The World Peril of 1910
Page 37
CHAPTER XXXVI
A PARLEY AT ALDERSHOT
Lord Kitchener had probably never had so bitter an experience as he hadwhen the _Auriole_ began to slow down over the plain of Aldershot. Nevercould he, or any other British soldier, have dreamt six months ago thatthe German, Austrian, French and Russian flags would have been seenflying side by side over the headquarters of the great camp, or that thevast rolling plains would be covered, as they were now, by hosts ofhorse, foot and artillery belonging to hostile nations.
He did not say anything, neither did the others; it was a time forthinking rather than talking; but he looked, and as Lennard watched hisalmost expressionless face and the angrily-glittering blue eyes, he feltthat it would go ill with an enemy whom K. of K. should have at hismercy that day.
But all the bitterness of feeling was by no means on one side. It sohappened that the three Imperial leaders of the invaders and GeneralHenriot, the French Commander-in-Chief, were holding a Council of War atthe time when the _Auriole_ made her appearance. Of course, her arrivalwas instantly reported, and as a matter of fact the drilling came to asudden momentary stop at the sight of this amazing apparition. The threemonarchs and the great commander immediately went outside, and within afew moments they were four of the angriest men in England. A singleglance, even at that distance, was enough to convince them that, atanyrate in the air, the _Flying Fishes_ would be no match for an equalor even an inferior number of such magnificent craft as this.
"God's thunder!" exclaimed the Kaiser, using his usual expletive. "She'sflying the White Ensign and an admiral's pennant, and, yes, a flag oftruce."
"Yes," said the Tsar, lowering his glasses, "that is so. What hashappened? I certainly don't like the look of her; she's an altogethertoo magnificent craft from our point of view. In fact it would bedecidedly awkward if the English happened to have a fleet of them. Theywould be terribly effective acting in co-operation with that submarineram. Let us hope that she has come on a message of peace."
"I understood, your Majesty," said the Kaiser, shortly, "that we hadagreed to make peace at Windsor, and nowhere else."
"Of course, I hope we shall do so," said the Tsar, "but considering ournumbers, and the help we have had from Mr Castellan's fleet, I'm afraidwe are rather a long time getting there, and we shall be longer still ifthe British have any considerable number of ships like this one."
"Airships or no airships," replied William the Second, "whatever messagethis ship is bringing, I will listen to nothing but surrender while Ihave an Army Corps on English soil. They must be almost beaten by thistime; they can't have any more men to put in the field, while we havemillions. To go back now that we have got so far would be worse thandefeat--it would be disaster. Of course, your Majesty can have no moredelusions than I have on that subject."
A conversation on almost similar terms had been taking place meanwhilebetween the Emperor of Austria and General Henriot. Then the _Auriole_,after describing a splendid curve round the headquarters, dropped asquietly as a bird on the lawn in front, the gangway ladder fell overalong the side, and Lord Kitchener, in the parade uniform of a general,descended and saluted the four commanders.
"Good-morning, your Majesties. Good-morning, General Henriot."
"I see that your lordship has come as bearer of the flag of truce thistime," said the Kaiser, when salutes had been exchanged, "and I trustthat in the interests of humanity you have come also with proposalswhich may enable us to put an honourable end to this terrible conflict,and I am sure that my Imperial brothers and the great Republic whichGeneral Henriot represents will be only too happy to accede to them."
The others nodded in approval, but said nothing, as it had been more orless reluctantly agreed by them that the War Lord of Germany was to bethe actual head and Commander-in-Chief of the Allies. K. of K. looked athim straight in the eyes--not a muscle of his face moved, and from underhis heavy moustache there came in the gentlest of voices the astoundingwords:
"Yes, I have come from His Majesty King Edward with proposals ofsurrender--that is to say, for your surrender, and that of all theAllied Forces now on British soil."
William the Second literally jumped, and his distinguished colleaguesstared at him and each other in blank amazement. By this time Lennardhad come down the gangway ladder, and was standing beside LordKitchener. Mr Parmenter and the latest addition to the British NavalList were strolling up and down the deck of the _Auriole_ smoking cigarsand chatting as though this sort of thing happened every day.
"I see that your Majesty hardly takes me seriously," said LordKitchener, still in the same quiet voice, "but if your Majesties will doMr Lennard and myself the favour of an interview in one of the roomshere, which used to belong to me, I think we shall be able to convinceyou that we have the best of reasons for being serious."
"Ah, yes, Mr Lennard," replied the Kaiser, looking at him with just asuspicion of anxiety in his glance. "Good-morning. Have you come to tellus something more about this wonderful comet of yours? It seems to mesome time making itself visible."
"It is visible every night now, your Majesty," said Lennard; "that is,if you know where to look for it."
"Ah, that sounds interesting," said the Tsar, moving towards the door."Suppose we go back into the Council Room and hear something about it."
