n
of the commandant, the garrisoned fort were really mined, the following
day would probably prove the fact. Until this point should be
determined it would be highly judicious to temporarily evacuate the
fort. This could not be followed by occupation of the works by the
enemy, for all approaches, either by troops in boats or by bodies of
confederates by land, could be fully covered by the inland redoubts and
fortifications.

When the orders for evacuation reached the commandant of the fort, he
protested hotly, and urged that his protest be considered. It was not
until the command had been reiterated both from London and Ottawa, that
he accepted the situation, and with bowed head prepared to leave his
post. All night preparations for evacuation went on, and during the
next morning the garrison left the fort, and established itself far
enough away to preclude danger from the explosion of a mine, but near
enough to be available in case of necessity.

During this morning there arrived in the offing another Syndicate
vessel. This had started from a northern part of the United States,
before the repellers and the crabs, and it had been engaged in laying a
private submarine cable, which should put the office of the Syndicate
in New York in direct communication with its naval forces engaged with
the enemy. Telegraphic connection between the cable boat and Repeller
No. 1 having been established, the Syndicate soon received from its
Director-in-chief full and comprehensive accounts of what had been done
and what it was proposed to do. Great was the satisfaction among the
members of the Syndicate when these direct and official reports came
in. Up to this time they had been obliged to depend upon very
unsatisfactory intelligence communicated from Europe, which had been
supplemented by wild statements and rumours smuggled across the
Canadian border.

To counteract the effect of these, a full report was immediately made
by the Syndicate to the Government of the United States, and a bulletin
distinctly describing what had happened was issued to the people of the
country. These reports, which received a world-wide circulation in the
newspapers, created a popular elation in the United States, and gave
rise to serious apprehensions and concern in many other countries. But
under both elation and concern there was a certain doubtfulness. So
far the Syndicate had been successful; but its style of warfare was
decidedly experim