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THE WARSTOCK. 
 
THE WARSTOCK 
 
 A TALE OF TO-MORROW. 
 
 
 BY 
 
 WIRT GERRARE 
 
 LONDON. 
 W. W. 
 
 1898. 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 TO 
 
 J. N., H. G., & J. G. A. 
 
 Woge: mapvdloug inventions in Meeanie# an3. 
 
 573 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 IT is no longer the custom of writers of fiction to 
 preface their books with an introduction. Where 
 exceptions to this rule are made, more often than not 
 the prefatory note consists merely of an apology 
 for the story itself therefore, is useless. In the 
 present instance the writer is of opinion that the 
 subject matter of his story is of that nature which 
 renders some explanation desirable. 
 
 In the first place, THE WARSTOCK does not 
 pretend to be Literature ; it makes no appeal to the 
 emotions, nor is it intended simply to amuse. Its 
 purpose is to set intelligent people thinking ; those 
 persons who wish to deny their brains the exercise 
 of this elementary function should read no further. 
 The author wants neither their pence nor their 
 attention, and values their plaudits as little as their 
 sneers. 
 
 THE WARSTOCK purposes to be a story; a tale 
 of that to-morrow when wireless telegraphy shall be 
 general, and the use of explosives in war has been 
 superseded ; hence, it is a work of the imagination, 
 not a controversial treatise on existing conditions. 
 Nevertheless the incidents are based on certain facts, 
 to some of which brief allusion may be made. 
 
 The most cursory examination of the history of the 
 rise and progress of British industries will suffice 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 to show that, in the combination of causes which 
 wrought such a beneficial change in the fortune of 
 Britain, the inventive genius of her manufacturers is 
 the chief factor. The impetus given to her export 
 trade by the creations of Arkwright, Compton, 
 Dalton, Earnshaw, Hargreaves, and others has been 
 maintained by the similar work of more recent 
 inventors on inventors Britain depends for con- 
 tinued progress. 
 
 It is notorious that at the present time no persons, 
 as a class, are worse treated than inventors. 
 
 To the author it seems probable that inventors 
 possess the intelligence to secure to themselves the 
 full value of the property they create. This done, 
 they will possess the power to rule which was 
 assumed to be the prerogative of birth but is 
 already actually in the command of the rich. It 
 follows that with the substitution of riches for 
 " noble-birth " as the criterion of worth, the creators 
 of wealth will be regarded as the superiors of its 
 mere possessors. The future, therefore, is for 
 inventors. 
 
 At the present time, when inventors can scarcely 
 obtain recognition of common rights, it seems idle to 
 contend that nothing short of absolute supremacy 
 will content them. But there is no good reason why 
 they should ever be satisfied with less ; and this is 
 an age when, if progress can be made at all, it can 
 be made quickly. 
 
 In a single year upwards of fifty thousand appli- 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 cations for "patents" are received at the British 
 office alone an absolute proof that the number of 
 persons interested in inventions is immense. True, 
 the majority of patents issued are for inventions of 
 little value, or none, but of the true creative genius 
 there is sufficient trace to indicate that, given suitable 
 conditions, the higher order of invention would 
 flourish. An examination of patent specifications 
 will prove to what trivialities some great minds 
 descend even Lord Kelvin improved and patented 
 the spigot of the common water-butt. Yet there 
 are great inventions which have not been patented, 
 and, in all probability, most of these never will be 
 either protected or made, known. The men who 
 discovered them are not novices in the science of 
 invention, nor ignorant of the meaning and value 
 of patent protection. Some earn their living by 
 slight improvements to odds and ends by some 
 trifling alteration to the staple articles of trade. If 
 present conditions continue, there is little doubt but 
 the secrets of their chief discoveries will die with 
 them. 
 
 The conditions which militate against the success 
 of inventions of the highest order may be sum- 
 marised. To the conditions imposed by legislation 
 with respect to the granting of patents, the chief 
 objection is that there is no real protection, or 
 monopoly, conferred by a " patent " ; while, on the 
 other hand, the secret of the discoverer must be 
 made known to all. Next, the time is too short; 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 fourteen years, the limit allowed, may be ample for 
 the working of an invention applicable to some craze 
 of the hour say, a dress-holder to support the skirt 
 or a walking-costume, for the trailing skirt may be 
 gone for ever before next winter but how if the 
 invention be, say, a new mode of traction to super- 
 sede the steam locomotive? A good engine will 
 work for thirty years, and, even if all railway 
 companies were willing to adopt at once the new 
 method, many years would elapse after the expiration 
 of the longest patent before the invention could 
 possibly attain its full value. If the invention re- 
 ferred to changes in the "permanent way," the 
 patentee would have still fewer chances of obtaining 
 early general exploitation of his invention. Then, 
 the fees are too heavy ; because out of proportion to 
 the work done, or the benefit conferred. The initial 
 fees cover all the expenses in connection with 
 examination, registration, and storage of documents ; 
 out of the additional tax, in the shape of renewal 
 fees, a costly free library is maintained and a hand- 
 some annual surplus goes to the Imperial Treasury. 
 Foreign patent offices are also unfair to the inventor, 
 A few years ago Mr. Edison calculated that if he 
 had patented all his inventions in every country 
 granting protection, he would have needed upwards 
 of three millions sterling for the Government duties 
 alone. 
 
 Legislation should assist and encourage inventors, 
 rather than hinder them : vested interests and the 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 innate conservatism of human nature are sufficiently 
 powerful to effectually obstruct too rapid or un- 
 desirable progress. The inventor is usually con- 
 sidered to be a nuisance and mar-profit. A motor 
 which would empty the engine-sheds at Crewe, 
 Swindon, and Derby would not endear its inventor 
 to the railway engineers ; a process which would 
 render obsolete the expensive plant of great steel 
 works would not be run after at once by all the 
 ironmasters. 
 
 But it is not my intention, either here or in the 
 story, to dilate upon the rights and wrongs of 
 patentees the remedy for the hardships they endure 
 is sufficiently obvious. If the many thousands who 
 apply for patents are not satisfied with what is 
 conferred, they are surely strong enough, if they 
 make common action, to obtain such relief as legis- 
 lation may afford. Doubtless patents are a prolific 
 source of heartaches, and the least advance in the 
 direction towards justice would make the term of 
 protection date from the first commercial use of the 
 invention, instead of from the date of the application 
 for a patent It is easy to picture some poor artisan 
 with an invention of real utility to railway, gas, water, 
 shipping, or other powerful corporations only who 
 can go on as they have done, and are doing ; who 
 prefer to do so rather than deal with the inventor, 
 expecting that his poverty will prevent him paying 
 the annual renewal fees, and that his invention will 
 soon be available without payment by them. The 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 man, hoping against hope, time after time scraping 
 together the 10, or larger fee, for renewals, full 
 of faith in his invention, enduring the jeers of his 
 mates, bearing the rebukes of his wife when accusing 
 him of starving his children for the worthless thing 
 he has invented. Each year the tax becomes 
 heavier, each year the man more obstinate ; each 
 year the invention loses value, and the possible users 
 become less inclined to make terms. It needs not 
 the novelist's imagination to supply the details of that 
 picture. All know how the grim tragedy must end : 
 few know how numerous such cases are. 
 
 Such subjects are not, I contend, most suitable 
 for treatment by romancers ; the reformer, the 
 agitator, the practical philanthropist, the legislator 
 these may deal advantageously with actualities. If 
 those who rule, in their wisdom, decide that inventive 
 genius, like virtue, must be its own reward, the 
 lot of the inventor may be as happy, but yet as 
 unexciting, as that of the majority of righteous men 
 and women whose lives are devoid of story. 
 
 To writers of romance, there are other aspects 
 of invention offering greater attractions ; notable 
 among these the changes that must result from the 
 exploitation of a truly great invention. 
 
 It is the inventor who will bring about the next 
 great revolution in the world's history, and this truth 
 I have attempted to make clear in THE WARSTOCK. 
 As already hinted, inventions of great moment have 
 been made, are still being made, and will continue 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 to be made until, some day, from among the great 
 scattered army of workers will arise the man to 
 whom a really great invention will give the absolute 
 mastery. 
 
 The nature of the invention and the character of 
 the man are purely matters for speculation. In THE 
 WARSTOCK I have given but fanciful sketches of 
 persons and things actual discoveries, revealed in 
 confidence to me by inventors, are unlike, save in 
 their newness, those I have instanced in story. 
 
 Another point : in that future when inventors rule, 
 will there be a closer approximation to exact justice 
 than now obtains? 
 
 The wonderful advance made during the century 
 now reaching its end has been almost entirely upon 
 the material plane. The rushing stream of progress 
 appears to have forced morals into a backwater ; at 
 the close of the nineteenth century the English 
 people have no clearer conception of justice than 
 had their forefathers two centuries and a half ago ; 
 no greater love of liberty than their Scandinavian 
 ancestors who, in search of untrammelled freedom, 
 forced their clumsy viking ships over fearful and 
 distant seas ; no sterner sense of duty than possessed 
 by the myriads who have struggled, and suffered, 
 and died for king, or faith, or kindred. To-day we 
 possess no virtue that was unknown to our fore- 
 fathers ; not a vice they practised but disgraces our 
 boasted civilisation. The paid gladiators of ancient 
 Rome have their counterpart in the salaried football 
 
xiv PREFACE. 
 
 players of modern England ; mediaeval times had 
 their Trade Guilds as these days have their Trade 
 Unions. 
 
 This age excels those past only in the fields of 
 discovery and construction even in the highest arts 
 it is only the execution that is better, there is no 
 evidence of greater inspiration, no proof of higher 
 ideals. Such excellence as there is, then, is not due 
 to priest, or lawgiver, or warrior ; has not resulted 
 from the heart's yearning, the introspections of the 
 metaphysician, the rhapsodies of the seer. It is the 
 lowly toiler who, little by little, has wrested secrets 
 from Nature, and learned fresh truths. It is the 
 inventor who has extirpated the drudgery of toil from 
 the lives of most, and can save from sheer physical 
 labour both man and beast. 
 
 It is the inventor who has placed in the hands ot 
 those whom he has been taught to consider his 
 superiors, the weapons which have given his effete 
 rulers the mastery over him, as well as over the 
 bravest barbarians and the craftiest of cultured foes. 
 Is it too much to expect that the inventor has grown 
 wary since the power he has entrusted to others has 
 been grossly misused? Too much to expect, that 
 some day a man will recognise that his invention, 
 jealously guarded and fully exploited, will advance 
 him to absolute supremacy? 
 
 WIRT GERRARE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE. 
 
 I. Concerning an Interesting Discovery i 
 
 II. The Limitations of a Millionaire 7 
 
 III. Aristocrats and an Isocrat 13 
 
 IV. A Conversational Dance 24 
 
 V. The First Move Forward 31 
 
 VI. Concessions 39 
 
 VII. InCristallia 52 
 
 VIII. A Renegade 62 
 
 IX. Defences 66 
 
 X. The Day Dreams of a Business Man 77 
 
 XL A Baptism of Fire 84 
 
 XII. Knights of the Back-Stairs 94 
 
 XIII. " For the Future of Cristallia" 100 
 
 XIV. Unwelcome Visitors 109 
 
 XV. A "Pot-Luck" 116 
 
 XVI. Strange Idols 125 
 
 XVII. A Predicament 131 
 
 XVIII. The Privilege of the Minority 136 
 
 XIX. Fortune Favours Cristallia 139 
 
 XX. The Esoteric Section 144 
 
 XXI. In the Conning-Tower 153 
 
 XXII. Retaliation 159 
 
 XXIII. Death 164 
 
 XXIV. Flight 167 
 
 XXV. The Soulless Avenger 177 
 
 XXVI. Panic 184 
 
 XXVII. The "Warstock'' in Action , ...193 
 
 XXVIII. "Foightin' Larry av the Guard" 201 
 
 XXIX. The Last Struggle for Supremacy... ... ... 209 
 
 XXX. Conclusion .. 216 
 
THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CONCERNING AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY. 
 
 AT last there was a record! This time there was 
 no doubt When Robert Sterry depressed the key 
 of the transmitter the needle on the indicating dial 
 suddenly responded ; was yet vibrating appreciably. 
 
 Willie Redhead, watching the instrument from his 
 invalid's chair, did not need to call Robert's attention 
 to the success ; no sooner had the inventor touched 
 the key than he strode hastily across the laboratory 
 and gazed earnestly at the register. 
 
 " I fel t it was all right this time," he muttered. 
 
 " Try it again." 
 
 " No, no ! Not now ! " 
 
 "How you tremble! It's it's all right Un- 
 mistakably a record." 
 
 " We are on the verge of a vast thing, Willie." 
 
 "I know it I know it the greatest discovery of 
 the century." 
 
 " Of all time," said Robert decisively. 
 
 The invalid said no more, but watched the 
 inventor in moody silence passing rapidly to and 
 fro. Full of vigour, hardly able to suppress his 
 excitement, the boards creaked loudly beneath 
 
 B 
 
2 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Robert's feet and the invalid's chair shook until 
 Willie Redhead could have shrieked with the pain 
 the slight vibrations produced There seemed no 
 limit to the energy of the other, and Willie, unable 
 to endure the agony longer, interrupted plaintively: 
 
 "Wheel me into the study, Bob." 
 
 " Forgive me ! I forgot " 
 
 " I understand. I want to think too. Is it very 
 late?" 
 
 "I'm afraid it is. No, only just past midnight." 
 
 " You won't try it again ? Just once ? " 
 
 Robert Sterry shook his head : he felt like a boy 
 who, after innumerable futile plashings, first succeeds 
 in keeping his mouth above water, and not knowing 
 whether by hands or feet he has accomplished so 
 much, defers further essays to another day. On the 
 other hand, Willie Redhead felt only the ecstasy 
 that comes with the first feeble mastery of a new 
 element, and desired further evidence of prowess. 
 As soon as Robert had gone he rang for his man ; 
 wheeled back into the workroom, he now pressed 
 the lever and saw the indicator respond, and 
 repeated the experiment again and again until the 
 tired servant could no longer keep his eyes open to 
 note the revolutions of the needle on the dial. 
 
 Nature had fashioned Willie Redhead in the 
 noblest mould ; an accident in childhood, with 
 careless nursing and clumsy surgery, rendered him 
 a hopeless cripple. A line of long-dead ancestors 
 had been vikings, and in him was implanted their 
 love of the sea ; he felt an uneasy craving for a 
 wild life in conflict with the elements ; pictured 
 delight as being tempest-tossed in a cockle-shell of 
 a boat, and glory in penetrating ice-bound regions 
 no man had ever trod. Hoped for these delights 
 and glories too, until one day, after battling long 
 with surgeons' remedies, he was told that a cure 
 was beyond reach. A weaker character would have 
 succumbed at this cruel truth; the knowledge that 
 
CONCERNING AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY. 3 
 
 though some day he might be better he could never 
 be well, would never walk, with or without crutches, 
 must never expect to be at ease or attempt physical 
 exercise, only determined him to make the most 
 of his vegetable-like existence. His sister Jessie 
 cheered him on ; he threw himself heart and soul 
 into the study of physical science. The more 
 abstruse the problem, the easier forgotten the ever- 
 present bodily pain ; and now he was rewarded 
 as no man ever was, except Robert and Robert 
 too had suffered, but in another way. 
 
 The quest had been long and anxious, but to 
 Willie, shut off from other pursuits, it had been 
 pleasurable enough ; the discovery of itself was 
 ample reward for both, for they had found what 
 others had long sought unsuccessfully. To call up 
 at will a force of which none knew anything, and 
 most denied even the existence, to play with it, to 
 measure it, to dally with it, was to experience such 
 bliss as none but inventors know. 
 
 Then with what joy they set about to master 
 the unknown! With what pleasurable anticipation 
 they noted the manifestation of the new force, 
 presenting the most delicate lures perfected by 
 science ; anon, saving themselves as best they could 
 when their instruments were shattered by the fierce 
 strength of the erratic agent. All was not easy 
 work, not even safe work ; at times platinum wires 
 suddenly fused without apparent cause ; steel plates 
 were shivered, blocks hurled against and through 
 the walls, stanchions twisted, rafters broken. More 
 than once operators and apparatus were thrown to 
 the ground in a confused heap ; twice the laboratory 
 was set on fire ; once, in quite broad daylight, it 
 was inexplicably wrecked as completely as though 
 crushed by a thunderbolt. But it was nothing to 
 brave these and kindred dangers in exchange for 
 the pleasure that accomplished ever so little 
 supremacy over the unknown. 
 
4 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Robert Sterry had not looked so well since Jessie 
 Redhead died as he did now ; his light-heartedness 
 did not return, and the mother knew she had lost 
 her boy for ever, and fretted ; but his father now 
 found in him a comrade and took him into his 
 confidence and disclosed some part of his vast 
 wealth, thinking thereby to entice the lad from 
 laboratory investigations to commence his work in 
 the management of money and the acquisition of 
 more, which is the millionaire's lifelong task. Young 
 Robert listened, but was not tempted ; his talk was 
 of isomers as often as his father's was of dollars. 
 The power of money was 'a form of energy he could 
 not comprehend since it could not be expressed 
 either in thermal units or in watts. He heeded ail 
 that was said, but his thoughts and his hours 
 were mostly devoted to the development of the 
 " Sterrygraph " for so Redhead insisted upon 
 naming the new transmitter. 
 
 Little by little the experimenters learned the 
 nature of the poltergeist with which they were 
 dealing, and at once essayed to harness the new 
 power to the service of man. Any deflection of the 
 needle now, made at will, produced a corresponding 
 vibration of the indicating needle ; they had only 
 to obtain the same action irrespective of distance and 
 earth telegraphy, and the transmission of messages 
 without the aid of wires would be an accomplished 
 fact It would be a practical application of their 
 invention ; acceptable, needed ; and towards its 
 achievement they worked unceasingly. 
 
 " Have you thought what this invention means to 
 us, Willie?" 
 
 " It will take us to the very front," answered the 
 cripple proudly, for he was ambitious. 
 
 That was before they discovered their limitations ; 
 they were young and sanguine, and no man who has 
 wrested the most trifling secret from Nature but is 
 confident in his own might. 
 
CONCERNING AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY. 5 
 
 Further experiments somewhat subdued their 
 expectations ; but as a telegraph the invention was 
 efficient; this, tests proved conclusively. Robert 
 travelled about alone with his transmitter; far and 
 near on the American continent he made the earth 
 contact and communicated with Willie Redhead in 
 the invalid's chair at the Plainfield laboratory. It 
 was a wonderful performance, and the secret of its 
 production was still their own. 
 
 On one of these journeys Robert was notified 
 of his father's death. Returning home, the wealth 
 to which he was heir staggered him by its magnitude. 
 He felt crushed beneath the weight of dollars, for 
 he saw that they would prove a nuisance that he 
 would be expected to live for them instead of for 
 the one thing for which he really cared, the invention 
 that was his and Willie Redhead's. Comprehending 
 this, he at once determined to be the master instead 
 of the slave of his wealth. At present he had no 
 need of money for any purpose, and, remembering 
 what his father had said as to its employment, put 
 the dollars away safely for a time and tried to forget 
 them. 
 
 " The Sterrygraph " was made complete ; when it 
 was workable, a perfect instrument for the purpose 
 intended, the inventors felt that the time had come 
 to make its advantages known and reap the harvest 
 for which they had tilled and sown. 
 
 They expected some opposition ; a million and a 
 half miles of telegraphic cable enclose the earth 
 like a network. These cables and wires would be 
 unnecessary and valueless when the " Sterrygraph " 
 was adopted, and those interested in the threatened 
 property would combine to crush the newcomer out 
 of existence. In America alone such a combination 
 could command many more million dollars than 
 Sterry had ; so to be successful, the " Sterrygraph " 
 would need to be exploited for all it was worth. 
 The inventors never doubted that its money value, 
 
6 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 however great, would not be readily obtainable. 
 They wanted more ; the " Sterrygraph " was, in their 
 estimation, a very great thing; it would bring fame 
 and honour to them if only properly introduced. 
 As Robert said, 
 
 " Never was Yankee born or bred 
 "Without that peculiar kink in his head 
 " By which he could turn the smallest amount 
 " Of whatever he had to the best account." 
 
 and, believing this, they intended to take the world 
 by storm. Nothing that could be done in America 
 would be worth doing unless Europe fell into line, 
 and to Europe straightway went Sterry with his 
 crippled friend. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE LIMITATIONS OF A MILLIONAIRE. 
 
 NEWSPAPER correspondents hunted long and assidu- 
 ously for Robert Sterry ; when the representative 
 of a New York journal discovered the young 
 millionaire in Paris, he slily watched him sip a cup 
 of coffee, then promptly cabled over a long account 
 of the way the American was passing his time in 
 the gay city. The next day the account, with 
 additions, found its way back to Europe as news. 
 
 Robert Sterry was fresh to the cruel glare of 
 publicity ; offensive to his nature at any time, he 
 found it particularly so when he was endeavouring 
 to negotiate his invention with a governmental 
 department Hoping to escape the interviewer, lie 
 hurried to London ; at one of the monster hotels 
 favoured by his countrymen he fancied he could 
 hide his identity and, like hundreds of other guests, 
 become simply a number. 
 
 He sat among strangers at the large table and 
 once again ate his dinner unnoticed. For a time he 
 had dodged the great limelight of the Press, only 
 to learn that no shade is dense enough to long 
 screen the millionaire. " The Pimlico Gazette," the 
 organ of high cookery and smart society, had 
 devoted a wide column of smallest type to 
 chronicle his commonplace behaviour at Paris, and 
 now, unrecognised, he found himself the topic of 
 conversation. 
 
8 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 A sturdy Briton objected to newspaper space 
 being occupied by twaddle concerning a simple 
 monied man. An American retorted that in Europe 
 newspapers, like everything else, were small, and 
 what space they had was wanted to set forth the 
 still less important doings of the merely titled. Then 
 Robert Sterry heard that millionaires were the 
 aristocrats of America, as indigenous to the United 
 States as Baronets were to Britain or Princes to 
 Poland ; and that in the popular estimation the 
 millionaires of the world ranked next to ruling 
 sovereigns. 
 
 " Vulgar money-worship," sneered the Briton. 
 
 " All are born ; but not every one born even to a 
 dukedom can make money." 
 
 " Some are born to titles ; others only to dollars ; 
 most to neither one nor the other." 
 
 " Quite so, and those born to titles seldom win 
 more ; those born to wealth win other things ; 
 consequently the career of a millionaire is more 
 important than that of a landlord. Your greatest 
 estates are all entailed ; the tenants know what to 
 look forward to whether he be a ' good ' landlord 
 or a ' bad ' one is all they wish to know respecting 
 the successor in title, for from former experiences 
 of both kinds they knew well enough what to 
 expect No one can tell what the millionaire will 
 do with his money." 
 
 " All have soon found their limitations," growled 
 the Briton. 
 
 "Agreed, agreed but will the others? Will this 
 Robert Sterry, for instance? His father was busy 
 all his life making money, but the young man knew 
 nothing of the wealth, or its immense power. He 
 was brought up as his father had been, a simple 
 working man. Now he has twenty millions of 
 dollars at least; suppose he finds a new fulcrum on 
 which to rest the lever of his wealth, as some one 
 certainly will some day, and instead of frittering 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF A MILLIONAIRE. 9 
 
 away time and money in the manner of a British 
 aristocrat, determines upon some revolutionary 
 scheme ? " 
 
 " Unlikely. Wealth depends upon existing con- 
 ditions being maintained, so millionaires are the 
 very last persons to do anything revolutionary." 
 
 " These young men have no traditions behind 
 them. Old Bob Sterry was a furnace-man ; his son 
 may have ideas. What ideas? That is just what 
 we want to know, and that is why everything about 
 him interests us." 
 
 "Well, what are his ideas?" asked the Briton 
 contemptuously. 
 
 The American seemed well informed ; he was 
 sure young Sterry would do something unexpected 
 of him or any other millionaire ; lead a revolution 
 or found a monastery anything. He said that he 
 had known his father intimately, and repeated often- 
 heard stories of " Honest Bob," the terror of Wall 
 Street : how in his youth he had emigrated from 
 the Tyneside with nothing but a glassblower's pipe 
 and tongs ; how his wife tramped the townships in 
 the swamps of Illinois harnessed to heavy baskets and 
 carrying a child on each arm while hawking the fragile 
 wares her husband so deftly fashioned ; how, after 
 thirty years at the blowpipe, his lungs gave way, and 
 he had to sell to others the colours he knew how to 
 make for himself, and how he grew rich thereby ; 
 the uses he made of his money, and how his luck 
 never forsook him ; yes, even the present Minister 
 of the United States to the Court of St. James's 
 would gladly own that he was indebted to " Honest 
 Bob " for a good turn when he was being cruelly 
 squeezed by Wall Street "bears." Robert listened 
 to it all patiently, but without much interest; the 
 man knew so much of his intimate affairs that he 
 expected him to speak of the mysterious laboratory 
 work and his great discovery, but his countryman 
 either knew nothing or did not think either matter 
 
10 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 worth mentioning. Instead, he talked of Robert's 
 attachment to Jessie Redhead, and at the first 
 mention of her name Robert left the table. 
 
 But the journalist had effectively labelled him 
 with his father's millions ; even the six-foot-six 
 embodiment of consequence who watched the hall 
 door now recognised the docket, and attended with 
 unwonted deference and alacrity to his order for a 
 hansom. The cringing servility of one seemingly 
 so great did not flatter ; he took it as a reminder 
 that the man Robert Sterry was becoming wholly 
 hidden from the view of his fellows by the glittering 
 tinsel of wealth it was his fortune to support. 
 
 The cab took him to a small ugly villa at Fulham ; 
 there, in a large room on the ground floor, sat Willie 
 Redhead amid the books, charts, and instruments to 
 which he was accustomed at Plainfield. 
 
 "What cheer, Willie!" 
 
 "You back so soon. Have you " 
 
 " No ; nothing done. It is only waste of time to 
 try the postal departments ; telegraphic messages 
 have always been sent over wires, and that way they 
 shall go until empires fall." 
 
 " But they will have to take it." 
 
 " Of course. Meanwhile, Germany refuses, Austria 
 declines, Russia demurs, Italy has no intention of 
 making any change, France is not prepared to 
 entertain any proposal and here ? " 
 
 " We have not got beyond the exchange of polite 
 pourparlers." 
 
 " And never will. It is their way. We are not 
 wanted, Willie, neither is our invention ; that is the 
 truth." 
 
 " Yet it was to carry us to the very front." 
 
 " So it will ; so it shall ! First we must make a 
 way for it. No such molehill of a difficulty as a 
 little official obstruction shall stop us, I warrant you. 
 If conventional methods fail, we will try others. 
 Where is my mail ? " 
 
THE LIMITATIONS OF A MILLIONAIRE. II 
 
 Willie Redhead pointed to a huge pile of letters. 
 
 "All those?" 
 
 " I suppose it's Warren's doing." 
 
 " That confounded article in the ' Matin/ I expect. 
 Any callers ? " 
 
 " Quite an army to-day. Warren says you must 
 be sure to go to the Countess Kyrwick's to-night. I 
 did not think you would be back ; you'll see the 
 card somewhere there. It is a big affair ; a lot of 
 influential people sure to be there, Warren told me. ' 
 
 "What sort of people?" 
 
 " Oh, Royalties, and Branson, and Fitzjoy " 
 
 " The confounded Jack-in-offi.ce who referred me 
 to the sub-assistant to the under-superintendent of 
 the Construction Inspecting Department? Thanks! 
 I'll go." 
 
 " Try him again ? " 
 
 "What else for to-night?" 
 
 " Mrs. Deadwater, Mr. Justice James, Mrs. 
 Spoor " 
 
 " I'll go there too ; old friends of your people, 
 aren't they ? Who is Feyda Vetini ? " 
 
 " Not know Feyda Vetini ? The world-renowned 
 prima donna! Such is fame! I am ashamed of 
 you. You are almost as ignorant of what every one 
 knows as the average British Judge. She called 
 and what a voice ! " 
 
 "What did she want? Millions, I suppose?" 
 
 Redhead nodded. " And you, of course. She was 
 somewhat brusque and rude to me, but her voice 
 was " 
 
 "Bother her voice! What was she like to look 
 at?" 
 
 " Small, lithe, not insignificant. Jewish type of 
 face. But her voice " 
 
 "H'm! Who else?" 
 
 " A Captain Tomes to sell you ' The Daily 
 Express ' ; Lord Sines to propose you for the 
 Amphitryon ; half a dozen job-masters ; a score of 
 
12 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 house-agents ; two hundred tradesmen's cards ; of 
 begging letters and of circulars a thousand, more or 
 less ; and and oh, a man with a pedigree blood- 
 hound." 
 
 " I'm not going to start a menagerie nor yet run 
 an office to answer letters." 
 
 " Insert an advertisement in ' The Times ' to the 
 effect that the enquiries of all unknown corre- 
 spondents will be answered by the ' Sterrygraph ' 
 when adopted by the British Government" 
 
 " That would be putting them off to the Greek 
 Kalends politely. Anything more to hand ? " 
 
 " Yes, the calculating machine. You see I am at 
 work already." 
 
 " Capital. I wish you would let me help you." 
 
 He looked wistfully at a large chart showing the 
 curves of equal magnetic variation for the year 
 1895, and then to the boxed-up Arithmometer before 
 Redhead. 
 
 " It is my only privilege. I shall have the indices 
 ready by the time you have won over the public. 
 How we arrive at the key is to be kept secret too, 
 remember." 
 
 " You are sure it does not pain you to twist that 
 crank round so much ? " 
 
 " Not at all. I want no assistance." 
 
 " I do. I wish this work done, and we free to 
 return to our experiments." 
 
 " We do not invent solely for our own amusement, 
 Eob. You go to the Countess Kyrwick, now ! " 
 
 " You, too, know the limitations of a millionaire ! " 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ARISTOCRATS AND AN ISOCRAT. 
 
 THERE could be no doubt as to the importance 
 society attributed to the Countess Kyrwick's soiree. 
 The hall was thronged when Robert Sterry arrived ; 
 he had some difficulty in getting to the stairs, when 
 halfway up the passage became blocked ; no moving 
 up or down, right or left, and there he remained for 
 three parts of an hour in unpleasant proximity to a 
 stout Jewess and a burly admiral. Immediately 
 before him, on the arm of a Privy Councillor, was 
 the most generally admired fashionable beauty and 
 amateur society journalist. They seemed the most 
 interesting people in his immediate neighbourhood. 
 He could hear their conversation distinctly above 
 the hubbub of talk and smothered laughter. She 
 objected to the glaring colours of the National Flag ; 
 declared the grimy houses of gray London were 
 made still more hideous by the window-boxes of gay 
 calceolarias, pelargonium, and lobelia ; in her opinion 
 ox-eye daisies and mignonette alone were permissible 
 in this taking her cue from the sentiment of the 
 favourite society poet who could hear the talk, being 
 ten stairs higher, but could not bend his head to see 
 his " loved Lady Laureate." She pointed him out 
 to her companion, and Robert thought how the 
 glossy bald head firm held by the inordinately high 
 collar resembled a huge billiard ball fast in a lathe 
 chuck. This fancy took his thought to Willie, 
 
14 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 laboriously, painfully, but joyously grinding away 
 at the Arithmometer crank in his lone den, while 
 he himself, still more lonely in this throng, was 
 frittering away his time ingloriously. He then 
 became critical ; noticed that although the men were 
 of every size and age, the women for the most part 
 were apparently young. All wore red-gold wigs cf 
 precisely the same pattern ; of one cut too their 
 dresses, aping each other even in the variety of 
 aniline dye with which they were stained ; all 
 adopting the same pose; one and all marked to the 
 same extent by the artificial blush on each cheek; 
 of one sort their voices and their words. 
 
 He read next day that the throng was fashionable 
 and brilliant ; to him all seemed idle, decaying, 
 ghastly. His technical training had spoiled his 
 appreciation for such application of art. Beauty he 
 could not see ; he easily recognised bismuth and 
 rouge, dead hair and peroxide of hydrogen, while 
 the all-pervading odour of ambergris was loathsome 
 and stifling. 
 
 As he stood there, the continuous idle chatter, 
 stifled laughter, mock smiles, the very inertness of 
 the mass of humanity surrounding him, forced him 
 to the conclusion that from such as they he could 
 extract nothing that would advance his work. 
 
 At last there seemed to be a movement onward ; 
 the throng swayed, but that was all except that a 
 few more crowded from the hall on to the bottom 
 stair, and the pressure was greater than before. 
 
 " I fear the Prince will have gone," sighed the 
 lady journalist. 
 
 " What matters that if the new millionaire 
 remains ? " cynically observed the Privy Councillor. 
 
 " Millionaires are so common nowadays." 
 
 " That is ambiguous." 
 
 " Construe it in either sense it is correct" 
 
 " You may think otherwise later." 
 
 "Is this one of the American or African variety?" 
 
ARISTOCRATS AND AN ISOCRAT. 15 
 
 "American, I believe." 
 
 " Of the two sorts the more detestable. His 
 name ? " 
 
 " Jerry, or Berry, or Sterry." 
 
 " Pray be precise ; one must know his name at 
 least." 
 
 " Robert Sterry, then." 
 
 " How plebeian ! Of Chicago ? " 
 
 " Of Plainfield, New Jersey." 
 
 " That sounds agrarian. Is he really wealthy ? " 
 
 "A billionaire." 
 
 "In dollars?" 
 
 " Of course. By-the-bye, I heard a funny story 
 about him to-day." 
 
 "Really good?" 
 
 " Very." 
 
 " Then not to his credit." 
 
 " Quite the reverse. Three years ago " His 
 
 voice sank to a whisper, but still Robert could hear 
 every word. 
 
 " Excuse me, but my name is Robert Sterry." 
 
 He spoke low, but something in the intonation 
 made each syllable heard throughout the hall, and 
 there was an instant silence, followed by a rustle 
 of silk as people turned to look towards the speaker. 
 
 The Privy Councillor turned too and bowed. The 
 lady journalist alone was unmoved 
 
 " How provoking ! I believe that for once you 
 were going to say something of interest." 
 
 " Really, that is too bad," laughed the Privy 
 Councillor. 
 
 " I shall ask you to tell me later," she said ; then 
 turning, with a comprehensive gaze looked at, all 
 around, and past Robert, who felt confused, and 
 feared he had done amiss. 
 
 He could not understand such manners ; he was 
 better used to the ways of straightforward men and 
 women, and longed for the whirr of the belting, the 
 ringing laughter and glad songs of the factory girls, 
 
1 6 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 the cheery whistle of the toilers. He tried to picture 
 such as they on the stairs, and these people dodging 
 belts and pulleys, standing in the glare of the furnace 
 or stooping over the anvil ; he saw that the toilers 
 would be men and women still, whatever the garb 
 they wore, but of the people around him he could 
 make nothing but puppets. 
 
 Suddenly the crowd surged forward ; there was 
 nothing to stay its progress. Soon Robert had 
 escaped the stairs, passed through a grand reception- 
 room en suite to the ballroom beyond. There was 
 space for all. By-and-bye he was noticed ; people 
 dodged here and there before him ; he was intro- 
 duced first to one, then to another, until he was 
 quite bewildered. The ponderous Jewess by whose 
 side he had stood in silence for an hour was now all 
 smiles and volubility ; a Miss Betham was anxious 
 to show him her ponies and drive him to Hurlingham ; 
 Lord Sines talked loudly of clam juice ; the Hon. 
 Stanbury Tisley wanted advice about Reading Rails ; 
 Branson invited him to pass into the smoke-room 
 and hear the latest story. Dozens of women were 
 brought to him since he could not be induced to 
 move freely in the thronged room ; their names were 
 mentioned, they bowed, smiled, and retired to make 
 room for others even the lady journalist came face 
 to face with him and did as the others had done. 
 About them all was a sameness : in their faces, their 
 conduct, their words, even in their titles they were 
 alike ; the proceeding became monotonous and 
 wearisome. Robert found it ridiculous. Confused 
 and bored, he was trying to escape when he met the 
 Hon. Benjamin Blanchard Fitzjoy. 
 
 " O Sterry, glad to find you have forsaken that 
 foolish invention for rational amusement." 
 
 " But I have not. I am coming to see you at the 
 office to-morrow." 
 
 " Spare yourself the trouble, my good fellow ; I 
 have not yet heard from that that " 
 
ARISTOCRATS AND AN ISOCRAT. I/ 
 
 " Sub-assistant to the under-superintendent of the 
 Construction Inspecting Department ? " 
 
 "Yes, yes; Beers, that's his name. When I get 
 his report I will communicate " 
 
 " You will never get it unless " 
 
 " Eh, haven't you " 
 
 " No. I offered you the chance of introducing it ; 
 if you do not care to, I shall go higher, not lower." 
 
 " H'm ! Really, what does it matter ? Come and 
 see me whenever you like, but don't talk shop now ; 
 I get too much of it in the House. Have you seen 
 the Prince?" 
 
 Sterry shook his head. 
 
 " You do not mean to say you were but of course 
 you do not understand our ways yet. You should 
 have come in by the other door and avoided that 
 
 wait, but perhaps you Ah well, the Prince is 
 
 in the supper-room now, or I would " 
 
 " I wish you would introduce me to our host, or 
 the Countess." 
 
 " Of course I will. Where are they ? Oh, I see 
 he is talking to the Princess ; we must wait a minute 
 or two. The fact is, there has been a slight hitch 
 to-night Feyda Vetini was expected an hour ago. 
 She is to sing that new thing of Verdi's no one has 
 heard it yet. But she is not here just like her. 
 Hullo! there's Bardsey! I'll bet she's come now. 
 Lord Bardsey is her particular friend at present, you 
 know. But she will not come upstairs yet. Not 
 she! Now, Sterry, if you will accept a moderate 
 stake and lay long odds, I will take you that Feyda 
 insists upon Kyrwick going downstairs to receive 
 her, and that he will go. What do you say? Is it 
 done for a pony at ten to one ? " 
 
 Sterry shook his head. 
 
 " You would have lost. See, there he goes ! I 
 wonder if she has brought Monsieur Ducamel with 
 her." 
 
 "Who is he?" 
 
 C 
 
1 8 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " Her son, of course. She takes him everywhere 
 now." 
 
 " Hush ! Someone may overhear us." 
 
 "The Princess? Not the least chance. Don't 
 you know she is half deaf? Not altogether a 
 disadvantage. She might often hear too much. 
 Feyda delights in shocking the proprieties." 
 
 " I thought the Princess very popular/' 
 
 "With the bourgeoisie she is. It is so easy to 
 be esteemed by the lower orders. They will worship 
 the very ground on which one treads if one be but 
 moderately good and dull like themselves. The 
 most difficult thing nowadays is to be irretrievably 
 bad without intentional striving after wickedness. 
 The Princess is an absolute and hopeless failure ! " 
 
 " Delighted to hear you say so." 
 
 " But I should say millionaires have a good chance 
 of succeeding. If money be the root of all evil, 
 you know, then a plentiful crop of wickedness might 
 grow naturally. I envy you your luck. She 
 comes ! She comes ! Look at her, the bitch ! " 
 
 A lane had opened in the throng, and along it 
 came Earl Kyrwick, with all courtly grace conducting 
 a slim, sallow-complexioned little woman of forty- 
 five. A wisp of hair, towsled like a thrum mop, 
 was thickly studded with diamonds, and fell m 
 cunning disorder about a scraggy neck and features 
 markedly Jewish. A wondrously draped loose robe, 
 freely besprinkled with jewels and heavily fringed, 
 alternately hid and revealed each line of her supple 
 figure, in its every movement feline. Emeralds, 
 diamonds, rubies sparkled upon her bosom; her 
 fingers were almost wholly hidden by rings. She 
 proceeded leisurely up the room to the orchestra; 
 the Prince entered hurriedly and acknowledged her. 
 Of intensely nervous temperament, and self-conscious 
 to the finger-tips, she yet looked as unconcerned as 
 a sphinx. 
 
 She spoke in French of a sort, slurring her words 
 
ARISTOCRATS AND AN ISOCRAT. 19 
 
 like an Israelite, yet commanding the admiration of 
 all. With her rendering of Verdi's new music she 
 said that she was not satisfied, neither could they 
 be. She had a greater surprise in store for them ; 
 she would sing to them in English. Her voice 
 thrilled them ; they forgot the delay, for which she 
 had not even apologised, they were delighted ; in 
 their aristocratic way they applauded warmly. Then 
 very low came the strains of a well-known melody. 
 In broken English and absolute silence the prima 
 donna sang " Home, Sweet Home." In a few 
 minutes she had finished, and was applauded. She 
 felt tired, she said, and trusted they would not ask 
 her to do more that night an announcement which 
 was less warmly received. Then Lord Bardsey 
 hastily led her away to the supper-room. 
 
 " Bravo, Fey da, bravo ! Excellent ! Was ever 
 such charming insouciance ? " And Fitzjoy looked 
 enquiringly at Robert. 
 
 " I should call it by another name," said Robert 
 sternly. 
 
 The Under Secretary of State assumed his 
 official attitude, screwed his monocle into his face, 
 and asked abruptly : 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Abominable insolence ! " 
 
 The eyeglass fell, and a smile spread over the 
 young man's features. 
 
 "Not really?" 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Never state the obvious in common terms. It is 
 bad art. Remember that golden rule it will be 
 worth more to you than millions in cash. But there's 
 Sefton must go see you at Ancaster's on Friday/ 
 
 Passing through the crowd, Sterry heard many 
 comments ; for one who blamed the singer three 
 were ready to praise her ; some urged in extenuation 
 that because the people of the Potteries had forced 
 an encore from Patti the week before, Feyda thought 
 
20 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 it would be appreciated at any rate she was bound 
 to try; and so on, and so on. He found all this 
 most uninteresting, and purchased his escape by the 
 back stairs. Passing the supper-room door, he 
 heard the singer complaining vehemently to Bardsey 
 of her treatment; she saw Sterry, and called out 
 loudly to him, but he heeded her not, and, once 
 outside, determined never to enter the house again. 
 
 Clearly he had commenced too high in the social 
 scale ; from such people he could expect no help 
 worth having. He drove to Bayswater. 
 
 Mrs. Spoor's " at-home " was a less important 
 social function than the Countess Kyrwick's " recep- 
 tion " yet in essentials the entertainment was the 
 same. An exact observer, Robert noticed that the 
 band played the same airs ; there was a French singer 
 from the same operatic company to which Feyda 
 belonged. The hall and stairs were thronged, but 
 not crowded ; the house was more brilliantly 
 illuminated ; the dresses were not all of the same 
 pattern or colour some even contrasted gloriously 
 with the sober livery of the footmen. In the 
 reception-room a few energetic ones were waltzing; 
 conversation was brisk ; in all a suggestion of gaiety, 
 which an occasional merry peal of laughter from 
 some dim alcove or secluded corner confirmed. 
 
 He passed through the throng unnoticed and 
 unrecognised ; a stranger to his hostess, she welcomed 
 him effusively "it was so very good of him to 
 come " ; before he could assure her the obligation 
 was his, she had abruptly left him. He wandered 
 among the company, knowing no one, cut off 
 from all. 
 
 They were people of a different class from those 
 at the Countess's. These showed some individuality, 
 a few even evidenced character which conventionality 
 had failed to obliterate or recast ; one or two robust 
 men there were who looked fit and able to go 
 anywhere and dare anything, as many women 
 
ARISTOCRATS AND AN ISOCRAT. 21 
 
 certainly brave enough to accompany them ; but for 
 the moment all sought amusement, and most seemed 
 successful. 
 
 Robert quickly remarked one woman, like himself 
 a stranger to the others. Young but not girlish, she 
 was commonplace of figure and dress, passing to 
 and fro unobtrusively. Her face interesting but not 
 pretty, though her features were regular and good; 
 the broad, high, even brow gave it its character 
 unmistakably intellectual. The eyes were hazel and 
 well set, but the lashes and eyebrows faint to 
 indistinctness ; the cheeks pale, the lips bloodless 
 but nervous ; the mouth very mobile, with playful 
 lines at the corners betraying the humour latent 
 behind the demure mask of self-possession. The 
 hair fair, fine, and abundant, almost ashen in its 
 paleness, worn in massive plaits pinned closely to 
 her head, undecorated with aigrette or jewel ; 
 fingers without rings, the sole trinkets a small scroll 
 clasp and a watchchain neat to scantiness a woman 
 who disdained all decoration. In the hands of an 
 adept maid well skilled in the arts of the Court 
 costumer and theatrical "maker-up," the almost 
 endless possibilities of figure, carriage, and pose 
 would have been used to make this perplexing 
 creature the most attractive woman in the company ; 
 instead, she was the most peculiar and least noticed 
 of all an excellent example of the latest modern 
 type, a clever woman too, perhaps ; beyond all doubt 
 scholarly. 
 
