
vessels had been telegraphed to the Syndicate, through one of the
continental cables, and a repeller with two crabs had been for some
days waiting for them.  The English vessels had taken a high northern
course, hoping they might enter the Gulf of St. Lawrence without
subjecting themselves to injury from the enemy's crabs, it not being
considered probable that there were enough of these vessels to patrol
the entire coast.  But although the crabs were few in number, the
Syndicate was able to place them where they would be of most use; and
when the English vessels arrived off the northern entrance to the gulf,
they found their enemies there.

However strong might be the incredulity of the enemy regarding the
powers of a repeller to bombard a city, the Syndicate felt sure there
would be no present invasion of the United States from Canada; but it
wished to convince the British Government that troops and munitions of
war could not be safely transported across the Atlantic.  On the other
hand, the Syndicate very much objected to undertaking the imprisonment
and sustenance of a large body of soldiers.  Orders were therefore
given to the officer in charge of the repeller not to molest the two
transports, but to remove the rudders and extract the screws of the two
war-vessels, leaving them to be towed into port by the troop-ships.

This duty was performed by the crabs, while the British vessels, both
rams, were preparing to make a united and vigorous onset on the
repeller, and the two men-of-war were left hopelessly tossing on the
waves.  One of the transports, a very fast steamer, had already entered
the straits, and could not be signalled; but the other one returned and
took both the war-ships in tow, proceeding very slowly until, after
entering the gulf, she was relieved by tugboats.

Another event of a somewhat different character was the occasion of
much excited 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 of the people, little dependence for defence was to be
placed upon these.  As 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 the Syndicate could do
any more damage in that quarter, which was improbable, what was to
prevent the British navy from playing the same game, and entering an
American seaport, threaten to bombard the place if the Syndicate did
not immediately run all their queer vessels high and dry on some
convenient beach?

A feeling of indignation against the Syndicate had existed in the navy
from the time that the war contract had been made, and this feeling
increased daily.  That the officers and men of the United States navy
should be penned up in harbours, ports, and sounds, while British ships
and the hulking mine-springers and rudder-pinchers of the Syndicate
were allowed to roam the ocean at will, was a very hard thing for brave
sailors to bear.  Sometimes the resentment against this state of
affairs rose almost to revolt.

The great naval preparations of England were not yet complete, but
single British men-of-war were now frequently seen off the Atlantic
coast of the United States.  No American vessels had been captured by
these since the message of the Syndicate to the 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 of coastwise sailing-vessels and steamers of various
classes and sizes; and for the 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 the American navy.

The appearance, early on a summer morning, of a large British cruiser
off the mouth of the harbour, filled those two commanders with
uncontrollable belligerency.  That in time of war a vessel of the enemy
should be allowed, undisturbed, to sail up and down before an American
harbour, while an American vessel filled with brave American sailors
lay inside like a cowed dog, was a thought which goaded the soul of
each of these commanders.  There was a certain rivalry between the 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 the other.

It was almost at the same time that the commanders of the two ships
separately came to the 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 a
long-range gun, what was to hinder her from suddenly running in closer
and sending a few shells into the midst of the defenceless merchantmen?
In fact, to go out and fight her was the only way to protect the lives
and property in the harbour.

It was true that one of those beastly repellers was sneaking about off
the cape, accompanied, probably, by an underwater tongs-boat.  But as
neither of these had done anything, or seemed likely to do anything,
the British cruiser should be attacked without loss of time.

When the commander of the Lenox came to this decision, his ship was
well abreast of Cape Henlopen, and he therefore proceeded directly out
to sea.  There was a little fear in his mind that the English cruiser,
which was now bearing to the south-east, might sail off and get away
from him.  The Stockbridge was detained by the arrival of a despatch
boat from the shore with a message from the Naval Department.  But as
this message related only to the measurements of a certain deck gun,
her commander intended, as soon as an answer could be sent off, to sail
out and give battle to the British vessel.

Every soul on board the Lenox was now filled with fiery ardour.  The
ship was already in good fighting trim, but every possible preparation
was made for a contest which should show their country and the world
what American sailors were made of.

The Lenox had not proceeded more than a mile out to sea, when she
perceived Repeller No. 6 coming toward her from seaward, and in a
direction which indicated that it intended to run across her course.
The Lenox, however, went straight on, and in a short time the two
vessels were quite near each other.  Upon the deck of the repeller now
appeared the director in charge, who, with a speaking-trumpet, hailed
the Lenox and requested her to lay to, as he had something to
communicate.  The commander of the Lenox, through his trumpet, answered
that he wanted no communications, and advised the other vessel to keep
out of his way.

