The Great War of 189-: A ForecastForbes, Archibald
History
The Great War of 189-: A Forecast
Forbes, Archibald
Imaginary wars and battles; Science fiction
So matters went on till eleven o’clock, when I made my wife go below,
while I lay down for a sleep on deck. I was awoke at one o’clock by such
a row as never was, the whole German Fleet was a blaze and a roar of
artillery. I supposed, of course, a Russian torpedo-boat attack, but it
was impossible to tell what had happened,—all one knew was that an
attack of some kind had been made. After a very few minutes the fire
began to slacken, and some of it I noticed, with an unpleasant
sensation, was coming my way. But that, too, soon came to an end. My
wife was at that moment beside me again, and she suddenly cried out,
‘Hark! what’s that?’ I could hear a rushing and a panting sound drawing
close to us, and then the ball of white foam that I had seen one night
from a torpedo boat. The panting suddenly stopped, and the rushing
became fainter and fainter until out of the dark came a torpedo-boat
evidently making for the yacht, but very slowly. Just as she was coming
alongside there was a sort of wild cry, and I saw she had suddenly gone
to the bottom. Our little boat was down in an instant, and I got hold of
somebody floating at once, while the men helped in two Russian sailors.
I found I had hold of a Russian officer, but he was evidently unable to
help himself. I could not get him in but we drew him alongside and the
men carried him up. I then saw that the poor chap was badly wounded in
the shoulder. No one on board could speak Russian, but we laid him down
on the deck, and my wife threw herself down beside him with her scissors
and began to cut away his dress, while she cried to her maid to bring
her water and linen. It was of no use, however. The poor fellow was
quite unconscious and bleeding to death. It was all over in ten minutes,
and we could do nothing but reverently commit the body to the deep. Our
other two Russians were unwounded, but could not make us understand
anything. We put them next day into an English vessel bound to Revel.
[Illustration:
THE NAVAL BATTLE OFF DANTZIG—WOUNDED RUSSIANS ON BOARD THE ENGLISH
YACHT.
]
We were eager enough in the morning to see what had happened, but there
seemed to be no ships absent. One of the battleships was, however,
evidently very much down by the head, and in the course of the morning
we saw her quit the fleet for the southward. Everything else was, in
fact, in the same position on both sides, and it was evident that a
regular battle was no nearer.
I presently saw a vessel—I think it must have been one of the German
Emperor’s yachts, from the look of her—coming up fast from the
southward, and as soon as she got near enough, she began making a long
signal. Almost directly, the German ships all turned towards her. They
stopped when she reached them, and after she had sent a boat to the
flagship, the whole fleet put on good speed, and stood nearly due west,
as if for Kiel again. I could not keep up with them, so I am going to
Colberg to post this and hear the news.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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