best
interests of the Empire, and fully determined to give the utmost
possible moral support consistent with fair and impartial criticism.

"The disastrous mistake which was made by a very small majority of
the Upper House in rejecting the Government guarantee for the
ill-fated Italian loan is now, of course, past repair; for Italy, as
events have proved, exasperated by what her spokesmen termed her
selfish betrayal by Britain, has passionately thrown herself into the
arms of the League, and the Alliance has now no more bitter enemy
than she is. It is, however, only justice to those who defeated the
loan to add that they have now clearly seen and frankly owned their
grievous mistake, and rallied as one man to the support of the
Government."

CHAPTER XXV.

THE HERALDS OF DISASTER.

Another column in the same issue contained an account of the
"Mysterious Disappearance of Lord Alanmere" and the doings of the
_Ithuriel_ in the Atlantic. The account concluded as follows:--

"As the enemy's squadron came up in chase it was annihilated without
warning and with appalling suddenness by the air-ship, which must
have crossed the Atlantic in something like sixteen hours. After this
fearful achievement it descended to the _Aurania_, took off a saloon
passenger named Michael Roburoff, evidently, from his reception, a
Terrorist himself, and then vanished through the clouds. For the
present, and until we have fuller information, we attempt no detailed
analysis of these astounding events. We merely content ourselves with
saying in the most solemn words that we can use, that, awful and
disastrous as is the war that is now raging throughout the greatest
part of the old world, it is our firm belief that, behind the
smoke-clouds of battle, and beneath the surface of visible events,
there is working a secret power, possibly greater than any which has
yet been called into action, and which at an unexpected moment may
suddenly put forth its strength, upheave the foundations of Society,
and bury existing institutions in the ruins of Civilisation.

"One fact is quite manifest, and that is, that although the League
possesses a weapon of fearful efficiency for destruction in their
fleet of aerostats, the Terrorists, controlled by no law save their
own, and hampered by no traditions or limitations of civilised
warfare, are in command of another fleet of unknown strength, the
air-ships of which are apparently as superior to the aeros