The Lenox now put on a greater head of steam, and as she was in any
case a much faster vessel than the repeller, she rapidly increased the
distance between herself and the Syndicate's vessel, so that in a few
moments hailing was impossible.  Quick signals now shot up in jets of
black smoke from the repeller, and in a very short time afterward the
speed of the Lenox slackened so much that the repeller was able to come
up with her.

When the two vessels were abreast of each other, and at a safe hailing
distance apart, another signal went up from the repeller, and then both
vessels almost ceased to move through the water, although the engines
of the Lenox were working at high speed, with her propeller-blades
stirring up a whirlpool at her stern.

For a minute or two the officers of the Lenox could not comprehend what
had happened.  It was first supposed that by mistake the engines had
been slackened, but almost at the same moment that it was found that
this was not the case, the discovery was made that the crab
accompanying the repeller had laid hold of the stern-post of the Lenox,
and with all the strength of her powerful engines was holding her back.

Now burst forth in the Lenox a storm of frenzied rage, such as was
never seen perhaps upon any vessel since vessels were first built.
From the commander to the stokers every heart was filled with fury at
the insult which was put upon them.  The commander roared through his
trumpet that if that infernal sea-beetle were not immediately loosed
from his ship he would first sink her and then the repeller.

To these remarks the director of the Syndicate's vessels paid no
attention, but proceeded to state as briefly and forcibly as possible
that the Lenox had been detained in order that he might have an
opportunity of speaking with her commander, and of informing him that
his action in coming out of the harbour for the purpose of attacking a
British vessel was in direct violation of the contract between the
United States and the Syndicate having charge of the war, and that such
action could not be allowed.

The commander of the Lenox paid no more attention to these words than
the Syndicate's director had given to those he had spoken, but
immediately commenced a violent attack upon the crab.  It was
impossible to bring any of the large guns to bear upon her, for she was
almost under the stern of the Lenox; but every means of offence which
infuriated ingenuity could suggest was used against it.  Machine guns
were trained to fire almost perpendicularly, and shot after shot was
poured upon that portion of its glistening back which appeared above
the water.

But as these projectiles seemed to have no effect upon the solid back
of Crab H, two great anvils were hoisted at the end of the
spanker-boom, and dropped, one after the other, upon it.  The shocks
were tremendous, but the internal construction of the crabs provided,
by means of upright beams, against injury from attacks of this kind,
and the great masses of iron slid off into the sea without doing any
damage.

Finding it impossible to make any impression upon the mailed monster at
his stern, the commander of the Lenox hailed the director of the
repeller, and swore to him through his trumpet that if he did not
immediately order the Lenox to be set free, her heaviest guns should be
brought to bear upon his floating counting-house, and that it should be
sunk, if it took all day to do it.

It would have been a grim satisfaction to the commander of the Lenox to
sink Repeller No. 6, for he knew the vessel when she had belonged to
the United States navy.  Before she had been bought by the Syndicate,
and fitted out with spring armour, he had made two long cruises in her,
and he bitterly hated her, from her keel up.

The director of the repeller agreed to release the Lenox the instant
her commander would consent to return to port.  No answer was made to
this proposition, but a dynamite gun on the Lenox was brought to bear
upon the Syndicate's vessel.  Desiring to avoid any complications which
might ensue from actions of this sort, the repeller steamed ahead,
while the director signalled Crab H to move the stern of the Lenox to
the windward, which, being quickly done, the gun of the latter bore
upon the distant coast.

It was now very plain to the Syndicate director that his words could
have no effect upon the commander of the Lenox, and he therefore
signalled Crab H to tow the United States vessel into port.  When the
commander of the Lenox saw that his vessel was beginning to move
backward, he gave instant orders to put on all steam.  But this was
found to be useless, for when the dynamite gun was about to be fired,
the engines had been ordered stopped, and the moment that the
propeller-blades ceased moving the nippers of the crab had been
released from their hold upon the stern-post, and the propeller-blades
of the Lenox were gently but firmly seized in a grasp which included
the rudder.  It was therefore impossible for the engines of the vessel
to revolve the propeller, and, unresistingly, the Lenox was towed,
stern foremost, to the Breakwater.

The news of this incident created the wildest indignation in the United
States navy, and throughout the country the condemnation of what was
considered the insulting action of the Syndicate was general. In
foreign countries the affair was the subject of a good deal of comment,
but it was also the occasion of much serious consideration, for it
proved that one of the Syndicate's submerged vessels could, without
firing a gun, and without fear of injury to itself, capture a
man-of-war and tow it whither it pleased.

