Resistance of any kind will be absolutely futile. The President of the United States and his entire Cabinet are prisoners of war, and your Capitol, duly guarded, is in my hands. Your fleet is in the Pacific, and I have destroyed the locks of the Panama Canal. The Imperial Government earnestly desires that all bloodshed be avoided. We have the best interests of the people at heart. We will establish for the first time in your history a government worthy of this nation. My Imperial Master will treat all loyal subjects as his beloved children. His foes will be ground to dust beneath his feet. For these no quarter will be asked, none given. I have already caused the arrest and imprisonment of two hundred well-known citizens to be held as hostages for your good behavior. Your great churches, your municipal buildings and your big commercial houses have all been mined. At the first outbreak of rebellion, your hostages will be shot and your city reduced to ashes. In the name of my Imperial Master I command the peace. PRINCE KARL VON WALDRON, Governor-General of the Provinces of North America. Vassar read this remarkable proclamation aloud amid a silence that was strangling. He opened the papers and glanced at the editorial columns. It was as he feared. A free press in America no longer existed. Waldron was dictating every utterance from his tower on the heights of Manhattan. Each paper earnestly appealed to all citizens to refrain from violence and make the best of their situation until intelligent advice could be given after a sufficient time had passed for reflection and conference with all parts of the nation. Vassar mopped his brow and groaned. “Well, boys,” he began, “we must give them credit for doing a good job. They don’t bungle, they don’t muddle, they don’t leave anything to chance. They’ve got us for the moment. There’s but one thing to do, submit--” “No!--No!” came the angry growl. Vassar smiled. “Submit for the present, I was trying to tell you, until we can find the nucleus of an army to support. He didn’t mention our forts or our little army. They failed to get those forts from the rear and they’re intact. There are half a dozen battleships somewhere on the Atlantic side. The main fleet cannot reach us within a month. The Panama Canal has been blown up of course. But the ships that are here with two dozen efficient submarines and aeroplanes will be heard from before the army lands--” “That’s the talk!” Benda cried. “We’re all Americans, signor!” “Ya, gov’nor!” Schultz whispered. “This is _my_ country now--I fight--if you’ll give me a gun.” A boy of eighteen, smeared with dirt and mud, pushed his way into the crowd and thrust a note into Vassar’s hand. “In God’s name, Billy!” the young leader cried. “What are you doing here?” The boy saluted.