The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1889-04-18

without unnecessarily losing an hour, to
plainly demonstrate the power of the in
stantaneous 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 evac-
uate his ship, the syndicate had declined
to exhibit the efficiency of their new
agent of destruction upon disabled
craft crowded with human beings.
This course had been highly preju-
dicial to the claims Of the syndicate, for
as Repeiler No. 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 en-
both sides of the Atlantic that she car
ried no such bombs, and the conviction
had been effected by means of mines con-
tinued as strong as it had ever been. To
correct these false ideas was now the
duty of Repeller No. II.
For some time Great Britain had been
steadily forwarding troops and muni-
tions of war to Canada, without Interrupt
ton 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 nee
essarily be small, it was not supposed
that their line of operations would be ex-
tended 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. II, the syndicate had received news
that one of the largest transatlantic mail
steamers, loaded with troops, and with
heavy cannon for Canadian Notifications,
and accompanied by the Craglevin, one
of the largest ironclads in the Royal
navy, had started across the Atlantic.
The first business of the repeller and her
attendant crabs concerned these two YES
sells.
Owing to the power and speed Of the
crabs which towed her, Repeller No. II
made excellent time; and on the morn
ing of the third day out the two British
vessels were sighted. Somewhat alter
ing their course, the syndicate's vessels
were soon within a few miles of the
enemy.
: The Craglevin was q magnificent war
ship. She was not quite SO large as the
Adamant, and she was unprovided with
a stern jacket OF other defense 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 viii! GIle syndicate was we'll
understood i'll nSland, it was not sup
posed 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 signaled to the transport, then about
= mile to the north, to keep on the way
while he steered to meet the enemy. 1t
had been decided i'll British naval circles
that the proper thing to do in regard to
Il repeller was to ram her as quickly as
possible. These vessels were necessarily
slow and unwieldy, and if q heavy IRON
clad could keep clear of crabs long
enough to rushdowr upon one, there was
every reason to believe that the ''bau
bouncer," as the repellers were called by
British sailors, could be crushed in be-
low the water line and sunk. So, full of
courage and determination, the captain
of the Craglevin bore down upon the re-
peller.
1t is not necessary to enter into details
OF the ensuing action. Before the Crag-
levin was within half mile of her enc
! my she was seized by two crabs, all of
which had cast loose from the repeller,
and iii less than twenty minutes both Of
her screws We're extracted and her rud-
| der shattered. In the meantime two of
the swiftest crabs had pursued the trans
| port; and coming up with her, one Of
them had fastened to her rudder, with
out, however, making any attempt to in
| lure 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 ships head to the sea.
The captain of the Craglevin was q
! very different man from the captain of
| the Adamant. He was quite as brave,
but he was wiser anS more prudent. He
saw that the transport had been cap
tuned 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 suf-
ficient 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 armor Of the repeller,
it would probably result in the repeller
turning her fire upon 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 gun With as much
calmness as the circumstances would
permit he awaited the progress of
| events.
! In 4 very short time a message came
to him from Repeller No. II, 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 acquies-
cence was possible. Whether or not
there was such thing as an instantane-