 He was wondering how to obtain an introduction 
 when a distinguished-looking old lady came up and 
 addressed her as Miss Winship. She answered 
 slowly, betraying by the slightest suspicion of sing- 
 song in her speech that her home had been on the 
 Tyneside; and this set Robert thinking. A few 
 minutes later she was again alone on the landing 
 leaning over the balustrade looking down into the 
 hall. 
 
22 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "Miss Winship, I believe you have heard of me. 
 I am Robert Sterry, of Plainfield, New Jersey. I 
 heard of you through Jessie Redhead." 
 
 " The Redheads were friends of ours ; I think I 
 remember them staying with us at Shields some years 
 ago, when they were on a visit to Europe. But 
 you " 
 
 " I am a great friend of her brother's the cripple, 
 you remember. He is with me in England now." 
 
 " Ah yes, I recollect something now ; and what do 
 you think of this country ? " 
 
 " You are more than half American, I declare. 
 This is my first visit, and I have not seen enough 
 to warrant me in stating an opinion." 
 
 " That is quite English. Do you know many 
 people here ? " 
 
 " Only Mrs. Spoor ; and she seems fully occupied. 
 Do you find it dull?" 
 
 " Yes, and no. I came because Lady Reid wished 
 it. She js one of the Governors of our school 
 I am a teacher in a High School for Girls at 
 Kensington, you know, and I could not refuse. In 
 a sense it is enjoyable, but frivolous. What do you 
 think?" 
 
 " What will you think of me when I tell you it is 
 the second to which I have been to-night. I left 
 the Countess Kyrwick's but an hour ago." 
 
 " That, of course, was a very different gathering ; 
 it is the house of the smartest set in London! Why 
 did you not stay ? " 
 
 " Because it was the most deadly dull affair I ever 
 visited. For liveliness even a White House reception 
 could give it points and beat it." 
 
 " You have the American aversion to aristocrats." 
 
 " I am afraid it will end that way." 
 
 " As is only natural to a born democrat." 
 
 "To speak strictly I am a Republican. May I 
 ask what you are ? " 
 
 "I? Oh, I am an 'isocrat'" 
 
ARISTOCRATS AND AN ISOCRAT. 23 
 
 "Whatever is that?" 
 
 " An isocrat is a member of a society composed of 
 people who take a serious view of life." And she 
 laughed. 
 
 " It must be an order new to London." 
 
 " You must not judge us all by Lady Kyrwick's 
 standard. Come and see us for yourself : we have 
 an open meeting for recreation to-morrow evening, 
 at Mrs. Smith's, The Boltons. You will find some- 
 thing quite different from this, and we are always 
 ready to proselytise, though I may add we are all 
 quite harmless. Shall I expect you ? " 
 
 " Certainly you may." 
 
 " Now let me introduce you to Lady Reid. 
 Whoever is that looking this way? See, he has 
 recognised you, and gone straight off to Mrs. Spoor." 
 
 Sterry looked across the room and saw his hostess 
 bustling towards them. She bowed graciously and 
 took him by the hand. 
 
 "My dvar Mr. Sterry, I must apologise! I really 
 did not know you were Mr. Sterry not the 
 Mr. Sterry, you know. How could I have been so 
 forgetful! Do let me introduce Captain Sibthorp. 
 Captain Sibthorp Mr. Sterry, of Connecticut. 
 Where did you leave Lady Frere, Captain? Don't 
 move from here, please, until I return. Where can 
 she be?" 
 
 Several times Sterry tried to speak again with 
 Miss Winship, but Mrs. Spoor, having discovered 
 him, was not inclined to loose him into the hands 
 of strangers. She gave him no rest until he " knew " 
 all her set, and as he was hurried and harried he 
 was conscious all the time of two mischievous eyes 
 watching him amusedly, and the undisguised smile 
 of merriment he saw playing about a pair of pale 
 thin lips made him wish again and again that he 
 had stayed on at Lady Kyrwick's. Never had he 
 felt so ridiculous. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A CONVERSATIONAL DANCE. 
 
 THE next morning Robert called on the American 
 Minister. He had a favour to ask. No, it was not 
 the Prince of Wales's Levee; but if the repre- 
 sentative of the United States would introduce him 
 to some member of the British Government higher 
 in rank than an Under Secretary of State, and 
 preferably one whose foible was physics or science, 
 then Sterry would feel under a lasting obligation." 
 
 "Why not the Duke of Hallamshire ? " 
 
 " Never heard of him ; I don't care whether it be 
 the Prime Minister or simply Golden Stick in Waiting 
 at the Back Stairs, if only he can tell a 'fast-speed- 
 repeater ' from the common ' sounder.' " 
 
 " I will see what I can do." 
 
 "To-day?" 
 
 " To-day or to-morrow." 
 
 Then he went straightway to his agent in the 
 City, and at his instigation spent the rest of the day 
 in calling upon " influential " people. These asked 
 him to dinner, to lunch, or to liquor. They gave 
 him a lot of advice, but no encouragement. An 
 invention such as he described was not wanted at 
 all. He grew disheartened ; found the mountain of 
 conventionality a formidable obstacle by no means 
 easy to climb high enough even for a clear view of 
 its extent. Every one expressed surprise that a man 
 of his wealth should have nothing better to do than 
 
A CONVERSATIONAL DANCE. 25 
 
 exploit a trivial invention other ways of making 
 money and fame were so much easier ; but then, 
 although they knew him to be a millionaire, they all 
 seemed to think he must be hungry, or at least 
 thirsty, so he did not think highly of their judgment. 
 
 He dined with Willie Redhead off a tough over- 
 done steak and half-boiled potatoes, and his story 
 was as unpalatable to his 'sanguine companion as 
 was the spoiled food to himself. 
 
 " Who has called to-day ? " he asked, wishing to 
 change the topic. 
 
 " The same people, with one exception. Signora 
 Vetini did not come." 
 
 "No one fresh?" 
 
 " A Lord Bardsey ; he wished to see you at 
 once. I sent him after you into the City. What 
 do you do to-morrow ? " 
 
 " Much the same thing. To-night, however, I am 
 going to enjoy myself, and no one shall say me nay. 
 I am going to work with you." 
 
 Then he remembered his promise to Miss Winship, 
 and wished he had not spoken so hastily. He would 
 have to go ; but all the same he sat long talking 
 with Willie. 
 
 It was late when he arrived at The Boltons. An 
 elderly maidservant answered his ring, and entering 
 the hall, a buzz of conversation from the room 
 adjoining augured a lively time. 
 
 He was met by a tall, thin, figureless girl in a 
 nondescript yellow dress. Her face was spoiled by 
 a too large nose and an immense long fringe of 
 straight tawny hair, the remnant of which was 
 gathered up loosely into a small but most aggressive 
 knot poised on the very apex of her crown. She 
 had a large tortoiseshell fan dangling by a cord of 
 golden silk from her wrist, several programmes in her 
 hand, and she was throbbing with suppressed energy 
 like a locomotive boiler under 200 Ib. of steam. 
 
 "Mr. Sterry! Salve I Madeline told me to 
 
26 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 expect you. I am the secretary, Hilda Kewney. 
 Here is a programme. Shall I explain ? " 
 
 " Please do," said Sterry, bewildered by the 
 cardboard, headed with a mystical figure and bearing 
 the legend : " Om mani padmi Aum." 
 
 " It is quite simple. Instead of dancing you talk. 
 We are now at number three. That is a round 
 dance, you see. For a round dance you choose your 
 partner, go where you like, and until the M.C. tinkles 
 his bell you debate the question. At present they 
 are arguing ' Whether the primal curse be not a 
 blessing in disguise/ If you take the affirmative you 
 commence. You have only a few minutes in which 
 to state your case and listen to your opponent refute 
 it; therefore do not waste words. If you take the 
 negative, it is best to let your partner do the talking, 
 and demolish the last argument with an epigram 
 if you can. That is my way, and sometimes it is 
 telling ; I am standing out because I really do not 
 know whether we ought to be gratified for labour 
 or not ; but I may say it is about the only topic on 
 the programme I am not prepared to debate, taking 
 either side. Always excepting Professor von der 
 Pfordten's subject. You see that is a pas seul, 
 and so it does not matter. For about five minutes 
 we shall all listen while he demonstrates ' The 
 Parallelogram of Forces exemplified in the Flight 
 of a Boomerang.' I am not quite sure the good 
 man knows what a boomerang is, but that is only a 
 detail ; he is certain to prove amusing, and probably 
 instructive. Can I explain anything else ? " 
 
 " A pas de quatre is a debate of four, of course ; 
 but what is a country dance ? " 
 
 " Just a general talk. You can sit on either the 
 affirmative or negative side ; you, of course, do not 
 need to be warned that to be counted with the 
 majority is not necessarily to have the best of the 
 argument. A skirt dance is for the ladies alone. 
 The gentlemen will listen while we discuss ' The 
 
A CONVERSATIONAL DANCE. 2/ 
 
 Weaknesses Inherent in Male Character.' You have 
 your turn with ' The Un-reason of the Feminine 
 Intelligence/ and I wish you well with your subject. 
 We join forces again with the last item : ' Perfect 
 Truth is Compatible with Good Manners.' That 
 brings us to the end of the programme. ' The 
 Envoy/ you see, is ' Be good, do good, not from fear 
 of punishment or a hope of reward, but because it 
 is good.' That you are expected to act up to during 
 the whole course of your natural life. Now I think 
 you know as much as I can tell you. I will give you 
 a hint : do not monopolise the conversation. If you 
 do, when next you ask the favour of a chat you may 
 be shown the back of the programme. That means 
 refusal no rudeness is intended ; it is merely woman 
 exercising her prerogative. There is no obligation 
 for you to invite every one or any one, but you are 
 expected to do so." 
 
 " Then may I have the pleasure, Miss Kewney ? " 
 " No. But I will not show you the back. There ! 
 You see it is full and we have no extras. I am very 
 popular when this game is played ; if I do not talk 
 as well as some of the others, I at least say as much. 
 You must keep the conversation going merrily." 
 " I am an excellent and delighted listener." 
 " Really ? Well, we have still five minutes. I will 
 put you to the test. Come this way, and I'll show 
 you the company through the other doorway, then 
 you will not feel quite strange. You see there, by 
 the conservatory, that long-faced young man is Boyd 
 Robson, the son of the great railway contractor; 
 he is a genius of a peculiar sort. The lady with 
 whom he is talking is Edith Waters, the lady 
 gymnast. Madeline Winship has her back towards 
 us ; Tom Spikens is listening to her stupid fellow, 
 why doesn't he talk? That is von der Pfordten on 
 their left, with Mrs. Smith ; Henry Toller is next ; 
 then Fred Stephens, the Theosophist, and Jennie 
 Marion; Will Firbank next we cannot see with 
 
28 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 whom he is talking. Young Carr, who writes sonnets, 
 is with Alice Clowes here on my left ; next Minnie 
 Smith and John Buckley; Iltyd Jones, the inventor, 
 with Ada Herbert, the black and white artist ; and 
 last Alan Winship, the assistant editor of ' The 
 Industrial Weekly/ with Beatrice Tyacke. We 
 cannot see those in the other part of the room, and 
 some are in the conservatory; I'll introduce them to 
 you later." 
 
 " I do not think you said who the young lady m 
 red is the one by the door ? " 
 
 " You mean the one with the golden hair ? Isn't 
 it lovely ? I thought you would notice her ; do you 
 not think her very beautiful, now? Some think her 
 doll-like, but they do not know her. Who but she 
 could wear carmine and not seem hideous? Now, I 
 belong to half a dozen societies, and in none but 
 this is there a really pretty girl to be found." 
 
 " The Isocrats are to be complimented." 
 
 " All are very proud of that particular member, I 
 assure you. You see, very handsome girls do not 
 usually venture into any society where anything 
 of real interest is likely to be broached it might 
 attract attention from them, you know." 
 
 " They are wise, then, in their generation. But you 
 have not told me her name ? " 
 
 " Do you really wish to know ? There goes the 
 M.C.'s bell ; I can do better now ; I will introduce 
 you. Come along! Mr. Robert Sterry Miss Mavis 
 Weyland." 
 
 The game went merrily, and Sterry fought through 
 the programme conscientiously. The men held fairly 
 to the rules of the debate, the ladies were a law unto 
 themselves. They were not often academic, but 
 terribly in earnest ; assumed the side they took must 
 be in the right and thus became wearingly didactic, 
 sheltered themselves behind unassailable aphorisms, 
 and fired the contents of technical treatises at their 
 opponents. Occasionally they were original, more 
 
A CONVERSATIONAL DANCE. 29 
 
 often bizarre ; Madeline Winship told him, " Good- 
 ness is wholly a question of diet ; if you underfeed 
 you get crime, if you overfeed you beget vice." 
 Beatrice Tyacke, an intense young person who 
 seemed barely able to support the burden of 
 existence because she was so awed by the immensity 
 of its possibilities, somewhat astonished him by 
 declaring that " beauty is only a concept, and the 
 canons of art rest on a utilitarian base. Whatever 
 form habit has made familiar and proved most 
 suitable for the use intended to be made of it is 
 beautiful." 
 
 " A chimney-stack ? " ventured Sterry. 
 
 " Is certainly beautiful if undecorated ; everything 
 really of use when reduced by art and experience to 
 its simplest form must be beautiful. That is an 
 axiom. If you do not recognise it as beautiful, the 
 fault is in your taste." 
 
 " The beauties of natural scenery, then ? " 
 
 " Really an agglomeration of accidental irregu- 
 larities on the earth's crust are considered beautiful 
 only by those whose sense of proportion has been 
 vitiated. The sea, the wide open plain, the desert, 
 the expanse of sky these are beautiful because 
 immense, and should please rather than winding 
 irregular valleys and rugged rocks." 
 
 "And men and women? Do you not allow that 
 they differ in beauty ? " 
 
 " Not at all ; every being, as everything create is 
 neither beautiful nor ugly of itself, each one may be 
 considered as both according to the perception of 
 the observer. The giant toad may consider some 
 other toad to possess the very best shape of anything 
 create. Always amid different surroundings from 
 those to which you have been accustomed even you 
 might think the natural contour of the Hottentot 
 Venus more beautiful than the lines of the latest 
 Paris fashions." 
 
 " But I do not consider the Paris fashions beautiful. '' 
 
30 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " That is begging the question/' she said severely 
 as the bell brought to a close a discussion to which 
 the learned disquisition of the foreign professor came 
 as a positive relief. 
 
 A very few sentences from Mavis Weyland con- 
 vinced Sterry that she was a woman not of ideas 
 but of disposition. 
 
 " The Limitations of Destiny " she did not even 
 pretend to discuss, but in the ten minutes allotted 
 she made Sterry feel that he was a free agent able 
 to reach beyond the deepest dreams of fantasy. She 
 imbued him with a new sense of his importance, of 
 his might ; even suggested his duty to himself by 
 expressing to the utmost whatever was within him. 
 He rose Napoleonic, full of grand ideas of his own, 
 and possessed of a high opinion of the sterling good 
 sense of the young girl who had flattered him. 
 
 Before he left he had some talk with Iltyd Jones, 
 a mercurial young Welshman, dreamy of eye and 
 bald of head, who had discovered a means of 
 toughening earthenware. Every one had tried to 
 convince him that toughened china was the very last 
 thing any right-thinking person would purchase; 
 that he had wasted his time with the invention, and 
 would waste his energy in proceeding further with 
 the matter. Only Mavis Weyland thought the thing 
 great, he said, and at that the men smiled. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FIRST MOVE FORWARD. 
 
 THE next day was one of disaster. The Duke of 
 Hallamshire was one of the urbane people who sit 
 enthroned upon the mountain of conventionality and 
 are so unswervingly good-natured that none of the 
 most wronged finds the heart to displace. He 
 expressed himself as deeply interested in the details 
 of the discovery Sterry described, but of its practical 
 value he was not convinced. There was no popular 
 demand for any radical change in the telegraphic 
 service, and unless people clamoured loudly for in- 
 creased facilities it was much better to allow matters 
 to go on satisfactorily as at present It was just 
 possible it might be advantageous economically to 
 the Department, and as to that experts would advise 
 when the things had been patented and they had 
 full details and time to study them ; but even if 
 economical there, it was very doubtful whether such 
 an advantage would compensate for the very serious 
 dislocation of industries which would necessarily 
 follow if wires were superseded. He advised Sterry 
 to patent the invention ; possible he could make it 
 known through the Royal Institution ; if not, the 
 engineers of Great George Street might be induced 
 to listen to him. 
 
 " In what way would that benefit me ? " 
 
 The Duke of Hallamshire laughed; it seemed 
 
 ridiculous that a rich man should expect any benefit 
 
 from a thing so trivial as an invention. Of course 
 
 money was no object. Then it was a title Sterry 
 
32 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 was expecting, and his genial manner congealed to 
 the excessively polite zero of official demeanour. 
 
 " The Academies may confer degrees." 
 
 " Pah ! I can buy as many as I want" 
 
 " If you have everything, we can give nothing ; we 
 can but thank you as we thank other inventors for 
 largesse in conferring a boon on humanity." 
 
 " You have the impudence to thank the men whom 
 you rob ? " 
 
 " Rob ? They give us of their best and are pleased 
 if we accept. We can do very well without new 
 inventions." 
 
 Sterry thought the way of the inventor hard to 
 travel. 
 
 He went on to Lady Ancaster's, expecting to 
 have a better chance of convincing the Honourable 
 Benjamin B. Fitzroy now that he had interviewed 
 the Duke of Hallamshire. 
 
 That sprig of nobility soon undeceived him. 
 
 " You have been behind my back with the business, 
 now I must keep my back turned upon it," he said 
 surlily. 
 
 Sterry did not mend his humour by answering 
 tartly that it was always " above his head." 
 
 Then Warren found him, and in great dudgeon 
 upbraided him for having spoiled all his chances by 
 his too early departure from Lady Kyrwick's. 
 
 " What could it matter to any when I went ? " 
 
 " But you went before the Prince," he repeated, as 
 though it were an unpardonable offence. 
 
 " How did I know what time he intended to leave ? 
 And why should I stay there all night because a man 
 with whom I have never spoken had a mind to waste 
 his time that way ? " 
 
 " Etiquette forbade." 
 
 "Ah, I'm too old to waste my time in learning 
 useless customs. I have done with Society, Warren." 
 
 The courtier tried to explain ; but the American 
 was intractable. He meant to be independent again. 
 
THE FIRST MOVE FORWARD. 33 
 
 It was put down to temper, and Society was ready 
 enough to forgive him if he would amend, for Society 
 was not above recognising the Sterry gold, though 
 it was not to be coerced into recognising the man 
 Sterry as a person of genius. That would be 
 tantamount to conferring a title to aristocracy taking 
 precedence of their lineage in the popular estimation ; 
 and if an aristocrat be not popular nowadays, of what 
 use is he to himself or his class ? " 
 
 The Hon. Benjamin Blanchard Fitzjoy was 
 disappointed ; he had schemed to get some of the 
 Sterry millions into the Fitzjoy family, and probably 
 with a less onerous proviso than attached to their 
 last alliance of birth with wealth. The old Jew, 
 Benjamin Moses, had coupled his " gift " with an 
 obligation upon each of his heirs in tail to take his 
 " Christian " name, which was his way of effectually 
 rubbing in the Hebrew taint generation after 
 generation. If Irene Fitzjoy could have been 
 induced to take the American millionaire in training, 
 instead of leaving him to that ass Warren, all might 
 have been well ; and now Sterry had looked into 
 Society and withdrawn disgusted, ranging at large, 
 a man with money and ideas. After all, Fitzjoy 
 did not doubt conventionality would be more than 
 a match for him and his dollars, but he would need 
 watching. 
 
 Then for a few days Sterry wandered about in 
 a state of great unrest Alan Winship, who was of 
 a practical turn of mind, suggested that the Sterry- 
 graph should be made use of to found an International 
 News Agency. The invention itself did not strike 
 him as at all out of the way. He induced Iltyd Jones 
 to state what he had done and to give specimens 
 of the new metal " clear as crystal, strong as steel." 
 Then one day he brought in old Peter Robertson, 
 who for more than a score of years had- been saving 
 money in order to patent the "new motor" all the 
 world over ; even Boyd Robson gave a few hints 
 
 D 
 
34 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 he knew of destroying fortresses and sinking ships. 
 Inventions were plentiful as blackberries. 
 
 " It is this way," said Alan Winship, between the 
 puffs of his cigarette : " the Robertson motor is no 
 good because old Peter hasn't the money to work 
 it, and never will have. You have money, and so 
 hold the stick at both ends. Take my advice : start 
 an International News Agency, and you will have a 
 powerful lever for other things. It will cost you 
 next to nothing to transmit the news, so you can 
 supply a better service for half the money, and 
 make a good profit. You can make the machines in 
 Spitzbergen or where you please ; none but your 
 own agents will know how to use them, so the secret 
 will remain yours." 
 
 " That seems easy enough." 
 
 " It is if you have the money. Little Jones wants 
 only money to get the right earth and plenty of 
 sea-water in a place where no factory agent nor 
 industrial spy is likely to pay surprise visits ; then 
 he could put that toughened earthenware on the 
 market at a tenth the price of Coalport." 
 
 " He can come with me, then." 
 
 "What is the matter with you, Bob? You look 
 ferocious," said Willie wonderingly. 
 
 "That is the way I feel. It is a shame people 
 cannot get a chance. I am determined to make a 
 way for myself." 
 
 " W r hat are you going to do ? " 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 " Come down to the House of Commons with me 
 to-night and hear a debate. Staley, the member (or 
 Hillborough, is to tilt against the Navy Estimates. 
 An armed cruiser built on the Tyne for the 
 Venezuelans has proved on her trial trip superior to 
 anything turned out of the Royal Dockyards ; the 
 Venezuelans cannot complete the purchase, and 
 Staley wants the Admiralty to buy her." 
 
 " I do not see how that can interest you, Winship." 
 
THE FIRST MOVE FORWARD. 35 
 
 " Oh, doesn't it ? First, as a matter of policy 
 we ought to buy her. Of course we sha'n't. We 
 haven't enough common-sense. Second, because I 
 gave the information to Staley, and I want to hear 
 whether he gets an advertisement of " The Industrial 
 Weekly " into the debate, as he ought to do by way 
 of compensation to me for my trouble. Won't you 
 come ? " 
 
 "No, thanks. Where are the letters, Willie?" 
 
 Redhead pointed to a large wicker hamper. 
 
 " They have not been coming in so fast lately." 
 
 " Not quite, but it is still troublesome to find my 
 own among them. Your aristocratic acquaintance 
 seem to be neglecting you." 
 
 "Ah! You have noticed that! I have done with 
 them. They are only like the dead wood on a 
 walnut-tree ; they bear no fruit, though they make 
 a good show of timber at other seasons/' 
 
 " The best fruit is on the highest branches, Bob." 
 
 " And to get there some of the dead wood must 
 be knocked off it will be all the better for the tree." 
 
 " To get up the butt to the first fork is the hardest 
 climb. Have you thought how it is to be done ? " 
 
 " Most people try to just shin up. Some get up 
 by means of a golden ladder ; the longer the ladder 
 the easier the ascent, unless they rest it upon dead 
 wood. I am going to get up with a pair of climbing- 
 irons, Willie." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "You will see. Now I'm going through the 
 letters." 
 
 He lifted as many as he could take in hands and 
 arms on to the table, turned the others out on to 
 the floor, and put the empty basket close to his 
 chair. For a time he worked in silence, opening 
 envelope after envelope, and just glancing at the 
 signature, throwing both as waste into the hamper. 
 
 "That Hilda Kewney is the most voluble person 
 I ever met," said Willie. 
 
36 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " Lively enough, isn't she ? " remarked Robert, 
 scarcely noticing the interruption. 
 
 "If there be many as talkative as she, the Sterry- 
 graph will come as a boon." 
 
 " Better present her with a transmitter, then." 
 
 " What are you looking for ? " 
 
 " A letter, of course." 
 
 " Oh." 
 
 Another armful of letters was lifted from the heap 
 on to the table, and still more hastily scanned and 
 thrown aside. 
 
 " Would you mind passing me that book if it is 
 not of use to you as a letter-weight ? " 
 
 Sterry passed the book in silence, then continued 
 his task. He worked on savagely ; it was nearly 
 midnight when he collected the few last stragglers 
 about the floor and put them on the table ; a half- 
 dozen open sheets lay there, but the basket was 
 filled high with the cast aside. 
 
 " Willie looked up from his book. You haven't 
 found the one you want ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " All that came are there. That Miss Kewney 
 wishes you to go with her to-morrow to call on ? 
 Miss Weyland, I think she said." 
 
 "Why could you not tell me that before? It 
 would have saved me this labour." And he swept 
 the remaining letters unopened into the basket. 
 
 " I did not know." 
 
 " At what time ? Where ? " 
 
 " I told her I did not think you would be able to 
 go. If you could, you were to meet at the Woman's 
 Rights Association office." 
 
 " That's all right, then." 
 
 " Miss Kewney was very entertaining. I say, Bob, 
 I rather like " 
 
 "Eh?" 
 
 " The Isocrats." 
 
 " Oh yes." 
 
THE FIRST MOVE FORWARD. 3; 
 
 " It is quite refreshing to find some people who 
 know life is a tragedy, and who do not play comedy 
 always." 
 
 " Most people act as though it were a pantomime." 
 
 " I am going to join the ' isocracy.' " 
 
 " Very well ; only " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " We may not always reside here, you know." 
 
 " That is just what I was going to say. Can we 
 not get a house more conveniently central a house 
 which would do for the meetings ? " 
 
 " That is not what I meant. We want no ties, 
 you and I nothing which will keep us from pursuing 
 our experiments." 
 
 " Of course not. But as long as we remain here? " 
 
 " I shall not stay long in London." 
 
 " By-the-bye, what was the letter for which you 
 were looking ? " 
 
 " One that has never been written, I expect." 
 
 "By Miss Kewney?" 
 Wrong." 
 
 "Miss Weyland, then?" 
 
 " Had you not best go through the list of the 
 Isocrats? Do not bother about it now." Then 
 seeing the perplexed look upon his friend's face, his 
 manner softened, and he added quickly : " We shall 
 not fall out over that, Willie." 
 
 " No, no. But when will you go ahead with the 
 Sterrygraph ? " he asked, anxious to change the topic. 
 
 " By to-morrow night you will be advising me to 
 hold back." 
 
 " What do you mean ? What are you going to 
 do?" 
 
 " Something which may astound you. Good night.'' 
 
 The next morning Robert Sterry, for once in his 
 life, evinced a keen interest in the daily papers. He 
 left early, and was away all day. Miss Kewney 
 waited late at the office, then went round to Fulham, 
 
38 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 but there was no news of him, and she soon left, 
 evidently disappointed. 
 
 Willie Redhead could not understand it : never 
 before had he been ignored by his friend, and it was 
 clear Robert meditated some serious step, and had 
 not asked his advice. For the time the invention 
 lost its interest; his book he neglected, and sat idly 
 drumming on the table with his fingers, gazing 
 vacantly before him. 
 
 It was nearly midnight when Robert entered. 
 
 " There, I have bought the ' Cuyuni ' \ What do 
 you think of me ? " 
 
 "The warship?" 
 
 " No other. Nominally I have taken her up for 
 the Venezuelans, but it is understood they will never 
 redeem her. I mean to clear out of this country at 
 the soonest. The guarantee engineers are on board, 
 and I have arranged for a crew to be signed on for 
 six months. You will come, of course ! " 
 
 " Where are you going ? " 
 
 " To find a place in Venezuela or somewhere else 
 where we can work in peace and exploit our inven- 
 tions. Boyd Robson is coming out, so that no time 
 may be lost in getting to work when we decide upon 
 a suitable pitch ; and his cousin, a Mr. Kell, happens 
 to be the guarantee engineer the builders have put 
 on board, so we shall have some sort of control over 
 the ship. The Spanish-Americans and Spaniards I 
 shall unship at the first opportunity." 
 
 " I do not understand it all. Why did you not 
 tell me?" 
 
 " I told you I was going to buy climbing-irons. 
 This pattern pleases me best." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONCESSIONS. 
 
 THE paragraphs concerning a millionaire's freak had 
 scarcely been the round of the papers when a rumour 
 was published that the " Cuyuni " had been wrecked 
 on the coast of Morocco. A few days later Sterry 
 was in London, but his movements baffled the 
 reporters ; the most enterprising of them could 
 discover only that he had purchased or hired a 
 powerful North Sea steam tug, and sent her with 
 an expert diver and a lot of salvage gear to Saffi. 
 
 The story Sterry told Redhead was businesslike. 
 On the south coast of Morocco, in the Sus country, 
 they had found a creek in a desolate district which 
 would suit Jones's purpose and his own. The two 
 of them, with an artful Moor, by name Lukeeli, had 
 journeyed inland to Fez, bribed and cajoled a Court 
 favourite, and obtained from the young Shereef leave 
 to establish factories on the river for the manufacture 
 of such transparent steel wares as they presented 
 to him. In exchange he was to have the " Cuyuni." 
 She would keep the Riff tribes in awe, and Sterry 
 undertook to train a crew within twelve months, 
 during which time she was to remain near the 
 conceded territory for the protection of their works, 
 and be wholly under his command. A like vessel 
 had been ordered to take her place when she was 
 finally made over to the Moors. 
 
 " We have absolute control of twenty-five miles 
 of coast from the south bank of the stream in front 
 of Fort Chanak, southward towards the Sus, and as 
 
40 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 much back land as we can occupy, all rent and tax 
 free for ever and no restrictions, except that the 
 erection of places of worship other than mosques is 
 prohibited, and no trade allowed with the natives in 
 arms, explosives, or alcohol. I consider it cheap at 
 a million dollars, which is about what it has cost." 
 
 " And the next thing ? " asked Willie excitedly. 
 
 "Is to plant the right people there. We have 
 planned out how best to utilise the river banks : the 
 secret factories and loading-quays on the north ; 
 graving-docks, trading-quays, and repairing-sheds on 
 the south side. Robson is on his way there now 
 with four hundred British navvies to make a start ; 
 we have two steamers loading the plant, and schooners 
 with timber are already on the way to Port Cristal 
 for so we named the river from Gefle, Kotka, and 
 Miramichi. We have to be smart to get all done 
 before the hot weather begins." 
 
 " Who is to help you at the head of the concern ? " 
 
 " You, of course ; then our friends, and their 
 friends, and their friends' friends. Cristallia is to be 
 as clannish as the engine-room of an Atlantic liner." 
 
 " But we shall want thousands of workers." 
 
 " And we shall get them all, on the rolling snowball 
 plan. Suppose we begin with the Isocrats a dozen 
 of them. First there is Robson he is altogether 
 with us, and so are his people ; his cousin, Kell, will 
 have charge of the motor factory, for I am going to 
 buy the Robertson motor, out and out, for the good 
 of the concern. Then Winship has promised to get 
 a dozen trustworthy men at once to start the news 
 agency. I can find three dozen mechanics from the 
 old shop at Hartford who will make the instruments ; 
 and each will bring in three dozen more as soon as 
 room can be found for them. Then Toller " 
 
 "What! Harry Toller, the accountant? He is 
 quite an ordinary man." 
 
 " Just a man of figures ; a man of business, but 
 not at all an ordinary man. The first man taken out 
 
CONCESSIONS. 41 
 
 of the street would not be the equal of Toller, and 
 you know it He seems ordinary because, as Beatrice 
 Tyacke first pointed out to me, he possesses the 
 genius of common-sense. As soon as I recognised 
 that, I did not see how the republic could be run 
 without Toller." 
 
 " Then it is to be a commonwealth ? " 
 
 " On what other lines could it succeed ? We take 
 the Isocratic platform advancing the welfare of the 
 mass by attending to the wants of the individual ; 
 the inventors, the real creators of wealth, our only 
 aristocrats/' 
 
 Later, after long consultations with Toller and 
 Willie Redhead, he explained his scheme in detail 
 to the Isocrats. When in a few words Toller showed 
 that the plan was feasible their enthusiasm was great. 
 In a neat speech their spokesman, a plain Mr. Smith, 
 thanked the inventor for the chance he had given 
 them of demonstrating the practicability of their 
 theories of government ; the colony in Africa would 
 grow into an ideal republic worthy the emulation 
 of every civilised community. They must beware 
 of parasitical growths, guard jealously their own 
 rights, remembering that every modern government 
 was at heart a freebooter. They made the venture 
 under the best possible conditions, carrying war into 
 no one's camp, working unknown industries and 
 exploring fresh fields ; their firm belief in the truth 
 that the good of all was only to be obtained through 
 the welfare of each individual would save them from 
 the fate of like enterprises undertaken by men imbued 
 with the altruistic principles which end with national 
 suicide. 
 
 Beatrice Tyacke was anxious to know whether the 
 new community would be "white," illuminating and 
 cleansing " that dark Africa Europe has made so 
 red." 
 
 Reassured on this point ; Madeline Winship asked 
 from what people the colonists would be taken. 
 
42 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 There Sterry spoke decisively. 
 
 " From among the citizens of the United States 
 and the middle class of Great Britain/' 
 
 Asked to define the middle class, he held it to 
 range from the master workman to the man who had 
 refused a baronetcy both inclusive. Personally, he 
 "would give preference to the hardy workers in iron 
 from the North-East Coast and the Midlands people 
 whose forefathers from generation to generation had 
 breathed iron dust, people inured to drudgery from 
 childhood, and by nature as pugnacious as game- 
 cocks. 
 
 Then it was decided that a week should be allowed 
 in which to apply for service with the adventurers ; 
 the young members quickly volunteered for employ- 
 ment in Cristallia, the middle-aged and old were 
 content to work for the cause in their native land. 
 Only one Isocrat neglected to apply ; Mavis Weyland 
 made no communication whatever. This annoyed 
 Robert Sterry ; the reason for it he determined to 
 ascertain. Mavis Weyland was only a pupil teacher 
 in a Kensington Board School, but more might be 
 learned from studying why she refrained than was 
 to be gained from the adherence of the enthusiastic. 
 He obtained her address, and one sultry afternoon 
 set forth in a hansom to call upon her. 
 
 He passed quickly through the well-paved streets 
 of the West End, and on and on towards the confines 
 of the great city until he reached a dingy suburb 
 where respectability merges in squalor. A locality 
 teeming with small villas, tenement houses, and sooty 
 terraces ; a corner of Kensington wedged in between 
 a great infirmary and the boundaries of a jail, a 
 district in the grip of the speculative builder and 
 incompetent vestryman. The ill-made streets served 
 both as playgrounds for a multitude of children and 
 rubbish heaps for miscellaneous offal ; and withal 
 under the too heavy shower from a bulky water-cart, 
 asserted their own true nature of swamp on Thames 
 
CONCESSIONS. 43 
 
 clay. Dead pigeons were piled high on hampers on 
 a passing cart, black smuts fell thickly from the 
 many chimneys, a hundred stale odours of decay 
 arose from the moistened dust and filth, and the 
 whole life of the place seemed almost to revert to that 
 lower bacillic organism from which, in the golden 
 age, it had arisen. 
 
 At the entrance to a long cul-de-sac, blocked by 
 a milk-cart and a coster's shallow, the hansom 
 stopped. Robert alighted and looked up at the 
 neighbouring school buildings dirty, decaying, and 
 desolate ; ugly as a public office, but rising monstrous, 
 in ogre-like importance, from the dreary monotony 
 of puny villas. The cabman might wait where he 
 liked ; Robert walked along the court seeking the 
 house he wanted, and stumbled over a child in the 
 gutter in his anxiety to see the number on a door. 
 The terrace was very long, and all the houses were 
 exactly alike ; windows and doors both were flung 
 wide open in most, in hope of coaxing the muggy 
 air of the street to mingle with the still more foul air 
 of the little rooms. Two miserably dressed but 
 happy-faced schoolgirls tripped out of one gate, and 
 at the door stood Mavis Weyland, her dress hidden 
 by a long peignoir dark blue with small white 
 spots, Sterry afterwards remembered and a common 
 school pencil in her hand. 
 
 She drew back into the dusk of the hall as he 
 mounted the steps, and kept her left hand upon the 
 edge of the door as though intending to shut it. 
 
 " Ah, Miss Weyland, we have received no appli- 
 cation from you to join the industrial community 
 of Cristallia," he commenced lightly. 
 
 " No no, I have not applied." 
 
 " Then I should like a talk with you, if I may." 
 
 " Will you come in, then, Mr. Sterry ? " She 
 backed before him along the little hall, threw open 
 the door into a small sitting-room looking out on 
 the street, and followed him closely. 
 
44 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 On the centre table were school books and slates, 
 a vase of drooping flowers ; while the end nearest 
 the door was spread with soiled damask cloth and 
 tea-tray. A small metal pot peeped from under a 
 cosy of crazywork, a half-loaf lay prone in a 
 scalloped bread basket, five long red and two round 
 white radishes were limp upon a small blue plate, 
 and a number of buzzing flies dodged about the tiny 
 sugar-basin and the little yellow pat of margarine in 
 its glass dish. 
 
 " You will please excuse the disorder," she said 
 quietly ; " my girls have only just gone." 
 
 " Very rude of me to intrude ; you must forgive 
 me." He was seeking a place to put his hat, and 
 noticed on the crowded cheffonier a little heap of 
 hairpins lying on an exercise book, and he looked 
 at her. She blushed, shook the pins down behind 
 the books, and taking his hat from his hand, put it 
 on the cleared surface ; and turning, revealed her 
 three long plaits of yellow hair, all kinked by their 
 close coiling, now dangling about her waist. 
 
 " The weather is almost unbearable ; to-day the 
 schoolroom was like an oven." 
 
 " Intolerable ; but it is oppressive and stuffy 
 indoors and out. Do not let me keep you from 
 your tea." 
 
 " I do not seem to want it now. May I offer you 
 a cup ? " 
 
 " Thank you, if you take one too." 
 
 " I am afraid you will not enjoy it." As she took 
 a second cup and saucer from the cupboard of the 
 cheffonier she went on to explain that the milk they 
 had went sour, and they had long to wait for the 
 coming of the milkman. 
 
 " Now, in Cristallia it is always dry, and therefore 
 the heat is nothing ; there this heat would not seem 
 oppressive." 
 
 " It is the thunder," she interrupted. 
 
 " You would like even that better in Cristallia than 
 here." 
 
CONCESSIONS. 45 
 
 '"If I could go. But I am not free like the others, 
 Mr. Sterry, and I am not yet of age." 
 
 " But you are an orphan ? " 
 
 " I have a guardian, and he would never consent." 
 
 " Have you asked him ? " 
 
 " I know his objections to all ' wild-cat ' schemes." 
 
 " Then let me ask him ? I will undertake to gain 
 his consent." 
 
 " It is very good of you, but I must refuse. My 
 uncle made sacrifices in order to place me here ; in 
 two or three years, when I have passed all my 
 examinations, I shall be able to maintain myself, and 
 perhaps repay him." 
 
 " And it is for that you keep a night school ? " 
 
 " I do not keep any night school," she said, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Then these things " 
 
 " Belong to some of the poorest of our scholars. 
 Some who have neither time nor place in which to 
 prepare their home lessons come in here." 
 
 " That is good of you there is no obligation on 
 your part to trouble with them ? " 
 
 " That depends on what is meant by obligation ; 
 we have to get the children past the Standard if we 
 can. I found that some had practically no home, 
 others no time ; they had babies to mind, errands 
 to .run, housework to do, and home lessons were 
 impossible ; it was better they should come here for 
 an hour than be out for the cane every day for no 
 fault of their own." 
 
 " You must be a favourite with them all." 
 
 " I do not know ; I used to think so. When I first 
 came here my class tried very hard to please me. 
 Some girls brought me flowers, others fruit, one 
 brought an egg, I remember ; yes, and one even 
 bought me a cane. Then I found a poor little mite 
 in tears because she had nothing to give me no 
 pence, no friends, and no sort of a home so I stopped 
 all presents. Perhaps they were only given with a 
 
46 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 view to getting into my good favour or from fear 
 of what I might do to them, poor little things! 
 However, they do not seem to love me the more 
 that I have tried to be just" 
 
 "Yet you like the work?" 
 
 " Not so much as I expected I should ; it is all 
 so different from what I thought it would be. Inside 
 it is so noisy, and close, and stuffy, and Miss Malcolm 
 is not my ideal mistress ; her cane is going all day 
 and every day. No wonder there are scenes. I had 
 a near escape to-day ! " 
 
 "From what?" 
 
 " The usual thing. One of the girls had been 
 punished, and her mother and friends armed them- 
 selves and came to avenge the assault. They hid 
 in a public-house until school was over ; then this 
 savage, half intoxicated woman ran at me like a 
 mad thing, for I chanced to be first. She was just 
 about to claw my face, when the mother of some 
 other girl came between us and said : ' Not that 'un, 
 'Ria ! her's a hangel, 'er is ! ' and that gave time for 
 the others to get back into school until the police 
 came. I hope they won't have me for a witness, but 
 I expect they will." 
 
 " Leave it all, and come with us ! " 
 
 " How I should like to ! But you know I cannot." 
 
 "All the others are going." 
 
 " I shall miss Madeline Winship, and Beatrice, and 
 some of the others very much. It was so nice to 
 listen to their schemes for making the world better 
 and life more wholesome. I always came away from 
 the meetings feeling stronger and happier; it is 
 because I believe them to be right that I am 
 convinced I must not shirk my duty here." 
 
 " You mistake. They teach that every one should 
 so live as to get the most from life, the greatest 
 well-being for self, and thus the greatest good for all/' 
 
 " If I left I should despise myself." 
 
 " But, Miss Weyland, even from your own point of 
 
CONCESSIONS. 47 
 
 view, your duty is to "come with us. We want you. 
 You can do more for our good, more for the general 
 good, by helping as we want you to, than you ever 
 will here at work others can do." 
 
 " No, no. I have thought it all out ; I must not go." 
 
 The hansom came into the court ; the noiseless 
 wheels, the jingling bells on the horse's neck, 
 attracted attention ; and when the driver turned his 
 cab, then pulled up by the kerb right opposite the 
 open window at which Robert was sitting the dwellers 
 in the court became interested. 
 
 " Miss Weyland, you may leave all this. It is my 
 misfortune to have had left me more money than I 
 know how to spend wisely for the common welfare. 
 You can help me do good with this money. I ask 
 you, I beg of you, not to refuse." 
 
 There was an earnestness in his manner that 
 alarmed her. She rose from her chair and stood 
 against the chimney-piece, with its dusty mirror, 
 facing him. 
 
 " And then, if you really do not like this African 
 scheme, we have not gone so far yet we cannot draw 
 back. I thought it the best way to to advance 
 humanity, but there may be others as good. It shall 
 be as you wish, if only you will share fortune with 
 me." 
 
 She understood him then, and stood for a minute 
 irresolute. A little knot of loungers were just outside 
 admiring the horse and listening to the driver's 
 account of his journey to Epsom the week before. 
 She and he heard each word distinctly. 
 
 She shook her head, then raised her eyes to his 
 and looked at him steadily. 
 
 " You must not draw back for me, or for any one." 
 
 " With you Cristallia will be a success ; unless 
 you join us, I cannot promise that we shall make any 
 headway." 
 
 " You will succeed, do not fear ; you and the others 
 will succeed. I shall often think of you all ; when 
 
48 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 you have forgotten me, for you will have no time to 
 think of aught but your work in Cristallia at least, 
 I hope not, for it must grow into an empire some day 
 soon. I should only hinder there ; here, I am of some 
 use." 
 
 He saw that she was resolute ; he could not reason 
 with her ; but he was loth to leave. 
 
 " I shall start the day after to-morrow for Port 
 Cristal ; there is plenty of time to think over what 
 I have said, and, I hope, time for you to decide as I 
 wish you to. Now, before I go, tell me, is there 
 nothing I can say to convince you ? Is there nothing, 
 then, I can do to help you before I go ? " 
 
 " You are so clever if you do not mind, for a 
 minute will you please look at this, and tell me 
 how it is done ? " 
 
 She handed him an examination paper, and took 
 up the open exercise book with which she had been 
 engaged previous to his arrival. 
 
 "It is that question about the tank, with two taps, 
 A and B, to fill it, and the tap C emptying it ; you 
 see, something like it is put at every examination, 
 and if I cannot work it out I shall not pass. Edith 
 Stokes failed through that very thing this time, and 
 she does not understand it yet." 
 
