The Press., 1889-04-11
[Continuedsfrom last week.] THE GREAT WAR SYNDICATE.
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.


 BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.
 Author oi "Rudder Grange" "Amos Albright" Ss"The Bee Man of Orn, "The Christmas Wreck" ''The Lady or the Tiger" "The Late Mrs. Nuli," B"The Hundredth Man, "The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine," 'sThe Dusantes," etc.
 Copyrighted by P. F. Collier, of Golfers Once Week, and published by special arrangement with him through the American Press Association. All rights reserved
 On the morning of the destruction of Fort Pitcher 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 harbor, at 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 moderate dis tance behind the net, and the other ves- sels stationed themselves near by.
 The protection of the net was consid- cred necessary, for although there could be no reasonable doubt that all the tor pedoes in the harbor and river had been exploded, others might be sent out against the syndicate's vessels, and a torpedo under crab or a repeller. was the enemy most feared by the syndicate.
 About o'clock the signals between the repellers became very frequent, and soon afterwards truce boat went out from Repeller No. 1. This was rowed with great rapidity. but it was obliged to previous occasions, in order to deliver it's message to an officer of the garrison.
 This was to the effect that the evacua- tion 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 man in one of the outer redoubts, whose presence there was probably unknown to the officers of the garrison. It was, therefore, earn estly urged that this man might be in- stantly removed, and in order that this might be done, the discharge of the mo- tor bomb would be postponed half an hour.
 The officer received this message and was disposed to look upon it as new trick, but as no time was to be lost he sent 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 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 bomb, be it little or big. Therefore he had managed to elude ob- servation, 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 that the syndicate observers perceived that he had been taken to the hill behind which the garrison was cncamped.
 As it had been decided that Repeller No. 2 should discharge the next instan- taneous motor bomb, there was an anxious desire on the part of the opera tors on that vessel that in this, their first experience, they might do their duty as we'll as their comrades on board the other repeller had done theirs. The most &C., curate observations, the most careful call culations, were made and .ren,ade, the point to be aimed at being about the center of the fort.
 The motor bomb had been in the can- non for nearly an hour. and everything had long been ready, when at precisely thirty minutes past o'clock the signal to discharge came from the director-in- chief, and in four seconds afterward 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 in- stant 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 blow; but there was no trembling of the ground. As to the fort, it had entirely disap- peared, it's particles having been insran- taneously removed to great distance in every direction, falling over such vast expanse of land and water tllat their de- scent 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 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 surround ing country was conscious that some thing had happened of most startling kind, and that it was over in the same instant in which they had perceived it. Everywhere there was the noise of fall ing window glass. There were those who asserted that for an instant they had heard in the distance grinding crash; | and there were others who were quite sure that they had noticed what might be called flash of darkness. as fl something had, with almost unappreci. able quickness, passed between them and I the sun.
 When the officers of the garrison mounted the hill before them and sur |
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