t the bombardment would begin at ten o'clock in the morning of the
next day but one, and requesting that information of the hour appointed
be instantly transmitted to London. When this had been done, the fleet
steamed six or seven miles off shore, where it lay to or cruised about
for two nights and a day.

As soon as the Government had selected Caerdaff for bombardment,
immediate measures were taken to remove the small garrisons and the
inhabitants of the fishing village from possible danger. When the
Syndicate's note was received by the commandant of the fort, he was
already in receipt of orders from the War Office to evacuate the
fortifications, and to superintend the removal of the fishermen and
their families to a point of safety farther up the coast.

Caerdaff was a place difficult of access by land, the nearest railroad
stations being fifteen or twenty miles away; but on the day after the
arrival of the Syndicate's fleet in the offing, thousands of people
made their way to this part of the country, anxious to see--if
perchance they might find an opportunity to safely see--what might
happen at ten o'clock the next morning. Officers of the army and navy,
Government officials, press correspondents, in great numbers, and
curious and anxious observers of all classes, hastened to the Welsh
coast.

The little towns where the visitors left the trains were crowded to
overflowing, and every possible conveyance, by which the mountains
lying back of Caerdaff could be reached, was eagerly secured, many
persons, however, being obliged to depend upon their own legs. Soon
after sunrise of the appointed day the forts, the village, and the
surrounding lower country were entirely deserted, and every point of
vantage on the mountains lying some miles back from the coast was
occupied by excited spectators, nearly every one armed with a
field-glass.

A few of the guns from the fortifications were transported to an
overlooking height, in order that they might be brought into action in
case the repeller, instead of bombarding, should send men in boats to
take possession of the evacuated fortifications, or should attempt any
mining operations. The gunners for this battery were stationed at a
safe place to the rear, whence they could readily reach their guns if
necessary.

The next day was one of supreme importance to the Syndicate. On this
day it must make plain to the world, not only what the motor-bomb could
do, but that th