 Sterry signed for her to sit down, took the pencil 
 in his hand, then commenced good-humouredly to 
 explain. He stated the various items with a swift, 
 firm stroke until a plait of yellow hair fell light as 
 a skein of silk upon the back of his hand and stopped 
 it suddenly. With a hasty movement she threw the 
 long tress back, and gathering the plaits together, 
 tucked them under the opposite arm. 
 
 " I really must apologise. I my head ached so 
 badly this afternoon that yes, it is seven-eighths, 
 not five." 
 
 Sterry was working again. 
 
 " Then it is mis-stated : you see why ? If the tank 
 is seven-eighths full to begin with, before the tap A 
 
CONCESSIONS. 49 
 
 has run thirteen of its allotted twenty-three minutes, 
 an overflow pipe would be useful ; the question, 
 therefore, is absurd." 
 
 " Do you think it is a ' catch ' ? " she asked eagerly. 
 
 " A ' catch ' ? I cannot say. Who can fathom the 
 shallowness of intellect possessed by the average 
 school examiner ? If this ' catch/ as you call it, be 
 a mean subterfuge to trap the unwary, then the action 
 is too despicable for words and is almost beyond 
 justification by kicks. If it be an oversight, the 
 would-be teachers ought themselves to be sent to 
 the whipping-block. The man is an imbecile 
 anyway, or he would be something better than a 
 school examiner." 
 
 "Yes, yes; but what is the rule?" 
 
 For half an hour or more he expounded, simplified, 
 worked, suggested, encouraged, explained. The cab 
 horse was becoming restive, the driver impatient, the 
 throng of idlers noisy and free in their talk. He 
 would have continued, but his hand was stayed 
 again ; a large hot tear fell upon his wrist and trickled 
 down on to the paper. He worked on to the end 
 in silence. 
 
 " There, now, do you think you understand it, Miss 
 Weyland?" 
 
 " I think so thank you yes." She frowned at 
 the figures, then bit her lip. 
 
 He saw that she did not understand, felt that 
 probably she never would understand, and grew 
 angry with the fates that oppressed her. It seemed 
 to him abominable that conventional people should 
 demand such a sacrifice of energy from her in 
 attempting to solve the futile conundrums of their 
 stupidly clever officials when she was ready to yield 
 all that was best and most enduring in human nature. 
 
 " Miss Weyland ! Won't you listen to me ? Can't 
 you see that all this drudgery is killing you? What 
 is the good of it all? Don't you feel that it is to no 
 purpose? That to succeed is useless,? Life has a 
 
 E 
 
50 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 more serious purpose than the painful acquisition 
 of empty knowledge of that sort. Come! In 
 Cristallia there will be a school where you may teach 
 people how to live wisely. Come, let me take you 
 away now ! Come ! " 
 
 " I dare not ! I dare not ! Please do not ask me ! " 
 
 "You shall not wreck your own life and mine. 
 You shall come, Mavis ! " 
 
 He moved towards her, and she retreated before 
 him hastily. Nearing the door she looked at him 
 so pleadingly that for a moment he hesitated. She 
 saw that he loved her, and knew then that she had 
 only herself to dread. For an instant her ideal 
 obscured him, and then she spoke, falteringly, and 
 shaking like an aspen-leaf, but with a tone that 
 carried conviction to Sterry. 
 
 " I can help you only by staying here." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " No, no ; please do not. Good-bye, Mr. Sterry, 
 good-bye ! " 
 
 She followed him to the door, then closed it and 
 sat down as far from the window as she could and 
 buried her face in her hands. She heard his tread 
 on the steps ; noticed that he paused a moment on 
 the footpath hesitating; then he called loudly to the 
 driver : " Metropole," and the horse started forward. 
 The throng of idlers hurried to the entrance of the 
 court " to see him go " down the road, but she was 
 motionless, and knew no more until her landlady was 
 standing over her with a tumbler of water in her 
 hand and suggesting the advisability of going at once 
 to bed. 
 
 She stumbled up the dark stairs, and in her room 
 cried herself to sleep, and happily heard nothing of 
 the storm that raged an hour before midnight and 
 made the air of the morning so much fresher and 
 purer than that of yesterday that she went to work 
 blithely, the events of the evening but a distant 
 memory. 
 
CONCESSIONS. 5 1 
 
 Sterry sailed for Port Cristal and stayed there ; 
 Alan Winship, Toller, and the rest joined him. The 
 others went to and fro, but Redhead and Sterry were 
 always in Cristallia, and had no easy time. Beatrice 
 Tyacke told Mavis Weyland that progress in the 
 African colony was very slow ; the letters she had 
 received told only of flies and mud-holes full of 
 stinking turtles, sandy wastes, great storms, heaps 
 of rubbish and scaffolding. 
 
 The women grew anxious, but the men would allow 
 none to enter Cristallia until everything had been 
 prepared, and time after time the day was deferred ; 
 then at last the boldest of the lady Isocrats got on 
 fcoard a steamer and went out unauthorised. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN CRISTALLIA. 
 
 THE Honourable Benjamin B. Fitzjoy prided himself 
 upon his encyclopaedic knowledge of modern geo- 
 graphy gained at first-hand. While his co-legislators 
 were recuperating with the aid of golf-sticks or shot- 
 guns, he was to be found " 'neath alien skies " 
 studying politics in his own fashion in some out-of- 
 the-way spot In a borrowed steam yacht he sailed 
 for Morocco to ascertain whether or not the North- 
 West African question could be brought within the 
 domain of practical politics at an early date. An 
 astute British Consul hinted that the solution of the 
 problem would possibly be found in the newly 
 established colony on the Sus ; so Fitzjoy packed off 
 his friends and the yacht to Grand Canary, and with 
 Britain's representative sailed from Mogador in a 
 trading schooner for Port Cristal. 
 
 It was nearing sunset when they arrived off the 
 entrance to the creek ; a swift-gliding, noiseless tug 
 came alongside, put a pilot and harbour officer on 
 board, then took the craft in tow, and by a winding 
 channel led them past the outer anchorage, round 
 Cristal point to the inner harbour. Then the 
 country opened out like a fairy scene. Along the 
 north shore a wide quay and boulevard, the white 
 walls of factories, bright cupolas, chimney-stacks like 
 
IN CRISTALLIA. 53 
 
 minarets, dome kilns, and long workshops with 
 verandahs and gardens ; on the summit the conning 
 tower, the Capitol, and the arsenal. On the south 
 side the low land by the shore was of greater extent ; 
 the Guest House on the quay stood in its own large 
 garden ; farther up stream were the warehouses, huge 
 stores, and many buildings, white-painted staiths and 
 jib-cranes, and a shipyard as scrupulously clean as 
 the tiled verandah before the harbour-master's home. 
 An English steamer and four Norwegian sailing ships 
 were moored alongside the quay ; in the river lay 
 two great armed cruisers and a smaller more graceful 
 craft half pleasure-yacht, half gunboat Behind 
 them all, where the ravine narrowed and the banks 
 rose steep, the river was spanned by a suspension 
 bridge, elegant as the threads of a spider's web. 
 
 The streets were almost deserted ; on the quays 
 a few Moorish sentinels were pacing to and fro ; 
 somewhere amid the trees a band was playing, and 
 above all could be heard the steady roar of falling 
 water from some distant torrent It grew dark, and 
 lights glowed from the houses on the high land, 
 through the glass roofs of the factories, and along 
 the quays ; then the warships turned their search- 
 lights on the intruding vessel, keeping her under close 
 scrutiny the night through. 
 
 Early the next morning a launch came alongside 
 and brought the visitors to the quay before the Guest 
 House, where Robert Sterry was waiting to receive 
 them. He politely bade them welcome and lodged 
 them with a bland Swiss, but showed no intention 
 of gratifying their curiosity as to the topography 
 of Cristallia. 
 
 " Will you tell us how you run the concern ? " 
 asked Fitzjoy with the persistence of a journalist 
 
 " It is run on the mutual confidence plan, in the 
 interest of us all. I was taking my turn in the 
 factories last night, or you might have come ashore 
 then. No one else here knew you personally, and 
 
54 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 unless you are known to some one of us who will 
 guarantee your behaviour you would not be allowed 
 to land. I dare not take you across to the north 
 shore, and for you to enter either of the factories is 
 out of the question. We are bound to guard our 
 secrets since even the most civilised among the 
 civilised nations would not hesitate to rob us of 
 them." 
 
 " Everything is fair in politics." 
 
 " We recognise that opinion ; therefore keep two 
 guardships and other things." 
 
 " What are two ships ? We could send fifty 
 steamers to-morrow if we meant to take you. 
 Cristallia exists solely by the goodwill of the 
 nations." 
 
 " And their mutual jealousy. If you decided to 
 take Cristallia by force, others would try to forestall 
 you ; there would be a general scramble, and while 
 our assailants were knocking their heads against 
 each other outside, we hope we could escape." 
 
 " How do you guard against treachery within ? " 
 
 " All our people are contented ; it is their interest 
 as much as mine to have the secret kept ; moreover, 
 all are honourable ; and all are convinced that the 
 life here is better than they could lead elsewhere." 
 
 "What extraordinary people! Wherever did you 
 find them?" 
 
 " In the too crowded cities of England and the 
 United States ; in the barren lands of Scandinavia ; 
 a few have been attracted from other countries not 
 many ; we have no opening for traders, we want only 
 producers." 
 
 " How did you eliminate the trader ? " 
 
 " We never allowed him a footing. From the first 
 the State has been the only trader ; the buyers, the 
 salesmen, the labourers one and all are the 
 salaried servants of the Commonwealth, just as 
 are the postmistresses you employ to sell postage- 
 stamps. It was easier to begin than it would be to 
 
IN CRISTALLIA. 55 
 
 convert ; we had to feed, lodge, and clothe the 
 navvies we brought in to make the harbour and 
 railway, and we have continued as we began." 
 " Then none can rise in your Commonwealth ? " 
 " Only by inventing something. The inventors are 
 the real creators of wealth ; the State collects and 
 pays to them ten per cent, of the sale price obtained 
 for their wares ; the State also makes ten per cent 
 or more profit for itself, levies an import duty of 
 ten per cent, on all goods, and then sells at cost 
 price. An export duty at the same rate on native 
 produce shipped completes the taxation, which 
 provides more than enough to cover all expenses and 
 pay back instalments of the borrowed capital." 
 " Cristallia must be a dull place for the ambitious." 
 " Hardly, or exile could not be the most dreadful 
 punishment. Our chief difficulty is in getting our 
 people away for even a short holiday. A free 
 passage out and home is insufficient inducement" 
 " How do you govern ? " 
 
 " By the voice of the people. We thought of 
 adopting the Indian Penal Code intact, but so far 
 have no use for it Some of the labourers have been 
 troublesome, but they could always be shipped back 
 to their native land. Only the factory hands could 
 possibly harm us, and we have them pretty tight. 
 One blustering fellow who thought he had learned 
 something, threatened to divulge the secret when he 
 got home, but the two men who had guaranteed his 
 fidelity snowed him what the result would be to 
 them, and he is now as much ours as any of the 
 rest If the three had gone, they must have left 
 four of the best friends of two of them to stand the 
 brunt of their misconduct ; in the unlikely event of 
 the seven conspiring, at least eight the guarantors 
 of the four would have been at the mercy of we 
 others ; that is the way we hold the manufacturing 
 secrets so close. A fellow who misbehaved out of 
 the factory was ' sent to Coventry ' until he 
 
56 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 apologised and made what restitution he could. He 
 was penitent within a week. Another, who in a 
 passion attacked a fellow worker for some clumsiness, 
 was threatened with banishment if found outside the 
 factory during the next month. He was hidden 
 within doors, and had to depend upon his mates 
 for food and other conveniences; they soon became 
 sorry for him, and their sympathy made the bonds 
 closer than they were before. Another scamp, who 
 savagely attacked his wife, had similar treatment, and 
 was obliged to cater for himself. Of course his wife 
 was soon beseeching all to get him liberated ; but 
 he had been ordered the penalty by a jury of 
 twelve of his mates and neighbours, seven of whom 
 had to guarantee his future good behaviour before 
 he was reinstated, and the trouble he had to con- 
 vince them of his intentions quite cured him. By 
 leaving the jury to fix the penalty there is a 
 tendency to too great severity, but by making a 
 pardon conditional upon the jury personally 
 guaranteeing future conduct you bring about a 
 reformation in character." 
 
 " What do you do with the confirmed criminals, 
 the incorrigibly vicious ? " 
 
 " We have none." 
 
 "What is the secret?" 
 
 " Madeline Winship would tell you that it is all a 
 question of diet : ' if you underfeed, you get crime ; 
 if you overfeed, you beget vice.' That's the formula, 
 isn't it, Madeline ? " and he turned to his companion, 
 who nodded acquiescence. " I should say it is 
 because we get rid of the undesirable ship them 
 off at once." 
 
 " Then the stories about the oubliette, life-long 
 imprisonment, death by torture, and mysterious 
 disappearances are all wild inventions ? " 
 
 " Probably based on the lethal chamber Willie 
 Redhead built near the capitol, so that any tired 
 of life could find a pleasurable way out. It is the 
 I 
 
IN CRISTALLIA. 57 
 
 only luxurious apartment in Cristallia, and every 
 evening when the concert begins in the public 
 .gardens it is filled with a poisonous gas from the 
 Iltydium factory. There have been no suicides yet" 
 
 " Quite an ideal colony. And the natives ? " 
 
 " Are as tree as the rest. We have no forced 
 labour, no slaves, no black men in wire cages, as is 
 the custom in a British colony/' 
 
 " I have nothing to do with the Colonial Office." 
 
 " Nor I with Britain." 
 
 "But you are one of Her Majesty's subjects?" 
 
 " I think not. My father did not take out his 
 papers of naturalisation until long after I was born ; 
 but at any time I can become a citizen of the United 
 States of America if I cease to be a commoner of the 
 Industrial Community of Cristallia." 
 
 " But Cristallia is not recognised as an independent 
 state." 
 
 " Not by Britain, as yet. The Storthing has 
 already acknowledged us ; the day after to-morrow 
 His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway will 
 be represented in Cristallia by a resident Consul 
 -a Mr. Ulitsen, who has acted both in the United 
 States and in a British Colony. Your man will 
 come later ; the Norwegian will be the doyen of the 
 diplomatic corps here. 
 
 The Under Secretary and the Vice- Consul 
 exchanged glances. 
 
 " We cannot recognise your independence, but if 
 you want our protection you can have it on terms." 
 
 " Only by forfeiting some liberty ; to that our 
 people would never consent." 
 
 " But you can. Confound it, we don't want 
 Morocco to become a second Turkey and an ever- 
 lasting question ; and though I say it unofficially, it 
 is nevertheless true, Britain will not allow any new 
 independent State being founded in Africa ; there 
 are far too many already, and if you want to attempt 
 ^empire-making you must try somewhere else." 
 
58 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " That is candid ; but I am too good a Republican 
 ever to attempt empire-making." 
 
 " Africa is no place for republics. African republics 
 are a standing menace to British paramountcy. South 
 America is the place for you Cristal makers ; go 
 somewhere near Cosme and rival the ' Freebrother- 
 hoods/ and work in peace." 
 
 " We are here, and here we shall remain. We 
 harm none ; do not interfere with their markets, 
 their industries, or their politics. If you do not 
 like us, remove us if you can. What do you say, 
 Madeline?" 
 
 " It would not be right," remarked the girl simply. 
 
 The Honourable Benjamin put up his monocle 
 and looked at the speaker in his sternest forensic 
 manner. 
 
 " My good lady, don't you know that whatever 
 the majority wishes is right, and whatever it 
 disapproves is wrong ? " 
 
 " No, unfortunately or the world would not be 
 so wicked as it is." 
 
 " What an antiquated philosophy ! I cannot argue 
 from such a premiss. Must it be ultima ratio regum? 
 That you will understand." 
 
 " You know that would be wrong ! " retorted the 
 girl angrily. 
 
 " Really ? You forget that in modern policy 
 expediency has taken the place once said to have 
 been occupied by morals. How else could one tell 
 right from wrong ? " 
 
 " That is right which you may tell openly to all 
 without apology to any ; all else is wrong and you 
 know it" 
 
 " Hardly practical. Your manufacturing secrets, 
 then, are diabolically wicked since they may be 
 spoken of to none." And he chuckled. 
 
 Madeline pressed her lips. 
 
 " It is not that we should blush to speak, but it 
 would shame the honest to hear ; therefore we forbear 
 
IN CRISTALLIA. 59 
 
 until you can guarantee that the producer shall not 
 be robbed of his wage." 
 
 " We must go our own way ; in time it will be 
 the turn of Cristallia for we are civilising Africa 
 by degrees." 
 
 " As Pizarro civilised Peru," said the girl scorn- 
 fully. And she walked away. 
 
 " You will find Cristallia hard to overcome, 
 Fitzjoy in time we may have friends to help us ; 
 why don't you bring England into line ? " 
 
 " It is the queerest fad of all time. It won't 
 succeed ; but if it should, Cristallia will be a standing 
 menace to Europe and to the civilised world. I 
 should say it would die out very soon from inherent 
 dulness." 
 
 "You talk with Iltyd Jones as to its dulness. 
 Man, do you not think working new inventions, 
 discovering fresh forces in nature, developing novel 
 processes, the opposite of dull ? We travel ; but 
 not in a known groove ; we get fresh experiences 
 every day even new diseases plague us. Dull 
 indeed! Do you find it dull trying to convert 
 Radicals?" 
 
 " Never try ; it is too foolish and futile as the 
 labours of Sisyphus. Good Tories are born, not made." 
 
 " Cristallians too ! Our ethics are on a different 
 plane from those of the average politician. We shall 
 never understand each other, Mr. Secretary." 
 
 " Oh yes, we shall ; later on, Mr. President." 
 
 "I am not even the President. Willie Redhead 
 is the chief commoner in Cristallia." 
 
 " But you are chancellor of the exchequer and real 
 ruler. You can make Cristallia British territory if 
 you like. If you do not, some one else may." 
 
 " You could ruin us easily ; but you would not 
 care to take the only way there is to do it." 
 
 "And that is ?" 
 
 " Giving the British the rights and privileges our 
 people have." 
 
60 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " I think our people would prefer British independ- 
 ence to such liberty as you enjoy in Cristallia. Why, 
 where are your women? I have scarce seen a skirt 
 since I landed." 
 
 " They are in their proper place." 
 
 "A harem?" 
 
 " No ; the very top of the State. Women and 
 men have equal rights and privileges in Cristallia, 
 but practically the lady Isocrats govern the place. 
 Half a dozen of them rushed out here more than 
 a year ago and put things to rights. We meant to 
 have all things ready for them, but they determined 
 that the houses in which they would have to live 
 should be built just as they wanted them ; and 
 they are. You see that great half-finished building 
 yonder ? " 
 
 |]The ruin?" 
 
 " It is as far as we ever got with a great school- 
 house. The ladies stopped that. They have a notion 
 for education in the home, or at any rate in classes, 
 not a barrack. They keep the whole community 
 close-knit, solid, and progressive. They rule by 
 love, and not a complaint is ever heard against 
 them." 
 
 " H'm ! Love is but the spirit of sex incarnate 
 and a mischievous devil too. There will be lively 
 times in Cristallia by-and-bye." 
 
 " We shall be able to manage out own affairs, if 
 other nations do not interfere. We are here because 
 we believe a higher civilisation than any current in 
 Europe is possible ; I do not think we shall fail in 
 doing so little as that, but we hope to get very far 
 ahead, and in a short time. It is for that we set 
 such store upon our secret inventions ; they bring 
 us wealth with a minimum expenditure of labour 
 six hours is now the average, in five years' time we 
 shall reduce it to three, and the rest of the time 
 not necessary to recreation we are striving after 
 higher things. Our experimental workshops and 
 
IN CRISTALLIA. 6 1 
 
 laboratories are always full of ardent inventors. In 
 fact, we are all like the Black Country locksmith 
 who when he knocked off work did a bit of forging 
 on the anvil. Something will come of it all ; but 
 of this you may be sure, we shall guard our secrets, 
 and even if we are turned out of Africa by force 
 we shall recommence elsewhere at once." 
 
 " And how about that railway of yours to the 
 Atlas?" asked the Vice Consul. 
 
 But Robert would say no more. 
 
 The schooner lay in the harbour three days, and 
 Fitzjoy and his companion could sometimes be seen 
 walking or riding about the south town. The first 
 Consul came, and there was a banquet and holiday 
 in his honour. Fitzjoy was ignored, and at the 
 conclusion of the festivities put out to sea. 
 
 He had not been gone many hours when Bailie, 
 the keeper of the Guest House, sent a letter he had 
 found up to the Capitol. It was from John A. 
 Snyder, a foreman in the Robertson motor factory, 
 and pleaded for an interview with Fitzjoy, to whom, 
 presumably, it had been addressed. 
 
 They sent for Snyder, but he could not be found. 
 It appeared that he had applied for leave to go into 
 the " interior," and this had been granted ; but as 
 to where he had gone, or why, none could tell. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A RENEGADE. 
 
 WILLIE REDHEAD was one evening sitting in his 
 room watching some experiments with a new form 
 of transmitter, when Beatrice Tyacke, who was in 
 charge of the instrument room, came in, pale as a 
 ghost, to say that Toller had just sent word that 
 Snyder was in London trying to negotiate the sale 
 of the Robertson motor, and he wanted instructions. 
 
 " Shoot him at sight ! Stay a minute ; where's 
 Sterry? Send for him at once. Then summon the 
 Council. Tell Toller to keep us well informed.'* 
 
 They had to wait for Boyd Robson to get back 
 from El-Aksa, and by that time they learned from 
 Lukeeli that a Moor named Dreis, a harbour 
 boatman, had ferried Snyder and two strangers 
 across the harbour from the Guest House Quay to 
 the north shore, the night of the festival. Morven 
 Kell, who was one of his guarantors, knew little of 
 him ; Jake Hanlan, the other, believed he was a 
 German whose real name was Schneider, but he had 
 lived long in America, and whatever he might be, 
 his vacuum valve was as original as anything old 
 Peter Robertson himself had produced Now he 
 was a renegade all remembered that they had never 
 really liked the man. As to the best thing to be 
 done in present circumstances, most were for taking 
 him, by hook or by crook, alive or dead. 
 
 " We must have him ! " shouted Willie Redhead. 
 " It is a matter of life and death to the Common- 
 
A RENEGADE. 63 
 
 wealth. If any one succeeds in stealing one of our 
 secrets, there will be no rest for us until they have 
 them all." 
 
 Winship thought Snyder would be able to do very 
 little with the motor ; practically no one knew of 
 it, as its use had been confined to Cristallia, and the 
 dozen or more cargo ships which had been converted 
 to the principle had created little surprise in foreign 
 ports. 
 
 Toller soon undeceived them. Snyder was quite 
 determined to exploit the invention, and was merely 
 casting about for the most advantageous offer. 
 Probably he would start a factory in Belgium or 
 Luxemburg ; some parasitical State whose neutrality 
 was guaranteed by the Great Powers would most 
 surely ultimately secure it. Snyder himself had gone 
 to Brussels. 
 
 " We have hit the Belgian glass industry pretty 
 hard with our Iltydium wares, and they will consider 
 this a fair exchange. Can we fight Belgium? Is it 
 worth while trying ? " asked Robson, gnawing at his 
 finger-nails. 
 
 "It has not come to that yet. My proposition is 
 that we require Snyder's guarantors Morven Kell 
 and Jake Hanlan to bring the renegade before this 
 Council for trial. Let them command whomsoever 
 and whatsoever they will, but bring him here they 
 must and shall!" And Sterry brought his fist 
 down like a sledge-hammer on the Board table. 
 
 " Agreed agreed agreed ! " 
 
 " That settles it, then," said Kell quietly ; " Sterry 
 himself must accompany us and show how the thing 
 is to be done." 
 
 " I am willing. My idea is to take the ' Gleam ' ; 
 if she is all we think her, then we have the fastest 
 vessel afloat. Snyder is sure to cross the Channel 
 sooner or later. We will hold up the packet and 
 take him." 
 
 "And after?" asked Beatrice Tyacke. 
 
64 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " There will be international complications, which 
 we must wriggle out of as best we can. We must 
 show people this sort of robbery cannot be done with 
 impunity ; we'll risk our all on it, as we have already 
 done in founding Cristallia." 
 
 Two days later the " Gleam " put to sea and 
 headed north. Sterry laid his plans with some care, 
 and moored off Deal before Snyder had returned 
 from the Continent. The little ship lay at anchor 
 in the roads until their agents ashore signalled, two 
 hours before midnight, that Snyder was Jeaving 
 Ostend by the Dover packet. Then they got under 
 way, took the tampons out of their guns, and went 
 out to meet her. 
 
 The night was dark, with some rain, and a fresh 
 breeze from the south-west. Once beyond the three- 
 mile limit, they put out all lights and sped ahead at 
 the rate of thirty miles an hour. It was impossible 
 to mistake the " Princesse Henriette " steaming south 
 at top speed. She had barely passed the " Ville de 
 Douvres " when the " Gleam " bore down upon her. 
 Some passing steamers and sailing ships turned from 
 their course when the fast-racing man-of-war rushed 
 by, but the mail boat, fearing nothing, blew her 
 whistle and was held to her course. Suddenly the 
 searchlight flashed upon her from the conning tower 
 of the " Gleam " and instantly disappeared. This 
 was the first intimation the crew of the packet had 
 that their ship was the object point of the rapidly 
 approaching vessel. She came right for their 
 midships, stem on, but was slowing down. The 
 frightened Belgian had the helm put hard-a-starboard 
 and the engines reversed. The " Princesse Henri- 
 ette " had turned completely round when the 
 " Gleam," at the same pace, ran right alongside. No 
 sooner did the bulwarks touch the paddle-box than 
 grappling-irons were out, snap-hooks attached to 
 wire cables were fastened to the rigging fore and 
 aft, and the blaze of light that suddenly burst forth 
 
A RENEGADE. 65 
 
 on deck revealed the muzzles of two six-inch guns 
 aimed directly at the steamer's hull. 
 
 Forty Moors, armed with revolvers and sabres, 
 scrambled after Jake Hanlan and Boyd Robson 
 on to the paddle-box. The captain demanded an 
 explanation, and was referred to Sterry, who shouted 
 at him from the conning tower. While captain, crew, 
 and passengers protested, Robson and the others 
 sought for Snyder. Hanlan found him in the second- 
 class saloon, fast asleep. He was dragged on deck, 
 his luggage pulled out from the heap under the 
 tarpaulin, and as soon as all had been transferred to 
 the " Gleam " the warps were loosed and the vessels 
 parted. 
 
 Sterry had no intention of being caught ; they 
 raced the " Gleam " back to Port Cristal for all she 
 was worth, and on arrival there found that the 
 " outrage " up to the present had produced nothing 
 worse than newspaper paragraphs and letters from 
 indignant passengers. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DEFENCES. 
 
 THE Isocrats waited until Harry Toller came to 
 Cristallia before they put Snyder upon his trial. The 
 letters the prisoner had upon him fully confirmed 
 his guilt: they did more their contents could be 
 construed only as an unfriendly act towards the 
 Commonwealth by the Belgian Government. It 
 seemed unlikely that, with such documents in their 
 hands, Belgium would attempt any reprisals. 
 
 There was some difference of opinion as to what 
 might be done with Snyder. Redhead, Robson, and 
 Kell were for making short work of him, either by 
 drowning, shooting, or the lethal chamber. Beatrice 
 Tyacke, Madeline Winship, and Hilda Kewney 
 objected on principle ; Sterry, Toller, and Alan 
 Winship on grounds of expediency if the worst came 
 to the worst, something might be gained for Cristallia 
 by surrendering Snyder. It was decided to imprison 
 him in the Capitol until he should invent something of 
 equal value to the community as the invention he 
 had tried to steal. 
 
 Asked what he had to say in extenuation of his 
 conduct, he quoted the creed of the Isocrats : " Every 
 
DEFENCES. 6/ 
 
 man is entitled to live the life he feels he needs 
 to develop what is best in his nature " " To help 
 others is the highest service one can render to one's 
 self." 
 
 " You forget ' Let no man take the life of his 
 brother to feed his own/ " interrupted Beatrice 
 Tyacke. 
 
 " That is what you Isocrats are doing ; the glass, 
 porcelain, and earthenware industries of France, 
 Belgium and Germany are being ruined by you with 
 your Jonesware and Iltydium." 
 
 " And you think to right matters by robbing us 
 of the motor and selling it to Belgium for a million 
 francs? Would you or the makers of steam-engines 
 benefit the more by that transaction ? " asked Toller. 
 
 Redhead interposed. 
 
 " Snyder must stay here until he invents some- 
 thing for us as useful as the motor has proved." 
 
 " Then I shall be here all my life ! " 
 
 " Where you will be able to do less harm than 
 anywhere else." 
 
 The Moorish guards took him away to a suite 
 over the lethal hall, and the meeting became even less 
 formal than its wont. 
 
 " That is the easiest part of the matter we have 
 to settle. Shall we make the Belgians any offer 
 of compensation ? " asked Toller uneasily. 
 
 " With the letters in our possession ? Let them 
 get compensation if they can," answered Sterry. 
 
 " We have no defences." 
 
 " And they have no battleships." 
 
 " The ' Ville d'Anvers ' is ready for sea by this." 
 
 " They won't risk sending her here. But our 
 defences are not what they ought to be, Robson. 
 We are not going ahead fast enough." 
 
 "H'm! I like that! The defences are right 
 enough ; it is the principle that is all wrong." 
 
 " What do you mean by that, Boyd ? " asked Hilda 
 Kewney, leaning forward anxiously. 
 
68 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " I mean that the defences are no good. No 
 defences are any good. In fisticuffs the best way 
 to defend yourself is to hit the other man in the eye. 
 Now you all understand what I mean." 
 
 " But our elaborate precautions our first-zone, the 
 mid-zone, and the outer-zone? Sha'n't we be quite 
 safe when all the mines are laid and the self-acting 
 guns in position ? " 
 
 "No, we shall never be safe. They are all right 
 in their way, but they do not make Cristallia 
 impregnable, and it is no use deluding ourselves that 
 they do." 
 
 " But the harbour is safe, isn't it, Morven ? If not, 
 we will put down more mines," said Sterry. 
 
 " I don't know where you'll find room for them ; 
 there is hardly a free channel now from beyond the 
 breakwater right up to the quay. I was out in one 
 of the ' crabs ' to-day, and we were no sooner off one 
 lot of guncotton than we fouled another." 
 
 " We'll make the harbour quite safe. Put two 
 more charges of five hundred pounds, one each side 
 of the channel by the bar. And you, Boyd, start 
 another line of sunk forts to the south of the outer 
 zone." 
 
 " We can do both, but neither will save us." 
 
 " Then Iltydium will ! There's nothing like 
 Iltydium ! " And Jones slapped his knee. " I have 
 been making an alloy with tungsten, just enough to 
 make the metal opaque and a very little tungsten 
 goes a long way in that. There's a lot of gas 
 given off in the process, and it is practically 
 waste. I have got it in tanks, hoping to recover it 
 somehow. You have only to take that gas by a 
 pipe into the sea ; as it bubbles up through the 
 water it unites with chloride of sodium and explodes 
 as soon as it reaches the surface. I can make the 
 outer harbour a mass of flame, seething like a 
 cauldron of boiling tar, and keep the fire up for 
 seventy-four hours ; that will keep every one off." 
 
DEFENCES. 69 
 
 "A good idea, but it's no use; they'll shell us to 
 ruins miles beyond the shore. We want men, not 
 machines," said Robson obstinately. 
 
 " Men ? Then take the two thousand navvies you 
 have on the railway up at El-Aksa," said Sterry. 
 
 " What good would they be ? After three years' 
 drilling they would not be better than the mercenaries 
 of any other country not even as good. It is not 
 the quantity I trouble so much about as the quality." 
 
 "What is the matter with the quality? Our 
 workers at Cristallia are better on the average than 
 you will find elsewhere." And Sterry seemed 
 annoyed. 
 
 " Well, let me enrol the workers in a defence corps. 
 I could trust them better than those beggars on the 
 south side. They are not to be depended upon over 
 there, not one of them. They are all right as men, 
 but not as men for Cristallia. There's Will Perkins, 
 for instance, the best gunner we have. But he 
 would not line a gun against the Union Jack to 
 save his life. And why? Simply because his 
 brother was once a gunner in the ' Collingwood.' 
 And that sentiment goes through the lot We have 
 men like Speke, Turner, and Adams, who have been 
 retired from the Indian Civil Service, and they're as 
 thoroughly English as the lot of jolly young beggars 
 under them. Though they were spun at Sandhurst 
 or disappointed of a career with the colours in some 
 other way, they still serve ' the widdy ' as faithfully 
 as any hero of Kipling's. They're here because they 
 think it is the best thing they can do for themselves ; 
 but they would sell Cristallia to-morrow, and count 
 any sedition which would bring us under the British 
 flag honourable." 
 
 " We are not cosmopolitan enough yet to be 
 national," said Hilda Kewney decisively. 
 
 " That's not the point We want people here who 
 think and feel as we do about Cristallia : any others 
 are only a danger." 
 
70 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " In what way ? " 
 
 " Why, in this way : there's a reaction setting 
 in against our strict manner of living. As for our 
 ethics, what do army men care for ethics? They 
 don't want to learn all their lives. They've done 
 with that; they think they know. Now, any sort 
 of church service they might attend, but such lectures 
 and discussions as we have compel them to think. 
 They don't like that. What do they care for the 
 higher life?" 
 
 " It is very sad, after all Madeline has done for 
 them," said Beatrice Tyacke. 
 
 " You have done your share too, Miss Tyacke, but 
 what are the results ? " 
 
 " I think I understand it right enough," interrupted 
 Alan Winship. " People will submit to a theocracy, 
 or a monarchy, or a bureaucracy, even a democracy, 
 but they'll never learn to govern themselves. To 
 expect them to be content with a code of ethics and 
 a string of maxims instead of a creed is sheer folly. 
 It's ranking the nature of the average man far too 
 
 high.- 
 
 " What is the average man ? " asked Toller. 
 
 " Why, Snyder," interposed Robson quickly. 
 " There's an average man for you. Any one can 
 see he has been drilled in Prussia, and he could 
 throw any one of us out of the window easily ; but 
 he could not do the same with that crafty scamp 
 Lukeeli, who is an average man too ; and old Kaid 
 Mahmoud at El-Aksa would settle the pair of them 
 quickly, for as an animal that big Mohammedan is 
 more than average good." 
 
 " But really, Mr. Robson, our people are all better 
 morally than those." 
 
 " Excuse me, Miss Winship, you are far too for- 
 giving. I know what happened while we were all away 
 on the ' Gleam.' Yes, comrades, there was almost a 
 revolution here in Cristallia. Madeline Winship and 
 Beatrice Tyacke prevailed with the ringleaders to 
 
DEFENCES. 7 1 
 
 forego any attempt to seize the works ; appealed to 
 all that was good in their nature not to shed blood, 
 and obtained the promise they required on condition 
 that the whole matter was to be hushed up. But 
 I know what neither Madeline nor Beatrice yet 
 know : the attempt was to be made the following 
 night, and none who resisted was to be spared. 
 Luckily the ' Gleam ' was spied in the offing just in 
 time. The conscience-stricken cowards funked at 
 the last moment ; and for a time Cristallia is safe." 
 
 " How do you know all this, Boyd ? " asked Jones, 
 his face blanching. 
 
 " There is always an informer. He told me 
 because he hopes to be rewarded. I knocked him 
 down to begin with. Lukeeli has him in charge 
 just now. Toller will see that he gets home all 
 right/' 
 
 " Yes, yes, it is quite true. I do not know who is 
 to blame for it," said Jones. 
 
 "Is it really true that only the coming of the 
 ' Gleam ' prevented them ? " asked Madeline, the tears 
 starting to her eyes. 
 
 " Undoubtedly that was the sole reason. The 
 wretches ! " 
 
 " It is ineffably sad," sighed Beatrice Tyacke, 
 hiding her face in her hands, while Madeline sobbed 
 convulsively, and the men looked at each other in 
 wonderment and silence. 
 
 At last Alan Winship spoke. 
 
 " I'll not believe they're all bad on the south side. 
 There is little Mrs. Speke, as good a woman as ever 
 stood in shoes. Cheer up, Madie ! " 
 
 " We will find out what the grievance is and meet 
 it," said Toller in his business-like way. 
 
 "What they want is license to do what they like 
 to trade and rob each other and the natives, and 
 make this place like any other colony, and themselves 
 rich." 
 
 "O Mr. Robson!" gasped Madeline. 
 
72 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " They have been trying to persuade the factory 
 hands that now they have mastered the secrets they 
 could exploit the things to their own advantage 
 become millionaires almost, and be honoured in their 
 own country." 
 
 " We'll clear the whole lot out," said Sterry angrily. 
 
 " Where will you find better men to take their 
 places ? They keep order well, know how to manage 
 the Moors and blacks ; and but for their confounded 
 old-fashioned notions, we should get on together all 
 right. Better put up with what we have got than 
 take fresh stuff of much the same sort eh, Toller ? " 
 
 " They think we fancy ourselves superior to them," 
 interrupted Madeline, " that as inventors we disregard 
 whatever other merits they may have. I have told 
 them again and again that we are all equal, with 
 equal rights and privileges ; but they say they have 
 no talent or genius for inventing things, and only 
 inventors can get on here only inventors in the 
 inner ring only inventors on the executive. You 
 do not know what jealousy there is." 
 
 "And if we give way they will make short work 
 of the community, if they mean to wreck it," said 
 Toller. 
 
 " Nothing would please most people better than to 
 see Cristallia go smash," said Hilda Kewney. " I do 
 not know that I should mind so much, as I know we 
 have all done our utmost." 
 
 "No, that is not enough, Hilda," said Beatrice 
 Tyacke. " To fail is not only to die in vain, but to 
 make fresh difficulties for reformers who follow us/' 
 
 " That is true enough. The world is governed by 
 tradition ; every law of the civilised is as truly the 
 outcome of custom as the ridiculous etiquette of 
 savages. We must not fail ; it will but confirm 
 tradition's cruel rule." Winship looked towards 
 Redhead, who remained stolidly silent through it all. 
 
 "Why cannot those who do not agree with us 
 leave us alone ? " asked Jones. 
 
DEFENCES. 73 
 
 " Perhaps, after all, Beatrice, we shall not die quite 
 in vain ; no reformer ever does. The upholders of 
 tradition see some little spark of sense in a part of 
 every attempted reform, and, when wise, take more 
 than a fraction of what they see," said Madeline, 
 brightening up a little. 
 
 " Aye, a thousandth part of what is the least worth 
 adopting ; that is what makes progress so slow," 
 grumbled her brother savagely. 
 
 " But perhaps they will not let Cristallia die after 
 all ; some will have charity and protect it," said 
 Beatrice Tyacke with some confidence. 
 
 " Charity ? What good ever came from living on 
 charity ? " asked Robson quite angrily. " Was the 
 British Empire fostered by the charity of her enemies 
 or even of her friends? If we are to do any good 
 to ourselves or to the world, we have got to make 
 others accept our faith, make them adhere to our 
 standard of ethics, live up to our rules of conduct 
 until the practice becomes habitual. They have got 
 to be made to do right until they do it so naturally 
 they think it is intuitional. That's the task we have." 
 
 " But how is that to be done, Mr. Robson ? " 
 
 Robson clenched his fist and put it up before him. 
 
 '* You see that fist, Miss Tyacke ? You can feel 
 this muscle. That is what every task has to be done 
 with, after all. If you look into history, or use your 
 eyes, you will find that the British Empire has been 
 made and is maintained by John Bull's knuckles. 
 With them, and with them alone, England has forced 
 a higher civilisation on the world. It was not Irish 
 fervour, nor Welsh poesy, nor Scottish mysticism that 
 carried Britain to the front in the race of the nations 
 for supremacy. Scotch, Welsh, and Irish went against 
 those hard knuckles of John Bull's until they had 
 more than enough of them. No Celtic glamour can 
 disguise the fact that plain English common-sense 
 has prevailed in the end and will prevail." 
 
 " Boyd Robson is quite right ; we have not only 
 
74 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 to realise our ideals, but insist upon others recog- 
 nising them as correct." And Hilda Kewney folded 
 her hands across her lap complacently. 
 
 " Then must the ideals they cannot be made to 
 recognise be sacrificed in order to realise the others ? " 
 asked Beatrice sorrowfully. 
 
 " We will not sacrifice one," said Redhead. 
 
 " That's right ! There must be no sign of weak- 
 ness. By a lucky chance we have hit upon the right 
 way of impressing the world through Snyder ; that 
 policy must be continued at all costs." And Sterry 
 began to pace the room. 
 
 " The modern creed is comprised in the theory 
 that the fittest to survive, survive. To my mind it 
 is a perfectly hellish doctrine ; but naturally, if we 
 wish to impress those who believe it, we must show 
 that we are very much alive. We will put other 
 inventions on the market, attack other industries, 
 and make a position for Cristallia." 
 
 " That will be to provoke further hostility. No 
 nation troubles very much if one industry is snuffed 
 out by foreign competition ; but attack many simul- 
 taneously, and the policy of laissez faire will be 
 quickly abandoned," objected Toller. 
 
 " What does that matter," asked Robson, " since 
 we are to be suppressed ? " 
 
 " Do you really believe that, Mr. Robson ? " asked 
 Madeline tearfully. 
 
 " Yes. Don't we all believe it ? It is only a 
 question of when. We must go, as all reformers 
 before us have had to go. I do not see that we have 
 any chance." 
 
 " Then why not by compromise lengthen our period 
 of usefulness ? " asked Toller persuasively. 
 
 " Because we cannot go back on our principles. 
 They are right, and we are too much in earnest; it 
 is our nature. That's why, Harry." 
 
 Sterry took Robson by the hand and grasped it 
 warmly. 
 
DEFENCES. 75. 
 
 " That's right, Boyd Thank you, our sentiments 
 exactly. We'll not go back, whatever happens, but 
 get as far ahead as we can in the time allowed us. 
 What is it you want, Miss Bright ? " 
 
 "A message from Fez. It seems important. Fir- 
 bank has been told by Ahmed Fellalah that the 
 German Emperor is to build a fort at Tangiers and 
 give a battery of four Krupp guns in exchange for 
 a concession in the Sus." 
 
 " All right. No answer." 
 
 " No sooner is any new thing a success than 
 Germany makes a bad imitation," observed Redhead, 
 screwing up his mouth. 
 
 " There ! You said ' success ' Willie ! " And Hilda 
 Kewney's long arm, with index finger outstretched, 
 reached right across the table towards the " chief 
 commoner." 
 
 " Of course Cristallia is a success ! And will be 
 a much greater one soon," said Sterry, now quite 
 enthusiastic again. "You take just whatever you 
 want, Boyd, to make Cristallia strong both to repel 
 and attack." 
 
 Robson got up and stretched himself, yawning ; 
 then, with a laugh, said : 
 
 " My fist is not so hard as John Bull's ; I'll get 
 some knuckle-dusters, I think." 
 
 Jones put up his hand and snapped his fingers. 
 
 " Iltydium's the thing for you. Why not make 
 your cannon and shells of Iltydium hardened with 
 tungsten, you know ? " 
 
 " I think I know something better than tungsten 
 to harden Iltydium, Mr. Jones," said Beatrice Tyacke 
 solemnly. 
 
 " You, Beatie ! You don't know what Iltydium is." 
 
 " I think I do." 
 
 "Who told you? Name! name! " 
 
 " I found it out myself." 
 
 "Never! What is it?" 
 
 " Don't give the secret away, Beatie," said Hilda 
 
76 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Kewney, much amused, and passing a pencil and 
 paper towards her. 
 
 The girl wrote a few words on a scrap, and handed 
 it to Jones. 
 
 " You clever little woman ! Who would have 
 thought it? You're more than a genius, Beatie. I 
 must have a talk with you. Come down to my 
 laboratory. I can tell you something too. Come 
 on, come on." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE DAY DREAMS OF A BUSINESS MAN. 
 
 HARRY TOLLER, who from the beginning had made 
 himself responsible for the successful working of the 
 commercial side of the Cristallian venture, was some- 
 thing more than a man of figures. To him, even the 
 analysis of an elementary balance-sheet was a study 
 in human nature, every item expressing some motive 
 the secret of which he ought to discover. Therefore 
 he had watched the growth of the colony with un- 
 common interest an interest that amounted almost 
 to passion but he hid all that he felt behind that 
 conventional mask of indifference which is the despair 
 of the enthusiast, and his comrades scarcely knew 
 that he was wholly one with themselves. 
 
