Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-11-11
THE
Great War Syndicate.
By FRANK r. STOCKTON.

By FRANK B. STOCKTON
bright" 'sThe Bee Man of Orn.'' 1.-THE
| Christmas Wreck" 1.-THE Lady or the
Tiger" "The Late Mrs. Null" THE
Hundredth Man." 1.-THE Casting Away
of Mrs. LecIs and Mrs. Aieshine.' .sTbe
Dusantes." etc.
1 copyrighted by p F. Collier, of Golfers oncs
Week. and published by special arrangements
with him through the American Press Associar
ton Ali rights reserved
CONTINUED.
! f;ut events proved that no such ideas
had entered the minds of the Adamant's
officers, and their action totally pre-
/ vented sending flag of truce boat. AS
soon as it was light enough to see the
repeller the Adamant began firing great
guns at her. She was too far away for
the shot to strike her, but to launch and
send boat of any kind into storm of
shot and shell was of course impossible.
1 The cannon suspended over the stern
of the Adamant was also again brought
into play, and shot after shot was driven
down upon the towing crab. Every
ball rebounded from the spring armor,
| but the officer in charge of the crab be-
came convinced that after u time this
constant pounding. almost in the same
place, would injure his vessel, and he
signaled the repeller to that effect.
The director of Repeller No. Z had been
considering the situation. There was
only one gun on the Adamant which
could be brought to bear upon Crab K,
and it would be the part of wisdom to
interfere with the persistent use of this
gun. Accordingly the bow of the re-
peller was brought to bear upon the
Adamant, and her motor gun was aimed
at the boom from which the cannon was
suspended.
The projectile with which the cannon
was loaded was not an instantaneous
motor bomb. 1t was simply heavy
solid shot, driven by an instantaneous
motor attachment, and was thus iinpelled
by the same power and in the same man
ner as the motor bombs. The instantane-
GUS motor power had not yet been used
at SO great distance as that between the
repeller and the Adamant, and the occa-
sion was one of intense interest to the
small body of scientific men having
charge of the aiming and firing.
The calculations of the distance, of the
necessary elevation and direction, and
Of the degree of motor power required,
were made with careful exactness, and
when the proper instant arrived the but
ton was touched, and the shot with
which the cannon was charged was
instantaneously removed to point in
the ocean about mile beyond the Ada
mant, accompanied by large portion of
the heavy boom at which the gun had
been aimed.
The cannon which had been suspended
from the end of this boom fell into the
sea, and would have crashed down upon
the roof of Grab K, had not that vessel,
in obedience to signal from the repel-
Ter, loosened its hold upon the Adamant
and retired short distance astern. Ma
terial injury might not have resulted
from the fall of this great mass of metal
upon the crab, but it was considered pru-
dent not to take useless risks.
The officers Of the Adamant were
greatly surprised and chagrined by the
fall of their gun, with which they had
expected ultimately to pound in the roof
of the crab No damage had been done
to the vessel except the removal of a
portion Of the boom, with some of the
chains and blocks attached, and no one
on board the British ship imagined for 4
moment that this injury had been occa-
stoned by the distant repeller. 1t was
supposed that the constant firing of the
cannot had cracked the boom, and that
it had suddenly snapped.
Even if there had been on board the
Adamant the means for rigging up an
other arrangement of the kind for per-
pendicular artillery practice, it would
have required long time to get it into
working order, and the director of Re
peller No hoped that now the British
captain would see the uselessness of con-
tinued resistance.
But the British captain saw nothing of
the kind, and shot after shot from his
guns were hurled high into the air, in
hopes that the great curves described
would bring some of them down on the
deck of the repeller. If this beastly
store ship, which could stand fire but
never returned it, could be sunk, the Ad-
amant's captain would be happy. With
the exception of the loss of her motive
power, his vessel was intact, and if the
stupid crab would only continue to keep
the Adamant's head to the sea until the
noise of her cannonade should attract
some other British vessel to tho scene,
the condition of affairs might be altered
All that day the great guns of the Ada
mant continued to roar. The next morn
ing, however, the firing was not resumed,
and the officers of the repeller were
greatly surprised to see approaching
from the British ship boat carrying a
white flag. This was very welcome
sight, and the arrival of the boat was
awaited with eager interest.
During the night council had been
held on board the Adamant. Her can
nonading had had no effect, either in
bringing assistance or in injuring the
enemy; she was being towed steadily
southwark farther and farther from the
probable neighborhood of British man
of-war; and it was agreed that it would
be the part of wisdom to come to terms
with the syndicate's vessels.
Therefore the captain of the Adamant
sent a letter to the repeller, in which he
stated to the persons in charge of that
ship that although his vessel had been
injured in a manner totally at variance
with the rules of naval warfare, he would
overlook this fact and would agree to
cease firing upon the syndicates vessels,
provided that the submerged craft which
was now made fast to his vessel should
attach itself to the Adamant's bow, and
by means of suitable cable which she
would furnish, would tow her into Brit
ish waters. If this were done he would
guarantee that the towing craft should
have six hours in which to get away.
When this letter was read on board
the repeller it created considerable mer-
riment, and an answer was sent back
that no conditions but those of absolute
surrender could be received from the
British ship.
In three minutes after this answer had
been received by the captain of the Ada
mant two shells went whirring and
shrieking through the air toward Repe!-
4
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