truction
might still go on, and, should it be necessary, the army and navy could
step into the contest fresh and well prepared.

All branches of the Government united in accepting the offer of the
Syndicate. The contract was signed, and the world waited to see what
would happen next.

The influence which for years had been exerted by the interests
controlled by the men composing the Syndicate, had its effect in
producing a popular confidence in the power of the members of the
Syndicate to conduct a war as successfully as they had conducted other
gigantic enterprises. Therefore, although predictions of disaster came
from many quarters, the American public appeared willing to wait with
but moderate impatience for the result of this novel undertaking.

The Government now proceeded to mass troops at important points on the
northern frontier; forts were supplied with men and armaments, all
coast defences were put in the best possible condition, the navy was
stationed at important ports, and work at the shipyards went on. But
without reference to all this, the work of the Syndicate immediately
began.

This body of men were of various politics and of various pursuits in
life. But politics were no more regarded in the work they had
undertaken than they would have been in the purchase of land or of
railroad iron. No manifestoes of motives and intentions were issued to
the public. The Syndicate simply went to work. There could be no
doubt that early success would be a direct profit to it, but there
could also be no doubt that its success would be a vast benefit and
profit, not only to the business enterprises in which these men were
severally engaged, but to the business of the whole country. To save
the United States from a dragging war, and to save themselves from the
effects of it, were the prompting motives for the formation of the
Syndicate.

Without hesitation, the Syndicate determined that the war in which it
was about to engage should be one of defence by means of offence. Such
a war must necessarily be quick and effective; and with all the force
of their fortunes, their minds, and their bodies, its members went to
work to wage this war quickly and effectively.

All known inventions and improvements in the art of war had been
thoroughly considered by the Syndicate, and by the eminent specialists
whom it had enlisted in its service. Certain recently perfected
engines of war, novel in nature, were the excl