 The cause of the attempted insurrection he could 
 not understand ; he himself was so thoroughly imbued 
 with the perfection of their policy and methods that 
 he was surprised any one living in Cristallia did not 
 at once come wholly under its spell. To him the 
 attitude of those who knew nothing of its inner 
 working was comprehensible ; the aloofness of those 
 who did was not, and the disclosures Robson had 
 made greatly disturbed him. 
 
 Harry Toller assumed that every one, at some 
 period of his or her life, hopes to do some little thing 
 which will leave the world better for the act being 
 
78 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 done. An optimist, he had that faith in mankind 
 that fits one for life among a progressive people, and 
 he firmly believed that in Cristallia all must come 
 right because their motives were good. 
 
 Danger from outside he could understand ; he 
 expected attack, and thought that when the great 
 struggle for supremacy came and changes come 
 quickly in this age of energy Cristallia would be 
 able to hold its own. Their little community had 
 settled in the very darkest corner of Africa, a corner 
 that is purposely kept dark by nations who were 
 strong enough to have effected reforms, but lacked 
 courage through mistrust of each other. It was 
 unlikely that the Great Powers would view without 
 concern the establishment of a new nation one that 
 sooner or later would threaten their supremacy on 
 land or the seas. The stronger Cristallia became, 
 the sooner would the struggle begin. As Spain in 
 the sixteenth century tried to crush England because 
 she entered into rivalry with Spain as a sea-power, 
 so would the great manufacturing countries attempt 
 to overthrow the new community which threatened 
 their supremacy in their own special field. 
 
 For the rest, the civilisation of Cristallia was of 
 another sort to that of which the world knew and 
 most esteemed. The remarkable thing in its short 
 career was the wondrous increase of wealth of 
 that material wealth the Isocrats counted worthless. 
 Coined money from the first had no circulation in 
 the colony ; there was a paper currency, and the 
 profits accruing from trade accumulated so rapidly 
 it was difficult to find remunerative investments of 
 the kind needed. The wants of the people were so 
 few that the labour they rendered the State left 
 always a credit balance in the favour of the worker. 
 Fitzjoy hoped that gold would be discovered in the 
 Atlas, and in the rush that would follow Cristallia's 
 " Isocracy " might be swamped. He overlooked the 
 fact that they had no need for gold; they could 
 
THE DAY DREAMS OF A BUSINESS MAN. 79 
 
 obtain more commodities in exchange for the labour 
 they expended in producing Iltydium than they 
 could for the same labour employed in quarrying 
 and crushing quartz the more plentiful gold became 
 the less the purchasing power of labour ; soon, for 
 their own protection, they might be forced to hoard 
 the metal in lieu of investing it. 
 
 In like manner their criterion of moral worth 
 differed. To begin with, all were equal ; there was 
 no fictitious value assigned to birth any one babe 
 was as much, or as little, honoured as another. They 
 esteemed more than the others only those men and 
 women who invented means of lessening labour 
 without decreasing the productiveness of their 
 factories. Mere knowledge, exceptional skill, per- 
 sonal prowess were not regarded as deserving special 
 distinction ; the possessors of them might be envied 
 by some of the less fortunate, but collectively the 
 Isocrats rewarded only those who knew how to 
 apply the advantages for the common good. 
 
 On the south side people could be found who 
 would applaud the youth who ran a hundred yards 
 in a fraction of a second less time than his mates, 
 or cheer the veteran who, after long and arduous 
 exercise, was able to balance a couple of billiard 
 balls at the end of a cue on the tip of his nose, but 
 the first exhibition of the Rontgen rays was the only 
 thing that awakened the Isocrats to real enthusiasm 
 in a whole twelve months. 
 
 In Cristallia extravagance in dress or demeanour 
 excited only ridicule ; the wearing of diamonds was 
 tabooed particularly, and the number of native 
 servants strictly limited. The whole regime was 
 directed towards concentrating the superabundant 
 energy within the domain of invention and research. 
 All, as Boyd Robson said, were invention mad, and 
 he was as insane as any one. It was more than a 
 passing craze with them, although they admitted that 
 its present fierce ardour could not long continue. 
 
80 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 As the body is rested by varying the exercise, other 
 intellectual work was used as a foil to the exhaustion 
 of creative genius it was satisfactory to the Isocrats 
 if recreation were kept to the mental plane. They 
 argued that the human body, by the elimination of 
 the unfit in ages past, was practically perfect for such 
 labours as their mode of living entailed ; but, on the 
 other hand, with abundant leisure from manual toil, 
 the human intellect could be developed until genius 
 should be the rule, not the exception, among their 
 people. 
 
 Just as far-away New Zealand in a generation 
 gone had by its very remoteness attracted only the 
 wealthiest, sturdiest, and most persistent of colonists, 
 so Cristallia, by placing a premium upon originality, 
 expected to attract the finest and strongest intellects. 
 So far removed were they from sympathy with the 
 inane and frivolous, they seemed moral beyond 
 temptation. Fitzjoy's expectation that the intro- 
 duction of a half-dozen " merry she-devils " would 
 lead to their downfall was foredoomed to failure. 
 The antics of such only awakened amazement and 
 disgust That class could only thrive in that special 
 pabulum provided by perverse living in overcrowded 
 cities. Even the newest comer, a wiry smith from 
 Daisy Bank, saw nothing inviting in their wiles. The 
 water-melons he was growing were already " larger 
 than the vegetable marrows in Tom Fisher's garden 
 in Cradley" a fact he thought more uncommon 
 and interesting than the gyrations of the " merry she- 
 devils," so he preferred to study the melons. 
 
 All that, as Toller knew, was in the past ; now, as 
 Robson had revealed, there was discontent, if not 
 revolt, and he himself could attribute it only to the 
 influx of new talent being greater than the power 
 of the Isocrats to absorb. The growth of the colony 
 had been too rapid ; extensive pruning seemed an 
 imperative necessity. 
 
 Personally, he objected to the spirit of Robson's 
 
THE DAY DREAMS OF A BUSINESS MAN. 8 1 
 
 policy, though admitting the cogency of his reason- 
 ing, and he found an unexpected ally in Redhead, 
 whom he had always considered thorough, relent- 
 less, and aggressive. To Sterry, whom Robson 
 had quite won over, Redhead had spoken without 
 hesitation, and had met his objections with the quaint 
 quotation, "I fear thou'rt becoming weak-kneed, 
 brother," at which reminder of " Honest Bob's " 
 minister in days of Plainfield and the little Bethel 
 Sterry now scowled. 
 
 The truth was that the community by becoming 
 aggressive risked what little they had now, and to 
 them all that little was very dear. Perched up in 
 the " Crow's Nest," a small turret on the south-eastern 
 corner of the terrace before the Capitol, Toller looked 
 down upon the town, out to sea, or, turning, beheld 
 the purple-topped summits of the Atlas range. The 
 sun was just dipping into the azure water in 
 the golden west ; the hoarse murmur of the 
 Mohammedans at prayer mingled with the distant 
 roar of the inland torrent. All work in the fields 
 and on the quays had ceased, and in the hour of 
 rest Sterry, Robson, and Alan Winship were walking 
 together on the terrace. From the earnest manner 
 in which Robson was gesticulating it seemed that 
 the usually taciturn contractor was now being 
 listened to with interest At the other end of the 
 terrace Madeline Winship was strolling arm in arm 
 with Beatrice Tyacke and Hilda Kewney. They too 
 were engrossed in conversation, and, oddly enough, 
 kept aloof from their co-Councillors. Toller watched 
 them, and sighed ; mayhap there were differences 
 growing even within the inner circle. 
 
 But Cristallia as a whole, for which they were 
 living, what would it become? He looked out 
 towards the setting sun and was reminded of its 
 sex, for there are people who fancy sex pervades 
 all things create. To some even Mohammedanism 
 seems the masculine counterpart of Christianity, and 
 
 G 
 
82 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Toller himself always thought of certain towns, 
 districts, and nations, as being-, some under the 
 domination of one, as others under that of the other 
 principle. To him, England, as a whole, was a 
 masculine entity ; the Celtic race was feminine. 
 The Anglo-Saxon nation was masculine, as was 
 the Roman race ; Egypt particularly typical of the 
 all-enduring, never-changing, eternal feminine. 
 
 He sat there long, considering what Cristallia 
 would become. The short twilight passed, and the 
 silvery moonbeams danced on the rippling water and 
 cast a ghostly sheen about the Iltydium pinnacle 
 on Cristal Point. The lights in the town were few, 
 for the people were mostly out of doors ; a breeze 
 stirred the leaves of the trees on the terraces below, 
 and, but for the solitary figure of some Moor 
 guarding the approaches to the Capitol, the Isocrats 
 on the terrace might have considered themselves the 
 only inhabitants of the place. All was so peaceful, 
 serene, and still, withal so beautiful and intense, that 
 Toller was impressed with its feminine spirituality 
 of all colonies in Africa Cristallia alone embodied 
 that principle. 
 
 The fancy pleased him ; he thought this child of 
 their creation less ephemeral, and more influential, 
 than the blatant, roaring, aggressive communities of 
 the south. Cristallia would endure when they were 
 forgotten. 
 
 The solution of their present difficulties he con- 
 ceived to be possible by restoring harmony in the 
 Council. What was lacking he knew not ; but clearly 
 the old frankness that used to be common among 
 the Isocrats existed no longer. 
 
 He looked down on to the terrace ; the women 
 were still promenading at the extreme end. The 
 men had ceased talking, but were still walking up 
 and down together. At last Robson left his com- 
 panions and went to the other group. Sterry soon 
 missed him ; then he and Winship followed, and 
 
THE DAY DREAMS OF A BUSINESS MAN. 83 
 
 soon all stood together. Toller strained his eyes to 
 see with whom it was Sterry was talking-. He was 
 the first to leave, and he went alone. A few seconds 
 after, Madeline Winship left the terrace, taking the 
 opposite direction, towards the town. Robson then 
 walked across to a seat and lit a cigar, and Hilda 
 Kewney came bustling along the terrace calling for 
 Toller. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 A BAPTISM OF FIRE. 
 
 ABOUT three months after Snyder had been taken 
 prisoner on the Belgian packet an ill-spelled letter 
 arrived in Cristallia from a mechanic in Denver who 
 complained that the vacuum valve was his invention 
 and had been stolen from him by a German immi- 
 grant named Hans Schneider. The letter was 
 shown to Snyder, and he admitted its truth there 
 was no likelihood of an invention from him, not 
 though they kept him imprisoned all his life. He 
 had nothing in him. They kept him close all the 
 same, and thus the industrial community became 
 saddled with its first burden. Not that so little 
 mattered at all ; the place was growing rapidly, 
 factories were springing up in all directions along 
 the south shore, and what had once been the 
 golden strand of the outer harbour was now a great 
 shipbuilding yard. 
 
 The flags of Holland, Roumania, and Switzerland 
 flew alongside that of Sweden near the Guest 
 House; explosive works and Samuel Amber's new 
 gum factory were in isolated parts of the backlands 
 on the banks of the Cristal River; and there was 
 a daily service of trains between Port Cristal and 
 the great native mart at El-Aksa. Here and there 
 on the high ground were suspicious-looking mounds 
 which to the initiated might seem to mask hidden 
 batteries. There was an open fort on the hill 
 
A BAPTISM OF FIRE. 85 
 
 above the south quay, and on Cristal Point a huge 
 pyramidal block of Iltydium, rising from its spiral 
 pedestal an elongated hollow cone twice the height 
 of the world's greatest monolith, by day glistening 
 in the sun like the burnished point of some huge 
 spear, and at night illuminated with an arc light, 
 scattering bright rays over town and harbour. 
 
 The Isocrats had quite recovered from the fright 
 their temerity in seizing Snyder had occasioned ; all 
 the same, they strengthened their defences. The 
 foundations of the great school had been utilised to 
 erect fine barracks, now occupied by five hundred 
 Moors under Lukeeli. The only source of danger 
 apparently was the newly established German trading 
 factory at Wadi-waar, but that was experiencing the 
 usual luck of German colonies burning a lot of 
 gunpowder, costing a heap of money, and peopled 
 by British and American adventurers and the off- 
 scouring of the Latin countries. As for the Belgians, 
 they had given little trouble ; a demand for an 
 indemnity made on their behalf through Sweden 
 and Ulitsen had been met with blank refusal by 
 the Isocrats, so they tried diplomacy elsewhere, and 
 went on building their gunboat. The Powers which 
 guaranteed Belgian neutrality saw no reason why 
 they should undertake a war to maintain the little 
 prestige Belgium fancied she still possessed, and to 
 all intents and purposes it seemed that the Snyder 
 incident was settled. 
 
 But there was a disagreeable surprise in store for 
 the Isocrats, and it developed with such suddenness 
 that they could not avail themselves of the defences 
 they had prepared. One day, at the beginning of 
 winter, when Boyd Robson was at Kfasnoe Zeloe 
 showing the Russians the superiority of Iltydium 
 shells over all others ; when Lukeeli and half his 
 Moors were at El-Aksa for the autumn fair ; when 
 the " Gleam " was at sea off Cape Verde trying to 
 communicate with Cristallia by means of improved 
 
86 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 transmitters ; when the Shereef s big cruisers 
 " Crescent " and " Hadj " were cruising along the 
 distant Riff coast; when every one in Cristallia 
 was working, as unconscious of coming danger 
 and as unsuspicious as usual, a warship was seen 
 approaching from the north-west. 
 
 Luckily Morven Kell was in the harbour directing 
 the work in the breakwater, and when the warning 
 bells from the watch-tower rang through the town 
 he assumed command As arranged, the factories 
 emptied, the fires \\ere closed down, and all but 
 the few men necessary to keep the ovens going- 
 went to their posts on the defences. On the trading 
 side there was a slight panic, but pratique was 
 immediately given to the funky ones, and in less 
 than an hour three ships thronged with women, 
 children, and the timorous put to sea for Agadir, 
 Mogador, and Casa Blanca. 
 
 Some relief was felt when the Stars and Stripes 
 were distinguished above the fighting-tops of the 
 great cruiser ; but the joy was short-lived. The 
 vessel refused a pilot, manoeuvred prettily in the 
 roadstead, then steamed into the outer harbour. A 
 steam pinnace was at once launched, and landed a, 
 lieutenant with despatches on the north quay, where 
 a couple of hundred Moors were marshalled. The 
 ship proved to be the new warship " Oklahoma," 
 which had sailed from Battery Point ten day's before 
 with sealed orders, but, as was generally understood, 
 to join the United States Mediterranean Squadron 
 at Villefranche. 
 
 The despatches were most laconic : Admiral 
 Sanders was instructed to bring away from Cristallia 
 the American citizen John Albert Snyder, but if 
 dead, occupy the town until full reparation for his 
 seizure and imprisonment had been made ; in case 
 of resistance, to bombard Cristallia after allowing 
 the usual notice to non-combatants. 
 
 The answer was given at once. " John Albert 
 
A BAPTISM OF FIRE. 87 
 
 Snyder would not be released to America or any 
 other country with which he claimed citizenship, he 
 being a member of the Commonwealth of Cristallia. 
 The Executive would admit the Admiral or any 
 officer higher in rank than a lieutenant to an inter- 
 view with the prisoner Snyder, and grant him and 
 his guard a safe conduct. The Commonwealth in 
 no circumstances would allow the Admiral to occupy 
 the town, protested against his threat to bombard 
 it, and at the same time required him to remove 
 the ' Oklahoma ' beyond the three-mile limit before 
 sundown." 
 
 Admiral Sanders was a veteran whose brilliant 
 record could neither be heightened nor tarnished by 
 fighting Cristallia. He put etiquette aside and went 
 ashore. Snyder was wild to get away, and besought 
 the Admiral not to desert him. With the Isocrats 
 the Admiral was frank to friendliness. He and 
 Hanlan's father had been through the " shop " 
 together ; Sterry's father he knew by reputation ; 
 and he had no wish to force the colonists unduly ; 
 but his instructions were peremptory. 
 
 " He knows our secrets ; we will not release him," 
 said Redhead firmly. 
 
 " All the more reason why he should be free," 
 retorted the Admiral. 
 
 Madeline Winship made a last application : Cris- 
 tallia harmed none, Snyder had ruined many, his 
 record should be shown the Admiral. 
 
 " Madam, I cannot look at it." 
 
 " Then you, with him, will war on us ? " 
 
 " Not on you, madam ; non-combatants will have 
 ample time to reach safety." 
 
 " There are no non-combatants among Isocrats. 
 We, men and women, have equal rights, equal duties. 
 If you fire a shot at Cristallia, I shall be with the 
 other women in the forts." 
 
 The Admiral shrugged his shoulders, and turned 
 abruptly to the Chief Commoner. 
 
88 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " I give you until four o'clock this afternoon to 
 bring Snyder alongside ; if he is not there, I shall 
 take what steps I think necessary to secure him." 
 
 Then Sterry spoke. 
 
 "We will allow you one hour to get outside the 
 harbour; a pilot is at your disposal if you take him 
 at once, otherwise " 
 
 " I take no instructions from any one whom the 
 United States Government does not officially recog- 
 nise. No, sir." 
 
 " Then you may take it unofficially that we do not 
 recognise any rules of war. You can gain your 
 victory only by exterminating us." 
 
 "You may be glad that the United States Navy 
 observes the rules of war usual among civilised 
 nations ; you will be glad of that after we have 
 pounded at you for an hour or less. You know my 
 terms." 
 
 " And you know ours. The ' Oklahoma ' must be 
 outside or at the bottom of our harbour at sundown." 
 
 When the Admiral with his guard reached the 
 shore the harbour guardship lay alongside his 
 pinnace and accompanied her to the outer harbour. 
 
 The pyramid and diagonal flag of Cristallia was 
 run up at half a dozen different places on the 
 heights above the forts and flew from the staff above 
 the Capitol. 
 
 Morven Kell went out in one of the harbour 
 " crabs " with gear to foul, cut off, or wedge fast the 
 propellers of the foreign warship. She had not 
 dropped her anchors, but was fitfully steaming 
 ahead or astern to keep in the fairway against the 
 outrunning tide, and it was unlikely he would 
 accomplish anything. 
 
 From the conning-tower over the Capitol Redhead 
 and Sterry watched the enemy clearing their vessel's 
 deck for action, and below, in the instrument-room, 
 Beatrice Tyacke was transmitting to New York and 
 London the particulars of the quarrel and position 
 
A BAPTISM OF FIRE. 89 
 
 of the opposing parties as dictated by Redhead into 
 the telephone. 
 
 Four o'clock struck upon the great bell in the 
 Capitol ; the guardship glided back into the harbour, 
 and the " Oklahoma " was swinging round rapidly 
 in the narrow channel, when a message came from 
 Kell, who had returned to the north shore, that he 
 had fixed a pirbright-cutter against the starboard pro- 
 peller shaft, and that elsewhere all was in readiness. 
 
 Then a puff of light smoke was seen on the 
 steamer ; it was followed by a dull roar, and the 
 first shot fired at Cristallia broke into fragments on 
 the rocks high above the town. At two minutes' 
 interval it was followed by another, which expended 
 itself as harmlessly. 
 
 There was no answer from any of the land forts, 
 but in the outer harbour the water bubbled up and 
 burst into a blaze which spread for a few yards, then 
 died out and left a low hanging cloud of green 
 smoke between the ship and the town. Before the 
 next shot was fired the flame burst forth anew 
 nearer the ship, and she was headed for the mouth 
 of the channel, but another warning bubble to the 
 port side led to the helm being sent hard over 
 again. At three separate points the bubbles were 
 now bursting into flame, and the fire was spreading 
 over the surface of the water like burning oil. The 
 guns were silent ; the ship, swinging right round 
 into the blaze and smoke, churned the water to 
 muddy, smouldering froth, and then at top speed 
 the " Oklahoma " rushed along the channel for the 
 sea. 
 
 Before she escaped the burning water, with its 
 low-hanging poisonous green cloud, a mine was fired, 
 and suddenly a huge mound of flaming water fifty 
 feet high and nearly a hundred yards in length rose 
 right before her. Into the trough she plunged, 
 pitched heavily but righted quickly and in time to 
 ride the swelling sea in safety, but only to be caught 
 
9 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 by the rush of water from a wave equally formidable 
 thrown up by a charge of five hundred pounds of 
 gun-cotton submerged fifty yards to her right. By 
 this wave the " Oklahoma " was thrown almost on 
 to her beam ends to port and forced to the edge of 
 the channel, but, admirably handled, she was headed 
 round in time and kept afloat in the deep stream. 
 
 The bad steering that immediately followed indi- 
 cated that one blade at least had been lost from 
 the port propeller, and if the pirbright-cutter did 
 its work the warship would soon be quite unmanage- 
 able. The water dripping from chains and cathead 
 was here and there still aflame, burning slowly like 
 sulphur, and on the great hull glowing patches of 
 the devouring slime could be seen still adhering. 
 
 In a few minutes she reached the open sea, and 
 was washed clean by the spray she threw to right 
 and left. Then the guns were swung out again and 
 the firing recommenced. She went to and fro in the 
 roadstead, sending shell into the woods and on to 
 the rocks above the town. The harbour was still 
 bubbling up with the inflammable gas, and the 
 smoke hung about the deserted quays and lower 
 forts. 
 
 The Americans were expending their energy 
 uselessly at sham fortifications, pounding solid rocks 
 far removed from the men who were working the 
 few guns which from time to time sent a shot at 
 the fast-travelling ship. 
 
 Flag after flag disappeared on the rocks ; the staff 
 above the Capitol had been cut through with shot ; 
 and still besieged and besiegers fired at each other 
 without cessation. Darkness was coming on ; the 
 tide had turned ; far away to the west those on the 
 watch-tower noticed that quickly growing speck 
 in the sky which heralds a tropical storm. The 
 vapour about the town thickened, and the order was 
 sent to fire more carefully, as the " Oklahoma " 
 apparently had not once been hit ; then the firing 
 
A BAPTISM OF FIRE. 91 
 
 from -the forts flagged ; became quite desultory as 
 all shots were seen to strike wide. 
 
 Those on the ship noticed the indication of the 
 coming storm, and their firing became more rapid; 
 and the Isocrats on the watch-tower lost faith in 
 the pirbright-cutter, and longed for the hurricane to 
 strike their antagonists and for the darkness of 
 night to hide themselves. It was not comforting 
 to receive a message from the Hadj Larbi, their 
 agent in Fez, that His Shereefian Highness would 
 not interfere. The American Minister had arranged 
 for his neutrality months before. The Isocrats must 
 fight the battle out alone. 
 
 There was little chance of hitting the " Oklahoma " 
 in the increasing darkness. She seemed to be drawing 
 further off shore and to be making for Agadir when 
 the storm struck her. For a few minutes she did 
 well, and firing was suspended ; then she swerved 
 and lay helpless. The cutter had done its work at 
 last ; the starboard propeller had broken off, and, 
 with the end of the shaft, was at the bottom of the 
 sea. The " Oklahoma " was at their mercy now* 
 and for the instant Sterry and Redhead were too 
 overjoyed to send the order to cease firing. 
 
 Then Admiral Sanders did a plucky thing. The 
 ship was headed for Port Cristal and driven slowly 
 ahead before the storm. All her guns available 
 were trained forward, and with a quick, raking fire 
 from all arms she advanced towards the harbour. 
 
 The booming of the artillery, the incessant din 
 of the machine-guns, the sharp rattle of the rifles 
 prevented those on the ship observing that from 
 Cristallia not a shot was now being fired. They 
 knew only that they had to silence the forts and 
 awe the garrison before they reached the harbour, 
 and to gain this they spared no effort. The wind 
 blew the floating flames towards the north shore, 
 and up into the river ; to continue that defence was 
 therefore useless. Already the vapours, driven inland 
 
92 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 by the wind, hid the town and Capitol ; only the 
 south fort had an unobstructed view of ship and 
 harbour. There the flag had gone, but, well screened 
 from rifle fire, the men were lying watching the in- 
 coming ship, and a search ray brought them to the 
 attention of the gunners. Soon shells were bursting 
 over the open fort, while an incessant blind fusillade 
 was continued against the town and both shores. 
 
 The great waves were rushing over the part-formed 
 breakwater and the wind blew like a hurricane when 
 the disabled ship, in trying to make her entrance of 
 the harbour, struck a bank, swung round, headed off, 
 turned again, drifted stem foremost against the break- 
 water, was forced full length upon it, and heeled over 
 slowly. 
 
 The firing then ceased, and in the lull above the 
 echoes reverberating from the hills could be heard 
 wild cries of despair and pain from the town, where, 
 in two different places, flames were bursting forth. 
 Jake Hanlan, who had charge of the great gun, 
 could contain himself no longer ; with a few turns 
 he lowered the elevation of his piece, already directed 
 upon that part of the breakwater from which a cloud 
 of white steam was issuing, and at once pulled the 
 fuse. The bullet went home ; they in the fort heard 
 distinctly its fierce clash on the armour of the cruiser. 
 
 " Sink the devil there ! She'll save a million skeps 
 of concrete ! " hissed Kell as the hydraulic lift brought 
 the next shell into position. 
 
 Before it was rammed home in the gun a distress 
 rocket shot up skyward from behind the driving cloud 
 of steam, and then Madeline Winship rushed on to 
 the gun-stage. 
 
 " No more, Morven, no more ! We must save 
 them!" 
 
 Jake Hanlan laughed ; Kell looked puzzled. It 
 was too absurd with Cristallia in ruins and ablaze. 
 
 Jake laid the gun afresh and was feeling for the 
 fuse, when another rocket went up from the ship. 
 
A BAPTISM OF FIRE. 93 
 
 " Stop ! I command it ! I take responsibility ! " 
 
 The girl's face was very white, and she was 
 trembling violently. Kell went towards her and 
 would have supported her. 
 
 She understood his intention. 
 
 " No, no ! leave me. Signal to the rocket station 
 and order out the lifeboats! Quick! Quick! They 
 must not perish ! " 
 
 The wind caught her draperies and blew out her 
 burnoose like a pennant in a storm ; she struggled 
 to keep her place ; snatched at the breech-key of 
 the gun, and missed ; then was blown down on the 
 floor of the fort into the arms of a couple of Moors. 
 But she had gained her point. The gun was lowered, 
 the signals raised, and the work of rescue began. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 KNIGHTS OF THE BACK STAIRS. 
 
 " FERSTEN, those American friends of yours who are 
 playing at empire-making in Africa have scored 
 again." And the Honourable Benjamin Fitzjoy 
 threw 'down a despatch and curled his lips disdain- 
 fully. 
 
 "The Isocrats?" 
 
 " The United States Government is pleased to 
 recognise the industrial community of Cristallia as 
 the African Commonwealth/' he repeated, as though 
 reading the words of the dispatch. 
 
 " Recognised their independence, eh ? You will do 
 the same ? " 
 
 " I think not, Fersten. We might not object to a 
 fresh dependency in Africa, but new independencies 
 anywhere are quite outside our limit." 
 
 " Toller thinks the petition will be granted this 
 time." 
 
 " Blessed are they who expect trustingly, for they 
 shall long be kept waiting. But to come back : the 
 rescue of those nine hundred Yankees was distinctly 
 good. In lieu of treating them as prisoners of war, 
 to send them home honourably was a master stroke 
 of diplomacy. His loftiness the Chief Commoner 
 of Cristallia is no fool, Fersten." 
 
 "Psh! It was not he!" 
 
KNIGHTS OF THE BACK STAIRS. Q$ 
 
 " No matter who did it, it was a lucky inspiration." 
 
 " Inspiration ! There you have it ; it was a 
 woman's doing, of course, my friend." 
 
 " Don't you be too blessedly familiar, Fersten," said 
 Fitzjoy, annoyed ; then, swinging back in his chair, 
 he put both feet on to the table to demonstrate his 
 superiority. 
 
 " We understand human nature : would any man 
 who was being worsted in a fight for life turn round 
 on a sudden impulse and save his enemy from an 
 unexpected misfortune ? What do you think ? " 
 
 " Never mind what I think : what do you know ? " 
 
 " Hanlan, an American, was going to fire at the 
 wreck, when Madeline Winship got before the 
 muzzle of the loaded gun and stayed there until 
 the rocket-lines were over the ship and the lifeboats 
 alongside." 
 
 "All the same, Sterry and the others had to ratify 
 her action." 
 
 "What else could they do when, to speak meta- 
 phorically, she stood before their guns until they did 
 agree ? " 
 
 " Confound the woman ! " 
 
 " Ah ! you do not know that one." 
 
 " Don't I ! " And his face expressed a recollection 
 that was as forcible as unpleasant " It is my belief 
 that if the Dutch Consul had not been killed the 
 Yankees would have been given their ship back and 
 the whole affair hushed up." 
 
 " That could not be, because they " 
 
 " I listen to no arguments which may tend to alter 
 my belief. What luck Cristallia has! the very ship 
 disabled herself at the most opportune moment for 
 them." 
 
 "It is a way warships have." 
 
 " True. They are more uncertain than a horse's 
 health. There is a chance for the modern poet to 
 improve on Shakespeare's aphorism. All the same, 
 the gods are on the side of Cristallia." 
 
96 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " That is superstitious of you. The Cristallians 
 themselves disabled the ' Oklahoma.' " 
 
 " How do you know that ? " asked Fitzjoy quickly 
 and earnestly. 
 
 " They put new shafts and propellers to her before 
 they made her over to the Sultan of Morocco." 
 
 " That's nothing," said Fitzjoy, again despondent. 
 " But enough of this humbug. What about your 
 German settlement ? " 
 
 " Pieterland ? We thought to make it a Congo, 
 but it's only a second Cameroons." 
 
 The doleful tone of Fersten sent Fitzjoy into a 
 reverie. This community of Cristallia was a quite 
 unknown quantity, and it puzzled him to assign it 
 the position of proper relative importance in the new 
 British cosmos ; for the ambitious young Under 
 Secretary looked far ahead, and was in the habit 
 of regarding matters that might come within the 
 domain of practical politics when he attained the 
 rank of Cabinet Minister. He examined all in turn, 
 from the Alaskan frontier dispute to the occupation 
 of Thursday Island, in order to discover the thing 
 which, properly handled, might make a Premier of 
 a Cabinet Minister. In the Morocco question he 
 thought he had found a problem which would soon 
 be ripe for solution. 
 
 "After all, they are only a handful of enthusiasts," 
 he mused. 
 
 "The Pieterlanders?" 
 
 " No ; the others. They must fall into line with 
 the greatest empire the world has known, or be 
 snuffed out" 
 
 " You may trust them to do the right thing," said 
 Fersten cynically. 
 
 " That will make them formidable ; but I hate 
 cynicism in others, Fersten, and especially in you. 
 It ill becomes an Isocrat, I fancy." 
 
 " But the unexpected always happens." 
 
KNIGHTS OF THE BACK STAIRS. 97 
 
 " Only to those who will expect the improbable. 
 You and I know better than believe that sham truth, 
 Fersten." 
 
 " Like the people of Cristallia, we must make 
 things happen, eh ? " 
 
 "Have the Isocrats taken to that? An instance?" 
 
 " Germany put Jonesware on the list of prohibited 
 imports : Cristallia at once retaliated by supplying 
 Russia with Iltydium shells, and is to deliver to 
 France the hull of a first-class line-of-battle ship, 
 armoured with absolutely impenetrable plates. 
 There's retaliation for you." 
 
 " Mere commonplace devices. I believed the 
 Isocrats unconventional in all things ; therefore, 
 possibly dangerous. What is really their object 
 their policy ? " 
 
 " To reform the world." 
 
 " There are so many ways ; which do they prefer ? " 
 
 " The right one, of course." 
 
 "You know what I mean, Fersten." 
 
 "And I think you understand mine. They will 
 reform the world." 
 
 " Quot homines, tot sententiae." 
 
 " Not in a simple matter of right and wrong. You 
 see, I have my lesson well." 
 
 "I forgot you are an Isocrat But you do not 
 agree with them in everything." 
 
 " Isocrats do not agree in all things ; the axiom 
 you are expected to believe is that the world needs 
 reform, and there is only one way the way you 
 believe to be the right one. Absolute independence 
 of thought and full liberty of action, but, in Cristallia, 
 it is Cristallia which is the means to obtain the 
 reform, and there is coalition ad hoc." 
 
 " And you have subscribed to that ? " 
 
 " Not at all. I have a plan of my own, quite 
 antagonistic." 
 
 " You will have progress by antagonism, eh ? " 
 
 " I do not know ; I hope to make things happen." 
 
 H 
 
98 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " Crafty Fersten ! You have a plan ; but have 
 you their confidence ? " 
 
 " I helped von der Pfordten over that ugly Dutch 
 Consul trouble ; I am all right with them." 
 
 " And I helped you don't forget that ! I suppose 
 you have not thought it necessary to inform What's- 
 his-name of that fact ; consequently, I may not be 
 ' all right ' with the Isocrats, as you say you are." 
 
 " I mean to make it pleasant all round. It is a 
 question of terms." 
 
 " Undoubtedly." 
 
 " To wreck Cristallia every one is ready ; secret 
 service money is plentiful. Germany, Austria, 
 Belgium, and may I say ? " 
 
 " Say nothing if you are wise. I think we two 
 understand each other perfectly, Baron Fersten." 
 
 The intriguer looked glum, and twirled his long 
 moustachios ; then he laughed blatantly. 
 
 "As though that were sufficient! Indicate " 
 
 Fitzjoy shook his head with unusual vigour. 
 
 " Well, the money question apart, how shall I be 
 received provided Cristallia falls and I have wed an 
 Isocrat out there?" 
 
 " I suppose it will be the same as if the marriage 
 were made at Malta. Who is the victim? The 
 young woman who fronts the cannon ? " 
 
 Fersten shook his head. 
 
 " I cannot risk refusal. There is another one who 
 receives and transmits all the private messages for 
 the Commonwealth. A neat enough little woman, 
 Tyacke by name, and she alone among the women 
 knows the secret of Iltydium and Jonesware." 
 
 "A valuable acquisition when Cristallia is no 
 more. I should certainly insist upon the marriage 
 tie being binding, if I were you, Fersten." 
 
 " Not after I have the secrets and am safe from 
 Cristallia. But that is not the whole of my plan. I 
 am going to introduce ' La Grande ' to Cristallia." 
 
 "Irma the Magnificent? That Paris should lose 
 
KNIGHTS OF THE BACK STAIRS. 99 
 
 so much! Again I say they are lucky dogs in 
 Cristallia." 
 
 " You know now how the chances stand. One 
 thing only is needed to make success certain." 
 
 "Money?" 
 
 " I have more than enough. No ; I want a really 
 good invention. Something to divert suspicion. 
 But you can't get one for love or money nowadays. 
 Every one goes to Cristallia direct with new things. 
 There isn't an invention worth a cent left in this 
 country or any other." 
 
 " What a relief ! We always provide our own in 
 the service. It is the better way since men have 
 confidence in their own things. Besides, if the 
 various departments could not give the country all 
 it wants, public confidence in the personnel might 
 be weakened. That reminds me ; I will order the 
 Admiralty to invent something better than these 
 Iltydium shells and plates that will aggravate the 
 Isocrats." 
 
 " Not in the least. The Isocrats are born stoics 
 one and all. Nothing would perturb them." 
 
 " They are dangerous people snuff them out ! " 
 
 "It is the only thing to do ; we have come to that 
 conclusion. They care for nothing civilisation can 
 offer them ; they are as untractable as people who 
 have no fear of death. They must go." 
 
 " Luck to you, Fersten," said Fitzjoy, smiling 
 grimly and stretching out his hand. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 "FOR THE FUTURE OF CRISTALLIA." 
 
 " BOB, what do you think of Fersten ? " 
 
 "I think he is a 'rotter'! Look at the time he 
 has been in getting his gum factory started! The 
 humbug ! " 
 
 " The delay is annoying ; but there are circum- 
 stances/' And Willie Redhead aped the manner of 
 the Baron so closely that Sterry laughed at the 
 mimicry. " Then Fersten is such a pleasant 
 companion." 
 
 " The fellow is too plausible ; one can't help liking 
 him. But he is no good for Cristallia, Willie ; his 
 heart is not in the work." 
 
 " Because his heart is more drawn to one of us 
 than to all." 
 
 "You mean the game he is carrying on with 
 Beatrice Tyacke? I have noticed it, and I won't 
 have that sort of thing from him." 
 
 "Why not? And how shall you stop it? Beatrice 
 Tyacke, like the rest of us, is now free to wed whom- 
 soever she may choose." 
 
 "As if Fersten meant it seriously. The man is 
 simply a poseur ! " 
 
 " But serious enough in this. You have been over 
 the house he is building for himself at the factory ? " 
 
 " I have ; and I know that Fersten must produce 
 his ' whalebone substitute ' before he goes to live in 
 that house. He has wasted time. We are no nearer 
 
"FOR THE FUTURE OF CRISTALLIA." IOI 
 
 an output from the factory than we were six weeks 
 ago. I spoke with Fersten only to-day, and told 
 him what I thought" 
 
 'I How did he take it?" 
 
 " Quietly enough ; said that he should have to go 
 to Europe again. It is that makes me suspicious. 
 This precious invention of his may be of the 'made 
 in Germany ' order after all ; perhaps it is a put-up 
 thing from one of the Government laboratories, and 
 Fersten only a spy. You remember his attempt to 
 get into the different factories his absurd assump- 
 tion that, being an Isocrat, he could go everywhere 
 in Cristallia. I have watched him closely since 
 then ; and as he is going to Europe he must go at 
 once. It will be his last chance. If he does not 
 produce the real thing within a reasonable time after 
 his return, I shall ask the Council to ' fire ' him." 
 
 " But they cannot. Once an Isocrat, always an 
 Isocrat." 
 
 " Yes, but when once in Cristallia, not there for 
 ever. He can be made to leave the place for the 
 common good." 
 
 "You think the Council will agree to that?" 
 
 " They must. I shall state the reasons ; they will 
 pronounce as a matter of form ; and I shall see 
 that effect is given to the resolution. You will not 
 object?" 
 
 " Oh, I am only a useless figurehead." 
 
 " What nonsense ! You are the authority on the 
 quarterdeck ; I am only a helmsman taking my 
 ' trick ' as do others. No, Willie, I thank my stars 
 that the laying of the course does not devolve upon 
 me. You are the brains of the concern, old boy ! " 
 
 " Since you say so, then, I warn you that I see 
 breakers ahead." 
 
 " How ? Fersten knows nothing." 
 
 " Not that at all. Beatrice Tyacke may accept 
 him." 
 
 " Whew ! I had not thought of that" 
 
102 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " Will she have to go from Cristallia too ? " 
 
 " Why go halfway to meet your troubles ? Enough 
 for the day is the evil thereof." 
 
 " That is like you. Will she have to go too ? " he 
 asked again. 
 
 His tone and look brought a reluctantly given 
 answer. 
 
 " I suppose so if the future of Cristallia should 
 require it/' 
 
 " Always the future of Cristallia." And Redhead 
 sighed. 
 
 For the past three years that had been the 
 shibboleth to which all Isocrats had bowed. It 
 seemed that instead of forming a State which 
 would free them to develop their own individual 
 tendencies, they had created a monster and made 
 themselves its slaves. They recognised this, but 
 thought the restraint only temporary ; some sacri- 
 fices had to be made in order to found an indepen- 
 dent realm ; but not always would the claims of 
 Cristallia be so onerous. With the expiry of the 
 term during which they had t covenanted that none 
 would marry they felt that the period of probation 
 ended. The day passed, yet they hesitated to use 
 their liberty the claims of Cristallia were more 
 potent than personal inclination. 
 
 The future of Cristallia preyed upon Willie 
 Redhead more than upon his associates ; to him 
 the wellbeing of the State was as dear as life 
 itself. He felt that it afforded him the one chance 
 of impressing his personality upon the world and 
 upon posterity. He saw with satisfaction that the 
 mechanical inventions of Sterry and Iltyd Jones 
 brought them renown and profit ; but he wished not 
 to be an inventor only, but aspired rather to become 
 the founder of a higher civilisation. The inventions, 
 the isocratic community Cristallia, were but means 
 to that end ; and whatever threatened one or all 
 attacked him. 
 
"FOR THE FUTURE OF CRISTALLIA." 103 
 
 The successes of the Isocrats in the limited indus- 
 trial field they occupied excited only the envy of 
 outsiders; Redhead's wish was to create a republic 
 other nations would strive to emulate, and never 
 was reformer so beset with difficulties. To guard 
 against surprise and treachery, all work was carried on 
 in isolated buildings, closely " tiled " as a. Masonic 
 lodge ; their news messages were cryptographic 
 cyphers none but the initiated could read, the instruc- 
 tions to the operators meaningless jargon to all who 
 had not been personally trained at Cristallia ; and 
 yet they lived in fear that their secrets would be 
 disclosed and the community ruined. The one hope 
 was that some master invention would come into 
 their possession, armed with which they would be 
 strong enough to defy the great powers of the 
 world. It was no idle dream. Since the bombard- 
 ment they had expressed their readiness to receive 
 and use inventions serviceable for military defence, 
 and had been inundated with schemes and appliances 
 for the destruction of invaders. New weapons of 
 offence would be offered if they wanted them and 
 could invent nothing for themselves. Willie Redhead 
 thought that he himself could devise an engine which 
 would render war impossible, or at least wholly 
 unprofitable. But to keep the State intact required 
 increasing vigilance. Every item of news that passed 
 through their agency was brought to his cognisance ; 
 a thousand small matters of detail had his attention 
 each day, for he dared not depute the work, so 
 fearful was he that he should lose touch with some 
 insignificant ramification of their great enterprise. 
 
 The preservation of their independence, though 
 all-important, was not the greatest difficulty with 
 which he had to contend. That, indeed, was 
 essential to a feeling of absolute freedom necessary 
 to the development of national sentiment. To incul- 
 cate right ideas, to instil a desire for progress, to 
 awaken a spirit of optimism not only in the 
 
104 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 individual but in the mass seemed an almost 
 hopeless task. Yet its accomplishment was neces- 
 sary to the success of the Cristallia scheme, and 
 there were indications that the labour of teaching 
 had not been vainly expended Already the 
 workers bore themselves as though conscious of 
 some superiority, sometimes betrayed a suggestion 
 of strength latent. A crisis would quickly determine 
 what progress, if any, had been made, but as yet 
 the people had not had occasion to take common 
 action hurriedly. Redhead knew better than per- 
 suade himself that the populace was imbued with 
 an enthusiasm to struggle for the realisation of that 
 life he himself sought; but he hoped, ere he died, 
 to have unmistakable proofs that such a sentiment 
 animated one and all at Cristallia. Then he wished 
 to ensure such conditions as would perpetuate the 
 policy which called forth all that was good in 
 human nature, believing that an improved race 
 might ultimately be produced, and with them a still 
 higher civilisation prove possible. 
 
 The commercialisation of aim induced by the over- 
 appreciation of successes in the domain of mechanical 
 invention and discovery reacted beneficially upon the 
 best minds in the community of Cristallia. Nowhere, 
 at no time, was there so much spontaneity in the quest 
 of solutions to the haunting problems of destiny and 
 the purpose of all life, of human independence and 
 obligation, and of the sources of inspiration to 
 endeavour. Individuals tried to express the highest 
 hopes and deepest thoughts of the questioning, 
 audacious, but always baffled human spirit in its 
 varied attempts to solve the mysteries of conscious- 
 ness. Their efforts showed only the tragedy of 
 existence : by no means, in no conditions, can the 
 individual escape his fate. This obvious truth was 
 obscured by multitudinous issues in the turmoil of 
 founding and developing the ideal commonwealth. 
 When the main difficulties to material progress had 
 
"FOR THE FUTURE OF CRISTALLIA." 105 
 
 been overcome Redhead fondly imagined that in 
 their improved circumstances one and all of them 
 would be happier. Instead, the consciousness of 
 successful achievement in one direction but quickened 
 the appreciation of suffering, and now the worst, as 
 the best, were bereft of that imperturbable content 
 which may fill the soul of the all-round failure. The 
 most harrowing miseries, like the rapturous joys of 
 ecstasy, appertain to the psychic identity and are 
 eternal ; for human ills Cristallia had no panacea, 
 and only an optimist, such as Redhead, had faith to 
 hope that an autocracy of thinkers might discover 
 the remedy. True, in their community none suffered 
 from the agonising primal claims of hunger ; the 
 workers had their full reward for bodily toil and were 
 conscious of it; each and every one had the means 
 to satisfy the demands of appetite and so master it ; 
 but, in the fuller, deeper life opened to most were 
 harder trials and sharper pains. The fact was 
 brought directly home to Redhead when one day, 
 prior to the expiry of the covenant, he jocularly 
 remarked to Madeline Winship that Robson had 
 expressed his satisfaction that the term was so near 
 its end 
 
 "Poor Boyd!" said Madeline. 
 
 "Poor?" 
 
