The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-03-29
The Great War Syndicate.
by FRANK R. STOCKTON.

Tiger" "The Late Mrs. Null" 1.-The
Hundrcdth Man." ''rhe Casting Away
or Mrs. Locks and Mn. Aicshinc.' ''rhe
Dusantcs." etc.
[Copyrighted BY r. r. Collier, Of cpuier,s Once
q Week, and published by special srraagement
with him through the American Press Associs-
ton All rights rcssaved.l as
The ovcrwneIua.ns c1lronrery OF this
demand caused tho commander of tho
Scarab@us to doubt whether he had TO
deal with q raving lunatio or buster
ing fool; but he informed the person in
charge Of the flag OF truce boat that iic
would give him fifteen minutes in which
to get back to his vessel, and that he
would then open firo upon that craft.
The men who rowcd tho little boat
were not mon-of-war's mon, and wcrc
unaccustomed to duties of this kind. In
eight minutes they had reached their
vessel and were safe on board.
just seven minutes aftcrward the first
shot camo from the Scarab@us. 1t
passed over Repeller No. 1, and that
vessel, instead of replying, Immediately
steamed nearer her adversary. The
director-in-chief dcsircd To determine
the effect Of ara active cannonade upon
the new arrnor, and therefore ordered
tho vessel placed in such IL position that
the Englishnian might have tho best
opportunity for using it as target.
The ScarabGus lost no time in awaiting
herself OF the facilities offered. She was
large and powerful ship. with heavy
armament; and. soon getting tho range
of the syndicato's vessel. she hurled ball
ritter lnll upon her striped side. Repellsr
No. | made np reply, but quietly sub
mtted to the terrible bombardment.
Some of tho great shot Jared her from
bow 10 stern. but not one Of them broke
Il steel spring, nor penetrated tho heavy
inside plates.
After half an hour OF this work the
director in-chief became satisfied that
tho new armor had well acquitted itself
in the severe trial To which it had been
subjected. Some Of tho air buffers had
been disabled, probably on account OF
faults in their construction, but these
could readily be replaced, and no further
injury had been done tho vessel. 1t was
not necessary, therefore. to continue the
experiment any longer, and besides there
was danger that the Englisliman percciv-
| ing that his antagonist did not appear to
be affected by his fire, would approach
| closer and cndcavor to ram her. This
was to be avoided, for tho Scarab@us
was a much larger vessel than Repeller
| No. 1, and able to run into the latter and
sink her by mere preponderance OF
weight.
1t was, therefore, decided to now test
tho powers of the crabs. Signals were
made from Rcpeller No. to Crab A.,
which had been lying with the larger
vessel between it and the enemy. These
signals were made by jets of dense black
smoke, which were elected from a small
pipe OH the repeller. These slender col
umns Of smoke preserved their cylindri-
cal forms for some moments, and were
visible at u great distance by day or
night, being illuminated in the latter
case by electric light. The length and
frequency of these jets were regulated
| by an instrument in the directors room.
Thus, by means of long and short puffs,
with the proper uso OF intervals, q mes
sage could be projected into tho air as q
Geographic instrument would mark, it
| upon paper.
In this manner Crab a was ordered TO
immediately proceed to the attack of
the ScarabDus. The almost submerged
vessel steamed rapidly from behind her
cOnsort, and made for the British man
of-war.
When the latter vessel perceived the
approach Of this turtle backed object.
squirting little jets OF black smoke rs she
replied to tho orders from the repeller.
there was great amazcment on board.
The crab had not been seen before, but
rs it came rapidly on there was no time
for curiosity or discussion, and several
heavy guns wcro brought to bear upon
it. 1t was difficult to hit q rapidly NOV.
ing flat object scarcely above the surface
Of the water; and although several sho,
struck the crab, they glanced off withou,
in the least interfering with its progress
Crab A soon came SO near the Scara-
bfeus that it was impossible to depress
tho guns OF the latter so as to strike her
Tho great vessel was, therefore headed
1 toward It's lSSdlldH-, lnu ViiucI 81 iuil
head of steam dashed directly at it tC
run it down. But the crab could turn as
upon pivot, and shooting to ono side
allowed the surging man-of-war to pass it
Pcrceiving instantly that it would be
difficult to strike this nimblc and almost
submerged adversary, the commander OF
the Scarabaus thought it well to let il
alone for the present, and to bear down
with all speed upon the repellcr. But il
was easier to hit the crab than TO leave
it behind. twas capable of great speed
and, following tho British vessel, il
quickly came up with her.
The course Of the Scarab@us was in
stantly changed, and every effort wa:
made to get tho vessel into position tt
run down tho crab. But this was mo-
easy for so large q ship, and Crab A
seemed to have no difficulty in keeping
close to her stern,
Several machine guns especially adapt
cd for firing at torpedo boats, or any hos
tile craft which might. be discovered
close to vessel, were now brought t
bear upon tho crab, and ball after bal