Ernest Bramah

“ Hallet, the Home Secretary, broke the silence, which had reached a painful intensity.
"I take the responsibility of proposing that we recognise the inevitable to-day rather than to-morrow, and signify our acceptance of the terms of the ultimatum," he said, with slow deliberation.
"I differ," cried the aged Earl of Trentford sharply. "We cannot be so desperately placed as Mollineux leads us to believe. It—it is so sudden, so unexpected. A great nation cannot be vanquished and annihilated in a single day. There must be something we have overlooked. ”

“ On the decks above, the bomb-turning nets had been fixed in position, and every available man stood ready to act on the first sign of attack. The wingman gained the height he desired, made a short sharp circle to acquire the requisite impetus, and dashed himself bodily against the stern of Der Fliegende Fisch. A third of the structure of the frail vessel was torn away, but, by a miracle, sufficient of the comparted envelope remained to sustain what was left, and the unwieldy wreck swung and careered away before the force of the gale, to be finally stranded along the coast of Wales. ”

“ I will go into my own country, where I was formerly honorary colonel of yeomanry, and if I can find a score of men who would rather be shot as Germany's foes than live as Germany's vassals, by God, I will lead them! ”

“ From the circumstances Reed must inevitably have decided upon a simultaneous attack upon the five Krupplins by five of his wingmen, with two others, of whom he himself, as the most skilful flier, was properly one, held in reserve. But even with the most careful preparation, in the darkness of the night; and extending along a battle-line of nearly two miles, the attack became a scattered one, whereof it chanced that the man to whose care fell the pilot Wasser-jungfer launched the signal. ”

“ The tendency was all towards aeroplanes and dirigibles. You were out of the movement."
"We shall be in it to-night if we come to terms," said Reed, with grim humour. "What would you give to be able to plant a patriotic Englishman, carrying five pounds of thorite, on each of the Krupplins—to control a flight of human aerial torpedoes, eh, Sir William?"
"Can you do this, Mr. Reed?" demanded the Premier, with a tortured incredulity. Taylor was forgotten. All looked towards the man who suggested the bare possibility of the miracle of salvation. ”

“ There are ten thousand men in Whitehall, and the most popular suggestion is that they should hang the Secretary of State for War and your illustrious self on the nearest lamp-post. In the City and beyond, the authorities are unable to make the least show of keeping order, and looting and violence are in progress on every side. ”

“ The speedy, well-stocked vessel might press on to London, might seek out the fleets and annihilate them, destroy the dockyards, go northwards against the great ports and commercial cities, or adopt any one of a dozen plausible lines of offence. ”

“ The signal-readers were unable to take off the Lietke-ray readings among all the aerial disturbances, so that each vessel remained isolated, and acted on its own initiative. Prince Friedrich, who commanded the fleet from the deck of the flagship Die Schwalbe (the second in line, and now a mile removed from her nearest support) , failing to discover any sign of open attack, at once decided to sail away at full speed from so disastrous a spot, and to wait until daylight enabled him to operate prudently. ”

“ From the details supplied by the invaders who survived the battle of Elmstead Down it is generally surmised that the second wingman in the line of attack—the one through whose defection Die Schwalbe was able to slip away untouched—was probably struck by a flying fragment of Die Wasser-jungfer, and at this point in the fight a second mishap weakened the successful chance of Reed's desperate venture. ”

“ Reed," said Mollineux.
"So are we, Sir William," replied Reed caustically. "Strictly in a personal way you cannot take a greater one than we shall. As regards permitting the attempt, allow me to point out to you that you cannot prevent it. At the same time I want official recognition. I want something in return, and I want information. Well, there are my terms," and he threw a few sheets of paper on to the table. "How many Krupps really are there, by the way? The newspapers are all—well, as usual." ”

“ There are only two classes of Powers to-day: Germany, and the rest of the world."
"And if we accept the terms forced on us, and abandon all hope of building a rival air-fleet, there can never be anything else."
"Until a new force comes into being," replied the Premier, with a sudden gleam of kindling enthusiasm. "What form it will take we cannot guess, and perhaps we shall never know ”

“ The wind is nothing—nothing. On the contrary, it helps a practised wingman. But there are other details—technical details. We have had to do everything in the face of terrible discouragement. We wanted men, reliable, devoted men, such as you could have put in our way. ”

“ Every man who fails to blow himself into his constituent elements will have bungled. Well, we all had one eye on that contingency when we trained. If only we'd had more time it might have been avoided. Time: practice, practice, practice. Please remember that for the new aerial department, Mr. Muir."
"I see that you stipulate for that, Mr. Reed," said the Minister of War, glancing down the paper. "'Two power standard of air-fleet:' 'aerial stations,' 'corps of wingmen,' and so forth. ”

“ There is a panic-swept exodus from London by all the high-roads to the north and west, and since five o'clock this morning more than two hundred women and children have been trampled to death. What does a doorkeeper in addition matter? ”

“ Her searchlights revealed no other menace, and she bent her energies to the sure and complete annihilation of the audacious challenger.
Below, the car turned, and skimmed along the highways and the lanes in its desperate race, of which the prize was the destiny of two empires. It could only be a matter of minutes. . . .
Above, the duellists measured their long weapons and turned warily as they sought each other's vital parts. Quo Vadis? cherished no illusions about the outcome ”

“ This order was indeed signalled from Die Schwalbe by means of her searchlight, but in the multiplicity of lights and cross-lights the significance of the flashes passed unrecognised. Der Geier and Der Fliegende Fisch therefore remained, pressing to their service every device for repelling attack which they possessed, while Die Schwalbe stole away to the north-west, silently, and with every light obscured. ”