Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/133

Rh themselves destroyed. Four of the smaller ships were despatched to Neptune with the news of their defeat and the overwhelming odds to which they were exposed. Then the relentless lines closed in around them, and the tempests of shots came crashing through their hulls. The flag-ship perished first, being completely shot to pieces, the brave admiral and his officers still holding out until they were suffocated by the escape of air. The vessels were destroyed one by one, the Sirian ships searching them out with their powerful lights, and firing at them till they were totally wrecked. But the destruction of the last terrible charge still haunted their memory, and they wisely separated out and kept their distance. Ten ships were now left, but they fought bravely on, still working their guns with the same precision as at the commencement of the fight. And they could still bite, as many a Sirian battleship found out to its cost when a shell was hurled right into its vitals.