Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/141

Rh 'You are an angel.'

'Don't be silly,' said Celia as a slight blush suffused her cheeks. 'Now let me continue my story. As soon as you had been brought down below, we fastened the captain's sphere on to the outside, and now we are towing it along with us. If you look out of the window, you will be able to see it.'

Alec raised himself up on one hand and peered forth into the star-bespangled space. There, not far from the hull of the Mermaid, he could make out by the light cast from the windows a spherical object much battered and torn about.

'But what have you done with Captain Mainton and the other two?' asked Alec.

'They were left in the sphere,' replied Celia sadly. 'They will be buried when we get to Neptune.'

'To Neptune! Is that where you are bound for?'

'Yes; that is where I live with my 9