Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1908 — THE VANISHING FLEETS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE VANISHING FLEETS

BY ROY NORTON

ILLUSTRATED BY A. WEtt

CHAPTER XXIV. The Last Cruise. Summer, dying, was bravely -courtesying to Its executioner, fall. Over the immense canyons of the moun* talnous city of New York the. afternoon sun was drawing the curtains of a gala day. Triumphal arches spanned the throbbing streets, and down the fronts of- the towering buildings streamed a wealth of smothering color where the flags of all nations were intermingled. Not within it| had this city by the sea, tnla maw of the nation, entertained such gallant throngs. 7~<t Smart British officers drove here and there in company with-friends. Gayly-clad mandarins stared through narrow eyes at the somber men of Japan* fes crowned Turks smiled at gorgeously uniformed men from the Balkans; German officers, splendidly erect, traversed the streets in company with soldiers of that other eagle’s race, the Russians; colonials from Anst/afta wi& bzmi qI New Zealand; and the folk of Italy bowed gravely to the cavaliers of old Spain, who had been watching a group from that other republic, France. Representatives of the world had assembled, under the pretext of witnessing an international marriage, to pay deference to the one invincible power. It was in reality more than that: it. was the universal ratification of peace, of mutual disbandment and disarmament As the day lengthened the city poured its throng to the shores of the bay, where were assembled varied squadrons. The time for the departure of these was at hand, and scurrying launches conveyed aboard the men whom they had brought to this alien wedding. These eminent passengers were among the comparative few who had witnessed the ceremony and had gained more than a casual glance at the bride and groom. Those other thousands had been contented with a stare at Hillier and his wife as they rode in state through the broader thoroughfares in the morning sunlight, and for details had read the newspapers which, glorying in a plethora of news, had told them all. Nothing had been neglected, not even the fact that this clean-cut Englishman had given .the best that was in him for his country, and that the calm-eyed American girl was the one who had played her part In war and was the Idol of her countrymen. Already they had of the king and president, who as guests had stood side by aide, and portraits of the most distinguished men of the globe who had deferentially- taken places behind them. Only one -thing, was hidden from the eager publlc/and that was the manner in which they had been reunited.

Guy, saddened and worn by failure, had. been ope of the first to enter the United States when the barrier against the world was thrown down, and Norm*, still yearning for his love, had gone to his arms as if nothing had ever held them apart She vu* world figure now, apd the world was at her feet. Behiod him was nothing save the knowledge of earnest endeavor and honest defeat; but to her fee Kad been the same, nor did she anticipate that a king would later take his hand and aay, "Well done, even though you failed.” They had passed the brief days prior to the ceremony in dread, courting neither the display nor the limelight into which they were driven bys the parts they had 5 played. The publicity had been against their wishes, and the gifts of the world in whidh each country vied afforded no pleasure equal to that of being alone and at rest with each other. They had seized the first opportunity after the marriage to escape, leaving their destination unknown. . They had retreated to the seclusion of Atlantic Highlands, where the great beacon stands facing the broad stretch of open sea, and where they might be removed from the pomp and pageantry of nations. And even as that great embarkation took place along the water front of the city which loomed far behind them, they stood on a cliff by the ocean side. They had avoided the last act in the drama of deference, a reception given to the president and the Inventor, and were content to be left alone. J Suddenly from the far away bay came the slow, sullen undertone of guns in salute. Again came the thunderous monotone, and then, emerging from the distant hase Into the clearer air, appeared a flight of aerial things In orderly formation. The girl’s hands clasped themselves together as she watched. i There they, were, 20 miles away, the ships—her ships—which she had led out to victory and directed through the maze and turmoil of battle. She stood silent and spellbound as they slowly advanced, and then discerned on the waters beneath them the slow