 " Poor because I fear he will wish that ' liberation 
 day ' had not arrived and never would come. Pray 
 God he may be the only one ! " 
 
 Then Redhead understood: uncertainty was pre- 
 ferable to the hopelessness of unrequited love, and 
 if Robson would be disappointed, then Madeline 
 certainly had her own troubles. " And to think 
 Bob is so blind as not to see that the girl is not 
 sacrificing all for us, but for Cristallia, because 
 Cristallia is his," said Redhead to himself; and he 
 looked at Madeline questioningly without obtaining 
 any confirmation of his suspicion. He assumed his 
 optimistic mood and declared that in Cristallia every 
 
106 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 one must and should be happy, but Madeline only 
 sighed and muttered something about reverting to 
 the state of contentment in simplicity lived by 
 Diogenes in his tub. Redhead, who had been so 
 engrossed with inventions and schemes, and the 
 questions of the day, had not troubled to observe 
 closely any but Sterry, who by no sign or word 
 betrayed any feeling he might at any time have 
 entertained for one of his associates. Now that 
 Redhead was anxious for information as to who 
 would marry whom he could gather but little. In 
 their free converse with each other the Isocrats usually 
 called one another by their Christian names, but 
 occasionally the more stilted form of address was 
 heard, and this led Redhead to suppose that when, 
 for instance, Beatrice Tyacke called Madeline's 
 brother " Mr. Winship " there was present an excess 
 of feeling which prevented familiarity, and hence 
 recourse to the old conventionality. So, to Robson, 
 Madeline was always " Miss Winship," but he was 
 simply " Boyd " to her. This was but a trifling 
 indication and not wholly applicable, for Iltyd 
 Jones, Hilda Kewney, and Jake Hanlan remem- 
 bered only the surnames of anybody when they 
 themselves were angered. 
 
 Redhead wished that all would settle down happily, 
 and became anxious. If Robson were rejected, he 
 might wander away into the wilderness; Alan 
 Winship, disappointed, might, throw up the agency 
 work and rush of! to Klondyke. Defections such as 
 these nothing in a great State were appalling in 
 a small community where, in short, the law of 
 averages did not obtain, and nothing could be 
 predicated from past experience. 
 
 Some few days after Fersten's departure there was 
 an experimental demonstration of fort defences on 
 the frontier, and to watch the results closely, all 
 available leaders left the town. There remained only 
 Iltyd Jones in full charge, and Beatrice Tyacke in 
 
"FOR THE FUTURE OF CRISTALLIA." IO/ 
 
 the control of the news department. As luck had 
 it, then the marriage question arose. 
 
 Iltyd, Deputy Chief Commoner for the time being, 
 left his factories to the underlings, allowed State 
 matters to drift, and, true to his metier, was dabbling 
 to his heart's content with chemical mixtures in a 
 private laboratory when Beatrice Tyacke abruptly 
 entered. 
 
 " Mr. Jones, what answer am I to send to Mr. 
 Fersten, who has just asked my hand in marriage ? " 
 
 " Wait a bit, Beatie," answered Jones, whose atten- 
 tion was quite absorbed in watching a test tube and 
 noting the rising register of a pyrometer in a closed 
 furnace. " What is it ? A special message from 
 whom ? " 
 
 " Mr. Fersten," repeated the girl in a tone of 
 disgust. 
 
 " That bounder! What does he want? " 
 
 " Me, I suppose." 
 
 "By the Sterrygraph! He can't have you. We 
 haven't got that far yet. Now, watch this. Come 
 here." 
 
 The girl still kept her hand upon the door. 
 
 " But he can have his answer." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " I can promise." 
 
 " O Beatie, you won't you can't you mustn't ! " 
 
 "But why not?" 
 
 "A hundred reasons. Don't you know all about 
 Iltydium, and the adamant alloy and all my 
 secrets?" 
 
 " But is that a reason ? I thought perhaps there 
 was some rule which " 
 
 " Oh, that's exploded. We are all free." 
 
 " Then I may " 
 
 " I did not say so. It's an open question. Put 
 him off until Willie gets back." 
 
 " I can't do that. It would be undignified. Am 
 I not free?" 
 
108 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "Oh well, if you're free, do as you like ; that is 
 logical." 
 
 " But I do not want to do anything which would 
 injure the Commonwealth." 
 
 " That is too good of you, but is it sensible ? " 
 
 "Well, what do you advise? Is there no other 
 way out ? " 
 
 " There is, Beatie, there is. Marry me ! " 
 
 " O Mr. Jones, do please be serious." 
 
 " For seriousness there is nothing like Iltydium 
 I mean Iltyd. Now, Beatie, just listen " 
 
 " Not unless you will be serious." 
 
 "Am I not in earnest? Do I not look sober as 
 a judge, solemn as the Chief Commoner of the 
 greatest Commonwealth? What more can you 
 want?" 
 
 " I want to hear sense. Can I say ' Yes ' to Mr. 
 Fersten?" 
 
 "You can that is, you may; but I do not advise 
 it. Oh, why was I let in for all this? What are 
 you going to do ? " 
 
 " I am going to take the responsibility, if you will 
 not. You will make a memorandum that the appli- 
 cation was made, please, Mr. Jones." 
 
 She went away quietly, and Jones took up the 
 test tube only to put it down again immediately. It 
 would never do for Mr. Fersten to learn all that 
 Beatrice Tyacke knew about his inventions ; and he 
 sat down to puzzle out what ought to be done. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 UNWELCOME VISITORS. 
 
 " BOYD, I do not see how you can blame Fersten for 
 the last raid He has been in Europe for the past 
 two months." 
 
 " That is true enough, Miss Winship, but he pro- 
 voked the raid all the same, and had he been here 
 it would have been more formidable. The Berbers 
 are mad against us all since Fersten went over the 
 Draa with his shooting party." 
 
 "As likely as not we get blamed for what the 
 Pieterlanders do," remarked Sterry unconcernedly. 
 
 " Too often. We are all foreigners to the natives, 
 who make no fine distinctions ; but / hold that 
 Fersten is clearly to blame for this last incursion." 
 
 " He'll soon be back. Let him settle the thing for 
 himself." And Sterry showed that he was anxious 
 for the next business. 
 
 " Not I. Fersten would soon have all the Atlas 
 out against us ; if he is coming back, we must keep 
 him in town. When is he due ? " 
 
 " By the next Marseilles steamer," said Redhead. 
 
 " What is the meaning of that ? Why not by one 
 of our own boats ? " 
 
 "I think I can explain it," said Redhead quickly, 
 and with the air of one who has news of importance 
 
1 10 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 to communicate. " He is bringing Irma de Meysem- 
 bourg with him." 
 
 " The traitor ! She must not be allowed to land." 
 
 " Why not, Boyd ? " asked Madeline earnestly, and 
 glancing from one to the other as though to learn 
 their opinion. 
 
 " You do not know who she is ! " 
 
 " The most notorious female in Europe," volun- 
 teered Hawkins, a staid, portly man of fifty, who had 
 recently been admitted to the Council. 
 
 " To bring her is a direct insult to Beatrice and 
 to us," returned Boyd hotly. 
 
 " Beatrice won't mind. I assure you that since she 
 declined Fersten's offer she has no more interest in 
 Bim than any of us have." 
 
 "You have her confidence," muttered Boyd, some- 
 what appeased. 
 
 Madeline nodded. " Then, as to ourselves, surely 
 we are not so good that we must refuse a visit from 
 even notorious people. I thought the old Pharisaical 
 spirit had quite died out." 
 
 " Madeline is quite right, Boyd," said Sterry 
 cheerily. " Fersten makes himself responsible for 
 her conduct while here, and if she misbehaves, we can 
 pack her off and have another excuse for firing him." 
 
 Boyd Robson shrugged his shoulders, but made no 
 further opposition, and Kell grinned sympathetically. 
 
 " Then," said Redhead, " as to this proposed visit 
 from the Princess of Andorra and the Prince Clovis 
 of Calamine. We can't refuse, I suppose ? " 
 
 " More humbugs," growled Boyd. 
 
 "What I want to know is, who asked them to 
 come?" demanded Hilda Kewney/ 
 
 " As yet, no one. Their Highnesses have merely 
 intimated that they would not refuse an invitation." 
 
 "In other words," interrupted Sterry, " they've put 
 old Ulitsen up to ask for one." 
 
 " The way common to porphyrogenetical parasites," 
 growled Boyd. 
 
UNWELCOME VISITORS. Ill 
 
 Redhead ignored the interruptions.. 
 
 " They are cruising incognito ; have been to Cape 
 Juby, and Grand Canary, and " 
 
 " And Pieterstadt," interrupted Boyd. 
 
 " elsewhere, on board the Prince of Monaco's 
 
 yacht." 
 
 " We won't have Monaco here," surlily interjaculated 
 Boyd 
 
 " Not Monaco only the yacht," remarked Sterry. 
 
 " All the same, there's a gambling-table on board." 
 
 " Surely we are proof against all temptations to 
 roulette." And Madeline smiled. 
 
 " Quite right, madam, and I have no doubt but 
 Cristallia can entertain these distinguished persons 
 royally," sententiously observed Hawkins. " We are 
 not savages, and know how to treat even [what did 
 you call 'em?] parasites fittingly." And he looked 
 at Boyd as though he had scored for once. 
 
 " That be hanged ! " observed Sterry ; " we shall 
 make no distinction. If the royalties like to take 
 us as we are, they may come and see us. We are 
 all behind with our deliveries, and can waste no 
 energies upon triumphal arches, decorations, or 
 festivities." 
 
 " In short, they must take ' pot-luck,' " said 
 Redhead. 
 
 " That's it ; you have the sense of the Council ; 
 put it into diplomatic jargon, and the business is 
 finished." 
 
 " We shall give them a guard of honour, of course. 
 Moors, or our own men ? " asked Hawkins. 
 
 "Neither not a black even," said Rob son 
 emphatically. 
 
 " Really, Boyd, you are too uncompromising," said 
 Madeline reprovingly. 
 
 "A few Moors, Boyd?" pleaded Hilda. 
 
 " Then, drat me ! that other woman shall have a 
 guard too. I'll be even with them somehow." 
 
 " Don't be ridiculous, Boyd," said Madeline. 
 
112 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " It's all ridiculous ; the greatest tomfoolery we've 
 undertaken since we started Cristallia. We must do 
 the thing on European lines entirely or stick strictly 
 to our own. Any middle course would make us the 
 laughing-stock of our visitors and our people. Make 
 old Van Oppen master of ceremonies, if you like, and 
 go in for punctilious kow-towing. They are pro- 
 ficient in the art at the Hague, but I doubt if our 
 people will stand it or could do the thing decently." 
 And he looked sarcastically at Hawkins. 
 
 " Oh, there must be a guard," repeated that indi- 
 vidual unabashed, and the proposition was generally 
 echoed. 
 
 " Then I resign." 
 
 " Oh no, you won't, Boyd," said Sterry coaxingly. 
 " Go off to El-Aksa until they have gone, if you like. 
 Better stay and see us through." 
 
 " I should think so. It's only the beginning of 
 mischief." 
 
 " We must make a fair show," simpered Hawkins, 
 addressing himself to Hilda particularly. 
 
 "Then Til send a message to Maraksh and get 
 the Sultan to let the fleet call here." 
 
 " No, Boyd, please don't do that," said Madeline 
 much in earnest 
 
 " Why not ? Let the beggars know there is some 
 fighting strength within call." 
 
 "It will spoil the impression I want Cristallia to 
 make," said Madeline. 
 
 " Let Boyd have his way in something, Madeline," 
 interrupted Redhead authoritatively. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I know I know ; we will make them feel that 
 Cristallia is beyond their attainment." 
 
 " I won't say anything more, but it would be a 
 change these royalties might appreciate if for a few 
 days in a foreign country they could forget there are 
 such things as fleets and armies." And she looked 
 at Boyd, hoping he might relent. 
 
UNWELCOME VISITORS. 113 
 
 " They sha'n't over-enjoy themselves here," blurted 
 the staunch upholder of the Commonwealth. " It 
 will be rest enough for them to discard Court 
 etiquette and Court dress for a time." 
 
 In such manner did the introduction of elements 
 almost effete in old-established nations affect the 
 Isocrats. Mayhap the trivialities which it had 
 irritated some of them to discuss obscured the real 
 purpose at issue. Of Fersten's scheme they were 
 quite ignorant, and they could not know that the 
 Courts of Europe were intent upon the conquest of 
 Cristallia in their own fashion. The call of the 
 cruising yacht was not unpremeditated ; the voyage 
 was the outcome of many consultations among 
 crowned heads and had been the topic of innumerable 
 royal missives. When the " dear cousins " were in 
 accord as to who should be sent, the details were not 
 easy of settlement, for the plan evolved as great 
 strategy as a long campaign. The need was pressing. 
 Heaven, from whence came all good things, had 
 bestowed a princess royal too many, for whom a 
 position had to be created. The big prizes and 
 the little prizes duly apportioned, the unfortunate 
 Princess of Andorra was without a king or a king- 
 dom, and almost without hope. And the members 
 of the royal race, being astute, knew that every 
 defection from their ranks as when some atavistic 
 scion escapes the purple and attains the limited 
 freedom of an aristocrat is a loss of regal prestige, 
 therefore to be guarded against. Numerically 
 royalties increase, but their kingdoms decrease ; only 
 recently the German princelet to whom the Princess 
 Andorra's elder sister was married died without 
 issue, and his title and territory passed, by the 
 action of the Salic law, into the all-devouring maw of 
 Prussia. If matters were so, what was the outlook of 
 the royalties of the next generation? Cristallia was 
 a wealthy and prosperous community with unlimited 
 possibilities ; a chance of becoming a powerful 
 
 I 
 
114 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 kingdom if rightly fostered, and even now, if as 
 represented, a welcome consolation prize to the 
 Princess Andorra. 
 
 Now, kings and queens and princes and princesses 
 are, as all the world knows, ruled to some extent by 
 their ministers, but in all that pertains to the royal 
 prerogative they fight for their own hands as gamely 
 as their ancestors warred on behalf of their people. 
 To maintain their supremacy, to ensure their inherit- 
 ance, their struggle is as arduous as that of the little 
 draper battling against trade competitors a common 
 trait that makes the whole world kin. The prince 
 and princess sent to Cristallia were as well equipped 
 as training and foresight could make them, and they 
 understood what was required of them win they 
 must Ministers and statesmen, being less courtiers 
 than aforetime, were fully occupied with their own 
 intrigues, and whatever the Courts thought of 
 Cristallia for their own family interests seemed very 
 secondary indeed to the interests of States, so much 
 so as to be regarded as a quantite, negligeable. Thus 
 it came about that the enterprises of which Fersten 
 and the Princess Andorra were the exponents 
 clashed disastrously, just as the arrival of both 
 parties at Cristallia coincided. 
 
 The first advantage was with Fersten. No 
 sooner did he see the royal yacht than he guessed 
 the mission of the tourists. A hint to Irma was 
 sufficient to put that leader of fashion on her 
 mettle never, Fersten declared, had she appeared 
 so beauteous. 
 
 The mild, amiable, degenerate little Prince was 
 in a quandary. He had availed himself of Van 
 Oppen's company at Pieterstadt for the worthy 
 Consul did double duty but the ceremonious 
 official could give the Prince little advice worth 
 having. He did not know, as a matter of fact, what 
 procedure would be observed on the royal arrival 
 or during their sojourn it would be different from 
 
UNWELCOME VISITORS. 115 
 
 anything in Europe or anywhere else. Than Van 
 Oppen none was better informed ; the Prince must 
 decide for himself and his suite. So, if there would 
 be no getting into and out of various uniforms, and 
 dashing hither and thither to make calls and leave 
 cards, there was the worse difficulty what to wear! 
 He would observe his incognito be simply the Graf 
 von Esbach ; but even then should his dress ape that 
 of a waiter or one of the deck hands? It was a 
 brain-racking problem. Much depended upon making 1 
 a good impression from the first. In despair he deter- 
 mined not to change but to go ashore just as he 
 was ; and so was wise by accident. 
 
 Van Oppen could suggest nothing for him or the 
 Princess to do : there was not a hospital to open, nor 
 a charity bazaar at which to preside, not a fund to 
 which he could give ; no poor, no schools, no mission, 
 no churches no call for a prince at all. 
 
 As ill-luck had it, the yacht and the French steamer 
 arrived together. Van Oppen saw Fersten and the 
 Meysembourg ferried to the north quay, while prince 
 and princess remained on their yacht, undecided 
 whether to land before the Guest House, like ordinary 
 visitors, or await the call of some official. Van 
 Oppen counselled them to wait, and told them of 
 the Meysembourg's unexpected arrival. 
 
 " How will they receive her ? " asked the Prince, 
 
 " Not at all. It is shocking. They must slam 
 the door in her face. Really, she cannot stay in 
 Cristallia the night; and at least, your Highness, 
 you will sleep on board your yacht." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A "POT-LUCK/' 
 
 *' I SUPPOSE those plaguey wearers of the purple 
 expect me to go aboard and fetch them instead of 
 coming ashore like ordinary folk/' grumbled Boyd 
 Robson, to whose lot it had fallen to meet the visitors, 
 and who had spoiled his temper by wasting half an 
 hour on the quay. 
 
 When the yacht was snugly moored to the buoys 
 in mid-stream he signalled Kell, who, in the harbour 
 pinnace, had unostentatiously given the yacht a lead 
 from the roadstead 
 
 " Put me on board, Morven." 
 
 They sat opposite each other in the stern sheets 
 silent as usual, but each knowing exactly the temper 
 of the other, and each face reflecting exactly the 
 other's emotion. 
 
 " The crew ? " ejaculated Kell, as the pinnace 
 neared the yacht. 
 
 " Give them a feed at the Guest House. Tell old 
 Bailie to do the thing well, and you see the varmints 
 don't loiter about the quays." 
 
 Robson had not the appearance of a commander- 
 in-chief ; but for the speckless condition of his clothes 
 he might have been taken for a stevedore from one 
 of the vessels loading at the quay. The pilot told 
 
A "POT-LUCK." 117 
 
 the captain the rank of the visitor, and he, with due 
 ceremony, presented Robson to Baron von Esbach. 
 Very bluntly he bade the Prince welcome to Cris- 
 tallia ; then asked : 
 
 " Do you think Her Highness would like a guard 
 of honour to escort her to the Capitol ? " 
 
 The Prince was so well versed in the niceties of 
 language that he answered without an instant's 
 hesitation. Other commanders-in-chief would be 
 offended if an escort were declined ; this one's wish 
 was made clear by his demand as to whether Her 
 Highness would " like " instead of " accept." Evi- 
 dently there was no escort at hand. " Her Highness 
 was delighted to dispense with the services of a 
 guard of honour. She felt quite safe at Cristallia." 
 
 " Then we'll go ashore," said Robson. 
 
 There was very little ceremony, but Robson and 
 Kell between them got the company landed comfort- 
 ably and quickly, and as the boats neared the steps 
 a saloon waggon glided out from the cool shade of 
 a tree-screened cavern and drew up on the almost 
 deserted quay. The Princess and her suite entered 
 and Robson followed ; then the driver of the motor 
 started for the Capitol. 
 
 " Even a railway cutting can be charming," said 
 the Princess to Robson, admiring the dingles through 
 which the car ran to reach the Capitol level 
 
 " It depends who makes it," returned Robson 
 ungraciously. But the Princess would not be 
 offended, and talked with him about his contracting 
 work and the railways her " royal cousin " the Duke 
 of Nassau was making on his newly acquired 
 territory. By the time the car reached the Capitol 
 Robson thought the Princess a quite charming little 
 woman. As for the Prince, he could even put up 
 with him ; he forgot " to be condescending," he 
 explained to Kell. 
 
 So far from the door of the Capitol being closed to 
 Irma de Meysembourg, she appeared to be a welcome 
 
Il8 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 visitor. She was with Sterry in the reception hall, 
 and he had to be called repeatedly before he gave 
 any heed to the arrival of the royal suite. 
 
 The Honourable Miss Hamilton, who possessed a 
 keen eye for the proprieties, was the first to notice 
 the Meysembourg's presence, and notified her dis- 
 approbation by raising her eyebrows and staring 
 hard at the Comtesse de Gouvy. That lady 
 promptly nudged the Prince, and he, in low tones, 
 quickly apprised the Princess that she was to be 
 Duchess of Melreux for the time being. It would 
 never do for the Meysembourg to boast in Paris that 
 she had met, possibly dined with, the Princess of 
 Andorra, but the Duchess of Melreux had no reputa- 
 tion to maintain. The Princess acquiesced, but felt 
 at a disadvantage. She was a dumpty, rather coarse- 
 featured, unprepossessing creature who needed a full 
 consciousness of regal ancestry to lend to her short 
 stature even that pertness of bearing which did duty 
 for dignity. 
 
 Nature had been more liberal of favours to Irma, 
 the neglected child of an unknown father and name- 
 less mother. She had been rightly nicknamed " The 
 Magnificent," for her beauty was faultless. True, a 
 Parisian superchic had declared that her ears were 
 " heavy/' but the faculty were against him, as he 
 learned to his cost when a Court solemnly fined him 
 for speaking derogatorily on a matter upon which 
 only the leading anatomists were qualified to deliver 
 an opinion. Her hair also was red, but in that 
 particular she changed according to her own fancy 
 or that of her admirers. Irma stood five feet nine 
 inches in her stockings a good foot taller than the 
 Princess and was every inch a queen. 
 
 Redhead did the honours thoroughly, and the 
 Prince was amiable to friendliness. The Chief 
 Commoner apologised that they could not show their 
 factories ; and the Prince answered that when on a 
 visit to Berlin he did not expect to be shown the 
 
A "POT-LUCK." 119 
 
 archives of the Prussian Chancelry " and it is in 
 your factories you are making history/' Redhead 
 explained that there would be no records for the 
 future historians. " Our antiquated models we in- 
 variably destroy, of every discarded process we 
 obliterate every trace ; the inventors who discover 
 what we once did will need to work out every 
 improvement for themselves, and with the exception 
 of Sterry and myself there is not a man living who 
 could make the transmitters and receivers we first 
 devised, nor any who could use them if they did.' ? 
 The Prince thought that an excellent policy. 
 
 There was a banquet in the evening, at which the 
 foreign Consuls and heads of the departments were 
 present. It was as dull as state affairs usually are. 
 The next day Sterry, Jones, and half a dozen others 
 had lunch on the yacht, and the Prince discussed 
 with Sterry all topics save politics and the true object 
 of their visit to Cristallia. 
 
 The Meysembourg was not to be thrust aside ; 
 she was ever with or seeking " Mon Bobbie " ; told 
 him in a hundred ways that she loved him, and kept 
 repeating it in three words. She adored Cristallia, 
 was tired of Europe, had cancelled her tour to the 
 East, and wanted only to marry Bobbie and live 
 within the " Palace." 
 
 The evening of the second day the Prince discreetly 
 let it be known that he and the Princess would accept 
 a " pot-luck " in the Capitol on the morrow. Like the 
 American " surprise-parties," " pot-lucks " are right 
 enough when the name is not taken literally ; more- 
 over, they were just then the fashion in Paris ; and as 
 the Prince and Princess wished to see the ordinary 
 everyday life of the Isocrats, the " pot-luck " gave the 
 opportunity. 
 
 At midday the Prince, with his chaplain, the 
 Princess and the Comtesse de Gouvy, arrived at the 
 Capitol. 
 
 " It is your wish that we observe no formalities, 
 
120 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Prince," called Redhead cheerily as his chair wheeled 
 into the saloon. 
 
 The Prince bowed. 
 
 " None whatever, if you please, Monsieur le 
 President." 
 
 "All right, then, come along, sit where you like, 
 with whom you will." And his chair rolled silently 
 along towards the mess-room. 
 
 The Prince looked round somewhat bewildered, 
 caught a glimpse of Mrs. Hawkins, but in advancing 
 towards her collided with the ubiquitous Hilda 
 Kewney, and apologising, escorted her to the table. 
 The priest, divining the royal intention, offered his 
 own arm to Mrs. Hawkins. Hawkins, at a loss what 
 to do without his better half for it was the one rule 
 obligatory that husband and wife should sit side by 
 side hastily bowed to Beatrice Tyacke, and with a 
 prodigious flourish hooked his elbow. 
 
 " It is as per usual, Miss Tyacke ? " 
 
 " With pleasure ; but pray be as usual, or we shall 
 be disastrously ridiculous." 
 
 He dragged her away close upon the heels of his 
 wife. Sterry saw Madeline, and joined arms with 
 her at which she was delighted. Fersten, arriving 
 with the Meysembourg, noticed this and hastily 
 followed, hoping for the next seat ; but Iltyd, 
 summoning courage, defeated him by interposing 
 with the Comtesse de Gouvy. 
 
 "Aren't you going to get anything to eat, 
 Princess ? " asked Hanlan unceremoniously on his 
 way through the room. 
 
 She laughingly answered that she hoped she was. 
 
 " Come along, then." And he grasped her arm 
 above the elbow familiarly. 
 
 " Opposite the Meysembourg, please," she whis- 
 pered. 
 
 " This is where you want to be, eh ? Now, 
 Morven, you just get over to the other side, will 
 you ? Thanks." 
 
121 
 
 Robson, coming in late, drew out a chair and 
 wedged himself in between Kell and the chaplain 
 with less ceremony than a stranger at a farmers' 
 " ordinary." 
 
 " Why do none of the ladies wear earrings ? " asked 
 the Princess. 
 
 " For the same reason they don't wear nose-studs 
 or lip-buttons, I guess. We aren't barbarians, you 
 know," answered Hanlan. 
 
 " And you think I am a barbaric survival ? " 
 
 "If you like to take it that way, Princess." 
 
 " And I don't see any jewellery, although Monsieur 
 Fersten said you made diamonds in the factories." 
 
 " Oh, Fersten's a dolgarned fool ; aren't you, 
 Fersten?" 
 
 Fersten bowed, spread his moustache, and smiled 
 urbanely ; but there was a momentary gleam from 
 his eyes that Hanlan failed to notice. 
 
 " To talk about diamonds, when he can't make 
 whalebone ! " Words failed Hanlan to express the 
 contempt he felt, but his tone adequately conveyed 
 his meaning. 
 
 " I want you to talk about diamonds. Are they 
 tabu in Cristallia ? " 
 
 " We don't wear them on principle. Every stone 
 means three months in a wire cage, endless drinks, 
 and forced labour underground for some wretched 
 nigger ; diamonds aren't worth that price to 
 Cristallia." 
 
 " But mine are not African diamonds ; they were 
 brought to Europe by Pizarro ages ago." 
 
 " I don't know that that alters the case ; at any 
 rate, Pizarro's name is not engraved on our Golden 
 Scroll of Honour. I tell you what to do, Princess 
 sell your diamonds or give them away while they are 
 worth something. We shall cheapen diamonds before 
 we are through with our perchloride experiments, and 
 when the ' slump ' comes I hope all the others will 
 be in the hands of Jews." 
 
122 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Out on the North Terrace, in the shade, the Prince 
 found his opportunity of talking with Redhead as to 
 the prospects of Cristallia. In the continued success 
 of the colony he professed great interest. 
 
 " It is very clever wonderful for amateurs to 
 have accomplished so much." 
 
 " We are practical," observed Redhead. 
 
 " Still amateur ; you have not been trained from 
 infancy in the art of government." 
 
 " Instead, we have learned to govern ourselves." 
 
 " Excellent With professional aid you could 
 accomplish so very much more." 
 
 " And lose our independence." 
 
 " Not in the least Individually, you would possess 
 greater freedom. Like Andorra and Calamine, a 
 separate existence would be assured : at present 
 Cristallia may be swallowed up by any big neighbour/ 
 
 " Let the big neighbour try it," said Redhead con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 " A constitutional monarchy is the best form of 
 government. The English know that, and they are 
 a practical and free people." 
 
 "Deluded idiots!" 
 
 " A great nation. Cristallia may become a great 
 nation as a monarchy." 
 
 " And a greater as a commonwealth." 
 
 " What was Calamine ? What was Andorra ? 
 Pitiable the condition of struggling republics. Our 
 house befriended them : they are now impregnable." 
 
 "As Monaco?" 
 
 The Prince bowed. " They are well governed, ' by 
 the people, for the people,' as they were before. Their 
 connection with our house has confirmed their govern- 
 ment in the eyes of the civilised world. Through us 
 they have become articulate ; their voices are heard ; 
 they cannot die. Why do not you become King of 
 Cristallia?" 
 
 " Because, Prince, I was reared a Republican and 
 shall die one." 
 
123 
 
 " Then it is impossible for you : but your friend 
 Sterry?" 
 
 " Must answer for himself. We govern to the best 
 of our ability, and our people are satisfied." 
 
 " Perfectly, I know, but the constitutional monarch 
 does not govern ; he reigns, which is a very different 
 thing much more easy and pleasant." 
 
 " Like the role of a British aristocrat." 
 
 " I am a warm admirer of the British aristocracy, 
 but lords are not quite regal." 
 
 " Imbued with the same principles. They are 
 grab-alls. Their forefathers seized the land, and 
 their class held it until through their lack of govern- 
 ment, or their bad government, the land became 
 valueless. Then they seized upon the railways, 
 canals, shipping companies, mines, and will hold them 
 until they make them as unremunerative as is the 
 land. The titled directors of companies have got 
 the staple industries of Britain into their grasp, 
 and they will not let go until by their incompe- 
 tence they have ruined English manufactures. That 
 must happen unless unless the labouring class is 
 elevated into what is now the middle class, when, 
 having no class to look down upon, they will deter- 
 mine to have no class to look up to, and will sweep 
 away the aristocracy and royalty in one great 
 wave of revolution. The political position in Great 
 Britain is most critical. Thank Heaven, we in 
 Cristallia have no problem so difficult of solution ! " 
 
 " But what is the religion of Cristallia ? " asked 
 Irma impatiently. 
 
 " Mohammedanism, I think," answered Fersten 
 cynically ; " but ask the Chief Commoner he'll 
 know." 
 
 In the silence that followed this outburst the 
 Princess was heard to whisper, " Oh, why did I not 
 ask that?" and for the first time since luncheon the 
 priest gave evidence of being awake. 
 
124 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 " Yes, what is our religion, Willie ? " called Robson 
 loudly. 
 
 " Mine is a modified Pantheism," answered Redhead 
 somewhat amused. 
 
 " And mine the Protestant Church of England," 
 said Hawkins boldly. 
 
 " Yes," remarked his wife complacently, " for fifteen 
 years we never once missed attending St. Matthias's 
 in the Camberwell Road, did we Joe ? " 
 
 " No, my dear, most regular," he added, with a 
 look round at all, which encouraged the Passionist 
 Father to sidle up and commence a conversation on 
 Anglican ritual. 
 
 " Why did you ask, Irma ? " demanded Sterry, 
 crossing over to her. 
 
 " Because I wanted to know, simpleton ! I cannot 
 believe Fersten ; he is a deceiver. Tell me, Bobbie, 
 can you make me Queen of Cristallia ? " 
 
 "You?" 
 
 " Me or any one ? " 
 
 " Of course not." 
 
 " Then you are a deceiver too. I thought you 
 were a man who could make anything. And if your 
 wife is to be Queen, she must be one in her own 
 right, eh? Say!" 
 
 " What nonsense ! " 
 
 " I know, monsieur I know well you will marry 
 that little thing over there! But you will deceive 
 yourself ; the Princess of Andorra will not reign 
 here : Fersten will make me Queen of Cristallia 
 yet; he has promised it" 
 
 " Very good of him, I am sure. Tell me all about 
 it." And he led her aside. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 STRANGE IDOLS. 
 
 " THERE, Monsieur Hanlan," said the Princess of 
 Andorra, " I repeat, not a sword in all Cristallia ; yet 
 you all, and always, carry firearms." 
 
 'You have been reading fiction, Princess." 
 
 " Ah no ; it is true, is it not ? " 
 
 ' Who told you that rigmarole ? " 
 
 ' Baron Fersten." 
 
 'Baron!" 
 
 The Princess remembered ; without betraying the 
 slip by the least change of colour or voice, she 
 covered the error. 
 
 "I call him Baron he has the air distingue." 
 
 "Oh, that's what's the matter with him?" And 
 Hanlan looked over at the spy. 
 
 " And you have a pistol in your hip-pocket ? " 
 
 " What's the use of a gun in your hip-pocket unless 
 you want to shoot a man behind you? I carry one 
 in every pocket, and down a man while he's fumbling 
 for his gun. I tell you what it is, Princess never 
 sleep with a pistol under your pillow, get it down 
 in bed with you. I was out west when two Chinamen 
 burgled the caboose. One stood at the head of my 
 bed with an axe ready lifted to brain me if I 
 stirred. His breathing woke me, when I saw the other 
 
126 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Johnny rummaging my grip. I pulled trigger on him, 
 and he fell dead. The bed was on fire ; and the other 
 fellow vamoosed, taking the axe with him. Never 
 you show your gun when you are going to fire." 
 
 " Show me how it is done." 
 
 "What shall I shoot at? I daren't kill a Moor; 
 I'll ask the Chief Commoner if you can have a black." 
 
 " Oh no, no ! Shoot at anything dead." 
 
 " Spoil new togs for nothing ! Not me ! " 
 
 " I'll mend the clothes. I suppose you think a 
 princess can do nothing useful that way? " 
 
 " All right. A bargain ! " He bowed, and removed 
 his fez. " Which pocket? " 
 
 " The left-hand trouser pocket." 
 
 " The fez went high into the air ; before it fell 
 upon the terrace the report of a pistol-shot was heard, 
 and the graze of a bullet seen upon the paving. A 
 Moor picked up a tiny wad of red felt from the fez 
 and presented it to the Princess. 
 
 " Bring me the cap. I must mend it." 
 
 " Excuse me, Princess, the fez is worth only a 
 * quarter/ and these are ten-dollar pants, new from the 
 store to-day. I want 'em patched up, please." 
 
 The company gathered close round Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hawkins by brows and eyes held silent converse. 
 Hanlan, laughing, turned away. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Sterry, have you no rational amusements 
 in Cristallia? Do you never dance? Do none of 
 you take a hand at cards ? " pleaded the Princess. 
 
 The Prince muttered something about the roulette- 
 table on the yacht ; then Madeline quickly suggested 
 a visit to the Temple of Science. 
 
 To the grand hall in the northern quadrangle they 
 went gaily, Sterry explaining to the Prince that it 
 contained just the toys made by themselves for their 
 own amusement 
 
 The volimeter was the first instrument seen. A 
 small delicately poised needle suspended in vacuo 
 by a gossamer thread within a crystal dome. Below 
 
STRANGE IDOLS. I2/ 
 
 was a dial like the face of a clock. Simply by willing 
 the needle-point could be depressed towards any 
 figure ; only the Chief Commoner could control its 
 movements so absolutely that it pointed to each of 
 the figures in succession. 
 
 " That is the automatic elector by which the future 
 presidents are to be appointed," laughed Sterry. 
 " That Redhead was elected before the toy was made 
 proves how wisely we acted." 
 
 " Wonderful ! " remarked the Prince, after trying 
 ineffectually to control the needle. 
 
 "It is a French invention, not ours : there are a 
 dozen like instruments in Paris and twice as many 
 in London. None so delicate as this one, perhaps, 
 still useful workable models. Do you understand 
 the Kabbala?" 
 
 The Prince intimated that he did not, and asked 
 where the flight of stairs before them led, and the 
 meaning of the symbols over the door. 
 
 " That is the entrance to the lethal hall, the Temple 
 of the Great Mystery, from which, having once 
 entered, there is no escape. Lately we have affixed 
 a self-acting mechanism to the ' soul-indicator,' and 
 the door now will not open to any but the good. As 
 you do not understand the value of mystic symbols, 
 I may explain. There is a proper instrument work- 
 ing in that alcove, but this model, which you can see 
 more comfortably, will serve my purpose. Within 
 this crystal globe interlaced triangles float apparently 
 upon nothing, but are really supported by what I 
 may term ' soul-substance/ The pentagram is of 
 the rarest of metals, the circlet of platinum. Before 
 the instrument is this bar of prepared alloy, and 
 contact with it is necessary. The tip of the finger 
 is sufficient. We prefer the left thumb, as the 
 experimenter is then more readily identified from 
 the impression by the Bertillon method. Touching 
 the bar in the space uncovered, the triangles are 
 actuated and indicate according to the accepted 
 
128 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 interpretation of mystic symbols the attitude of 
 the experimenter whether, in short, he is making 
 for righteousness or the reverse. The bar moves 
 sideways when the contact ceases. A fresh space is 
 thus presented for use by the next comer, and the 
 second impression passes under the crystal coverings 
 where the sun's rays and special apparatus imprint 
 it indelibly upon the bar. That is not all. The 
 position assumed by the pentagram is skiagraphed 
 upon the other side of the bar exactly under the 
 thumb impress, and thus, as long as the four-inch 
 bar endures, there is an exact record of that soul's 
 yearning at a particular time. You will understand 
 we have only to make the movement of the pentagram 
 in the right direction start an ordinary electric device 
 which frees the bolts locking the door. It was a 
 terrible responsibility giving open access to the hall ; 
 by interposing this mechanism we frustrate suicidal 
 mania in the temporary insane. As yet there have 
 been no deaths in the lethal hall." 
 
 " And no impressions on the record-bar ? " 
 " That is a secret Many of us have tried the 
 instrument not connected with the hall ; in fact now 
 it is the 'pass examination' for admission to the 
 Esoteric Section of the Institute. We want more 
 experimenters, and if any like to try now they have 
 but to touch the bar before the instrument in the 
 alcove." 
 
 " I should so like to see the machine work," said 
 the Princess. 
 
 " Then your Highness has but to touch the bar." 
 " But you have the record for ever," she objected, 
 shivering. 
 
 " Then touch the smaller machine on the right ; 
 it has no self-registering apparatus is a sort of 
 automatic father confessor. No one will follow 
 your Highness, and none but yourself will know. 
 Although you may not understand the symbols, I 
 am sure you will rightly interpret the indication 
 
STRANGE IDOLS. I2Q 
 
 given by the pentagram, whatever movement it may 
 make." 
 
 " I did not mean that I wished to make the 
 experiment," said the Princess. 
 
 " Who, then, will volunteer ? Fersten ? " 
 
 That worthy bowed, but thought the first place 
 the right of the ladies. 
 
 " Well, any one ? " asked Sterry, amused. 
 
 Hawkins, prompted by a vigorous nudge from his 
 wife, expressed his readiness. He went into the 
 alcove, followed by Prince, Princess, Countess, and 
 priest. Fersten tried to peep over the shoulder of 
 the operator ; the Isocrats remained outside. 
 
 " There ! It is moving ! How wonderful ! " said 
 the Princess. 
 
 Soon Hawkins emerged, mopping his forehead 
 energetically. The others, having satisfied them- 
 selves that the pentagram was stationary again, 
 followed, and began excitedly to talk of the direction 
 a certain point of the star had taken. Sterry prayed 
 them to respect the privacy of the " confessional." 
 
 " Let them say what they like ; I do not mind in 
 the least," said Hawkins loudly, believing that he had 
 passed the ideal honourably. 
 
 "Your Highness next," said Fersten, seeing the 
 Princess still hesitating before the rail. 
 
 " It is what Miss Hamilton would call ' uncanny,' " 
 remarked the Prince, stepping further back. 
 
 "The Princess shivered and looked at the priest, 
 then at the machine. 
 
 " I dare not," she whispered. 
 
 The priest interfered. It was magic : the Church 
 forbade magic ; he must remind Her Highness of 
 the teaching of the Church ; and saying so much, 
 turned and walked slowly from the hall. 
 
 " He calls them ' strange idols/ I am sure he is 
 right," said the Princess, looking anxiously after the 
 priest. 
 
 The Princess went towards the door, and Sterry 
 
 K 
 
130 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 accompanied her, telling of the other instruments in 
 the collection, and pointing out the mistake of the 
 priest in confounding the work of science with the 
 rites of magic ; but she listened without attention, 
 and he, addressing the Prince in turn, explained how 
 every force will manifest itself if only a suitable 
 medium is presented for the purpose. Irma was 
 listening eagerly to an explanation of the Kabbalistic 
 symbolism from Hilda Kewney, and as the royal 
 party reached the door Fersten caught a glimpse of 
 a Soudanese negro hurrying along the terrace. 
 
 " Does your Highness see what that man has over 
 his arm ? " asked Fersten of the Princess. 
 
 " No ; whatever is it ? " 
 
 " A pair of ten-dollar pants," he said with a laugh. 
 
 " Take me by some other way quickly." 
 
 Sterry led them to the south terrace by a private 
 door, then returned to find Redhead and others of 
 the party. Madeline was still at the door of the hall. 
 
 "Is any one in there yet? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes Irma ; she is in the alcove." 
 
 "What next?" And he would have entered, but 
 Madeline resolutely barred the entrance. 
 
 " She wished very much to try ; she can do no 
 harm ; leave her alone, Bob." 
 
 He saw the Meysembourg stepping down from the 
 alcove with a very perplexed serious look upon her 
 usually gleesome face, and then, without waiting for 
 her, he hurried back to the royal guests. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 A PREDICAMENT. 
 
 " A NICE little man Prince Clovis, cordially welcome 
 in Cristallia; and so I told him at parting," said 
 Redhead warmly. " Even Boyd was won over. 
 What do you think of the royal race now, Boyd ? " 
 
 " Hu ! I wish Darwin had studied the ' royal 
 family ' variety of man as thoroughly as he did 
 earthworms." 
 
 " I should like to know what they think of us," 
 exclaimed Beatrice. 
 
 " Put the question to the Esoteric Section and 
 devise a machine to find out." 
 
 " We shall get to know more easily than that," 
 remarked Boyd, " and sooner than we expect. Their 
 visit has done no good. Quite a score of people 
 twenty-one, to be exact stood on the quay to get 
 a look at them before they went. It's demoralising." 
 
 " The Princess told me her memories would be of 
 a beautiful valley, handsome buildings, dreadful great 
 engines working silently in the night, people strong 
 as Titans, wise as magicians, and cold-hearted as 
 Nature. We have not impressed her for good," 
 drawled Beatrice dolefully. 
 
 " She'll be haunted by the pentagram and a 
 Soudanese black in khaki with a pair of ten-dollar 
 pants over his arm." And Robson chuckled. 
 
 " Poor little woman ! she is quite under the rule 
 of her father confessor. She would have dearly liked 
 
132 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 to see that record made by the Meysembourg, but 
 dared not disobey his dictum." 
 
 " That bit of daring made the Princess feel very 
 inferior," observed Redhead, screwing up his mouth. 
 
 " Heaven bless the Meysembourg ! she probably 
 saved the colony," exclaimed Boyd excitedly. 
 
 " And as nearly wrecked it on her own account. 
 Poor thing ! I wonder what has become of her." And 
 Hilda looked enquiringly at Redhead. 
 
 " I am going to Europe, and shall see her," said 
 Madeline ; then added, in glad tones : " She has 
 promised to return to Cristallia some day with me." 
 
 " Bravo, Madeline ! " And Redhead nodded 
 encouragingly. 
 
 "What is the matter, Boyd? " asked Madeline. 
 
 " Oh, nothing ; only why go to England, when 
 Alan is in Germany ? " 
 
 " I did not say I was going to England ; but I 
 shall be away some time, and certainly shall see Alan 
 before I come back. I am going in the interest of 
 the State, and shall perhaps be away a very long 
 time." She saw that some explanation was expected, 
 and added : " I have talked it over with Mr. Sterry, 
 and he agrees it is best I should go now." 
 
 " Confound " the interests of the Commonwealth ! 
 you are always sacrificing something ' 
 
 " No more than others do," interrupted Madeline 
 quietly. 
 
 " Would any one else sacrifice half as much ? And 
 would any of us sacrifice as much for each other as 
 we do for this bugbear of State independence ? " 
 
 " More, if needed," answered Madeline confidently ; 
 " and you as much as any of us, Boyd." 
 
 " But what would the State sacrifice for any one 
 of us?" 
 
 " Everything," answered Redhead authoritatively. 
 
 All too soon came an occasion to test the Chief 
 Commoner's opinion. The relations of Cristallia 
 with Germany, never easy, hardened sharply after 
 
A PREDICAMENT. 133 
 
 the arrival home of the Prince of Calamine. In 
 Saxony shortness of work among the potters gave 
 the Government cause for great anxiety. In the 
 futile manner of the old world, the manufacturers 
 of glass, porcelain, and earthenware had lowered 
 prices to meet the competition from the 
 superior wares. Ten common delft mugs could be 
 purchased for less than one of Jonesware, but the 
 more costly article outlasted a hundred of the others. 
 The industries were going from bad to worse, and 
 riots were not infrequent. 
 
