The Press., 1889-05-16
[Continued from last week THE GREAT WAR SYNDICATE.
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.

"The Bee Man of Orn, sThe Christmas wreck,'' "The Lady or the Tiger,' 1.-The Late Mrs. Null,' ''The Hundredth Man, "The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs, Aleshine," "The 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
 If the torpedo boat shot to one rsioo III order to get the crab out of line, the crab, it's back sometimes hidden by the tossing waves, sped also to the same side. When the torpedo boat could aim gun at the crab and not at the gunboat, deadly torpedo flew into the sea, but tossing sea and shifting target were unfavor- able to the gunner's aim. It was not long, however, before the crab had run the chase which might so readily have been fatal to it, and was so near the gum boat that no more torpedoes could be fired at it.
 Of course the officers and crew of the gunboat had watched with most anxious interest the chase of the crab. The vessel was one which had been fitted out for service with dynamite guns, of which she carried some of very long range for this class of artillery and she had been ordered to get astern of the repeller and to do her best to put a few dynamite bombs on board of her.
 The dynamite gunboat, therefore, had kept ahead at full speed, determined to carry out her instructions if she should be allowed to do so, but her speed was not as great as that of a crab, and when the torpedo boat had given up the chase, and the dreaded crab was drawing swiftly near, the captain thought it time for bravery to give place to prudence. With the large amount of explosive ma- terial of the most tremendous and ter rife character which he had on board, it would be the insanity of courage for him to allow his comparatively small vessel to be racked, shaken and partially shiv- cred by the powerful jaws of the oncom- ing foe. As he could neither fly nor fight, he hauled down his flag in token | of surrender, the first instance of the kind which had occurred in this war. | When the director of Crab Q, through his lookout glass, beheld this action on the part of the gunboat he was little perplexed as to what he should next do. To accept the surrender of the British vessel and to assume control of her, it was necessary to communicate with her. | The communications of the crabs were made entirely by black smoke signals, and these the captain of the gunboat could not understand. The heavy matches in the mailed roof, which could be put not be opened when she was at her fight ing depth and in tossing sea.
 A means was soon devised of con- municating with the gunboat. A speak ing tube was run up through one of the air pipes of the crab, which pipe was then elevated some distance above the sur face. Through this the director hailed the other vessel, and as the air pipe was near the stern of the crab, and therefore at distance from the only visible DOT tion of tEe turtle back roof, his voice seemed to come out of the depths of the ocean.
 The surrender was accepted, and the captain of the gunboat was ordered to stop his engines and prepare to be lowed. When this order had been given the crab moved round to the bow of the gunboat, and grasping the cutwater with it's forceps, reversed its engines and began to back rapidly toward the British feet taking with it the captured vessel as 8 protection against torpedoes while in transit.
 The crab slowed up not far from one of the foremost of the British ships, and coming round to the quarter of the gum boat, the astonished captain of that ves- sel was informed, through the speaking tube, that if he would give his parole to keep out of this fight, he would be allowed to proceed to his anchorage in Portsmouth harbor. The parole was given. and the dynamite gunboat, after reporting to the flag ship, steamed away to Portsmouth.
 The situation now became one which was unparalleled in the history of naval warfare On the side of the British seven war ships were disabled and drifting slowly to the southeast. For half an hour no advance had been made by the British fleet, for whenever one of the large vessels had steamed ahead, such vessel .had become the victim of crab, and the vice admiral commanding the fleet had signaled not to advance until further orders.
 f The crabs were also lying to, each tc the windward of and not far from one of the British ships They had ceased tc make any attacks, and were resting quietly under protection of the enemy. This, with the fact that the repeller still lay four miles away without any apparent intention of taking part in the battle gave the situation it's p eculiar character.
 The British vice admiral did not in. tend to remain in this quiescent condi ton. It was, of course, useless to order forth his ironclads, simply to see them disabled and set adrift. There was an other arm of the service which evidently ' could be used with better effect upor this peculiar foe than could the great battle ships.
 But before doing anything else, he must provide for the safety of those o1 his vessels which had been rendered ,, helpless by the crabs, and some of whicl were now drifting dangerously near tt g each other. Dispatches had been sent tt g Portsmouth for tugs, for it would not dt to wait until these arrived, and a sufh cient number of ironclads were detailed to tow their injured consorts into port. ! When this order had been given, th' vice admiral immediately prepared t' renew the fight, and this time his effort
 were to be directed entirely against thu
 repeller. It would be useless to devot : any further attention to the crabs, espe n. D..x :