Evening star., 1907-11-03
CHAPTER XII.

THE falling of the heavens would have Gre
ated little more CONSERVATION and excite
ment in London than the sight which met the
residents eyes on the morning following the
Kings visit to the Hippodrome The fog which
settled unexpectedly on that night of June
dissipated itself as steathily as it had come, and
hoated out with the dawn, leaving in its stead
a clear sky. And then, as if a rare discovery
had been made simultaneously by thousands
instead of one, swarm of people, defying the
rush of motors, of omnibuSeS and hansomS,
debouched on the Thames embankment by
the stately pile of buildings where Parliament
convenes, filled the roadsteads, jammed each
other against the river wall, and scorned the
constab1es, who vainly strove to maintain order
and uninterrupted traffic.
There, resting serenely on the bosom of the
river where in times before Roman galleys
had foated, was the pride of the British navy,
the Dreadnought. Neither an officer of the
watch, a sailor, nor a marine bestrode her
decks. Inert and untenanted, silent and life
less, she lay close by the great gray buildings
like the last survivor of defeated army who
had crept home to bring report OF disaster
and was resting in the shadow OF the last
refuge. Her unmasked guns stared wide eyed
and mournful; from her crippled tunnels
came no wisp of curling smoke; from her chan
nes stretched no anchor chains; and she paid
no heed to the vagaries of the sluggish current
seas was nosed into the mud in helplessness
but as an only solace there hoated from her
stern the unsullied banner of the United
Kingdom. and whipped as she was she had come
back to her people with colors still flying.
The miracle of her position was greater than
the marvel of her return for above and below
that spot on the river were bridges impossible
for boat of half her size, beneath which tugs
and other craft were wont to lower their jointed
stacks. In all the world there was no known
strength or mechanical contrivance that could
transport over shadows and bridges twenty
two thousand tons of steel, and then leave it
in this prohibited place. Her very appearance
bore mute testimony of singular strife. True.
she was intact to point flush with the great
steel domes which held her menacing and
frowning guns. but her fighting masts, her top
rig, and the upper bands of her funnel were
riven off if by one devastating line shot taken
full abeam or square astern- The wreckage
of this hamper had been removed. so that no
debris Uttered her deserted decks.
For many days of gloom it had been ac-
cepted as a fact that nothing but annihilation
could account for the disappearance of that
squadron which had doggedly sailed away
into the mysterious West to vanquish terrible
and unknown enemy or meet glorious death
Little hope had been sustained as the days of
silence went by that any explanation of that
defeat might be forthcoming. or that any
vessel might return; and now before Lon
dons gathered populace was a grim relic
which only added to conf lecture. From no
source could the secret of this mysterious vis
tation be learned: and so the crowd watched
and waited.
A boat, whose flag distinguished her as being
of the river patrol, obeyed hail from the