Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/124

112 the floor ran with blood. The air-tight doors had been wrenched off and hurled all over the place. Water-tanks had been pierced, and some of the cylinders where the energy was stored had been wrenched open and produced frightful havoc. When the hundred and eighth hour of the combat struck, the engines responded no more to the movements of the levers.

'The engines are done for,' said Captain Mainton quietly.

But the ship still continued to fight, firing what guns were left intact, and using the Ednogen force apparatus. But one by one the guns were extinguished, either by the compartments where they were mounted being pierced, or by their muzzles being damaged from the outside. Then the stern was battered in by a ram, and she spun round under the shock. The captain still held the levers, and looked calmly at the telephotoscope picture. Not a muscle of his face moved.

Next there was a frightful shock against