Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/152

140 that were being used trembled for their husbands, brothers, and sons, who might be perishing even before their eyes.

But the omniscient Deity was about to punish the impiety of men for carrying their hates and jealousies into the silent abodes of space, and their wickedness in unchaining the giant forces with which He had provided them, for the purpose of destroying one another. A terrible event was about to happen, which would send a thrill of horror through the Universe. The contending nations had been recklessly letting loose enormous forces, and sending them quivering and destroying through the regions of space. A catastrophe which had never been hinted at by the calculations of scientists, admirals, and strategists was about to occur and precipitate both sides alike into the extremities of woe.

One night the inhabitants of Neptune were standing out in the open air watching the distant flashes in the sky, when