The Press., 1889-05-09

Os A000s
 [Continued from last week.
 THE GREAT WAR SYNDICATE.
 BY FRANK B. STOCKTON.
 Author of "Rudder Grange" "Amos Kilbright. "The Bee Man of Orr, ,".sThs Christmas wrecl,' 1.-The Lady or the Tiger" 'The Late Mrs. Nul," 'The Hundredth Man," ''The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine," 1" "The Dusantes," etc.
 Copyrighted by P. F. Collier, of Golfers Once V eek, and published by speclal arrangement with him through tue American r ress Association. All rights reservedl
 In the midst of the great public excite ment which now existed on both sides of the Atlantic-in the midst of all the con- hicting opinions, fears and hopas-the dominant sentiment seemed to be, in America as well as in Europe, one of curiosity. Were these six crabs and one repeller bound for the British Isles? And if so, what did they intend to do when they got there?
 It was now generally admitted that one of the syndicate's crabs could disable a man-of-war; that one of the syndi- cate's repellers could withstand the heaviest artillery fire, and that one of the syndicate's motor bombs could destroy a vessel or fort. But these things had been proved in isolated combats, where the new methods of attack and defense had had almost undisturbed opportunity for exhibiting their efficiency. But what could a repeller and half dozen crabs do against the combined force of the Royal navy, a navy which had in the last few years regained it's supremacy among the nations, and which had made Great Britain once more the first mari time power in the world? &
 The crabs might disable some men-of- war, the repeller might make her calcu- lations and discharge her bomb at ship or fort, but what would the main body of the navy be doing meanwhile? Over whelming, crushing and sinking to the bottom crabs, repeller, motor guns and everything that belonged to them.
 In England there was a feeling of strong resentment that such little fleet should be allowed to sail with such in- tent into British waters. This resent ment extended itself not only to the im- pudent syndicate, but toward the gov ernment, and the opposition party gained daily in strength. The opposition papers had been loud and reckless in their de- nunciations of the slowness and inade- quacy of the naval preparations, and loaded the government with the entire responsibility, not only of the damage which had already been done to the forts, the ships, and the prestige of Great Britain, but also for the threatened danger of sudden descent of the syndi- cate's fleet upon some unprotected point upon the coast. This fleet should never have been allowed to approach within a thousand miles of England It should have been sunk in mid-ocean, if it's sink ing had involved the loss of a dozen men, of-war-
 In America very strong feeling of dis satisfaction showed itself. From the first the syndicate contract had not beenpopu- lar, but the quick, effective and business like action of that body of men, and the marked success up to this time of their inventions and their operations, had caused a great reaction in their favor. They had, so far, successfully defended the American coast, and when they had increased the number of their vessels, they would have been relied upon to con- tinue that defense. Even if a British armada had set out to cross the Atlantic, its movements must have been slow and cumbrous, and the swift and sudden strokes with which the syndicate waged war could have been given by night and by day over thousands of miles of ocean.
 Whether or not these strokes would have been quick enough or hard enough to turn back an armada might be ques- tion, but there could be no question of the suicidal policy of sending seven ships and two cannon to conquer England. It seemed as if the success of the syndicate had so puffed up it's members with pride and confidence in their powers that they had come to believe that they had only to show themselves to conquer, whatever might be the conditions of the contest.
 The destruction of the syndicate's fleet would now be a heavy blow to the United States. It would produce an utter want of confidence in the councils and judgments of the syndicate, which could not be enumerated bY the strongest faith In the efficiency oE their engines of war, and it was feared that it might be- come necessary, even at this critical 5uncture, to annul the contract with the syndicate, and to depend upon the American navy for the defense of the American coast. at"" . '#.z+is:4
 Even among the men on board the sym dicate's fleet there were signs of doubt and apprehensions of evil. It had all been very we'll so far, but fighting one ship at time was a very different thlng from steanling into the midst of 8 hun- dred ships. On board the repeller there was now an additional reason for fears and misgivings. The unlucky character of the vessel when it had been the Talla- poosa was known, and not a few of the men imagined that it must now be time for some new disaster to this ill starred craft, and if her evil genius had desired fresh disaster for her, 1t was certainly sending her into good place to look for it.
 But the syndicate neither doubted nor hesitated, nor paid any attention to the doubts and condemnations which they heard from every quarter. Four days after the news of the destruction of the Craglevin had been telegraphed from Canada to London, the syndicate's fleet entered the English channel Owing to the power and speed of the crabs, Repel- Ter No. Il had made passage of the At lantic which In her old naval career