The authorities at Washington took instant action on the affair, and as
it was quite evident that the contract between the United States and
the Syndicate had been violated by the Lenox, the commander of that
vessel was reprimanded by the Secretary of the Navy, and enjoined that
there should be no repetitions of his offence.  But as the commander of
the Lenox knew that the Secretary of the Navy was as angry as he was at
what had happened, he did not feel his reprimand to be in any way a
disgrace.

It may be stated that the Stockbridge, which had steamed for the open
sea as soon as the business which had detained her was completed, did
not go outside the Cape.  When her officers perceived with their
glasses that the Lenox was returning to port stern foremost, they
opined what had happened, and desiring that their ship should do all
her sailing in the natural way, the Stockbridge was put about and
steamed, bow foremost, to her anchorage behind the Breakwater, the
commander thanking his stars that for once the Lenox had got ahead of
him.

The members of the Syndicate were very anxious to remove the
unfavorable impression regarding what was called in many quarters their
attack upon a United States vessel, and a circular to the public was
issued, in which they expressed their deep regret at being obliged to
interfere with so many brave officers and men in a moment of patriotic
enthusiasm, and explaining how absolutely necessary it was that the
Lenox should be removed from a position where a conflict with English
line-of-battle ships would be probable.  There were many thinking
persons who saw the weight of the Syndicate's statements, but the
effect of the circular upon the popular mind was not great.

The Syndicate was now hard at work making preparations for the grand
stroke which had been determined upon.  In the whole country there was
scarcely a man whose ability could be made available in their work, who
was not engaged in their service; and everywhere, in foundries,
workshops, and shipyards, the construction of their engines of war was
being carried on by day and by night.  No contracts were made for the
delivery of work at certain times; everything was done under the direct
supervision of the Syndicate and its subordinates, and the work went on
with a definiteness and rapidity hitherto unknown in naval construction.

In the midst of the Syndicate's labours there arrived off the coast of
Canada the first result of Great Britain's preparations for her war
with the American Syndicate, in the shape of the Adamant, the largest
and finest ironclad which had ever crossed the Atlantic, and which had
been sent to raise the blockade of the Canadian port by the Syndicate's
vessels.

This great ship had been especially fitted out to engage in combat with
repellers and crabs.  As far as was possible the peculiar construction
of the Syndicate's vessels had been carefully studied, and English
specialists in the line of naval construction and ordnance had given
most earnest consideration to methods of attack and defence most likely
to succeed with these novel ships of war.  The Adamant was the only
vessel which it had been possible to send out in so short a time, and
her cruise was somewhat of an experiment.  If she should be successful
in raising the blockade of the Canadian port, the British Admiralty
would have but little difficulty in dealing with the American Syndicate.

The most important object was to provide a defence against the
screw-extracting and rudder-breaking crabs; and to this end the Adamant
had been fitted with what was termed a "stern-jacket."  This was a
great cage of heavy steel bars, which was attached to the stern of the
vessel in such a way that it could be raised high above the water, so
as to offer no impediment while under way, and which, in time of
action, could be let down so as to surround and protect the rudder and
screw-propellers, of which the Adamant had two.

This was considered an adequate defence against the nippers of a
Syndicate crab; but as a means of offence against these almost
submerged vessels a novel contrivance had been adopted.  From a great
boom projecting over the stern, a large ship's cannon was suspended
perpendicularly, muzzle downward.  This gun could be swung around to
the deck, hoisted into a horizontal position, loaded with a heavy
charge, a wooden plug keeping the load in position when the gun hung
perpendicularly.

If the crab should come under the stern, this cannon could be fired
directly downward upon her back, and it was not believed that any
vessel of the kind could stand many such tremendous shocks.  It was not
known exactly how ventilation was supplied to the submarine vessels of
the Syndicate, nor how the occupants were enabled to make the necessary
observations during action.  When under way the crabs sailed somewhat
elevated above the water, but when engaged with an enemy only a small
portion of their covering armour could be seen.

It was surmised that under and between some of the scales of this
armour there was some arrangement of thick glasses, through which the
necessary observation could be made; and it was believed that, even if
the heavy perpendicular shots did not crush in the roof of a crab,
these glasses would be shattered by concussion.  Although this might
appear a matter of slight importance, it was thought among naval
officers it would necessitate the withdrawal of a crab from action.

