Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/139

Rh 'Oh, this dreadful war!' said Celia as her deep brown eyes filled with tears. 'But never mind,' she added as she noticed the look of pain that passed over Alec's face; 'we shall beat them yet. Now I will tell you how you came here. We were voyaging about in space, when we came upon a lot of wrecks, and among them there was a great metal sphere with some pieces of wreckage still attached to it. Herbert said that it was one of the boxes where the captain goes during an engagement. Then I suggested that there might be someone still alive, shut up in it; but Herbert only laughed at me, and wanted to proceed on our way, in case we might get mixed up in a battle. At last I managed to persuade him to send a diver to attach it to the Mermaid with grappling irons and see if there was anyone inside. After a great deal of trouble the diver managed to unfasten and open the valve and get inside, and there he found you and the captain and two other officers.