 Alan Winship's men would not, or could not, send 
 the news he wanted, so, taking his own transmitter, 
 he started out himself, anticipating no danger. 
 Wrightson, in Dresden, dropped a word of warning, 
 which he disregarded. Beatrice Tyacke remained so 
 much in the instrument-room she feared others 
 would notice and suspect ; but her anxiety for his 
 safety overcame all scruples, and she took all 
 messages sent by him, feeling that as long as he was 
 at work she did not need rest. 
 
 The shock came suddenly after a long interval of 
 silence and weary waiting. Two assistants were in 
 the room, in charge of other zones, and Beatrice 
 almost fainted when she received the words " En- 
 trapped : rioters insist upon knowing the secret of 
 Jonesware. Threaten my life. Answer quickly. 
 ALAN WINSHIP." 
 
 The message she sent up to Redhead by an Arab 
 boy, and stood at the instrument expecting yet dread- 
 ing the indicator to start afresh. Would Redhead 
 call the Council? Would he be satisfied to confer 
 with Iltyd? What if Iltyd refused permission? How 
 long would the rioters wait for an answer? Then 
 she thought of what Winship had advised her 
 privately about Wrightson "a man to be trusted." 
 Of her own initiative she communicated Alan's danger 
 to Wrightson, and besought him to act at once. But 
 the town of Gaben was far from Dresden ; still, there 
 
134 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 were telegraphs and telephones Wrightson could 
 and would act So much he promised. An hour 
 passed, and not a sign from Winship ; the needle had 
 not once stirred. 
 
 A messenger came with a summons for her to 
 attend the Council. Why were they so slow? She 
 could not tear herself away : her place was there, 
 in communication with him. She nodded to the 
 messenger, and he stayed on as she busied herself 
 in transmitting an unimportant communication for 
 New York. All the time she seemed to see into a 
 darkened room in a German hovel : Alan was there, 
 bound, and a dozen ruffians around him ; irons were 
 heating on the hearth, and a ladle of lead was being 
 lifted from the fire. 
 
 Then the instrument recommenced. 
 
 " Answer quick : they are about to torture. ALAN 
 WINSHIP." 
 
 Again the Arab boy ran along the corridor; he 
 brought back no answer. 
 
 She dared not communicate with Alan; she knew 
 not whether he was at the instrument or merely 
 instructing some other operator ; those about him 
 would know what was being received. If Alan were 
 free he would have some message for her alone. 
 
 " Answer at once. I am being done to death. 
 ALAN." 
 
 She scribbled down the message, and gave 
 the repeat signal. Immediately the message was 
 accurately received a second time. 
 
 " Do not understand you. TRIXIE," she worked 
 on the transmitter, as the Arab boy again sped to 
 the Council room. 
 
 " We understand you send answer," was all that 
 came in reply. 
 
 Then the boy came back. The Council room was 
 closed ; he could not obtain admission. 
 
 " You must get in somehow, Ahmed." And away 
 the boy went again. 
 
A PREDICAMENT. 135 
 
 She waited patiently, believing the Council would 
 act quickly and wisely, and so save Alan ; but when 
 darkness came on she realised how long she had 
 been inactive, and in that time her lover perhaps 
 tortured to death. The temptation to send a message 
 to him was strong, but she resisted. If a stranger 
 were operating the S terry graph in Gaben, no doubt 
 Alan would be called upon to translate any sign the 
 receiver did not understand : she would have used 
 the jargon of their first lessons but for this. 
 
 Then it seemed to her that the Council might not 
 consent to give the information, preferring to sacrifice 
 her lover and her heart sank. She knew Jones's 
 secret, but she felt that she could never betray it. 
 What could she do? 
 
 The instrument started again. " Glad to die for 
 the Commonwealth. Love to Trixie. ALA " 
 
 The signs came so slowly and feebly it seemed 
 that Alan could not possibly have sent them his 
 style was so rapid and firm. But if he really were 
 dying? Or unseen by his tormentors had he reached 
 the machine? Most likely he had been ordered to 
 send one message, and instead had sent this. He 
 had been discovered in the fraud and rudely stopped, 
 as the unfinished message showed. Perhaps for that 
 message to her they were torturing him now. 
 
 She sat down to the instrument and worked her 
 fastest 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE PRIVILEGE OF THE MINORITY. 
 
 IT was Hilda Kewney who told what transpired in 
 the Council Chamber ; of how the summons to attend 
 came upon her " like a bolt from the blue," and of 
 her consternation at seeing Redhead glum as death, 
 and Iltyd almost in tears. Hawkins was the next 
 to arrive ; then Robson, Kell, and Hanlan came 
 in together. Sterry closely following with Fersten, 
 there was a quorum, and the door was barred. A 
 long silence followed the reading of the messages, 
 and was broken by Iltyd, who placed his secret at 
 the disposition of the Council. Sterry then proposed 
 that the vote should be taken immediately. It was 
 acted upon, Robson and Fersten alone voting for 
 the secret being communicated to the rioters. There- 
 upon Robson, regardless of precedent, proposed that 
 the vote be rescinded, and the best means taken to 
 ensure the safety of Winship. 
 
 A stormy argument followed, and when the 
 proposition was at last allowed to be put only three 
 voted in its favour. Nothing daunted, Robson re- 
 commenced, refused to listen to any scheme for 
 revenge upon the rioters, held firmly to his proposition 
 that the utmost the Commonwealth could do to save 
 Winship must be done. 
 
 The message boy came to the door, and Fersten 
 proposed that nothing new should be admitted, nor 
 any topic discussed until the matter had been agreed. 
 
THE PRIVILEGE OF THE MINORITY. 137 
 
 It was carried without opposition. Redhead declared 
 the meeting to be at an end; Robson refused to 
 budge. Standing with his back to the door and 
 threatening any who left the table, he repeated his 
 arguments. It grew dark. The lights were turned 
 on, and still he talked. Then the Arab boy appeared 
 at the window and threw his missive into the room. 
 Redhead refused to read it ; Kell, who had picked it 
 up, did so. Again the vote was taken. The parties 
 were as before, and Robson as unyielding. Fersten 
 said nothing, Kell but little; by sheer obstinacy 
 Robson drove the others to confer among themselves 
 and suggest an alternative scheme. 
 
 He refused all ; Fersten showed that none were so 
 likely to free Winship as compliance with the demand. 
 Then they declared they must ask Toller what could 
 be done. Robson refused to agree. Fersten re- 
 minded them of the previous vote. It was promptly 
 rescinded, and to appease Robson, it was also agreed 
 to ask Madeline. 
 
 " I won't have it," yelled Robson ; " she would 
 sacrifice herself for Cristallia, and so would Alan. 1 
 won't have sacrifice from anybody." 
 
 " You oppose everything, Boyd," said Sterry, losing 
 his temper. 
 
 "It's the privilege and right of the minority." 
 
 They invited him to the table again and tried to 
 effect a compromise, but Robson was so earnest in 
 his argument that human life was more valuable than 
 all to them and to Cristallia that Jones declared 
 himself on the side of Robson. 
 
 " Of course I agreed with Iltyd," said Hilda, " and 
 so the minority became the majority, and at the next 
 vote we were unanimously agreed to divulge the 
 secret. Jones was deputed to send the message 
 himself, so that the least possible number should be 
 in possession of the secret; and on reaching the 
 private instrument-room he found you, Beatrice, 
 delirious, and declaring that you had saved him." 
 
138 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "And so I did, Hilda," answered Beatrice with a 
 sob. 
 
 " Of course you knew the secret, and you " 
 
 "Betrayed it. What am I to do?" 
 
 " It's all right now as it happens." 
 
 " But it was wrong." 
 
 " Not nearly so wrong as it was of us to oppose 
 Robson. We are all heartily ashamed of ourselves, 
 and you have no need to be so." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FORTUNE FAVOURS CRISTALLIA. 
 
 A GREAT change came over Iltyd Jones. The know- 
 ledge that his secret was in the possession of others 
 fretted him, the fear of losing everything became 
 almost mania. 
 
 He knew that the Germans, with their working 
 day of fourteen hours, would undersell, and that in 
 Cristallia he could not meet the competition. For 
 the first time since its introduction Jonesware glutted 
 the market ; prices were everywhere falling, and there 
 were no buyers. The stuff would be cheaper soon. 
 Meanwhile big prices were being paid for the recipe 
 the rioters of Gaben had obtained. 
 
 Plant was being put down in other countries ; 
 England and Belgium were starting factories on a 
 huge scale ; in America a wealthy syndicate had 
 been formed, and there was a race to be first in the 
 market. Soon the buildings in Cristallia which had 
 been his delight would be deserted, the great engines 
 still, the ovens cold. Successes had encouraged but 
 not intoxicated Iltyd Jones. This great reverse 
 numbed him ; he could think of nothing but his 
 misfortune. He hated the sight of Beatrice Tyacke ; 
 the mere mention of her name disgusted him. She 
 was soon to be married to Alan Winship, and he 
 would be glad when she took up her residence in 
 London. 
 
 There remained Iltydium and his later invention ; 
 but once on the track he believed all would be 
 
140 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 discovered quickly by the eager competitors, and he 
 could think of nothing new. The laboratories had 
 no longer any attraction for him. 
 
 Quite by chance he alighted upon a note made on 
 that memorable day when he had invited Beatrice 
 into his laboratory and she had convinced him of 
 the knowledge of the secret composition. Either he 
 had copied the formulae wrongly or Beatrice had 
 made a mistake. It was one of no great importance 
 merely the substitution of one hydro-carbon for 
 another yet a divergence from his method. He 
 obtained a copy of the message sent to Alan Winship. 
 There was certainly a difference, and he hoped again. 
 
 " Did you ever make any Jonesware, Beatie ? " he 
 asked anxiously. 
 
 " A few things that plaque and the little mug, and 
 one or two other small things experimentally. They 
 are as tough, if not tougher than yours/' 
 
 "May I have one?" 
 
 " Certainly all if you wish." 
 
 He took two of the articles, and hurried to the 
 laboratory. He determined to smash one. Placed 
 in a press, it crushed quite easily. He dropped the 
 other on the floor, and it smashed like biscuit china. 
 The fragments were as brittle as unannealed glass. 
 He was delighted, but said nothing. The next time 
 he met Beatrice he asked casually how long the 
 things had been made. 
 
 "About four months," she answered; and he 
 begged of her all the specimens that remained, and 
 for three weeks could not be induced to leave his 
 laboratory. 
 
 He was of secretive temperament, but he could 
 hardly conceal his satisfaction. The Jonesware not 
 made in Cristallia would be very inferior ; people 
 would find out in what way soon enough ; by their 
 dearly bought experience they would ever after 
 avoid it as a sham. The Germans and others were 
 going to drop heaps of money through their ill-gotten 
 
FORTUNE FAVOURS CRISTALLIA. 141 
 
 knowledge ; he and Cristallia would be gloriously 
 avenged. He conceded to the generally expressed 
 wish of his friends and took a long voyage. They 
 thought he might be happy in Japan ; he knew he 
 could be happy anywhere. 
 
 There was a period of tranquillity in Cristallia. Fer- 
 sten was still " floundering in the gum," but seemed 
 somewhat nearer the production of "whalebone sub- 
 stitute." He had a great friend in a newcomer, a 
 man named Amber, who was believed to have 
 invented a flying machine, and at any rate was well 
 supplied with money. His syndicate built a factory 
 on the hillside, and at great expense got a steel 
 cable swung across a wide valley from peak to peak. 
 Trial trips of the machine were made on this cable. 
 They always ended in the aeronaut coming to a 
 stop where the wire sagged, and being ignominiously 
 hauled up the remainder of the " trajet " or, still more 
 ignominiously, wound back to the starting-point. He 
 was a man of boundless optimism, and kept on trying. 
 
 Beatrice Tyacke became Mrs. Alan Winship, and 
 remained in London. To take her place in the 
 message department Toller sent out Mavis Weyland. 
 Redhead thought Sterry would be pleased, and asked 
 him if he remembered the girl. Sterry thought he 
 did. Soon afterwards he cleared up his work and 
 announced his intention of passing the winter out at 
 El-Aksa, and managed so that he left before Mavis 
 arrived. 
 
 Redhead was very busy with experimental work of 
 his own ; he ran over to El-Aksa with Boyd to 
 witness the experimental explosion of a self-acting 
 fort in their new scheme of defences, and took with 
 him a curious-looking litle instrument affixed to a 
 staff. He had it stuck in the ground wherever he 
 went, and was constantly "tinkering" at its 
 mechanism. The experiment was made, and declared 
 to be most successful. Robson was not entirely 
 satisfied ; he confided his trouble to Redhead. 
 
142 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "It went off prematurely five seconds at least 
 before I fired it" 
 
 " I know it did," answered Redhead quite cheer- 
 fully. 
 
 " How could you know ? You were tinkering 
 with that clock thing of yours at the moment" 
 
 " That is how I knew," answered Redhead 
 enigmatically. 
 
 " I must try another." 
 
 " Whenever you are ready let me know. I will 
 forestall you." 
 
 They tried, and it was Robson's turn to laugh. 
 
 " Fire away ! " he commanded, but Redhead was 
 powerless. 
 
 " What have you been doing ? " he asked testily. 
 
 " Nothing, I assure you. You must go home and 
 perfect that warstick of yours." 
 
 And further experiments convinced Redhead that 
 it was the only thing to be done ; as yet he had not 
 discovered how to fire a mine without the aid of 
 connecting wires. 
 
 When the news reached them that the Saxon 
 Jonesware was rotten they dared not believe it; 
 an immediate increased demand for their manu- 
 factures convinced them. Confirmatory evidence of 
 an unpleasant sort soon followed the Pieterlanders 
 were aggressive once more. 
 
 But the forces from the German colony did not 
 come into direct conflict with their own. The quarrels 
 were with the natives, the " friendlies " of Cristallia in 
 the no-man's land south of the Atlas. 
 
 Mahomed Ben Hassa asked aid of Cristallia, but 
 fought well for his own. He had his wrongs, and 
 knew how to avenge them chasing the Pieterlanders 
 right back to their forts and carrying away his women 
 again. He crossed the territory of Cristallia on his 
 return, and the Pieterlanders followed until fire from 
 one of the forts warned them off. 
 
 There was a curt demand from the Governor of 
 
FORTUNE FAVOURS CRISTALLIA. 143 
 
 Pieterstadt as to the intention of the Commonwealth. 
 It was met by an ungracious rejoinder. " If the 
 Pieterlanders are not fully aware of the intention, 
 they have only to carry the German flag a little 
 further into our country, and so satisfy themselves." 
 Things began to assume a serious aspect, and 
 Sterry returned to the Capitol. 
 
 He met Mavis, and thought how fresh and beau- 
 tiful she looked. She blushed at seeing him, and 
 was more bashful than she had been when they first 
 met 
 
 " I was afraid you would never come to Cristallia, 
 Miss Weyland." 
 
 " I always meant to come when I was free to do so." 
 " We are very pleased to have you with us, aren't 
 we, Willie?" 
 
 Redhead nodded pleasantly. 
 
 " Are you going to winter at El-Aksa, Bob ? " 
 
 " With things as they are ? Impossible ! " 
 
 " Quite ! " rejoined Redhead And he chuckled. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE ESOTERIC SECTION. 
 
 THE renewed demand for Jonesware brought Iltyd 
 back from Japan in a hurry. He was now feverish 
 for work, full of great schemes, nervous and excitable, 
 but, as all could see, a stronger man for the scare 
 he had experienced. Madeline Winship too was 
 wintering in the colony, and Cristallia was recovering 
 its old form. 
 
 The Pieterlanders were troublesome and irritatingly 
 overbearing ; such slight diplomatic relations as had 
 existed between the two colonies were ended, and 
 the foreign Consuls in Cristallia could not patch up 
 the quarrel. The Berbers and Touaregs were not 
 so peaceably inclined as they had been, and the Sultan 
 was understood to be preparing a military expedition 
 to the south with the object of maintaining order 
 among them ; but action was slow to follow intention 
 at the Court of Abd-el-Azeez, and an outbreak 
 among the Riff Kabyles necessitated an expedition 
 in a quite opposite direction, and the concentration 
 of the fleet off the north coast. 
 
 Amber, the aeronaut, had achieved some success ; 
 Fersten had almost deserted the gum factory and 
 thrown his energies into Amber's venture. The 
 " flight " was across the valley of El-Tyh, quite 
 twenty-five miles from Port Cristal, and almost on 
 
THE ESOTERIC SECTION. 145 
 
 the frontier. Staying there afforded Fersten oppor- 
 , tunities for " sport " he could not enjoy nearer town, 
 but his methods were detested by the natives and 
 led to disastrous reprisals. 
 
 At last Amber declared his intention of taking a 
 real aerial flight. From flopping along the wire he 
 had progressed to going across the valley with a 
 slack rope from the cable ; then the machine mounted 
 level with the wire itself, and now flew higher, held 
 down to the earth by the very rope and gear by 
 which it had formerly been sustained. 
 
 Fersten, who was most enthusiastic, proposed a 
 general holiday and a huge gathering to witness the 
 first voyage ; for a reason of their own the Council 
 consented. The factories were to be closed for a 
 week, and a regular encampment held at El-Tyh. 
 
 Robson and his staff arranged everything ; all the 
 holiday-makers were well accommodated in the wide 
 valley, provisions in plenty were stored in the ware- 
 houses and marquees, and whether the machine 
 succeeded or not, there were endless charming 
 excursions to be made into the neighbouring valleys, 
 hills to climb, and the fringe of the Great Desert to 
 explore. 
 
 Most of the ships were loaded and cleared ; the 
 Moors from the barracks, the black servants, and 
 half the guard went to El-Tyh for camp duty ; every 
 one who could get away went east. A hundred men 
 of the White Guard, left in town, were drafted in half- 
 dozens as emergency garrison for the various forts ; 
 the quays were unsentinelled ; warehouses, factories, 
 villas, Consulates, and Guest House all but empty. 
 Before sunset on the eve of the day of the ascent 
 the last automotor took the laggards in a train of 
 trucks to the camp. The Isocrats alone remained ; 
 with a staff of operators for the instrument-rooms 
 and a few servants they occupied the Capitol. 
 Hawkins, who did not belong to the Esoteric Section, 
 represented the Council at the gathering; Fersten, 
 
 L 
 
146 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 whose absence would have been appreciated, insisted 
 upon remaining in town. He had seen the thing 
 often enough, he said, and was not going to shirk 
 work. 
 
 Robson relegated him to the south side, and in 
 the event of any unexpected attack from the tribes- 
 men he was to hurry to the Table Point Fort, which 
 was, Robson stated truly, the most undermanned, 
 but, as he did not say, the men were the pick of his 
 favourite guards and absolutely trustworthy. 
 
 " Not that there is the least probability of attack ; 
 our scheme of defence is too good, and the natives 
 know it All the forts are in direct electric com- 
 munication, and any of the mines can be exploded 
 from the central station at the arsenal. If the men 
 cannot hold a position, they leave the automatic guns 
 firing and fall back to the next line of defence. We 
 do the rest, and I reckon a European army corps 
 could not take Cristallia." 
 
 "I'll bet my life they couldn't," said Fersten. 
 " How about your ability to attack them ? " 
 
 " That'll be all right in time. Kell and I know more 
 things than we care to mention as yet. It is of no 
 use to talk of what you mean to do until by experi- 
 ment you have assured yourself that you can do it. 
 I'll tell you one thing, Fersten ; I won't willingly go 
 against any man who stood up for me as you did in 
 that argument about sacrificing Winship, but if you 
 do not alter your game with the natives beyond 
 El-Tyh you'll have to leave Cristallia, and I warn you 
 that if you fall into the hands of old Mahomed Ben 
 Hassa he will make you wish that you'd never been 
 born." 
 
 "I do not care a cent for the whole tribe of 
 Mahmouds." 
 
 " You leave his womenfolk and offspring alone for 
 the future, or you'll have to reckon with me ! " 
 
 Robson turned away angrily and went on to the 
 terrace. The moon was shining over the silent town, 
 
THE ESOTERIC SECTION. 147 
 
 and for once the great beam engines in the Iltydium 
 factory were still. 
 
 " How quiet everything is, Madeline ! " 
 
 " Like a city of the dead I do not like it." 
 
 " Sorry that poor old ruffian Snyder has gone. 
 Very sudden, was it not ? " 
 
 "Horrible!" 
 
 " I haven't seen Page's report, but I expect it is in. 
 He would have sent for me had it been cholera or 
 anything of that kind." 
 
 "Do not talk of it This fearful stillness and quiet 
 is very oppressive. Do not you feel it ? " 
 
 "Feel what?" 
 
 "I don't know. I have a presentiment that some- 
 thing horrible is going to happen. There ! " And 
 she shivered. " That's it again ! We used to say 
 it was some one walking over our graves." 
 
 " What rot ! Why don't you make up your mind 
 to be cremated? I don't think there are three score 
 of us on this side the river, and if the instrument 
 won't work to-night it never will. Shall we get along 
 to the Temple?" 
 
 The Esoteric Section met in a small vaulted 
 chamber adjoining the Hall of Science; there were 
 stall chairs in different positions around a star-shaped 
 table, and one end of the chamber had the usual 
 alabaster-lined blind oriel of a mosque ; on a dais 
 within this alcove was a large compass card with an 
 agate-pointed pivot in its centre. 
 
 Redhead, Sterry, and Hilda Kewney were already 
 seated when Robson arrived with Madeline ; Jones, 
 Kell, and Hanlan soon followed, and the door was 
 closed and barred. 
 
 Madeline placed in the centre of the table a four- 
 inch cube of bright metal, on the top of which were 
 cryptographic signs deeply inchiselled. 
 
 " I present to the gathering the psychic record of 
 Mavis Weyland, taken in my presence under the 
 usual conditions. You will need no explanation from 
 
148 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 me as to the value of the indications registered. 
 Their interpretation presents but one difficulty the 
 inferences to be made from the great exaltation of 
 Hod. We have no record approaching this one in 
 degree ; for its intensity, if for no other peculiarity, 
 this register merits careful study." Then Madeline's 
 tone changed from the clear, cold, incisive conven- 
 tional delivery of the expert lecturer to the guttural 
 of warm enthusiasm. " In Mavis Weyland we have 
 a pure soul, a sincere nature whose dominant note 
 is affection. I move that at the next meeting she be 
 formally welcomed to participate in our work." 
 
 Robson scrutinised the cube critically in silence, 
 and looked at Kell, who nodded. Sterry was the first 
 to speak. 
 
 "I present the gathering with the last record, 
 taken at 8 p.m. yesterday, of John Snyder, and it 
 completes the series three hundred and forty-one in 
 all. As you know, Snyder came here a mean, lying 
 scoundrel, determined to wreck the State. Our 
 treatment of him was merited by his rascality. He 
 was absolutely without creative genius, but the work 
 we latterly entrusted to him proved his usefulness, 
 and the frequent records we obtained show that the 
 man not only had his good points, but was approach- 
 ing that standard of righteousness we respect. For 
 some time past, as the records indicate, there had 
 been a falling away from the level he had attained ; 
 he seemed to be under malign influences, caused much 
 anxiety, and excited not a little suspicion. This last 
 record shows that he not only recovered from the 
 temporary lapse from that path of progress we regard 
 as honourable and virtuous, but even surpassed his 
 best records." 
 
 Redhead next spoke. 
 
 " I have to inform the gathering that the cause of 
 the death of Snyder is certified as narcotic poisoning. 
 The circumstances demand full investigation, and will 
 receive it. It seems not unlikely that we shall 
 
THE ESOTERIC SECTION. 149 
 
 discover some details which will enable us to verify 
 our inferences from his ' records/ We may conjecture 
 that he was premeditating some wrongful act, and 
 at the last moment preferred suicide to a worse 
 crime ; or, he may have been engaged with others, 
 and his soul revolting, he seceded and was murdered 
 by his associates. It is the most serious event which 
 has occurred in Cristallia, but now and here it cannot 
 be discussed advantageously." 
 
 The Chief Commoner's announcement was received 
 in silence, but the impression it made was so grave 
 that nearly ten minutes elapsed before Sterry rose to 
 continue the business of the meeting. 
 
 " The experiment we are about to make is to 
 determine whether beryllium, which we know as the 
 ' psychic loadstone/ is capable of being acted upon 
 by an aggregation of individuals at a great distance, 
 in the same way as the near presence of one human 
 organism affects this element. At El-Tyh, which is 
 just twenty-five miles from here, east-by-north, there 
 is at this present moment a crowd of twenty thousand 
 people. In Cristallia there are not five hundred; 
 at Pieterstadt, twenty-five miles distant, about three 
 thousand ; and on the large map we will spread on 
 the table you will see the distances accurately marked 
 and the approximate number of the inhabitants of 
 each place written under the name. 
 
 " There is, of course, no analogy between beryllium 
 and the magnetic needle ; it does not lie in line with 
 north and south or any other current, but is attracted 
 to man to an infinitesimal extent To obtain any 
 indication, therefore, in which direction the persons 
 attracting the metal are situate I use a cube of 
 beryllium on the periphery of an accurately balanced 
 vertically pivoted wheel. Earlier tests have enabled 
 me to judge of the size of the cube and the shorter 
 distances at which it is susceptible. This test is to 
 determine whether a concourse of twenty thousand 
 people can affect the metal at so great a distance as 
 
150 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 twenty-five miles ; if it does not, it is my intention 
 to advance in an easterly direction with the instru- 
 ment until it is affected by the gathering- at El-Tyh. 
 We have no counter-attracting influences to north, 
 south, or west. 
 
 " The gauge on the broad radial arm indicates the 
 amount of ' pull ' in the direction of the attraction ; 
 by experiment I hope to deduce from it either the 
 distance or the number of the crowd ; perhaps, 
 ultimately, to ascertain both particulars." 
 
 The chart was spread upon the table, the company 
 gathered on the north-west side of the compass-dial, 
 then Sterry placed the wheel upon its pivot and set 
 it revolving. When it stopped the indicator pointed 
 south-south-east. Sterry turned it again in the 
 reverse direction, but it stopped in the same spot, and 
 a hasty examination was made of the chart. 
 
 " There is nothing in that direction nearer than 
 Johannesburg," said Sterry, perplexed. They tried 
 again and again, with no better result. 
 
 Then Sterry entered into details, gave particulars 
 of all previous tests, and they held long discussion 
 of each point that promised a solution of the present 
 failure. At midnight Hilda Kewney withdrew, as 
 she had to take the instrument-room at two o'clock. 
 Jones went out across the terrace with her, and on 
 the way back examined closely the outside of the 
 building. Then he tested the instrument. It was 
 mechanically perfect. 
 
 " Give it a good whizz round," said Robson. 
 
 Accurately and delicately poised, it spun round for 
 nearly an hour ; as its revolutions became very slow 
 they gathered before it and watched. 
 
 " It takes longer to go from north-north-east to 
 south-east than all the rest of the circle," said Sterry. 
 " There ! see that drag at east-by-north ? Time it ! " 
 
 They did so ; there was an absolute retardation 
 when the cube was towards the east ; as the pace 
 became slower it seemed as though it must stop with 
 
THE ESOTERIC SECTION. I$I 
 
 the cube at east-by-north towards El-Tyh but the 
 momentum carried it past. It dragged very slowly 
 until it reached the south-east, when it quickened, 
 and reached east-by-north again, stopped the fraction 
 of a second, then dragged on to east-south-east, when 
 it came to rest abruptly. 
 
 Reversing the direction of revolution, much the 
 same phenomena resulted, but this time the machine 
 came to rest still further east. Not by any means 
 short of sheer force could it be stayed at the points 
 to the south where it had formerly rested. 
 
 "If anything is indicated clearly, it is that a large 
 body of men are moving from the south to the north- 
 east," said Robson, and a great dread came upon him. 
 
 He looked at the chart, then at a scrap of paper 
 on which he had recorded the successive directions 
 indicated by the machine and the exact instant of 
 observation. 
 
 " Suppose a force starts out from Pieterstadt at 
 sundown, meaning to cut us off from El-Tyh before 
 dawn. They would take the Red Stone Pass. At 
 ii p.m. they would be about south-south-east from 
 here that is just where the machine pointed ; it is 
 now 4.35, and they ought to be here"; and he put 
 his finger on a spot on the chart. " One-Tree Hill, 
 how does that lie ? " 
 
 " East-south-east" 
 
 "And the machine?" 
 
 " Not the quarter of a point out. Look at it," said 
 Kell. 
 
 The wheel seemed to be very slowly creeping from 
 south to east; they watched a few minutes, then 
 suddenly it quivered and swung round until the 
 indicator was due south. 
 
 " The Germans are upon us ! That's another 
 division coming straight for us ! " And Boyd 
 gnawed at his nails savagely. 
 
 "Nonsense!" 
 
 " How else do you account for it ? " asked Robson. 
 
152 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "What might be has affected you so strongly you 
 think it must be/' said Redhead 
 
 " I'll get out of this anyway that's a gunshot ! 
 Don't you hear it?" 
 
 He, Kell, and Hanlan ran to the door. When 
 outside, the sound of cannon-firing was distinctly 
 audible. 
 
 " Six miles to the south-east ; that must be the 
 Thirty-Camel Fort," said Kell. 
 
 " It'll be daylight in ten minutes now," said Robson 
 excitedly. " Jake, you get over to the south side 
 and look after the harbour forts ; you'll find the 
 Chief's special motor below the terrace. Take it. 
 Look after the harbour, Morven, and take Jones to 
 put the firing wires round his factories. For Heaven's 
 sake, be quick ! " 
 
 He went back into the hall and gave the news ; 
 told Sterry to start the signal for all to get to their 
 posts, make sure the instrument staff were on duty 
 in the vault, then hurry up into the dome over the 
 Capitol, whither he led the way. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 IN THE CONNING-TOWER. 
 
 THE dome of the Capitol was a camera lucida com- 
 manding extensive views to the south and seawards 
 and to the north and east as far as the old line of 
 defences. A number of wires led to the instrument- 
 rooms below, and most of the mines, inland and 
 submarine, were directly connected with machines 
 arranged round the wall, immediately beneath the 
 fine polished mirrors upon which the external lenses 
 focussed the landscape within their range. 
 
 Robert Sterry at once stationed himself before the 
 mirror commanding the south and opened the shutter. 
 Two compact masses of troops were shown advancing 
 towards Cristallia and well within range of the guns 
 in the furthest fort; but those were silent. Moving 
 the lens westward, a battery of the enemy's field 
 artillery was revealed upon a hill within the outer 
 line of defence, and it was being well served and 
 directing a brisk fire towards the southernmost 
 harbour fort, where Hanlan's company were replying 
 somewhat ineffectively. Leaving the mirror to 
 Redhead and Madeline, he rushed across the room 
 for a view of the eastern prospect This disclosed 
 indications of the enemy's occupation of the neigh- 
 bouring heights. Cristallia was already cut off from 
 El-Tyh, and their own forts in that direction were 
 also silent A message sent to the nearest brought 
 
154 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 no answer, and the opposing infantry were to be 
 seen already skirmishing on the Cristallia slope of 
 the hill. To the north nothing unusual was apparent, 
 but from the south-west a small fleet was rapidly 
 approaching. 
 
 Robson had been energetically signalling the 
 instrument towers, but from seven only of the twenty- 
 six was the call answered more than two-thirds of 
 their forts were already deserted or in the hands of 
 the enemy. 
 
 " Treachery, treachery everywhere ! " hissed Robson. 
 
 " The game is up before the fighting begins, Willie. 
 Shall we strike the flag ? " asked Sterry despairingly. 
 
 " Never ! Let us die fighting. What do you say, 
 Boyd?" 
 
 " We will give some of them more than enough 
 before we go. But look there! Do you see those 
 pickelhaubers trekking for the Sparrow Hill fort? 
 That is made over to them, I warrant, and they'll 
 turn our own guns on us in less than an hour. Shall 
 I blow it up ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered Redhead firmly. 
 
 " Watch, then ! " He moved a key on the switch- 
 board, and depressed a lever. " How's that ? " 
 
 For an instant there was absolute silence within 
 the dome, but the roar of the artillery could be heard 
 from without ; all looked anxiously into the mirror 
 whereon the Hill fort was reflected, with the lines 
 of infantry advancing towards it from the south-east. 
 
 "Nothing?" 
 
 " Nothing ! The communication has been cut ! " 
 
 " Blazes ! We can't hold the town twenty minutes 
 if they get in there! It'll take Morven and Iltyd an 
 hour to close the factories. I'll go over to the old 
 watch-tower and try if that line is intact. You tell 
 all those seven chaps " (and he swept his hand 
 across the indicator that showed which forts had 
 answered the signal)" to fire on the Sparrow Hill 
 if they can, and if their fire does not keep the enemy 
 
IN THE CONNING-TOWER. 155 
 
 out, evacuate and fall back on the harbour forts. 
 Hurry up Morven, and get him to clear out our 
 whole gang from this side. Quick! Good-bye all! " 
 
 Before any could stay him he was gone ; the lift 
 chains were clinking over the pulleys, and Madeline 
 was carrying out his instructions to those in com- 
 mand of the forts. 
 
 "We will send the news staff over to the other 
 shore at once. Let them seek the protection of the 
 Swiss Consul. Who's in charge, Willie ? " 
 
 " Kewney, I think. I instructed her an hour ago 
 to advise all agencies to communicate directly with 
 London. What does that mean, Bob ? " There was 
 a tremor in his voice as he pointed out the 
 tricolour of the German flag flying over the Table 
 Point fort, close to the town. 
 
 " That treachery is Fersten's doing ! Great 
 Heavens! The guns there command the road 
 Robson must take. If the devils dare to fire on 
 him, I will blow up the fort! What is the matter, 
 Madeline?" 
 
 The girl was white and trembling. 
 
 " No, no ; you will not kill the innocent with the 
 guilty! Spence, and Brady, and others are there 
 still ; they have been surprised and overpowered, 
 and until the wires have been found and cut that 
 German will keep them there to save himself. There 
 is another way! Leave it to me, Bob." 
 
 " The wire has been cut ! See ! see ! " And Willie 
 Redhead swung his chair round. 
 
 " Then it's all up, Willie. The fleet will be within 
 gun range in less than twenty minutes. We shall 
 get it hot here. Has Madeline gone ? " 
 
 " I suppose so, but " 
 
 ' Watch Boyd ! WATCH BOYD ! " 
 
 The fort on the Sparrow Hill occupied a small 
 detached eminence on the sandy plain to the south- 
 east. The defences supporting this outpost were the 
 fort on Table Point, the old watch-tower further east, 
 
156 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 and the southernmost harbour fort on the west 
 Robson had crossed the bridge, and was galloping 
 on his chestnut Arab towards the old tower, too 
 intent on his object to notice the changed flag on 
 Table Point. Troops of the enemy's cavalry, followed 
 by large masses of infantry and some machine guns, 
 were advancing steadily from the south-east towards 
 the Sparrow Hill, and for the present were screened 
 from the gunfire directed at them from the harbour 
 fort 
 
 Robson reached the deserted old watch-tower and 
 disappeared within its walls ; Sterry and Redhead 
 watching, waited breathlessly, for the enemy were 
 now close upon the Sparrow Hill. To the dismay 
 of Sterry, Robson came out of the tower and led 
 his horse away. When next they saw him he was 
 mounted and galloping towards the fort itself. As 
 soon as he reached the open plain the reports of 
 rifle shots from Table Point could be heard : he 
 turned his head, reined in his steed, and for a moment 
 hesitated, then started forward again. A volley was 
 fired, but he escaped. 
 
 Sterry, unable to endure longer, made the connec- 
 tion and sent the spark which was to fire the mine 
 under Table Point, but the attempt failed. As 
 Madeline thought, the communications had been cut 
 He sent a message to Hanlan, ordering him to fire 
 upon Table Point and blow it up if he could. The 
 order was acknowledged, and then Sterry saw that 
 the German flag over Table Point had been lowered ; 
 but that of Cristallia was not run up on the signal 
 mast in its place. The firing at Robson ceased ; he 
 had reached a ditch, and dismounting, crept along 
 it, a large case under his arm. After a time he 
 stopped. They could see him delving in the loose 
 sand with his hands. 
 
 " He knows where every wire is ; if he finds the 
 line in time, the Sparrow fort will disappear." And 
 again there was silence in the conning-tower. 
 
IN THE CONNING-TOWER. 157 
 
 The advance guard of the enemy now occupied 
 the fort ; the guns were being moved, and the cavalry 
 and infantry were so close up nothing could be seen 
 of them from the conning-tower. 
 
 The minutes seemed like hours. At last one of 
 the great guns in the Sparrow Hill fort fired a shot 
 towards the harbour. It passed right over the coast 
 defences and fell in the sea. Before another shot 
 could be fired the hill rose as though forced out of 
 the ground by a volcano, parted asunder, and threw 
 high into the air great masses of sand, rock, and 
 masonry. There was a terrific crash ; houses fell 
 in the town, and even the conning-tower on the 
 Capitol shook, and Redhead cried out with pain. 
 
 When next Sterry looked the cloud of dense smoke 
 was lifting from rough hillocks and a deep chasm : 
 forms there were struggling in the last line of the 
 enemy's infantry, now in full retreat. It was Hanlan's 
 opportunity. His eleven-barrelled Catling guns, with 
 positive feed, poured a stream of bullets into the 
 retreating mass at the rate of fifteen hundred shots a 
 minute, and was silenced only by the first shell from 
 seaward, for the fleet had now reached within gunshot. 
 
 " There ! That is the way every fort should have 
 gone! It would have needed an army corps to take 
 us then. If only we had not needed wires, Willie ! ' 
 
 Redhead bit his lip. 
 
 " We remember what to do when too late. We 
 
 have the worst of the fight, Bob, but Is there 
 
 any one in the instrument-room ? " 
 
 "All went some time ago, but there is sure to be 
 one left in the private room." 
 
 " Then I'll go. I can do nothing here, and the 
 smash-up is agonising. I'll try to get through to 
 New York before the end comes." 
 
 " I'll stay here as long as I can. I shall have to 
 join you downstairs soon. Tell Hilda to save herselL 
 I'll see to you." 
 
 Willie Redhead ran his chair on to the lift and 
 
158 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 went down. Sterry rushed from mirror to mirror 
 until he saw Robson walking on foot towards the hills 
 on the east and ascend to a hidden ledge where one 
 of the smaller machine-guns was screened and kept 
 always in readiness against possible attack from the 
 wild tribes of the Atlas. 
 
 For a time the fighting was seaward. Hanlan had 
 succeeded in hitting the largest of the cruisers, but 
 the heavy fire from the ironclads made the coast forts 
 almost untenable. 
 
 As Sterry went round again towards the east he 
 was sickened by the sight of the German tricolour 
 flying from almost every pole on the south side. The 
 enemy had also opened fire from their mountain 
 battery upon the north fort, and a squadron of their 
 infantry were defiling down the hill-road against the 
 arsenal and fortified factories. 
 
 Just as Sterry received the message from Kell that 
 he and Jones had completed their work, the sharp 
 rattle of musketry fire was heard on the east. 
 Robson, single-handed, was working the old Catling 
 gun and mowing down the long file of invaders on 
 the hill-road. They at once retreated, and he, his 
 store of ammunition gone, was creeping from rock to 
 rock on his way back to the arsenal. Then came a 
 terrific crash : a huge shell from the fleet pierced the 
 dome and burst in the quadrangle of the Capitol 
 below, and, as the roof was carried away, Sterry fell 
 to the floor. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 RETALIATION. 
 
 WHEN Redhead ran his wheel-chair from the lift 
 along the corridor to his private workroom he stayed 
 for a minute before a window commanding a view 
 of the south town and forts. The Helvetian Cross 
 was flying from the staff over the Guest House and 
 a crowd thronged the entrance. Smaller knots of 
 people were gathered before the doors of the 
 Consulates, and were being recruited from a stream 
 of fugitives hurrying along the quay. A steamer 
 flying the Norwegian flag had been struck, and was 
 fast settling down in the inner harbour, those on 
 board escaping in boats, barges, and by extemporised 
 rafts. Sailors were also leaving the other ships, and 
 shell after shell dropped into the harbour. At the 
 southernmost fort the fire was slackening, and 
 Redhead saw here and there a man escaping towards 
 the fortifications opposite Cristal Point. Now and 
 again a shot from some one or other of the hidden 
 guns on the north side fell in the sea short of the 
 fleet ; but practically the resistance had ceased. 
 
 Beyond the south town isolated houses and 
 factories were in ruins, some were ablaze ; trees had 
 been sundered by the shot, the cultivated land 
 reploughed and devastated by the continuous wild 
 showering of great shells ; the whole place was 
 practically destroyed, and the sight maddened 
 Redhead. 
 
l6o THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 As he hurried along again he forgot all in his fury 
 to assault the victors ; any consideration for the cause 
 of humanity or the rules of the great game of war 
 he cast to the winds. Was not Cristallia, the beau- 
 tiful, being extirpated? He longed only for a chance 
 to hit below the belt, and his intense resentment 
 quickened his brain. He had it! A smile of con- 
 tentment flitted across his face. In a very few 
 minutes he knew he would have wrought irreparable 
 injury to Germany but too late, perhaps, to save 
 even what remained of Cristallia. 
 
 He went through his suite of apartments, pausing 
 only to take a Sterrygraphic Gazetteer from his desk, 
 and entered a secret laboratory a private museum 
 of the inventions that had failed, a repository for 
 machines lacking the finishing touch of a genius to 
 make them workable. The room was large and 
 lofty, lighted by five great windows opening upon 
 the northern quadrangle of the Capitol. They were 
 commanded only by the stained-glass lancet windows 
 of the lethal hall, which, to make the room still more 
 secure from the prying eyes of spies, were glazed 
 with fine corrugated sheets, opaque to the outside 
 though transparent from within. 
 
 He removed a panel from a tall pillar-like machine 
 and inserted some metallic plates taken from one of 
 the shelves, connected different wires, then closed all 
 up again. He called to the private instrument-room, 
 and the signal was answered. 
 
 " Call to London, Cairo, and St. Petersburg ; 
 instruct them to signal Spandau, index number 
 G 7408, and repeat until answered." 
 
 Then he wheeled his chair to the desk at the 
 opposite end of the room and began to write. A 
 few seconds later came the crash of the shell through 
 the dome of the Capitol. The huge projectile burst 
 as it was falling into the quadrangle. Pieces of it 
 smashed through the windows and wrecked the closed 
 cases in the room ; one fragment struck Willie 
 
RETALIATION. l6l 
 
 Redhead's knee and shattered it. He creid out in 
 anguish, but none heard. The ringing of the signal 
 bell from the instrument-room recalled him to the 
 work unfinished. The requisite communications were 
 made now, and if only he could reach the grim 
 pillar-like transmitter at the other end of the room 
 and move the switch-key the experiment would be 
 completed. His head swam, he felt faint, tried to 
 move his chair and failed. He seized a hand 
 telephone on the desk and called to the instrument- 
 room. 
 
 " Come here now ! Room seventy-seven ! " 
 
 He tied his handkerchief tightly round his thigh, 
 seized a ruler, and putting one end between the 
 bandage and his leg, turned and turned until he had 
 stayed the flow of blood and numbed the limb. The 
 end of the improvised lever he held close to his side 
 with his left hand, and with his right hand continued 
 his hurried scrawl. Perhaps she would not notice ; 
 it seemed an hour ere she entered. 
 
 "What, Mavis! I thought Hilda was " 
 
 " She has gone with the others ; it was my turn." 
 The girl was trembling, and at each more than usually 
 loud boom of the artillery jumped convulsively. 
 
 "All right Will you move that switch-key for 
 me, then stand away at once." He pointed to the 
 instrument he had prepared. 
 
 The girl unhesitatingly advanced, moved the key, 
 and stepped aside. The machine vibrated sharply 
 for a few seconds, then as suddenly was still. 
 
 " Excellent ! I am revenged ! " 
 
 His head sank upon his breast and his body 
 dropped forward. The girl, frightened, turned a few 
 steps towards him, then stopped suddenly. 
 
 "What have I done? What have I done? 
 Speak! speak!" 
 
 Her voice roused him. " Nothing ; it is nothing. 
 Do not come here. Move the switch-key back, and 
 oh! oh!" 
 
 M 
 
1 62 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "What is the matter? You are hurt Let 
 me " 
 
 He put up his hand to forbid her advance. 
 
