The World Peril of 1910   By: George Chetwynd Griffith (1857-1906)

BY

GEORGE GRIFFITH

AUTHOR OF "THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION," "A CONQUEST OF FORTUNE," "A MAYFAIR MAGICIAN," "HIS BETTER HALF," ETC. ETC.

LONDON

F. V. WHITE & CO. LTD.

14, BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C.

1907

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

PROLOGUE A RACE FOR A WOMAN 1

I. A MOMENTOUS EXPERIMENT 9

II. NORAH'S GOOD BYE 17

III. SEEN UNDER THE MOON 24

IV. THE SHADOW OF THE TERROR 31

V. A GLIMPSE OF THE DOOM 37

VI. THE NOTE OF WAR 47

VII. CAUGHT! 55

VIII. FIRST BLOOD 63

IX. THE "FLYING FISH" APPEARS 72

X. FIRST BLOWS FROM THE AIR 79

XI. THE TRAGEDY OF THE TWO SQUADRONS 88

XII. HOW LONDON TOOK THE NEWS 98

XIII. A CRIME AND A MISTAKE 106

XIV. THE EVE OF BATTLE 115

XV. THE STRIFE OF GIANTS 123

XVI. HOW THE FRENCH LANDED AT PORTSMOUTH 132

XVII. AWAY FROM THE WARPATH 143

XVIII. A GLIMPSE OF THE PERIL 151

XIX. A CHANGE OF SCENE 160

XX. THE NIGHT OF TERROR BEGINS 167

XXI. AND ENDS 176

XXII. DISASTER 182

XXIII. THE OTHER CAMPAIGN BEGINS 189

XXIV. TOM BOWCOCK PITMAN 195

XXV. PREPARING FOR ACTION 201

XXVI. THE FIRST BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON 208

XXVII. LENNARD'S ULTIMATUM 215

XXVIII. CONCERNING ASTRONOMY AND OYSTERS 223

XXIX. THE LION WAKES 231

XXX. MR PARMENTER SAYS 239

XXXI. JOHN CASTELLAN'S THREAT 247

XXXII. A VIGIL IN THE NIGHT 254

XXXIII. MR PARMENTER RETURNS 261

XXXIV. THE "AURIOLE" 268

XXXV. THE "AURIOLE" HOISTS THE WHITE ENSIGN 273

XXXVI. A PARLEY AT ALDERSHOT 281

XXXVII. THE VERDICT OF SCIENCE 288

XXXVIII. WAITING FOR DOOM 295

XXXIX. THE LAST FIGHT 298

EPILOGUE "AND ON EARTH, PEACE!" 305

THE WORLD PERIL OF 1910

PROLOGUE

A RACE FOR A WOMAN

In Clifden, the chief coast town of Connemara, there is a house at the end of a triangle which the two streets of the town form, the front windows of which look straight down the beautiful harbour and bay, whose waters stretch out beyond the islands which are scattered along the coast and, with the many submerged reefs, make the entrance so difficult.

In the first floor double windowed room of this house, furnished as a bed sitting room, there was a man sitting at a writing table not an ordinary writing table, but one the dimensions of which were more suited to the needs of an architect or an engineer than to those of a writer. In the middle of the table was a large drawing desk, and on it was pinned a sheet of cartridge paper, which was almost covered with portions of designs.