of thisaffair, had already perceived the necessity of relieving Crab K, andanother crab, well provisioned and fitted out, was already on the wayto take its place. This was Crab C, possessing powerful engines, butin point of roof armour the weakest of its class. It could be betterspared than any other crab to tow the Adamant, and as the British shiphad not, and probably could not, put out another suspended cannon, itwas considered quite suitable for the service required.
But when Crab C came within half a mile of the Adamant it stopped. Itwas evident that on board the British ship a steady lookout had beenmaintained for the approach of fresh crabs, for several enormous shelland shot from heavy guns, which had been trained upward at a highangle, now fell into the sea a short distance from the crab.
Crab C would not have feared these heavy shot had they been fired froman ordinary elevation; and although no other vessel in the Syndicate'sservice would have hesitated to run the terrible gauntlet, this one, byreason of errors in construction, being less able than any other crabto resist the fall from a great height of ponderous shot and shell,thought it prudent not to venture into this rain of iron; and, movingrapidly beyond the line of danger, it attempted to approach the Adamantfrom another quarter. If it could get within the circle of fallingshot it would be safe. But this it could not do. On all sides of theAdamant guns had been trained to drop shot and shells at a distance ofhalf a mile from the ship.
Around and around the mighty ironclad steamed Crab C; but wherever shewent her presence was betrayed to the fine glasses on board the Adamantby the bit of her shining back and the ripple about it; and everbetween her and the ship came down that hail of iron in masses of aquarter ton, half ton, or nearly a whole ton. Crab C could not ventureunder these, and all day she accompanied the Adamant on her voyagesouth, dashing to this side and that, and looking for the chance thatdid not come, for all day the cannon of the battle-ship roared at herwherever she might be.
The inmates of Crab K were now very restive anduneasy, for they were on short rations, both of food and water. Theywould have been glad enough to cast loose from the Adamant, and leavethe spiteful ship to roll to her heart's content, broadside to the sea.They did not fear to run their vessel, with its thick roofplatesprotected by spring armour, through the heaviest cannonade.
But signals from the repeller commanded them to stay by the Adamant aslong as they could hold out, and they were obliged to contentthemselves with a hope that when night fell the other crab would beable to get in under the stern of the Adamant, and make the desiredexchange.
But to the great discomfiture of the Syndicate's forces, darkness hadscarcely come on before four enormous electric lights blazed high up onthe single lofty mast of the Adamant, lighting up the ocean for a mileon every side of the ship. It was of no more use for Crab C to try toget in now than in broad daylight; and all night the great guns roared,and the little crab manoeuvred.
The next morning a heavy fog fell upon the sea, and the battle-ship andCrab C were completely shut out of sight of each other. Now the cannonof the Adamant were silent, for the only result of firing would be toindicate to the crab the location of the British ship. Thesmoke-signals of the towing crab could not be seen through the fog byher consorts, and she seemed to be incapable of making signals bysound. Therefore the commander of the Adamant thought it likely thatuntil the fog rose the crab could not find his ship.
What that other crab intended to do could be, of course, on board theAdamant, only a surmise; but it was believed that she would bring withher a torpedo to be exploded under the British ship. That one crabshould tow her away from possible aid until another should bring atorpedo to fasten to her stern-post seemed a reasonable explanation ofthe action of the Syndicate's vessels.
The officers of the Adamant little understood the resources andintentions of their opponents. Every vessel of the Syndicate carried amagnetic indicator, which was designed to prevent collisions with ironvessels. This little instrument was placed at night and during fogs atthe bow of the vessel, and a delicate arm of steel, which ordinarilypointed upward at a considerable angle, fell into a horizontal positionwhen any large body of iron approached within a quarter of a mile, and,so falling, rang a small bell. Its point then turned toward the massof iron.
Soon after the fog came on, one of these indicators, properly protectedfrom the attraction of the metal about it, was put into position onCrab C. Before very long it indicated the proximity of the Adamant;and, guided by its steel point, the Crab moved quietly to the ironclad,attached itself to its stern-post, and allowed the happy crew of Crab Kto depart coastward.
