“No, poor fellow. A journalist who was below with a night-glass says that he never had even a chance. One of the men on the deck of the aëronef pulled out a revolver and fired, and the balloon, pierced through and through, at once began to descend rapidly. On its reaching the ground with a shock in Earl’s Court Road, the bombs exploded, and the car and its plucky occupant were shattered to pieces.”
THE BALLOON NEVER HAD A CHANCE.
“Poor chap. A wild attempt, but rats in a hole cannot be particular,” said old Northerton.
Thanking our informant heartily we moved hastily on, both eager to see something of the movements of the terrible vessel.
The landing of the four men did not perplex me for long; Schwartz, as I knew, had been prepared to descend. But why four in this enterprise for which one alone had been originally told off?
The solution which suggested itself to me was this. Despite the devastation he had caused, Hartmann was very dissatisfied with the result. His vast outlay of material had not effected the ruin of one-fifth part of the great city, while in all probability the resources of the Attila were becoming somewhat strained. Relatively to her size these resources were undoubtedly slender, and it was requisite, accordingly, to devise some new and less costly mode of attack. Of the lull in the work of the incendiaries Hartmann must have got wind, but not knowing the cause of it, and anxious to secure a redoubled activity below—now so indispensable to his success—he had despatched four of the crew to fan their energies into fury. That their efforts would be futile was now certain enough; the problematical part of the affair was the supposition that they would ever get back to their baffled leader at all. Probably they were now bitterly regretting their temerity, if, indeed, they had not been shot against the wall by the furious restorers of order.
Just then a squad of soldiers passed by escorting some incendiaries, whose faces filthy with grime and brutal to a degree filled us with loathing and anger. They were to be shot in a neighbouring mews, and, if the accounts we heard were reliable, richly deserved their fate. What kicks their captors were giving them! The faces seemed unfamiliar to me, all alike of a low grade of ruffianism such as every great city breeds, but which never declares its strength till the day of weakness arrives. But suddenly one of the wretches, who lagged somewhat behind the rest, received a sharp cuff from a soldier, and in the volley of curses that followed I recognized a well-known and long-detested voice. It was that of Michael Schwartz, who, bruised, handcuffed, befouled with grime and dirt, was being driven like a bullock to a slaughter-house. How savage a despair must have goaded him in the last few minutes of his dark and damnable life! I turned away with a shudder, glad however to think that this fiend at least was no longer to cumber the ground. Might the three other men of his party meet with the same luck!
After half-an-hour’s walk we found ourselves in Hyde Park. Our informant had not misled us. High above the sward circled the Attila, her graceful flight and vast bulk, her silvery-grey sides and projecting aëroplane, her long ruddy flag streaming over the screw-blades, her ram-like horned bow, and above all, her now hideous repute, rendering her a weirdly conspicuous object. Old Mr. Northerton’s face was a picture; the look he bent on me was one of unconcealed and almost childish wonder at the aëronef and of deep respect for his would-be son-in-law, who had actually trodden its deck. He seemed fascinated by the wondrous air vessel, and lamented loudly that its conception should have lodged in so unworthy and fiendish a mind.
“Think what a good man might have effected for his kind, for their creature-comforts and commerce, for the cause of civilization, science, and culture. A fleet of such ships would render England monarch of the nations and arm her with power to sweep away hordes of monstrous iniquities. War could be finally stamped out, and universal arbitration substituted for it.”