Transcribed from the 1918 John Murray edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
DANGER!
AND OTHER STORIES
BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
author of
“the white company,” “sir nigel”
“rodney stone,” etc.
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1918
PREFACE
The Title story of this volume was written about eighteen months before the outbreak of the war, and was intended to direct public attention to the great danger which threatened this country. It is a matter of history how fully this warning has been justified and how, even down to the smallest details, the prediction has been fulfilled. The writer must, however, most thankfully admit that what he did not foresee was the energy and ingenuity with which the navy has found means to meet the new conditions. The great silent battle which has been fought beneath the waves has ended in the repulse of an armada far more dangerous than that of Spain.
It may be objected that the writer, feeling the danger so strongly, should have taken other means than fiction to put his views before the authorities. The answer to this criticism is that he did indeed adopt every possible method, that he personally approached leading naval men and powerful editors, that he sent three separate minutes upon the danger to various public bodies, notably to the Committee