 " No, no ; I am beside myself. This infernal din ! 
 Can you hear me? Get back to the instrument-room 
 if you can and call to Moscow, Bordeaux, and 
 Stockholm ; instruct them to signal Rastatt, index 
 number 09312, and repeat signal until answered. 
 Then you come here and move that switch-key 
 again. But be quick! We have not much time. I 
 can hear the rifle bullets striking the other side of 
 the building already. Tell New York and London 
 that Cristallia has gone, and that Spandau " 
 
 The report of a shell crashing against the walls 
 and bursting quite near them drowned his voice. 
 She looked up when the noise of falling walls had 
 subsided. The room was filled with fine dust and 
 the terrible stench of exploded picric acid ; she could 
 scarce see him, and went closer. 
 
 He stretched forth his arm to thrust her away. 
 " Come, be brave. Get to work." 
 
 " There is a message from Fez. The Sultan has 
 ordered the ships here." 
 
 "Too late! too late! Do as I tell you! Quick! 
 It is our only chance." 
 
 His pale face scared her, and there was the odour 
 of something she knew sickening, fetid, distinct 
 from the stench in the gas-poisoned air. 
 
 She put her hand to her forehead and bent forward. 
 
 "It is blood blood!" she said. 
 
 " Nonsense ! You are mistaken. Picric acid, or 
 some vile explosive. Go ! " 
 
 Then came a deafening roar. The walls shook, 
 there was the crash of falling glass, and then later 
 dull thuds of falling walls and loud shrieks from far 
 away. 
 
 " Hanlan has blown up the south fort that's all. 
 It won't hurt us. Get to work, Mavis ; it is our last 
 chance. Tell New York and London that Cristallia 
 
RETALIATION. 163 
 
 has fallen, and the arsenal at Spandau is wrecked 
 by a great explosion. Go ! Go ! Go ! " 
 
 His face was livid, but he spoke firmly and 
 collectedly. Doubting whether he was in truth 
 hurt, and believing she could soon get back, she 
 hastened away to the instrument-room. 
 
 Rifle bullets, fired from Table Point and the 
 heights above the arsenal to the east, were falling 
 like rain upon the walls of the Capitol. They 
 smashed the ornamental tiles and splintered the 
 concrete walls ; some came through the window- 
 casements and the roof ; one whizzed just in front 
 of her as she hurried along the corridor, but in the 
 instrument-room nothing as yet was touched, and 
 she went about her work unfalteringly. 
 
 No sooner had she left him than Redhead re- 
 commenced his writing, and continued until the loud 
 clang of the Iltydium gong arrested him. It was 
 the well-known signal of warning, and meant now 
 that whoever could must save himself. Not- 
 withstanding the din of musketry fire and roar of 
 artillery, the piercing notes of the shrill gong 
 vibrated clear and unmistakable. In quick half- 
 second beats the signal made itself heard all over 
 the harbour; reached the south shore and the 
 distant forts, and was heeded even by the enemy, 
 for there was a momentary lull in their firing ; but, 
 as the mechanically-fed guns of Cristallia continued 
 a steady fire from the hidden places on the hills, 
 the shelling of the town began afresh. 
 
 Willie Redhead, resolute to the last, now loosed 
 the lever of the improvised tourniquet, and putting 
 both hands to his chair, wheeled it into and along 
 the corridor. It was a short journey ; the goal was 
 soon reached. He touched a press-button on the 
 wall, and the private entrance to the lethal hall slowly 
 opened. With a final effort he urged his chair 
 across the threshold, and then the doors mechanically 
 swung to with a silent snap upon the first victim. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 WHEN Robert Sterry recovered consciousness the 
 walls of the dome were pierced in so many places 
 by the rifle bullets of the invaders that he doubted 
 whether he would be able to escape to the lower 
 storeys. Chance favoured him, and although the 
 upper galleries were unsafe, he stayed there long 
 enough to see the ships sunk in the inner harbour 
 and witness Robson's single-handed attempt to 
 defend the arsenal by using the automatic machine- 
 guns. But the enemy were now too wary to advance 
 in close order; on the east their skirmishers were 
 already within a few hundred yards of the arsenal 
 ramparts, and were creeping nearer and nearer the 
 town. 
 
 The warships were standing out towards the 
 entrance of the harbour, and had landed troops far 
 away to the south. Then Sterry saw the signals 
 made by Kell to those on the other side ; soon the 
 harbour fort was evacuated, then Hanlan blew up 
 the south fort to prevent it falling into the hands 
 of the party marching against it from the coast. 
 Further resistance seemed useless. Sterry deter- 
 mined to find Redhead and see whether he could 
 not now be prevailed upon to order a surrender ; 
 for the first time he noticed the gaseous bubbles 
 bursting forth on the surface of the sea in the outer 
 harbour. Soon the water would be a mass of flame, 
 and retreat in that direction as impossible as escape 
 in any other now was. He could but give the 
 
DEATH. 165 
 
 warning signal at once, and leave every one to do 
 the best he could to save his own life. 
 
 He reached his own office and gave the alarm ; 
 snatched up a few papers, and ran along the corridor 
 to Redhead's room, expecting to find him there. He 
 saw where the wheels of the chair left an imprint 
 of dust picked up in the conning-tower, and followed 
 the tracks. 
 
 Workroom No. 77 told its own story : the broken 
 glass, shattered furniture, disordered desk, and the 
 pool of blood beneath it. It was easy enough to 
 trace the wheel-marks of the Chief Commoner's chair, 
 and Sterry started in pursuit. 
 
 He never for a moment expected that he would 
 be led to the lethal hall until he turned into the 
 corridor that communicated with the private entrance 
 Willie Redhead had himself designed, and insisted 
 upon having. There Sterry thought he saw the 
 " doors of death " closing upon his friend. Rushing 
 along the corridor, he reached the portal to find that 
 the panels were in truth still slightly oscillating. He 
 pressed the button ; the doors slowly opened and 
 disclosed the chair standing but a few yards within 
 the hall, and Sterry, unhesitating, ran to its side and 
 clasped the hand of his friend 
 
 "Ah, Bob!" 
 
 "What's the matter, Willie?" 
 
 The cripple smiled and pointed to his shattered 
 knee. 
 
 " Done for ; done for, Bob." 
 
 " But it is not mortal ! Why did you come here ? 
 I say you shall recover." 
 
 " No, no ! I have done my work. You must not 
 stay here, Bob. Go while there is time." 
 
 " I will not leave you, Willie. I have nothing to 
 live for now." He knelt down by the chair and 
 looked at the injured limb. 
 
 " You must go ! Promise me that you will, or I 
 shall not die happy." 
 
1 66 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Sterry looked round the hall, wondering why ere 
 this he and Willie were not both insensible. The 
 shattered windows and roof were sufficient explana- 
 tion ; the poison was escaping at a hundred fissures, 
 but yet he could feel its effect a pleasant exhilara- 
 tion, a longing for and complete enjoyment of rest 
 
 Willie Redhead sank back in his chair, and his 
 grasp of Robert's hand relaxed 
 
 " Go ! Go, Bob ! I will not die unless you go ! " 
 
 Then Robert felt weary ; a strong impulse came 
 upon him to lie down there, just where he was, upon 
 the floor, and sleep. But he struggled against this ; 
 his duty was not done ; his friend must be saved. 
 He rose and bent down over the semi-conscious man. 
 
 " I will go, and take you. It will not hurt you, 
 Willie!" 
 
 " No, there is no pain no pain. It is delight 
 ful. Tell that! But the band is too loud. Far 
 too loud." 
 
 The fearful booming of the great guns and the 
 quick rattle of the infantry volleys disturbed even 
 the last life moments of the unconscious, fast-dying 
 man. 
 
 Robert Sterry determined to move him to some 
 more peaceful place ; he felt the narcotic seizing his 
 senses, and he staggered to the door, dragging the 
 chair backwards behind him. 
 
 Then as his trembling hand fumbled for the knob 
 he remembered that the doors of the lethal hall 
 could not be opened from the inside. In Cristallia 
 there were to be no " scenes " ! And he, slightly 
 under the influence of the poison, was amused at his 
 inability to get out. It pleased him not to be able 
 to do the thing he wanted. He pushed the chair 
 along the smooth floor, and it rolled slowly across to 
 the far side he and Willie were not to die together 
 after all! He laughed again, silently and sank 
 upon the nearest couch. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 FLIGHT. 
 
 MAVIS WEYLAND was waiting in the instrument- 
 room for the signal from Bordeaux when the alarm 
 sounded. The bullets were pelting against the 
 outside wall ; now and again the building seemed 
 shaken to its foundations by some loud explosion, 
 and she was ready to sink into the earth with fright, 
 expecting every moment to lie buried beneath the 
 crumbling masonry. She had cried until she could 
 cry no more, and now, tear-stained and trembling, 
 hurriedly signalled again to Bordeaux to make the 
 required call upon Rastatt and set her free. 
 
 The tinkling of a telephone bell drew her from 
 the work. Robson was in the Ridge call-box asking 
 for Sterry. 
 
 " He is in the conning-tower." 
 
 "H'm; where's Redhead?" 
 
 The conning-tower had fallen, as Robson had 
 seen, but of this he said nothing. 
 
 " Room 77. I am going to him as soon as I get 
 O.K. from Bordeaux." 
 
 " Better not wait for that. Go to him, and stay 
 there until I come. Kell ought to be in No. 38. 
 Call him, if you can." 
 
 She obeyed, and Kell answered by asking for 
 instructions. 
 
 " Yes, he's there. Jones is with him. What are 
 they to do ? " 
 
1 68 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "We must all get out of this. There is one of 
 the small ' crabs ' in the north lake ; we will try and 
 
 get away to the ' Gleam/ Tell them to Damn ! 
 
 Curse you, you verfluchte churls ! " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " They've shot me through the arm. You get to 
 the north side of the block as soon as you can 
 you'll be safer there. Switch all Eagle Peak wires 
 on to the North Lake station before you go. Don't 
 forget ! Damn ! Damn ! That's another ! " 
 
 " Bordeaux is O.K. I'm going now." 
 
 She went out through a private corridor into the 
 quadrangle, now devastated by the exploded shell, 
 ran along under the arched roof of the deserted and 
 ghostly colonnade, and up a little-used flight of 
 stairs to the state gallery. The echo of her footsteps 
 along the empty corridors, glimpses of the un- 
 occupied rooms through half opened doors, or 
 fissures caused by the shot, added to her terror. In 
 the great building there seemed to be no other 
 living being than herself. She had escaped the 
 greater risks of the south gallery, exposed as it was 
 to the rifle fire of the invaders, but was more 
 unnerved by the loneliness than she had been by 
 the threatening bullets. She was glad when she 
 reached No. 77, and called out to Willie Redhead. 
 Receiving no answer, she thought he had gone to 
 one or other of the private rooms, and went in and 
 straight up to the grim, mysterious instrument, of 
 whose nature she was entirely ignorant. 
 
 She knew what would follow when she moved the 
 switch-key that the solid-looking, pump-like pillar 
 would vibrate, bend, throb, and groan like a tortured 
 human being. She felt afraid. What if she could 
 not release the key in time? There seemed force 
 enough within to kill a hundred people. When she 
 put forth her hand she dared not grip the handle. 
 Still it had to be done, and she looked about for 
 something with which to do it. 
 
FLIGHT. 169 
 
 On the table, near the desk, were Redhead's lazy- 
 tongs, light, strong, and of non-conductive alloy. In 
 an instant she had gripped the lever with them, 
 moved the key, and released it In a few seconds 
 the machine shook violently, and bobbed up and 
 down as though it were about to leave the level of 
 the floor for an extensive flight Then it became 
 still. She knew not whether she ought to disconnect 
 the current yet, and looked about for Redhead. 
 
 She saw the stained floor, and screamed ; went 
 nearer the desk and looked closer. Then she knew 
 that Redhead had been wounded ; there were ugly 
 red stains on the paper, and yes yes, the last 
 scrawled word was " Valete " his farewell. She 
 clutched at the sheet and scrunched it into her 
 pocket, and turned excitedly. Mavis understood 
 now why he had not allowed her to approach him. 
 The work he counted of more importance than 
 himself ; but now the work was done, and he still 
 in need of aid, and there was no one but herself to 
 help him. Following the wheel-tracks from room to 
 room, she passed out into a corridor through which 
 she had never been before, and on until stopped by 
 the private entrance of the lethal hall. 
 
 That portal she had not seen, though, like all in 
 Cristallia, she had visited the lethal hall by the 
 public way. At that time she had not been ereatly 
 impressed. She simply thought it like the Egyptian 
 Gallery at the Crystal Palace. This door she 
 recognised at once by its horseshoe shape, the mystic 
 figures, the emblem of death, and quaint motto. But 
 she could scarcely realise that Willie Redhead, full 
 of life and vigour, earnest about the work, and 
 emphatic in talk to her but a few minutes before, 
 had willingly entered the hall to die. What could 
 she do? If she waited for Robson to come, it might 
 be too late : if she went in, what would happen ? 
 
 She pressed the button timorously, using the lazy- 
 tongs, still in her fingers, to make the contact The 
 
1 70 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 sudden opening of the doors startled her, and the 
 draught along the passage seemed to coax her to 
 cross the threshold. But she was timorous, and held 
 back. With her left hand pressing against the door 
 she leaned forward cautiously, peered into the 
 gloom, and sniffed. 
 
 In a short time she saw into the dim room, 
 perceived the back of the wheel-chair right across 
 the hall, and recoiled at the thought of a corpse 
 being its occupant Then she heard a light laugh, 
 and turning her head, saw Sterry lying on a settee 
 to the right. 
 
 "Mr. Sterry! Mr. Sterry! Robert! Bob! Bob!" 
 she cried in alarm. 
 
 He heard nothing ; understood nothing. His lips 
 moved. 
 
 " A success a great success ! " he muttered, and 
 laughed again gaily. 
 
 It seemed to her that she might save him. He 
 was so near the entrance ; it would be but the work 
 of a moment to dart in and drag him out across the 
 threshold and he was still living. Yet she dared 
 not venture. The place had always been to her 
 one of horror, the mere mention of which caused her 
 to shiver ; and now, knowing nothing of the mephitic 
 vapour with which the hall was filled, the slightly 
 sweet but somewhat stifling odour drove her from 
 the door in fright. 
 
 In a few seconds she recovered : she was ashamed 
 of herself, of her possibly fatal delay. She was not 
 afraid to die ; that dread had never driven her from 
 her work all through the dangers of the day, but 
 her nerves and muscles were almost beyond her 
 control, and obeyed but the blind instinct of self- 
 preservation. Now her fear was that she, by her 
 blundering, would not be able to save the life of the 
 man she loved, not because she dared not sacrifice 
 her life in the attempt Her will was good she 
 lacked only knowledge. The slightest mistake would 
 
FLIGHT. I/I 
 
 mean absolute failure. All this flashed through her 
 mind in less time than it took to close her hand on 
 the lazy-tongs and stretch them out towards Sterry. 
 He was not nine feet from the door. 
 
 Her simplicity stood her in stead of knowledge. 
 Believing that one breath of the gas would render 
 her senseless, and that the act she had to do must 
 have no obstacle to its immediate execution when 
 once begun, she first knelt down and securely wedged 
 the two doors open by extending the tongs between 
 them and locking them at that length. She would 
 not have time to open the door again by any chance 
 if the wind blew it to, she thought. 
 
 Then she took a long breath of the pure air of the 
 passage, kept close her mouth, and sprang; into the 
 room. She gripped Sterry under the armpits, pulled 
 him from the couch, and dragged him along the floor 
 to the corridor. His body drew the tongs away from 
 their position, and the doors shut as he was brought 
 through them. 
 
 The effort had almost exhausted her, and seeing 
 him lying there limp, motionless, and insensible 
 caused her tears to flow afresh. She stooped down 
 and raised his head tenderly and called to him. Then 
 she remembered that persons asphyxiated may be 
 revived by following the methods for restoring the 
 apparently drowned. She stretched him out on his 
 back and used his arms to produce artificial respira- 
 tion. After some minutes the chest heaved slightly 
 unaided, and she redoubled her exertions. So intent 
 was she upon her work that she failed to notice that 
 the artillery fire had practically ceased. 
 
 Robson's heavy and hurried tread in the corridor 
 roused her. He saw what she was doing, and 
 understood. 
 
 " How long ? " he asked abruptly. 
 
 " Since the gong sounded almost." 
 
 " Then Redhead is past recovery. Come along ; 
 it is as much as we shall do to escape." 
 
THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 have to . 
 
 arm much " g P ' tor a nno use one 
 
 tfilfSfA * sterry over ' then ** ta 
 
 Hold on, Mavis! And step out! " 
 
 s, by JO S \idrf ? ^ - - - s 
 
 . ^ h ' 
 
 SOUth ^- How did 
 down the 
 
 ;;o Wm an y P" ago ' intheoceancrab -" 
 
 ' About a dozen." 
 ^Madeline with them?" 
 
 . 
 
 in a nute ^ n ' overtake you 
 
 going?" ] ked at him in sur P rise - " Where are you 
 ' R Ck - Jt was fr there they 
 
 P n the chance ^ 'here 
 .He went into the watch-house, and Mavis in a 
 
FLIGHT. 1/3 
 
 whisper told Kell what fate had befallen Redhead, 
 and they went along in silence. 
 
 Robson overtook them before they reached the 
 submarine vessel. Sterry was still insensible, but 
 breathing freely. They dashed some water over his 
 lace, then placed him in the little craft with his head 
 &s close to the fresh air pipe as they could manage 
 to prop him. 
 
 " It's oxygen he wants. We must be careful, or 
 he'll go." And Jones hesitated about getting into 
 the cramped space in the crab. 
 
 " We've got to get out of this. You look after him. 
 Morven and I will attend to the working of the crab. 
 jn you get." 
 
 They were very cramped, but as they went over 
 be surface of the lake with the air valves open it 
 fas not unendurable. They came to the outlet 
 lipe, and then Kell closed the valves. A minute 
 kter they were rushing down the great water pipe 
 nto the harbour. The crab floated out into mid- 
 Stream, and was swiftly carried into the roadstead. 
 Above them was a mass of flame, their vessel gliding 
 long in safety just off the bottom of the fairway. 
 L few minutes later they were creeping along the 
 north bar, and from there reached the open sea. 
 They thought themselves past the worst dangers 
 ;hen, and the air becoming foul in the crowded 
 shell, Kell made away from the shore and drove up 
 towards the surface. A disturbance in the water 
 warned him just in time to sink the crab again and 
 slip beneath one of the cruisers. After that Robson's 
 order was to keep closer in shore, and they went on 
 until Jones, whose fingers were never off Sterry's 
 Dulse, signalled that fresh air was imperative. They 
 ran along just under the surface, opened the valves, 
 and put up the wind-sails. Kell, believing the fleet 
 tfar away, lightened the crab until even the conning- 
 dome was above water. A look round convinced 
 
174 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 him of his mistake. He hurriedly closed the ports, 
 and the crab once more was sunk to the bottom. 
 
 " That torpedo boat has been following our wake 
 all the way from the bar ; we must slip her. Go 
 for the shore." 
 
 The enemy were unmistakably vigilant. The 
 course of the crab was altered, and almost imme- 
 diately had to make a hurried dive to escape a 
 torpedo, the long silvery cylinder all but touching 
 the dome of the crab and its passage being plainly 
 visible to the fugitives. 
 
 " Let us stay where we are/' pleaded Mavis, 
 alarmed. 
 
 Kell looked at Robson and smiled, but Robson 
 nodded. It was a good idea ; the torpedo boat, 
 commanded by its inordinately energetic Teuton, 
 would range far and wide in search of them. So the 
 crab lay at that spot until dusk, coming to the 
 surface occasionally for air. They went north again 
 in the twilight, and ran into the little creek where the 
 " Gleam " was hidden. 
 
 The other fugitives were already on board. Jake 
 Hanlan, in a suit of blue dungaree, was doing his 
 utmost to get the neglected machinery to work, 
 and soon Kell was lending a ready hand. The 
 " crabs " they sunk in the creek, coupling one to the 
 other, and soon after midnight the " Gleam " was 
 got under way and silently glided out of the shelter 
 into the open sea. The warships of the enemy were 
 still cruising along the coast ; a searchlight from one 
 revealed the " Gleam," and a cruiser then bore down 
 in her direction. 
 
 " If only we had that new gun ready, Morven, how 
 we would pepper her ! " 
 
 " As it is she shall run her engines to pieces. I'll 
 slow down just to encourage her. Where are we 
 going?" 
 
 " It's no use asking Sterry he's quite dazed still. 
 
FLIGHT. 175 
 
 Go north for a bit while I find Madeline and talk 
 plans over." 
 
 But Robson's search was useless ; there were 
 threescore people in the " Gleam," but Madeline 
 Winship was not among them, and none of them 
 could give him definite information about her. She 
 had not been in the south fort Hanlan was sure 
 of that. Hilda Kewney had been mistaken for her 
 there ; for Hilda had the opinion that it was 
 undignified for an Isocrat to ask protection of a 
 foreign Consul, and so had gone straightway to the 
 fighting line after she had placed her assistants in 
 the care of the Swiss representative. 
 
 The fact of Madeline being left behind determined 
 Robson. He would go ashore at the nearest port 
 and try to rescue her. The " Gleam " was after- 
 wards to make for Falmouth and land the fugitives 
 if allowed. Robson suspected that there was an 
 alliance of the Powers leagued against Cristallia, and 
 he warned Kell to give Gibraltar a wide berth, and 
 not to run too confidently towards the Union Jack. 
 
 " Keep some one at the machine perhaps I shall 
 be able to communicate with you at sea. I sha'n't 
 risk any news of importance to England unless I 
 hear first that you are favourably received." 
 
 "That's all right, Boyd. Shall I come with you? 
 Hanlan can take this lot home as well as I can." 
 
 " You know the ' Gleam ' better than he does ; 
 you must stick to her. Practically all that is left of 
 Cristallia is in your charge now. I'll ask Hanlan 
 to come with me if he will. Did you 'belt' your 
 factories all right?" 
 
 " Tight ! Whoever gets into the Iltydium factory 
 stands no chance of getting out alive. I hope none 
 of Jones's men will try." 
 
 " Unlikely, after what I have done." 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 " I intend to frighten every one off. I saw the 
 enemy were landing marines from the fleet, and they 
 
1 76 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 and the crowd from the hills will meet at the 
 arsenal. I guess they'll find that just about the 
 best place to quarter the garrison of occupation, for 
 the Capitol is too rickety now. I have accordingly 
 arranged that some time to-night the arsenal shall 
 go heavenward." 
 
 Kell said nothing, and for a time they sat in 
 silence, tired, cheerless, and sore. Kell felt their 
 misfortunes very little more than upon returning 
 from some wearisome, disappointing, and quite un- 
 successful hunting expedition he sat in the bridge- 
 house just glum and sleepy. Robson's wounds 
 were paining him, and, far worse, his anxiety for 
 Madeline was eating away his spirit. 
 
 From time to time these two comrades turned 
 their heads and looked furtively over the open sea 
 to the south, expecting the explosion of the arsenal 
 at Cristallia. When at length it came they were 
 taken unawares ; it seemed as though the earth had 
 opened for an instant while the lightning, pent up 
 from a hundred tropical storms, rushed back to the 
 sky. Sea, sky, the heights inland, and the fleet of 
 ships shone like illuminated crystals ; then a dull 
 red glow rested for a moment over the land, and 
 again all became dark ere the loud roar of the 
 upheaval assailed their ears. It was a noise so 
 full, distinct, and deafening that Kell dropped the 
 cigarette he was rolling and started in amazement 
 to his feet, even put his hands to his ears as the 
 multisonous echoes reverberated from earth and sky. 
 "That is the last!" said Kell emphatically, and 
 to hide his tremor stooped over the engine and 
 rubbed away a few harmless specks of dust. 
 
 " It's only the first, Morven," answered Robson, 
 quite unmoved, and now unconcernedly holding out 
 his hand for Kell's tobacco-pouch. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE SOULLESS AVENGER. 
 
 BEFORE the sun again rose above the mountains of 
 the Atlas the " Gleam " dropped Boyd Robson and 
 Jake Hanlan at Mogador. Both were eager for 
 more fighting, and confident that if only they could 
 induce Kaid Maclean to advance promptly on Cris- 
 tallia from El-Aksa they would soon be able to 
 " raise the Germans out of their boots." 
 
 Then the " Gleam " put to sea and headed north. 
 All that day Sterry remained in a half dazed con- 
 dition, able to understand but little of what had 
 happened, and looking to others to supply his 
 immediate wants. Morven Kell was too busy 
 running the half finished engines at top speed to 
 attend to him ; moreover he thought as Boyd, that 
 it would be best to throw Sterry and Mavis together 
 whenever possible, and Mavis was unwilling that 
 any but herself should wait on him. Iltyd Jones 
 and Hilda Kewney were full of their own troubles, 
 and fell to accusing and counselling each other 
 alternately. Nothing could be planned for the 
 future ; the demoralisation of the community seemed 
 complete even to disintegration. 
 
 The ship was driving over the rolling billows of 
 Biscay before Sterry's mind became clear. To those 
 
 N 
 
i;8 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 about him the return of memory was more morti- 
 fying than his delirium had been ; he was prostrated 
 by realising the extent of their losses ; so great 
 was the anguish of his despair that he upbraided 
 Mavis cruelly for having saved his life. His dejection 
 affected her more than his wild ravings had done, 
 and she struggled hard to appear still brave, hoping 
 that he again would take heart He seemed but a 
 sorry leader after the Chief Commoner, and she 
 could but contrast the terse, nervous manner of the 
 wounded and dying Redhead with the inertness of 
 Sterry. She had faith that she could win his spirit 
 back to courage as she had brought back life into 
 his body, and bore with him patiently as only a 
 woman could. 
 
 A word here and there, an apt phrase, a still more 
 adroit silence befit each occasion and had their 
 reward. Ere land was sighted Sterry began to talk 
 of schemes for restarting the factories in other lands 
 and ultimately of avenging Cristallia. 
 
 " Cristallia avenges herself," said Mavis com- 
 placently. 
 
 She told him of the great explosion they had 
 witnessed from the " Gleam," and he became 
 interested. Then they spoke of Redhead, and 
 Sterry insisted upon hearing every detail she could 
 remember. He was consoled at the thought of 
 Redhead dying exultant in the belief of having 
 achieved a triumphant victory. It seemed not now 
 in the least incongruous that though they had 
 endeavoured to live like angels, they avenged their 
 losses like fiends. The attack upon them was cruel : 
 its repulse, by any means, justifiable. He wished 
 only that Redhead was not mistaken, that in truth 
 the arsenals at Spandau and Rastatt had been 
 destroyed as he thought they were. 
 
 The crumpled bloodstained paper Mavis gave him 
 showed only the results the Redhead " destroyer " 
 had wrought. What the machine was Sterry could 
 
THE SOULLESS AVENGER. 179 
 
 only guess, and in some degree imagine from the 
 instruments they had constructed at Plainfield seven 
 years before. Redhead worked in private, as was 
 the privilege of all ; and although Sterry and some 
 of the others occasionally helped him, it was not 
 always with full knowledge of the work they were 
 instrumental in completing. Undoubtedly Redhead 
 meant this new engine as a surprise. Sterry did 
 not know that at the last minute only Redhead had 
 arrived at the means of making it operative. 
 
 Mavis knew nothing, and it was at the present 
 best that she should not know of what she had been 
 the means of effecting. She could point out the 
 machine she had set to work, could describe its 
 position in the room, but not sufficiently for Sterry 
 to identify it from her words, and he was not now 
 so anxious to know which machine it was. Like 
 the first discovery of the workable Sterrygraph, he 
 was overwhelmed by the possibilities the invention 
 disclosed. 
 
 He folded the paper carefully and put it aside ; 
 then tried to dismiss the matter from his mind, and 
 talked with Jones of fresh schemes for exploiting 
 Iltydium. All the same he was most anxious to 
 have independent confirmation of what Redhead had 
 written. 
 
 At Falmouth they were glutted with communica- 
 tions. First and foremost, in their opinion, was an 
 offer from Norway to afford all facilities for the 
 erection and working of their factories and the 
 protection of their secrets. It was at once uncon- 
 ditionally accepted, and instructions sent for vessels 
 flying the Norwegian flag to be chartered instantly 
 for the removal of the Scandinavian artisans from 
 Cristallia to Bergen. In the House of Commons an 
 attempt to unveil the arrangements existing among 
 the Great Powers as to Cristallia had been foiled 
 for the time being. Turning to their own news- 
 sheet, Sterry found brief announcements of the 
 
l8o THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 destruction of Spandau and Rastatt. There was no 
 mention of the great explosion at Cristallia, but still 
 more unobtrusive than the mention of Rastatt was 
 the display of " other explosions." In France, 
 Belgium, Germany, and Austria some two dozen 
 minor accidental explosions had taken place sub- 
 sequent to the great upheaval at Spandau. They 
 were briefly chronicled and without comment. The 
 one important topic of the day was the rumoured 
 massing of French troops on the northern frontier. 
 
 The fugitives left for London by special train and 
 sent the " Gleam " on to Portsmouth. Sterry busied 
 himself for some hours with the clerks Toller had 
 sent to meet him. After attending to numerous 
 details, he fell into a troubled sleep in the saloon. 
 He dreamed he was again at Cristallia and in that 
 private workroom from which Redhead had devas- 
 tated Spandau arsenal. Redhead was there still, 
 taciturn, eager, and with Sterry watching a pillar-like 
 engine throbbing as some of the earlier models of 
 the Sterry transmitter used to do. This instrument 
 had a huge dial like the face of a grandfather's clock, 
 and a balanced needle indicator like the finger of a 
 barometer. Instead of figures upon the face, a name 
 was engraved upon each one of the twelve divisions. 
 Instead of I, " Spandau " was writ large, for II, 
 " Rastatt," and the others were the names of the 
 places where explosions had occurred, if the news- 
 sheet was correct. The indicator went from name 
 to name, and Sterry felt relieved as it completed the 
 circle. But it stayed not longer at Bromberg, which 
 stood for XII, than between the others. It repeated ; 
 but the names on the dial had changed. Where 
 " Spandau " had been, " Metz " was now written : 
 Liege, Pola, Brest, Spezia, Tula, Woolwich, Cron- 
 stadt Sterry read another dozen, and slowly the 
 indicator vibrated, then darted suddenly from name 
 to name on its way round the circle. 
 
 In horror he looked at Redhead, but that face 
 
THE SOULLESS AVENGER. l8l 
 
 was sphinxlike ; then, he stepped up to the machine 
 intending to stop it, but could find no key, handle, 
 or lever with which to control its movements. He 
 was puzzled, then became afraid. " Where was the 
 thing ? " At once came the answer, mad, grotesque, 
 but all-satisfying as is the way in dreams. 
 
 " The key is dead ! " And there was a laugh. 
 
 " Dead dead ! " Sterry repeated. Then it was 
 useless to look for a solution, but it would not be 
 impossible to stop the machine. And he looked 
 about for a crowbar with which to smash the fell 
 thing to atoms. 
 
 As though divining his intention, Redhead spoke. 
 Sterry seemed to see the well-known confident shake 
 of the head and hear the well-remembered voice 
 ringing out in clear, exultant tones. 
 
 " That is immortal ! " 
 
 He heard again, not from Redhead but all around 
 him, the harsh laughter, and he turned away. He 
 was no longer in the private workroom, but sitting, 
 cold, cramped, and fearful, in some small cellar with 
 transmitters of obsolete patterns and strange instru- 
 ments of which he knew nothing. There was a 
 great mystery, and he was there in that dark, lone- 
 some hole until he found the solution ; and he was 
 trying, trying, trying, always ineffectually, to get the 
 message asking the solution through to Redhead, 
 who was far, very far away in quite another world. 
 And at last there came some movement of the 
 indicating needle, and slowly he spelled out the 
 message, assured that it was the key of the mystery. 
 
 " It means the end of all wars." 
 
 " This did not seem apropos, and he hastily made 
 the signal for the message to be repeated, as used 
 so often to be the case in the old days of the early 
 experiments with Redhead. 
 
 "It means the end of all worlds!" And then 
 again came that harsh mocking laughter ; and he 
 awoke to hear the rumble of the wheels under his 
 
1 82 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 head, the grating of the brake-blocks on the tyres 
 as the train slowed up. 
 
 It was chilly : the cool air of the night found a 
 hundred ways into the draughty, dim-lit saloon, but 
 he was hot to fever. 
 
 He moved the shade before the lamp and went 
 to the other end of the carriage, where Mavis was 
 lying under heavy wraps. 
 
 " You you are awake, Mavis ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I cannot sleep. I am thinking thinking." 
 
 He sat down by her and took her hand in his. 
 
 " So have I been thinking. What is the matter 
 with you ? " 
 
 " I remembered only just now that I forgot to 
 switch off that machine when I found Redhead had 
 gone." 
 
 " Yes ! " he remarked, like one still in a dream. 
 
 "Will it matter? Tell me! Do you think it 
 matters ? " 
 
 " Why should it ? Cristallia exists no longer ; 
 the Capitol and all in it have long since perished." 
 
 "Yes, yes, by the explosion of the arsenal. But 
 but you can tell me you know more about such 
 things than I do is it possible that the machine, 
 now it is covered up with earth, buried in the earth 
 itself can it go on as it did when Willie told me 
 to switch on the current ? " 
 
 " Of course not. It " And he paused. 
 
 She placed her hand lightly on his arm and looked 
 up earnestly into his face. 
 
 " You know ? " 
 
 " Of course I know. What a ridiculous idea. 
 Mavis!" 
 
 " No ; you are not sure. I read it in your eyes/' 
 She shivered, then buried her face in her hands and 
 was silent. 
 
 He knew that he must reassure her. His manner 
 changed. He coaxed her to tell him the whole of 
 the story, and interrupted with many irrelevant 
 
THE SOULLESS AVENGER. 183 
 
 questions. At the finish he gave a number of reasons 
 why nothing of the kind Redhead anticipated could 
 have happened, and pacified her without satisfying 
 himself. 
 
 When they neared London he obtained the early 
 morning edition of their news-sheet. He scarcely 
 heeded the huge headlines announcing the entrance 
 of a French army into the Grand Duchy of Luxem- 
 bourg. To him of greater importance by far was 
 the " stop-press " message that the arsenals at Spezia 
 and Pola had both been destroyed by explosions. 
 
 Then until he reached Paddington he could think 
 of nothing but that mysterious instrument in the 
 deserted workroom, immobile and inanimate mostly, 
 but ever and anon pulsating as though endowed 
 with life, and by its action destroying far and 
 wide, friend and foe alike. In truth, Cristallia was 
 avenging herself wildly. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 PANIC. 
 
 IT was early morning when Sterry arrived at 
 Paddington. Alan Winship, looking very haggard 
 and wan, was there to receive the fugitives, but he 
 had no news for them from Cristallia. The Sterry- 
 graph system of communicating was at fault. At 
 present only a limited district (between 47 and 56 
 N. lat. and 5 and 60 E. long.) was affected; but 
 the area was extending, and most rapidly eastward. 
 Roughly, Central Europe was out of touch with their 
 system, and thus the seat of the now almost inevit- 
 able great war was cut off from their head station 
 as completely as though a submarine cable had 
 parted. 
 
 Sterry connected this failure with the action of the 
 machine left working in the Capitol at Cristallia : 
 for that mischief there was at present no remedy. He 
 suggested that an attempt should be made to get 
 all communications from the troubled districts sent 
 directly north and south beyond the limits of the 
 magnetic disturbance. To that end Hilda Kewney 
 might be able to assist. Jones he sent away by the 
 morning mail to Ostend en route for Bergen. Mavis 
 he took with him to Toller's house. 
 
 There a surprise was in store for him. Harry 
 Toller, the best business man in the community, the 
 most commonsense mortal of them all, they found 
 squatting cross-legged on the floor before a blank 
 
PANIC. 185 
 
 wall, repeating theosophical formulas and rehearsing 
 the aphorisms of the Buddhist PatanjalL 
 
 Toller owned that he despaired of resuscitating 
 the Commonwealth, which had been crushed out of 
 existence almost. At best its future could be 
 successful only if restricted to commercial under- 
 takings ; then it might, he believed, enjoy just such 
 prosperity as other huge industrial concerns, but as 
 an independent state, the experiment of a higher 
 civilisation, Cristallia had gone beyond recall. 
 
 Sterry knew not how much to tell him of all he 
 feared respecting Redhead's destroying engine, but 
 he felt the secret so heavy that at last he unburdened 
 himself of every detail. Then he showed, as confirma- 
 tion, the last written words of their acknowledged 
 chief. 
 
 Toller noticed what Sterry had failed to recognise : 
 the two sheets he had were but the last of a series 
 the earlier ones were missing ; they, doubtless, con- 
 tained particulars of the secret invention it was 
 Redhead's desire to bequeath to the Commonwealth. 
 They questioned Mavis, but she could tell them 
 little. There were other papers about the desk 
 so much she remembered but whether any were 
 written upon she could not say. 
 
 Both men at once appreciated the immediate 
 necessity of recovering possession of Cristallia. If 
 the papers existed and got into the hands of a man 
 who knew a little such a man as Fersten by study 
 or chance the secret of the construction of the 
 destroyer might be ascertained and utilised by their 
 conquerors. 
 
 At present their chief hope was based on the 
 probability of the Capitol being destroyed and the 
 machine and its secret lost for ever ; but, from the 
 fact that the explosions continued, they judged that 
 the Capitol had not been destroyed, and that the 
 engine was untouched from the time Mavis left. 
 
 To obtain the latest news they called on Winship 
 
1 86 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 at the instrument-room, but the messages from 
 Europe were meagre and disappointing. On the 
 other hand, Washington reported that a rumour was 
 current there that the United States Government 
 intended to interfere and prohibit the cession of 
 Cristallia to Germany. But the Isocrats felt that 
 the case was too desperate for diplomatic remedies 
 to avail. 
 
 " We must stop that engine, Toller, or Mavis will 
 die of grief. I don't care a hang for the other 
 mischief. My idea is that if Great Britain were 
 apprised of the risk, the Government would soon 
 agree to force Germany to evacuate our territory 
 at least for a time. For Mavis' sake we must do 
 something." 
 
 "It means telling the secret" 
 
 "A part of it only. Let us call on Fitzjoy." 
 
 Now, Fitzjoy had been pertinently questioned on 
 the subject of Cristallia the night before, and had 
 received notice of several additional enquiries which 
 would be addressed to him in the House of Commons 
 that day. There were no despatches of importance 
 to hand, and the newspapers were inventing details 
 to substantiate the rumours current. He was forced,, 
 therefore, to turn to the news-sheets for information 
 and took up " The Moment," the organ of the 
 Cristallia Company, to find only that the publication 
 of messages relative to the Commonwealth ceased 
 soon after the bombardment commenced. It seemed, 
 therefore, that Cristallia had fallen but it was only 
 a surmise. Sending out for the latest of the hourly 
 editions of the paper, he read that a cargo motor- 
 craft from the Plate for Port Cristal had run for 
 Laraiche upon hearing heavy firing at sea near the 
 port. Other vessels belonging to or bound for Port 
 Cristal had put into Mogador and Casa Blanca. Five 
 German men-of-war were at Tangiers, but it was 
 understood that if they fired a shot the French army 
 in Luxembourg would cross the Sauer. The British 
 
PANIC. l8/ 
 
 special squadron, which should have arrived at 
 Tangiers, was not even mentioned from Gibraltar, 
 and nowhere reported. The news seemed two days 
 old at least. Something had happened, but what, 
 no one in England knew. Fitzjoy was more anxious 
 than any to learn in advance of the outside public. 
 In the old days it was easy enough to block the 
 cables and stop all unofficial messages, but the 
 Sterrygraph put Governments at a distinct dis- 
 advantage. Luckily, legislators were habitually 
 wary ; already they guessed enough to produce 
 general official indisposition. He felt that it was 
 greatly to his credit that he still remained hale. 
 
 The visit of Toller and Sterry was opportune and 
 welcome, but, for the reputation of his office, he had 
 to appear busy, and his reception was curt to 
 incivility. He banged down the lid of a despatch- 
 box and rustled his papers. 
 
 " I can give you only a minute. We are on the 
 verge of a great war. What is it ? " he asked in 
 tones of annoyance and despair. 
 
 " That is it. We want you to stop that war. We 
 have been driven out of Cristallia and can't do it" 
 And Sterry seated himself comfortably in the easiest 
 chair. 
 
 " The deuce ! " exclaimed Fitzjoy, with a curl of 
 the lip and the smile one sees on the face of a golfer 
 when his opponent has driven hard into a bunker. 
 
 " Somebody must put us back. The United States 
 will do it if you miss the chance." 
 
 " Great Britain will not interfere except to keep 
 the mischief from spreading. You must do your 
 own fighting." 
 
 " It's not a matter of fighting. You have only to 
 tell the Germans to get, and they'll get. You know 
 why, and so do we. If you don't, the Americans 
 will make them get and you Britishers too." 
 
 " Really, this is most undiplomatic ! " 
 
 " Yes ; it's unofficial talk ; the matters of form 
 
1 88 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 you'll receive in due course through the Swiss for 
 us. To-day the United States Minister will see your 
 chief " 
 
 " Hallamshire ? He can't. Hallamshire's indis- 
 posed seriously." 
 
 " He'll see your chief and notify you that Cristallia 
 is under the protection of the United States, and 
 that if your Government will not act with his in 
 forcing the Germans to evacuate, then Cristallia will 
 be formally annexed to the United States forthwith. 
 That's unofficial, but it's correct." 
 
 "We shall know what to do then" 
 
 " Doubtless but you will not be able to do it." 
 
 The quiet, confident manner of the American 
 caused a slight feeling of indecision in the mind of 
 Fitzjoy, and he glanced hurriedly at the homely 
 Toller, whose silent, immobile, and complacent 
 features gave to Sterry's words that satisfying moral 
 support the presence of serious-minded business men 
 lends to the speaker of a deputation. Fitzjoy, who 
 was once used to receiving delegates from public 
 bodies, recognised in that look of Toller's the 
 attitude of the public it was like a composite 
 photograph made up from the nation's most in- 
 fluential representatives, and it annoyed him more 
 than Sterry's veiled threats. He shrugged his 
 shoulders and Frenched his hands impressively. 
 
 " I'll not contradict you. Cristallia is on a higher 
 plane, I know, but we shall do our best" 
 
 " Cristallia is in other hands in the power of 
 people not so friendly to Britain as we Isocrats were 
 or are. They have a thing which is too big for them, 
 and they are ruining Europe with it." 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " The explosions." 
 
 " Explosions ? They're not in my department. 
 What about them ? " And he rested his head upon 
 his hands resignedly. 
 
 " The arsenals at Spezia, Pola, and Kiel ; the 
 
PANIC. 189 
 
 forts on the Meuse and Sauer have been blown up 
 by the Germans in Cristallia." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " Through monkeying with a buzz saw they can't 
 understand. We used the earth currents to transmit 
 messages, but we lost control when we were shelled 
 out of Cristallia, and the currents are firing every 
 charge of explosive in each completed circuit ; a 
 mass of explosive substance is like a charged voltaic 
 pile in vacuo " 
 
 " I do not understand technicalities." 
 
 "At least you know how susceptible is gun- 
 powder to magnetic influence, and that it explodes 
 spontaneously in a thunderstorm." 
 
 " I know absolutely nothing, and if I did I would 
 never admit a thing," he said desperately as he 
 snatched " The Moment " and scanned its columns 
 eagerly. " Explosions are not in my department, I 
 tell you." 
 
 " The cycle of explosions has not reached Britain 
 as yet ; but it may commence anywhere, at any time. 
 The only chance for Britain to escape is by getting 
 the Germans out of Cristallia and giving us the 
 control again." 
 
 " Control of those engines ? Those who invented 
 them deserve hanging. It's against international 
 law to employ them, contrary to the usages of 
 war." 
 
 " Possibly ; but if we do not get control right smart 
 there will not be a European war there'll be some- 
 thing worse. I'll tell you what. In ten days there'll 
 be scarcely a ton of explosives left on this side : 
 then the Americans will have a walk-over. So you 
 must get us back into Cristallia to save yourselves." 
 
 " We have determined on our policy, and you may 
 explode God's earth to asteroids before we will alter 
 a single point." And Fitzjoy brought his hand down 
 heavily. 
 
 Toller saw the futility of continuing the discussion 
 
THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 and rose to go just as a clerk entered and placed a 
 message in Fitz joy's hand. 
 
 " Half a minute ! " ejaculated the Under Secretary, 
 pleased at the interruption. 
 
 The clerk, his features inscrutable, mentioned that 
 there was a second message then being uncoded. 
 Fitzjoy put the message face down on the table, and 
 as the clerk withdrew he asked in a softened manner : 
 
 " Let me see, where were we ? What is it you 
 want England to do ? " 
 
 " Help us back into Cristallia by ordering the 
 Germans out of it at once." 
 
