________________________________________________
_ It was the general opinion that the two armoured
vessels were merely tenders to the submerged machines
which had done the mischief. Having fired no guns, nor
taken any active part in the combat, there was every
reason to believe that they were intended merely as
bomb-proof store-ships for their formidable consorts.
As these submerged vessels could not attack a town, nor
reduce fortifications, but could exercise their power
only against vessels afloat, it was plain enough to see
that the object of the American Syndicate was to
blockade the port. That they would be able to maintain
the blockade when the full power of the British navy
should be brought to bear upon them was generally
doubted, though it was conceded in the most wrathful
circles that, until the situation should be altered, it
would be unwise to risk valuable war vessels in
encounters with the diabolical sea-monsters now lying
off the port.
In the New York office of the Syndicate there was
great satisfaction. The news received was incorrect
and imperfect, but it was evident that, so far,
everything had gone well.
About nine o'clock the next morning, Repeller No.
1, with her consort half a mile astern, and preceded by
the two crabs, one on either bow, approached to within
two miles of the harbour mouth. The crabs, a quarter
of a mile ahead of the repeller, moved slowly; for
between them they bore an immense net, three or
four hundred feet long, and thirty feet deep, composed
of jointed steel rods. Along the upper edge of this
net was a series of air-floats, which were so graduated that they
were sunk by the weight of the net a few feet below the
surface of the water, from which position they held the
net suspended vertically.
This net, which was intended to protect the
repeller against the approach of submarine torpedoes,
which might be directed from the shore, was anchored at
each end, two very small buoys indicating its position.
The crabs then falling astern, Repeller No. 1 lay to,
with the sunken net between her and the shore, and
prepared to project the first instantaneous motor-bomb
ever used in warfare.
The great gun in the bow of the vessel was loaded
with one of the largest and most powerful motor-bombs,
and the spot to be aimed at was selected. This was a
point in the water just inside of the mouth of the
harbour, and nearly a mile from the land on either
side. The distance of this point from the vessel being
calculated, the cannon was adjusted at the angle called
for by the scale of distances and levels, and the
instrument indicating rise, fall, and direction was
then put in connection with it.
Now the Director-in-chief stepped forward to the
button, by pressing which the power of the motor was
developed. The chief of the scientific corps then
showed him the exact point upon the scale which would
be indicated when the gun was in its proper position,
and the piece was then moved upon its bearings so
as to approximate as nearly as possible this direction.
The bow of the vessel now rose upon the swell of
the sea, and the instant that the index upon the scale
reached the desired point, the Director-in-chief
touched the button.
There was no report, no smoke, no visible sign that
the motor had left the cannon; but at that instant
there appeared, to those who were on the lookout, from
a fort about a mile away, a vast aperture in the waters
of the bay, which was variously described as from one
hundred yards to five hundred yards in diameter. At
that same instant, in the neighbouring headlands and
islands far up the shores of the bay, and in every
street and building of the city, there was felt a sharp
shock, as if the underlying rocks had been struck by a
gigantic trip-hammer.
At the same instant the sky above the spot where
the motor had descended was darkened by a wide-
spreading cloud. This was formed of that portion of
the water of the bay which had been instantaneously
raised to the height of about a thousand feet. The
sudden appearance of this cloud was even more terrible
than the yawning chasm in the waters of the bay or
the startling shock; but it did not remain long in
view. It had no sooner reached its highest elevation
than it began to descend. There was a strong sea-
breeze blowing, and in its descent this vast mass of
water was impelled toward the land.
It came down, not as rain, but as the waters of a
vast cataract, as though a mountain lake, by an
earthquake shock, had been precipitated in a body upon
a valley. Only one edge of it reached the land, and
here the seething flood tore away earth, trees, and
rocks, leaving behind it great chasms and gullies as it
descended to the sea.
The bay itself, into which the vast body of the
water fell, became a scene of surging madness. The
towering walls of water which had stood up all around
the suddenly created aperture hurled themselves back
into the abyss, and down into the great chasm at the
bottom of the bay, which had been made when the motor
sent its shock along the great rock beds. Down upon,
and into, this roaring, boiling tumult fell the
tremendous cataract from above, and the harbour became
one wild expanse of leaping maddened waves, hissing
their whirling spray high into the air.
During these few terrific moments other things
happened which passed unnoticed in the general
consternation. All along the shores of the bay and in
front of the city the waters seemed to be sucked away,
slowly returning as the sea forced them to their level,
and at many points up and down the harbour there were
submarine detonations and upheavals of the water.
These were caused by the explosion, by concussion,
of every torpedo and submarine battery in the harbour;
and it was with this object in view that the
instantaneous motor-bomb had been shot into the mouth
of the bay.
The effects of the discharge of the motor-bomb
astonished and even startled those on board the
repellers and the crabs. At the instant of touching
the button a hydraulic shock was felt on Repeller No.
1. This was supposed to be occasioned the discharge of
the motor, but it was also felt on the other vessels.
It was the same shock that had been felt on shore, but
less in degree. A few moments after there was a great
heaving swell of the sea, which tossed and rolled the
four vessels, and lifted the steel protecting net
so high that for an instant parts of it showed
themselves above the surface like glistening sea-ghosts.
Experiments with motor-bombs had been made in
unsettled mountainous districts, but this was the first
one which had ever exerted its power under water.
On shore, in the forts, and in the city no one for
an instant supposed that the terrific phenomenon which
had just occurred was in any way due to the vessels of
the Syndicate. The repellers were in plain view, and
it was evident that neither of them had fired a gun.
Besides, the firing of cannon did not produce such
effects. It was the general opinion that there had
been an earthquake shock, accompanied by a cloud-burst
and extraordinary convulsions of the sea. Such a
combination of elementary disturbances had never been
known in these parts; and a great many persons were
much more frightened than if they had understood what
had really happened.
In about half an hour after the discharge of the
motor-bomb, when the sea had resumed its usual quiet, a
boat carrying a white flag left Repeller No. 1, rowed
directly over the submerged net, and made for the
harbour. When the approach of this flag-of-truce was
perceived from the fort nearest the mouth of the
harbour, it occasioned much surmise. Had the
earthquake brought these Syndicate knaves to their
senses? Or were they about to make further absurd and
outrageous demands? Some irate officers were of the
opinion that enemies like these should be considered no
better than pirates, and that their flag-of-truce
should be fired upon. But the commandant of the fort
paid no attention to such counsels, and sent a
detachment with a white flag down to the beach to meet
the approaching boat and learn its errand.
The men in the boat had nothing to do but to
deliver a letter from the Director-in-chief to the
commandant of the fort, and then row back again. No
answer was required. _
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