d still be
those terrible cruisers of the air to be reckoned with, and they were
known to be as efficient as submarines as they were as airships.

Still, much had been done, and it was no use going to meet trouble
halfway. Moreover, Beresford's guns were beginning to talk down yonder
to the southward, and it was time for what was left of the North Sea
Squadron and the Home Fleet to reform and manoeuvre, so as to work to
the north-eastward, and get the enemy between the two British forces.

A very curious thing came to pass now. The French and German Fleets,
though still much superior to the defenders, had during that first awful
hour of the assault received a terrible mauling, especially from the
large guns of the _England_ and the _Scotland_--sisters of the
_Britain_, and the flagships respectively of the North Sea Squadron and
the Home Fleet--and the totally unexpected and inexplicable loss of
their reserve; but the guns booming to the south-westward could only be
those of Admiral Durenne's victorious fleet. He would bring them
reinforcements more than enough, and with him, too, would come the three
_Flying Fishes_, which had been commissioned to destroy Portsmouth and
the battleships of the British Reserve. There need be no fear of not
getting the transports across now, and then the march of victory would
begin.

In a few minutes the fighting almost entirely ceased. The ships which
had been battering each other so heartily separated as if by mutual
consent, and the French and German admirals steamed to the
south-westward to join their allies and sweep the Strait of Dover clear
of those who had for so many hundred years considered--yes, and kept
it--as their own sea-freehold.

At the same time private signals were flashed through the air to the
_Flying Fishes_ to retire on Calais, replenish their ammunition and
motive power, which they had been using so lavishly, and return at
daybreak.

Thus what was left of Dover, its furiously impotent soldiery, and its
sorely stricken inhabitants, had a respite at least until day dawned and
showed them the extent of the ruin that had been wrought.

It was nearly midnight when the three fleets joined, and just about
eight bells the clouds parted and dissolved under the impact of a stiff
nor'-easter, which had been gathering strength for the last two hours.
The war smoke drifted away, and the moon shone down clearly on the now
white-crested battlefield.

By its light and th