When the fog rose the glasses of the Adamant showed the approach of nocrab, but it was observed, in looking over the stern, that the beggarlydevil-fish which had the ship in tow appeared to have made some changein its back.
In the afternoon of that day a truce boat was sent from the repeller tothe Adamant. It was allowed to come alongside; but when the Britishcaptain found that the Syndicate merely renewed its demand for hissurrender, he waxed fiercely angry, and sent the boat back with theword that no further message need be sent to him unless it should beone complying with the conditions he had offered.
The Syndicate now gave up the task of inducing the captain of theAdamant to surrender. Crab C was commanded to continue towing thegreat ship southward, and to keep her well away from the coast, inorder to avoid danger to seaport towns and coasting vessels, while therepeller steamed away.
Week after week the Adamant moved southward, roaring away with hergreat guns whenever an American sail came within possible range, andsurrounding herself with a circle of bursting bombs to let any crabknow what it might expect if it attempted to come near. Blazing andthundering, stern foremost, but stoutly, she rode the waves, ready toshow the world that she was an impregnable British battle-ship, fromwhich no enemy could snatch the royal colours which floated high aboveher.
It was during the first week of the involuntary cruise of the Adamantthat the Syndicate finished its preparations for what it hoped would bethe decisive movement of its campaign. To do this a repeller and sixcrabs, all with extraordinary powers, had been fitted out with greatcare, and also with great rapidity, for the British Government wasworking night and day to get its fleet of ironclads in readiness for adescent upon the American coast. Many of the British vessels werealready well prepared for ordinary naval warfare; but to resist crabsadditional defences were necessary. It was known that the Adamant hadbeen captured, and consequently the manufacture of stern-jackets hadbeen abandoned; but it was believed that protection could beeffectually given to rudders and propeller-blades by a new method whichthe Admiralty had adopted.
The repeller which was to take part in the Syndicate's proposedmovement had been a vessel of the United States navy which for a longtime had been out of commission, and undergoing a course of very slowand desultory repairs in a dockyard. She had always been consideredthe most unlucky craft in the service, and nearly every accident thatcould happen to a ship had happened to her. Years and years before,when she would set out upon a cruise, her officers and crew wouldreceive the humorous sympathy of their friends, and wagers werefrequently laid in regard to the different kinds of mishaps which mightbefall this unlucky vessel, which was then known as the Tallapoosa.
The Syndicate did not particularly desire this vessel, but there was noother that could readily be made available for its purposes, andaccordingly the Tallapoosa was purchased from the Government and workimmediately begun upon her. Her engines and hull were put into goodcondition, and outside of her was built another hull, composed of heavysteel armour-plates, and strongly braced by great transverse beamsrunning through the ship.
Still outside of this was placed an improved system of spring armour,much stronger and more effective than any which had yet beenconstructed. This, with the armour-plate, added nearly fifteen feet tothe width of the vessel above water. All her superstructures wereremoved from her deck, which was covered by a curved steel roof, andunder a
bomb-proof canopy at the bow were placed two guns capable ofcarrying the largest-sized motor-bombs. The Tallapoosa, thustransformed, was called Repeller No. 11.
The immense addition to her weight would of courseinterfere very much with the speed of the new repeller, but this wasconsidered of little importance, as she would depend on her own enginesonly in time of action. She was now believed to possess more perfectdefences than any battle-ship in the world.
Early on a misty morning, Repeller No. 11, towed by four of theswiftest and most powerful crabs, and followed by two others, left aNorthern port of the United States, bound for the coast of GreatBritain. Her course was a very northerly one, for the reason that theSyndicate had planned work for her to do while on her way across theAtlantic.
The Syndicate had now determined, without unnecessarily losing an hour,to plainly demonstrate the power of the instantaneous motor-bomb. Ithad been intended to do this upon the Adamant, but as it had been foundimpossible to induce the
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