eralstaff's ineptitude. "... They have got hold of that odd
female scientist, Francis," he wrote, "and have made her turn over her
formula for making grass go crazy. It's to be used as a war weapon, but
how or where I don't know. Just the sort of silly rot a lot of armchair
theorists would dream up...."

Later he wrote indignantly: "... They are sending a group of picked men
to Russia to inoculate the grasses on the steppes with this Francis
stuff. Sheer waste of trained men; bungling incompetence. Why not send a
specially selected group of hypnotists to persuade the Russians to sue
for peace? It would be better to have given them Mills bombs and let
them blow up the Kremlin. Time and effort and good men thrown away ..."

Still later he wrote with unconcealed satisfaction: "... Well, that
silly business of inoculating the steppes came to exactly nothing. Our
fellows got through of course and did their job, but nothing happened to
the grass. Either Francis gave them the wrong formula (possibly mislaid
the right one in her handbag) or else what worked in California wouldn't
do elsewhere. She is busy trying to explain herself to a military
commission right now. For my part they can either shoot her or put her
in charge of the WAC. It's of no moment. You can't fight a determined
enemy with sprayguns and formulas. Attack with infantry by way of
Siberia ..."

_43._ While everyone, except possibly General Thario and others in
similar position, was enjoying the new comradeinarms atmosphere the
abortive war had brought on, a sudden series of submarine attacks on the
Pacific Fleet provided a disagreeable jolt and ended the bloodless stage
of the conflict. Tried and proved methods of detection and defense
became useless; the warships were nothing more than targets for the
enemy's torpedoes.

In quick succession the battleships _Montana_, _Louisiana_, _Ohio_, and
_New Hampshire_ were sunk, as were the carriers _Gettysburg_,
_Antietam_, _Guadalcanal_, and _Chapultepec_ as well as the cruisers
_Manitowoc_, _Baton Rouge_, _Jackson_, _Yonkers_, _Long Beach_,
_Evanston_ and _Portsmouth_, to say nothing of the countless destroyers
and other craft. Never had the navy been so crippled and the people,
presaging correctly a forthcoming invasion, suffered a new series of
terrors which was only relieved by the news of the Russian landings on
the California coast at Cambria, San Simeon and Big Sur.

"... What did I tell you? What did I t