As they went in the _Auriole_ rose from the ground, and began making aseries of slow, graceful curves over the two camps at the height ofabout a thousand feet. Neither Mr Parmenter, nor his friend the Admiral,knew exactly how far the flag of truce would be respected, and,moreover, a little display of the _Auriole's_ powers of flight mightpossibly help along negotiations, and, as a matter of fact, they did;for the sight of this huge fabric circling above them, with her longwicked-looking guns pointing in all directions, formed a spectacle whichto the officers and men of the various regiments and battalionsscattered about the vast plain was a good deal more interesting than itwas pleasant. The Staff officers knew, too, that the strange craftpossessed two very great advantages over the _Flying Fishes_; she wasmuch faster, and she could rise direct from the ground--whereas the_Fishes_, like their namesakes, could only rise from the water. Inshort, it did not need a soldier's eye to see that all their stores andmagazines, to say nothing of their own persons, were absolutely at themercy of the British aerial flagship. The _Flying Fishes_ were down inthe Solent refitting and filling up with motive power and ammunitionpreparatory to the general advance on London.
As soon as they were seated in the Council Chamber it did not take LordKitchener and Lennard very long to convince their Majesties and GeneralHenriot that they were very much in earnest about the matter ofsurrender. In fact, the only terms offered were immediate retirementbehind the line of the North Downs, cessation of hostilities andsurrender of the _Flying Fishes_, and all British subjects, includingJohn Castellan, who might be on board them.
"The reason for that condition," said Lord Kitchener, "Mr Lennard willbe able to make plain to your Majesties."
Then Lennard handed Castellan's letter to the Kaiser, and explained thechange of calculations necessitated by the diversion of the planet fromits orbit.
"That is not the letter of an honest fighting man. I am sure that yourMajesties will agree with me in that. I may say that I have talked thematter over with Mr Parmenter and our answer is in the negative. This isnot warfare; it is only abduction, possibly seasoned with murder, and wecall those things crimes in England, and if such a crime were permittedby those in whose employment John Castellan presumably is, we shouldpunish them as well as him."
"What!" exclaimed the Kaiser, clenching his fists, "do you, a civilian,an ordinary citizen, dare to say such words to us? Lord Kitchener, canyou permit such an outrage as this?"
"The other outrage would be a much greater one, especially if it werecommitted with the tacit sanction of the three greatest Powers inEurope," replied K. of K., quietly. "That is one of our chief reasonsfor asking for the surrender of the _Flying Fishes_. There is no tellingwh
at harm this wild Irishman of yours might do if he got on the loose,not only here but perhaps in your own territories, if he were allowed tocommit a crime like this, and then went, as he would have to do, intothe outlaw business."
"I think that there is great justice in what Lord Kitchener says,"remarked His Majesty of Austria. "We must not forget that if this manCastellan did run amok with any of those diabolical contrivances of his,he would be just as much above human law as he would be outside humanreach. I must confess that that appears to me to be one of the mostserious features in the situation. Your Majesties, as well as theFrench Government, are aware that I have been all along opposed to theuse of these horrible engines of destruction, and now you see that theirvery existence seems to have called others into being which may be evenmore formidable."
"Mr Lennard can tell your Majesties more about that than I can," said K.of K., with one of his grimmest smiles.
"As far as the air is concerned," said Lennard, very quietly, "we canboth out-fly and out-shoot the _Flying Fishes_; while as regards thewater, eleven more _Ithuriels_ will be launched during the week. We havetwenty-five airships ready for action over land or sea, and, for my ownpart, I think that if your Majesties knew all the details of thesituation you would consider the terms which his lordship has put beforeyou quite generous. But, after all," he continued, in a suddenly changedtone, "it seems, if you will excuse my saying so, rather childish totalk about terms of peace or war when the world itself has less than sixweeks to live if John Castellan manages to carry out his threat."
"And you feel absolutely certain of that, Mr Lennard?" asked the Tsar,in a tone of very serious interest. "It seems rather singular that noneof the other astronomers of Europe or America have discovered thisterrible comet of yours."
"I have had the advantage of the finest telescope in the world, yourMajesty," replied Lennard, with a smile, "and of course I have publishedno details. There was no point in creating a panic or getting laughed atbefore it was necessary. But now that the orbit has altered, and thecatastrophe will come so much sooner, any further delay would be littleshort of criminal. In fact, we have to-day telegraphed to all theprincipal observatories in the world, giving exact positions forto-night, corrected to differences of time and latitude. We shall hearthe verdict in the morning, and during to-morrow. Meanwhile we aregoing to Greenwich to get the observatory there to work on mycalculations, and if your Majesties would care to appoint an officer ofsufficient knowledge to come with us, and see the comet for himself, hewill, I am sure, be quite welcome."
"A very good suggestion, Mr Lennard," said Lord Kitchener, "very."
"Then," replied the Tsar, quickly, "as astronomy has always been a greathobby with me, will you allow me to come? Of course, you have my wordthat I shall see nothing on the journey that you don't want me to see."
"We shall be delighted," said the British envoy, cordially, "and as forseeing things, you will be at perfect liberty to use your eyes as muchas you like."
The Tsar's august colleagues entered fully into the sporting spirit inwhich he had made his proposal, and a verbal agreement to suspend allhostilities till his return was ratified in a glass of His Majesty ofAustria's Imperial Tokay.