 He shook his head sadly. 
 
 " I'm afraid it cannot be done. You may see the 
 message. It's not official, but it's correct. It reads : 
 ' Tangiers, via Eastern Telegraphs, to " Beatitude," 
 London. Delenda est Carthago. FERSTEN.' You 
 understand the allusion. Cristallia is no more." 
 
 " The date ? " asked Sterry eagerly. 
 
 " Yesterday. I am sorry nothing can be done to 
 assist you : we cannot put you or any one into 
 Cristallia, or out of it, for it does not exist any longer. 
 You wanted the status in quo ante bellum ; you must 
 be satisfied with the status in quo ante Cristalliam. 
 Now you must excuse me; I have to hold the war- 
 dogs of Europe in check." 
 
 When they re-entered the lobby Sterry told Toller 
 that the message from Fersten must be at least five 
 days old ; it was probably sent overland by mounted 
 messengers to Tangiers, and had been written in the 
 first flush of victory, or, at latest, immediately after 
 the explosion of the arsenal, whereas, as later 
 messages had informed them, there had been fighting 
 subsequently outside the port, and, as they knew, the 
 destroyer was still at work. 
 
 " I could have told him his missing squadron was 
 at the bottom of the sea," said Sterry mournfully ; 
 " but what does it matter the bottom of the sea is 
 not in his department." 
 
PANIC. 191 
 
 Outside they found Mavis and Winship waiting 
 for them. Alan had in his hand the rival news-sheet 
 of the organ of the associated cable companies, and 
 insisted upon pointing out column upon column 
 recording explosions, small and great, in mid-Europe. 
 
 " And we can give them nothing ! " lamented the 
 journalist in despair. 
 
 "It is as well we cannot, or there would soon be 
 a panic," said Toller as he opened the door of the 
 cab he had called. 
 
 They drove back to the head station, and by the 
 time they arrived had determined upon their course 
 of action. Winship was to explain, in the next issue 
 of " The Moment/' that their communications had 
 been intercepted by the German occupation of 
 Cristallia, and attribute to that occupation the 
 explosions which were taking place on the Continent. 
 To prevent the area spreading, the use of the instru- 
 ments was to be discontinued and the issue of " The 
 Moment" suspended until the Isocrats recovered 
 control of Cristallia. The news staff in London 
 was to be immediately disbanded and the premises 
 placed under police protection. Toller was to 
 arrange for certain questions to be put in the House 
 of Commons ; and Sterry determined to return with 
 Mavis to Cristallia at once in the " Gleam " and 
 endeavour to obtain an entry to the Capitol. 
 
 " If we tell them why, they will surely admit me," 
 pleaded Mavis. 
 
 " You would then give them the power to injure 
 others as Germany has been injured? No, no, 
 Mavis ; we must think of something better than 
 that you and I." And Sterry took her hand and 
 drew her towards him. 
 
 They advised Kell to be in readiness, arranged for 
 Winship to make his headquarters for communica- 
 tions in a Hampshire village, and took train to 
 Portsmouth. 
 
 In the House of Commons Fitzjoy, in answer to 
 
I Q2 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 a member favourable to the Commonwealth, said 
 that the trouble in Morocco was a purely local 
 disturbance arising out of the action of a punitive 
 expedition sent from Pieterland to obtain restitution 
 from some of the most lawless of the Sultan's 
 subjects ; the district known as Cristallia was 
 occupied by the Germans until satisfaction should 
 be given, but, as he was informed, there was no 
 " city " there, and, so far as he knew, there was no 
 intention of permanent occupation of the Sultan's 
 territory by any foreign force. 
 
 Asked if it were not true that the Commonwealth 
 of Cristallia was recognised as an independent State 
 by various European Powers, he replied that none 
 of the great European Powers had recognised the 
 independence of the so-called Commonwealth, and 
 it was unlikely that they would do so since there 
 was no Commonwealth to recognise. 
 
 Another member, who wished to know if the 
 Government of the United States had not recognised 
 Cristallia, and threatened to interfere if the independ- 
 ence of the little State were not protected, was curtly 
 informed by Fitzjoy that he could give notice of the 
 question if he thought the matter of any importance. 
 
 But the issue of the special edition of " The 
 Moment " produced a great sensation ; outside the 
 House the people were panic-stricken, and within 
 it was the one topic of conversation until the rumour 
 of an explosion at Dover Castle caused a general 
 exodus. 
 
 Just as Sterry was about to embark he heard a 
 newsboy shouting : " Fearful explosion at Waltham," 
 and he felt that for their own safety they must reach 
 the open sea at the soonest. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 No sooner had the " Gleam " passed beyond the 
 three-mile limit than, by Sterry's order, the few 
 explosives on board were pitched into the sea. 
 When Kell asked the reason for what seemed a 
 most suicidal act, Sterry told him of the risks all 
 who possessed gunpowder now ran. As they were 
 talking the heavy roll of a distant explosion inter- 
 rupted their words. An ironclad or one of the store- 
 ships had gone to its last home. The explosion was 
 quickly followed by another, and then in rapid 
 succession came the rest of a long series, as fort, 
 magazine, or ship was rent asunder and detonated 
 other charges in the immediate neighbourhood. 
 
 Already the " Gleam " was far beyond the influence 
 of the current that fired Portsmouth, but its effects 
 could be read as plainly upon the agitated needle 
 of the message dial as seen in the lit-up sky to the 
 north-east. 
 
 Sterry and Mavis, and those others of their little 
 band who knew the cause of these explosions, com- 
 prehended that the long tyranny of gunpowder was 
 ending. For upwards of three centuries it had been 
 the instrument by which despots had ruled the 
 destinies of nations, and of all its horrors none 
 surpassed the terror wrought by the fearful tolling 
 of its own death-knell. 
 
 The sceptre of the future was the unknown 
 " destroyer " in the deserted chamber of the Capitol 
 
 O 
 
THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 in Cristallia; it might become, in the hands of the 
 Isocrats, a dictator of lasting peace to the world. 
 If its secret passed to the people now in possession 
 of the place which held it, the most reckless and 
 warlike dynasty of the continent of Europe would 
 not hesitate to use it to bring the whole world into 
 the slavery of the sternest military despotism. There 
 was very much more at stake than the existence of 
 an industrial commonwealth on an African creek 
 on the recapture and safeguarding of Redhead's 
 secret the liberty of every nation now depended. 
 And Sterry shuddered as he thought how often in 
 the past the wrong people have blundered into dis- 
 covering means other persons had sought intelligently ; 
 for history, like nature, is prone to repeat its mistakes. 
 
 In a few hours at latest the particulars Winship 
 had made public would be known at Berlin. Possibly 
 the policy to be adopted had already been decided 
 upon. Sterry hoped that the troops in occupation 
 of Cristallia would be withdrawn voluntarily at the 
 earliest possible moment. Failing this, that France, 
 Austria, Belgium, Russia, and possibly England 
 would urge upon Germany the necessity for prompt 
 and unconditional withdrawal. On the other hand 
 the news, and the rumours, even the direful results 
 which had followed their victory, might determine 
 the Germans to follow up their seeming advantage 
 at all costs, with a view to absolute mastery of the 
 secret owned by the Isocrats. In the former event 
 Cristallia would be soonest rid of the Germans; in 
 the latter, Germany, absolutely deprived of all 
 available munitions of war for the time being, if not 
 overrun and vanquished by the French, would 
 succumb quickly to the expedition sent across the 
 Atlantic by the United States of America. 
 
 Another danger, and a real one, was the possi- 
 bility of the accidental discovery by the invaders 
 of Redhead's description of his destroyer, and so 
 identifying the machine and its purpose as to 
 
195 
 
 experiment with it in connection with the message 
 transmitters. If, as Sterry believed, the Capitol 
 was only a heap of ruins, this danger was not an 
 immediate one. When the German commander at 
 Cristallia was informed of the particulars Sterry 
 had deemed it expedient to make public in " The 
 Moment," no doubt some search would be made to 
 discover the machine ; but the " Gleam " would 
 reach Cristallia before any message from Europe 
 could be delivered there. 
 
 The next day they overtook several Norwegian 
 steamers bound for Cristallia, and, when it was nearly 
 dark, sighted a German warship to the south, which 
 approached near enough to recognise the " pyramid 
 and diagonal " flying at the masthead of the " Gleam;' 
 then went about and raced to the south-west, where 
 she was lost in the darkness. 
 
 The " Gleam " was almost abreast of Mogador 
 when Mavis noticed that the message-indicator was 
 vibrating regularly. The call was answered and a 
 communication received from Robson's agent at 
 El-Aksa, to the effect that the invaders were now 
 pent-up in Cristallia. The German fleet had been 
 driven to the south, and the Sultan's ships were in 
 pursuit Kaid Maclean had outflanked reinforce- 
 ments from Pieterland, and was pushing them back 
 over the Wady-Dra. Hanlan was keeping a brisk 
 fire on the enemy's earthworks before Cristallia, and 
 Boyd Robson himself was returning from a chase 
 after Fersten and his party of mutineers now in 
 the Great Desert. The Capitol still stood, the enemy 
 not daring to enter any of the buildings on the 
 north side after the lesson they had learnt from the 
 blowing up of the arsenal. Robson wanted the 
 " Gleam " to cruise about the roadstead and prevent 
 any escape by sea while the Moors endeavoured to 
 drive the invaders north towards the Fort Chanak 
 or on to Agadir. 
 
 Kell was afraid to venture close in shore under 
 
ig6 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 Agadir until Sterry reassured him, by explaining 
 that there was no danger to be apprehended from 
 explosions. The currents which fired the stores in 
 Europe passed too quickly through Africa to take 
 effect just as a charge of fulminate will burn 
 through a train of gunpowder without exploding it 
 The "destroyer" was set for latitude 50 N, and places 
 more than ten degrees to the north or south of that 
 line were not affected. The ships before Cristallia, 
 therefore, had not been blown up ; it was probable 
 that the Germans ran short of ammunition and went 
 south in search of further supplies. 
 
 Unobserved from Cristallia, they ran the " Gleam " 
 into the north creek, and found there a Moorish 
 outpost. That very night Robson's force was to act 
 in concert with the troops of Kaid Maclean in a 
 joint attack from south and east upon Cristallia. 
 
 Sterry thought he could be of real service within 
 the town if only sufficient men could be smuggled 
 in to defend the approaches to the Capitol until the 
 attack from the outside should commence. 
 
 To that end they first took a small quick-firing 
 gun from the deserted fort and put it in the " Gleam," 
 then with all the Moors available they went to sea, 
 taking the smaller " crab " in tow. Before the ship 
 passed round the point into the view of those on 
 the heights above Port Cristal, Kell, Sterry, Mavis, 
 and two of the Moors were lowered into the " crab," 
 and the " Gleam " then returned to the creek for 
 the other submarine boat. 
 
 The " crab " was floated along the surface until 
 the roadstead was reached. The town was in ruins 
 and almost deserted ; German flags were flying from 
 the remains of the fort and some improvised defences 
 on the north shore. The pinnacle of Iltydium was 
 battered, but still stood erect on its base. The 
 harbour was choked with debris, the shores littered 
 with half-burnt baulks of timber, and on the surface 
 of the water a few patches of smouldering scum 
 
THE "WARSTOCK" IN ACTION. 197 
 
 indicated that the gas reservoirs were even yet not 
 quite exhausted. 
 
 To avoid discovery the crab was sunk before 
 entering the harbour, and scarcely emerged a few 
 inches until it touched the north shore, where the 
 conduits by which they had escaped from the 
 Capitol opened into the river from the upper lake. 
 A line of German sentries was posted on the quay, 
 but so far from the ground level was the crab 
 that the four passengers entered the huge pipes 
 unobserved, and the crab, with Kell, slipped back 
 again into deep water. 
 
 On foot they crept along the dark slimy drain, 
 seeing nothing, and groping blindly forward and 
 upward. They had proceeded about halfway when 
 the pipes vibrated as though shaken by an earth- 
 quake. The terrified Moors hesitated, and would 
 have turned back but for Sterry's command to 
 proceed. At last all emerged safely on the south 
 side of what had been the great north lake a sheet 
 of water now drained to insignificant puddles and 
 its east end choked with debris from the arsenal. 
 Far away to the west a few German sentinels could 
 be distinguished ; on the grass-covered, well-timbered 
 pleasant slopes of the hill ascending from the north 
 shore there was an encampment of the enemy ; but 
 the south strand, the terraces, gardens, and buildings 
 all seemed quite deserted. 
 
 The Capitol was in ruins : the great dome had 
 disappeared ; the tower which had supported it was 
 little more than a framework of girders and pillars, 
 which appeared to be toppling over towards the 
 south. Some of the pillars were badly bent, most 
 were out of the perpendicular, and some of the huge 
 joists drooped at different angles, held up only by 
 one or two bolts. From the building itself most of 
 the tiles had been shaken ; there were great gaps 
 in the walls where the concrete and plaster had 
 fallen out ; other parts were practically whole. In 
 
198 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 the still, clear air of the twilight it stood out so 
 plainly that they could scarcely believe their eyes 
 when they saw the whole structure quiver. A few 
 tiles fell from the sides, another block of concrete 
 nogging dropped inward ; then, all was still and 
 silent again. 
 
 Sterry knew the way well, but went ahead 
 cautiously, pointing out to the Moors the road by 
 which they must conduct the party whom Kell 
 would bring later to reinforce them. There was a 
 complete cordon of sentries around the Capitol, but 
 far distant from the crumbling building, so the 
 conduit gave admission within the line, its existence 
 being probably unknown to the guards 
 
 It was not quite dark, but the short twilight was 
 fast waning and the fires in the opposite camp could 
 be seen distinctly when Sterry sent the Moors back, 
 and himself, with Mavis, alone entered the deserted 
 building by a private door in the west wing. 
 
 The shattered windows, the plaster-strewn stairs 
 and corridors, the disordered rooms and fallen walls 
 were heartbreaking. Sometimes a room seemed to 
 have escaped the general wreck, and this made the 
 ruin of the others seem worse. 
 
 By the least-used passages Sterry led to the first 
 floor ; more than once he paused thinking he heard 
 unusual noises, but quickly reassured himself. In 
 that great building it would be strange indeed if 
 there were not many sounds he failed to recognise. 
 Passing quickly along a corridor, they were brought 
 to an immediate standstill by the banging of a door 
 and a sudden shock like to nothing but the sudden 
 grazing of a fast-driven ship over a sandbank. 
 
 The building was shaken to its foundations ; the 
 sharp successive jerks almost threw them off their 
 feet ; there was a loud whirr like the rattle of ten 
 thousand fast-driven spindles ; then the convulsions 
 ceased, but the building still vibrated slightly, so 
 great was the force that had moved it. 
 
THE "WARSTOCK" IN ACTION. 199 
 
 " It's the machine the machine ! " whispered 
 Mavis, and she dragged Sterry forward. 
 
 Soon he stopped again. There was most cer- 
 tainly a noise within the building a faint footfall, 
 like the tread of a person going cautiously on tiptoe. 
 It pattered along some distant passage, then died 
 away. 
 
 " Some of the Moors. Quick ! before it begins 
 again." And Mavis tugged at his arm. 
 
 In a few minutes they reached the Chief's state 
 apartments, and passed through them to Redhead's 
 suite ; then, crossing the corridor, entered the private 
 workroom. 
 
 Apparently no one had been there since Mavis 
 had left hurriedly in pursuit of Redhead. The 
 machine stood there, and as she stepped towards 
 it the vibrations recommenced, more violent than 
 any she had seen. It shook everything in the room 
 and made the whole building tremble. Without 
 heeding now she would have seized the switch-key 
 there and then with her naked hand, but Sterry's 
 arm barred the way. Not until the machine was 
 quite still would he allow her to touch the key 
 even with the rule he picked up from the floor. 
 
 Then the machine once more rendered harmless, 
 they went hand in hand to the desk. Not a paper 
 remained upon it. 
 
 " I am sure there were papers here," whispered 
 Mavis. 
 
 " They have been shaken down." 
 
 Mavis stooped and peered under the tables ; then 
 sprang up suddenly, clutched at Sterry's arm and 
 shuddered. 
 
 " I'm frightened I don't know what it is. Don't 
 look ! Don't look ! Come away ! " 
 
 " We will get down into the instrument-room then. 
 Take care not to tumble, or some sentry may hear 
 us. Take my arm." 
 
200 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 They were about to go out by the door through 
 which she had followed Redhead, but she hung back. 
 
 " Not that way ! " she whispered. 
 
 Sterry nodded. The loneliness of the place was 
 growing upon him too, and they walked along on 
 tiptoe, scarce daring to speak ; nervous, apprehensive, 
 easily startled as the conscious-stricken evil-doer. So 
 they passed through two laboratories and approached 
 the study. 
 
 Something dark flitted across the half-opened 
 doorway, and Mavis stopped short. 
 
 * Did you see that? Listen! Listen! " 
 
 But all was still, so still they heard their own 
 hearts beating ; then Mavis drew a long breath, and 
 half stepped, half glided to the door of the study 
 and peeped into the room. 
 
 Sterry followed so closely that, as she reeled 
 away from what she saw sitting there in Redhead's 
 armchair, he caught her in his arms and placed his 
 hand over her mouth to still her scream. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 "FOIGHTIN' LARRY AV THE GUARD." 
 
 " COURAGE ! For Heaven's sake, courage, Mavis ! " 
 
 She was trembling violently, but suppressed her 
 cry, and would have leaned forward again to see 
 into the room, but Sterry restrained her. 
 
 " Did you see it ? " she whispered. 
 
 " The enemy," he breathed in answer. " Listen ! " 
 And his hand slipped to his hip pocket. 
 
 There were two figures discernible now ; one, 
 seated in the wheel-chair, was peering hard at some 
 papers held close before his face ; the other, near 
 the corridor door, was listening intently. 
 
 " Nothing," he said abruptly in German. " Go on." 
 
 " Colossal ! " ejaculated the other, between muttered 
 words of English and German. 
 
 " Good ? " asked his companion, his eyes still on 
 the door. 
 
 " Immense ! But I cannot see to read more. We 
 have something worth taking at last." And he 
 laughed nervously as he folded the sheets of paper. 
 
 " Where will you hide them ? " asked the bigger 
 man. 
 
 " I wish we could identify the machine now 
 
 " It is too dark. Where will you hide the papers ? " 
 
 " I will take them." 
 
 " Give one to me then." 
 
 The translator gave a folded slip to his com- 
 panion, who proceeded to fold it more tightly and 
 fumbled with the collar of his tunic, while the other 
 
202 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 removed his left boot and put the uncovered foot 
 across his knee. So fully were they occupied in 
 secreting the documents that Sterry determined at 
 once to act 
 
 " Help me, Mavis," he whispered. " Close and 
 lock the door when I ring the bell." 
 
 He vanished into the passage. A few seconds 
 later, when the translator was struggling with his 
 boot and the young officer was buttoning his tunic, 
 an electric bell rang in the corridor, and almost 
 immediately afterwards a door was flung to with a 
 loud bang, and Sterry in stern tone called : " Halt ! 
 Ergeben!" 
 
 The Germans had no intention of surrendering; 
 they started for the other door, but Mavis closed it 
 in their faces. As she moved out towards the passage 
 they rushed through the room in which she was and 
 gained the workrooms beyond. Sterry darted along 
 the corridor, hoping to reach up with them, but 
 Mavis flung her arms round him and besought him 
 to stay. 
 
 "They will kill you, Bob!" 
 
 " They have the secret. Let me go ! " 
 
 " No, you shall not ; they are desperate. What 
 does it matter if they have the papers? they have 
 not got the machine. We can lock that up. Perhaps 
 they will / come back for it. Then you can take 
 them." 
 
 Sterry, though in despair at the loss of Redhead's 
 papers, could scarcely forbear a laugh at the girl's 
 simplicity. The start the thieves had obtained 
 rendered it hopeless to pursue now, and, if he 
 reached up with them, it was unlikely that he could 
 overcome them. Possibly they were still hiding in 
 the building, and would, as Mavis suggested, return 
 to identify the machine. They made fast all the 
 doors of the private suite ; then, as silently as 
 possible, they walked along the corridor and groped 
 their way downstairs by the unused steps near the 
 
"FOIGHTIN' LARRY AV THE GUARD." 203 
 
 lethal hall. They were startled by a loud shriek of 
 terror apparently from some one within the build- 
 ing, and not far from the passage they had just 
 left. Almost immediately it was succeeded by the 
 report of a rifle from without then again all was 
 still. 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 " Perhaps a sentry firing at those runaways. If 
 he has not dropped one they may be driven back. 
 We must be careful ; we can hide somewhere if any 
 enter the building to search." 
 
 If the German thieves had really come to grief, 
 their end was timely and well merited. Sterry 
 listened, hoping for some further assurance of their 
 end, but the building was full of strange noises he 
 could not identify, and he resumed his way along 
 the corridor to the dark hall under the dome. 
 
 It was not easy to find the particular switch-keys 
 they wanted, for they dared not light up the room, 
 and neither knew in what state the operators had 
 left the instruments or the connections. Sterry and 
 Mavis longed for tidings from the refugees on the 
 south side, and could easily enough have communi- 
 cated with any station there, but the success of the 
 attempt they were about to make depended wholly 
 upon their presence in the Capitol being unknown 
 to the enemy until the fight began. 
 
 They could hear the distant firing of the outposts 
 on the east and south. The troops commanded by 
 Robson and Kaid Maclean were already advancing 
 to the attack. Kell seemed long in coming, but at 
 last they heard the uncertain tread of some heavy 
 man slowly approaching by the dark corridor. He 
 came near enough for Sterry to distinguish a fez 
 and the folds of a burnoose, but the footfall was 
 not that of a Moor, and Sterry, revolver in hand, 
 challenged the intruder in Arabic. 
 
 " Maloom maloom," answered the figure, instead 
 of giving the password agreed upon. 
 
204 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 "Who are you?" 
 
 " Faith, and if it isn't Hester Sterry himself ! The 
 Lord be praised, you're alive, sorr! " 
 
 Ms it Gibbons?" 
 
 " That same, sorr ! It is Oi Larry Gibbons 
 ' Foightin' Larry av the Guard/ sorr ! " 
 
 And Sterry discerned that the strangely clad figure 
 stood to attention in the strictly military fashion so 
 dear to the dignity of Boyd Robson. 
 
 "What has happened?" 
 
 " Sure, sorr, and it's myself'd make bould to ax 
 that same question, sorr, seeing as Oi've been made 
 prisoner since before the f oightin' was, wuss luck ! " 
 
 " And you have escaped ? " 
 
 " 'Zackly so, sorr, seein' as how Oi have giv' my 
 parole the slip, so to spake, not bein' able to keep 
 my hands from sthranglin' the varmints when Oi 
 heard the guns a-firin' yonder, sorr. So Oi just 
 shlipped into the wather and paddled over to this 
 soide, and crep' along until Oi found this old clout 
 of Ahmed's at the gatehouse, but divvil a weapon 
 could Oi find at all, at all, so Oi was forced loike 
 to put my fist agen the first haythen 'Yah-yah' Oi 
 seed struttin', bould as an Orangeman on parade, 
 and thin Oi put a shot into him out av his own rifle, 
 sorr! that his mates may think he took his own 
 worthless breath the which you may have heard, 
 sorr and Oi came next straight on here to foind 
 some sort of a gun with which to load up their 
 haythen carcases with lead, sorr! Afore the General 
 comes, sorr! Bad 'cess to them, kaping him back, 
 says Oi." 
 
 " Where are the other prisoners ? Is Miss Winship 
 with them ? " 
 
 " Lor' bless your soul, no, sorr ! The poor swate, 
 innocent darlint's dead, sorr! She is, sorr! Oi seed 
 it done with my own oies, sorr! At the very outset, 
 and the one that did it, sorr, was that never-to-be- 
 forgiven demoralised scoundrel of a blackguardly 
 
"FOIGHTIN' LARRY AV THE GUARD." 205 
 
 haythen ' Yah-yah ' may our gracious Lady forgive 
 me for callin' the bloothy murtherer and villain by 
 so honourable a noime, the which Oi would not save 
 for the presence of yer honour's lady, sorr. Fersten's 
 his name, sorr ! " 
 
 The news froze Sterry ; he sat silent and motion- 
 less as the Irishman continued, and Mavis, creeping 
 closer and closer to his side, at last rested her head 
 upon his shoulder and sobbed as though her heart 
 were breaking. 
 
 " It was loike this, sorr. Oi was sleepin' the 
 swatest slumber in my bunk, when Oi found my 
 arms sazed and half a dozen men atop of me. They 
 swaddled me and the rest of us up tight, and gagged 
 us with our own pouches, but Oi seed 'em, dirthy 
 bone-boilers from the gum factory, and the chap as 
 were a-sittin' of me were a Pieterlander Oi smelt 
 him, sorr! Then, whin it got loight and the foighting 
 began, we was huddled into the cistern, and Oi 
 comprehended what was afoot The ' Yah-yahs ' 
 was a-marchin' into the fort, when in comes the poor 
 dear lady and orders them not to fire on the Gineral 
 which was their intention, sorr ; and spakin' so 
 swate was she they did at last heave down the 
 renegade rag, sorr, but divil a bit durst they run up 
 the flag. Then Fersten roides up a-swearin' and 
 blackguardin', and no sooner claps eyes on the poor 
 dear girl than he outs with his pistol and foires 
 roight atween her oies. She dropped stark dead 
 poor soul ! within two foot of where Oi was lying ; 
 and it 'most killed me, it did indade, sorr! Then 
 the foightin' goes on all day, sorr ; and pity they 
 was allowed to live. Oi could tell by their ways 
 how 'twas a-goin', for or agen 'em ; and when there 
 was a big 'splosion they nearly dropped with froight, 
 the spalpeens! But it was when the arsenal went 
 up they was hit wust of all, and serve 'em roight too,, 
 sorr ! ' The Isocracy is a-elevatin' of yez/ sez Oi 
 to myself, ' but you'll never reach their level ! ' Then: 
 
2O6 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 for days and days we wuz kept close in prison at 
 the fort over yonder, sorr, and to-day they took our 
 word to return at sundown, and let us out ; and Oi 
 slunk off, as Oi've already tould you, sorr, and it's 
 only a weapon Oi wants the now to be happy 
 with 'em and help the Gineral a bit, sorr! Lord 
 preserve him ! " 
 
 " Here comes Captain Kell, who'll find you a gun 
 of some sort." 
 
 " One of thim hundthred barrel'd uns, plase, sorr, 
 and as many cartridges as ye can spare me." 
 
 " How many are there of you, Kell ? " 
 
 " Twenty-one Moors and Tom Clegg. You'll help 
 by taking one of the Catlings, and Larry can have 
 another. They've begun firing already away on the 
 east, and I expect they'll send up reinforcements 
 from the arsenal fort, which'll be zeep! They could 
 shell us into smithereens in a twinkle from that side, 
 so the more out against Boyd the better. I put a 
 time detonator on one of the harbour mines, and 
 when that explodes the " Gleam " will open fire on 
 the old harbour fort. We shall follow. Wait until 
 all are out on the open they're sure to march up 
 reinforcements to the fort along the quay. We won't 
 begin until the first are almost there, and no firing 
 from the north or east sides until the very last. We 
 don't want those on the fort to know where the 
 mischief is coming from, and they can't see the 
 south terrace from there. Gosh ! won't they holler ! " 
 
 " There seems to be more fire in the harbour." 
 
 " The outlets were choked up, so we cleared them 
 a bit there's enough vapour left in the tank to make 
 a fair blaze again to-night, if only it can get out" 
 
 " I'll try to make a little diversion for them at the 
 other end of the town it will be all right if the wires 
 are connected up correctly. You must find plenty 
 for the Irishman to do." 
 
 " I'll put him in the thick of it on this side, and 
 rig out one of the automatics as well. Then you 
 
"FOIGHTIN' LARRY AV THE GUARD." 207 
 
 three must hold this fort Clegg and the Moors 
 will keep matters brisk on the other if they attempt 
 to storm this building. Everything depends upon 
 holding this place, where we can give it them hot 
 as they are driven back." 
 
 He went away to the north side, and the Moors 
 got the machine-guns out of the guardroom and 
 arranged them on the terrace front. As soon as it 
 was quite dark outside, searchlights were flashing 
 from the fort upon the Capitol, the town, and the 
 plain to the south ; from the harbour fort other lights 
 were sweeping the horizon seaward. Over each of 
 the Consulates and the Guest House seven red 
 lamps were hung in the form of a cross, and 
 reinforcements of infantry were crossing the upper 
 bridges to the south side, where the firing of the 
 attacking party was brisk. 
 
 Sterry did not see the submarine explosion in the 
 harbour, but it was soon followed by a three-inch 
 shell from the " Gleam " falling in the harbour fort 
 There was an immediate stir on the south side of 
 the town, and companies eight and ten deep were 
 marching westward along the quay ; soon some five 
 hundred men were mustered on the exercising- 
 ground before the barracks. It was hard to keep 
 from firing, but Kell had fixed the automatic gun 
 at one of the open spaces on the south side to cut 
 off communication from the east, and its firing was 
 to be the signal for the commencement of the 
 slaughter, Gibbons, at the other end of the corridor, 
 being instructed to keep clear the quays on both 
 banks. Sterry was to confine his shot to the exer- 
 cising-ground, the south plain, and any roads to 
 the east he could cover. The main point was to 
 have the enemy mustered in the open in force before 
 firing a shot, then clear all off before any could 
 escape. 
 
 For this purpose the companies marching along 
 the quay to reinforce the harbour forts were to be 
 
208 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 allowed to go to the utmost limit before being shot 
 down, and as the other reinforcements reached the 
 same point they were to suffer the same attack ; if 
 successful, half the garrison of occupation would be 
 cleared out before aware of their danger. 
 
 Unable to wait longer, Sterry moved the switch, 
 but the communications were disarranged so that 
 instead of blowing up the bridge as he wished, the 
 only immediate result was to light up the dilapidated 
 pinnacle on Cristal Point. 
 
 The troops, alarmed, were advancing at a double ; 
 in a few seconds those in ambush in the Capitol 
 would open fire, and on the success or failure of 
 that fire would depend whether the enemy would 
 attempt to storm the building or themselves be 
 annihilated. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 
 
 THE special machine-guns kept for the defence of 
 the Capitol were all fitted with " silencers " which 
 stifled the report of firing, muffling the sharp crack, 
 and producing only a whirr not audible more than 
 fifty paces beyond the guns. When Larry operated 
 his weapon, the companies in close marching order 
 upon the quay suffered badly ; the men fell dead in 
 the ranks and there was no indication of the point 
 from which the bullets, that dropped thick as hail, 
 were being fired. In the immediate panic that 
 ensued the survivors of the foremost company turned, 
 collided with those following, and caused a delay in 
 reaching cover by which Larry did his utmost to 
 profit. He paused only when it was necessary to 
 change the exhausted ammunition feed-boxes, and in 
 a few minutes the deadly silent fire had demoralised 
 the whole force on the quay and put every individual 
 at his mercy. 
 
 There were still men to be seen in tHe exercising- 
 ground, and Sterry directed his fire to that point 
 until the ammunition-box was again empty. The 
 reinforcements marched across to Table Point fort 
 were now returning ; readjusting his gun, Sterry next 
 opened fire upon them, and maintained it until Kell 
 came to him. 
 
 " All quiet on the north side still, and not a soul 
 left standing on one of the quays. Shoot down all 
 you see. I've put in another ' automatic ' to keep 
 
 P 
 
210 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 the river bank this side, and sha'n't come back here 
 until daylight unless driven off." 
 
 Sterry obeyed Kell's command implicitly. Not a 
 form appeared in the open within range of his gun 
 but he sent a hundred rounds as near to it as he 
 could aim them. 
 
 Practically no response was made to their fire ; 
 an attack from within was unexpected, and the 
 troops within range could not save themselves. To 
 the sentries and garrisons of the fort and trenches 
 the dark building of the Capitol seemed still un- 
 tenantec. From the quays below it showed clearly 
 enough against the skyline, but none aimed at it at 
 the right elevation to reach the ground floor ; the 
 upper walls and roof alone suffered from what little 
 fire there was in return. 
 
 Sterry was still busy aligning his gun now 
 at small groups, isolated individuals even when 
 suddenly shooting commenced on the north side of 
 the building. It lasted but a few minutes, and was 
 followed by much sounding of bugles on the heights 
 above the fort, answering calls from the valley and 
 plain. Then the enemy ceased firing in the direction 
 of the town and Capitol both, but Sterry and the two 
 Moors serving his gun worked the harder. 
 
 The telephone call bell rang close by Sterry, and 
 he left the gun-crank an instant to listen to Mavis 
 in the instrument-room. She said that the Swiss 
 Consul wished to know on what terms the invaders 
 might surrender. 
 
 " On no terms they must clear out." And he went 
 back to the gun, for which he had already acquired 
 a liking. 
 
 Soon he was again interrupted. 
 
 "On what terms a truce for twenty-four hours?" 
 
 " No truce neither for a month nor a minute ! 
 Ring them off ! " And he recommenced shooting 
 with increased zest. Their fire was telling upon the 
 enemy. 
 
THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 211 
 
 " They surrender they ask for quarter," called 
 Mavis. 
 
 " No quarter ! " yelled Sterry, as he still turned at 
 the crank of the gun ; " we are automatic." And 
 he laughed as he saw that the little knot of men 
 which had been gathered behind a transport-waggon 
 was now a confused heap not higher than the wheel- 
 naves. 
 
 The garrison of the Table Point fort had been 
 driven out from the south and were in full flight 
 towards Cristallia town across the plain. Sterry got 
 his gun quickly into action upon them. Firing 
 recommenced from the north side, but the search- 
 lights no longer shone out from the fort those 
 heights had been evacuated and the enemy were in 
 full flight towards the north creek. The advance- 
 guard of Robson's division in pursuit had already 
 reached so near the Capitol as to separate the 
 enemy's forces into two distinct corps acting 
 independently of each other. 
 
 Robson was driving the Germans on the north 
 side towards the sea ; those of the enemy on the 
 other shore were in even a worse predicament, 
 without shelter, organisation, or leaders ; and the 
 firing continued until daybreak, when the pyramid 
 and diagonal flag of Cristallia could be discerned 
 flying side by side with the "red rag" of Morocco 
 over the German Imperial Eagle on the barracks 
 and arsenal fortifications, and white flags flapping 
 here, there, and everywhere about the lower town, 
 from which the German tricolour had disappeared. 
 
 Sterry ceased firing and went over to the Irish- 
 man's gun, still pumping forth its stream of metal 
 at short intervals. He felt vexed that at this furious 
 game he and the best of the Isocrats were probably 
 no better than the hard-headed, soft-hearted Irish 
 labourer from the soldier's point of view possibly 
 not so good owing to inferior skill. He told the 
 gunner somewhat savagely to cease firing, and 
 
212 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 himself went to the automatic self-ranging machine- 
 gun which was aligned upon the cross-ways. In 
 that open space was a Red Cross ambulance waggon 
 riddled with bullets ; the mules dead, and an ugly 
 heap of those who had attempted rescues lying about 
 it For hours it had been the butt of thirty musket 
 shots a minute from the machine which did not 
 discriminate between fighters and non-combatants. 
 
 This reminded him of the instrument in Redhead's 
 room, and he was savage at the thought of its 
 secret being in possession of the enemy. Not one 
 of the invaders should be allowed to leave Cristallia 
 until the papers had been discovered, though the 
 difficulty of discovering the present possessors seemed 
 insurmountable. Already the Germans on the south 
 side were surrendering to the Moors advancing 
 towards Table Point possibly on the north side 
 the same thing was being done, and the bearers of 
 the papers might get clear. 
 
 He found Kell, and hastily arranged what had to 
 be done. Kell thought that the men were still in 
 hiding near the building, for the shot Sterry and 
 Mavis had heard was undoubtedly that of Larry 
 Gibbons in despatching the sentry ; the shriek was 
 merely a coincidence, for the sentry had died without 
 so much as a moan. It was imperative that the 
 Germans should not cross the river either way, and 
 the prisoners on the north side, as well as the dead 
 and wounded, be thoroughly searched. 
 
 They got their own staff across from the Guest 
 House and started the instrument-room in full force. 
 Then they set the Moors to collect and strip the 
 dead and carry the wounded into the great ferry 
 house on the north quay, Gibbons being placed in 
 charge, with orders to shoot any German crossing 
 from the south side or escaping in that direction. On 
 the plain and in the south town the ambulance corps 
 were very busy, but having no assistance from the 
 Moors or Cristallians. 
 
THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 213 
 
 When at last the pursuing party returned from the 
 north there were other prisoners and a disorderly 
 array of Kaybles and Touaregs under Hanlan. It 
 was arranged to strip these prisoners of war at once 
 in one of the warehouses and fit them out in suits 
 of dungaree, grass sandals, and fezzes from the 
 factory stores, then keep them close prisoners in the 
 motor factory yard 
 
 Robson, still sore from his wounds and hardened 
 by the cruelties of the short campaign, had but one 
 duty to perform before starting out with Kaid 
 Maclean to attack Pieterstadt " I don't care what 
 becomes of the prisoners. Shoot them, if you like. 
 Better send them overland to Fez ; that will be a 
 hard walk for them, and those who outlive it will 
 make a pageant for Abd-el-Azeez. What we have 
 to do is to bury our own dead then sack Pieterstadt. 
 That's enough for the day." 
 
 "What about the dead Germans?" asked Kell. 
 
 " Put the bodies in a refuse hopper and tow them 
 out to sea, or there'll be the plague to finish off us 
 survivors. What is to be done with Redhead, Bob? 
 We've shut off the vapour and opened the fans. I'll 
 go in presently." 
 
 " Where would you suggest, Boyd ? They must 
 be buried together, of course. Then you'll go after 
 Fersten again," 
 
 Robson shook his head. 
 
 " Fersten's done for by this. We drove him into 
 the clutches of old Mahmoud, and the rest is 
 satisfactory." 
 
 " Are you sure he killed him ? " asked Sterry 
 brutally. 
 
 " Killed him ? They first unnerved him by the 
 method they learnt of the Algerian spahis, then they 
 tortured him to death slowly and the devil deserved 
 every pang." 
 
 Sterry scowled slightly and looked up at Kell, on 
 whose face was that wide-drawn grin which betokened 
 
214 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 his complete agreement. They all ate on in silence 
 until Mavis joined them. 
 
 " Dr. Shroeder, head of the ambulance corps, 
 insists upon coming over to see you." 
 
 " He'll be shot if he does. I can trust ' Foightin' 
 Larry.' Sit down and join us, Mavis. We four are 
 all of the Isocrats now left in Cristallia ; we'll have 
 an informal meeting for urgent affairs. Sit down!" 
 
 " But he says the wounded are being shamefully 
 neglected." 
 
 " Can't help that ! Does he suppose that, after all 
 they have done to us, we are going to show any 
 affection for their wounded ? We are but human." 
 
 " Quite right. I am sorry there are any wounded,"" 
 said Robson. 
 
 " We did our best to kill the lot ! " And Sterry 
 laughed, and Kell grinned again. 
 
 Their cold-hearted callousness surprised her. She 
 could not believe they were in earnest, and turned 
 to her lover and asked pleadingly : 
 
 " Won't you do anything, Bob ? " 
 
 He shook his head nonchalantly and wiped his 
 moustache. 
 
 " Can't, Mavis. You don't understand these things, 
 or you would know why. Leave them to us and 
 the Kaid Maclean and his Moors. The right thing 
 will be done ; you may be sure of that." 
 
 "You used not to be like this. What has 
 happened to you all ? " 
 
 There was no answer. 
 
 " Something must be done for them. I will go 
 over myself that is what Madeline would have 
 done." And she turned away. 
 
 " You're right, Mavis ; the righting has made brutes 
 of us all and I do not wonder at it You go we 
 are not fit." And Sterry rose enraged 
 
 Robson muttered something about the usages of 
 war, then took Kell by the arm and walked away. 
 
 " Do the best you can for the poor wretches, Mavis. 
 
THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 215 
 
 I will send you all the help we can spare, and Boyd 
 himself will be over on that side soon. There has 
 been harm enough done." 
 
 " That is your old good self, Bob," she said, well 
 pleased. 
 
 " You would win any one over, Mavis." And 
 putting his arm round her, he drew her to him and 
 kissed her affectionately. 
 
 " If only you will do right, the others dare not do 
 wrong." 
 
 " With you to win them over to our way yes." 
 And he kissed her again. 
 
 " The future of Cristallia is with you." 
 
 " Us," he corrected sharply. 
 
 "As you wish, then." 
 
 " At last, Mavis." 
 
 She bowed her head in acquiescence, and they 
 talked of their own affairs until Jake Hanlan burst 
 in upon them with the news that a runner had come 
 to Kaid Maclean with a message from the Governor 
 of Pieterland surrendering the town and colony to 
 the representatives of the Sultan Abd-el-Azeez of Fez. 
 
 " All the same we must occupy the place. Where's 
 Kell?" 
 
 They found him with Robson, and the two had 
 news of their own to communicate. In the lethal hall 
 they had found the bodies of the two Germans who 
 had stolen the papers from the dead man's desk. 
 So the secret of the destroying " Warstock " as 
 Redhead named his machine never left Cristallia 
 after all. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 TWELVE months have passed since the vibrations of 
 the dreadful " Warstock " in Cristallia shook Europe. 
 Of the many important results which arose from the 
 fruitless expedition against the African Common- 
 wealth none had more far-reaching consequences 
 than the downfall of Germany, for it brought about 
 a European collapse. The terms of the conquerors 
 were hard ; but Europe was at their mercy. They 
 insisted upon an indemnity equal to the combined 
 annual naval and military expenditure of the empire 
 for the preceding five years, the payments to extend 
 over a like period, during which time the Cristallians 
 guaranteed Germany against all foreign invasion. 
 Met with the argument that such an arrangement 
 would disturb the balance of power in Europe, they 
 curtly replied that if any State did not agree, one 
 and all would be reduced to the same condition of 
 impotency as the Teutonic Federation. In their 
 wisdom the Governments thought to obtain an 
 advantage by gaining time, but by deferring an 
 attack they allowed the Isocrats to become firmly 
 re-established in the Atlas. In six months' time 
 the chance had gone ; the immediate arbiter of the 
 destinies of Europe and Africa was the Chief of the 
 Executive Council in the Cristallian Commonwealth. 
 Sterry had been elected to that post, and worked 
 hard so to rebuild Cristallia as to surpass all previous 
 
CONCLUSION. 2i; 
 
 achievements. In this he was particularly aided by 
 Iltyd Jones, who, not content with the adoption of 
 his materials for every purpose, was intent upon 
 using them with such originality and effect as to 
 pass the qualifying adjectives " Hildaesque " and 
 *' Kewneyesque " from the ranks of artistic slang to 
 the perennial realm of recognised literary currency. 
 
 Cristallia itself was greater, richer, and more 
 beautiful than its forerunner. The Capitol was 
 larger, finer, loftier, and on three sides fronted the 
 great north lake, whence issued directly from the 
 water a huge pile of Iltydium, pinnacle on pinnacle, 
 and all gleaming in the sun like the glistening 
 crystals from a frosted icicle. In that way the 
 inventor marked the grave of the two who had been 
 the first to die for the Commonwealth. 
 
 There was a fete at Cristallia when the monument 
 was finished, and it served also to celebrate the 
 marriages of Robert Sterry and Iltyd Jones, and the 
 appointment of Boyd Robson and Morven Kell to 
 -administer huge tracts of the African Hinterland 
 ceded by Germany. 
 
 Sterry had little to tell the gathering, forbearing 
 to open recent wounds. Their chief adversary, 
 Fitzjoy, was out of office, and long likely to remain 
 so. The demands for admission to the colony and 
 the community were more numerous than they could 
 accept. Means to making wealth were showered 
 upon them, and they had now more to fear from 
 friends than enemies, for in England the party in 
 power not only agreed to every proposal made 
 them, but actually imitated their policy by granting 
 inventors the same protective rights as they already 
 acceded to poets. It was little, but, being in the 
 right direction, might attract some slight support 
 from those who otherwise had gone to Cristallia. 
 
 As to their future policy, Sterry spoke confidentially 
 if enigmatically. " The greatest of birds is said to 
 bury its head in the sand, thinking thereby that its 
 
21 8 THE WARSTOCK. 
 
 body is hidden and safe from attack. We think this 
 is foolish. But the wisest of mortals is apt to thrust 
 up his head into the clouds and believe that his 
 body is then beyond harm from the devils on earth. 
 We have learnt that this too is foolish. We shall 
 gaze at the stars sometimes, but, even then, the 
 groundlings shall have the impression that we still 
 are kicking as we mean that they should." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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