In consequence of the idea that the crabs were vulnerable between their
overlapping plates, some of the Adamant's boats were fitted out with
Gatling and machine guns, by which a shower of balls might be sent
under the scales, through the glasses, and into the body of the crab.
In addition to their guns, these boats would be supplied with other
means of attack upon the crab.

Of course it would be impossible to destroy these submerged enemies by
means of dynamite or torpedoes; for with two vessels in close
proximity, the explosion of a torpedo would be as dangerous to the hull
of one as to the other.  The British Admiralty would not allow even the
Adamant to explode torpedoes or dynamite under her own stern.

With regard to a repeller, or spring-armoured vessel, the Adamant would
rely upon her exceptionally powerful armament, and upon her great
weight and speed.  She was fitted with twin screws and engines of the
highest power, and it was believed that she would be able to overhaul,
ram, and crush the largest vessel armoured or unarmoured which the
Syndicate would be able to bring against her.  Some of her guns were of
immense calibre, firing shot weighing nearly two thousand pounds, and
requiring half a ton of powder for each charge.  Besides these she
carried an unusually large number of large cannon and two dynamite
guns.  She was so heavily plated and armoured as to be proof against
any known artillery in the world.

She was a floating fortress, with men enough to make up the population
of a town, and with stores, ammunition, and coal sufficient to last for
a long term of active service.  Such was the mighty English battleship
which had come forward to raise the siege of the Canadian port.

The officers of the Syndicate were well aware of the character of the
Adamant, her armament and her defences, and had been informed by cable
of her time of sailing and probable destination.  They sent out
Repeller No. 7, with Crabs J and K, to meet her off the Banks of
Newfoundland.

This repeller was the largest and strongest vessel that the Syndicate
had ready for service.  In addition to the spring armour with which
these vessels were supplied, this one was furnished with a second coat
of armour outside the first, the elastic steel ribs of which ran
longitudinally and at right angles to those of the inner set.  Both
coats were furnished with a great number of improved air-buffers, and
the arrangement of spring armour extended five or six feet beyond the
massive steel plates with which the vessel was originally armoured.
She carried one motor-cannon of large size.

One of the crabs was of the ordinary pattern, but Crab K was furnished
with a spring armour above the heavy plates of her roof.  This had been
placed upon her after the news had been received by the Syndicate that
the Adamant would carry a perpendicular cannon over her stern, but
there had not been time enough to fit out another crab in the same way.

When the director in charge of Repeller No. 7 first caught sight of the
Adamant, and scanned through his glass the vast proportions of the
mighty ship which was rapidly steaming towards the coast, he felt that
a responsibility rested upon him heavier than any which had yet been
borne by an officer of the Syndicate; but he did not hesitate in the
duty which he had been sent to perform, and immediately ordered the two
crabs to advance to meet the Adamant, and to proceed to action
according to the instructions which they had previously received.  His
own ship was kept, in pursuance of orders, several miles distant from
the British ship.

As soon as the repeller had been sighted from the Adamant, a strict
lookout had been kept for the approach of crabs; and when the small
exposed portions of the backs of two of these were perceived glistening
in the sunlight, the speed of the great ship slackened.  The ability of
the Syndicate's submerged vessels to move suddenly and quickly in any
direction had been clearly demonstrated, and although a great ironclad
with a ram could run down and sink a crab without feeling the
concussion, it was known that it would be perfectly easy for the
smaller craft to keep out of the way of its bulky antagonist.
Therefore the Adamant did not try to ram the crabs, nor to get away
from them.  Her commander intended, if possible, to run down one or
both of them; but he did not propose to do this in the usual way.

As the crabs approached, the stern-jacket of the Adamant was let down,
and the engines were slowed.  This stern-jacket, when protecting the
rudder and propellers, looked very much like the cowcatcher of a
locomotive, and was capable of being put to a somewhat similar use.  It
was the intention of the captain of the Adamant, should the crabs
attempt to attach themselves to his stern, to suddenly put on all
steam, reverse his engines, and back upon them, the stern-jacket
answering as a ram.

The commander of the Adamant had no doubt that in this way he could run
into a crab, roll it over in the water, and when it was lying bottom
upward, like a floating cask, he could move his ship to a distance, and
make a target of it.  So desirous was this brave and somewhat facetious
captain to try his new plan upon a crab, that he forebore to fire upon
the two vessels of that class which were approaching him.  Some of his
guns were so mounted that their muzzles could be greatly depressed, and
aimed at an object in the water not far from the ship.  But these were
not discharged, and, indeed, the crabs, which were new ones of unusual
swiftness, were alongside the Adamant in an incredibly short time, and
out of the range of these guns.