moving shapes of ships of the sea. The radioplanes were traversing the ate as an escort above those others in final parade. In twin procession the fleets came nearer, embodiments of jnight The guns of Governor’s island belched as they advanced; then from opposite sides of the channel .the voices of Forts Lafayette and Hamilton gave greeting and farewell. Onward they swept to where the colossalstatue of Liberty held her beacon aloft in token of a new enlightenment of the jprld, and the cannon of the sea fleet spoke for the first time in unison, saluting as they passed in one terrible explosion of sound which reverberated along the shores and was thrown back by the echoes. Hew they came, the dying gladiators of all nations, sailing out to doom! Well in front were the vanquished squadrons of Japan, their funnels repaired for the last cruise they would ever make, but stripped of fighting masts. Back of them came the mighty ships of England, vith prows turned outward for their final voyage. German cruisers, graceful and Well manned, followed; while in their wakes could be seen others flying the banners of Italy, of France, of Russia, and pearly every maritime nation of the globe. Flanking this assemblage were the vessels of the American navy, which but a short time before had. been regarded as the country’s bulwarks, and were now participating in the last review. The science of ages, the experience of all who had gone down to the sea,

the refinement of skill and study, and the genius of evolution were embodied in those metal sides. They repre-' seated the wealth of nations collected through sweat and blood, all poured out unstintedly for this—consignment to the scrap heaps of a world that had abandoned war. The glories of past deeds of valor would no longer be emulated upon the waves. The sea had been untenanted before man’s ingenuity found a means of breasting it. His coming had left it unscarred and unimproved. It alone was unconquerable, changeless and heedless. Through centuries it had scorned him, and now it was bidding his craft farewell and carrying*, his fleets for the last time. No more would its' wastes echo to his passing salute or witness his trivial strainings for a flag. Only the song of the fisherman might henceforth echo along the shores whereon it beat. It had outlasted those sturdy hulls of oak and steel that once had dared its force.

High above swept the Invaders of that new territory to which man had at last laid claim and was to hold in domination for his use. Blue as the steles above them, the radioplanes hovered over and hade farewell to the vanishing fleets. In the vanguard flew the Norma, her colors fluttering in the of flight as they had done on’ that day when she swooped down through screaming shells to wrest power from the enemy. Floating after her moved the huge Roberts, its metal sides throwing back the rays of the western sun. Close behind In stately pursuit was Seventeen, whose plates had felt the biting force of the dead Yakumo’s guns. And so they came, bidding farewell to the ships of an abandoned sea. Small wonder that the soul of the girl who watched felt one instant’s regret that she was never again to know the exhilaration of the fray! A half smile of tenderness parted her lips as she thought that there tn the air above her were her friends and companions in arms—grim old fighting Bevins -with his prayerful oaths, good-natured Brockton whose kindliness she knew, and studious little Jenkins whose imperturbability equaled his steadfast bravery. Guy, understanding and respecting the storm of feeling which must be hers at sight of this pageantry of which she had been such a vital part, watched her in silence. Almost at their feet squatted Fort Hancock, whose guns were to bellow for the last time. It too, like its fellow forts, waa of the dying. Like them Its bastions would be abandoned and the men within driven to ways of peace. Fortress and ship, garrison and crew, would be no more. Crumbling, untenanted walls left as records of a nation’s defense, arid rotting uniforms relegated to garrets,‘would be ail that were left—armies reorganized and reduced for police force only, and sailors become fishermen or paasing their Uvea, in other occupations and reminlscenslng of the sea; swords rusting in scabbards and guns corroding in embrasures, nothing mors! The last salute had boomed out

Lower and lower flew the radloplanw, till they were close above the outgoing ships. The ports of the peacemakers opened, and from them fell garlands of flowers, which fluttered down through the air indiscriminately upon the doomed crtift and the waves themselves—a tribute of peace from the living and wreaths for the dying gladiators of war. Hand in hand Norma and Guy stood upon the headland beneath the gray beacon lights that would welcome strange travelers from foreign ports no more. Into the darkening skies of the east the fleets of the nations were speeding to dissolution and death, she long, steady swell of the free and unburdened sea came monotonously hammering at their feet In silence they watched the relics of cruel war sail out, saw their hulls disappear, saw the trails of smoke diverge as each squadron sought its own course, and then looked into each other’s eyes, reading therein nothing but a promise of love and serenity. Their troubles had vanished as had those fleets of the sea, and life with all Its possibilities of accomplishment and contentment was before them. They turned from the great silent ocean and walked Into the golden radiance of the sunset toward their home. THE END.

Thousands Had Been Contented with a Stare.